The vibes couldn’t have been higher for the White Sox in May, which sets the stage for Chris Getz to do almost anything he wants without upsetting fans. The crew went 18-10 and came out of the month with a positive run differential for the first time since last July, when Chicago went on a heater and came the closest to posting a winning month since May 2023. Everything was sunny for the South Siders, but let’s take a deeper look at the common threads that underlie this team’s performance.

One team’s benchwarmers are another team’s starters

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to player swaps. I hate to hand it to Getsz (in reality, the majority of the credit should go to the scouting and baseball operations departments), but the trades and free agent signings he cooked up during the last two trade deadlines and offseasons are turning out to be some of the smartest moves made to this day.

Giving up Michael Kopech for anyone but a proven major leaguer initially seemed ludicrous, but Miguel Vargas’ breakout campaign is proving the trade’s early critics wrong. Vargas recorded a hearty .250/.356/.510 slash line, seven home runs, 19 RBIs, and 14 walks in 100 at-bats. Although his productivity wasn’t as high as Munetaka Murakami’s, his reliability in the lineup came up clutch to tip the scales in Chicago’s favor multiple times. His latest two-run blast punctured the wounded Tigers and made a poignant statement that the Sox will do more than play spoiler in the AL Central.

Similarly, former Banana baller Tristan Peters has quickly quelled worries about the outfield. His exceptional .293/.354/.415 slash line and stellar glove have prevented losses and saved several games that a 1.6 WAR doesn’t adequately reflect, but at least his 2.91 range factor in nine innings comes close. Drafted by the Brewers in 2021, Peters only played four games last year with the Rays, one of which was his MLB debut. The Sox paid cash for Peters in December, representing the only offseason move made by the Sox until the Murakami signing. Now, he’s a staple in the Sox’s outfield platoon.

Not every trade is a success, but it’s nice to see that the Sox are finally benefiting from some of these seemingly one-sided exchanges. These guys don’t need to become MVPs to provide value and be difference makers.

Talent dispersion outweighs concentration in small markets

For a team whose payroll wouldn’t meet MLB’s proposed $171.2 million salary floor, the Sox are serving as the poster child for why salary caps and floors won’t immediately solve MLB’s economic disparities. 

Although there’s no denying that Murakami was the most underrated free agent signing by the Sox or any smaller market MLB team this season, Murakami’s co-stars deserve a hand clap. In May, the Sox ranked fifth in runs (141), first in home runs (42), third in RBIs (141), seventh in batting average and on-base percentage (.252 and .328, respectively), and fifth in slugging percentage (.435). Murakami ranked in the top 10 in only two of those six categories. This proves that although he may be most often in the national spotlight, he isn’t the only one pulling the cart.

The same goes for pitching. Davis Martin may be a top-five contender for the AL Cy Young after publishing a 4-0 record, 2.05 ERA, 38 punchouts, and .188 batting average allowed in May, but this rotation and bullpen don’t rely on just one guy. Bryan Hudson, Grant Taylor, Sean Newcomb, and Anthony Kay combined for a sub-1.70 ERA and 77 strikeouts in nearly 78 innings in May. On most teams, those numbers would make them a major storyline.

To survive a trade deadline that is expected to be a seller’s market, with the CBA renewal negotiations going as expected, and to stay within playoff contention, everyone on the Sox needs to pull their weight. 

Summary Metrics

Trade Confidence (How many players traded for are making valuable contributions to the organization?): 30%

Average Innings Watched (Average number of innings fans have patience for): 9…? Wait, yes, that’s right

Rebuild Index (1 is full rebuild, 5 is sustaining current pace, 10 is aggressively pursuing a World Series): 6

Today’s first pitch was fairly representative of how most of today’s game ended up going. Brewers starter Coleman Crow threw a 90.7 mph sinker up and in to Casey Schmitt, who leads the Giants in home runs. Schmitt tagged it for his thirteenth of the year, and all of a sudden the Brewers were already behind just one pitch into the game.

Crow quickly got two outs, but also allowed singles to Luis Arraez and Jung Hoo Lee. Bryce Eldridge came up with two on and two out and singled into center field for the Giants’ second run of the inning. Matt Chapman then took a strike, fouled off three pitches, and ripped a line drive into left field. Lee scored, Eldridge made it around to third, and Chapman ended up on second with a double.

For a moment, it looked like the Giants were going to add to their lead again after Crow walked the next batter, Eric Haase, on four pitches that were all low and away. Luckily, nine-hitter Drew Gilbert grounded out to end the inning.

Crow would make it through the second inning unscathed, but allowed two runs on four hits and a walk in the third. He was eventually pulled with only one out in the frame and the bases loaded. DL Hall came in to try to get out of the jam and limited the Giants to a sacrifice fly.

Crow’s final line reflects how rough of an outing this was for him: 2 1/3 innings pitched, 9 hits, 6 earned runs, two walks. He had looked good through his first three appearances, but the Giants jumped on him early and often. Even during a 1-2-3 second inning, Rafael Devers hit a 107 mph liner that Luis Rengifo made a ridiculous diving play on to take away a base hit.

I still believe Crow can eventually become an effective part of Milwaukee’s pitching staff, but he’s a rookie who doesn’t throw particularly hard. Eldridge’s RBI single, an Adames double that almost cleared the outfield fence, and a Jung Hoo Lee RBI double were all on 87-88 mph cutters. His fastball, which he also gave up a couple big hits on, was sitting at 91-92 mph. As he learns how to navigate major-league hitters, outings like this are bound to happen. With that being said, one rough start isn’t an immediate red flag, especially if he follows it up with a few more strong performances.

On the offensive end, the Brewers got a run back in the first thanks to a Chourio walk, a Turang single (initially ruled an error on Adames), and a Contreras sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the fifth, Chourio followed a Christian Yelich double with a two-run home run that cut the deficit to three.

Since Crow exited so early, the Brewers were forced to lean heavily on their bullpen. Unfortunately, the story of the game quickly shifted from Crow’s struggles to a series of injuries among Milwaukee’s relievers.

Hall pitched 2 1/3 one-hit innings, but ended up leaving the game with a trainer. After throwing an 0-1 sweeper to Gilbert, Contreras — the catcher — saw something he didn’t like. He immediately called time out and went out to check on his pitcher. Brewers manager Pat Murphy, a couple pitching coaches, and the trainer all came out and, after conferring with Hall, took the ball from him.

Grant Anderson came on in relief, getting out of the fifth and pitching a scoreless sixth inning. In the top of the seventh, he allowed two straight singles, and the second was a comebacker off the bat of Eldridge that got Anderson on his right forearm. He looked to be in serious pain, doubling over immediately and remaining on the ground while talking to the training staff. Eventually, he got up — still clearly shaken up — and walked off the field with a trainer.

After a few warmup pitches, Jake Woodford quickly allowed a single to Chapman, loading the bases for former Brewer Eric Haase. Haase took the first pitch for a ball, then launched a grand slam 406 feet to pad the Giants’ lead even further. Before escaping the inning, Woodford gave up four more singles and two runs to bring the score to Giants 12, Brewers 3.

Milwaukee quickly got a couple runs back in the bottom of the seventh after Yelich led off with a single and Chourio again brought him home with his second two-run homer of the day. Andrew Vaughn almost added two more runs, but Gilbert robbed him of a home run.

Milwaukee would keep chipping away in the eighth courtesy of David Hamilton, who homered into the Brewers’ bullpen for his second of the season.

San Francisco brought in reliever Wilkin Ramos for the ninth to try and close it out. Ramos, pitching in his second career game after making his major league debut in the series opener, started the inning by allowing singles to Chourio and Gary Sánchez. Both Joey Ortiz and Blake Perkins worked the count full before walking, and the walk to Perkins brought home Chourio from third.

With the bases loaded and the tying run in the on-deck circle, Giants manager Tony Vitello didn’t want Ramos facing Vaughn. He turned to Caleb Kilian, who struck Vaughn out on a foul tip before getting Frelick to ground into an RBI force out at second.

Even down to their last out, the Brewers still weren’t done. With the score now 12-8 and runners on the corners, Rengifo floated a soft liner into left field to score Ortiz from third and keep the inning alive.

That brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Hamilton, who had already homered in the previous inning. After taking ball one, he got a sinker he could handle and drove it deep to right-center field. For a moment, it looked like it might have had the legs to get over the center field fence. Instead, the ball died on the warning track, just a few feet short of a game-tying three-run homer.

After today’s loss, the Brewers settled for a split in their four-game series with the Giants and have now dropped two straight games. They’ll head out west tonight for a six-game road trip against the Rockies and Athletics before their next scheduled off day. First pitch for tomorrow’s series opener in Colorado is set for 7:40 p.m.

The New York Yankees still do not have a firm diagnosis regarding franchise player Aaron Judge. But the circle of medical specialists aiming to get him right continues to grow.

The Yankees confirmed to news media after their Thursday, June 4 game that tests on Judge's rib and shoulder will be reviewed by Dallas-based vascular specialist Gregory Pearl, who specializes in "thoracic outlet syndrome management in high-performance athletes," according to his website.

Judge was initially diagnosed with a bone bruise near his right rib cage, which multiple tests have confirmed. Yet he was sent for more testing Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, and after the Yankees defeated the Cleveland Guardians 2-1, the club confirmed to reporters that test results will be viewed by Pearl, the thoracic outlet syndrome specialist.

It's an unsettling development for Judge, as TOS has significantly impacted or ended careers, such as former World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg. It also ended the 2025 season of Cy Young Award hopeful Zack Wheeler, who underwent surgery to remove a rib in September.

The Dodgers are back home ever so briefly, with a single-series homestand this weekend against the Angels at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Back in Anaheim from May 15-17, the Dodgers had their way with the Angels in a three-game sweep, outscoring the Halos 31-3. The Angels come to Los Angeles having lost 29 of their last 43 games, and are 11-21 on the road this season.

Roki Sasaki starts the series opener for the Dodgers.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Angels
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, KTTV channel 11 (Angels broadcast)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Sometimes you eat the road, and sometimes the road eats you. I’m not totally sure how relevant that is to today’s Orioles-Red Sox game, but what I mean is, this was a total inversion of Wednesday’s lopsided, 8-1 loss. As the O’s unsuccessful starter that night, Chris Bassitt, said after the game, “When your starter goes three innings and gives up three runs, that’s pretty much a recipe for disaster, so this one’s on me.” Today, however, Orioles starter Trevor Rogers looked just fine, thanks, and it was a recipe for a win.

An easy win, at that. Boston starter Brayan Bello has had a curiously bimodal 2026 season: when he starts games, he has a 9.68 ERA, but he’s under 1.00 when he comes in after an opener. Well, the Sox played with fate, and Bello got rocked in the first inning, to the tune of six runs. It wasn’t much of a nailbiter after that.

It started with the leadoff pitch, which leadoff hitter Taylor Ward did something predictable to—he doubled—and a Bello cutter hit Gunnar Henderson on the foot. Adley Rutschman singled to the gap, and Ward made it 1-0. Then, oh no!, Pete Alonso hit into a double play. I confess I thought the rally was over.

I was very wrong. Samuel Basallo took a very grown-up walk. Leody Taveras singled through the infield and Gunnar scored. 2-0, Birds. Still not done: Colton Cowser walked to load the bases for Coby Mayo. Bello threw him a bunch of sweepers—one too many: Cowser skied a ball three-fourths of the way off The Monster, and all the little Orioles came home.

Baltimore had one more trick up their sleeve, still with two outs: Jackson Holliday walked, and leadoff man Taylor Ward came back to the plate, and singled up the middle, his second hit of the inning. 6-0, Orioles, after one.

Then, an improbable lull—or, a streak, I guess, if you’re in the Brayan Bello fan club. I can’t say many of us on this blog are. The 27-year-old recovered after that disastrous first inning to retire ten Orioles in a row. It was a gutsy effort to get some length for his team, give him that. At one point in the fifth, Brian Roberts, from the booth, said, “You might think this was a 0-0 game considering how these guys have been pitching since [the first inning].” Ohhh, Classic Roberts. (I have no idea if Brian Roberts is a jinx.) Right then, Pete Alonso singled to left, after which Sam Basallo torched a ball, 112.4 mph to right field. Surprising to me, this was the hardest-hit ball of Basallo’s young career. The Polar Bear chugged home to make it 7-0. Basallo, on third base after a groundout, came home and scored when Cowser hit a deep sac fly. 8-0, Orioles.

An 8-0 score tells you that things were going pretty well for Trevor Rogers. The Orioles lefty, who’d struggled in his first ten outings this season but may be turning a corner, had himself an easy shutout through five innings, in fact a no-hitter until into the fifth. His control was pinpoint, and his fastball had movement!

The only sour note was it looked, if we’re being honest, that he seemed to lose gas after that. He allowed three straight singles in the sixth inning, plus his first run of the game, and he couldn’t close out that frame against the Red Sox. Instead, manager Craig Albernaz lifted Rogers for Yennier Cano, who got one out and called it a day. Still, overall, progress for Trevor Rogers, who’d had an era of nearly eight on the season: one run in 5 2/3 innings will do. As MASN pointed out, Rogers now has five-inning-shutout starts in back-to-back appearances.

Not much suspense after that. Andrew Kittredge had a five-outing scoreless streak entering this one, but he served up a home run to Willson Contreras. There are worse things one can do. The veteran righty kept it suspense-free after that.

Any team can look great or terrible on any given day. Yesterday was the Orioles’ turn to be cannon fodder; today they were … the cannon? Either way, this team been stacking more of the good days instead of the bad days. Let’s see if it continues north of the border against Toronto.

Who is your Most Birdland Player of the game? Trevor Rogers, with a stabilizing outing of 5 2/3 and one run? Coby Mayo, with a three-run double? Taylor Ward with a casual 3-for-5 day, including a double?

Not only are the days of Shohei Ohtani struggling with the bat in 2026 gone, but his overall production makes you question if that was ever an actual period of this season in the first place. Ohtani has particularly enjoyed this series against the Diamondbacks—recording multi-hit performances in each of the first three games, dominating in the leadoff spot, and on the mound on Wednesday—and why wouldn’t he? It’s hard to tell what is more impressive: that Ohtani has a slugging percentage above .700 in 21 games at Chase Field or that it is one of six ballparks in which he has a slugging percentage that high with at least 13 games. Now, the Dodgers will have to wrap up this series without their star hitter as Will Smith gets a day off from catching and moves to the DH spot with Dalton Rushing behind the plate.

Interestingly, Ohtani hasn’t had the best of luck against today’s Diamondbacks starter, Ryne Nelson, but a different Dodger has: Mookie Betts. In fact, out of all five Dodgers with at least a dozen at-bats against Nelson, Betts is the only one with worthwhile numbers, batting .357 with a home run. Struggling massively in 2026, Mookie will accept any advantage he can get against a pitcher who has a 2.72 ERA in 39.2 innings against the Dodgers.

More importantly, though, is the opportunity to give Dalton Rushing any plate appearances this team can. Rushing has done all that it could be asked of him and then some, but playing time is scarce even if Smith hasn’t matched his usual standards this year.

Thursday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Diamondbacks
• Ballpark: Chase Field, Phoenix
• Start time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)