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The Chicago Cubs are scorching hot, having won nine of the past 10 games.

They are -130 favorites to take the series opener Friday, but my Cardinals vs. Cubs predictions and MLB picks see value in backing the underdog.

Who will win Cardinals vs Cubs today: St. Louis Cardinals (+110)

Andre Pallante has found his groove after a rocky start to the season. He has posted an xERA of 3.5 or lower in six of his last eight games, allowing two runs or fewer six times.

He has also limited power very effectively, which should force a Chicago Cubs lineup that ranks 19th in average vs. righties over the past 30 days to string together hits.

The St. Louis Cardinals are a competent offense against lefties and primed to make noise against David Peterson, who ranks in the sixth percentile in Pitcher Run Value.

Back St. Louis to +100.

COVERS INTEL:Andre Pallante ranks in the 93rd percentile in GB%, which should help him zap power out of Chicago's offense.

Cardinals vs Cubs Over/Under pick: Over 10.5 (-115)

Peterson has allowed 2.76 homers per nine innings over the last 30 days, which is the highest total among all of today’s projected starters.

He is allowing a ton of power and striking out very few batters. That’s a recipe for disaster on a hot day with favorable hitting conditions.

While Pallante has mostly pitched well of late, it’s worth noting one of the hiccups came against the Cubs – he allowed four runs in three innings May 29.

With struggling bullpens behind these starters, the sky is the limit.

Play the Over to -120.

Cardinals vs Cubs weather

Temperatures are expected to reach the mid 80s with winds of more than 10 miles per hour blowing out. Boost to the bats.

Cardinals vs Cubs odds

• Moneyline: Cardinals +110 | Cubs -130
• Run line: Cardinals +1.5 (-170) | Cubs -1.5 (+145)
• Over/Under: Over 10.5 (-115) | Under 10.5 (-105)

Cardinals vs Cubs trend

St. Louis has hit the Team Total Over in 14 of their last 21 away games (+5.95 units, 24% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Cubs.

How to watch Cardinals vs Cubs and game info

Cardinals vs Cubs latest injuries

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The Atlanta Braves, who are leading the NL East for now, have made a few moves before Grant Holmes takes the hill tonight versus the Mets.

Turns out that a seven-run inning will get someone’s attention. The Braves underwent a partial bullpen-ectomy last night. The Braves have recalled RHP Anthony Molina to Atlanta after optioning RHP James Karinchak to Triple-A Gwinnett following last night’s game. The club also returned LHP Danny Young from his rehabilitation assignment and reinstated him from the injured list, and designated RHP Ian Hamilton for assignment.

The Braves returned Ian Hamilton to the DFA cycle/Cookie Carrasco Caravan as most would expect after last night. Hamilton mopped up last night after Tyler Kinley and Dylan Lee each gave up three runs and blew up the game. Ian got five outs last night. So he spent eight days with the team after his last stint was six days. James Karinchak is returning to Gwinnett. He’s been a somewhat acceptable reliever after a long time out of baseball. But giving up runs is both of his outings versus the Cardinals got him sent down. Anthony Molina has returned to Atlanta. Molina has collected a pretty forgettable 5.40/5.51/4.12 line over 5 innings. He does have a 96.7 MPH four-seam that is good but hasn’t netted a lot of time in Atlanta.

Danny Young is back from Tommy John surgery. Young was briefly a part of the 2023 Atlanta Braves team. Then was a part of the Mets bullpen before his injury. It’s interesting that he will be activated just as his old team is coming to town. Welcome back, Danny! Bring 2023 with you please.

After a very, very slow start to his 2026 season, Pete Crow-Armstrong turned on the jets in June. (Actually, a bit before that, as I will show you.)

In 26 games in June, PCA batted .381/.468/.781 (40-for-105) with five doubles, two triples, 11 home runs, 20 RBI, 21 runs scored, 17 walks and eight stolen bases (no caught stealing).

For that fantastic performance, PCA was named National League Player of the Month for June, adding another honor to the two Player of the Week awards he won during the month.

As I mentioned, he actually began his climb out of his slump in late May, per this cubs.com article by Jordan Bastian:

Crow-Armstrong has also thrived since being installed as the Cubs’ primary leadoff man in late May. In 22 games as Chicago’s tablesetter, the center fielder has hit .396/.462/.813 with nine homers, seven doubles, two triples, six steals, 10 walks and 16 RBIs. He has said he has embraced the “responsibility” that comes with the role.

One thing Crow-Armstrong has cited has been an improved understanding of looking for a specific pitch and being stubborn about sticking to that plan. The byproduct of that mindset has been a walk rate nearly doubled (8.5%) over last season (4.5%), even as his swing rate has reduced since the start of the season (56.6% through April and 48.2% in May-June).

“He’s in swing mode. It’s kind of his thing,” Counsell said. “And I think now it’s a little bit like he’s learned that he can be in swing mode and still not swing. And I think that’s how he should be. It’s still an aggressive mode. It doesn’t take anything away from his aggressiveness.”

It seems so simple, but indeed, PCA has taken to that leadoff role. The walks are a great sign of this. Here’s one reason he’s been able to do that (Bluesky link):

Here’s more from the Bastian article on just how special PCA’s June was:

Crow-Armstrong was the first Cubs batter with at least 11 homers, 20 RBIs and 40 hits in a month since Nick Castellanos in August of ‘19. Add the 17 walks into the equation and you have to go back to Hall of Famer Hack Wilson, who did it in July 1929 and August 1930. Throw in Crow-Armstrong’s eight stolen bases and he stands alone for any month by a Cubs batter.

In fact, Crow-Armstrong is only the second player since at least 1920 (when RBIs became an official stat) to have at least eight steals, 11 homers, 17 walks and 40 hits in one month. The only other player to do it was Barry Bonds in 1992, but that was in a September-October period featuring 31 games. Crow-Armstrong did it in 26 games in June.

In addition to all the hitting, he continued his stellar defense. Here’s a five-star catch he made against the Rockies June 11 [VIDEO].

Perhaps not coincidentally (PCA also went 2-for-5 with a steal in that game), that was the game that began the Cubs’ current 15-4 run.

PCA also currently leads all MLB players with 5.2 bWAR — that’s a possible 10 WAR season if he keeps this up. He’s a lock to be a reserve on the NL All-Star team and these numbers vault him into the MVP conversation.

Congratulations to Pete on this honor and here’s hoping for many more.

On a mid-September day in 1787, the residents of Philadelphia stood outside Independence Hall (or rather, what would someday be called Independence Hall), with bated breath. Inside, an assembly of the nation’s finest statesmen were hard at work crafting an institution that would shape not only the future of their young nation, but the world. The door opened. Men whose names would reverberate through the generations stepped out. One observer, by the name of Elizabeth Willing Powel, spotted Benjamin Franklin and asked him what sort of institution he and his colleagues had made. “A baseball team, if you can keep it,” came the famous and not at all fabricated reply.

But Philadelphia could not keep its baseball team, and the Athletics would later decamp for Kansas City.

Fortunately, the Phillies stepped in and stood the test of time, just like how our Constitution replaced the short-lived Articles of Confederation (well, not quite, since the Phillies existed at the same time as their citymates, but close enough).

Our founding fathers did not live long enough to see the Phillies. But the examples they set live on in all American institutions, including baseball, and the teams which comprise it. Here, today, we could name the Phillies who best exemplify the principles, the wisdom, the learnedness of the founding fathers.

But it’s way easier to just name the Phillies whose names kinda sounds like theirs, so let’s do that instead.

George Washington: George Washington Harper (1924-1926)

George Washington may have been a Virginian, but he faced and overcame some of the pivotal challenges of his life in Philadelphia. It is therefore fitting that George Washington Harper, an outfielder from Arlington, Kentucky, would make his own way there. After three years in Detroit and two and a half in Cincinnati, Harper was traded to Philadelphia, where he would finish out the season, as well as the next two. Though he never rose to the prominence in baseball that his namesake achieved in politics, he played well, slashing .349/.391/.558 in a 1925 season that saw him get some downballot MVP votes. Just like the nation’s first president, he would then make his way to New York, though by trade rather than election (New York was the president’s home in the days before D.C.).

Thomas Jefferson: Thomas “Tommy” Jefferson Dowd (1897)

What nickname do you give to a guy named Thomas Jefferson? “Mr. President” would seem to be the natural choice. But no, Tommy Dowd’s nickname was Buttermilk Tommy. Better than Butterfingers, one supposes. An outfielder hailing from Holyoke, Massachusetts, Dowd played for the Phillies in those far-off days of 1897. In doing so, he took his namesake’s journey in reverse: whereas Jefferson had gone from the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., Dowd played for the Washington Statesmen in 1891 (and the Senators in 1892), then joined the Phillies in ’97 (in between there was a long stop in St. Louis, which joined the United States thanks to a purchase made by, you guessed it…). Jefferson played in 91 games for the Phillies that year, having a rather limited impact.

Benjamin Franklin: Benjamin Franklin Oviedo (2005-2007, Venezuelan Summer League)

Philadelphia has more Benjamin Franklins (Benjamins Franklin?) than any other city on earth, as anyone who has walked through Old City will attest to, but no Ben Franklin has ever played for the Phillies. But one did play for the organization: Benjamin Franklin Oviedo, an infielder and left fielder, played three seasons for the Phillies’ Venezuelan Summer League Team.

John Hancock: Josh Hancock (2003-2004)

John Hancock started out in Massachusetts, then made his way to Philadelphia. So did Josh Hancock, a righty pitcher, who debuted with the Red Sox, and was then traded to the Phillies in exchange for Jeremy Giambi. Hancock played sparingly for the Phillies, tossing 3 innings across 2 games in 2003, then 9 across 4 in 2004. He was traded to Cincinnati midway through the 2004 campaign. If he didn’t sign his autographs in an unreasonably large size, it was a huge missed opportunity.

John Adams: John Bertram “Bert” Adams (1915-1919)

A backstop from Wharton, Texas, he preferred to go by “Bert”. He debuted with Cleveland (the Naps, at the time) at 19 in 1910, but played in only two games. He only played in 27 games total for the Naps across three seasons before the New York Giants took him in the Rule 5 draft in 1914 (yes, it is that old). A trade sent him to the Phillies, for whom he would play for the next five seasons. He was a backup in 1915 and 1916, played in about a quarter of the team’s games in 1917, then graduated to a proper timeshare in 1918 and 1919, playing roughly half the time.

James Madison: James “Jim” Madison Holloway (1929)

Jim Holloway, a pitcher from Baton Rouge, didn’t have much of an impact in Phillies history. He appeared in three games in the 1929 season, allowing 2 homers and 7 runs in 4.2 innings pitched, then never threw a major league pitch again. But he’s useful for this article.

John Jay: Jay Johnstone (1974-1978)

Outfielder Jay Johnstone played four seasons and part of a fifth for the Phillies, part of a career that lasted nearly twenty years. He was a good hitter with the Phillies, with an OPS of over .800 in each of his four full seasons with them. He was traded to the Yankees midseason in 1979.

Robert Morris: Robert “Bobby” Moris Morgan (1954-1957)

An infielder from Oklahoma City, Morgan started out with the Brooklyn Dodgers before being traded to the Phillies. He hit lightly, but still held down a starting job. The Phillies traded him to the Cardinals midseason in 1956, but the Cardinals sent him back in the offseason in a trade that saw Philadelphia stalwart Del Ennis shipped out to St. Louis. The Cardinals also sent along Rip Repulski, winner of the “this is definitely a name from a comic book” award.

The St. Louis Cardinals ended up winning this series not just in the most important column but also on the aggregate as well. 17-13 ended up being the final aggregate score during this series and of those 17 runs, 11 of those St. Louis runs were scored in just two of the 27 innings that were played.

I’m not going to say that the Braves were the better team across these three games (if they were, we’d be about to talk about some good results instead of the bummer that we’re about to discuss) but it is a sign of just how quickly things can get away from you in this sport. It’s also a sign of just how rough of a go the Braves are having right now where it feels like nothing can go right on a consistent basis for this squad. If you dare to continue, I’ve got the details on this series ready for you. Let’s get into it.

Tuesday, June 30

Cardinals 5, Braves 3

With both Matthew Liberatore coming into this game struggling on the mound and the Braves as a whole entering this game on a bit of a collective nightmare run at the plate, it seemed like something had to give and someone was going to break out of their funk in this one. Unfortunately, it ended up being Liberatore who came out of this one looking golden as he ended up frustrating the Braves for the five innings he spent on the mound. Atlanta coaxed four walks out of him but it took a monstrous effort from the squad just to get a sacrifice fly pushed across home plate in the third inning.

That sac fly actually gave the Braves the lead but it didn’t last long as the bottom fell out for Martín Pérez in the fourth inning. Nelson Velásquez cracked one out for a solo shot that tied things up and then just when Pérez was a strike and an out away from getting out of a jam with the game still tied, he was unable to fool Nathan Church with a changeup and he pulled it into the Chop House to make it a four-run inning for St. Louis.

With the way Atlanta’s offense had been running in recent times in the lead up to this series, it would’ve been perfectly reasonable to think that that was basically the ballgame for Atlanta. The next three innings at the plate did nothing to dispel that thinking for Atlanta but they did eventually come back to life in the seventh and eighth innings. Ozzie Albies delivered an RBI single in the seventh inning and then Ryan Fernandez’s second wild pitch of the eighth inning brought in another run to cut it to 5-3.

Matt Olson got into scoring position with a ninth-inning double so the Braves had the tying run at the plate but sadly, Ryan O’Brien kept it steady for St. Louis and the nasty run of form continued for Atlanta.

Wednesday, July 1

Braves 5, Cardinals 1

Earlier on Wednesday, the English national football team advanced to the Round of 16 of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup with a clutch 2-1 victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo. That match took place in downtown Atlanta and some of the lads decided to take their victory celebration over to Cobb County for a night at the baseball.

They ended up getting treated to the Braves offense continuing to show some signs of life, as Atlanta actually looked to be in control of this one for the most part. Reynaldo López gave up one run in the first inning and that was as good as it got for St. Louis as he and the rest of the bullpen clamped down from that point forward. The strong pitching performance provided the Braves an opportunity to establish themselves at the plate and continue to attempt to revive themselves.

Fortunately, Atlanta took the opportunity and was able to produce enough at the plate to where this was a rare win that wasn’t a nailbiter. Ozzie Albies homered in the third inning to give the Braves the lead and then new English football cult hero Michael Harris II delivered an RBI single in the eighth inning that gave the Braves a much-needed insurance run. They weren’t even done there either, as Mauricio Dubón found yet another way to get it done at the plate as he laid down a bunt that ended up plating Ozzie (who ended up having a pretty nice night, himself) and then Austin Riley made it three runs in the inning and five for the day for the Braves with his capper of an RBI single.

Raisel Iglesias got some work for once in the ninth inning and that ended up being the perfect end to a great day on the mound for Atlanta and a lovely night at the ballpark for the Knights of Money Mike’s Roundtable.

Thursday, July 2

Cardinals 11, Braves 5

For maybe an hour or so, the Braves were feeling good and a series win was within grasp. Despite the Cardinals going three-for-three for first-inning runs in this series by adding three more in this one, Hurston Waldrep calmed down after that while the Braves immediately responded with five runs of their own in the bottom of the first. Things were fine after the offense had a big inning for once and the Braves were carrying a 5-3 lead heading into the seventh inning. Considering how the bullpen has performed all season, it was reasonable to expect that they could make those two runs stand up

Then the seventh inning happened and it felt less like July 2, 2026 and more like October 9, 2019. The Cardinals didn’t make it to 10 runs in one inning this time but they got pretty close as Atlanta’s bullpen had an uncharacteristically nightmarish inning. St. Louis went single-homer-walk (pitching change)-single-single-single-fielder’s choice out (pitching change)-single-double-fielder’s choice RBI (where Jordan Walker executed a bewildering swim move on the slide home in order to evade Drake Baldwin’s tag) before a double play mercifully ended the inning for Atlanta.

Once the smoke cleared, the two-run lead was now a five-run deficit and all the energy at an oppressively Truist Park had been well and truly drained from the building. The Cardinals ended up making it a six-run victory in the end and the Braves were left a bit bamboozled as the most reliable part of the team finally had an off-night at such an inopportune time.

I suppose that the one positive to take away from this series is that the offense didn’t look completely moribund. Considering how the offense looked for the entire month of June, this lineup looked downright potent against the Cardinals over the course of the three games. While their plate performance was absolutely mortifying last month, it was still reasonable to believe that the players in this lineup (particularly the core players like Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II) could eventually turn it on and get things going at the plate. The jury is still out on whether or not they’re ‘back’ (and the power certainly hasn’t returned yet) but the offense didn’t make me depressed like it did over long stretches during June.

Instead, this just felt like one of those series that’s indicative of where things are at right now as far as this team’s fortunes go. Martín Pérez has usually been reliable but he ended up having one bad inning and it doomed the Braves. Right after they got a feel-good win to even up the series and looked to be on their way to taking the series win, the bullpen has their worst inning of the season and the Braves ended up dropping the series, instead. When seemingly nothing is going right, you have stuff like that happening in the two losses that the Braves had in this series. One problem gets solved only for more problems to pop up in the process.

Somehow, the Braves remain in first place despite their woeful form at the moment and now they’ll be gearing up to face off against a Mets squad that has been running just as cold for the past month or so. I would say that this could be a bit of a get-right series for the Braves but first off, this Mets team actually toppled the Braves in a three-game series last month and then when you consider the form that the Cardinals were in heading into this series, this should’ve been the get-right series for the Braves. It did end up being a get-right series — for Nathan Church and the Cardinals, that is.

Now, we’re likely going to see an intense fight between a Mets team looking to have something or anything go right for them and a Braves team that is looking more and more desperate to get back going on the right track before they end up in second place before long. It was nearly unthinkable with the way April and May went for this Braves team but baseball is a funny ol’ sport and right now, the joke is on our Braves.

In honor of the Philadelphia Phillies playing host to the 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, we here at The Good Phight are launching a yearlong series that focuses on the history of the Phillies and the All-Star Game. Check back regularly for posts about the Phillies participation (or lack thereof) in the Midsummer Classic over its history.

We’re back and it’s time to wrap up the rest of the 1980s Phillies’ one and done All-Stars. If you missed part 1 or any of the previous parts, here are the links: 1930s,1940s part 1, 1940s part 2,1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s part 1. Now, settle in for a longer one.

Steve Bedrosian, 1987

“Bedrock” had one of the best single seasons for a Phillies relief pitcher ever, but way before that, he was a standout baseball, football, and wrestling star at his high school in his hometown of Methuen, Massachusetts. His prowess would later lead to the local newspaper dubbing Bedrosian the area’s “Top Athlete of the 20th Century.” Bedrosian stuck with baseball though, and after playing two years at Northern Essex Community College, he played collegiately for the University of New Haven. It was there where Bedrosian went 13-3 and was named to the Division II All-America first team.

That single year in college was good enough for the Atlanta Braves to select Bedrosian with the 53rd overall pick in the third round of the 1978 amateur draft. He moved through the Braves system rather quickly, ending 1979 in Double-A with a 3.03 ERA in 13 starts as a 21-year-old. But it was there where Bedrosian set off to learn how to pitch rather than just relying on his strong fastball. He was named a Southern League All-Star in 1980 and logged 203 innings with a 3.19 ERA. Bedrosian started 1981 in Triple-A but earned his call to the Majors in August. He made his MLB debut on August 14th in Los Angeles. The now 22-year-old Bedrosian entered in the fourth inning against the Dodgers with the bases loaded and one out after Braves starter John Montefusco couldn’t make it out of the inning and had already surrendered two runs. Bedrosian allowed Bill Russell to hit into a sacrifice fly for the second out before drilling Dodgers pitcher Dave Goltz inside the right elbow to load the bases once again. But Bedrosian avoided further damage by getting Davey Lopes to pop out to end his first taste of the Majors.

Despite that somewhat inauspicious start, Bedrosian remained in Atlanta for the rest of the season and finished 1981 with a 4.44 ERA in 15 MLB appearances including one start on August 22nd where he allowed five runs, three earned, all in the sixth inning after throwing five scoreless to start the night. He seemed primed for a good 1982, but he was involved in a car accident in the Dominican Republic while playing winter ball in late January. Bedrosian was the passenger in a car driven by his teammate that ran into a head-on collision, causing Bedrosian to suffer a concussion as well as requiring him to get 65 stiches for facial lacerations and having to have glass pulled from his eye. The injuries continued in March when he broke his left pinky finger after getting it jammed in a door at the Braves’ West Palm Beach hotel. But because he was a right hander, the injury did not cost Bedrosian a spot on the Opening Day roster, and he later became the winning pitcher in the Braves’ record-breaking 12th consecutive win to begin a season.

Bedrosian was mostly a full-time reliever in 1982, as he made only three starts but appeared in 64 games and threw 137.2 innings with a 2.42 ERA. Braves pitching coach Bob Gibson (yes THAT Bob Gibson) decided Bedrosian was best suited for a relief role despite mostly being a starter in his Minor League career. It turns out Bob Gibson knew what he was talking about, as Bedrosian continued to excel in relief for the next two seasons, pitching to a 3.09 ERA across 203.2 IP from 1983-1984 with 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings. However, new manager Eddie Haas announced before the 1985 season that Bedrosian would be in the starting rotation as the arrival of new closer Bruce Sutter allowed the move and the Braves were in dire need of starters. That decision didn’t help Atlanta’s chances, as Bedrosian pitched to a decent 3.83 ERA across 37 starts but finished with a record of 7-15 thanks to poor offensive support from a Braves team that went 66-96 and finished in last place.

New general manager Bobby Cox decided to trade Bedrosian in an attempt to get more offense for the anemic Atlanta lineup. He shipped Bedrosian to the Phillies along with Milt Thompson in exchange for catcher Ozzie Virgil, an All-Star the previous season, and pitcher Pete Smith on December 10th, 1985. Phillies president Bill Giles felt that the trade had accomplished Philadelphia’s main goals of acquiring bullpen help and a leadoff hitter. Phillies manager John Felske was confused as to why Atlanta was willing to part with Bedrosian, remarking “You look at his numbers, and he was outstanding for four innings in his starts and then had problems. But we’re going to put him in our ‘pen and he’s going to be our closer.”

That transition back to the bullpen, in addition to arm soreness in the spring. caused Bedrosian to struggle a bit to begin 1986. By the end of April, Bedrosian had a 7.27 ERA through 8 appearances and was already being serenaded with boos. However, Bedrosian turned his season around in May, pitching to a 2.12 ERA through 11 games and collecting three saves. He credited Phillies pitching coach Claude Osteen with helping him fix his mechanics that resulted in the success. Bedrosian went on to finish 1986 with a 3.39 ERA and 29 saves, as the trade that brought him to Philadelphia was talked about as one of the best of the previous year. He was rewarded for his efforts with a new two-year contract.

It turned out that the security that new deal provided worked wonders for Bedrosian, as he had a season for the ages in 1987. But it didn’t start out that way, as he once again got off to a poor start with a 7.84 ERA through the end of April. One of those rough outings proved to be historic though, as Bedrosian blowing a three-run lead to the Pirates on April 18th allowed Mike Schmidt to hit his 500th career home run in the top of the ninth to give the Phillies the lead again. But Bedrosian turned it around in May with a 1.04 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 17.1 IP. He started a streak of converting 19 of 20 save opportunities including a then-record of 13 consecutive saves. By the time of the All-Star break on July 14th, Bedrosian had a 2.77 ERA and 24 saves for a Phillies team that had only 42 wins. NL manager Davey Johnson of the Mets named Bedrosian to his All-Star pitching staff, and Bedrock joined teammates Schmidt and Juan Samuel at the game to be played in Oakland.

Bedrosian ended up playing a major role in his only All-Star game, as he entered a scoreless game in the bottom of the ninth. He walked Dave Winfield to begin the inning before retiring Tony Fernández on a sacrifice bunt. Dwight Evans drew another walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Harold Reynolds then hit a groundball to first baseman Keith Hernandez who threw to second for the force, but the throw from Hubie Brooks to Bedrosian covering first was wide, nixing the double play chance and making it possible for the winning run to score. But Bedrosian made a spectacular play, as he dove to field the errant throw and quickly stood up and fired home to Ozzie Virgil, the man he was traded for, to nab Winfield as he tried to score, securing the double play after all and ending the inning. Bedrosian’s heroics allowed the NL to eventually win 2-0 in 13 innings thanks to a Tim Raines two run triple.

Bedrosian continued his stellar season after the break and finished 1987 with a 2.83 ERA and a league-best 40 saves, becoming the first Phillie to do so since saves became official. His five wins along with those 40 saves meant that Bedrosian was directly involved in 45 of the team’s 80 wins on the season. His efforts were rewarded with a controversial Cy Young Award, as Bedrosian narrowly edged out Rick Sutcliffe and Rick Reuschel in one of the closest Cy Young Award votes in history to become only the sixth relief pitcher to ever win the honor. Five pitchers received at least one first place vote and no pitcher was named on all 24 ballots. Bedrosian won the award despite throwing just 89 innings while Sutcliffe and Reuschel both tossed over 230 and every vote recipient except Dwight Gooden had over 200. Nevertheless, Bedrosian’s win gave the Phillies their fourth Cy Young winner of the decade (Steve Carlton twice and John Denny once). All in all, Bedrosian ended 1987 with a Cy Young Award, an All-Star nomination, the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year award, the MLB record for consecutive saves, and a newborn son.

Unfortunately, the success didn’t quite carry over to 1988, as Bedrosian started the year on the injured list with a walking pneumonia that prevented his season debut until May 20th. He broke Tug McGraw’s then franchise saves record on September 25th with his 95th save in a Phillies uniform and finished with a 3.75 ERA and 28 saves in 74.1 IP. Bedrosian was the only Phillies player offered a multi-year contract after the season, and he agreed to a new three-year deal worth a little over $4M total. However, Bedrosian would not finish that contract with the Phillies, as he was traded to the Giants on June 18th, 1989, in exchange for Dennis Cook, Terry Mulholland, and minor leaguer Charlie Hayes. Shortly after, the Phillies also traded away fellow 1987 All-Star Juan Samuel, sending him to the Mets in exchange for Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell.

Bedrosian finished the year with the Giants and posted a 2.65 ERA and 17 saves in 51 innings. He appeared in four out of five games in the 1989 NLCS and recorded three saves, including the win that clinched the NL pennant, but pitched just 2.1 innings in the infamous “Earthquake” World Series that the Giants lost to the Athletics. He would go on to pitch another year in San Francisco in 1990 but struggled with a 4.20 ERA in 68 games. The Giants traded him to Minnesota that December where he logged a 4.42 ERA in 56 games but was able to capture his first and only World Series win, as the Twins defeated his old team the Braves in seven games. Bedrosian, a free agent, then took the next season off as medical staffs tried to find out why his once dominant fastball now only sat in the upper 80s as he suffered through numbness in his fingers. But as the 1992 season got underway, the numbness subsided, and it was blamed on tobacco use (which Bedrosian gave up) and stress from his son Cody’s leukemia treatment. With Cody now in remission, Bedrosian signed with the Braves before 1993 and the 35-year-old had a renaissance, pitching to a 1.63 ERA in 49 appearances. He played another season and a half with the Braves before abruptly announcing his retirement in August of 1995 after appearing in just 29 of a possible 95 games and logging a 6.11 ERA.

Bedrock is still third on the Phillies all-time saves leaderboard with 103, having been surpassed by Jose Mesa (112) and Jonathan Papelbon (123). His son, Cam, made 11 appearances for the Phillies in 2021 with a 4.35 ERA.

Kevin Gross, 1988

Who says a little controversy can’t lead to good results? Kevin Gross proved that in 1988. The big 6’5 right hander out of Downey, California, was originally selected by the Orioles in the 32nd round of the 1979 draft. He had thrown a no-hitter his senior year at Fillmore High School and logged 95.2 innings while helping his team to win the local championship and get to the finals for the state title. However, Gross elected to go to college rather than sign with Baltimore, first playing for California Lutheran College before transferring to Oxnard. Part of the reason for the transfer was so that Gross could once again enter the draft, and this time, he was selected by the Phillies in the first round of the secondary phase of the 1981 draft.

Gross moved quickly through the minor leagues, having reached Triple-A by 1983 as a 22-year-old. Despite struggling there with a 6.75 ERA, Gross was selected to join the Phillies rotation in June of 1983. His manager for Triple-A Portland John Felske called Gross into his office and offered him good news and bad news, to which Gross asked for the bad news first. Felske told him that he was removing Gross from the Triple-A rotation, and the reason was that he was joining the big-league pitching staff. His rise was so rapid that Gross didn’t even have a locker in the visiting clubhouse at Shea Stadium on the day of his debut on June 25th. He was impressive in that debut, as Gross went 6.1 innings while allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts in a 4-2 Phillies win. Gross’ start was a godsend for a Phillies rotation that was in desperate need of help after losing Larry Christenson to an elbow injury. He stayed in the Majors the rest of the year, making 17 starts and pitching to a 3.56 ERA while the Phillies made it to the World Series, although Gross didn’t pitch in the postseason.

Despite that strong rookie performance, the Phillies did not guarantee Gross a spot in the rotation for 1984. In fact, his spot on the roster wasn’t even guaranteed, as team president Bill Giles wanted to keep Tug McGraw and the Phillies would only keep nine pitchers, making Gross a possible odd man out. Pitching coach Claude Osteen believed that Gross could be used as a spot starter and middle relief despite Gross only appearing in two career minor league games as a reliever. Gross reluctantly accepted the role, and in doing so assured his spot on the 1984 roster. He appeared in 44 games that season with 14 starts and pitched to a 4.12 ERA in 129 innings.

Things changed to begin 1985, as the Phillies informed Gross early in the spring that he had a job in the rotation as long as he didn’t lose it in spring training. He didn’t, and the 24-year-old Gross became a key part of a strong rotation with a 15-13 record and a 3.41 ERA. Gross was firmly established in the rotation by 1986, and he threw a career-high 241.2 innings with a 4.02 ERA and a 12-12 record despite leading the league in home runs allowed and hit by pitches.

The 1987 season brought controversy though, as Gross was ejected from a start on August 10th after umpire John Kibner claimed that Gross was using an illegal substance on his glove to doctor the ball. Gross was the second player that month to be ejected for allegedly altering the ball, joining Joe Niekro of the Twins. Gross’ glove and the ball were confiscated, and it was found that the ball was clean but there was some sandpaper glued to his glove, resulting in Gross being suspended 10 games. Phillies manager Lee Elia admitted to seeing some discoloration on the glove, but also remarked “It might sound funny, but without my glasses I can’t see.” Gross, who was pitching through a back injury, denied that he was intentionally scuffing the ball and appealed the suspension through the MLBPA, but the suspension was later upheld by the league on September 1st. Gross admitted to expecting a suspension but was dismayed when Giles and the Phillies decided to withhold his pay over the course of the suspension. “It makes me wonder what they think about me,” Gross said to the Inquirer, “It puts doubt in my mind that I’ll be playing here anymore.” The Phillies ultimately reversed the decision to withhold his pay, and Gross was willing to put the conflict with the team in the past and move on.

Both sides did eventually move on to begin 1988, as Gross prepared once again to be a stalwart in the Phillies rotation. Gross got off to a wonderful start, going 8-5 with a 2.89 ERA across 134 innings by the time of the All-Star break. A little under a year after the sandpaper glove debacle, Gross was on the doorstep of being named an All-Star despite being stuck on a last place team. He almost lost that chance though when he suffered an ankle injury after slipping on the stairs while running barefoot to answer the phone. Nevertheless, Gross was indeed named to the All-Star team and went to Cincinnati for the festivities, joining teammate Lance Parrish as the Phillies representatives. Gross made it into the game in the top of the sixth with the AL leading 2-1. He recorded a clean inning by striking out José Canseco and retiring Dave Winfield and Cal Ripken Jr. on a pair of flyouts. Parrish made it into the game as well; except he had the honor of being the final out when he was retired by Deniss Eckersley to seal a 2-1 win for the AL.

Unfortunately, Gross couldn’t keep his momentum after the All-Star break, going 4-9 with a 4.79 ERA as the Phillies finished in last place with a 65-96-1 record. The lowly Phillies decided to cash in on Gross as a trade chip following his All-Star season, sending him to the Montreal Expos on December 6th in exchange for starter Floyd Youmans and reliever Jeff Parrett in addition to the Expos waiving their rights to reclaim Jeff Tabaka whom the Phillies then drafted in the first round. Youmans had been suspended 60 days for substance abuse in 1988 and went through rehabilitation. Giles believed it was a gamble but added “we think it will work out.” Youmans made 10 starts for the Phillies in 1989 with a 5.70 ERA and was plagued with injuries through most of the season. He underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in August and never appeared in the Majors again.

Gross meanwhile spent two years in Montreal and compiled a record of 20-24 with a 4.47 ERA. He signed with the Dodgers prior to the 1991 season and threw a no-hitter with L.A. on August 17th, 1992. Gross needed just 99 pitches to throw the eighth no-hitter in Dodgers history, allowing only three Giants to reach base via two walks and a hit batter while striking out six. It was the highlight of the season for a Dodgers team that finished 63-99. Gross then signed with the Rangers prior to 1995 and pitched in Texas for two rough years, finishing with a record of 20-23 and a 5.41 ERA. The 36-year-old started 1997 in the minors for the Rangers before being released and signing with the Angels in June. He made 12 appearances with Anaheim but only three starts and was once again released in July after logging a 6.75 ERA, effectively ending his career after 15 years.

Von Hayes, 1989

Von Hayes was simultaneously probably better than you remembered but still not as good as it was thought he could be. Nevertheless, Hayes’ baseball journey started in Stockton, California as the son of two remarkable parents. Lenore, Von’s mother, was a native Puerto Rican who grew up on a farm without electricity as one of 13 children. She would go on to get a nursing degree and immigrate to Stockton where she met Donald, a B-17 tail gunner in World War II who was a prisoner of war for 11 months. Von would actually be named after one of Donald’s fellow POWs.

Hayes was undersized playing baseball growing up, but that didn’t stop the family from encouraging him and his father from having him mimic the left-handed swing of Ted Williams. He was 6’1 after graduating high school where he was primarily a pitcher before shooting up to 6’5 during his tenure at St. Mary’s College of California. It was there where Hayes was moved away from pitching and started playing first and third base. He was finally a standout ballplayer, setting numerous school records and even capturing MVP honors in the United States-Japan College World Series in 1979.

His late-blooming performance was good enough for the Cleveland Indians to select Hayes in the seventh round of the 1979 MLB draft. He was a phenom almost immediately for Class-A Waterloo, as Hayes hit .329 with a .905 OPS and 15 home runs in 134 games with less strikeouts (63) than walks (66) as a 22-year-old. The Cleveland organization was so impressed with Hayes that they made the decision to jump him all the way up to the Majors out of spring training in 1981. However, he only played in one game, serving as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning of a 7-1 win on April 14th. Hayes was then sent to Triple-A where he continued tearing up the minor leagues, except this time almost three years younger than the average age of the competition. He hit .314 with an .875 OPS and 10 home runs in 105 games at Charleston, earning a call-up to the big leagues for good in August after the MLB season resumed following a players’ strike. He remained in the majors the rest of the season and hit .257 with a .741 OPS while spending time at DH, left field, and third base.

Hayes started 1982 on the Cleveland bench but won a full-time job by the middle of May. His versatility was a huge asset, as Hayes played all three outfield positions, both infield corners, and was able to bat anywhere in the lineup. He finished his first full season in the majors hitting .250 with a .699 OPS while being almost a three-win player and placing seventh in rookie of the year voting. But his efforts were wasted on a last place Cleveland team that had only finished above .500 three times in the last decade, and one of those was the strike-shortened 1981.

With Hayes on the verge of possible stardom, Cleveland decided to cash in on their former top prospect. They swung a surprising trade with the Phillies, sending Hayes to Philadelphia in exchange for Manny Trillo, Julio Franco, Jay Baller, George Vukovich, and Jerry Willard. It was a massive return for just one player, as the Phillies surrendered five total players including their starting second baseman. Trillo was set to enter the last year of his contract, and the Phillies did not seem likely to meet his demands for a five year, $5M deal. So, the decision was made to ship him out in a trade rather than letting him walk, even as manager Pat Corrales acknowledged that “People are going to criticize us and say we gave up a lot and we did.” But Corrales also expressed the team’s belief that Hayes was “going to be one of the best players around.”

Unfortunately, the Phillies didn’t take into account the effect of trading five players for one 24-year-old would have on the kid’s psyche, nor did they foresee him gaining the nickname “5-for-1” courtesy of his new teammate Pete Rose. Hayes was also making the jump from a team with little aspirations to one expecting to contend with the last gasps of a championship core. Early season injuries and disappointing performance limited Hayes’ playing time in 1983, as he finished hitting .265 with a .707 OPS. He collected only five total plate appearances in the postseason as the Phillies won the NL pennant and lost the World Series to the Orioles. Meanwhile, Julio Franco, one of the five players Hayes was traded for, finished second in Rookie of the Year voting for Cleveland.

The Phillies decided to make Hayes a full-time starter for 1984, giving him time in all three outfield positions. He made the most of it, as he hit .292 with 16 home runs and 48 stolen bases. Despite Hayes’ strong season, the Phillies sunk to 81-81, as core members of their championship core either departed or got another year older. The team was looking to turn the page to its next era, and Hayes looked to be a foundational building block. But 1985 brought a step back, as Hayes saw decreases to his batting average, home runs, stolen bases, and OPS. He did become the first player to ever hit two home runs in the first inning of a game though as part of a 26-7 shellacking of the Mets on June 11th. That night proved to be a memorable moment in an otherwise forgettable season.

1986 looked to be the start of Hayes finally putting it all together and becoming the young cornerstone the Phillies desperately needed. He hit .305 with 19 home runs and led the league in doubles (46) and runs scored (107), finishing 8th in MVP voting behind the first place Mike Schmidt. But much like the previous seasons, the Phillies disappointed in the win column, as their glory days were firmly in the rear-view mirror. 1987 wasn’t much different, as Hayes put up another good season with a career best 21 home runs and .877 OPS, but the Phillies got off to a dreadful start and never fully recovered despite a change at manager. They sunk even lower in 1988, finishing with the third worst record in baseball. New manager Lee Elia didn’t even last the full season, but that didn’t stop Hayes from hitting him in the face with his batting helmet during a game in June. Elia took exception to Hayes not running out a popup, and Hayes took exception to that exception, so he threw his helmet at his manager and had to be restrained from going after him in the dugout.

But 1989 started off much better for Hayes, even if it was more of the same for the Phillies. Now 30 years old, it finally seemed that Hayes had put it all together for sure this time. He came out of the gates on fire, hitting .382 with 7 home runs through the first 22 games of the season, earning Player of the Month honors for April. But one of the worst possible things that could have happened to Hayes happened in May: Mike Schmidt retired.

Schmidt’s abrupt retirement and the lack of any other choices thrust Hayes into the role of face of the franchise, especially after the Phillies granted him a new three-year contract worth $6.4M. If there was any doubt that Hayes was the Phillies new star, general manager Lee Thomas said as much. “This has made him the guy, there’s no doubt,” Thomas told the Inquirer, adding “Von is a good player and still has a chance to be a great player.”

Hayes carried the burden well enough to be named to his first All-Star game that summer despite cooling off tremendously from his torrid April. Nevertheless, Hayes joined the retired Schmidt as the Phillies All-Star representatives in Anaheim. Hayes had a request for Schmidt before the game, asking if the future Hall of Famer would stand in the on-deck circle so he could continue to get good pitches to hit.

The request wasn’t honored, but Hayes still was able to get into the game in the seventh inning as a defensive substitution for the Reds’ Eric Davis in center field. He came to bat in the top of the eighth with two outs and the NL down 5-2 and delivered a single to left field off of Dan Plesac that drove in the Astros’ Glenn Davis from second and cut the AL’s lead to 5-3. With Hayes now serving as the tying run, Tim Wallach of the Expos stepped to the plate with the possibility of making Hayes’ hit the start of a memorable comeback. But Wallach lined out to left field off of new pitcher Doug Jones to end the inning, and the NL lost 5-3. Much like most of Hayes’ Phillies career, his good-but-not-great contribution to a losing team was forgotten.

Hayes’ second half of 1989 wasn’t as good as his first, but he still finished with a career high 26 home runs and almost as many walks (101) as strikeouts (103). Hayes stayed fairly consistent in 1990 despite some injuries, but his fit on the team started to become less clear as a new nucleus of younger talent started to take shape in Philadelphia. Then on June 14th, 1991, a fastball from the Reds’ Tom Browning struck Hayes in the wrist, and x-rays soon revealed that the ulna bone in his hand was fractured. That injury proved fateful, as the Phillies didn’t miss a beat and continued to improve with Hayes sidelined. When he returned in September, Hayes became the first player in history to finish a season with 0 home runs one season after having at least 17.

The team may have finished in third place despite their play in Hayes’ absence, but that level of play without their “franchise player” convinced the front office that Hayes was no longer in the team’s plans. On December 8th, 1991, the Phillies traded the 33-year-old Hayes to the California Angels in exchange for Kyle Abbott and Ruben Amaro Jr. “When I first came to Philadelphia, he was the one guy I said I wouldn’t trade,” said Lee Thomas, only slightly under three years after declaring Hayes the face of the franchise, adding “We we’re going to build around him. But it just didn’t work out.” Jayson Stark may have said it best in the Inquirer when he wrote that Hayes “had seen about as much of Philadelphia as ever wanted to see. And Philadelphia had seen about as much of him as it wanted to see, too.”

Hayes played one year for the Angels and hit .225 with only 4 home runs in 94 games. He was released following the season and did not generate much interest from any other team, thus essentially ending his once promising, can’t miss, big-league playing career after 12 years. But his career as a reference for Philadelphia basedsitcoms was still to come.

Sources

Baseball-Reference.com

Wynn Montgomery, Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Biography for Steve Bedrosian

The Mobile Press, June 13th, 1978

The Albuquerque Tribune, August 15th, 1981

Richmond Times-Dispatch, January 27th, 1982

Shari Roan, Fort Lauderdale News, March 7th, 1982

Chris Mortensen, The Atlanta Journal, April 8th, 1985

The Daily News, December 11th, 1985

The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 10th, 1987

Jayson Stark, The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 14th, 1987

Bill Conlin, Philadelphia Daily News, July 15th, 1987

Paul Hagen, Philadelphia Daily News, November 11th, 1987

Peter Pascarelli, The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 19th, 1989

Ventura County Star, June 8th, 1979

Ventura County Star, January 14th, 1981

Ray Finocchiaro, Camden Courier-Post, June 25th, 1983

Frank Dolson, The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 26th, 1983

Hazelton Standard-Speaker, March 16th, 1984

Scranton Times-Tribune, March 17th, 1985

Ventura County Star, August 11th, 1987

Peter Pascarelli, The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 12th, 1987

Peter Pascarelli, The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 2nd, 1987

Peter Pascarelli, The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 5th, 1987

Frank Dolson, The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 11th, 1988

Jim Donaghy, The Morning Call, December 7th, 1988

Bill Plaschke, The Los Angeles Times, August 18th, 1992

Gordon Edes, Fort Meyers News-Press, January 1st, 1995

Plainview Daily Herald, March 18th, 1997

Ventura County Star, June 21st, 1997

Zac Petriello, Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Biography of Von Hayes

The Lima News, June 7th, 1979

The Daily News, December 10th, 1982

Jeff Young, Intelligencer Journal, June 29th, 1983

Mark Whicker, Philadelphia Daily News, January 18th, 1983

Ralph Bernstein, Standard Speaker, March 6th, 1984

Bernard Fernandez, Philadelphia Daily News, June 12th, 1985

Paul Hagen, Philadelphia Daily News, June 27th, 1988

Jayson Stark, The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 12th, 1989

Frank Dolson, The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 3rd, 1989

Dick Polman, The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 15th, 1991

Jayson Stark, The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 9th, 1991

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Yankees fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

It has not been a good time to be a New York Yankee of late. While a couple of nights could feasibly be explained by a bout of food poisoning that ran through the clubhouse recently, the truth is the team has been playing rather poorly for a lot longer than a few days. The biggest offender has been the offense going missing in action with a number of injuries befalling them, but the rotation has also toppled from its perch atop the league during the past month as some rough outings from their starters combined to put them in major deficits that have felt rather hopeless to come back from.

With that in mind, we asked at the start of the week which Yankee starting pitcher looked most concerning to you. We didn’t include Cam Schlittler among the options because he’s been the clear and away ace of the team, even though he’s since looked rather shaky with his most recent start. Hopefully that’s more of a blip on the radar rather than a sign of another problem on the horizon, but regardless he’s not our focus today. The rest of the rotation is, and there were two clear front-runners for who fans were most concerned with.

Gerrit Cole may not be the ace of this team this season, but he’s still one of the team’s aces and an essential part of their rotation. Coming off of Tommy John surgery, there was an expectation that Cole likely wouldn’t be 100 percent when he came back but I don’t think anyone expected him to look strong out of the gate only to come crashing back to reality. Cole did get a bit out of shape during his time on the IL and that could exacerbate his issues on the mound as he’s also compensating for his recovering arm strength, but simply put coughing up four or five runs a start isn’t going to be acceptable. Hopefully as he gets back into game shape he’ll round into form, but right now it is not the Cole of days past that’s running out there every five days.

Right behind Cole in the polling was Ryan Weathers, a fair jump down in the rotation order to the bottom. Despite his role as the fifth starter, Weathers was one of the more impressive pitchers the Yankees had in April and May, more than earning his place and making a conversation around who would get demoted to the bullpen between him and Will Warren once the rotation was fully healthy. Well, that conversation looks a lot different after June now as Weathers posted a 5.55 ERA in five starts across the month. There was a particularly rough stretch to end May and open June where he allowed five-plus runs in three straight starts, but he rebounded to post two strong outings in a row against the White Sox and Tigers before a second outing against Detroit went disastrously and he exited in the second inning. The entire staff has taken a hit recently, but Weathers has arguably looked the worst of the bunch with a penchant for giving up the long ball. Barring another injury, he’ll shift out for Max Fried when he returns from the IL.

Our other two candidates, Will Warren and Carlos Rodón, garnered a fair bit of worry but nothing close to either Cole or Weathers’ numbers. Warren did have a similarly bad June to Weathers, but did so with a bit more consistency as he’s wont to do. Rodón, on the other hand, while being prone to one frustrating inning nearly every time he goes out has been the best of the bunch lately.

These survey results are sponsored by FanDuel.

There have been times in recent weeks when the Yankees, essentially, have been bad at everything baseball, whether it’s fielding blunders that lead to unearned runs, poor pitching, or a vanishing offense that’s set some club records no one would want.

But it’s hard not to believe they’re better than that, especially with a run differential of plus-87 (all numbers are entering play Thursday), which is by far the best in the American League and is fourth overall. They recently surrendered first place in the AL East, but they have the second-best record in the league and only six MLB teams have more wins.

Yeah, there are complaints to be made, but overall, the product is pretty good, despite their recent losing streak. And that’s come while they played all of June without Aaron Judge, the game’s best offensive weapon. Other injuries have affected them, too, but they are still an obvious playoff team that might just be better than the sum of its parts. 

So keep that in mind as we run through some grades for major Yankees. At the end, we’ll deliver marks for Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman, too, as well as an overall judgment. If you’re a pinstriped hierarchy hater, you will probably be disappointed. 

Maybe you’ll get your last laugh this October. But you might just be watching your “favorite” team in the World Series.

Here are the grades... 

AARON JUDGE

The Yanks are 12-15 without him. Pretty telling. His numbers (.907 OPS, for instance) weren’t up to his lofty standard, but we don’t know how much that stress fracture in a rib was bothering him.

Grade: A-minus

BEN RICE

He’s bloomed into one of baseball’s elite mashers (.916 OPS, 22 homers), but his stats have swooned lately without Judge in the lineup.

Grade: A-minus

PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT

“Young Goldy” destroys lefty pitching and already has more homers than he did all of last season. His thunder has been invaluable.

Grade: A

JAZZ CHISHOLM Jr.

He’s got 12 homers and 26 steals, but his OPS is only .708, below MLB average. There’s more in the tank here.

Grade: B-minus

AUSTIN WELLS

If he were qualified, his OPS would be the worst in baseball, by a lot.

Grade: F

CODY BELLINGER

True five-tool player whose glossy offensive season took a hit with a recent slump. His grade, too.

Grade: A-minus

JOSÉ CABALLERO

An agitator who has lots of defensive value at lots of different positions and plenty of verve on the basepaths. Sometimes gets more overall love because he’s not Anthony Volpe.

Grade: B-minus

CAM SCHLITTLER

Best pitcher in the American League, even after getting clobbered in his most recent start. Full stop.

Grade: A

CARLOS RODÓN

Walks too many, but he’s very hard to hit.

Grade: B

RYAN WEATHERS

Eye-popping stuff, but he seems destined to join the bullpen mix once Max Fried is healthy.

Grade: C-plus

WILL WARREN

Rough June (5.49 ERA) clipped his grade, but he’s a consistent back-end arm.

Grade: B-minus

GERRIT COLE

First two starts made you dream, but a 6.12 ERA in June shows how the path back from injury doesn’t necessarily fastrack back to greatness. Yet, anyway.

Grade: C-plus

DAVID BEDNAR

Endured shaky moments, but he’s been hot lately (12 straight scoreless appearances).

Grade: B-plus

FERNANDO CRUZ

His splitter is one of baseball’s great pitchers. Brings nifty emotion, too.

Grade: B-plus

CAMILO DOVAL

Great stuff, right? Results less so – 4.96 ERA, career-worst 1.4 homers-per-nine. Bounceback would be huge for the Yankee pen.

Grade: D

AARON BOONE

The Yankees have the best odds in the American League both to make the playoffs and to win their division, according to FanGraphs. They are second in MLB only to the mighty Dodgers in terms of odds to win the World Series. Seems like they’re in a good place, regardless of how the online anti-Boone faction sees it, though Boone must find a way to keep these Yanks afloat while Judge heals. Boone, a player’s manager, is a solid front-facing executive for the Yankees. He delivers his positive worldview nightly (while some fans crave an eruption) and has navigated personalities and injuries thus far. If there’s a segment of fans who don’t like his message, does that really matter?

Grade: B-plus

BRIAN CASHMAN

See the above on their playoff odds. No one seemed to like the winter plan to mostly run it back from last year, since that meant there were no shiny new toys. But it’s worked. Cashman got Bellinger back, added Weathers to a nice pitching mix and re-signed Amed Rosario, a helpful platoon bat. Now he’s got more work to do – the Yanks need bullpen arms and perhaps a righty-hitting catcher. The bottom of the lineup sometimes seems like a hit desert. Cashman is always willing to attack the club’s weaknesses at the deadline. He’ll likely do it again now and that’s when a more crucial evaluation of the GM will take place.

Grade: A-minus

OVERALL

The Yanks are probably the best team in the American League, even if they got embarrassed last weekend at Fenway, have played poorly since, and have had other moments where it hasn’t looked pretty. They’ve missed Judge, Fried, Trent Grisham and Giancarlo Stanton, and seemingly are enduring another “June Swoon” (that’s carried into July, apparently) that so lights up social media. But it figures to be scary for the rest of the AL once they get their guys back and start playing better.

Grade: A-minus

This culminates a week of grading the Mets’ disappointing first half of the 2026 season. Here are some individual grades for key players, then David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza, and finally a team grade.

JUAN SOTO

Without much protection in the lineup, Soto is putting up big numbers, including a .957 OPS that is second-highest in MLB and a .554 slugging percentage that is sixth. The only knock (besides missing 19 games due to injury) is that, like last year, he hasn’t been great in the clutch. Hitting only .205 w/RISP, but does have .421 on-base, and .500 on-base with two outs/RISP, which tells you he’s not getting much to hit in big spots.

Grade: A

CARSON BENGE

His growth as a hitter has been remarkable. The rookie went from being overmatched in April to a major contributor in May and June, learning to catch up with high velocity and gets the barrel to fastballs up in the zone. Should be a mainstay for years.

Grade: B +

A.J. EWING

Like Benge, one of the only reasons to watch the Mets since they nosedived. He brought energy upon his call-up in May with his speed and his defense in center field, and impressed at the plate with his short, quick swing. Early success leveled off when pitchers stopped trying to get him to chase, challenged him more in the zone, though his .855 OPS in his last 15 games is an indication he’s figuring it out. Leadoff hitter of the future.

Grade: B

FRANCISCO ALVAREZ

Likely will never reach his once-hyped potential as long as he’s going to chase high fastballs, which he seems prone to doing in big spots, but he’s also not a bust. Great work ethic helped Alvarez return quickly from knee surgery. Provides some much-needed pop; has nine home runs in 57 games, including five in 20 games since his return. Still a young catcher at 24, with great energy behind the plate. But his bad habit of backhanding balls in the dirt has returned -- needs to clean that up again.

Grade: C

BO BICHETTE

Bat has come to life the last month or so, but numbers are still way down across the board. OPS is just .676 and his slow start was a huge reason the Mets’ offense tanked when the season fell apart early. Came with a rep as a clutch-hitting savant, with spectacular RISP numbers, and after a horrendous start, he’s started to deliver. Hitting .246 w/RISP, .721 OPS. And w/ 2 outs RISP, .270, .931 OPS.

Grade: D

MARCUS SEMIEN

However you want to frame the trade for Brandon Nimmo, as a needless salary dump or a way to clear space for young outfielders, Semien has been a major disappointment. His OPS + of 71 (major league average is 100) sums it up offensively. And metrics say his range at 2B has slipped dramatically. Only saving grace: he’s been pretty good in the clutch, with a .292 BA, .708 OPS.

Grade: D

FRANCISCO LINDOR

Has only played 30 games due to a calf injury. Got off to his typical slow start offensively. Weird part was the mental mistakes he was making early in the season, forgetting how many outs, mistakes on bases, etc.

Grade: Incomplete

CLAY HOLMES

The only pitcher who was dependable from start to start. Holmes’ outstanding first half was cut short by the line drive that fractured his right fibula. Had a 2.39 ERA, was perhaps on his way to an All-Star appearance.

Grade: A

NOLAN MCLEAN

Maybe expectations were too high, based on his excellence over eight starts late last season, but his inconsistency has been puzzling. The stuff is clearly there. The opposition is hitting just .204 against him, fourth-lowest among in MLB. Has big strikeout numbers. But has to learn to command his assortment of pitches, especially the high-spin breaking stuff, as mistake-pitches have cost him in many games, causing relatively high 3.78 ERA.

Grade: B –

FREDDY PERALTA

Most shocking underperformance of all for the Mets. Peralta’s ERA is 4.81, more than two runs higher than his 2.70 in Milwaukee last year. Even more notably, his ERA+ number of 157 was Hall of Fame level last year. This year it’s 86, well-below major league average. A lot of theories on why he’s not getting swings and misses at top of zone, as in the past, but too late for the Mets to figure it out. Almost sure to be traded at deadline.

Grade: D

CHRISTIAN SCOTT

He’s been solid in his return from Tommy John surgery, pitching to a 3.20 ERA in 10 starts, has bright future. Averaging fewer than five innings per start, missed time recently with hip impingement, so a lot still to prove.

Grade: B

KODAI SENGA

Mets gambled he would rebound. Instead looks like a lost cause, with his 9.09 ERA. Weird that he can be dominant for an inning here and then fall apart the next. Seems to be the definition of in his own head.

Grade: F  

SEAN MANAEA

Give him credit for at least getting himself back to being useful, recovering lost velocity along the way. But at best he’s a fifth starter making $25 million a year. Turned out his 2024 dominance was lightning in a bottle.

Grade: D

DEVIN WILLIAMS

Early struggles contributed to Mets’ lost April, but he has turned his season around in a big way, looking like a lock-down closer again. Hasn’t had many save opportunities since the Mets haven’t had many late leads, but the air-bender change-up has been a dominant pitch again.

Grade: B +

LUKE WEAVER

On an all-time heater, with a streak of 24 straight scoreless innings. Hasn’t given up a run since April. With another year on contract, big question now is whether the Mets will trade him when his stock is high.

Grade: A  

CARLOS MENDOZA

There wasn’t much Mendoza could do about the injuries and underperformance from several high-profile players, which is why he deserved the chance to weather the early-season storms, including that 12-game losing streak. But by last week, when the Mets fired him, it was clear something had to change.

And while Mendoza wasn’t the cause for all the losing, I thought he missed opportunities to hold players accountable, from Mark Vientos running through a stop sign and bragging about it, to David Peterson failing to back up a play (which brought strong criticism from Ron Darling on SNY), to stopping players from making poor challenges of the ABS system early in games, something that became a major issue. Perhaps Mendoza held guys accountable in private, but at some point I thought there needed to be some sign of strength publicly as the team was failing. Also, he seemed to manage more cautiously after his first season, going less by feel of individual games at times and more by the book regarding lefty-righty matchups, etc. I still thought he had a good feel for his players and communicated well with them, but he wasn’t without flaws.

Grade: C-

DAVID STEARNS

There’s no getting around it: the blame falls heavily on Stearns for this disastrous first half. 

If he was going to break up the core, most notably by not re-signing Pete Alonso, he needed to make the right decisions on new players. Instead, he whiffed on key acquisitions, and perhaps most egregiously, gambled on players with a history of injuries like Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr., who both spent most of the first half on the IL. He proclaimed run prevention would be a priority, but then wound up with key players playing new positions, most notably at first base, the position that hurt the Mets most both offensively and defensively.

In addition, he didn’t want to commit to long-term contracts via free agency to upgrade a starting rotation that fell apart in 2025, gambling instead on bounce-backs from Senga, Peterson, and Manaea -- another whiff. He did trade for Peralta, and while it wasn’t Stearns’ fault that the former Milwaukee Brewers star lost his mojo as a Met, it’s fair to say the President of Baseball Ops paid for not doing enough to change the makeup of the starting pitching. He did get the bullpen right, though that’s not very impactful when the Mets infrequently have leads in the late innings.

Grade: F

OVERALL

Finally, the team grade. I really try to avoid giving out failing grades because I think it diminishes the contributions that even the worst teams in baseball get from players who mostly work their tails off trying to produce and win games. But there’s no way around it in this case. The team with the second-highest payroll in baseball, the only team in the same financial stratosphere as the Dodgers, fell on its face in the first half, to the point where Steve Cohen said he fired Mendoza as much to put him out of his misery as anything else. As such, this is perhaps the most embarrassing half-season in team history, which is saying a lot for a franchise that unfortunately is known more for making the term “LOL-Mets” a part of our sporting lexicon than for its achievements.

Grade: F

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (39-44) won 3-2 (BOX SCORE)

Hendrickson started for Sugar Land and was solid allowing 2 runs over 5.2 innings. Sugar Land got on the board in the 6th inning scoring a run on a Salazar bases loaded walk. In the 7th, they took the lead on a Ferreras 2 run double. The pen was great tossing 3.1 scoreless innings as they closed out the 3-2 win.

Note: Ferreras is hitting .375 in Triple-A.

• Zach Cole, RF: 1-for-2, SB
• Shay Whitcomb, 3B: 1-for-4, BB
• Zach Dezenzo, DH: 1-for-5, R, SB
• Trenton Brooks, 1B: 1-for-4, R, BB
• Cesar Salazar, C: 1-for-2, RBI, 2 BB

• Josh Hendrickson, LHP: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Sam Carlson, RHP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (WIN)
• Logan VanWey, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Roddery Munoz, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (SAVE)

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (36-41) lost 5-4 (BOX SCORE)

The Hooks got on the board in the first inning scoring a run on error. They got another run in the 2nd inning on a Holy solo home run. Hertzler got the start for the Hooks and tossed 4 no-hit innings. The game stayed 2-0 until the 7th with the Naturals scored 5 runs to take the lead. The offense got 2 runs back in the 8th on a Bush 2 run single but that would be it as the Hooks fell 5-4.

Note: Brutcher is hitting .354 in Double-A.

• Drew Brutcher, DH: 1-for-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, SB
• Will Bush, C: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
• Yamal Encarnacion, RF: 1-for-3, 2B, BB
• Max Holy, SS: 1-for-4, R, HR, RBI
• Jax Biggers, 3B: 1-for-4, R

• Cole Hertzler, RHP: 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• Jose Guedez, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Jack Dashwood, LHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Julio Rodriguez, RHP: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• Alejandro Torres, RHP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

A+: Asheville Tourists (25-52) won 17-3 (BOX SCORE)

Asheville got on the board scoring 3 runs in the first inning on a Moss sac fly and Hernandez 2 run single. They blew it open in the third inning scoring 9 runs on a Moss RBI single, Daudet RBI single, Garcia hit by pitch, run on a passed ball, Thomas bases loaded walk, Ochoa groundout, Call 2 run double and Moss RBI single. They scored 4 more runs in the 5th on a Moss RBI single and Brown 3 run home run. Oakes got the start and had his best outing in Asheville allowing 1 run over 6 innings while striking out 4. In the 8th inning, Thomas connected on a solo home run. The pen allowed a couple of runs but the offense did more than enough as Asheville won 17-3.

Note: Thomas has a .942 OPS this season.

• Kyle Walker, 2B: 2-for-4, R, 2B, BB
• Justin Thomas, LF: 2-for-4, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB
• Nehomar Ochoa, CF: 2-for-5, 3 R, 2B, RBI, BB
• Chase Call, RF: 1-for-3, 3 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 3 BB
• Jack Moss, 1B: 3-for-5, 2 R, 4 RBI
• Cesar Hernandez, RF: 1-for-5, 2 RBI, BB
• Zach Daudet, 3B: 1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, BB
• Marcus Brown, SS: 1-for-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, BB
• John Garcia, C: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB

• Kellan Oakes, RHP: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (WIN)
• Colby Langford, LHP: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• Anthony Cruz, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (39-38) won 11-5 (BOX SCORE)

Potter started for the Woodpeckers and went 3.2 innings allowing 3 runs. The Woodpeckers got on the board in a big way in the 4th inning scoring 6 runs on a Luciano solo home run, Wakefield bases loaded walk and an Alvarez grand slam. They got 4 more runs in the 5th inning on a Luciano RBI double, Vasquez RBI double and Wakefield 2 run single. Luciano added an RBI single in the 7th inning. Shoemaker allowed 2 runs over 4 innings in relief and Cassedy tossed a scoreless 9th as he closed out the 11-5 win.

Note: Alvarez is hitting .266 this season.

• Anthony Huezo, LF: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB
• Josh Wakefield, CF: 1-for-4, R, 3 RBI, BB
• Kevin Alvarez, DH: 1-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBI, BB
• Carlos Cauro, 1B: 1-for-4, R, BB
• Brandon Nigh, SS: 0-for-2, R, 3 BB
• Waner Luciano, 3B: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB, SB
• Hector Salas, 2B: 0-for-2, 2 R, 3 BB
• Yosweld Vasquez, C: 1-for-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB

• Nick Potter, RHP: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
• Ryan Mathiesen, RHP: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K (WIN)
• Adam Shoemaker, LHP: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
• Brandon Cassedy, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: Ryan Weiss – 7:05 CT

CC: James Hicks – 7:05 CT

AV: Parker Smith – 5:35 CT

FV: TBD – 5:30 CT