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TV: NESN

First Pitch: 1:35 p.m. ET

The Red Sox and Blue Jays will wrap up what has been an astonishingly consistent series on Thursday at Fenway Park.

Boston puts tons of guys on base, none of them score, they lose. Toronto barely scrapes together a few hits, somehow gets its baserunners to score, they win. It’s like clockwork, though that needs to change in order for the former to keep itself from falling 14 games below .500.

Sonny Gray will toe the rubber hoping to turn his club’s fortunes around, which has proven to be a fairly decent formula as he’s 4-0 with a 2.86 ERA and 30 Ks in his last five outing stretching back to May 18. Red Sox manager Chad Tracy is rolling with a similar lineup to that of the middle game, with Caleb Durbin and Connor Wong subbing in for Marcelo Mayer and Masataka Yoshida.

Trey Yesavage will look to complete the series sweep for the Blue Jays, having already picked up a victory over this opponent earlier this season.

Yohendrick Piñango and Brandon Valenzuela will slot into the road team’s lineup for the first time this series. Nathan Lukes, on the other hand, will get his second start. Alejandro Kirk, Davis Schneider, and Myles Straw will slot out after getting the start on Wednesday.

The Red Sox will hit the road for a six-game road trip against the Seattle Mariners and Colorado Rockies.

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I came up empty yesterday on the home run trio despite some decent offensive output from Brian Reynolds and Alec Bohm. There are some great hitting spots today on the small slate that are worthy of some dinger bets and MLB player props.

Right-handed bats in Fenway have a big edge with 20-mph winds blowing out to left, and Bryce Harper gets a reverse-splits lefty, which means lefty-on-lefty value with winds blowing out to right field.

Plus, I'm taking another trip to Sacramento for the day's best hitting conditions.

These are my favorite home run props for Thursday, June 18.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Kazuma Okamoto	+476
Bryce Harper	+437
Tyler Soderstrom	+501
💲Today's HR parlay	+19102

Home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+476)

There are some great hitting conditions for right-handed bats at Fenway today, with 21-mph winds blowing out toward the Monster in left field. Sonny Gray has been fortunate when it comes to home runs at home this season, allowing just one over 31+ innings, but he owned the fifth-worst HR/FB rate in baseball among qualified starters last year. Regression is coming.

Kazuma Okamoto isn't hitting for average right now, but he leads the team with 15 home runs, owns a low groundball rate (35% over the last 14 days), and paces the club in hard-hit rate. He doesn't have the fastest bat on the team, but when he makes contact, he's squaring the ball up at a 34% clip, which ranks among the top 50 hitters in baseball.

This is one of the best +EV home run props on the board today, alongside George Springer at +490, with a fair price closer to +410.

• Time: 1:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NESN, Sportsnet

Home run pick: Bryce Harper (+437)

Today, we're getting a lefty-on-lefty price on a Bryce Harper home run, but it isn't a typical LvL matchup. Sean Manaea gives up HRs to lefties at the same rate as right-handed hitters, and left-handed bats are hitting for a better average vs. him since 2024. Harper has tagged him once in the 15 at-bats between the two, where the All-Star hitter is sporting a .400 AVG.

Harper broke a five-game hitless streak yesterday but had been tearing up June with a 1.060 OPS before that with two homers. His 42.6% hard-hit rate leads the Phillies this year and ranks 18th in baseball. The 14-mph winds will only help the lefty swinger with a 40% pull rate.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSP, SNY

Home run pick: Tyler Soderstrom (+501)

I'll happily add a +500 homer in Sacramento today with, by far, the best hitting conditions on the slate.

Tyler Soderstrom is slugging .719 during the Athletics' current nine-game homestand, where he has also launched four home runs. His .395 ISO ranks inside the Top 25 in baseball over the last two weeks, and his 75.4-mph bat speed places him among the upper tier of hitters over that same stretch.

The Halos are rolling with a bullpen day, and that group of relievers ranks in the bottom third of the league in HR/9. Four of the seven most-used Angels' relievers also carry ERAs north of 4.00.

I love runs in this game.

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: ABTV, NBCSCA

Today’s HR parlay

Kazuma Okamoto	Bet Now +19102
Bryce Harper
Tyler Soderstrom

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Four Scotland supporters enjoyed an even more memorable weekend than most in Boston as they became what the Red Sox believe to be the first UK winners of the club's 50/50 raffle.

Two father and son duos, Peter and Paul Innes and John and Ross Henderson - from Bonnyrigg, Midlothian - attended the Scotland Celebration night at the iconic Fenway Park the night after Steve Clarke's side defeated Haiti in their opening World Cup match.

They bought a $40 raffle ticket between them on Sunday as the Red Sox faced the Texas Rangers and "after checking the number 250 times" discovered they have won the $21,353.80 (£16,132.90) prize.

"It's just surreal," Paul, who has followed Scotland home and away with his dad for over a decade said. "It's not really sunk in."

Half of the winnings goes to support the Red Sox Foundation, meaning the men from Bonnyrigg were presented with a cheque of $10, 676.90 (£8,066.45) before the Red Sox' match against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.

Staff at the Red Sox can't recall a winner from the United Kingdom, and are struggling to find records of any international winners of late.

The Tartan Army marched to the home of the Boston Red Sox before taking in their defeat to the Texas Rangers on a night which hit headlines globally.

"My best pal, his son, my son, amazing," John added. "What a trip we've had!"

• The night the Tartan Army took over iconic Fenway Park

We have an early start today, 1:30 Eastern.

Using seven pitcher on day two of 16 games in a row is less than optimal.

It puts a fair bit of pressure on Trey Yesavage today. He really needs to go deep into the game. Deep into the game has a different meaning now than it did a few years back. I remember when calling a pitcher a ‘seven-inning pitcher’ was an insult. Now seven inning pitchers don’t exist.

The good news is that Louis Varland made it out of his inning on just ten pitches. He’s thrown two days in a row but only 29 pitches across those two days. I don’t know how Pete Walker will think about this, but I’d imagine he could go a few pitches today, if needed. Jeff Hoffman has also pitched two days in a row, 34 pitches total. Tyler Rogers also pitched two days in a row, 28 pitches. With the sidearm thing, I’d guess that he could go again.

The other issue is that we used both SWR and Spencer Miles, leaving us short of long men. Chad Dallas would be the one guy we could expect to have go multiple innings (baring a very last minute roster move). He threw 3.2 innings for us back on June 4th. If Trey has to leave early, I would think Dallas would be asked to throw until his arm falls off.

But, if Trey wanted to throw a complete game, that would be best. No pressure. There has only been four complete games this season.

Tyler Heineman said a very nice goodbye to Toronto:

Every off-season the rotation looks crowded whether it appears to be excellent, terrible, or somewhere in between. Then the A’s go out and add a SP or two even though it’s unclear where everyone will fit. Coming up from behind are exciting arms but you wonder where they will fit if they keep rising.

Then the calendar turns to June and you’re scrambling just to fill a rotation while the minors are looking downright barren. 2026 is no exception. How did we get there?

Injuries

At the big league level, the A’s have lost their supposed #1 SP, Luis Severino, and he won’t be back any time soon. In the minors, highly touted 20 year old Wei-En Lin, who was one of the few pitching prospects having sustained success, has hit the IL with an ominous “elbow injury” that will be elaborated on when his MRI comes back. Tommy John surgery would put him out of the commission, realistically, until the 2028 season.

Braden Nett and Henry Baez, both quality prospects from the Mason Miller deal, spent time on the IL and while both are back pitching it’s hard to say how either one is feeling given the fact that last night they combined for 1.2 IP, threw a combined 79 pitches, and issued a combined 4 hits, 9 ER, and 6 BB.

Ineffectiveness

The A’s entered the 2026 season with high hopes pinned on two younger SPs: Luis Morales and Jacob Lopez. Both were absolute busts, with Morales posting a 14.46 ERA in 9.1 IP woeful innings in which he surrendered 17 hits and walked 12. Lopez couldn’t get anything going, lasting for 10 starts/12 appearances and compiling a ghastly 6.75 ERA in 50.2 IP that included 33 walks.

Meanwhile, down on the farm Jamie Arnold has not lived up to his 1st round, “fast mover” pedigree. Slotted at AA which, granted, was aggressive, Arnold has just not been good. He has been touched for 71 hits in his 58 IP, and he has walked 29 (one every other inning), leading to a 4.66 ERA.

Also ineffective have been the aforementioned Nett and Baez, leaving the A’s 0 for 4 with their top 4 arms still in the minors (Arnold, Lin, Nett, Baez).

Veterans Scuffling

Two veteran arms counted on to stabilize the staff, Jeffrey Springs and Aaron Civale, got off to terrific starts but were last seen pitching well in April. Springs has not won a game since April, while Civale posted a 5.40 ERA in May, went on the IL, and returned last night to throw batting practice until we were relieved of his duties after 3 IP, 9 hits, 6 ER.

2 SPs who were excellent out of the gate have become guys you cringe when you see their turn is coming around. They are at best, right now, your #4 and #5 SPs but they are hardly anchors until further notice.

In Sum

That’s 9, count ‘em, 9 pitchers who have seen their stock fall greatly since the season began: Severino, Springs, Civale, Morales, Lopez, Arnold, Lin, Nett, Baez.

Silver Linings

Luckily there has been some good to counter the bad. Gage Jump has been as advertised, looking like a potential front of the rotation arm who is more than ready for the big leagues. JT Ginn has been exceptional, his breakout season showing him currently 6th in the league with a 2.91 ERA — and that’s with pitching half his games in Sacramento with a Summerlin chaser. Jack Perkins flashed his SP upside in 5 sparkling innings Tuesday before running out of gas in the 6th.

But before we get too jazzed about the “next big 3” we only need to look back a couple months to see how fickle pitching success is — pitchers get hurt constantly and when they’re healthy their progress is anything but linear. The A’s entered spring training with more pitching than they had spots for, and now they’re scrambling to get through games at every level. Stay tuned…

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The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies begin a three-game NL East series Thursday, June 18 at Citizens Bank Park, and my best Mets vs. Philliespredictions have you covered for the opener.

Philly has won 30 of its past 45 games, and my free MLB picks call for another home win for Philadelphia tonight.

Who will win Mets vs Phillies today: Phillies moneyline (-116)

While it hasn’t been pretty for Philadelphia Phillies veteran Aaron Nola, his underlying 3.49 xFIP at home is impressive, and Philly ranks 11th in wOBA and sixth in ISO at Citizens Bank Park.

So, with the New York Mets sporting respective 29th- and 26th-ranked marks on the highway, I’m expecting Nola to pitch well enough for the Phillies to pull away.

New York lefty Sean Manaea will be making just his second start after beginning the season as a reliever, and the Philadelphia bullpen paces the majors in xFIP this season and across the past 30 days to close out the game behind Nola.

Play to -125.

COVERS INTEL: The Mets rank 29th in wOBA and 27th in ISO against righties, and are tied for 28th in overall wOBAcon this season.

Mets vs Phillies Over/Under pick: Under 9.5 (-103)

In addition to the highlighted offensive struggles of the Mets, New York has also played to the Under in 25 of its last 40 away games (+9.50 Units / 22% ROI).

Similarly, the Phillies have struggled against lefties with a 25th-ranked wOBA and gone Under the number in 24 of their last 35 games (+12.00 Units / 31% ROI).

The New York bullpen has also been solid and checks in just below Philly with ranks of seventh in xFIP for the year and eighth across the past 30 days.

Play to -115.

Mets vs Phillies weather

There's an elevated total on the board based on the forecast, which calls for a high of 87F and winds blowing out to right center at 15 mph.

Mets vs Phillies odds

• Moneyline: Mets -104 | Phillies -127
• Run line: Mets -1.5 (+150) | Phillies +1.5 (-200)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (-110) | Under 9.5 (-122)

Mets vs Phillies trend

The Phillies have hit the Moneyline in 30 of their last 45 games (+11.40 Units / 17% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Mets vs. Phillies.

How to watch Mets vs Phillies and game info

Mets vs Phillies latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows under the bright lights of the Major League stadium. Some are able to cherish it and milk it for all it offers, making an impact on fan bases throughout their time in a big-league uniform. But others can lose their way and fall by the wayside. When that happens for certain players during their careers can vary, with some not being heard from early on and others carving out a decent living before the game or their bodies (or both) fall out of love with them.

For Félix Heredia, it was a mix of poor performance, injuries, and arm problems, along with a scandal whose punishment he never got to serve because of those issues, that saw his big league career come to a crashing finish.

FélixSanto Heredia
Born: June 18, 1975 (Barahona, Dominican Republic)
Yankees Tenure: 2003-04

Heredia was born on June 18, 1975, in Barahona, a city on the southwest Dominican coast which, as of 2022, is home to around 221,000 residents. He grew up and attended Escuela Dominical while playing baseball. He was signed as an international amateur free agent by the Florida Marlins at age 18 in 1993, giving him the opportunity to pursue his dream and come to America. He played his first baseball on American soil with the Gulf Coast League Marlins, pitching and starting in 12 games and finishing with a 5-1 record alongside a 2.47 ERA.

In 1994, Heredia began his career in A-ball, pitching for the Kane County Cougars in the Midwest League, and it wasn’t as nice a welcome as he may have envisioned coming in. He moved into a bullpen role but still managed to start a handful of games through the course of the season. He appeared 24 times on the mound, eight of which were starts, and finished with a record of 4-5 and a 5.69 ERA over 68 innings. But despite the poor final numbers, he moved up to High-A the next season and played for the Brevard County Manatees in the Florida State League. And not only did he see more action (he started the same number of games but appeared in 10 more), but his ERA dropped considerably. He gave up fewer runs in more innings pitched (38 earned in 95.2 innings versus 43 in 68), putting his ERA at 3.57. He still wasn’t much of a strikeout threat and had a hard time keeping men off the bases via hits and walks, but overall, he didn’t allow runs, and that’s what was most important in his 6-4 record.

Heredia was promoted again, this time to Double-A Portland in the Eastern League, where he became strictly a reliever, and this move was quintessential for his career path. He once again saw a boatload of playing time (55 games) and, over 60 innings he posted a 1.50 ERA. He allowed only 10 earned runs the entire season, and while walks were still a bit of an issue, he kept men from crossing the plate, and thanks to that fact, after the season and spring training, he became a Florida Marlin.

On August 9, 1996, Heredia made his MLB debut out of the bullpen against the New York Mets, one of his future teams at just 21 years old. He threw 0.2 innings and gave up no hits and no runs with no strikeouts and a walk. Following his debut, he would throw in 21 more games for the Marlins and never returned to the minor leagues. He finished his rookie season with a 4.32 ERA, just under the average mark.

At 22, Heredia remained a part of the Marlins bullpen throughout the season. He appeared in 56 games in 1997 and finished with an ERA just under his previous mark at 4.29, along with a 5-3 record. While he would never finish with a strikeouts per inning rate over one in his career over the course of a regular season, the 1997 season was one of the times he got the closest, tallying 54 in 56.2 innings pitched. He also ended with the second-lowest hits per nine rate of his career at 8.4 and the second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio of his career at 1.8. He really made his name in the 1997 postseason.

Over the six games and 8.2 innings he pitched in the NLCS and the World Series, Heredia finished with a 2.08 ERA and nine strikeouts. He allowed only five hits and came up huge, particularly in Game 3 of the Fall Classic, when he tossed 2.1 scoreless innings against Cleveland.

Heredia became a World Series champion for the first and only time in his career at the age of 22, and not only was he on the roster, but he was an integral part of the team on the biggest stage.

The next season following his awe-inspiring postseason was not kind to the young Dominican lefty, though. He pitched in a career-high (at that point) 71 games, including the only two starts of his career, but his ERA skyrocketed to 5.06. Heredia was traded to the Chicago Cubs in the middle of the season, along with Steve Hoff, in exchange for Justin Speier, Kevin Orie, and Todd Noel on July 31, 1998, and following a 5.49 ERA performance with the Marlins things got better following the trade, but the bar was low. He finished his season in Chicago with a 4.08 ERA across 17.2 innings pitched with 16 strikeouts.

The Cubs would be where Heredia spent most of his career, playing three full seasons with the team. From 1999 to 2001, he was used plenty by manager Ed Lynch in 1999 and Don Baylor in 2000 and 2001, including a career-high 74 games played in 2000, when he also finished with his best ERA of that stretch (4.76). His worst came the following season, when he played fewer games, pitching 48 innings and finishing with a 6.17 ERA and an ERA+ of 68, the worst of his career. Heredia gave up 11.6 hits per nine innings and 1.5 home runs per nine innings, both career-lows. Eventually, the Cubs had seen enough and decided to ship him north of the border to the Toronto Blue Jays along with a player to be named later. In exchange, the Cubs received Alex Gonzalez on December 10th, and the player to be named later became James Deschaine just three days later.

Heredia spent one year with the Blue Jays in 2002 and saw a return to the form he had been searching for in Chicago and in his last season with the Marlins. He pitched in 53 games and finished with an ERA+ of 128, the first time in his career managing a number over the 100 average. But after the season, he became a free agent on October 28, 2002. And on January 7th, he returned to the National League after signing a minor-league deal with the Cincinnati Reds and receiving an invitation to spring training.

After making the team out of spring training, Heredia made sure not to blow his chance; in fact, he did the opposite. The 2003 season was his best year on a major league mound. He recorded the sixth save of his career (the last one he would ever register) and finished with a 5–3 record and a 2.69 ERA in 69 appearances. But the season came in two different places.

Following 57 appearances and a 3.00 ERA (138 ERA+, a career-best for a singular team that he pitched more than 20 games in a single season for) between the road and the Ohio Riverfront, the Yankees claimed the lefty off waivers in mid-August, hoping to add a specialist to their pennant run since some aspects of their bullpen had faltered as the season went along. Same-handed batters actually had better splits against Heredia that year, but in 2002, he’d held them to a .698 OPS in this high-octane era for offense.

In 12 games with the Yankees, Heredia finished with a 1.20 ERA over 15 innings pitched, letting fans see the kind of potential he, as a 28-year-old, could bring to a bullpen. Joe Torre was careful with his deployment of Heredia, as he could occasionally be shaky with his control, so he picked his spots. Indeed, Heredia pitched just once in the ALDS rumble with the Twins and not at all in the World Series against the righty-heavy Marlins. But he made five appearances across the seven-game ALCS classic with the Red Sox, most notably retiring the only two batters he faced in the climactic Game 7.

With New York trailing Boston 4-1 and trying to stay in the game against Pedro Martinez, Heredia fanned Johnny Damon to begin the seventh before getting Todd Walker to foul out. Nomar Garciaparra was due up next, so in came Jeff Nelson to get the start shortstop swinging. Aaron Boone of course had the most memorable moment of Game 7, but it was truly a team effort to get the comeback going in earnest to make extra innings even possible. Heredia played his role for the pennant-winners.

Re-signed to a two-year, $3.8 million deal, the next season was when things began to go south.

With an exciting new beginning on the horizon, Heredia stepped onto the mound for his first appearance in pinstripes in 2004 on March 30th against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in a special Opening Day series at the Tokyo Dome. He pitched two innings and gave up two runs on four hits through 27 pitches. His next appearance on April 6th back at Tropicana Field was much better, throwing a clean inning and getting out of there before any damage could be done. However, it was three days later that the struggles became apparent.

Against the Chicago White Sox, he walked two men, allowed a double to Miguel Olivo, and departed without recording a single out. All four runners would score and he wouldn’t pitch in the majors for another 41 days, dealing with a left hand contusion. Heredia’s ERA did not get below the 6.00 mark until July 16th, and it never went below 5.93 following a July 24th game at Fenway Park when he gave up an RBI double to David Ortiz and was immediately removed.

The Dominican reliever finished the 2004 season with a 6.28 ERA, growing more and more unpopular with the fans. Rostered for the playoffs anyway, he got beat up by the Twins but actually fared OK against the Red Sox while used sparingly in the ALCS rematch, retiring three of the four hitters he faced. That wasn’t enough to save his Yankees career, as he was traded across town in December for fellow southpaw Mike Stanton, who had previously been with the Yankees during their dynasty run in the late 1990s.

Heredia made only three appearances with the Mets in 2005. Following those appearances, he went on the shelf in June with a left shoulder aneurysm, and he missed the rest of the season. And not only did he miss the rest of the season due to that injury, but he was also suspended 10 days for performance-enhancing drug usage during his rehabilitation. He was the 11th player in MLB history to be hit with such a suspension.

Heredia signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks on a minor-league deal the following year, but was released during spring training. Four days later, he signed with Cleveland and played eight games in Triple-A before being released there as well. Then, in December, the Detroit Tigers signed him to a minor-league deal, but they released him during spring training as well. He made some appearances outside of MLB in the Mexican League following his release in 2006, and he played there for the next six years before ultimately hanging up the spikes in 2012.

While he only spent parts of two seasons with the Yankees, Heredia made his mark on the 1997 Marlins and even had a couple nice playoff moments in pinstripes. Happy birthday, Felix!

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

We have an early start today, 1:30 Eastern.

Using seven pitcher on day two of 16 games in a row is less than optimal.

It puts a fair bit of pressure on Trey Yesavage today. He really needs to go deep into the game. Deep into the game has a different meaning now than it did a few years back. I remember when calling a pitcher a ‘seven-inning pitcher’ was an insult. Now seven inning pitchers don’t exist.

The good news is that Louis Varland made it out of his inning on just ten pitches. He’s thrown two days in a row but only 29 pitches across those two days. I don’t know how Pete Walker will think about this, but I’d imagine he could go a few pitches today, if needed. Jeff Hoffman has also pitched two days in a row, 34 pitches total. Tyler Rogers also pitched two days in a row, 28 pitches. With the sidearm thing, I’d guess that he could go again.

The other issue is that we used both SWR and Spencer Miles, leaving us short of long men. Chad Dallas would be the one guy we could expect to have go multiple innings (baring a very last minute roster move). He threw 3.2 innings for us back on June 4th. If Trey has to leave early, I would think Dallas would be asked to throw until his arm falls off.

But, if Trey wanted to throw a complete game, that would be best. No pressure. There has only been four complete games this season.

Tyler Heineman said a very nice goodbye to Toronto:

Today’s lineup:

The Milwaukee Brewers are looking for a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon, as they’ll also look to lock up a 5-1 homestand against the Phillies and Guards.

After a closely fought 2-1 win in Tuesday’s series opener, the Brewer bats came alive last night to win 9-4 against Cleveland ace Gavin Williams. They’ll try to keep things rolling today in a matchup of rookie southpaws, with Shane Drohan getting the start opposite the Guardians’ Parker Messick.

Drohan, 27, is making his fifth start of the season and fourth consecutive appearance from the rotation. In those last three outings, he’s totaled 15 1/3 innings against the Giants, Rockies, and Phillies, allowing nine runs on 17 hits and three walks while striking out 16 in a pair of blowout victories and a high-scoring loss. For the season, he has a 3.59 ERA, 2.72 FIP, and 44 strikeouts over 42 2/3 innings.

Messick, 25, was a second-round pick in 2022 out of Florida State. He debuted last August but held rookie status through this season. His stats in 2025 and 2026 are nearly identical, so I’ll summarize them as a whole: over 21 career starts, he has a 2.69 ERA, 3.21 FIP, and 120 strikeouts across 120 1/3 innings, totaling 3.7 bWAR. He’s coming off a pair of losses, though, as he allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 10 hits and four walks over 11 1/3 innings in losses to the Rangers and Yankees. He struck out four batters in both of those outings.

Today’s lineup features Christian Yelich in the leadoff spot as the DH, followed by Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, and Andrew Vaughn. Jake Bauers bats fifth and starts in right, with Gary Sánchez to follow. Blake Perkins, Cooper Pratt, and Joey Ortiz round out the order as lefties David Hamilton, Sal Frelick, and Garrett Mitchell start on the bench (alongside William Contreras).

In some negative injury news, we’ve learned that Quinn Priester, who has missed the entire season while dealing with thoracic outlet syndrome, has opted for “season-ending first rib removal surgery,” that will keep him out eight to 10 months until he’s fully healthy, meaning in a best-case scenario, he’ll be back in early 2027. Priester has had multiple rehab stints in the last two months, but he’s struggled with command, with a 15.75 ERA on 24 walks and 22 hits over just 16 innings over eight appearances. Here’s what he had to say about the injury:

First pitch is slated for 1:10 p.m. on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

1903
The White Sox badly lost their first trade ever with the Reds, sending Cozy Dolan and Tom Daly to Cincinnati for second baseman George Magoon.

Magoon was awful for the White Sox for the remainder of 1903, slashing .228/.303/.278 for 0.0 WAR; before the 1904 season, the team dumped Magoon on Indianapolis of the American Association for a player to be named later. He would never return to the majors.

Daly, though long in the tooth for the time (37 years old), finished what would be his final season in the majors well enough, logging 0.7 WAR and slashing a formidable .293/.332/.407 at second base. Right fielder Dolan was the lone player in the trade to play in the majors beyond 1903, lasting until 1906; while never a standout and playing poorly for Cincy to finish out 1903, Cozy would rebound in 1904 for a career-high 1.7 WAR and 115 OPS+.

1933
Right in the middle of a 24-game homestand (!), the White Sox drew the biggest crowd in Chicago history at the time, 53,398, to a doubleheader split against the Yankees.

The White Sox, surprisingly playing better than .500 during the dark ages of 1920-50, dropped the first contest vs. New York, 6-4, with Ted Lyons taking the loss. But in the nightcap, the South Siders rewarded their faithful with a 5-4, walk-off win to move to 30-27 and 5 1⁄2 back of first in the American League.

It was a furious finish for Chicago, who trailed all game but score one in the seventh and then a game-tying three in the bottom of the ninth. Evar Swanson knotted the game, 4-4, with a two-run single with one out in the ninth.

In the 10th, Whit Wyatt sat the Yankees down three straight, and the White Sox immediately set to rallying. Luke Appling led the inning off with a double, and after an intentional walk to Red Kress, Jimmy Dykes laid down a bunt to move the runners over that he beat out; on pitcher Wilcy Moore’s overthrow to first base, Appling came around to score.

The next season, Dykes would become player-manager of the White Sox, and would stay at the helm of the team until 1946.

The White Sox would surpass this attendance mark seven times at Comiskey Park after this, but this game remains the eighth-biggest crowd in White Sox (and Chicago baseball) history.

1961
Eddie Gaedel, who came to fame as a pinch-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in 1951 and a Martian leader who landed in Comiskey Park and kidnapped Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox eight years later, was found dead at his apartment on the South Side of Chicago.

The centerpiece of Bill Veeck’s follies had endured a difficult life, unemployed and alcoholic at the time of his passing. The 3´7´´owner of a 1.000 career MLB OBP was followed home from a bowling alley and beaten and/or mugged, and it was his mother who discovered him dead, in his bed, bruised. A coroner found that Gaedel had suffered a heart attack during or after the assault.

Only one representative of Major League Baseball attended Gaedel’s funeral: Bob Cain, the Tigers pitcher who walked Gaedel in 1951. (Cain had been traded to Detroit from the White Sox three months before the infamous Gaedel game.)

2000
A 17-4 mauling of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium capped the first and only 7-0 road trip in White Sox history. The club jumped on future White Sox starter Orlando Hernández for nine runs in the first inning, knocking him out of the game with two outs in the first; the onslaught was capped by a José Valentín grand slam.

The win pushed the South Siders to a season-high 20 games better than .500 at 44-24, and 7 ½ up in the AL Central.

2006
Jon Garland became the first White Sox pitcher since 1971 to homer in a regular season game when he hit a two-run shot off of Esteban Yan in the eighth inning in Cincinnati. The Sox won easily, 8-1. Garlandscored two runs in the game, as well.

2019
It was a huge moment, and seemingly a big step forward for the rebuilding White Sox. In a 1-1 tie at Wrigley Field, former top Cubs prospect Eloy Jiménez blasted a two-run home run into the left-field bleachers, giving the Sox what turned out to be a 3-1 win. The shot came in the ninth inning, and he did it while breaking his bat! Jiménez was acquired by the Sox along with top pitching prospect Dylan Cease for pitcher José Quintana on July 13, 2007.

2023
A brilliant individual performance by Sox starting pitcher Lance Lynn was all for naught.

Lynn, who had been badly struggling all season, found a comfort zone in Seattle and wound up striking out 16 Mariners — tying the franchise record — on a Father’s Day Sunday afternoon.

But the Sox offense was so embarrassingly bad it only managed one run, and Seattle wound up winning the game, 5-1, tacking on additional runs off of Reynaldo López when Lynn left in the eighth inning. Lynn was charged with three runs in the game.

The 16 strikeouts tied Jack Harshman for the team record. Harshman, a converted position player, struck on 16 Red Sox on July 25, 1954 at Fenway Park in a game the White Sox won, 5-2.

Even when this team actually wins and wins a series, it ends up being vaguely disappointing. The Cubs won Wednesday night to salvage a split in the season series and a win in the Wrigley portion of the series. The Cubs outscored the Rockies in Denver 14-13, but only managed one win. The Rockies and Cubs tied 15-15 over the three games in Chicago. So in sum, the Cubs outscored the Rockies 29-28 while winning three of six. Not good enough. What a lost opportunity. The kind of thing you look back on after you just miss the playoffs.

On the one hand it was good to see the offense get in gear. But this game does nothing to assuage my concerns about them. They piled on, scoring seven runs in the second inning. I’ve made the statement that it feels like they pounce on a struggling pitcher when that happens and otherwise struggle to sustain any offense at all. In this one, they got seven runs in one inning and just one run in the other seven.

I suspect Pete Crow-Armstrong will hit hundreds of homers in his career, assuming relative health and longevity for a player of his skill level. To be fair, that may not be a fair assumption for a guy who plays the game as hard and fast as he does. But bear with the premise. If he goes on to hit hundreds of homers, he might never register a weirder one than the one he did in this game. Without digging, I’m pretty sure he’s already gotten a shorter one and probably will again (he has at least one inside-the-park homer). But the one he hit in this game, I saw a ton of replays of it and I’m still not sure it went out. It sure didn’t look like it at full speed. When slowed down, it kind of looked like maybe it did.

That was essentially the only offense after the first inning. Not good enough. That’s where I just keep coming back. Javier Assad pitched relatively well. But the Cub bullpen threw 3.1 innings, allowing four hits, two walks and four runs. Not good enough. It just keeps ending up there. But the bullpen was credited with a hold and a save. Those are pretty rare occurrences for this team. Somehow, so are series wins.

Generally not good enough. But on this night, it was enough. Just barely. But it beats the alternative.

Three Positives:

• Matt Shaw had a two-run triple and added a single. Shaw’s injury hurt this team more than most people acknowledged.
• Seiya Suzuki had a single, a double and drew a walk. He drove in a run and scored one.
• Javier Assad allowed two runs over 5.2 innings. Some forget that he had 29 starts in 2024 with a 3.73 ERA (though 4.64 FIP). He’s a reasonable back half of the rotation guy.

Game 75, June 17: Cubs 8, Rockies 6 (39-36)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Matt Shaw (.168). 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, R
• Hero: Javier Assad (.115). 5.2 IP, 22 BF, 5 H, 0 BB, 2 ER, K (W 5-1)
• Sidekick: Dansby Swanson (.062). 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, R, SB

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Ethan Roberts (-.037). 0.1 IP, 4 BF, 2 H, BB, 3 ER
• Goat: Pete Crow-Armstrong (-.022). 1-5, HR, RBI, R
• Kid: Nico Hoerner (-.020). 1-5, R

WPA Play of the Game: Matt Shaw’s two-run triple with no outs in the second drove in the first two runs of the game. (.175)

Rockies Play of the Game: Cole Carrigg drew a one out walk in the eighth inning with the Rockies down three. (.025) Hunter Goodman’s two-run homer with one out in the eighth to cut it to three had the same WPA.

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 73 Winner: Miguel Amaya nudged Pete Crow-Armstrong 66-47 (132 votes total)

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Michael Busch +25
• Pete Crow-Armstrong +13
• Ben Brown +12.5
• Michael Conforto +10
• Trent Thornton +8.5
• Edward Cabrera -9.5
• Phil Maton -10
• Caleb Thielbar/Dansby Swanson -11
• Seiya Suzuki -21.5

Up Next: An off day Thursday, then the defending AL champion Blue Jays come to town. The Jays won Wednesday to get to 36-38 but have a game Thursday afternoon in Boston before coming to Chicago. Neither team had announced starters. Friday should be Ben Brown’s spot (3-2, 1.74, 62 IP). Ben is the anti-2026 Cub starter. He’s allowed just one homer and is the only thing keeping the Cub homer numbers from being truly grotesque.

Win a game behind Ben and keep the Blue Jays under .500. The Cubs are more or less tied for the last wild card spot and are very much alive. But they’ve got to start stacking series wins again, particularly at home.

After selecting Kade Anderson with the third overall pick in last year’s draft, the Mariners undoubtedly secured the best lefthander in all of college baseball and broke something of a trend with their heavy emphasis on right-handed pitchers. With an opportunity to yet again secure the best left hander amongst the college ranks this season, Arizona State’s Cole Carlon looks like a highly appealing option for the M’s with the 24th selection and potentially grants them yet another arm that could figure into their big league roster construction rather quickly.

Carlon is one of the most physically developed pitchers in this entire class. With a strong 6’5 230lb frame, the southpaw possesses one of the the most electrifying one-two punches in the entire 2026 class. Launching the ball from a high slot, Carlon’s fastball sits in the mid-90’s and has touched as high as 101 this year, though the underlying shape underneath the premium velocity isn’t all that inspiring. More critically for Carlon, however, is his devastating slider. Given his incredibly high release point, the bullet spin on the ball causes immense problems for hitters and leads to a substantial amount of swing and miss. From a production standpoint, it was one of the best breaking balls in the country, and it could be argued it’s the primary pitch in his arsenal. He’s tossed in some changeups and curveballs as “show me” offerings, but his bread and butter is undoubtedly the fastball-slider tandem.

Despite being on the larger side, Carlon’s mechanics are incredibly fluid and repeatable. There isn’t an overwhelming amount of effort in his delivery and it’s all but assured he’ll be a starter as a professional given his track record to this point. It’s average strike throwing, above average stuff, and a premium frame from a 21 year old arm that’s produced for multiple years in the Big 12 conference; though the “projection” aspect of his profile isn’t overwhelming, it’s hard to argue what he currently possesses isn’t enough to succeed at the next level.

Carlon is a candidate to ascend through the minors rapidly, with many evaluators thinking he could find his way into a big league bullpen as early as next year. Triple digit fuel from the left side is far from common, and finding a starter that’s able to hold velocity deep into starts is even more of a rarity. Even if his extension/movement profiles are more mundane than other first round candidates in this class, it’s tough to ignore everything Carlon can do with no development necessary. Should the esteemed pitching lab in the PNW see an angle to extract some additional talent out of Carlon, they could yet again land an uber-talented lefthander to add to their farm system and ultimately give them a trio of minor leaguers that could contribute to the Major League roster by 2027.

Ah, the 40-man roster. The place that players crave to be as it means making either a full year’s salary by remaining on that roster all season, or a significant prorated portion for each day that player is on the 40-man roster. There might be hesitance from minor leaguers in regards to that particular part of the organization depending on the time of year as it means more money during the season, but a chance to be drafted by another team in the Rule 5 draft in the offseason, therefore offering a clearer path to playing time in a different organization if they are not on that 40-man roster.

Yet at this time of year, the bottom of the 40-man roster sometimes gets thrust into the spotlight. Teams are starting to jockey for position for the playoffs and that means they can no longer wait for the weaker part of their rosters to start to produce. Injuries are taking their toll. Teams are in need of fresh arms, fresh legs, players that can help those margins get a little more positive to maybe scratch out an extra win or two. So, with the Phillies possibly in need of making a few changes to their roster construction, let’s look at the (theoretical) bottom of the 40-man roster to see how they are performing and whether or not they deserve to continue to hang on to that coveted spot.

Garrett Stubbs

Stubbs started a game on Wednesday for the first time since June 2. In his time with the team, he has hit to the tune of a .417 OPS. He has been paraded as someone that can handle positions other than catcher and has at least stood at first base, third base and left field (besides being the position player pitching), yet his continued presence on the roster is baffling.

What purpose does he actually serve?

Sure, now with Adolis Garcia missing the rest of the season, someone is going to have ensnare the role of locker room DJ, but as far as actual on-field production, Stubbs is rather useless. Rafael Marchan has done next to nothing at the plate or at behind it, so if Stubbs is that badly needed, keep him as the backup catcher and move on from Marchan. Put that 26th roster spot to some good use, like maybe a different outfielder into the mix. But continuing to use a roster spot on Stubbs just makes no sense any longer.

Steward Berroa

Berroa was swinging a decent bat in Lehigh Valley before being called up to the Phillies….and playing almost not at all.

The team in the last few years have had this annoying habit of carrying a position player in the 13th spot on the roster and barely playing him at all. Many other teams have been successful at using players up and down their own rosters to wade through the slog of the 162 game schedule, but the Phillies rarely use that final spot. Berroa was the latest one to do so, Stubbs previously mentioned possibly taking that mantle at this point. He’s useful depth for the team to store in Lehigh Valley to call upon in case of emergency, but when called upon, they ignored him.

If that is going to continue to be the case, then what purpose does he actually serve that the team couldn’t simply rotate different freely available players into that spot over the next few weeks? If Berroa or currently Derek Hill are going to occupy a spot, it’s for the best the team finds a role to use, or else find someone else that can fill that spot with better potential results. In the end, Berroa is a AAAA-type player at best, but what exactly have the Phillies to lose by seeing if someone can get hot a few games or weeks at a time?

Nolan Hoffman

These are the places where the Phillies can begin looking to play the game of player roulette. Hoffman has already been called up once to the majors to be an emergency fill in, then summarily sent back down within hours, yet his performance at the minor league level is worth discussing. He’s pitched good enough to the tune of striking 28.7% of batters he’s faced, not allowing a home run yet, walking a few too man batters and generally being an example of the term “fungible reliever”. Every bottom of a 40-man roster is populated with them and Hoffman is really no different. Were the team in need of making someone available to waivers in order to add to their major league team, Hoffman is as good a candidate as any.

Grant Holman

Which brings us to Grant Holman. So far, in the year of our Lord 2026, Holman has been a name that can be seen buried on transaction wires that only the sickos look at with any regularity. He has been:

• designated for assignment by the Athletics
• claimed off waivers by the Diamondbacks
• designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks
• claimed off waivers by the Dodgers
• claimed off waivers by the Tigers
• designated for assignment by the Tigers
• claimed off waivers by the Phillies

Many have ridden this rollercoaster, few have succeeded at sticking with a team. He’s only appeared in a handful of games for the IronPigs, but also has an ERA that starts with a 7. Maybe there is something in underlying stuff that belies that resul— oh wait, his FIP starts with a 7 as well?

Yeah, this is probably the guy that gets moved off the 40-man when a spot is needed.

Jean Cabrera

Perhaps no minor leaguer in the Phillies’ minor league organization has been as disappointing this season than Cabrera. Ranked in the top ten of the team’s list by more than one online group of prospect writers, Cabrera has had a horrid year almost all the way around. Virtually everything has gone wrong for him this year – lowered velocity, striking out fewer hitters, allowing more balls in play. His performance at Lehigh Valley was so bad (9.32 ERA) that it necessitated his going even further down the minor league ladder to Reading, where he has somehow accumulated an even worse ERA.

If push came to shove, with almost no trade value left, does the team cut bait with Cabrera and move on to someone else?

2026 MLB Draft Preview: Derek Curiel scouting report.

The 2026 is about a month away — the first round kicks off on July 11, 2026 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #16, their second round pick is at #54, and their third round pick is at #89.

Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at LSU outfielder Derek Curiel.

Derek Curiel is a 6’2”, 192 lb. lefthanded hitting outfielder for LSU. He was considered a potential first round pick in 2024 coming out of Orange Lutheran High School in Orange, California, but had a down senior year and ended up withdrawing from the draft. He is a draft-eligible sophomore who turned 21 last month.

Curiel’s carrying tool since his high school days has been his hit tool. He’s described as a “pure hitter” with excellent contact ability and the ability to make hard contact, with strong exit velocities. However, he has also never hit for much power, in part due to his swing, which doesn’t generate much loft — he’s more of a ground ball and line drive hitter with his swing. His build and exit velocities indicate that there may be more power that he can tap into, but as of now, there are questions about whether he will ever have even average power.

Curiel has played center field for LSU this year, after primarily playing left field in 2025. His speed appears to grade out at a little above average, though one would expect that to drop a little as he fills out. His arm would be a problem in right field, but is fine for center and left. He doesn’t project as a great defender in the outfield, and it remains to be seen whether he will be good enough defensively to play center regularly long-term.

Curiel has put up pretty similar numbers in both his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a freshman, he slashed .345/.470/.519, with 53 walks against 56 Ks in 323 plate appearances. This year, in 274 plate appearances, he slashed .353/.431/.526, with 34 walks and 43 Ks while going 13 for 15 on the bases. After winning the College World Series in 2025, LSU didn’t make the field of 64 this year, so Curiel wasn’t able to show his stuff in the postseason this year.

Baseball America has Curiel at #13 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Curiel at #12 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Curiel at #17 on his top 150 list. Keith Law’s rankings have Curiel at #16 on his board. Fangraphs has Curiel at #30 on their board. Baseball Prospectus has Curiel at #17 on their top 30 draft board.

In the June 8 Baseball America mock draft, Carlos Collazo has Curiel going to the Rockies at #10. The BA staff draft on June 15 has Curiel going to the Pirates at #5. Jim Callis’s June 4 mock draft has Curiel at #13 to the Cardinals, though he’s mentioned as a possibility for everyone from #12 to #15. Jonathan Mayo’s June 11 mock draft has Curiel going the Cardinals at #13. Keith Law’s May mock draft has Curiel going to the A’s at #8. Law’s June 10 mock draft also has Curiel going to the A’s at #8. Kiley McDaniel’s May 29 mock draft has Lebron going to the Mariners at #24. Kiley McDaniel’s June 18 mock draft has Curiel going to the D-Backs at #15.

Curiel seems likely to go somewhere in the teens, and could be on the board when the Rangers pick at 16. He has the hit tool the Rangers prioritize in position players, and has had success in the best college baseball conference, which is also something the team puts emphasis on.

He’s a high-floor guy — I’ve seen him described as a “safe” pick — whose upside ultimately depends on how much his power improves as a professional and to what extent he can stick in center field. If he can’t get to at least average power, or play at least average defense in center field, its hard to see him as a starter, and so there’s real risk that he ends up a tweener fourth outfielder.

The person who came to mind when I was reading about Curiel is David Murphy. Murphy was drafted #17 overall by the Boston Red Sox in 2003 after a successful career at Baylor. Murphy had a solid hit tool but questions about his power, and he played center field in the minors but was stretched there defensively and primarily played left field in the majors, where he was mostly a platoon outfielder/fourth outfielder.

Previously:

Liam Peterson

Tyler Bell

Aiden Robbins

Jared Grindlinger

Logan Reddemann

Cooper Harris

Justin Lebron

Cameron Flukey