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Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski could have been content with his performance the first couple months of the season. After all, he’d come into the year fighting for a rotation spot, and he’d shown in that time that he was ready to be a full-time major-league starter.

That wasn’t enough.

While still holding onto his identity as a pitcher who goes right at hitters, over Wrobleski’s last two starts, he tallied 20 strikeouts.

“I think we’re just doing a good job with the plan,” Wrobleski said last week, days before he was named an All-Star. “I feel like I’m continuing to get better at knowing where to go with two strikes, knowing where to go versus a certain hitter with two strikes and just kind of reading the game.”

Read more:Dodgers swept by Diamondbacks in first winless series of season as they stagger into All-Star break

Wrobleski is the only Dodgers pitcher set to appear in Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Philadelphia. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani’s schedules didn’t line up — and Ohtani eventually pulled out of All-Star activities altogether in order to have his left knee drained on Sunday.

The story of how Wrobleski got there, in his first full season in the rotation, after debuting two years ago, includes plenty of twists and turns.

“It’s a chronicle story in his young career, the down to up, but at the end of the day, he’s been a rock for us these first three months,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said in a conversation with The Times. “Was hoping he got in on the first set of announcements, but at the end of the day, he’s an All-Star, and he’s earned every bit of it.”

When Wrobleski wasn’t included on the initial NL All-Star roster, the Dodgers coaching staff went to work lobbying for him to be a replacement player. Manager Dave Roberts publicly made the case for Wrobleski and closer Tanner Scott whenever he had the chance.

Then, a week later, Wrobleski (10-2, 2.69 ERA) got the call after Reds right-hander Chase Burns bowed out because of tightness in his groin.

“He’s done so many intangible things that I think get lost in the shuffle of numbers and metrics,” Prior said. “But he’s eaten innings, he’s provided length for us when we needed length. He went toe-to-toe with [Phillies three-time All-Star Zack] Wheeler. He went toe-to-toe with [José] Soriano when he was dealing with the Angels, kept us in ballgames.”

Admittedly, a year and a half ago, Prior wouldn’t have imagined Wrobleski would be an obvious All-Star pick this quickly.

The tipping point came when Wrobleski surrendered eight runs to the Nationals in his first major-league start of the 2025 season. And it didn’t help that his last start of the previous season was a 10-run slog against the Diamondbacks.

“It was a long, raw emotional sit down with him,” Prior said. “And [Roberts] and I, and [assistant pitching coach Connor McGuiness] and the staff, we left with like, ‘Which way is this going to go?’”

But persistence has been a hallmark of Wrobleski’s career, dating to his college years, when he infamously bounced back from a car hitting him on a scooter, and a baseball breaking his jaw. He also underwent Tommy John surgery two months before the Dodgers selected him in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB draft.

So, committing to a delivery change last April wasn’t all that intimidating.

Read more:Yoshinobu Yamamoto has rough start as Dodgers drop series to Arizona

Wrobleski returned to the majors in mostly a bullpen role. And his steadiness in those shorter outings culminated in a strong postseason run that included four scoreless appearances in the World Series.

“We talk about, who can you depend on to not let the moment get too big?” Prior said. “And I think Wrobo had proved that all the way through September, but clearly proved that the moment is not too big for him to continue to make pitches. And that was exciting to see, too, as a staff.”

Still, Wrobleski wasn’t guaranteed a rotation role in 2026. And Prior was frank about that over the offseason.

Wrobleski’s first outing of 2026 was in relief, but the Dodgers had earmarked him as their sixth starter for the second turn in the rotation.

In his first five starts, Wrobleski posted an eye-popping 0.56 ERA.

His swing-and-miss rate and strikeouts were down, but pitching to soft contact was getting him positive results. The most glaring example came against the Cardinals in early May, when he threw six shutout innings without recording a punchout.

Wrobleski wasn’t going to coast on that early success, however. He kept fine-tuning his delivery and adjusting his pitch mix, right through a rough patch in late May, and into a consistent June.

“He went from paring down his arsenal to kind of two pitches, to regrow his arsenal while he’s learning how to pitch at this level,” Prior said. “I think the big thing is now these guys have different looks.”

Throughout the year, Wrobleski’s four-seam fastball and slider have done the heavy lifting. But the rest of his secondary pitch mix has been a moving target.

He and the pitching coaches have talked through the most effective use of his curveball. He started integrating his sinker more consistently in late April, especially against left-handed hitters. He’s tinkered with different grips for his changeup, a pitch he started deploying more in mid-May. Three weeks ago, he introduced a sweeper. And in his past two starts, he’s thrown that pitch 19 times.

Read more:Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski added to National League roster for All-Star Game

“At the heart of it, though, is he never lets off the gas pedal,” Prior said. “He just gets the ball, he’s on the rubber, he puts the hitter on defense from the get-go before they’ve even seen a pitch. And that’s something that not everybody can do.”

So, despite the journey, when Wrobleski looks back at the pitcher he was a year and a half ago, he doesn’t see a complete overhaul.

“Same guy but different, I guess,” he said. “It’s crazy. I’ve had to go through a lot of small tweaks and changes. And it’s just all been about just having belief that I could continue to do it. And I knew that there were a lot of things that I could do just to get better, and I wasn’t as far away as maybe it seemed on the outside — or, as people thought it was.

“I felt like I was close, that whole time, even though the results weren’t really there. It’s been cool to see the results come.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The NL Central has been a surprisingly competitive and deep division in MLB this year. The Brewers have once again established themselves as the cream of the crop, but the Cubs and Cardinals are contenders in the Wild Card race and even the Pirates have shown flashes, with a record over .500 at time of writing. But after a 20-11 start to the season, the Cincinnati Reds have fallen precipitously to the bottom of the pack, and find themselves with virtually no shot of climbing back up the ladder to contention.

A shame, too, since the Reds have a plethora of exciting young talent, particularly on the mound. Additionally, Elly De La Cruz remains of the of the most exciting players in the sport. But Cincinnati’s offense has been shockingly poor this season, posting a 90 wRC+ as a team — tied with scuffling NL West neighbors Arizona and San Diego for the worst mark in baseball.

So with that in mind, the Reds will have little choice than to continue to build for the future. The problem: Cincinnati’s roster is largely comprised of young, pre-arbitration players who don’t fit the mold for deadline deals. There are still a couple of veteran players the Yankees could potentially take a chance on — but they won’t light up the sports talk circuit.

In terms of bats, again, we’re talking about one of the worst hitting teams in baseball here. Much of their good production has come from guys like De La Cruz and rookie Sal Stewart. J.J. Bleday has come into his own as a strong lefty bat for the Reds after signing on a one-year deal, but still has a few more arb years ahead of him. As an outfielder, there’s little roster fit anyway unless somebody suffers an injury that sidelines them indefinitely. And let’s just say that a coveted bat from last year’s trade deadline, Eugenio Suárez, does not project to be a difference-maker at third base this time around.

There is one interesting opportunity for the Yankees to make a potential upgrade: behind the plate. Cincinnati’s catcher tandem of Tyler Stephenson and old friend Jose Trevino could be available. Reuniting with Trevino would mitigate the friction generally associated with trading for a catcher at the deadline, since he’s a familiar face. Obviously, we know his offensive ceiling is limited — so Stevenson would present a more tangible upgrade.

Stephenson is a pending free agent with a power hitter’s build who has a career 102 wRC+; though he’s fallen short of that mark in 2026. The 6-foot-3, 225 pound righty hit 19 homers as part of a career year in 2024, and it’s not inconceivable that the stick could come along. The problem lies in his defense. Stephenson has always been a poor framer by MLB standards, but his -10 catcher framing runs this season is the poorest mark in baseball, with nobody particularly close. The Yankees are known for developing elite framers, but it’s hard to imagine Stephenson’s results improving over the course of a few short months as he tries to learn a challenging pitching staff on the fly.

The remaining options of note for the Reds lie in the pitching staff. The bullpen is where you’ll find more veterans: guys like Brock Burke, Sam Moll, and the undefeatable Tejay Antone, who has persevered through three Tommy John surgeries. Burke and Moll both have a tendency to walk a lot of batters, and Antone obviously has quite the history. Pierce Johnson is a breaking-ball-first veteran who pitched well last season and got off to a strong start to this year. Again, we’re not talking about household names here.

The Reds’ biggest player development successes have come in their starting rotation, and it’s hard to imagine the Yankees will care to pay the price for guys like Andrew Aboott and the recently-returned Hunter Greene. Brady Singer has put together a couple of good recent seasons, and could be available as a back-of-the-rotation arm. Singer has battled to a 4.72 ERA this year, and lacks a truly elite pitch, so there should be higher-quality options if the Yankees feel compelled to add rotation depth.

Cincinnati is in a weird spot — they don’t fit the traditional mold in terms of sellers, with few veterans performing well enough to command a lot of attention. As such, it’s not very likely we’ll see a new face from the Queen City come to the Bronx ahead of this month’s deadline.

Day two of the 2026 MLB draft kicked off on Sunday morning. Four Tar Heels baseball players were selected on Saturday, highlighted by Jake Schaffner’s surprising selection as the 20th overall pick by the Boston Red Sox. Carolina fans didn’t have to wait long before seeing another UNC player taken off the board.

Macon Winslow was selected in the sixth round with the 190th pick by the Philadelphia Phillies. The UNC catcher set multiple career highs in his only season with the Heels after transferring away from the wrong shade of blue. Winslow batted .282 with 10 home runs and 57 RBIs for the Heels and was a regular behind the plate for one of the best pitching staffs in the country. Winslow’s selection made five UNC selections in the first six rounds of the draft; that’s the most Tar Heels selected in the first six rounds since 2009.

Mathew Matthijs also heard his name called on Sunday, as he was taken in the 17th round (520th overall). The four-year Tar Heel pitcher had a bit of a rocky 2026 but still finished his career with a 4.48 ERA overall and a 16-6 record as a UNC reliever. Matthijs was a Third Team All-American selection by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association in 2024; he will head to Seattle to join the Mariners.

Also somewhat notable is a UNC player who didn’t get drafted: Gavin Gallaher. One of the best pieces on offense for the Heels, Gallaher didn’t end up getting drafted despite being ranked among the top 150 prospects. This should clear the way for Gallaher to return to Chapel Hill for his senior season.

With their 11th round pick in the 2026 MLB Draft the Atlanta Braves have selected Arizona prep infielder Ryne Barker. Barker is an older for the prep class prep infielder with a very interesting mix of tools who probably would have ranked higher if not for both age and a more limited track record in showcase events.

Bio

Name: Ryne Barker

Position: Third Base/Shortstop

Hometown: Queen Creek, AZ (Casteel HS)

School: Texas Tech

Height: 6’2

Weight: 175

Bats/Throws: L/R

Rankings

Baseball America: 324

Perfect Game: 229

Pipeline: 197

ESPN: 181

Overslot: 186

My Own: 176

Consensus: 188

Hit 50

Barker is a bit raw as a hitter and has a fairly limited track record against top competition, but the growth he has shown this spring makes teams hopeful that he can eventually get to an average hit tool. He’s got a solid feel for contact and decent bat speed to work with.

Power 40

Power is never going to be a big part of his game, even though he is a guy with a good amount of projection remaining on his frame. His power is projected to be more of the extra base variety than over the fence.

Speed 70

It’s a pure double plus grade, and his most impactful tool.

Glove 50

He’s been a prep shortstop, though he played mostly at third base this spring and that’s where this grade comes from. He is a little light with the glove for short, leading to most believing he is more of a third baseman to possible second baseman. Other teams have wondered if he could use his speed in the outfield, despite the fact he’s spent the bulk of his time on the dirt thus far.

Arm 50

The arm is average at present, but there are some who believe it could grow into an above average arm as he continues to get stronger.

Overall Thoughts

Barker is an interesting player. Although he is 19.6 years old, he is still a raw but premium athlete who took a step forward this year. I’m not quite sure where he ends up defensively, as he doesn’t have the ideal power for third base. However the speed and feel for making contact are reasons the Braves wanted him in their player development system. He had a solid showing at the combine and although he is years away from the big leagues, should be a fun player to watch in the minor leagues until then.

Born and raised in Morgan Hills, California, Aidan Keenan grew up playing baseball with his older brother, Tyler, who eventually went on to be selected by the Seattle Mariners in the fourth-round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of the University of Mississippi. Aiden was just as good, but unlike his brother, he shone on the mound rather than at the plate.  In addition to playing basketball and football, Aiden was a three-year letterman at Live Oak High School, winning the 2021 Blossom Valley Athletic League Sophomore of the Year Award and the 2023 Blossom Valley Athletic League Pitcher of the Year Award, in addition to others. In his senior season, he posted a 0.74 ERA in 47.0 innings with 75 strikeouts, and was considered one of the better prep players in California available in the 2023 MLB Draft, but had a very strong commitment to Stanford and withdrew from the 2023 draft class.

The right-hander did not see much action in his freshman season. All in all, he appeared in 5 games for the Cardinals, starting 2, and allowed 5 earned runs in 6.2 innings, resulting in a 6.75 ERA, allowing 4 hits, walking 10, and striking out 7. When he returned to Stanford in 2025 for his sophomore season, coach Esquer decided to use Keenan exclusively out of the bullpen, and the right-hander had a bit more success. Appearing in 24 games, he posted a 5.59 ERA in 37.0 innings, allowing 33 hits, walking 14, and striking out 43. That summer, Keenan played for the Santa Barbara Foresters of the California Collegiate League and looked good in the pair of games he started.

A junior for the 2026 season, coach Esquer moved the right-hander into the Cardinals’ starting rotation, but an oblique injury in mid-March cost him the majority of the season. In five starts in February and March prior to the injury and two more in May after returning from it, Keenan posted a 5.82 ERA in 21.2 innings, allowing 22 hits, walking 21, and striking out 25. Following the conclusion of the NCAA season, the right-hander appeared in a pair of games for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

The 6’2”, 200-pound right-hander throws from a low-three-quarters arm slot using a high-tempo delivery that has a bit of effort to it.

Keenan’s fastball sits in the mid-90s, reportedly topping out as high as 99 MPH. Coupled with the riding life that the pitch has, the pitch has the potential to be a well above-average offering, but on the whole, the pitch grades down because the right-hander does not have the best command of it.

The right-hander complements it with a sweeping slider, a cutter, and a changeup. His slider is the best of the three, a mid-80s, high-spin offering that features a tight vertical drop and impressive horizontal movement. His cutter, which sits in the high-80s, has tighter horizontal hop, but has been effective in inducing weak contact. Keenan throws two variants of his changeup, a high-80s circle changeup with more run and a low-80s split changeup with more vertical drop, but both variants are still developing and are only occasionally used during in-game situations.

As mentioned, Keenan has poor command not just of his fastball, but of all of his pitches. When he is on, he is more of a control-over-command pitcher, where he is still hitting the strike zone despite not hitting his spots, but when he begins tiring and losing stamina, he starts losing the entire strike zone.

Paul Toboni and his front office have officially completed their first draft class for the Washington Nationals, and while it will be years before we know if it was truly successful or not, my initial reaction is that they did a fantastic job of accumulating both talent and depth in the class. Let’s take a look at the class as a whole, and what each prospect is bringing to the table for the Nats.

Round One: 2B Chris Hacopian Texas A&M

Starting with the big fish, Hacopian can flat-out hit. He only posted a 116 wRC+ this season for the Aggies after transferring in from Maryland, but his batted ball profile was one of the best in the country, with excellent bat-to-ball skills, plate discipline, and raw power numbers. I am confident not only in his ability to be an above-average big league hitter one day, but to be one sooner than almost anyone from this draft class. It will be interesting to see how the Nats deploy him defensively in pro ball, as the middle infield is quite crowded currently, but he could likely handle third base if needed.

Round Two: OF Chase Brunson TCU

I was especially high on Brunson entering the draft, ranking him 17th on my overall big board, so I was thrilled to see the Nats snag him in round two. In 51 games in 2026, Brunson posted a 131 wRC+, with 10 home runs and 13 stolen bases for the Horned Frogs. He possesses above-average raw power and excels at both getting the ball in the air and to the pullside. The hit tool is roughly average, but the power potential and ability to handle centerfield are what make Brunson so appealing for the Nats.

Round Three: SS Luke Williams Franklin Regional HS (PA)

I was higher than perhaps anyone on Williams entering the draft, ranking my 44th on my big board, so getting him in round three was another pick I’d consider nearly perfect by the Nats. Williams is one of the very best athletes from this year’s high school class, and he displays it with solid power and elite speed. An ankle injury his junior season caused him to miss most of the 2025 summer circuit, meaning data on him against top competition is limited, but the Nats, and I, believe this means they got a steal on a great prep prospect due to limited sample size.

Round Four: RHP Cooper Harris Flower Mound HS (TX)

To cap off an already great day one, the Nats snagged right-handed pitcher Cooper Harris from Flower Mound High School in Texas in the fourth round, another prospect I was higher than most on, ranking him 49th on my big board, fantastic value for a pick outside the top 100. Harris has all the traits of a future big league starter: a big fastball, currently topping 96 MPH with more coming, a repeatable delivery, a feel for spinning breaking balls, and the ability to keep the ball on the ground. With some work to develop 1-2 more pitches in his arsenal, Harris could become one of the highest ranked arms in the Nats farm system.

Rounds 5-10:

5. 3B Daniel Cuvet Miami

6. RHP Cooper Allen UNC Wilmington

7. RHP Gage Peterson App. State

8. RHP Max Hansmann Evansville

9. C Cashel Dugger UCLA

10. OF Nick Williams Michigan State

The Nats kicked things off on day two with third baseman Daniel Cuvet from Miami, a power-hitting righty who has an eerily similar profile to another former Cane, Yohandy Morales. Cuvet has plus power, but will need to make more contact to successfully tap into it enough in pro ball.

Rounds six through eight were about finding upside arms while working on a budget, as money would need to go to afford the Williams and Harris picks from the day before. Allen, a junior righty out of UNC Wilmington, had a 2.79 ERA in 15 starts in 2026, posting a 21.3 K-BB% and 0.62 HR/9, two signs of a pitcher who controls what he can control very well. Peterson posted a 3.28 ERA in 15 starts for App. State, with a strong 29.4 K%, but shakier 10.7 BB%. Hansmann, a senior from Evansville, posted a 3.99 ERA in 15 starts, with a middling 13.7 K-BB%, a money-saving pick mainly from the Nats.

The Nats picked up 2 bats with their final top 10 picks, catcher Cashel Dugger from UCLA and outfielder Nick Williams from Michigan State. The 22-year-old Williams had strong numbers for the Spartans in 2026, hitting .333 with a 130 wRC+, but Dugger is the more interesting one of the two for me, as he is a plus defender behind the dish and displayed an excellent hit tool in 2026. His power output was close to nonexistent in 2026 for the Bruins, but based on his 6’3”, 200-pound frame, there may be more power yet to be unlocked in there.

Rounds 11-20:

11. RHP Weston Moss Texas A&M

12. LHP Matthew Dallas Wake Forest

13. RHP Cody Howard Texas

14. RHP Zack Konstantinovsky Rutgers

15. C Francisco Rivero Canyon del Oro HS (AZ)

16. OF Anthony Murphy Corona HS (CA)

17. SS Isaiah Galason Houston County HS (TX)

18. INF Avery Ortiz Oklahoma State

19. OF Jack Brooks Oregon

20. RHP Anson Seibert Johnson County CC

Rounds 11 through 20 were a mix of dart-throw pitchers and insurance policy hitters for the Nats. Moss is the highest ranked of the four consecutive arms from 11 to 14, a 6’4” righty with a below-average fastball, but excellent secondaries, including a nasty slider. He gets great extension down the mound, so if the Nats can find some way to improve his fastball velocity or shape, he could very well become the Brad Lord of this draft class for the Nats.

The Nats picked up three consecutive high school hitters from picks 15 to 17, and while Murphy and Galason are unlikely to sign unless something goes wrong in the signing process with Williams or Harris, Rivero is interesting. Ranked the 329th prospect on Over-Slot’s high school big board, Rivero was originally going to sign with the Dodgers as an international free agent in 2025, before being denied eligibility by MLB. He moved from Venezuela to Arizona to play ball and become draft-eligible, and the Nats grabbed him in round 14 on Sunday. A strong defensive catcher with a simple swing, there’s a chance the Nats get a deal done with Rivero and prevent him from ever stepping on campus at Arizona.

The Nats finished off their draft class with three more college prospects: 2 hitters and 1 pitcher. In total, the Nationals selected 12 hitters and 8 pitchers in their 2026 draft class, including 15 college prospects and 5 high school ones.

Overall, I thought day one of the Nationals draft was a home run, as they either tied or surpassed their pick value based on my big board rankings. Hacopian was one of the purest hitters from this years draft class, and could be in the Nationals big league lineup as soon as next year. Brunson has plus raw power and the abiltiy to handle centerfield, and is a slight plate approach change away from being one of the best outfielders in the Nationals farm system.

Williams is a tooled-up 18-year-old who could become a valuable big leaguer even if he is just a league average hitter, and I think he has room to become more than that. Harris has every trait you could look for in a high school arm to become a future big league starter, and I think with the Nats organization’s help, he can fill out the rest of his pitch arsenal and become a really fun pitching prospect.

Day two also looked how I hoped it would, snagging one of the better college bats remaining in Daniel Cuvet, a ton of dart throws on pitchers with good stuff, and a few insurance policy high school bats, just in case something goes wrong with signing one of the top 10 round picks.

Based on my limited research so far, I believe one of Allen, Peterson, Moss, or Dallas could wind up being a useful big-league arm for the Nationals one day. I am excited for all these prospects to put pen to paper on their contracts and begin their professional careers in the Nats minor league system.

There's some serious cash on the barrel head in Monday's MLB All-Star Home Run Derby.

As the eight sluggers try to square up as many baseballs as possible to win the competition, they'll also be playing for a $1 million top prize.

For some young players such as Kansas City Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone, New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker, that figure represents more money than they will make in salary for the entire 2026 season.

Throw in an extra bonus for the longest home run of the competition, and it could be a pretty profitable night's work in Philadelphia.

Home Run Derby payouts

• Champion: $1 million
• Runner-up: $500,000
• Other participants: $150,000
• Longest home run: $100,000

2026 Home Run Derby field: Who is participating?

Below is the list of players that are competing in the 2026 MLB Home Run Derby (with current home run total in parentheses):

• DH Kyle Schwarber, Philadelphia Phillies (32)
• 1B Ben Rice, New York Yankees (29)
• 3B Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay Rays (28)
• OF Jordan Walker, St. Louis Cardinals (22)
• 1B Willson Contreras, Boston Red Sox (20)
• 1B Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies (20)
• 1B Munetaka Murakami, Chicago White Sox (20)
• OF Jac Caglianone, Kansas City Royals (15)

How to watch 2026 MLB Home Run Derby

This year's Home Run Derby is not available on broadcast or cable TV, only via streaming on Netflix.

• Date: Monday, July 13
• Time: 8 p.m. ET
• Location: Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia)
• Streaming: Netflix

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB Home Run Derby also has big bucks on the line for tonight's champ

Worcester: W, 6-5 (F/10) (BOX SCORE)

What’s better than finishing off the pre-All Star break series against Rochester (Nationals AAA) with a walk-off win? Doing so while holding off a late rally on a day where both teams combined for 15 pitchers used.

The bullpen held the Red Wings scoreless for six innings, but the Red Wings tied things up to send the game to extras. It was there, though, that Tyler McDonough was driven in by a 2-out single by one of the only infielders in Worcester who hasn’t sniffed the Major League roster yet this season: Mikey Romero. This was appropriate timing, given that this weekend was the MLB Draft and Romero is a former first-round pick who has seen plenty of players selected in that round already making impacts on their Major League rosters (2022: Chase Delauter, Spencer Jones, Sal Stewart). This is not entirely any fault of Romero’s, who’s on a team that has held off on promoting plenty of talent too quickly over the years (save for Kristian Campbell, of course). He also has some heavy depth in front of him and also has struggled staying healthy. Romero has been decent at the plate, if a little disappointing for Worcester, slashing .239/.302/3.79, and bringing with him some defensive versatility.

Also, speaking of Kristian Campbell, he had a huge outfield assist from left field to catch prevent a run at home, and he had an RBI dribbler that was instrumental in this game even getting to extras.

Portland: L, 3-10 (BOX SCORE)

Miguel Bleis? 0-for-5. Franklin Arias? Day off to play in the Futures Game (he went 0-for-2 with an RBI groundout in his first at-bat). Nelly Taylor had three hits, finishing a triple short of the cycle, and a white-hot Ronald Rosario added two of his own, and Jack Winnay extended his hit streak to nine games. But all of these factors didn’t help when the pitching staff gave up ten runs to the FisherCats. (Blue Jays AA) The game was ugly, the hole being as bad as 9-1 at one point.

Greenville: L, 1-3 (BOX SCORE)

I offer an apology to any Greensboro (Pirates High-A) fans, as I’ve been referring to their team as a Braves farm team all week. They’ve punished me by holding Greensville bats silent outside of Mason White, who’s taken them for six total hits in the last three days. The team as a whole had just three other hits on the afternoon and never had an at-bat with a runner in scoring position, turning what was a great start by Dylan Brown into an afterthought, especially from the home run Brown gave up all the way in the second inning, a slip-up he recovered from quickly by putting four more solid innings together. But, it wasn’t enough given the way Greenville was swinging the bat.

Salem: W, 8-4 (F/10) (BOX SCORE)

The FireFlies (Royals A) going 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position and stranding eleven runners cost them the game. Jose Bello (the only piece remaining in the organization from the Rafael Devers trade) allowing no runs despite allowing six hits and two walks in four innings was impressive. This game was deadlocked 3-3 going into extras, but the RidgeYaks powered two shots over the fence, including Ilan Fernandez’s second of the game. The second one, Starlyn Nunez’s third hit of the game, would put it on ice for Salem.

As the big leagues are off for a few days, so too is the farm, who returns to action on Friday night.

The Cubs finished the “first half” (actually, first 59.3 percent) of the 2026 schedule on a high note, taking four fo six on a road trip to Baltimore and Cincinnati. That gives the Cubs a 27-23 road record, one of the better road marks in MLB to date. And of their 66 remaining games, 35 will be at Wrigley Field, where they are 27-19.

At the All-Star break I usually post a Cubs mid-season grades article. That will appear here tomorrow. In the interim, here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.

Three up

Welcome back, Alex Bregman

Bregman had just six hits on the week, but two of them were key home runs that helped the Cubs solidify leads in games they won against the Reds Saturday and Sunday. For the week he posted an OPS of .846, which included nine RBI. Even some of the outs he made on the trip were hard-hit balls.

A good second half from Bregman would be an enormous boost to the offense.

Here’s his home run Saturday, which wound up being the difference in the game [VIDEO].

Pete Crow-Armstrong has turned into an OBP machine

PCA had two games of the six on the trip in which he didn’t have a hit, and he still put up a really good slash line of .273/.429/.591 because he drew six walks. He also hit two home runs, scored six runs, stole a base and continued to play outstanding defense.

This catch ended the fifth inning on Saturday in Cincinnati [VIDEO].

For most, if not all, other teams, that ball likely falls in between three fielders and continues the inning. Instead PCA makes it look routine.

After the Cubs got swept by the Brewers in May at Wrigley Field, PCA was batting .225/.302/.357. Since then, in 46 games: .358/.465/.710 (63-for-176) with 10 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs, 33 RBI, 37 runs scored, 32 walks and 12 stolen bases. He was NL Player of the Month for June and so far in July (10 games): .353/.500/.676 (12-for-34) with two doubles, three home runs, seven RBI, four stolen bases, eight walks and nine runs scored. Keep that up and another monthly award could happen.

Lastly, his .386 season OBP ranks fifth in the National League. You did not have that on your Bingo card for this year.

The starting pitching was surprisingly good

As you know, the Cubs rotation has been ravaged by injury. And yet, in the six games on the road trip, Matthew Boyd, Shōta Imanaga, Colin Rea, Javier Assad and David Peterson combined for a 3.03 ERA and 1.286 WHIP in 32.2 innings, keeping the team in position to win in pretty much all of the games. And in one of the two games the team lost on the trip, the bullpen failed — in that 3-2 loss to the Orioles Thursday, Peterson threw five good innings and the Cubs had the lead entering the eighth.

No question, the rotation needs reinforcements. But if they can even pitch this well for an extended period, if the bullpen also can be reinforced and hold leads, perhaps another long winning streak can happen.

Three down

Nico Hoerner continues in his long slump

At the end of April Nico was batting .291/.370/.449 with four home runs and seven stolen bases in 31 games.

In 63 games since then he’s batting .202/.270/.263 with no home runs and seven steals. He does have a lot of doubles — he has 15 in that 63-game stretch and his 23 doubles are tied for fourth in the NL — but otherwise his offense has almost completely disappeared, and he enters the break on a skid of 0-for-14.

There’s really no one on this team who needs the break to reset more than Hoerner. Hopefully he comes out blazing when the season resumes.

Ian Happ’s slide is still going

Happ went 6-for-21 (.238) over the week with no extra-base hits, though he did have three walks for a .333 OBP.

He started the year looking like he might set a career high in home runs, but now he’s hit just one in his last 25 games dating to June 14, and over that span has a .565 OPS with 31 strikeouts.

As we all know, Happ is a notorious streak hitter. Coming out of the All-Star break would be a perfect time for him to go on a hot streak.

The Drew Pomeranz experiment might be short-lived

Pomeranz had a really good year for the Cubs in 2025, but they declined to re-sign him. Instead he went with the Angels and didn’t perform well there. They wound up releasing him and the Cubs signed him. There wasn’t much risk, as they’re only paying a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum.

In four appearances, Pomeranz has an 8.31 ERA and two home runs allowed in 4.1 innings. If that doesn’t improve soon, I could see the Cubs letting him go when one of the currently injured relievers returns, or if the team can make a deal for a reliever.