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It was a disappointing end to what looked like a solid start from San Diego Padres pitcher Michael King. The right-hander cruised through the first three innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers allowing just one run over that time. Manny Machado homered in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1, but when King returned to the mound in the top of the fifth inning, he could not locate his pitches and the result was a three-run inning that resulted in a 4-2 loss for San Diego.

King opened the top of the fifth with a walk to the No. 9 batter Alex Freeland. He then caught a lineout on a bunt attempt from Chuckie Robinson but followed that with another walk to Shohei Ohtani. King hit Andy Pages for the second time in the game to load the bases and then walked Freddy Freeman on a nine-pitch at-bat. The ninth pitch was close to the bottom of the zone on the inside corner but neither King nor Rodolfo Duran challenged the call, and Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead. What proved to be the game-winning hit and the end of the day for King came on a two-run single by Mookie Betts which pushed the lead to 4-1. Yuki Matsui relieved King and got Max Muncy to pop out and Tommy Edman to ground out to end the inning.

The Padres cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth inning. Jackson Merrill singled to start the inning, and Machado hit a deep flyball to center that looked like a two-run home run off the bat. It was caught on the warning track by Pages. Gavin Sheets struck out for the second out of the inning, but not before Merrill stole second base. Xander Bogaerts singled following a pitching change and drove in Merrill to make the score, 4-2. Miguel Andujar was then hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second, but Sung-Mun Song struck out to end the inning and strand the runners.

San Diego threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning after Machado doubled to open the frame. Ty France, who pinch-hit for Sheets, was then hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second with no outs. Bogaerts struck out and Andujar grounded into a double play to end the threat and the inning. The Padres brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning after Freddy Fermin worked a one-out walk, but Fernando Tatis Jr. grounded into a double play on the first pitch of the at-bat to end the inning and the game.

King finished his day after 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on three hits with four walks and five strikeouts. Matsui, Jason Adam and Wandy Peralta pitched 4.2 scoreless innings to give San Diego a chance to come back in the game, but the Padres failed to take advantage of scoring opportunities and finished a disappointing 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

San Diego is on the road today to open a series with the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field at 5:05 p.m.

Padres News:

• The Padres lost the series to the Dodgers but won the homestand 4-2 thanks to a sweep of the Atlanta Braves. The San Diego offense seems to be trending up according to Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball who recaps the week that was.

• Bradgley Rodriguez was being used a lot out of the bullpen for the Padres and when they saw an opportunity to get him some time off to keep him healthy for the rest of the season, they took it. After some rest he returned to the mound for Double-A San Antonio.

• The Padres elite bullpen is drawing comparisons to one of the dominant bullpens of the past.

• It is never fun to lose to a division rival, but Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune believes the Padres have more at stake against Wild Card contenders like their next opponent.

• San Diego and Los Angeles are so close geographically that it’s easy for opposing fans to travel back and forth for the games. Dodgers fans made the trip to Petco Park this weekend and it did not go unnoticed by the Padres players.

• The Padres re-signed Nick Solak to a minor league deal after he opted out of his contract earlier this week.

Baseball News:

• The Boston Red Sox walked off the New York Yankees to complete a four-game sweep.

• Junior Caminero hit his seventh home run in six games and led the Tampa Bay Rays to a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

• Kyle Schwarber hit a seventh inning home run to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the New York Mets.

• The Chicago Cubs held on for a 4-3, 10-inning win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

• Robbie Ray pitched eight innings to lead the San Francisco Giants past the Atlanta Braves, 3-2.

• Former Padre Tommy Pham signed a minor league deal with the Phillies.

Both in the big leagues and on the farm, the Nationals have more hitting talent than pitching. However, that does not mean there are no interesting arms in the system. Today, I wanted to highlight one of the most intriguing arms on the farm in Yoel Tejeda. The 6 ‘8 righty has developed from an ultra raw 15th round pick to a real riser.

Coming out of high school in 2022, Tejeda was a highly regarded two-way prospect. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the 217th prospect in that draft, but he decided to follow through on his commitment to the University of Florida. Tejeda spent one year at Florida and one at Florida State, and struggled at both spots. However, his unique frame and pedigree convinced the Nats to take a flier on him in the 14th round of the 2024 draft.

That decision by the old regime has proven to be a wise one. Right now, MLB Pipeline lists Tejeda as the 14th best prospect in the Nats system. Last season, the big righty spent most of the season in Low-A, where he made huge improvements to his strike-throwing. In college, he walked more hitters than he struck out, but last season, he had a 21.8% K rate and a 7.4% walk rate.

 He made some mechanical tweaks that helped his strike-throwing, but saw his velocity more in the low-90’s than the mid-90’s. It was a worthwhile tradeoff, but the hope was that Tejeda would get some of that old velocity back while keeping his command gains. Entering this season, he had some real fans, with some even wondering if he could sneak on to top 100 lists at some point.

This spring we did see Tejeda throwing harder. He was sitting in the mid-90’s, while flirting with the upper 90’s. However, in the Spring Breakout game, his control looked erratic. Those command issues plagued him at the beginning of the season as well. In April, Tejeda posted a 5.60 ERA with 11 walks in 17.2 innings with High-A Wilmington. 

As the season has gone on though, Tejeda has made big improvements. He has a 1.38 ERA in five June starts, and is averaging over 5 innings per start. Tejeda has 11 walks in 26 innings, which is on the higher side, but it is manageable, especially when he has 33 strikeouts to go with it. His strikeout rate is hovering around 30% this month, while his walk rate is just under 10%. That is big time stuff, and could get the 22 year old promoted to AA soon.

After doing some digging, it is clear that Tejeda’s stuff has definitely ticked up. Last year, he was sitting in the 92 MPH range. However, this season, he is sitting 94-96 and tops out at 98. Pair that with the massive extension Tejeda gets from being a 6’8 pitcher, and his fastball gets on hitters in a hurry.

To pair with the heater, Tejeda has a sweeper and a shorter slider, as well as a splitter. The breaking balls are his best secondary pitches that he uses to put hitters away. Last season, he had some trouble with left handed hitters, but his splits are much more even in 2026.

This past week might have been the best of Tejeda’s career. He made two starts that covered 10.2 innings, and allowed just one earned run. The massive right hander also struck out 7 in both starts. He is really surging right now, and I think a promotion is on the horizon. Here is a nice interview he did after his start yesterday.

Quite frankly, the Nats are a little light on starting pitching in the majors and minors right now. It does not help that their two best pitching prospects have been out all season, but they need someone to step up. Tejeda is not going to be in the big leagues until late 2027 at the earliest, but he is a pitcher whose stock is on the rise.

Unique is good when it comes to pitching, and Tejeda’s massive frame creates unique challenges for hitters. After being a disappointment in college, Yoel Tejeda Jr. is finally living up to his high school pedigree with the help of the Nats pitching development program. I can’t wait to see how he does the rest of the season and what is next for the towering right hander.

We didn’t know it at the time, but when the calendar turned to July two years ago, that was the end of the good run for the Orioles. They had a losing record that month, the next, and in all finished the second half of the 2024 season with a .500 record, followed by a swift postseason exit. As the 2026 disappointment heads towards July, we’re nearly at two full years of this team failing to live up to expectations.

In this week’s episode of the podcast, I’m thinking about just how few of the current Orioles were actually on the roster when the team was last good. There has been a whole lot of roster turnover since this day two years ago. The core players who’ve carried over aren’t collectively playing like a core of stars, many of the later-arriving players have had bumpy introductions to the majors, and a lot of Mike Elias’s moves to supplement the roster have not paid the dividends I think he believed that they would.

What are they supposed to do about it? I don’t know and I don’t think they do either. Also in this episode, a Camden Chat reader asked who the Orioles would even have to trade to get a possible real, impact player if they did end up as trade deadline buyers. The question was asked before the team went 2-4 over the last week, so I did my best to answer it. I think they might have a shot at someone worthwhile if they really want to go that route.

Check out this week’s episode here:

If the above player isn’t displaying, view this article in Incognito Mode or check it out on the show’s page.

This is my weekly podcast about whatever is going on lately with the Orioles. If you enjoyed this episode, please make sure to subscribe. You can get the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you prefer to access your podcasts.

How are you feeling about the way things are going with the Orioles right now? Answers could make it into the mailbag section of a future episode of the podcast.

From the start, the Mets’ 2026 offensive philosophy was designed to be a departure from the recent past, trading power and a wildly streaky nature for more day-to-day dependability built upon high-average hitters with proven track records of producing in the clutch.  

At one point in spring training, David Stearns summed up the new philosophy by saying, “We wanted to have a lineup with more competitive at-bats 1-9. I believe we have that.” 

It turned out the Mets had anything but that, at least through the first half of this season. The newly acquired proven clutch hitters, Bo Bichette and Jorge Polanco, either failed or were hurt, while the concept of a deeper, more competitive lineup proved all but laughable, as the bottom half was full of easy outs.  

Throw in the injuries to Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, and the result was worse than even the resentful Pete Alonso fan might have predicted.  

Indeed, the numbers spell out a level of futility that seems almost unfathomable for a team with the second-highest payroll in baseball.  

Consider that, in MLB rankings, the Mets are: 27th in batting average (.231), 28th in slugging (.375), 29th in on-base percentage (.300), 27th in OPS (.678).  

Also, they are dead last in doubles, with 101.  

And with runners in scoring position, the most common measure of clutch hitting, where the changes were supposed to be most impactful, the Mets are 22nd in batting average (.238) and 29th in OPS (.675).  

Ouch, ouch, and ouch.  

“It’s hard to be that bad across the board with some of the high-level talent they have,” one MLB scout told me. “It’s like their lineup was infected by some virus that they couldn’t stop from spreading. At the same time, I thought they created a lot of uncertainty about what they’d be offensively with some of the gambles they took.” 

Yes, particularly in some cases, the offensive failures reflect poorly on the president of baseball operations for what have proven to be bad gambles.  

Most notably, Luis Robert Jr. and Polanco each had an off-putting history of injuries that have reared their ugly heads in their first season in Queens, a development that Stearns admitted recently at a news conference might force the Mets to change the way they evaluate and approach such acquisitions.  

For that matter, the same injury-related red flags applied to the Frankie Montas free-agent signing from the previous winter, perhaps the most head-scratching Stearns’ move of them all. Turned out to be a waste of $34 million over two years. 

But this is about the offense, including the other move that raised eyebrows at the time, the trade of Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien.

Stearns sold it as a move to bolster his offseason theme of run prevention, even if it seemed driven at least as much by his desire to get out from under the five years remaining on Nimmo’s contract, compared to three for Semien.

As such, it had the feel of a small-market move that a Steve Cohen-owned team didn’t need to make when in pursuit of a championship, though it could be argued it was also made partly to open an outfield spot for Carson Benge, one of the few bright spots of the first half.

Even in that case, however, Semien hasn’t played well enough to justify the deal. At the plate, he has pretty much performed as poorly as his two-year decline with the Texas Rangers predicted, with a .613 OPS that is second-worst among all MLB second basemen, while his Gold Glove defense has slipped significantly, at least according to various metrics.

Finally, Stearns bet that homegrown holdovers Mark Vientos, BrettBaty, and Francisco Alvarez would finally grow into dependable offensive players, after a few years marked by ups and downs, and that hasn’t happened either.

All of it made for a disastrous first half. Even when Soto was swinging a hot bat, eventually joined by Benge and finally Bichette in recent weeks, the Mets have been prone to days when nobody hits.

In fact, they have scored two or fewer runs in 32 different games, the most in the National League.

With all that said, there were also important developments that bode well for the future, as rookies Benge and A.J. Ewing emerged as major contributors.

Benge struggled for the first month or so of the season, but then began living up to the Mets’ belief that he can be a star player, as he shortened his swing a bit and learned how to catch up with high-velocity fastballs, hitting .288 since the beginning of May.

Ewing, meanwhile, was a revelation from the moment he was called up on May 12, showing remarkable plate discipline for a rookie and a short, quick stroke that likely makes him an ideal leadoff hitter in the future.

“Those two kids are really good pieces for anybody’s offense,” a second MLB scout said. “It all went wrong for the Mets in the first half, and injuries were a factor, but with their big guys healthy now, especially if they get Polanco back, they could be much better in the second half.”

Whether it’s too late to make any sort of run toward wild-card contention remains to be seen. All we know for sure is the Mets dug a huge hole for themselves, and while a lack of strong starting pitching became their biggest problem over the last several weeks, the anemic offense was at the root of the 7-19 record in April from which they have yet to recover.

GRADE: F

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes about what we’ve learned about the hottest team in the American League, the first place Texas Rangers (!?).

Kennedi Landry writes that, with Texas in need of innings, Kumar Rocker produced the best road start of his career on Sunday as the Rangers swept the Toronto Blue Jays.

McFarland writes that the Rangers are playing their best baseball during a difficult stretch with the hopes for consistency to follow.

MLB dot com’s Brent Maguire notes that Tyler Alexander can make history tonight as the first player to ever make a start immediately after saving the previous two games.

McFarland writes that Evan Carter is back and hoping to show that he’s more than just an excellent center fielder.

Mike Axisa’s latest mock MLB draft has the Rangers selecting Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron. Now the question becomes, how will this impact LeBron’s legacy?

McFarland writes that the Rangers got the sweep but not before Brandon Nimmo ran face first into the outfield wall on Sunday’s final out, requiring him to be evaluated today.

Evan Grant writes about ex-Ranger catcher Robinson Chirinos offering aid after being tragically impacted by the devastating Venezuelan earthquakes.

And, at The Athletic, Cody Stavenhagen writes that baseball and the World Cup are having a summer fling.

Have a nice day!

Nothing caps off misery even better than immediately wheeling your approach around to something completely different to try to win a series, only to get destroyed by bloop hits, swinging bunts, and your own defensive miscues. I won’t dwell on it.

This is not a great week for me, so I’ll probably do stuff like this for the weekdays. I have a big thing about what specifically killed the team’s offense in June and it’s somewhat complicated, but it’ll take me a bit to get that into useful shape because the biweekly recap will need to happen after tomorrow, too.

Do you think the Braves are tired of it all, too?

The optimism that surrounded the Orioles a few years ago was the result of a well-stocked farm system that had already begun producing big league talent. Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson debuted in 2022 on an Orioles team that over-performed expectations. The 2023 campaign brought the debut of Jordan Westburg, a Cy Young-calber season from Kyle Bradish, and 101 wins for the Orioles. The upward trajectory of the franchise was clear. But something has been off since the second half of 2024, and that includes a stunting of the team’s homegrown players.

These struggles are not specific to any one player. Rutschman was bad at the plate for a stretch that lasted an entire season and then some. Henderson has been a below-average hitter throughout 2026. Jackson Holliday has had flashes, though is yet to look like the former top overall prospect that he was. Colton Cowser may be the streakiest player in baseball with the deepest troughs and electric peaks. But there may be no player that has fans more divided than Coby Mayo.

Unlike many of his highly-regarded peers that came up through the Orioles system, Mayo was not an especially high draft pick. The O’s plucked him out of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida with their fourth-round selection in 2020, though he did get a signing bonus more aligned with that of a second-round pick. There were warts on his profile that had many scouts worried about his unconventional swing and lack of an obvious defensive position, plus a belief that he was destined for college. The Orioles were able to talk him out of that committment.

Mayo mashed in the minors, including a .973 OPS across Double-A and Triple-A in 2023. That success catapulted him up the prospecting ranking charts. Heading into the 2024 season he was considered a top 30 prospect by each of Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and MLB Pipeline. It seemed as though the Orioles had their next star on deck.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out that way. Mayo debuted in Baltimore at the tail end of the 2024 season, but struggled mightily. Over 17 games he hit .098/.196/.098. He returned in 2025, this time often as a first baseman. There was progress. Mayo hit .217/.299/.388 with 11 home runs overall and really seemed to be turning a corner late in the season when he had a .941 OPS in September.

Whatever was working for Mayo at the end of 2025 hasn’t really carried into ’26. He has been on the big league squad all year, mostly at third base in place of an injured Westburg. But he hasn’t exactly taken the position as his own. On the year, Mayo has an underwhelming .190/.260/.376 batting line with 10 home runs. That unevenness at the plate has often driven manager Craig Albernaz to rotate other members of the roster onto the hot corner.

Defense has also been an issue for Mayo this year. No matter which stat you look at, glovework is not Mayo’s specialty. He has been worth -4 outs above average overall, according to Baseball Savant, which is near the bottom of the league. FanGraphs lists Mayo has worth -8 defensive runs saved. But he wasn’t exactly set up to succeed in that regard.

It seemed like Mayo had almost entirely made the transition to being a first baseman in 2025. He played 605.1 major league defensive innings last year; 586.1 of them were played at first base. Then, the Orioles went and signed Pete Alonso in the offseason and held onto Mayo. Overnight, he was back to being a third baseman, a position that had already struggled with and where most scouts have long said he didn’t fit.

You can understand the Orioles perspective on this. They wanted to upgrade the lineup and inject power. Positional fit was secondary, and it’s not as if Mayo had done enough to become a player worth carving out an everyday spot for. The decision to sign Alonso is one that the Orioles front office can be proud of. He is one of the few members of the lineup that has continually carried his own weight. It’s up to Mayo to perform and prove himself. That hasn’t happened, at least not on an everyday basis.

An area where Mayo has shown quite well is facing left-handed pitching. Among players with at least 60 plate appearances against southpaws this year, Mayo’s 196 wRC+ ranks third in MLB, and he is tied for sixth in home runs (seven). When the Orioles do face a lefty, Albernaz is often pushing Mayo higher up in the order, and it usually works out.

The ability to mash left-handed pitching to that level is enough to keep Mayo in the big leagues for a long time. But the glove is not going to work at third base in any capacity, perhaps beyond the occasional fill in. Maybe the Orioles can keep working with him on positioning and footwork, but there was a reason they moved him off the position last year, and the only reason he is back is because Westburg is hurt and there are seemingly no suitable replacements.

A move to right field, as many prospects folks have long speculated, probably does make the most sense. And it could fit for the future Orioles too. The team seems likely to have some outfield innings up for grabs going int0 2027. Taylor Ward and Leody Taveras will be free agents. Tyler O’Neill, who is signed through next season, is on pace to have himself and his .552 OPS this year released early. Heston Kjerstad probably needs to have something click this year, or move on to another organization. Mayo could fit as a platoon bat in right with the left-handed hitting Dylan Beavers while still mixing in the occasional game on the infield or DH, or being deployed in pinch hit spots late in games.

A change like that is unlikely to happen in-season unless the Orioles fall completely out of contention. At that point, they may as well try something. The idea that Mayo is an attractive trade chip to land the Orioles some sort of big league contributor is probably over. He does have plenty of team control since he won’t hit free agency until after the 2031 season, and many organizations would be open to getting his talent through their doors. But he has also seen his many flaws exposed on the big league stage. Potential trade partners will understand that risk and any sort of return is likely to be underwhelming.

In yesterday’s game, the Phillies had taken the lead thanks to Kyle Schwarber’s 30th home run of the season. The team had the lead and needed a fresh reliever, bringing in Jose Alvarado. His first pitch was 96 miles per hour….and went straight to the backstop. He ended up having the typical Alvarado appearance: striking out the first two hitters, hitting the next one, taking a bunt single and throwing it into right field to put runners in scoring position, then getting the third out on weak contact.

At some point, the Phillies will need Alvarado to settle into something a little more consistent. He had started to do so last season, but then, well, you know what happened there. It threw his then consistency into question as to whether it was artificial or not, making this season feel a bit more of the “same old, same old” when he enters a game. The question today is: do you have any trust in him when he enters a game any longer? Personally, if a left handed reliever is needed, I’d just as soon see Kyle Backhus on the mound than Alvarado, but the latter’s velocity with his stuff does help mitigate whatever platoon advantage a right handed batter might have.

It also throws into the spotlight the need this team has for another left handed reliever, but that’s a separate question for another day.