MESA, ARIZONA - MARCH 22, 2026: Kade Morris #12 of the Athletics throws a pitch during the fourth inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Hohokam Stadium on March 22, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
Welcome to another new week A’s fans!
The homestand was not kind to the Athletics. First they got swept in the middle of the week by the Seattle Mariners before dropping two of three to the Yankees this weekend. They now sit at 28-31, which is tied for second in the AL West and two and a half games behind those M’s. The team’s hot start has definitely cooled, similar to last year when a tough May all but doomed any playoff ambitions. Hopefully things don’t get that bad in June.
Looking for a spark, the team has decided to promote one of their top pitching prospects in Kade Morris, a right-handed pitcher that ranks among the better pitching prospects in the Athletics’ farm system:
The #Athletics will be calling up RHP Kade Morris, per sources.
Morris, 23, is the organization's No. 12 prospect. He is 5-3 with a 4.45 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 11 starts this year for Triple-A Las Vegas.
The Modesto native will finally be making his big league debut after just over three seasons in the minor leagues. The right-hander originally was a third-round draft pick by the New York Mets but spent just a season and a half in their system before being shipped over to the Athletics in 2024 in exchange for former All-Star starter Paul Blackburn. Blackburn’s time in New York was brief and bumpy but the A’s were able to extract a quality prospect in Morris for their former staff leader.
Since joining the A’s Morris has shown improvement year-over-year, making it to Triple-A last season where he spent the bulk of the year. The Las Vegas environment didn’t exactly lead to huge numbers but he held his own as a 23-year-old facing the toughest hitters in the minor leagues.
His yearly improvement continued this year as he looked more in control and comfortable now that he’s had some experience against Triple-A hitters. Over 11 starts so far for the Aviators this year Morris has a 4.45 ERA spanning 60 2/3 innings of work. That number was a lot lower for the majority of the season but he recently got roughed up in back-to-back starts where he allowed eight and then five runs, pushing his season ERA from 3.76 to 5.48. The strikeouts are on the lower end of things as he’s just collected 49 punchouts compared to 26 walks but he’s also kept the ball on the ground at a good clip, allowing just eight homers in that hitter-friendly enviornment.
Morris is also on a bit of a roll right now as he’s put together two very strong outings in his two most recent assignments. With the Athletics stumbling right now and having lost Luis Severino to the IL, now seems as good a time as any to let Morris get a chance to show what he can do at the big league level. And after Jacob Lopez’s continual struggles continued yesterday it seems there may be two open spots in the starting rotation. One of those spots will almost certainly be Gage Jump’s spot in the rotation (he’s slated for the start tomorrow evening). The team currently doesn’t have a starter scheduled for the series finale against the Cubs on Wednesday so that may be the day we see Morris take the mound for the first time in an Athletics uniform. Stay tuned.
This is about as blunt as Mark Kotsay will get in postgame comments. A roster shakeup is imminent with a season-defining June on the horizon. #Athleticspic.twitter.com/5APqaDoC4d
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - MAY 31: Shane McClanahan #18 of the Tampa Bay Rays pitches against the Los Angeles Angels during the first inning of a baseball game at Tropicana Field on May 31, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It was a day of crooked numbers for much of the American League East. The Yankees rode their 13-run (!) third inning to victory over the Athletics. Meanwhile, Boston and Toronto were on opposite ends of high-scoring games with the BoSox emerging victorious as the Jays got routed by Baltimore.
Unfortunately for New York, Tampa Bay also won on Sunday. The Rays’ victory means the Yanks gain no ground on the division leaders. The two clubs are tied in the win column but the Rays have three games in hand. One of those games will be made up Monday with the Yanks off while Tamps hosts the cellar-dwelling Detroit Tigers. Go Detroit… words I don’t often say.
Tampa Bay Rays (36-20) 5, Los Angeles Angels (23-37) 2
It is probably asking too much for the stumbling, bumbling Angels to take a series from the AL East-leading Rays. They gave it the old college try, however, blowing out Tampa Saturday after choking away a late lead Friday. Sunday, the Rays didn’t quite lead wire-to-wire to take the series, but it was close. After the two clubs swapped runs in the opening two innings, Tampa plated two in the third, giving them a lead they never surrendered. First, Victor Mesa, Jr. drove in a run with a single. Then, Cedric Mullins drew a bases-loaded walk to make the score 3-1.
The Angels managed to close within one but in the seventh Tampa kept tacking on. After Ben Williamson singled in a fourth Rays run, Yandy Díaz walked with the sacks juiced to make it 5-2. I’d say the Angels should stop walking guys with the bases loaded, but on a day when Angels pitching walked nine Rays in total, it was probably inevitable a couple of them happened at the worst possible time.
Shane McClanahan was nails outside of the run he allowed in the second inning. The southpaw threw five innings of one-run ball, lowering his season ERA to 2.45. For his career, he’s now pitching to a 2.96 ERA with a 1.09 WHIP. He also now has a 1.29 career ERA against the Angels in five starts, spanning 28 innings. I suspect they’re getting mighty sick of McClanahan, who looks like he’s back in peak form after missing all of 2024 and 2025.
Other Games
Toronto Blue Jays (29-31) 5, Baltimore Orioles (28-32) 9: This was the very definition of “not as close as the box score suggests.” Thanks in large part to a Colton Cowser three-run home run, Baltimore bullied Toronto early, staking themselves to a 6-0 lead through three innings. For Cowser, who’s had a miserable last year-plus at the dish, that had to feel good. Not content, the O’s scored three more in the sixth to go up 9-0. The Jays broke the goose egg in the run column in the seventh and then salvaged some dignity with a four-run eighth. The loss leaves the Jays nine games back of the division-leading Rays as the calendar turns to June.
Cleveland Guardians (34-27) 4, Boston Red Sox (25-33) 9: The BoSox are another team looking at a big deficit early, though they picked up a win Sunday. The seventh was the key inning: trailing 4-3 when the stanza began, by the time Boston finished hitting they scored six to take a commanding late lead. Masataka Yoshida’s two-run single gave Boston a 6-4 lead then a pair of former Yankee legends took over. First, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled in a run, continuing his strong start at the plate (in admitttedly limited playing time). Then, Caleb Durbin, off to a horrific start at the dish, plated two more with a triple.
Seattle Mariners (31-29) 3, Arizona Diamondbacks (31-27) 2 (10 innings): Piggybacking two established starting pitchers off each other seems like a good way to annoy the crap out of both of them. But it seems to be working for the Mariners with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo. The former got the start and hurled five shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 1.71, before handing the ball over to the struggling Castillo. Castillo surrendered a narrow 2-1 Seattle lead in the eighth, allowing a Ketel Marte sacrifice fly to plate the game-tying run that eventually sent this to extras. With Castillo entering the game in the sixth, he still had plenty left in his arm and kept the D-Backs from plating their Manfred Man in the top of the tenth. In the bottom, a Victor Robles single off old friend Jonathan Loáisiga brought home the winning run for the AL West-leading M’s.
There is a man close to my age who works at a grocery store in my neighborhood. Often, when the weather is nice, I’ll see him sitting outside his SUV during his lunch break playing his guitar. He’s not busking for tips; he’s just enjoying the sunshine and playing because he loves to play. Every time I see him playing, it warms my heart.
There’s something special about a person who continues to do something they love just because they love doing it.
Sal Perez loves to play baseball. We all know that. He plays with a joie de vivre that we rarely see, and I think that is one of the reasons we love him so much. Despite that, we’re seeing the final chapter of Salvy’s career. As of this writing, despite some signs of him warming up, Salvy is hitting .206, well below his weight, and many of his at-bats have been ugly. Sal’s kryptonite has always been the slider down and away. He loves swinging at that pitch. But this year has been a different story. We’re talking at-bats that are mud-flap ugly. Coyote ugly.
Sal’s 36 years old and sometime this summer, he’ll have played in more than 1,800 big league games, with over 1,400 of those coming at catcher. He’s currently #43 all-time in games caught, and if you’ve played any baseball in your life, at any level, you know how demanding the catcher position is.
You’re involved in every play, so there’s no mental or physical break. You get nicked by foul balls and wild pitches. Every so often you get hit by a wayward bat. You wear a lot of protective gear in hot weather. It’s a physically demanding position, and we haven’t even talked about the wear and tear on your knees, shoulders, and hips yet. It’s amazing that at age 36 he can still do it – and do it well.
That said, Father Time comes for all of us. At 36, Sal is still a very young man, but in the cruel world of sports, except for maybe golf, he’s an old-timer. When the end comes for baseball players, it’s often ugly. I’m old enough to remember seeing Willie Mays stumbling around the outfield for the New York Mets in 1973. Willie was 42 at the time and one of the all-time greats, but man, it was tough to watch.
Same with Harmon Killebrew. The Killer spent the final 106 games of his career in Kansas City during the 1975 season, trying to squeeze out one last day in the sun. Killebrew, one of the game’s all-time great power hitters, could only muster 14 home runs and a .199 average before realizing it was over. Even though he looked like he was 50, Killebrew was only 39 at the time. That’s how misleading and disconnected sports are from real life. Ancient on the field, young man everywhere else.
The great ones rarely walk away at the top. The confidence that drove them to become one of the very best is the same confidence that keeps telling them they’ll right the ship and start hitting again. There comes a day when they’re listening to a lie. Maybe they realize it, maybe they don’t.
In my lifetime I can recall only a handful of great ones who walked away before they cratered. Jim Brown did. So did John Elway and Barry Sanders. Of course, those are all football players. I can’t think of any baseball players who walked away when they still had a little gas in the tank.
Henry Aaron, one of my favorites, and arguably one of the greatest ever, played until he was 42. Same with Stan Musial. Steve Carlton, as good a left-handed pitcher as ever lived, hung on until he was 43. His legendary stuff was long gone by then, but Lefty loved to play ball. Ted Williams, who has a legitimate claim to being the greatest hitter ever, played until he was 41. Ted still hit .316 at age 41, which is amazing. He probably could have squeezed another year or two out of his body, but even the greatest hitter ever knew when it was time to hang it up.
It’ll be a sad day when it’s finally over for Salvy. He’s been one of my favorite Royals ever, one of the greatest Royals ever, and I’ll miss seeing him on the field. He’s my wife’s favorite baseball player of all time. He’s a lot of Royals fans’ favorite player of all time. Maybe Salvy finds a way to turn back the clock and squeeze a few more home runs out of that bat.
Once it’s over, he’s got a statue and a sure-fire induction into the Royals Hall of Fame.
I love to read, and most of this winter and spring, I’ve been laboring through Life: The Autobiography of Keith Richards. I like the Stones and have always been fascinated by Richards, but man, it’s a tough read. Speaking of old, I saw the Stones in Boulder in October 1981, and I thought Keef was old then! The funny thing is, he was only 37, almost the same age Sal Perez is now. If you’d offered to bet me $100 that he’d still be alive in 2026, I’d have taken that bet. I finally gave up on the book about halfway through, but I’ll try again when the weather cools off.
In the meantime, I picked up Jeff Pearlman’s book The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson. Having much more interest in Bo than Keith, I sailed through it, polishing it off within a week. If you’ve followed Bo’s career, a lot of the book will be familiar. Despite that, there was still lots of new material I hadn’t been aware of. Pearlman did an outstanding job covering Bo’s early years, his Auburn years, the drama leading to his selection by the Royals, and his time in Kansas City, including his relationship with the front office and his teammates. He also did an excellent job detailing Bo’s rehab and comeback.
Fascinating stuff.
If you were fortunate enough to see Bo play baseball or football, you knew you were witnessing one of the greatest athletes ever. Jim Brown deserves a seat at that table, along with Jim Thorpe. Brian Jordan and Deion Sanders will have their backers. But there was something special about Bo. It was a magical time.
The other cool thing about the book was on page 309: a quote from our very own Max Rieper!
If you’re looking for something light and entertaining for the beach, you can do a lot worse than The Last Folk Hero.
In worthless baseball trivia, did you know that in the last 65 years, only one team—the 2014–15 Royals—lost a World Series Game 7, then came back and won a ring the next season? I’ve said many times before: from the 2013 All-Star break to the final out of the 2015 World Series, those Royals were the best team in baseball. They were a joy to watch.
With so many pitchers going under the knife, I came across this wonderful quip from Tommy John:
“Prior to my surgery, I asked the surgeon to put in a Koufax fastball. They did, but it was Mrs. Koufax’s.”
John won 124 games and made one All-Star team in the 12 years prior to the surgery that now bears his name. He came back as a different pitcher but still managed to win another 164 games, make three more All-Star appearances, and pitch for 14 additional seasons.
His arm finally gave out after his age-46 season. With so many of today’s fireballers blowing out their shoulders and elbows, there must be a lesson in the Tommy John story.
BINGHAMTON, NY - APRIL 08: Jonathan Santucci #21 of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies pitches during the game between the Somerset Patriots and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at Mirabito Stadium on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 in Binghamton, New York. (Photo by Kylie Richelle/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
With the second month of the minor league season in the books, we‘re checking in on the top 25 Mets prospects who made our list ahead of the 2026 season.
In April, McLean looked like a true top-of-the-rotation ace pitcher. That outlook began looking bleaker in May, as the right-hander turned in a couple of solid outings and a couple of true stinkers. Overall, while McLean may have been punching above his weight a bit prior to really settling in and the league having time to adjust to him between his 66.1 innings this year and his 48.0 last year, I am not worried overall. As I said during the off-season, I don’t think McLean is going to settle in as literally one of the top pitchers in baseball, but I think he will be a better-than-average contributor overall.
The Mets stuck with Benge despite his early season struggles, and opting to let him play out of his doldrums has since paid dividends, as the outfielder has arguably become the Mets’ best player outside of Juan Soto. There are still some things that Benge needs to do, such as hitting for some more power, but it’s hard to not be pleased with his progress as a player so far in his brief professional career.
Tong looked solid at the beginning of the month before having a terrible start in mid-May, allowing 6 runs in 1.2 innings against the RailRiders. Due to circumstances, the Mets called him up to Queens and he made a pair of appearances out of the bullpen, the first of which he looked sharp and the second less so. The right-hander is clearly not where he was last season, with the organization altering almost everything that brought him success, from his arm slot to his repertoire to his pitch usage percentages; here’s hoping he adapts sooner rather than later (or never). Also: his ERA with Syracuse for the month of March/April and well as May was 5.68, resulting in a MiLB season ERA of 5.68. I’m freaking out, man.
I had some reservations about the organization promoting Ewing from Double-A to Triple-A so quickly, but they then raised the ante by promoting him to the big leagues about a week-and-a-half or so. Outside of an exciting first week, where he made Mets history by being the first batter to hit a triple in his MLB debut and hit his first big league homer, Ewing hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire. He hasn’t truly struggled at any point yet, but the outfielder needs to start hitting for some more power to show that he truly belongs.
Reimer is starting to get his legs under him following a sluggish start, but the infielder still isn’t quite where you’d want him to be. We are getting very close to the sample size between his excellent 2025 and his 2026 season being the same, and Reimer has regressed in every way possible. There’s nothing obvious in his batted ball data that would suggest why his Double-A BABIP plummeted from a healthy .340 last season to a weaker .278 this season, but here we are. Hopefully, more hits begin landing in the coming weeks and that number rises above .300.
After a slow start in virtually every stat, Clifford has gotten off the schneid, cutting back on his strikeout rate a tad and hitting for the kind of power that we know he can hit for. Despite adding 5 doubles, 1 triple, and 8 more home runs to his season tally in May, the slugger is still just a scratch neutral offensive contributor for the season. His walk rate is roughly 5% below the norms he set over the last few years, and Clifford needs to bump that back up a bit.
Watson had a disastrous April, posting a 6.89 ERA in 19.1 innings over five games, and lo and behold: after another disastrous start at the beginning of May, he was placed on the injured list due to an oblique injury.
Wenninger cruised through April and seemed well on his way cruising through the month of May as well, but about halfway through the month, he completely cratered. After shutting out his opponents in his first two starts, he then allowed a pair of runs in 2.1 against the RailRiders, four in 5.1 innings against the Buffalo Bisons, and four in 4.0 innings against the Red Wings.
It’s hard to gauge Mitch Voit, who was supposed to be a somewhat advanced college hitter. His performance in 22 games with St. Lucie last season after being drafted? Easy to write his struggles off because of the circumstances. His performance in 38 games with Brooklyn this year so far? A bit less easy to write off due to the circumstances, but we can’t completely ignore the fact that being a right-handed hitter in Brooklyn. I am not particularly enthusiastic about Voit’s upside and his ability to reach it, but it is still way too early to give up hope.
Jonathan Santucci wasn’t bad in April, but there were things he could improve. The southpaw had a much better May, cutting down on walks and boosting his strikeout rate. He is still a little more hittable than you’d want, but outside of that, his surface level stats look strong as well as the advanced public metrics that we have access to.
Peña had himself an excellent April, especially relative to his age, but he cooled down a bit in May. He’s still drawing a lot of walks and is not striking out excessively, so I don’t think there’s any reason to panic. Going forward, I would like to start seeing some more extra base power from him, as he already has extremely positive LD/GB/FB percentages and could use them more in his favor with some more baseball aggression.
Thornton was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse at the beginning of the month and looked solid in the two games he made there- so much so that the Mets opted to call him up to Queens over other potential starters to make a spot start. His MLB debut did not go that well, nor did his last start against the Rochester Red Wings at the end of the month after he was sent back down to Syracuse.
Nick Morabito had a strong start to the season but started tailing off by the end of April. In May, his offensive slide continued. Be that as it may, the Mets called the outfielder up in the middle of the month. He looked completely overmatched at the plate but flashed some leather in the fielding opportunities that came his way. He was optioned back down to Triple-A a few days later, with the Mets citing that they wanted him to play everyday rather than spend a considerable time on the bench waiting for favorable match-ups to pencil his name into the line-up for.
After missing all of April, Gordon returned to the mound in mid-May after making a few rehab starts with St. Lucie. The right-hander has unfortunately looked terrible in the four games that he’s started, making it past the third inning in just one of those four starts. He was hit hardest in his first two games upon returning, and has been unscored upon in the following two, so hopefully the right-hander just needed a little more time to get his feet under him.
If Chris Suero could elevate the ball a little more, he would be in the midst of a really strong season. The catcher currently has a 10% line drive rate, 46.3% groundball rate, and a 43.8% flyball rate. If he could turn 5-10% of those ground balls he is hitting into line drives, his BABIP would increase, increasing his batting average, and his slugging percentage would likely get a nice little boost. Suero is never going to be a .300 hitter, but with his ability to talk a walk, a little more average and a little more slugging would make a very nice offensive player.
Ross missed most of April and has not looked good in May at all. He appeared in 4 rehab games prior to being activated with Syracuse, but the right-hander does not look like the same pitcher he was last season. He is walking just as many batters as he is striking out, and not only is he allowing a lot of contact, but he is allowing a lot of loud contact, with 3 home runs allowed in just 11.1 innings.
Lambert was his normal, wild self in April, but he was much improved in that regard in May, cutting down on his BB% from a 17.1% to a 12.9% while increasing his K% from a 31.4% to a 41.9. If the right-hander can maintain those kinds of numbers for another few weeks, you might as well punch his ticket to Queens- Lambert is who he is and is always going to walk batters, but if he can walk closer to 4.9 per nine instead of 6.5 per nine while maintaining a strikeout rate between 10-15 K/9, that’s a usable relief pitcher with major league value.
After struggling in April and the beginning of May, where he was one of the worst offensive players in the entire organization, Jimenez was placed on the Developmental List in mid-May. He returned at the end of the month, assigned to St. Lucie, and has since had slightly better results over the course of a few games, albeit in a less difficult setting.
Lantigua was held back in extended spring training to help nurse a core injury, finally getting on the field at the end of April with St. Lucie. He appeared in a few games in May but was placed on the 7-day injured list on May 10 after hurting himself while sliding. A week later, he was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Serrano had a cool April but cooled off even more in May, logging fewer hits, hitting for less power, drawing fewer walks, and striking out more. Serrano was projected as a late-blooming roll of the dice when he was initially drafted, but over roughly a full season’s worth of games at Single-A, High-A, and Double-A, we have yet to really see the outfielder grow into himself yet.
Guzman more or less mirrored his solid start to the year in May, his batting average and on-base percentage rising a bit thanks to a more favorable BABIP. If the young outfielder continues what he is doing right now and continues accumulating some counting stats, it would be hard not to imagine a promotion up to High-A Brooklyn sooner rather than later.
Gutierrez had a bad April, but has really cratered in May. He is making so much poor contact, either by hitting groundballs or flyballs at noncompetitive launch angles that his BABIP not only dropped from .216 in April, but it dropped considerably, to .136 in May. Despite solid walk and strikeout rates, Gutierrez isn’t making enough contact to begin with, and more often than not, when he does, it is extremely poor contact.
Baro sustained a right shoulder injury prior to the start of the 2026 season and was expected to return to the field around the All-Star Break, but the infielder returned to action much earlier than expected, getting assigned to the FCL Mets for a rehab assignment on the 21st and going 2-5 with a strikeout in 2 games.
Vargas started the month on the injured list due to a shoulder injury, but he was reactivated on May 19 and got into 9 games at the end of the month. His numbers were more or less the same pre-injury, so it would seem there are no lingering issues. That said, Vargas has a very limited upside to begin with, so his version of “normal” isn’t really all that great.
The Los Angeles Dodgers head to the desert for a four-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning Monday night.
The Boys in Blue are the hottest team in baseball, so my Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks predictions and MLB picks for Monday, June 1, see the visitors snagging a victory.
Who will win Dodgers vs Diamondbacks today: Dodgers (-155)
Both starting pitchers tell a tale of regression, but the moral is quite different.
Eduardo Rodriguez’s 2.31 ERA is unsupported by his 4.44 xERA. His 89 Stuff+ is one of the worst you’ll see among Big League starters, so his hot start is bound to fizzle out as the season progresses.
Los Angeles Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan’s 4.70 ERA will positively regress given his 3.88 xERA and 3.29 xFIP. He dazzles with a 20.7% K-BB% and should flummox an Arizona Diamondbacks lineup with a 91 wRC+ in the last 20 days despite facing poor competition.
Dodgers vs Diamondbacks Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (+107)
The Dodgers have been profitable to the Under (25-34 O/U) this season despite having a potent lineup.
That’s in large part due to a revamped bullpen that suppresses opponent scoring regardless of who the starting pitcher is. They allowed just 24 earned runs in May while sporting a sterling 2.96 FIP.
The only team to let in fewer runs? Arizona, which allowed 18 earned runs en route to a 2.18 ERA.
LA has hit the Over just once in Sheehan’s last four starts, while Arizona has done so once in Rodriguez’s last six.
JD Yonke's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 20-18, -2.36 units
Over/Under bets: 28-11, +16.41 units
Dodgers vs Diamondbacks odds
Moneyline: Dodgers -128 | Diamondbacks +116
Run line: Dodgers -1.5 (+102) | Diamondbacks +1.5 (-122)
Over/Under: Over 9 (-110) | Under 9 (-110)
Dodgers vs Diamondbacks trend
The Dodgers have cashed the moneyline in 11 of their last 14 games. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks.
How to watch Dodgers vs Diamondbacks and game info
Location
Stadium, City, State/Province
Date
Monday, June 1, 2026
First pitch
9:40 p.m. ET
TV
D-Backs.TV, Sportsnet Los Angeles
Dodgers starting pitcher
Emmett Sheehan (3-1, 4.70 ERA)
Diamondbacks starting pitcher
Eduardo Rodriguez (5-1, 2.31 ERA)
Dodgers vs Diamondbacks latest injuries
Dodgers vs Diamondbacks weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
TULSA, OKLAHOMA - APRIL 19: Josue de Paula #55 of the Tulsa Drillers swings the bat during a game against the Arkansas Travelers at ONEOK Field on April 19, 2026 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Dodgers multi-position switch-hitter Tommy Edman hit a two-run home run on Sunday and played center field for the first time on his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Four games into his rehab assignment, Edman has five hits in 13 at-bats plus a walk, with three runs scored.
Player of the day
Dodgers top prospect Josue De Paula tied career highs with four hits and two home runs in Double-A Tulsa’s win on Sunday. The Drillers right fielder hit a two-run shot in the third inning and a solo shot in the seventh.
After hitting .302/.439/.419 in April, De Paula turned up the power in May, hitting a robust .340/.410/.650 with 14 doubles, six home runs, and 29 RBI in 25 games. That’s the most home runs, RBI, and highest slugging percentage of any month in his career to date.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
James Tibbs continued his week to remember with yet another home run in the Comets road win over the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Astros). Tibbs hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, and also singled and walked. He hit six home runs with 16 RBI during the six-game series, a rare feat.
James Tibbs III is now the first OKC player in six years to homer in four straight games.
Cole Irvin allowed a run in five innings for the win, and was followed by four scoreless innings of relief. Nick Frasso pitched two perfect frames with two strikeouts, his third straight scoreless outing with seven strikeouts among his 14 batters faced during that span.
Double-A Tulsa
The Drillers led 9-0 after three innings but had to hold on to beat the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals) by a single run. De Paula had plenty of company in producing offense.
Mike Sirota homered, doubled, singled, and walked, scored twice, and drove in three runs. Zyhir Hope tripled, singled, and drove in three. Jake Gelof doubled twice.
After Northwest Arkansas scored five runs in the eighth inning to pull within one, Nick Robertson pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save. The 27-year-old right-hander, who debuted with the Dodgers in 2023 and also pitched in the majors for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and Toronto Blue Jays in 2023-24, has pitched in 15 games this season, all of scoreless, totaling 21 1/3 innings with just four singles and five walks allowed, with 25 strikeouts.
High-A Great Lakes
The Loons lost 3-2 to the Dayton Dragons (Reds) for the second straight day. That spoiled a strong start by left-hander Sterling Patick, who struck out seven and allowed just one run in his five innings. The seven strikeouts matched his season high.
Eduardo Quintero and Jose Meza each had two hits for Great Lakes.
Class-A Ontario
Down 8-3 in the ninth inning, the Tower Buzzers rallied for six runs to stun the Visalia Oaks (D-backs).
First baseman Easton Shelton hit a solo shot in the ninth for Ontario, his third home run in four games. AJ Soldra hit a two-run shot that pulled Ontario within a run, part of a three-hit day for the left fielder.
Mairo Martinus homered and drove in three runs. He reached on an error in the ninth inning, then Brendan Tunink walked, putting the tying and winning runs on with only one out. Chase Harlan singled home Martinus, and Ching-Hsien Ko singled home Tunink for the game-winner.
Brady Smith struck out six and allowed a run in his four-inning start.
BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 31: Gunnar Henderson #2 and Colton Cowser #17 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrate after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 9-5 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 31, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It was only a week or so ago that Birdland was buzzing over Ben McDonald’s post-game rant on MASN, and the Orioles, not far off getting swept by the Rays, seemed like they might be headed for disaster. Instead, for the second time in May, they picked themselves up after getting swept by a division rival, faced that team a second time, and did a lot better. In this case, the Orioles actually swept the Rays in Baltimore. That was fun!
In this week’s episode of the podcast, I’m looking back on what was a rollercoaster May for the Orioles. There are a number of players, particularly hitters, who did a lot better over that month, and much of the rotation has shown signs of improvement over the last two or three starts as well. These are good things. There are, of course, things that still need to improve, as the month was particularly disappointing for the duo of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson.
I’d say don’t even get me started on the bullpen, except in this episode I already did get started on them. I try to figure out where the solutions might be for some of the problem areas, though as ever, a lot of it really is just going to have to come down to, the Orioles players have to play better.
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How are you feeling about the way things are going with the Orioles right now? Answers could make it into the mailbag section of the next episode of the podcast.
May 31, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Jorbit Vivas (84) tags San Diego Padres second baseman Sung-Mun Song (28) for an out during the seventh inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images | Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images
The San Diego Padres found themselves trailing the Washington Nationals, 3-2 in the top of the seventh inning, but they had runners on the corners with one out. Miguel Andujar was at the plate after being called upon to pinch hit for Freddy Fermin, who is currently mired in an 0-for-24 slump. It was not a sure thing, but it seemed likely that Andujar would put the ball in play and the Padres would have a chance to tie the game. San Diego had some speed at first base in Sung-Mun Song, who worked a walk with Ty France on third base. Andujar fouled off three pitches in which Song attempted to steal second base in an effort to take away Washington’s chance for a double play. Song took off for second a fourth consecutive time as Andujar watched strike three. Song was thrown out at second after sliding past the bag. He initially got his left hand to the base before he was tagged but could not maintain contact as he slid past and the tag was applied. The inning ended after an ABS challenge from Andujar, which was not close, with the tying run 90 feet from home plate.
The Padres trailed 4-2 entering the top of the ninth inning when Jackson Merrill reached on a one-out single through the left side of the infield. France followed and was at the plate as a legitimate threat to tie the game, but much like the seventh inning, France struck out as Merrill tried to steal second base. The Friar Faithful had to laugh to keep from crying when they saw Merrill slide past the bag in almost the same manner as Song, resulting in him disconnecting from the base and being tagged out to end the game. The Nationals got the 4-2 win and the 2-1 series win, while the Padres dropped to 1-5 in their last six games.
San Diego is off today and will take on the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday at 3:40 p.m.
Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Mariners play a three-game series in Seattle starting on Monday at 9:40 p.m. on SNY.
5 things to watch
The reverse engineered rotation
The first two games of this series will feature Sean Manaea and Jonah Tong, but it's possible neither of them starts.
Manaea, who is basically replacing David Peterson in the rotation, will enter after opener Austin Warren on Monday.
On Tuesday, Tong will be on the mound in a bulk role, but it hasn't yet been revealed whether he'll start or enter after an opener -- Tong has been utilized after an opener in his first two big league appearances this season, tossing 6.2 scoreless innings.
What the Mets are doing might be viewed as relatively unorthodox by some, but it is becoming a more prevalent strategy throughout the game.
It's also a different (and better) strategy than the one the Mets used at times last season, when they often had straight bullpen games where they didn't use a traditional starting pitcher to eat innings.
Soto had a monster weekend as the Mets swept a three-game series from the Marlins, with four hits (including a grand slam), two walks, and five RBI.
In 65 plate appearances over 15 games since May 14, Soto is hitting .382/.469/.873 (1.341 OPS) with nine homers and 18 RBI.
For the season, he is slashing .305/.397/.597 (.994 OPS) with 13 homers. Even after missing roughly three weeks due to a calf injury, Soto is on pace to finish the year with 36 home runs, which would be the third-highest total of his career.
Among players who have played 42 games or more this season, Soto's .994 OPS is tops in the National League and third-best in baseball, behind only Ben Rice of the Yankees (1.056) and Yordan Alvarez (1.050) of the Astros.
Ahead of the series against Miami, Semien had notched just three hits in his prior 28 at-bats dating back to May 20.
In 221 plate appearances over 56 games to that point, Semien was slashing .213/.264/.307 (.571 OPS, 64 OPS+).
New York Mets second baseman Marcus Semien (10) celebrates scoring a run in the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The struggles were deep enough to wonder whether the Mets could shift Semien to a bench role once Francisco Lindor returns from the IL, with Bo Bichette shiftingback to third base and Brett Baty taking over for Semien at second base.
Semien rose to the occasion against the Marlins, though, reaching base seven times in 12 plate appearances (five hits, two walks) while raising his OPS for the year to .615.
The Mariners are flying high
After falling to 23-27 on May 19, the M's have gone 8-2 over their last 10 games, including winning their last six in a row with three-game sweeps over the Athletics and Diamondbacks.
The surge has been enough to catapult Seattle into first place in the mediocre AL West -- the 31-29 Mariners are the only team at .500 or better in the division.
Julio Rodriguez has been hot amid Seattle's hot streak, with homers in three of his last four games.
J.P. Crawford, who is on a seven-game hitting streak, has also picked things up.
One player the Mets won't see against Seattle is 2025 AL MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, who is on the IL with an oblique injury. Raleigh was struggling badly before his injury, hitting a paltry .161/.243/.317 with seven homers in 41 games.
Hancock, Gilbert, and Kirby
The Mariners' calling card remains their elite starting pitching.
Seattle has given up just 225 runs this season, which is second-best in the AL and sixth-best in MLB.
A lot of that has to do with Emerson Hancock, Logan Gilbert, and George Kirby -- the trio of starters who will toe the rubber against the Mets this week.
Hancock has been especially impressive this season, allowing two runs or fewer in eight of his 11 starts.
Predictions
Who will the MVP of the series be?
Juan Soto
Soto is as locked in as he's ever been as a Met.
Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?
Freddy Peralta
The Mets need more from Peralta, who couldn't make it through five innings this past Friday against the Marlins.
Which Mariners player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?
Randy Arozarena
Arozarena is having a strong season, with an .825 OPS through 60 games.
Three hard-hitting sluggers headline our MLB player props home run analysis for tonight's quiet nine-game slate. I'll include James Wood, Mike Trout, and Jordan Walker.
Mike Trout continues to produce elite power metrics, carrying a 48.6% hard-hit rate and a 21% barrel rate that ranks in the 98th percentile. He'll face Kyle Freeland on Monday, and the Rockies left-hander owned a 9.41 xERA in May while allowing opponents to post a 44.6% hard-hit rate.
The matchup is favorable for Trout, who has consistently punished southpaws this season with a .231 ISO and 144 wRC+. He also owns a 62.9% fly-ball rate against left-handed pitching, while more than 60% of the contact against Freeland has been in the air.
Freeland's recent form only adds to the appeal, as he's surrendered five home runs across his last two starts.
Opponents are also making plenty of loud contact against Alcantara, producing a 40.4% hard-hit rate this past month, while he's allowing 1.61 HR/9 over his last five starts.
This bodes well for Wood. He's in the 100th percentile in xSLG, hard-hit rate, and barrel rate. The left-handed slugger owns a 23.5% HR/FB rate and a .225 ISO against right-handed pitching this season.
Alcantara's recent form only strengthens the case. He's surrendered five home runs across his last two appearances, while Wood has gone deep three times over the last seven days.
I'd confidently play this pick up to +250.
Time: 6:45 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Marlins.TV, Nationals.TV
Home run pick: Jordan Walker (+378)
Jordan Walker is having a breakout campaign with 15 home runs, and he comes up against Jacob deGrom tonight. While the veteran's 3.77 ERA is respectable, the underlying numbers are more concerning.
He's allowing a 46.2% hard-hit rate this season, and that number jumped to 51.2% in May, when he also posted a 5.62 FIP. Walker owns a 21.2% HR/FB rate against right-handed pitching this season and has produced a 57.9% hard-hit rate over the last week.
Eleven of his 15 home runs have also come against righties, while deGrom has been tagged for seven long balls across his previous three starts.
I'd play this pick up to +350.
Time: 7:45 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Rangers Sports Network, Cardinals.TV
Quinn Allen's 2026 Transparency Record
HR picks: 7-45, -10.52 units
Today’s HR parlay
Mike Trout
Bet Now +7944
James Wood
Jordan Walker
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
As we go through some of these statistical series it becomes important to occasionally go back and explain the whys and what fors for these numbers. Simply put, the more numbers we can use to demonstrate the difference between players the better. Essentially, we are looking the mathematics of situational baseball. The good news is that the Astros are playing good enough baseball where it matters again. The bad news is they have dug themselves another hole where they cannot afford missteps.
Friday night was a misstep of epic proportions. For some it was even a fireable offense. In the 8th inning, Joe Espada subbed Brice Matthews in for Taylor Trammel ostensibly to get better defense in left field. Bryan Abreu immediately gives up the tying run and we are left needing that at bat later in the game. So, Matthews had to hit with the bases loaded and one out. Given his speed, a strikeout was the only real negative probability. Since he strikes out 32 percent of the time, he obviously struck out. That single decision was baseball malpractice.
Baseball is a game of probabilities. Every pitch and every situation sees the odds of success and failure change in the blink of an eye. A 1-0 count shifts to a 1-1 count. However, if ABS can shift that to a 2-0 count then the odds clearly change. Coaches and players must make split second decisions based on these odds. Even when the odds are in your favor you will often fail. Even if failure is predicted you sometimes succeed through happy happenstance.
A manager’s job is to put his team in a position where the odds of success are as high as possible. As much as we might love a manager like “Major League’s” Lou Brown, I would just as soon not have my manager rolling out phrases like, “I gotta hunch he’s due.” Coaches, gamblers, and even players don’t succeed without a healthy understanding of situations and what the highest percentage play is.
That brings us to bases per out. Obviously, this is just yet another number, but I believe it to be a pretty accurate one and descriptive one. No number explains everything. Nothing is ever that easy. However, it can explain a lot on both the pitching and hitting side of things. It is calculated by taking total bases, walks, stolen bases, and hit by pitches and divide it by the total number of outs. The league average is .663 and as we have seen in the outfield, very few Astros have met the average. Again, we will list the players from most outs to least outs.
TB
BB/HBP
SB
Outs
BPO
Christian Walker
113
25
0
174
.793
Isaac Paredes
75
27
0
158
.646
Jose Altuve
62
20
1
133
.624
Jeremy Pena
38
6
3
68
.691
Braden Shewmake
30
2
0
60
.533
Nick Allen
17
4
1
42
.524
Let’s put these numbers in perspective. Yordan Alvarez might very well lead the league in BPO. His BPO is well over 1.000. There is a pretty significant drop off from there. You can clearly see there are only three really above average hitters on this team according to BPO. Taylor Trammel counts as one for the moment, but he is likely to see a regression really soon. The resurgence of Jeremy Pena has helped considerably over the last week, but this is still a pretty shallow lineup.
Mind you, Paredes is not far below average and one mini hot streak gets him above average. He has an OPS+ of 99 so he looks more or less average. Altuve obviously got off to the hot start, but faded in early May. Does he recalibrate himself and get back to what he was doing in the first couple of weeks of the season when he does come back? Anything is possible.
What this effectively means is that the Astros have several players that are interchangeable in terms of overall production. Shewmake and Allen are similar offensively if not in style, but results that matter. Mathews can also play on the infield and he is similar to them in results. These numbers are not predictive in nature, but they do help explain why managers sometimes make the decisions that they do. Unfortunately, it also highlights when they make the wrong ones.
When Altuve comes back, the decision of who to start will be simple. It is the decision of who to keep and who to drop that will become harder. As important as fielding is, this team does not have enough good bats to squander a spot to a fielding only player. However, looking at Matthews, Allen, and Shewmake right now is like looking at a group of siblings. They are not identical triplets. Each of them reach their BPO a little differently, but the results are all fairly similar.
So, it comes down to a decision. Do you want upside? Clearly, Matthews has more of that. Do you want positional flexibiity? Shewmake and Allen can play every infield position well. Matthews can play second well in addition to the outfield. He struggled in limited time at third and has not played short in the big leagues. Mathews also has options left and that is a pretty big deal. He has the look of a guy that needs everyday reps. Like Zach Cole before him, he just simply does not make enough contact yet to stick. Will he someday? Baseball history is littered with guys that take awhile to figure it out.
The simple fact is that the Astros have played well enough (and other teams in the AL West have sputtered) to where their games in June matter. Development can and should happen, but it cannot happen at the big league level under those circumstances. Joe Espada and Dana Brown have to maximize every single ounce of good baseball they can out of this 40 man roster. They will need to pick their bench and bullpen carefully. One or two missteps will cause losses like Friday night. Those are the kinds of losses this team can ill afford right now.
May 30, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles infielder Pete Alonso (25) begins to celebrate after hitting a walk-off single in the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images | Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images
If the Orioles do end up fully turning this season around, this past home stand will have been where it started. Ten days ago, this club was spiraling, losers of five out of six and cratering to the bottom of the AL East. Now, after some home cooking and a series of exciting wins, the O’s feel like they are truly back in the mix.
Prior to this 10-game home stretch, the Orioles were 21-29, in fifth place in the division, 13 games out of first place and 3.5 games back of the final wild card spot. After going 7-3, which included a series win over the Tigers, a sweep of the Rays, and a four-game split with the Blue Jays, they are now 28-32. That brought them up to fourth in the East, within 10 games of first in the division, and just one game out of the final wild card spot.
Clearly, there’s work to be done, but the success of the home stand is unambiguous. The Orioles finally put together a stretch of games that made them look like the competitive team they were always supposed to be. Dreams of a playoff run are back on.
Offensive outburst
Over these 10 games, the Orioles scored 60 runs and hit 14 home runs. Contributions came from up and down the order, the previous black holes at second and third base seem to have disappeared, and one Oriole in particular has reasserted his everyday place in the lineup.
Nine different Orioles had a wRC+ of 105 or better. That is the sort of well-rounded offense Mike Elias had in mind when he built the roster. And that includes Pete Alonso (119 wRC+), Gunnar Henderson (111), and Adley Rutschman (105) being good not great. It was the rest of the team that really drove the run scoring.
Coby Mayo, despite dealing with an injury, had an impressive showing across five appearances. He slashed .333/.412/.600 with a home run. Could he be turning the corner? The Orioles really need him to take third base as his own.
Jackson Holliday’s return to the lineup has added a crucial dimension to the offense. He hit .276/.371/.483 with two home runs, and a 14.3% walk rate. While Jeremiah Jackson did a great job early in the season, his struggles have been evident for a while now. Holliday brings a much better approach to the plate.
But the MVP of the entire home stand is, without a doubt, Colton Cowser. The outfielder hit .375/.444/.792 with three home runs, eight runs scored, and nine RBI. He cut is strikeout rate in half, just 18.5% in this stretch, while still walking at a solid 11.1% rate. Cowser also came up clutch several times, including a pair of walk-off home runs. The Orioles don’t even need him to be that good at the plate. They just need him to be competent. He was certainly that these last few days.
Rotation rounding into form?
Expectations for the Orioles starting staff were not as high as they were for the lineup. The group simply needed to be serviceable with occasional pops of brilliance. Until recently, the underlying numbers for the starters were better than the actual outcomes. In these 10 games, their fortunes turned around a bit.
The Orioles 2.38 starter ERA since May 22 is the fifth-best in baseball. Their 4.27 xERA is 17th, their 4.21 FIP is 19th, and their 4.48 xFIP ranks 23rd. So were they actually good, or did they just get some good luck? The answer varies by the individual.
Shane Baz had a brilliant seven-inning outing, and both Brandon Young and Kyle Bradish have found some consistency recently that feels impossible to ignore. Chris Bassitt, on the other hand, allowed just one run in six innings despite barely missing any bats. Trey Gibson navigated a boatload of walks to give up just one run in 5.2 frames. Those two seem to be on the luckier side of things.
Trevor Rogers exists somewhere in between. Neither of his two starts on the home stand were “good,” and the Orioles lost both games. But they also felt like progress from where he has been. If he had been pulled after six innings in the game against the Blue Jays then maybe we would feel even better about this team, the pitching staff, and this stretch of 10 games.
Bullpen roles becoming clear
The relief corps had an opposite experience to their mates in the rotation. Some of their underlying stats from the home stand were actually better (3.16 FIP) than their top-line numbers (4.10 ERA). But overall outcomes in a bullpen feel less important than how some of the most important individuals are doing. In that regard, it was promising.
Rico Garcia went another 4.2 innings without allowing an earned run, though his strikeout (5.79 K/9) and walk (3.86 BB/9) numbers are not where you want them. Even still, it’s more brilliance from one of the team’s best surprises.
Andrew Kittredge seems to have found his footing after struggling after his IL stint. He didn’t allow a run in three appearances, which included coming into a bases loaded jam with no outs against the Rays. He struck out the three batters he was responsible for.
It was not a good week-and-a-half for Yennier Cano. He is the one that created the aforementioned bases loaded mess for Kittredge, and he exited with what seemed to be a hamstring injury. The good news is that he’s fine! No IL stint. and his underlying metrics are much better than the 16.20 ERA across 1.2 innings would suggest.
On top of that, Ryan Helsley is on the way back. He threw a 15-20-pitch bullpen on May 30, will do more bullpen work this week, and then is expected to go out on a rehab assignment sometime after June 8. He’s a reliever, so shouldn’t need an overly long stint down in the minors before he is ready to help the rest of the group out.
The return of Helsley should make the entire unit deeper. He will likely return to the closer’s role, even though Garcia has filled in admirably there. More importantly, it pushes everyone else further up in the game. So if a starter can get through five or six innings with the game in reach, you feel confident that a combination of Garcia, Kittrege, Cano, and Helsely can lock things down from there. It’s a much better situation in the late innings than many expected coming into the season.
Keep it going
Hoping for the Orioles to continue winning seven out of every 10 games is a way to get yourself disappointed. But they do need to maintain some level of momentum, and this road trip could give a chance to do just that.
They start with three games in Boston, who are back at the bottom of the AL East following the O’s winning ways. The BoSox have been awful at home this year, owning a 9-19 record at Fenway Park. Similarly, the Orioles have been terrible on the road (9-17) this year. Something’s gotta give.
Then the O’s get to see the Blue Jays again. The defending American League champs have righted the ship after early-season wobbles. But they are no juggernaut. There’s no better way to get back into playoff position than to beat a team that currently holds one of the last wild card spots.
This past home stand was so huge for the Orioles and the fan base. If it had gone wrong, it would have felt like a final blow to this underperforming team. Instead, they were fantastic. We saw the potential. Let’s keep it going, folks!
May 31, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob Latz (67) and catcher Kyle Higashioka (11) celebrate their teams 6-3 win over the Kansas City Royals following the ninth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images | Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images
Good morning.
Shawn McFarland writes about what we’ve learned about the Texas Rangers over the last week, a club that started a homestand by getting no-hit and ended it with a sweep.
Kennedi Landry writes about Jack Leiter following his Vandy bro Kumar Rocker for a stellar outing against Kansas City as the Rangers finished off a sweep of the Royals on Sunday.
McFarland writes that the Rangers secured the sweeping victory by scoring six runs with timely hits, getting good pitching from their starter, and playing sound defense.
Jeff Wilson writes about the Rangers bouncing back from a poor start to finish with a winning homestand by taking the win on Sunday.
The cavalry could soon arrive as McFarland notes that Corey Seager is expected to begin a rare rehab assignment with Wyatt Langford also nearing a return.
Landry writes that getting Seager back and healthy and hitting is the hope for Texas to heat up in June.
And, Evan Grant answers why it was Andrew McCutchen on the chopping block despite several other players also struggling.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - MAY 31: Mike Yastrzemski #18 of the Atlanta Braves hits a single in the 9th inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 31, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Well, that’s another month in the books. It was a pretty good month; while the Braves didn’t play at a league-best rate (hi Brewers), they weren’t far behind, either.
If you had to pick one Brave as the standout, however defined, who would you pick? Some food for thought…
While Mike Yastrzemski didn’t have the most bombastic batting line, he did far and away lead the team in WPA. His resurgence was perhaps also emblematic of the season the Braves are having as a whole: next man up production-wise, with different heroes stepping up to delivery victory after victory. It’s not that his context-neutral performance was anything to sneeze at, either, with a 170 wRC+ and 0.7 fWAR in just 66 PAs. But, in perhaps a fitting fashion for this season and not any other Braves season, he did it while massively outhitting his inputs: a .418 wOBA on a .338 xwOBA for the month.
Robert Suarez was almost entirely money, with a 6/1 shutdown/meltdown ratio in 12 appearances. Dylan Lee had a similar ratio and actually a much better pitching line (Suarez’ 17/85/94 is actually kinda meh; Lee was a hilariously dominant 34/42/54), but Suarez did stuff like have four consecutive outings (and five of six) with 0.10 WPA or more and only entered in low leverage three times for the month.
Meanwhile, Chris Sale was Chris Sale, with the most fWAR on the team for May (1.3). He made five starts, and though the Braves somehow lost two of them, he was dominant in every single one. Seriously, among his five starts, his worst ERA- was 88, his worst FIP- was 84, and his worst xFIP- was 70.
Though they weren’t around for the whole month, no one would blame you for going with Ronald Acuña Jr. or Drake Baldwin, either. Both had 0.9 fWAR. Acuña had a 192 wRC+ with a .451 wOBA and .462 xwOBA, because that’s what heroes do. Baldwin, well… .441 wOBA, .469 xwOBA, 185 wRC+. These guys were monsters. Get well soon, Drake Baldwin.
I think I’ve covered the likely picks here, but who ya got?
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 27: Cristopher Sanchez #61 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on during the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on May 27, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There isn’t a lot to go into this question. The National League just witnessed two of the best months from a starting pitcher in a long time.
These are two types of domination. For Sanchez, he literally did the exact job a pitcher is supposed to do: prevent the other team from scoring. No one scored on him in the month of May. For Misiorowski, he only allowed a single run, but struck out twelve more hitters than Sanchez did. They were both beyond excellent and entered a different stratosphere of pitcher while doing so.
So, which is the pitcher of the month? A minor award when thinking in terms of Cy Young stuff, but it is still something that any pitcher would be happy to claim.
COVERS INTEL:
Mike Trout
James Wood
Jordan Walker
