LAKELAND, FL - FEBRUARY 22: Baltimore Orioles Outfielder Reed Trimble (62) at bat during the Spring Training Game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers on February 22, 2026 at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Tampa, FL. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Triple-A: Nashville (Brewers) 5, Norfolk Tides 1
Sunday marked the Triple-A debut for Trace Bright, the fifth-round Auburn righty who has now spent parts of three years in Double-A. It went… fine. Bright lasted just 2⅔ innings, walking four and striking out four against just two hits, allowing two runs. Last month, Bright was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for a scoreless two-start stretch, but the walks look like a problem still be tackled.
The Tides’ lone run came via the bat of Johnathan Rodríguez, who launched a home run in the eighth inning. Drafted by Cleveland in 2017 and DFA’d in March, Rodríguez is a career .285 hitter in the minors (.852 OPS), but hasn’t had much success in 49 games at the MLB level.
The Baysox coughed up the winning run in the eighth inning, though the offensive contributions weren’t nothing. Frederick Bencosme, the Dominican-born infielder who signed for $10,000 back in 2020, went deep for his fourth homer of the season. Griff O’Ferrall doubled, Aron Estrada had two hits, and Alfredo Velásquez drove in two runs from the nine spot.
Evan Yates, a twentieth-rounder in 2024, gave up three runs but allowed just one walk while pitching into the sixth inning. Calgary native son Cohen Achen pitched 1.2 scoreless. Unfortunately, Jeisson Cabrera let in the tying run in the eighth, though he did strike out the side for good measure.
The headliner here was Carson Dorsey, the Florida State lefty taken in the 2024 draft who has had an up-and-down first full High-A season, with a 6.23 ERA in five appearances. Sunday was definitely an up: Dorsey came out of the bullpen and delivered six scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit and holding the Cyclones to two hits while striking out eight. That’s a dominant outing by any measure, and great news for an under-the-radar arm.
Nate George, the top prospect in the organization, drove in two runs. Elis Cuevas added a home run. Wehiwa Aloy singled and walked.
Single-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 10, Hill City (Guardians) 6
The runs were coming in bunches for the Shorebirds on Sunday. A rehabbing Reed Trimble, the 2021 competitive balance pick who’s battled injuries at virtually every level of the system, went deep. Trimble was one of three prospects the O’s protected from the Rule 5 draft last year, along with Cameron Foster and Anthony Nunez, both of whom have seen MLB action.
That wasn’t it on offense, though. The 20-year-old José Perez also went deep and added a triple on a day he racked up three hits, four RBIs, and 10 total bases. DJ Layton and Edwin Amparo had two hits apiece. Stiven Martinez hit a pinch-hit triple.
A pair of 2025 draft picks—Denton Biller and Dalton Neuschwander—weren’t brilliant, but they didn’t need to be. Each allowed three runs in two-plus innings, through the pair racked up eight strikeouts. Riley Cooper pitched a nice 1.2 innings, with three strikeouts. And Kenny Leiner threw a scoreless ninth.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - MAY 3: Mark Vientos #27 of the New York Mets is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on May 3, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Meet the Mets
Mark Vientos hit a pair of homers, Clay Holmes maintained his National League lead in ERA, and the Mets are a win away from having a winning streak. Neat!
The Phillies scored six times against Chris Paddack in the first inning Sunday afternoon and never looked back on their way to a 7-2 triumph over the Miami Marlins.
No matter how well José Caballero played in this first month of the season, he was running on borrowed time. The Yankees always intended for Anthony Volpe to slide back into the starting shortstop role when he recovered from a torn labrum that affected his play for much of the 2025 season, and they made that clear when they didn’t make a single infield addition in the offseason.
Right?
This is what everyone in Yankeeland assumed was going to happen, regardless of Caballero’s performance. The team had been vocal about their belief in Volpe as a key piece of the team’s future, consistently defending his performance through last season and into his offseason surgery. When he began a rehab assignment, it looked like his return was inevitable.
But the young shortstop reached the end of his 20-day rehab window yesterday, and the Yankees elected to option him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The fact he entered the year with all three of his minor league options remaining makes it so that the team isn’t absorbing any risk if this is intended to just get him a week or two more of game action before returning, but there’s a sense that some of the trust has waned in the 25-year-old, and Caballero’s performance hasn’t helped Volpe’s case at all.
A month into the season, Caballero has performed admirably in his time as the team’s shortstop, contributing some clutch moments offensively with steady defense and aggressive baserunning. Entering play on Monday, he’s slashing .259/.306/.405 with a 99 wRC+ with four home runs, 12 RBIs, 13 stolen bases, and 0.8 fWAR. He paces the American League with 7 Defensive Runs Saved and has added value on the basepaths, even after getting thrown out four times in two games last week.
When comparing him directly to Volpe, even if you give Volpe’s 2025 defensive regression some grace due to his labrum injury, the decision makes plenty of sense; the last we saw of Volpe was of a floundering player, and Caballero is performing very well. But if we’re talking about optimizing the Yankees’ roster, the best move would still be to pencil in a healthy Volpe at shortstop and put Caballero back in a role where he’s excellent, as a super-utilityman.
While Caballero has looked better offensively in his brief Yankee tenure than Volpe has in his three-year career, a look under the hood reveals that we shouldn’t expect this much longer from Caballero. Even though faster players will generally run a better BABIP due to their speed (see: Chandler Simpson), Caballero is vastly overperforming his .267 xwOBA, which sits in the 8th percentile. He doesn’t hit the ball hard, has a minuscule walk rate, and his overall quality of contact is much closer to his mediocre 2024 season than his strong finish to 2025.
Compare that to what we saw out of Volpe in 2025, where the expected stats aren’t too much better (.301 xwOBA), but the quality of contact is closer to league average, and there’s more potential in his bat if he can somehow make more consistent contact. Despite his overall numbers being near-identical through three years in terms of wRC+ and OPS, his peripherals have improved, particularly in chase rate and bat speed.
Defensively, it makes sense to give pause to before handing one of the most important positions on the field back to someone who was awful there in 2025, but the Yankees believe that the labrum injury affected him far more than initially believed, causing him to overcompensate in some regards. You could accuse the Yankees of being optimistic there, but we have substantial two-year sample size of Volpe being a strong defender at the position when , combining to produce 21 DRS and 15 Outs Above Average in his first two seasons. Many of his errors last year came from off-line throws, something that could’ve been affected by the shoulder injury.
But the biggest reason to move forward with the team’s initial plans for this season is to optimize the 26-man roster in the absolute best fashion possible. The Yankees’ bench, as currently constructed, isn’t very flexible with the specific roles that Amed Rosario, Paul Goldschmidt, and JC Escarra play. While Rosario can play other positions than third base, it’s not a serious consideration most days.
As of right now, Max Schuemann is the most flexible player on the bench. Schuemann nominally provides versatility, with the ability to play second and third, not to mention his limited experience at short and in the outfield, but the team tellingly hasn’t really opted to use that versatility in the week he’s been on the roster. The role Schuemann fills at this moment can use an upgrade.
Caballero’s defensive prowess gives him a high enough floor that he isn’t a bottom-of-the-barrel shortstop in the league when his bat falls back to earth, but there might not be a better bench player in all of MLB if he’s put back in that role. He’s able to play five different positions at a solid level, having already shown his aptitude at shortstop while also being able to play second base, third base, left field, and right field.
Not only is he a capable defensive replacement at many different positions, but he also exists as a viable pinch-hitting and platoon candidate at these positions. Is there a tough lefty that you might not want to play Trent Grisham or Jazz Chisholm Jr. against? Caballero’s OPS against left-handers is .800 over the last two seasons, with an xwOBA of .320.
His best attribute of all, though, is his speed, which could now be deployed in the biggest spots of the game. To start the season, the Yankees were reduced to using Randal Grichuk as their best pinch-running option, and even though the recent moves have had either Schuemann or even Jasson Domínguez in that role depending on the day, Caballero as the team’s top pinch-runner would be tremendously more valuable once Giancarlo Stanton returns from injury.
When you factor all that in, Caballero provides much more to the bench than Schuemann can, and that’s only possible when sliding Volpe back into shortstop. Think of it this way; shifting from Caballero to Volpe, if the latter is healthy, shouldn’t be too big of a dropoff, while Caballero provides a massive upgrade on whomever he’s replacing on the bench. And of course, Caballero would likely prove to be a bench player only in name, coming in as a pinch-runner, defensive replacement, or starting against lefties so often that he’d find himself on the field more often than not even if he isn’t the everyday shortstop.
None of this matters if there are legitimate baseball reasons why the Yankees do not want to activate Volpe, but if this is merely just to get him more at-bats in the minor leagues and he’s only a week or two away from donning the pinstripes again, he should reclaim his old job. The Volpe we saw in 2023 and 2024was flawed, but that version of Volpe would still make the Yankees roster better right now.
A thorough smackdown of the IronPigs in Syracuse last night. Nick Morabito raised his OPS to .852, while Cristian Pache went deep for the third time this year and now has an .856 OPS himself. The rehabbing A.J. Minter tossed a scoreless inning with a strikeout, and even Dylan Ross had a clean inning himself. Good game all around.
In the resumption of yesterday’s suspended game, Binghamton tried to rally late but ultimately fell short. Down 4-1 in the ninth, RBIs from Jose Ramos and Nick Lorusso cut the deficit to one. TT Bowens lined out to end the game though. Close, but no cigar.
A really nice start from Zach Thornton got the Rumble Ponies through in their regularly scheduled Sunday game. Seven strikeouts and no runs in four innings, supported by a good day at the plate for JT Schwartz, was all Binghamton needed.
St. Lucie got caught stealing three times, made three errors, and won anyway. The Mets were actually down 6-2 in this one, but rallied back. Three scored in the sixth on singles from JT Benson and Chase Meggers as well as a successful steal of home (the rare time the “steal second with a runner on third so he can score” play works). Now down one, St. Lucie scored two more times in the eighth on doubles from Randy Guzman and Julio Zavas to take a one-run lead that Christian Rodriguez made stand up.
DETROIT, MI - MAY 03: Texas Rangers Jack Leiter (22) pitches in the first inning during the game between Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers on May 3, 2026 at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI (Photo by Allan Dranberg/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Tigers 7, Rangers 1
Detroit. Dee-Troit. D Troit.
The Tigers.
They won.
Jack Leiter gave up 5 runs in 6.2 innings, which sounds bad.
Which is bad, really.
But he did pitch better than the line would indicate, to use that old cliche.
Leiter allowed a total of six baserunners in the game. The problem is that five of them scored.
Leiter walked just one batter — Riley Greene, to lead off the fifth. It was the first baserunner he allowed all game.
The next batter, Spencer Torkelson, put an 0-2 hanging slider into the bleachers, and that, for all intents and purposes, was that.
The Torkelson homer was the only ball in play over 100 mph that Leiter gave up in the game. Or any other Ranger pitcher, for that matter.
In the sixth, Jake Rogers led off the inning with a ball to the outfield that should have been a single. Evan Carter tried to make a diving catch on it, however, and it got past him for a triple. Kevin McGonigle then hit a flare that fell in for a single to drive in the third run off of Leiter.
Leiter had Kerry Carpenter on second with two outs in the seventh and got a ground ball from Hao-Yu Lee that snuck through the infield for an RBI hit. Leiter was then lifted for Tyler Alexander, who allowed a pair of singles and a double before the inning ended.
So that was the five runs off of Leiter.
He was still really good, though. 10 Ks on the game. 73 strikes on 100 pitches, including 16 swings and misses.
If Leiter pitches like that regularly the Rangers will be in good shape.
Gavin Collyer pitched the eighth and once again didn’t allow any runs. That’s nine games, and 7.1 innings, in Collyer’s major league career without a run being scored.
The bats, meanwhile, were not good, despite the Tigers rolling with a bullpen game.
The only run came off former Ranger Ricky Vanasco in the seventh, when an Ezequiel Duran double, a Josh Smith walk, a wild pitch, and a Kyle Higashioka ground out cut the lead to 3-1.
Duran’s double was the only extra base hit the Rangers were able to muster.
The team was 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. Both the hitlessness and only having five at bats with runners in scoring position are problems.
Josh Smith was 2 for 3 with a walk, at least. That’s the offensive highlight for the Rangers.
Jack Leiter topped out at 99.4 mph with his fastball, averaging 97.5 mph. Tyler Alexander touched 91.3 mph with his sinker. Gavin Collyer’s fastball maxed out at 97.9 mph.
Jake Burger had a 108.7 mph ground out and a 101.9 mph fly out. Kyle Higashioka had a 105.9 mph ground out. Corey Seager had a 103.9 mph single. Andrew McCutchen had a 103.2 mph single. Ezequiel Duran had a 103.2 mph ground out. Brandon Nimmo had a 101.7 mph single. Josh Smith had a 101.6 mph single.
On to New York to play the Yankees. Things will maybe be better there.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 16: Brusdar Graterol #48 of the Los Angeles Dodgers stands on the field prior to a Spring Training game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Camelback Ranch on March 16, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Relief pitcher Brusdar Graterol started a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday night, and pitched a scoreless inning in his first game action in over 18 months. Graterol, who missed all of 2025 after right shoulder surgery and was slow-played this spring, will have a long rehab assignment before he joins the Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts told reporters in St. Louis on Saturday.
“He hasn’t pitched a whole lot in the last two, three years. So his buildup needs to be methodical,” Roberts said. “I’m looking forward to him getting going.
“Yeah, it seems like the last few years it’s been a rehab situation. So for him to get out of that mode and get to being a regular player, get the health (issues) behind him – we’re all looking forward to that.”
“He would come around the team, and the Frates family is just a really special family,” Sheehan said. “They have the Frates Foundation, which supports ALS research. It was a really cool cause, and I didn’t know much about it before Boston College, but I was grateful that I got to learn about it and keep it going.”
Links
I’ve referenced this article in a few weekend minor league reports, but last week Kiley McDaniel at ESPN updated his top 10 prospects for all 30 MLB teams. On the Dodgers list, Zyhir Hope moved up to second place and shortstop Emil Morales is now fourth in the system. Also from McDaniel: “Jackson Ferris and Adam Serwinowski, lefties who just missed this list, are next to be added to the 40-man after the season; Serwinowski’s stuff fits better in shorter stints.”
Josh Rosenthal and Angel Amparo attend graduation at the Colorado Rockies training complex in Boca Chica, DR
Author’s note: When we started on this series, we envisioned three or four articles that described what the Rockies are doing to support their Latin American players as they transition to playing professional baseball. As we learned more about it, however, we discovered there was much more here — and that the Rockies were at the forefront of ensuring Latino baseball players received educations that prepared them for the next steps in their lives, whether that was playing baseball or doing something else. It doesn’t get enough attention — and we’ve only really come to understand it through telling this story — but five MLB teams radically re-envisioned what becoming an MLB player would look like for Latino prospects.
All photos are courtesy of Josh Rosenthal.
Two weeks ago, we discussed the Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program, which began in 2012. That article highlighted the program in its current form, but in a phone interview, Josh Rosenthal – the original architect of the program – shared how the program came to be and its impact on Major League Baseball.
Origin story
Rosenthal served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Upon his return, he was introduced to now-Vice President of International Scouting and Development Rolando Fernández by his brother, Zack, who was an assistant general manager for the Colorado Rockies at the time.
“[Fernández] had this dream for building an education program for the Latino players, and my brother was talking to him about it,” Rosenthal said. “My brother had been working for the team since 2006, and he introduced me to Rolando, and we hit it off when we met for the first time, talking about the idea for this project and this program. And every time I went to visit my brother, I would connect with ‘Ro,’ and we would brainstorm about the possibility of this program, not ever knowing whether it would come true or whether funding would become available.”
They stayed in touch, discussing the framework for a program should it come into existence.
And in 2012, it did.
Rosenthal interviewed for a position to build the program, but his inspiration always came from his time serving in the Peace Corps because of the culture shock he experienced serving in El Campo, Guatemala.
“I needed to really adapt to a very different culture, and I also needed to learn a new language all at the same time,” Rosenthal said.
He sees the experience of the Rockies Latin-American prospects reflected in his own.
“That’s what these boys are having to do, as well,” he said.
“They’re learning a new culture, moving from the Dominican Republic or Venezuela or wherever to the United States. It’s a different culture and a different language. So I’d been through what they’ve been through. I also have a passion for helping people. Being in the Peace Corps, you’re given a unique gift to help people every day. That’s your job. And so I was looking for something that was fulfilling. Obviously, I was a baseball coach, baseball fan and (came from) a baseball family. My brother was the assistant GM for the Rockies for a long time, so this was a marriage of all my passions – teaching, language, travel and helping people in baseball.”
Setting the standard
When the Rockies started their program in 2012, only four other teams had dedicated education programs and full-time education coordinators: the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, the Detroit Tigers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Other MLB teams had English programs, but nothing really comparable.
“We’re really setting these players up for success, both on and off the field, during and after their careers,” Rosenthal said.
During that time, Neskys Liriano, the education director for MLB, and Rafael Pérez, the director of Dominican operations for MLB, pushed education programs and challenged teams to build better infrastructure to support them. MLB also dedicated space at the Winter Meetings for these five teams to share resources, so other teams could build their own programs.
Eventually, Rosenthal and Angel Amparo partnered with the New York Yankees to create one of the first high school education programs that allowed students to earn their high school diplomas while playing baseball.
“If I die tomorrow, that’s my legacy more than anything,” Rosenthal said.
“These boys develop all these amazing skills – they develop leadership, hard work, discipline, teamwork… They’re international. They know how cultures work in the United States. They’re bilingual. They have all these amazing experiences, but then they go home, and they have no high school diploma, so they can’t get a good job.”
Not everyone was on board, however.
“When we developed the high school diploma program, at times there was a little bit of pushback” Rosenthal said, “because we’re in the business of winning championships, not educating young men.”
But Rosenthal knew that was the wrong approach.
“We did the research, and we backed it up, and we said, ‘No, an educated player is a better player. And somebody who has the self-confidence and understands that they have a fallback when their career is over – whether it’s after a 10-year career in the big leagues or whether it’s when their career fizzles out in the Dominican Summer League or rookie ball – they’re going to be more confident knowing that they have a fallback,” he said.
“They’re going to be better learners because they’ve had formal education, and they’re going to be able to more quickly learn English. They’re going to be able to more quickly communicate with their teammates and their coaches. They’re going to be able to understand more quickly what the coaches are teaching them about pitching or hitting.’ So we were able to justify this education for them beyond just being on a moral ground.”
They also had support from others in the front office, including former general manager Jeff Bridich.
“His wife has a doctorate in education, as well, and the Monforts are kind and loving people who supported us, and they told us that they’d pay for the program,” Rosenthal said.
“And now all 30 clubs have programs.”
Creating a new culture
Since this was a new program, there was a big learning curve in the first year for Rosenthal and his team as well as the Rockies organization.
Rosenthal was hired in mid-February 2012 and reported to spring training in Scottsdale just two weeks later. During that spring, he spent most of his time observing baseball operations and interviewing players and coaches to learn as much as possible about Major League Baseball.
Then he got to work on a guiding handbook, which wasn’t without challenges.
“I worked and I grinded and I made copies of English books and picture dictionaries and all this stuff,” he said. “I was in my office just grinding away and I didn’t really feel like I was part of the team.”
He approached then-GM Dan O’Dowd, who told him to be more present with the team.
“So instead of being locked in my office, I started being at practice,” he said. “I started being on the field. I started sitting in the dugout during games or sitting in the stands with the players and working with them and talking about baseball in English, but I was also able to show off my knowledge of baseball in the game and I was able to have conversations with the coaches and they understood and the players understood and respected (me).”
That helped build rapport within the organization as well and set the standard that English classes were just as important as baseball instruction.
“There were some times where players would get called out of my class for a meeting with a hitting coach and I had to step up and be like, ‘No, you can’t leave. You’re in my class right now,’” Rosenthal said. “And I would have to make a statement. There was a time when a coach came in because Rolando wanted to see a player, and Rolando is all powerful, but I would say, ‘Nope, you can see him in 30 minutes when class is over.’
“I have all the respect in the world for Rolando – he’s one of my mentors,” he continued. “But English class is just as important as looking at a video for hitting or pitching or mental skills. That was the culture that we built, and it was appreciated because of that. If a player missed English class, it was like he missed BP, and he wouldn’t play in the game. And we had that culture and guys never missed. It was mandatory, and that was really important.”
In addition to creating new norms in the classroom, Rosenthal and his team also had to break some old norms outside it. Most important was better integrating the dugout and the clubhouse — literally.
“When I first got here in 2012, the dugouts in spring training were separated,” Rosenthal said.
“The Latino players were on one side, and the American players were on the other side. And I went in and said, ‘Hey, we need to change this. You need to mix up these lockers.’ And they said, ‘No, it’s the way we’ve always done it.’ And there was some pushback, and I basically was like, ‘Guys, we’re literally segregating these players. It’s a big word, but this is literally what this is.’
“And they acknowledged it, and they were like ‘We never even thought about it. This is just the way we’ve always done things.’ And sure enough, I had Bridich go in and talk to the clubhouse staff and say, ‘You’re going to go in and mix up all these lockers.’ Now, it was a lot of work to move everyone’s locker, but they did it, and we really had unification of our American and Latino players.”
Another way they unified the players was with a language lesson at the beginning of every meeting in spring training.
“We would do a word of the day or the phrase of the day at the beginning of our morning meetings,” Rosenthal said. “I would call on an American player and I’d call on a Latino player, and the American player would have to say the word of the day in Spanish, and the Latino player would have to say it in English. And everybody was learning, and they were working together, and it was impactful.”
Proudest moments
While there have been a number of players who have reached the Major Leagues, Rosenthal said he’s most proud of “the guys who have become coaches and scouts and that sort of thing because those guys have careers for the rest of their lives.
“I know their kids are going to go to great schools. I know that their children are going to be educated, really breaking the cycle of poverty,” he continued.
“A guy that makes it to the big leagues could lose all his money. It’s wonderful that they made it to the big leagues, but we have Michael Ramirez who’s the Latin American Hitting Coordinator. Cesar Galvez is the manager in (Single-A). Alving Mejias is a crosschecker, and that’s one of the highest roles in scouting. Helmis Rodriguez is a pitching coach. These are all guys that came up through our program, and at times, we would be talking to the front office guys and I’d say, ‘Hey, when this guy’s career is over, this is the type of guy that we want to become a coach or have a role in our program.’ And these are guys that have been hired by the team and have careers that are going to be able to support them forever. So those are the guys I’m most proud of.”
As far as players go, Rosenthal cited six players who played for their countries in the WBC: Germán Márquez, Antonio Senzatela, Huascar Brazobán (who is now with the Mets), Ezequiel Tovar, Juan Mejia, and Carlos Estévez.
“One of my proudest moments was the Dominican Republic versus Venezuela WBC game, which was the biggest game in Latin America,” Rosenthal said. “We had six players in those games – Márquez and Estévez didn’t play – making significant impacts in these huge games that were the biggest in their country’s history. It was just really special to see them on that world stage, and that was one of my proudest moments for sure.”
Looking to the future
Rosenthal left the team in December 2019 to spend more time with his family, but he still keeps in touch with the Rockies.
“I keep in contact with them,” he said. “I stop by the complex usually once a year. Angel and I are best friends. We still talk on the phone. The Rockies staff is pretty much the same as when I was hired in 2012 – the core group is still there, and those guys treated me like family and took care of me.”
Additionally, he has turned his focus to his nonprofit, the BASE Foundation, which “provides educational opportunities for boys who are active and dedicated baseball players, but come from low-income communities and have limited resources.”
But most importantly, Rosenthal highlighted the impact these education programs have had on the Latin American communities.
“I think Latin American baseball and its affiliation with Major League Baseball, in some ways, has a bad reputation,” he said. “They sign these players at 16, and that means a lot of these kids drop out of school and go and work and train full-time in an academy and put their education on the back burner. But the education programs that the teams are building and providing to the players make baseball part of the solution, not part of the problem.
“It’s really amazing,” he continued. “It’s gone beyond our wildest dreams that all 30 clubs have active education programs now, and all 30 clubs have high school diploma programs. That’s thousands of kids that have received a high school education in addition to becoming bilingual, learning financial planning, learning emotional intelligence, and those types of skills will help them be successful both on and off the field, during and after their careers. It’s really wonderful.”
Up next
In the coming weeks, we will have interviews with some of the teachers, as well as player experiences and community involvement.
The Isotopes fell back to earth, only scoring four runs after scoring 45 in their last two games combined. They managed to still beat the Chihuahuas (Padres), though, so that’s positive. Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP), Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) and Jose Cordova each recorded two hits, but it was Chad Stevens who singled in the eighth to secure the win.
Caron Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP) pitched three innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Patrick Weigel pitched three more scoreless innings, but Seth Halvorsen gave up two runs in the seventh to blow the save. Blas Castaño and TJ Shook put up two innings of zeroes, though, to close things out and earn the win and the save.
It was a home run parade in Hartford, as the Yard Goats defeated the Fightin’ Phils (Phillies). The Goats hit eight extra base hits — four doubles, one triple, and three home runs.
Each of the Goats’ starters had at least one hit, and they racked up 17 in total. Aidan Longwell did the most damage, doing 3-for-5 with a triple, a home run, three runs scored and three RBI. Bryant Betancourt also had a three-hit day, recording a double but also scoring two runs, recording an RBI and taking a walk. Dyan Jorge, Andy Perez, Benny Montgomery and Cole Messina (No. 26 PuRP) also had two hits apiece.
Starting pitcher Connor Staine threw five innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Carlos Torres pitched two scoreless innings, but then Sam Weatherly got lit up for three runs on three hits in his inning of work. Luckily, Fidel Ulloa was able to finish the game with just a walk and two strikeouts.
The Indians struggled to find any offense in their series finale against the Emeralds (Giants). They mustered four hits, which came at the hands of Tevin Tucker, Jacob Humphrey, Robert Calaz (No. 6 PuRP), and Roynier Hernandez. Hernandez hit a double, while Calaz hit a solo homer — which was the only score of the game.
Jeff Criswell — making his second start of his rehab assignment after having Tommy John surgery in March 2025 — started the game, pitching a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. But the damage was done against the other three pitchers. Yujanyer Herrera (No. 22 PuRP) pitched 2.2 innings and was tagged for two runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout. Fisher Jameson pitched 3.1 innings and was tagged for three runs (two earned) on four hits with three strikeouts. And Hunter Mann gave up three more runs in his one inning of work, including one walk and three strikeouts.
The Fresno Grizzlies fell in extra innings against the Stockton Ports (Athletics). The Grizzlies jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first, but then the Ports answered back in the bottom of the inning. The Grizzlies tacked on another run in the fourth, but the Ports answered back again in the sixth to make things 3-3. Entering extras, Roldy Brito (No. 11 PuRP) singled to score Carlos Renzullo, but Michael Brooks singled to score Gavin Turley and then Myles Naylor singled to score Clayton Gray and officially walk off the Grizzlies 5-4.
Watching the ABS challenge system has been one of the more entertaining things about baseball this year, as it’s given fans a glimpse into how hard it is to judge the strike zone from all sides. However, Hunter Goodman has proven to have a keen eye behind the plate (not as much in the batter’s box, though). Thomas Harding talked with Goodman about his strategy, and what’s been behind his early-season success.
Walt Weiss played shortstop for the Rockies from 1994-97 and managed the team from 2013-16. Now, he’s the manager of the red-hot Atlanta Braves after serving as the bench coach for the last eight years. Earlier this year, Weiss went viral for tackling Jorge Soler during a brawl that broke out between the Braves and the Los Angeles Angels. Patrick Saunders caught up with Weiss in his return to Coors Field to discuss what went down in the brawl, as well as finding himself back in the manager’s office.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 13: Matt Cain #18 of the San Francisco Giants is congratulated by teammates after pitching a perfect game against the Houston Astros at AT&T Park on June 13, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The Giants defeated the Astros 10-0. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
We are in the middle of a new feature for May that I’m calling the “12 Days of Mays-mas” because I won’t be around for this week, and I want to leave you guys with some fun things to watch while I’m gone.
For the fourth day of Mays-mas, I thought we could take another look at Matt Cain’s perfect game!
I vividly remember this game, but not because I was watching it. I was still living in the bay at the time, and I remember getting about a half dozen text messages telling me to get to a television.
It was my brother’s birthday, and I remember very clearly him telling me that he refused to turn the game on because he felt he had the worst luck in the world and would jinx it. For his sacrifice, Matt Cain gave him the best birthday present a baseball player could give someone that would be forever associated with his day.
So grab your coffee, settle in, and enjoy!
What time do the Giants play today?
The San Francisco Giants return to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at 6:45 p.m. PT.
I don’t think that’s what he meant, but Jay Jaffe notes that with the advent of the Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) system this year, walks and runs scored are up.
Apr 29, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Riley O'Brien (61) reacts after securing the final out against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the ninth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
With one out in the top of the 7th, Rich Simonds woke up in his hospital bed to the Cardinals getting shut down by a series of Pirates relievers. He had missed the previous 6 innings, being too tired to stay awake, but the sounds of Cardinals baseball gradually seeped into his consciousness and his eyes opened with Ivan Herrera at the plate. Somewhat groggy, he was still half asleep when Herrera grounded out. But when Alec Burleson broke up the perfect game with an infield single, he was at least awake enough to start paying attention to the game. And he stayed awake to watch the Cardinals come back in the 9th inning and win the game.
Earlier that day, the doctors had deemed my dad able to breathe on his own for the first time since the previous Wednesday. And while that Monday was a good day, he was mostly still pretty miserable, because he couldn’t do a lot on his own, his voice was very raspy and sore from having a tube down his throat for five days, and he still had double pneumonia, the disease that caused him to need help breathing in the first place. Barely able to stay awake for most of that first day, he was improbably awake for the improbable comeback.
While he was unconscious, I had a running joke that I would tell my dad whenever I saw him, which is that the Cardinals were waiting for him to wake up. And then it became not a joke. I rushed to the hospital in the middle of my work day before he was intubated, and shortly after that, the Cardinals lost to the Marlins. Wednesday was a tough day, because he needed 100% oxygen and the doctor was not comforting when explaining the situation. It wasn’t her job to make me or my family feel comfortable, I was just hoping for more “This is nothing, he will be back.” And we didn’t get that. The seriousness of the situation settled in.
But Thursday morning, we got the update that he had an uneventful night and his oxygen percentage needed from the machine went down. And then every new day came with slightly better news. I got excited at things I did not understand, but was told was good news, like the pressure from the machine dropping from 10 to 8. It quickly became clear that he had a good chance to get off the tube by next week. Meanwhile, the Cardinals lost on Friday to the Mariners. And then Saturday. And I was in the ICU with him unconscious with my mom watching the Cardinals get swept by the Mariners. I again told him that he needed to wake up because the Cardinals were waiting for him.
Leaving the hospital that night, I was hopeful they would take out his breathing tube the next day or Tuesday, but I was surprised to wake up to a text message that they had already removed the tube. He was woken up before the tube was removed, and I was told he motioned for his tube to be taken out, but they were waiting for a reason I can’t remember, and he threw up a couple of middle fingers. He has no memory of this, but I knew my dad was back when I heard that.
He still didn’t feel very good on Tuesday. He was still making progress, but you don’t see it as progress when you’re living through it. I was unable to see him on Monday due to the tornado warning, but I went straight after work on Tuesday. I left before the Cardinal game started, but made plans to see the game with him the next day. He said it was probably good I was leaving, because he didn’t think he could stay awake for the game. Well, he did. He watched the Cardinals’ offense explode for 11 runs and beat the Pirates despite the best efforts of the Cardinals’ bullpen to blow it.
You see my dad, in case it wasn’t obvious, is an enormous Cardinals fan. It’s something I picked up from him and my mom, who both shared season tickets with my grandparents for years. When I went to college (and the prospect of two siblings not far behind), they were forced to drop it. Also, I believe it was because neither my brother nor sister are as big of Cardinals fans as I am and I think that was just too many games where if I’m not an option, it might be a struggle to find people to go to the game.
But we did start a tradition during that period of time, which continues to this day, which is that I go to Opening Day with my mom. My dad was a construction worker and couldn’t ever go because of work. My mom would take me out of school and we would go to Opening Day together. It stopped briefly when I went to college, but it continued as if he had never stopped after I graduated. My dad retired a few years after that, but graciously let the tradition continue between me and my mom. He even drives us to the game and then picks us up after.
Another reason developed why he couldn’t go to Opening Day, which is that he got an infection on his foot maybe five years ago that has never quite healed. It has constantly been on the verge of healing, and then something comes up, and it’s like he has to start from scratch. He is very rarely not been under orders from doctors to stay off his foot as much as possible. It has prevented us from taking baseball trips and from him going to a lot of games. He has attended Cardinals games – not as many as he’d like and none so far this year – but we would park as close as possible, walk directly to our seat, and then stay in our seat until we were ready to leave. You can see how this would be a problem on Opening Day.
Because of his foot, he was prescribed antibiotics. He’s used to those, and when he felt the side effects, it didn’t raise any alarm bells. He’s used to side effects. If there’s a bad side effect he can get, he’ll get it. His new nickname is “Worst Case Rich” which he has more than earned even before this recent development. It turns out this side effect was actually double pneumonia, which is an extremely rare side effect. He was lethargic, sick and had no appetite for a couple weeks before it became all but impossible not to go to the doctor’s. He went to the hospital on Monday, they exhausted other options, but he couldn’t keep his breathing rate above 90, and he was absolutely miserable. Intubation became the only option.
On Wednesday with my mom and sister, we all watched the Cardinals run up the score to 5-1 in in his tiny hospital room, and then once again, the bullpen tried their hardest to blow the game, culminating in the game-saving catch by Nathan Church that we all thought was going to be a homer. The next day, I get a call asking me if I’m watching the game. Unfortunately, I was at work. He told me JJ Wetherholt homered to lead off the game against Paul Skenes. After I hung up, he called me almost immediately to share that Jordan Walker just homered. He also shared excitedly that he was sitting down watching the game, and that he could sit for as long as he wanted. Trust me, this was big news.
By the time I saw him next, on Saturday night, we watched the game again and he was in a chair the entire game. He was animated and talkative – two things he was very much not on Wednesday. We talked baseball the entire time, interrupted at points by the helpful nurses at Mercy. Eventually my uncle joined us and we watched a relatively stress free game – until the end when the Cardinals almost made a bunch of plays before Riley O’Brien decided he better just strike the guy out to avoid another almost catch.
The magical streak came to an end on Sunday, but the streak did its job. We had a great day on Sunday with my entire family which included my nephew and his grandson. He was pretty down at the beginning of his recovery, looking at the long road ahead, but he had the Cardinals. The unknown, incomprehensible spirit that lives within us sometimes needs a little bit of a boost. The Cardinals’ winning streak provided that.
I will never have any way of proving it, but I do believe the Cardinals winning streak did a lot for my dad. At the beginning, I kind of suspect he needed the Cardinals to win in a way, and winning has a way of instantly improving any fan’s mood. Mood can be very important for recovery and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my dad seemed to improve by leaps and bounds each day and seems to be himself, now to ready to face the rehab process. There’s even hope for his foot which as it turns out, the one positive of being stuck in a hospital bed for a week, is that you are off your foot. Very strange bright side, but a bright side nonetheless.
The winning streak did its job. Now he’s like the rest of us, desperately wanting the Cardinals to win and being invested in every pitch, but if they lose, oh well there’s another day tomorrow.
May 3, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder Jac Caglianone (14) high-fives teammates in the dugout after scoring a run against the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
The Royals struck out 17 times on Saturday, yet managed to win the game, writes Josh Kirshenbaum, filling in for Anne Rogers.
“Runs were going to be tough to come by,” Massey said. “You might have to find some unorthodox ways to figure it out.”
The Royals tonight were the first team in major league history to:
1) walk zero times 2) strike out 17+ times 3) hit zero home runs 4) win
Jaylon Thompson writes that Jac Caglianone’s big hit on Saturday is a sign he is heating up.
“I hadn’t faced Munoz before, but you know, watching videos and everything, I knew he had an electric heater,” Caglianone said. “So I told myself, just be on time for the heater. And if it’s there, just go.
“And luckily, first pitch, saw it pretty good and put a good swing on it. Props to Lane for busting it and getting around the bases and scoring that run. That was huge. So it was just a really cool moment to do that on the road.”
“You know, the game was close,” Garcia said. “(Hancock) did a great job. Game was on the line, like 2-1, so we can’t give up. We know we have the talent to come back and we did.”
“I think the bigger thing to talk about is Carter moving (Perez) over,” Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “That’s a professional at-bat. It’s not going to show up in the box score and it’s not going to help his (Baseball) Savant page. It’s not going to help any of those things people love to talk about. It’s a good baseball play.”
Randy Johnson had his number retired with the Mariners with the Royals in town, so Kirshenbaum talked to Royals hitting coach Marcus Thames about facing the Big Unit.
The swing isn’t there yet. Gamble gets his hips open early but ends up out of sync as he adjusts to the pitch, resulting in a weakly hit ground ball. His upper half drifts towards first base as he begins his swing. The margin of error becomes so slim here that Gamble isn’t going to get a hit unless he grounds it weakly through the hole or finds the barrel perfectly. He appears to be selling out early to get to some of that power.
David Peterson will be pitching following an opener this afternoon against the Colorado Rockies in Denver. The Rockies recently swept the Mets at home in late April, and Peterson’s return to pitching after an opener comes after his difficulties in his last appearance, a start against the Nationals.
Peterson has floundered in all five of his starts this year and was sent to the bullpen for two games until the Mets’ need for healthy starting pitchers was too great. He returned to a traditional starting role for an April 29 start at home against the Nationals, But he allowed five hits and walked three as he gave up seven runs in three-and-two-thirds innings. His ERA now sits at 6.53.
Nevertheless, Peterson has done well against the Rockies historically, with a 3-1 record and a 1.99 ERA. In his one start at Coors Field in 2024, he only gave up one run and five hits in five innings.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 02: Roman Anthony #19 of the Boston Red Sox slides back to first during a pick-off attempt in the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park on May 02, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images) | Getty Images
That week sucked, man.
Even with a couple of wins for the Red Sox here and there, I think we can go ahead and generally chalk up the recent play we’ve seen one week into the post-Cora era as “uninspiring” as this dreadful start to the season slugs along. Another series L against Houston only reinforces how bored I am with this team. It’s a shitty feeling. I need the spark to be back within my baseball-related life.
Say what you want about the dismissal of the manager and members of his coaching staff (which, believe me, we have here at OTM) but all of the warts of the 2026 team were not gonna magically disappear with them. The lineup, by and large, is still not doing enough to succeed. Most of the starting pitching staff—something that was supposed to be a strong foundation of this team—is either hurt or hasn’t met the standard. We’re staring down a pair of games in Detroit this week against two of the best left-handed pitchers in the sport—a pair of guys who already shoved against us recently—along with a series at the end of the week against a good Rays team. It could get real spooky by the time I sit down to write the next MMBB. We got outfielders throwin’ their hands up at infielders, we got hit pieces comin’ in, our pets’ heads are fallin’ off—the vibes are just putrid right now, even if I did find a pair of positive things to talk about in this edition of the Brushback. Little victories, people.
And here’s the kicker: we’re now the main show in town. The C’s and B’s biting the dust means the stage is ours. The ire in Boston will be squared directly on the Sox. Sometimes I feel that talking points like that are a bit corny, but the bad vibes could be even worse if the boys don’t turn this around fast. The old adage is that you can really start panicking by Memorial Day, right? Well, the calendar just turned to May. I don’t want this 2026 campaign to get out of hand, though it just might.
It’s Monday Morning Brushback time, y’all.
Bell-oh, No
I feel like I’ve stuck my neck out for Brayan Bello over the last few years. Whether it’s here on OTM or on Pod On Lansdowne, in person or online, I’ve given him grace. Just a few weeks ago on this very site, I wrote in a Brushback article that I still believe there’s a good pitcher in there somewhere in spite of what was (and still is) a real rough start to 2026.
Since that shout out, things have only gotten worse for Bello. In seven innings over his last two starts, he’s surrendered 19 hits (and three walks, so not as bad I guess?) and 12 runs—all of ‘em earned. His ERA has now ballooned beyond 9 and his WHIP is a ghastly 2.26. He’s gotten some more swing-and-miss in his game, sure, but that isn’t resulting in K’s. I’ll concede that hasn’t been his game in the past, but the qualities he’s shown in the past have also been mid. He’s technically keeping the ball on the ground a lot, I suppose, but is that because everyone right now knows they can tee off of him? I suppose not every ball can be barreled up (although Bello’s body of work seems to be trying to disprove that notion considering his barrel rate sits in the 7th percentile as I’m writing this), right?
I’m baffled at how bad this has been for Bello. I can’t really tell you exactly what’s causing this, because so much of the stuff under the hood looks bad. My patience is wearing thin, if it’s not completely gone already. I’ll leave it to others to dive deep on his body language when he’s being taken off of the hill and whatnot, but the fact of the matter is that he’s only made it through five full innings in one of his six starts. Hell, he’s only made it into the fifth twice! It is, simply put, unacceptable stuff from number 66. If he doesn’t want to get all pissed off, I’d suggest he stop throwing absolute cookies that are practically tailor-made for clobbering en route to another outing where he fails to qualify for a winning decision.
Interim manager Chad Tracy said they might utilize an opening pitcher for Bello’s next start. Maybe that does something; it worked for Nick Pivetta a few years ago if you recall. Or maybe it does nothing at all and it’s just window dressing. Either way, I don’t think a trip down to Worcester is out of the question for him in the near future, especially when you remember that he’s still got minor league options remaining. The issue is that the amount of MLB-caliber arms available for Boston at this point in time is thin (although it sounds like Sonny Gray could return soon), so the team might feel like they need to have Bello out there to eat more innings.
(Note: Of course, now it looks like Ranger Suarez is hurt. I’m writing this just as we’re all finding out that he got pulled after just four innings. Yikes.)
While that might be true, I think the clock’s ticking here folks. Something’s gotta change or something’s gotta give. Not to repeat myself, but Bello’s pitching has been unacceptable for a team claiming to contend for something this season. Figure it out, man.
HEY MAYERRRRRRR!!!!!!!
I know the production at the plate fell off towards the end of his cup of coffee in 2025 and it was a slow start for him to begin 2026, but infielder Marcelo Mayer has impressed me with the lumber recently. His nine-game hit streak came to a close in Saturday’s loss, sure, but his OPS climbed over .100 over that stretch (.549 to .685; gotta start somewhere, right?) while he struck out just once in that same time frame.
The strikeouts—or lack thereof—for Mayer have certainly been the most positive development in my book. His swing was always beautiful and we’ve seen flashes of the type of hard contact he can make when he’s on, but he struck out about 30% of the time across his 136 plate appearances last year. Entering play on Sunday, he’s almost slashed that K-rate in half; he had only struck out 16.3% of the time, good for the 79th percentile in the league prior to Sunday’s action.
The reasoning behind that, simply put, is that he’s not chasing at junk. For a team that has so many noncompetitive ABs over the first month-and-change of the season, Mayer’s plate approach recently has been a breath of fresh air.
Now, of course, the point about limiting strikeouts is all well and good, but it isn’t everything. Mayer’s offensive production is still subpar at the end of the day. The OPS still starts with a 6 since he’s not excelling at either component of that formula. It remains to be seen if he can continue to deliver against left-handed pitchers, though Tracy has said he wants to give him more looks against those guys (thankfully).
But the building blocks to Marcelo’s continued offensive development are showing themselves now. It’s gonna be hard for a 23-year-old to make any sort of progress with the bat if the ingredients aren’t in place. If he’s staying competitive in the box and not bailing pitchers out by chasing at stuff out of the zone, that sets the table for everything else. His swing is beautiful, he controls the bat on a good plane, and his bat speed is very good. If he’s pairing good swing decisions with his physical tools, then I believe that positive regression is in the cards for Mayer.
Maybe that Car Shield heckler motivated him to be better.
A hearty congratulations to lefty Jake Bennett on making his MLB debut Friday night and logging his first victory! He threw five innings en route to the W, as he struck out a trio of ’Stros while surrendering just one earned run. It was a perfectly cromulent debut for the 25-year-old.
Three words on what you can perhaps expect from Mr. Bennett, courtesy of the wonderful Prospect Savant resource: extension, extension, extension. CBO Craig Breslow loves pitchers who are literally letting go of the ball closer to the plate than the average bear, and Bennett’s got that in spades as evidence by his 93rd percentile extension within the Arizona Fall League. He doesn’t throw insanely hard (easy for me to say that a fastball sitting at around 95 MPH isn’t that fast, I suppose) but the location and command he’s shown has been impressive; MLB Pipeline rated him a 60-grade command guy on the 20-80 scale. The 4SFB-change-sinker triumvirate looks to be his main offerings, as he threw those three offerings 74 out of 85 times on Friday.
Pipeline writes: “He has a high floor as a No. 4 starter and Boston believes it can help him add some more strength and velocity, which could make him more than that.” I’ll take that, especially right now given the pitching injuries. Crochet and Gray, like I said earlier, won’t be on the mend terribly long (although I have no idea what the deal with Suarez is right now, TBD), but those IL stints along with the performance of the guy who I just wrote about could open the door for some more Bennett appearances.
One thing to watch the next time Bennett’s out on the bump, perhaps, is the walks. He issued two free passes on Friday, but historically that’s not been an issue for him. He walked just 6% of batters in the AFL a few months back, and again: that control is damn good.
Bennett could be a quite useful pitcher to have, and his emergence could be coming at the right time for Boston. I’m interested to see him continue to develop.
Song of the Week: “Nothin’ But The Taillights” by Clint Black
A lil’ honky-tonk action for ya to begin the week.
Same time and same place next week, friends! Go Sox.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - APRIL 18: Starting pitcher Tarik Skubal #29 of the Detroit Tigers throws in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on April 18, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello and happy Monday, folks.
The Boston Red Sox baseball club is at it again tonight. They travel to Detroit to face the Tigers in the first of a three-game series. First pitch from the Motor City is 6:40 EST. The best lefty on the planet will be taking to the mound, as Payton Tolle faces off against Tarik Skubal. I’ll let you guess who that best lefty on Earth is.
Seriously, though, Skubal again? This soon after the last time we saw him? Man, that’s annoying. Here’s hoping he doesn’t totally carve us up again.
Can our guys do better than driving in just one run across six innings, like what happened when Tarik pitched at Fenway a few weeks back? Can we improve on the four hits and two walks we registered that time around? I’m gonna guess no, but who’s to say!
May 2, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Milwaukee Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick (10) and shortstop Joey Ortiz (3) celebrate after the game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images | Brad Mills-Imagn Images
Welcome to week 6 of our 2026 NL Central Power Rankings — let’s rank some teams!
1. Chicago Cubs (22-12); 5-1 this week; 82.8% chance to make postseason (FanGraphs)
The Cubs had another strong week, winning five straight over the Padres and D-backs after dropping their series opener in San Diego on Monday night.
Moisés Ballesteros and Pete Crow-Armstrong each slugged a pair of homers for Chicago this week, though they certainly weren’t the Cubs’ best hitters. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki tied for the team lead with six hits, each adding a homer. Happ also led the team with seven runs scored, adding a pair of doubles and a triple, too.
Shota Imanaga had the best start of the week for Chicago, going seven scoreless with five strikeouts in his outing. For the bullpen, HOby Milner totaled 2 2/3 scoreless frames over three outings, striking out two and picking up a save. Jacob Webb and Ben Brown also picked up a save each.
Chicago now hosts the Reds for four games beginning Monday night before beginning a nine-game road trip this weekend, starting in Texas against the Rangers.
2. St. Louis Cardinals (20-14); 6-1 this week; 26.2% chance to make postseason
Before I go any further, I just want to say that I had a very difficult time ordering the bottom four in these rankings. I can see a case for having any of these teams in the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, or No. 5 spot. Based on the fact that the Cardinals swept the Pirates and the Pirates swept the Reds, though, I felt I must order those three teams in that order. That just left the Brewers to slot somewhere in the pack. Continuing on…
As I just mentioned, the Cards swept the Pirates in a four-game series to begin the week, and they then stretched that win streak to six with a pair of wins over the Dodgers before dropping Sunday’s series finale.
It was a big week on the power front for St. Louis, as Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker, and JJ Wetherholt all had two homers apiece. Burleson and Wetherholt also added three doubles each, with Burleson and Walker leading the team with 11 hits on the week (and 11 RBIs each, too). Victor Scott and Walker each swiped a pair of bags, and Iván Herrera added three doubles and eight walks for a .469 OBP this week.
Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy turned in solid starts this week, as Pallante went six innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts, and McGreevy went six scoreless frames with three strikeouts. Riley O’Brien got two more saves, and George Soriano added a save of his own. Ryan Fernandez and Gordon Graceffo both had scoreless weeks for the bullpen, with Fernandez going two perfect innings with four strikeouts and Graceffo spanning four innings over three appearances.
St. Louis now welcomes the Brewers to twon for three games before they head west to take on the Padres and A’s over the next week.
3. Milwaukee Brewers (18-15); 4-2 this week; 41.4% chance to make postseason
The Brewers took two of three against both the D-backs and Nationals this week, moving back to three games above .500 by the end of the weekend.
Sal Frelick managed to lead the Brewers with two homers this week, though he had just five hits total. William Contreras led the offense with 11 hits on the week, including a homer and a double, as he also led the team with nine RBIs and seven runs scored. Tyler Black made the most of limited opportunities, going 7-for-13 with three doubles and seven RBIs in four games this week. Brice Turang added eight hits and seven runs over 17 at-bats.
Jacob Misiorowski went 5 1/3 no-hit innings in his start on Friday night, striking out eight and allowing just two walks. Logan Henderson took the loss on Sunday but was solid overall, striking out eight and allowing two runs on three hits and no walks. Shane Drohan, Jake Woodford, DL Hall, Easton McGee, Abner Uribe, and Trevor Megill all had solid weeks for Milwaukee’s bullpen, with Woodford and Uribe picking up a save apiece.
The Crew wraps up the road trip in St. Louis to begin the week before an off day on Thursday. They’ll then welcome the Yankees to Milwaukee for three games beginning on Friday.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates (19-16); 3-4 this week; 60.1% chance to make postseason
The Pirates had an odd week, as they were swept by the Cardinals over four games before bouncing back to sweep the Reds this weekend, finishing their homestand with a 3-4 record.
Henry Davis picked up a pair of homers this week for the Bucs, with seven other players adding a homer each. Nick Gonzales led the team with 11 hits, though he had just one extra-base hit (a double), while rookie Konnor Griffin added 10 hits, including a homer, two doubles, and a triple, slashing .370/.433/.630 for the week. Ryan O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds each had eight hits.
Braxton Ashcraft had a really rough start against St. Louis but bounced back nicely on Sunday against the Reds, spanning 7 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts on just 82 pitches. Mitch Keller also turned in a solid start, going seven innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts. Wilber Dotel, Justin Lawrence, Mason Montgomery, Cam Sanders, and Gregory Soto had scoreless weeks for the bullpen, totaling 11 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts between them.
Pittsburgh now heads to Arizona and San Francisco, as they’ll take on the D-backs and Giants for three games each beginning Tuesday night in Phoenix.
5. Cincinnati Reds (20-14); 2-4 this week; 27.1% chance to make postseason
The Reds take this final spot mostly because they took a sweep at the hands of the Pirates, even though they’re still tied for second place in the division. Prior to that sweep, they took two of three from the Rockies to begin the week.
It wasn’t a great week for the Cincinnati offense, but Will Benson led the way with a pair of homers and a double. Nathaniel Lowe and Spencer Steer each had six hits, with a homer and two doubles apiece, while Spencer Steer led the team with seven hits, including a homer.
Chase Burns made a pair of solid starts, totaling 13 innings with two runs allowed and a team-high 16 strikeouts. Andrew Abbott picked up the other win in his start, going six quality innings with two runs allowed and five strikeouts. Graham Ashcraft and Sam Moll were the only real bright spots for the bullpen, as they totaled 4 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and no runs allowed this week.
The Reds now head to Chicago to face the Cubs for four games beginning Monday night. They then return home to host the Astros and Nationals beginning Friday.
