BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 22: A general view of the stadium as the sun sets before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on September 22, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello and happy Monday, folks. Hope you enjoyed your weekend—shout out to all of the mothers out there.
The Red Sox do not have a game tonight! They’re gonna be playing the Philadelphia Phillies next, but that series will begin on Tuesday. So, we’ve got ourselves a good ol’ fashioned off night tonight.
My question to you: how will you be spending it? Watching other sports? Playing video games? Doing grown-up responsibilities? Enjoying a night on the town? You tell me in the comments below.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 5: Logan Webb #62 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park on May 5, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A busy week in the National League West was marked by a few All-Star starting pitchers getting sidelined, and a few roster shakeups among the under-.500 teams in the division.
The Giants continue to flounder, last in the majors in runs scored (3.25 per game) and 29th in wRC+ (83), but made a few roster moves with an eye toward the future this week. First was calling up 21-year-old slugger Bryce Eldridge, the consensus top-50 prospect, last Monday for an extended look. Eldridge started five games .. at designated hitter and hit his first major league home run on Saturday, in a game San Francisco lost by 10 runs.
On Saturday, the Giants traded starting catcher Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians for pitcher Matt Wilkinson — with the incredible and apt nickname Tugboat — and the 29th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. While Bailey was otherworldly defensively with his two Gold Glove Awards, he hasn’t done much with the bat, a career .224/.282/.329, 72-wRC+ hitter who was hitting just .146/.213/.183 this year. Though you might remember him from his only home run this year, a three-run bomb off Jack Dreyer to beat the Dodgers on April 22, orBailey’s walk-off grand slam last September off Tanner Scott.
The Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday designated center fielder Alek Thomas for assignment, jettisoning the rangy defender who was hitting just .181/.222/.340 with a 53 wRC+ in 100 plate appearances this season and a career .273 on-base percentage in five major league seasons. That opened the door for consensus top-100 prospect Kyle Waldschmidt to get his first major league opportunity.
Arizona only allowed 10 runs in their six games this week, but still managed to lose three times, thanks to an offense that scored nine runs on Tuesday but only 10 runs over the five games since. Another D-back struggling at the plate is Ketel Marte, who received National League MVP votes in each of the last few years and finished third in 2024. Through Sunday, Marte is hitting just .212/.268/.370 with a 76 wRC+ this season. Jim McLennan at AZ Snake Pit examined what’s wrong with the three-time All-Star.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - MAY 10: Rico Garcia #50 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates after defeating the Athletics at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 10, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
Good news: the Orioles do, indeed, love their mothers. They made it a happy Mother’s Day with a 2-1 win over the Athletics that averted a three-game sweep. While the O’s offense again didn’t inspire much confidence, they delivered one of their best-pitched games of the season, holding their opponent to one run for just the third time in 2026. They even made a legitimately good defensive play — who knew it was possible? — with Leody Taveras and Samuel Basallo joining forces to cut down the potential tying run at the plate in the seventh. Check out Mark Brown’s recap of the much-needed victory.
With the win, the Orioles (18-23) have climbed out of the basement of the AL East, pulling a half-game ahead of the Red Sox (17-23). It’s wild to think that the O’s, as horrific as they’ve looked this year, still have a better record than three AL teams and are within a game and a half of six others. The American League is well and truly dreadful so far. Only three of the 15 teams have winning records. Three! The Yankees and Rays have been great, the Athletics have been good, and everyone else is .500 or worse. At this rate it’s going to be hard to scrounge up six legitimate AL teams to make the playoffs. In that sense, the Orioles’ hopes of remaining relevant in 2026 are far from over.
Still, it stands to reason that the entire league isn’t going to stay bad for four more months. A few teams will stabilize and will separate themselves from the pack. In all likelihood, all six AL playoff teams will finish the year with a winning record. So the Orioles are going to have to do some real work if they want to be part of that group. Moseying around mediocrity isn’t going to cut it in the long run.
These next three games against the Yankees are going to be an enormous test. Frankly, we’re all kind of expecting the Yanks to mop the floor with the Birds like they did last weekend in New York, when the O’s were humiliated in all four games, getting outscored 39-10. And that may well happen again. But if the Orioles can show some semblance of fight and urgency, and maybe steal a game or two in this series, perhaps the outlook for the rest of 2026 won’t look so bleak.
We can only hope this matchup against the Yankees goes better than the last, or the Orioles’ escape from the AL East cellar will prove to be short-lived.
This is a pretty cool way to do a gender reveal. Way better than those people who, like, set off fireworks and accidentally start a forest fire or something.
I feel like the O’s have been so terrible that we haven’t gotten to see much of Alby’s personality, so it’s good to see that the manager is trying to keep things loose. Whether it will make any kind of difference is another question.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Four ex-Orioles were born on this day, most notably the late right-hander Milt Pappas (b. 1939, d. 2016). Pappas pitched in the majors for 17 years and won 209 games, and he spent the half of his career in Baltimore, where he was a two-time All-Star and a steady presence in the Orioles’ rotation for nearly a decade. But he’s best known for being the main piece of the three-player package sent to the Reds for Frank Robinson, which turned into the best trade in Orioles history.
Other former Orioles with May 11 birthdays are right-handers Kerry Ligtenberg (55) and Mark Huismann (68) and outfielder Trenidad Hubbard (62).
On this day last year, the Orioles beat the Angels in Los Angeles, 7-3. Zach Eflin pitched five solid innings, Gunnar Henderson bashed a two-run homer, and #9 hitter Maverick Handley drove in two runs without a hit thanks to a sac fly and a squeeze bunt. It was the 421st — and final — win of Brandon Hyde’s Orioles managerial career. The O’s followed with four straight losses and Hyde was fired later that week.
Random Orioles game of the day
On May 11, 1999, the Orioles suffered an 11-6 loss in Cleveland. An early 2-0 O’s lead evaporated when Cleveland scored six runs in the fourth, with the first six batters of the inning all reaching base against Sidney Ponson, capped by a Richie Sexson three-run homer. Ponson was tagged for eight runs in 4.2 innings and wasted an 11-hit effort by the O’s offense. Cleveland starter Bartolo Colón, in the third season of his eventual 21-year career, earned the win.
May 10, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Detroit Tigers Gage Workman hugs Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) after hitting a home run during the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images
On Sunday night in Kansas City, Detroit Tigers infielder and longtime farm hand Gage Workman, launched a two-run homer in his first major league at-bat with the Tigers. He’s already contributed, but whether he can continue to help the Tigers is a pretty big question mark. For years, Workman has been a talented minor league player whose weaknesses at the plate were too exploitable by upper level pitching. He’s still only 26 years old and the Tigers could certainly use an injection of power and better defense. Workman may be able to provide that in Kerry Carpenter’s stead, at least in the short term.
Gage Tater Workman played with Spencer Torkelson at Arizona State and was the guy who bumped Tork from third base over to first base, his more natural position. The Tigers drafted Workman in the fourth round in the shortened 2020 draft, the same year Torkelson went first overall. In our early prospect coverage after the draft, we preached patience with Workman, as he was both a little young for his draft class and pretty raw as a switch-hitter with power but plenty of swing and miss in his game. But at the same time, he had speed, defensive ability, a pretty good idea of the strike zone, and power. He was a high risk, high reward prospect from the beginning.
Workman struck out 30.6 percent of the time in A-ball in 2021, and there aren’t many college hitters who start out with that many strikeouts and go on to significant major league success. On the other hand, he cracked 12 home runs and stole 31 bases as a strong-armed shortstop. The biggest issue for him was a right-handed swing that just wasn’t getting it done. For a couple of seasons, the Tigers worked with him on it, but eventually were able to convince him to abandon switch-hitting in 2024.
By then, he was also starting to transition to playing third base in the upper minors while still sidelining at shortstop and sometimes in the outfield. Even in 2026 with the Toledo Mud Hens, Workman has started 15 games at shortstop, though that’s partly due to Trei Cruz getting injured early on. He can handle the position decently well, but has always been a little mistake prone making more subtle plays around second base. Third base allows him to pick balls and let his arm eat, and that’s really where he’s best suited. He also has enough speed to play anywhere in the outfield. He just doesn’t have as much experience with it.
Workman reached Double-A in 2022, but he struck out 40 percent of the time with the Erie SeaWolves. 206 strikeouts in 515 plate appearances is a wild amount of strikeouts, and there probably aren’t too many successful major league hitters who ever struck out 200 times in a minor league season. Things went no better in a little extra work in the Arizona Fall League that October. He struck out 38.8 percent of the time with Erie in 2023, and by that point prospect watchers were cutting bait on him.
Workman’s transition to hitting left-handed full-time really helped him. His cut his strikeout rate with Erie to 27.5 percent hitting only left-handed in 2024, and he hit 18 homers and stole 30 bags along the way. That was progress in terms of trimming the strikeouts, and to his credit, Workman has always drawn his share of walks. He wasn’t doing any better against left-handed pitching than he had when he switch-hit, and he still was highly vulnerable to good breaking stuff, but he was hammering right-handers with much better consistency. There was, and is, still a lot of swing and miss, but those improvements finally got him within striking distance of the major leagues.
At that point, with the 2024 Double-A season behind him, Workman turning 25 years old, and he was exposed to the Rule 5 draft. The Tigers elected not to protect him or catching prospect Liam Hicks, and it was suspected that Workman might well be picked up by another team. That team was the Chicago Cubs, and they took Workman on their Opening Day roster last year. The Miami Marlins took Hicks, and that has gone much better for them.
It was a short struggle for Workman in his few weeks on the north side, and he was quickly designated for assignment and then traded to the Chicago White Sox. That didn’t go very well either, and when he suffered a minor hip injury, the White Sox designated him as well, and he returned to the Tigers in May of 2025. All tolled, he only got 17 major league plate appearances combined between the Chicago clubs. He’d made his major league debut, but otherwise wasn’t in any better position than he started, and didn’t get much of a chance either. Things didn’t improve with the Tigers, as Workman struck out nearly 40 percent of the time with the Toledo Mud Hens over the rest of the season.
All of this is to say, don’t go getting too excited just yet. Workman has power, zone recognition, speed, and pretty good defensive ability at third base. There’s plenty to like, but he’s always been really poor against breaking stuff and will strike out quite a bit. Workman isn’t an unknown around the league. He has huge potential, because if he could hit even decently against right-handed pitching, you’d have a pretty valuable strong-side platoon player who does a lot of things to help you win in all phases of the game. If there was real confidence league wide that he’d figure it out at the plate, the Tigers may never have gotten him back.
There is one key sign to watch this spring that might indicate that Workman is starting to find his way against upper level pitching. Workman batted a grisly .146 against breaking stuff in his combined time at the Triple-A level last year, with a horrendous whiff rate of 49.6 percent. Every once in a while he’d run into a hanger, but for the most part pitchers who could command a breaking ball could get ahead and then spam breaking balls down without throwing another strike and pretty easily get Workman out.
Against fastballs he was still quite good. Against offspeed stuff he was at least okay. But breaking balls, and not even good quality ones, were his kryponite, and most prospects who flame out against upper level breaking stuff never break through.
However, the worm turned a bit this spring. He’s still whiffed at breaking pitches 41.3 percent of the time in Toledo this season, so he hasn’t suddenly turned into a low risk contact hitter. But, he also hit .324 against breaking balls over the first five weeks of the Triple-A season, with a whopping .265 isolated power mark. His expected batting average is just .240 and his expected slugging percentage is just .408 compared to actual results of .588 slug, so he’s certainly had plenty of good fortune, but he is also clearly doing better at avoiding chasing so much, and hammering some mistakes up in the zone.
Overall, he’s cut his strikeout rate down to 23.7 percent in Toledo this spring, so while that’s not the kind of sample you want to bet the house on, he’s never put up numbers this good either. Possibly, he’s figured it out just enough that he’s no longer easy prey for breaking stuff, and if he can at least keep pitchers honest and not chase sliders and curveballs in the dirt constantly, they’ll have to feed him more fastballs and try to spot some sliders and curveballs in the zone. Workman is a solid fastball hitter who will do some damage and always has been. It’s partly a question of patience, partly a matter of breaking ball recognition.
So, expect plenty of swing and miss from Gage Workman, and know that this may just be a case of catching a hot hitter and riding him until major league pitching figures him out. It’s at least possible that some growth last year may have been masked by the chaos of getting picked by the Cubs, making his major league debut, struggling, bouncing through the White Sox organization briefly, rehabbing a minor injury, and then ending up right back in Toledo after a whirlwind ride to the places with the tall buildings, as Jim Price would say. He still did plenty of damage against right-handed pitching, and he’s a versatile defender who can steal you a base.
Gage Workman doesn’t have to become a good pure hitter to help the Tigers. He just has to avoid slipping back into old bad habits that made him an easy mark for upper level pitchers with good command of their breaking stuff. If he’s just disciplined enough to get pitchers up in the zone, Workman might do enough damage to let his secondary skills play up and find a sustainable role in Detroit. For now, any contributions are much appreciated.
The recently signed Xzarion Curry made his first start as a member of the organization and the right-hander was alright, allowing a pair of runs over five innings. The bullpen took over in the top of the sixth with the score tied 2-2, and that’s where things went downhill. Joey Gerber allowed three runs in the sixth, the recently signed Cionel Perez allowed a run in the seventh, and Anderson Severino allowed two runs in the ninth. Syracuse went down fighting, at least, scoring a run in the sixth and two in the seventh; in that seventh inning, they had the opportunity to mount a true comeback, loading up the bases, but Christian Arroyo struck out to end the inning.
Irving Kota was quite hittable in his four-plus innings of work, allowing five runs on nine hits. The Rumble Pony bats kept them in the game early, with Eli Serrano driving in a run on a double and a second run scoring during the sequence on a fielding error, but that ended up being the totality of their offense for the contest.
At least they weren’t no-hit? It’s been a few weeks since I wrote a report where Binghamton got no-hit, so I feel like we’re due. Outside of R.J. Gordon allowing five runs in the top of the second, Binghamton’s pitching was solid. The bats, on the other hand? Not so much. With two hits in this contest, Wyatt Young boosted his team-leading batting average to .225. That about says it all.
With the score tied 4-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, Joe Charles was summoned from the bullpen. The right-hander walked the first batter he faced and then allowed a double, putting the winning run 90 feet away. After escaping leaving a meatball right down Broadway, he got burned by throwing a hanger down and in to centerfielder Theo Gillen, who laced a line drive down the first base line to win it for the Hot Rods.
Daviel Hurtado and Nicolas Carreno combined to throw six solid innings, with the former allowing a run on 2 hits over 2.0 innings while striking out 4 and the latter allowing a run on 2 hits and 3 walks over 4.0 innings while striking out 7. Elwis Mijares replaced Carreno in the bottom of the seventh and let the game get away from St. Lucie after allowing five runs to score. The bats were sluggish to start things off, but came alive in the later innings, scoring a run apiece in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings.
Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang (2) is swarmed by his teammates after hiting a walk off home run during the ninth inning of their game against the New York Yankees Sunday, May 10, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Milwaukee Brewers beat the New York Yankees 4-3. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Last Week’s Results
Monday: Cardinals 6, Brewers 3
Tuesday: Postponed (rescheduled for July 7)
Wednesday: Brewers 6, Cardinals 2
Thursday: Off Day
Friday: Brewers 6, Yankees 0
Saturday: Brewers 4, Yankees 3
Sunday: Brewers 4, Yankees 3
Division Standings
Cubs 27-14
Brewers 22-16
Cardinals 23-17
Pirates 22-19
Reds 22-19
Last Week
Cubs: 5-2
Brewers: 4-1
Cardinals: 3-3
Pirates: 3-3
Reds: 2-5
Top Pitching Performance of the Week
Just like last week, our selection here goes to Jacob Misiorowski. Miz made all sorts of history on Friday night when he threw the seven fastest pitches ever thrown by a starting pitcher, but it wasn’t just that he was throwing hard: the Yankees couldn’t hit him, either. Misiorowski threw six shutout innings, struck out 11 batters, and allowed just two hits and two walks while outdueling Max Fried.
As for honorable mentions, there were good pitching performances up and down the roster this week, but I’d like to single out Aaron Ashby, who picked up two more wins this week and threw five scoreless innings across three outings.
Top Hitting Performance of the Week
There are several players worthy of this honor this week, but I’m going to go with Sunday’s walkoff hero, Brice Turang. He hit two of the team’s four homers this week, including Sunday’s winner, and compiled an OPS over 1.000. Sure, Tchaikovsky seems appropriate for the occasion.
Honorable mentions to Jake Bauers, who was 4-for-9 with a homer, a double, and two walks, plus the two “we’re back” guys: Andrew Vaughn, who homered and had a .982 OPS over his first five games back, and Jackson Chourio, who sparked the offense in St. Louis and picked up a team-high eight hits (three of which were doubles) this week.
Injury Notes & Roster Moves
The biggest news this week was on Monday, when Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn were both, finally, activated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, Blake Perkins was optioned to Triple-A Nashville and Greg Jones was designated for assignment. Jones cleared waivers and was outrighted to Nashville four days later.
Perkins, though, did not stay in the minors for long. Brandon Lockridge suffered a scary, but ultimately hopefully relatively minor, injury when when he crashed into the wall going after a foul ball on Friday night. On Saturday, Lockridge was placed on the injured list, and Perkins was back with the Brewers after just two games with the Sounds.
We got a positive update Friday on Christian Yelich, who has been out since April 13th. He has been swinging and running the bases, and the team mentioned that he could be back with the Brewers as soon as the next series.
Brandon Woodruff was scheduled to begin throwing again on Saturday. We’ll see how he responds, but given that there’s supposedly nothing structurally wrong, he could rejoin the team soon.
Ángel Zerpa, who was placed on the injured list last week, needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of the season. That surgery is scheduled for Monday.
Akil Baddoo is getting close, and should go out on a minor-league rehab assignment this week.
Happy birthday to Milt Pappas, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1955, Ernie Banks hits a grand slam — the first of five on the year — to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 10-8 victory that snaps the Brooklyn Dodgers‘ 11-game winning streakand other stories as well.
1946 – The New York Giants defeat the Boston Braves, 5-1, in the first night game played at Braves Field. The 37,407 fans are surprised as their hometown heroes enter the field wearing shiny satin uniforms designed to reflect the light generated by the electricity used for the evening contest.
1957 – Even though the game is practically over before the Pirates come to bat, having given up six runs to the Phillies in the top of the 1st inning, the first Pirate at-bat provides the most memorable moment of the game, Roberto Clemente‘s 440-plus-foot inside-the-park home run. The Phils win the game, 7-2.
1990 – Dave Winfield rejects a trade that would have sent him from the New York Yankees to the California Angels in exchange for pitcher Mike Witt. A no-trade clause in Winfield’s contract gives him the right to turn down the deal. Five days later, Winfield will reach an agreement with the Yankees and give his permission for the trade to take place.
2000 – The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 14-8, in the longest nine-inning game in National League history: 4 hours, 22 minutes. The game features one of the longest home runs in the history of Wrigley Field. A picture circulated by the Associated Press puts it this way: “Rick Frohock celebrates on the rooftop of a three-story building on Waveland Ave. behind the left-field bleachers of Wrigley Field after catching a home run hit by Chicago’s Glenallen Hill against the Brewers. It was believed to be the first time a ball landed on top of the apartment building.” Hill’s shot is estimated at 490 feet by the next day’s press accounts and eventually measured at 500 feet.
2009 – Ryan Zimmerman goes 4 for 5 with two home runs to extend his hitting streak to 29 games, but San Francisco beats Washington, 11 – 7. Randy Johnson strikes out nine for career win number 298. The game features the tallest pitching match-up in history, with the 6′ 10″ Johnson facing Daniel Cabrera, who stands 6′ 9″.
2012 – Brandon Inge drives in four runs as the A’s romp past the Tigers, 11-4. Detroit released Inge earlier this season, but he is now on a tear, becoming the first major leaguer since Lou Gehrig in 1931 to drive in four or more runs four times in a five-game span.
1931 – “M” Fritz Lang’s first sound film starring Peter Lorre premieres in Berlin.
1947 – BF Goodrich announced the development of tubeless tire.
1959 – “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb” by Edd Byrnes & Connie Stevens hits #4.
1965 – Ellis Island added to Statue of Liberty National monument.
1969 – British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.
Special Music Segment! Since you probably didn’t know all the words to “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb,” here are several that you should know:
1963 – “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” single by Peter, Paul & Mary hits #2; Peter Yarrow adapted a poem that college classmate Lenny Lipton had left behind after borrowing Yarrow’s typewriter.
1968 – Irish actor Richard Harris releases single “MacArthur Park”; it becomes a million-seller topping the charts in Canada and Australia, and peaking at #2 in US and #4 in UK.
1970 – “The Long and Winding Road” becomes Beatles’ last American single release.
1974 – ABC Records releases Steely Dan single “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” from the “Pretzel Logic “album; it peaks at #4 in the US, making it their biggest hit.
1975 – Capitol Records releases Natalie Cole‘s debut album “Inseparable”; it features two hits “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” and the title track.
1981 – Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s musical “Cats” (based on poetry by T. S. Eliot) directed by Trevor Nunn, opens at the New London Theatre in the West End, London; runs for 8,949 performances.
May 10, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh (16) hits a single during the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images
Is Cristopher Sanchez at the beginning of a Cy Young run? He’s got his ERA down to 2.11 and has looked dominant the past two outings. There’s this guy in Los Angeles is having an arguably better season, but Sanchez has put himself back into the conversation.
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 19: Cam Schlittler #31, Ryan Weathers #40 and Max Fried #54 of the New York Yankees talk during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 19, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The rise of Cam Schlittler has not just been one of the most thrilling Yankees stories to watch over the last year, but one of the best stories in all of baseball. Once a mid-rotation starter with modest fastball velocity in college, Schlittler has transformed into a monster, a fire-breathing dragon of a pitcher that mows you down with pure gas every fifth day. It’s still a bit shocking to say, given he was a relative unknown as recently as a year ago, but he’s on the short list of AL Cy Young contenders right now.
But there’s another Yankee pitcher that will make a case for the league’s highest pitching honor. Max Fried hasn’t gone through any kind of meteoric rise over the last year or two, instead steadily continuing to ply his trade as one of the best left-handed hurlers in the sport.
If you had to choose, which pitcher do you think is more likely to actually take home Cy Young hardware this year? Betting markets peg Schlittler as a narrow favorite, but he and Fried are neck-and-neck at the top, and they each look they have a real chance to end up in first.
Schlittler’s bona fides require little introduction. He has been, by most measures, the best pitcher in baseball in 2026, leading the league by distance in both fWAR and RA-9 WAR, unsurprising given he leads the majors in both FIP and ERA. There is no one who seems more likely on a given night to fire seven shutout innings.
Fried, for his part, has not been quite as dominant but has still been excellent. Though he lags a bit in ERA (12th in the AL at the moment), he’s sixth FIP and actually leads the Junior Circuit in expected ERA per Statcast, even outstripping Schlittler himself.
Schlittler’s resume so far is more impressive, and if you’re to base your choice on who has performed best in 2026, there is no comparison. But where Fried has an argument is in his reliability. There are few better bets to reach the 200-inning threshold this year than Fried, who FanGraphs projects to finish the year with 202 frames to his name. Schlittler might have more upside this season, and in any given start, than anyone on the planet, but Fried has the track record and is seemingly the safer bet to complete a full season’s workload.
Ultimately, it’ll be a delight if either Yankee secures the award, and all we’ll have to do here is root for them to finish 1-2 in some order. But if you had to handicap it now, who do you think has the better chance?
On the site today, Sam helps us turn the page on a dreadful series in Milwaukee by previewing the three-game set in Baltimore. Also, John profiles Walt Terrell as part of our Yankee Birthday series, and Kevin recaps a busy Sunday around the American League. And later, Josh wonders what’s gotten into the Tampa Bay Rays, while Madison puts out the call for this week’s mailbag.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos right-handed pitcher Jackson Flora (2) pitches during the game against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Pete Taylor Park in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. | Matt Bush/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The first official mock draft has been released by MLB.com and reporter Jim Callis is predicting that the Pittsburgh Pirates will select the best pitcher in the class.
With the fifth overall pick, the Pirates are projected to draft right handed pitcher Jackson Flora out of UC Santa Barbara. This year Flora has been looked at as the consensus best pitcher in the class. The Junior righty has a 9-0 record in 2026 and leads NCAA Division I in earned run average with a 0.73 ERA this year.
Flora is ranked as the fourth overall prospect in this year’s class and has clearly separated himself from the rest of the arms that will be featured during the draft. At 6’5” Flora possesses an athletic build that helps him pack a punch with his fastballs. His heaters are on average in the mid-90’s range and regularly touch triple digits. His mid-80’s slider has developed as another strong pitch in his repertoire, while his changeup has become a solid second pitch in his arsenal.
Jackson Flora lowers his ERA to 0.73 during an 8-strikeout performance 💥
Scouting grades and more on the top-ranked pitching prospect in the 2026 Draft class: https://t.co/ywDpwUKk26
The California native has enjoyed a solid three-year career at UC Santa Barbara. Flora’s freshman season saw him used mostly as a relief pitcher out of the pen, but he exploded onto the scene as a sophomore in 2025. As a second year player, Flora helped lead the Gauchos to a 36-18 record, and compiled 86 strikeouts with a 3.60 ERA and a 6-3 record as a starter. As the top pitcher in the country Flora and the Gauchos currently have a 32-15 record.
Flora fits the mold of pitchers that the Pirates have liked to bring in over the past couple of years. The tall athletic build coupled with a strong fastball first approach is the blueprint used for most of Pittsburgh’s starters, and Flora could be a great addition to that group if he’s still available fifth overall.
The MLB Draft starts on July 11 during the All-Star break in Philadelphia.
BALTIMORE – There are still a few maxims about playing for the Athletics – late of Oakland, currently of West Sacramento, perhaps soon of Las Vegas – that remain true in this period of franchise limbo.
Best to rent, not buy, as owner John Fisher’s cozy luxury-geared dream ballpark goes up in Las Vegas and the club makes do in what should be the second of three seasons in Yolo County.
Life remains more luxe on the road, with 10,000-seat Sutter Health Park still geared for a Class AAA ballclub despite upgrades to satisfy the big league squatters. And while the roster is no longer an homage to the major league minimum salary, the club’s $91.8 million opening-day payroll still ranks 25th out of 30 teams.
Yet it’s undeniable that something has changed as a core of largely homegrown players coalesces. Players can glance around the clubhouse and see not a stopgap or trade fodder, but rather a dude they came up with.
And in some cases, envision playing alongside for many more years.
“When there’s a level of comfort, a level of familiarity with each other, and camaraderie and a good culture in the clubhouse, it makes it easy to go out and have fun and perform at a high level on the field,” All-Star DH and veteran sage Brent Rooker tells USA TODAY Sports.
“We’ve got all those things.”
Forty games into the season, they’ve got something else: The third-best record in the American League and a tenuous hold on first place in the AL West.
At 21-19, the A’s are by no means popping bottles. After all, they reached the one-quarter mark last season with an identical record – and proceeded to lose 19 of their next 21 games on the way to a 76-86 finish.
As if on cue, the club lost All-Star shortstop Jacob Wilson to a sprained left shoulder on Sunday, May 11; initial imaging was not definitive but Wilson figures to go on the injured list before the club takes on St. Louis at home Tuesday.
Still, the team at large has an extra year under its belt, a greater familiarity with its temporary home and a stronger conviction in doing its job.
“I feel like last year, all the guys were feeling everything – getting their feet wet in Sacramento, seeing how the ball flies, all that stuff,” says right-hander Luis Severino, whose $67 million contract signed before 2025 marked a capital investment unforeseen when the roster went to pot in the club’s dying days in Oakland. “Now we have a different mentality to go out there and compete.
“We showed the world last year what we can do and this year we just continue to do that.”
'The belief in myself is truly there'
Indeed, certain metrics show a level of confidence perhaps unseen in past years. The team is 13-11 on the road, splitting six games in Philadelphia and Baltimore last week. They’re 8-5 in one-run games, which shows either resolve or unsustainability, depending on how you view it.
Regardless of how the next quarter plays out, there’s an undeniable not-our-first-rodeo vibe with the squad.
“Once you’ve established yourself and have multiple years in the big leagues, there’s a feeling that you belong,” manager Mark Kotsay tells USA TODAY Sports, “and a feeling that, even if you’re off to a rough start, you’ve had enough time here, with enough at-bats and enough history, to know you’ll get to where you need to be.
“I think that’s the biggest contributing factor to lasting success.”
Shea Langeliers has certainly seen it. Now the longest-tenured Athletic, he was acquired from Atlanta for All-Star catcher Sean Murphy and tossed into the mix in 2022, Kotsay’s first season, a 102-loss campaign.
They’d lose 112 games a year later, say goodbye to Oakland, decamp to Gold Country and stack top 10 draft picks. Those turned into Wilson and first baseman Nick Kurtz in 2023 and 2024.
And in 2025, Kurtz, the 6-foot-5 power-hitting savant, socked 36 home runs in 117 games, while Wilson banged out 151 hits in 125 games; they finished 1-2 in AL Rookie of the Year voting.
Suddenly, Langeliers felt surrounded.
“These young kinds now – they don’t spend much time in the minors,” says Langeliers, 28, a first-round pick of Atlanta in 2019. “They get up here and it’s like getting thrown to the wolves, but you get guys like Kurtz and Willy who immediately have success. Up until this point, nobody really did that.
“To be 1-2 in Rookie of the Year voting, to see (Zack) Gelof back and doing his thing, it’s been awesome to watch them grow as men and as players.”
Perhaps no one’s grown as much as Langeliers, whose progress has been steady and almost linear. He struck out 29% of the time and batted .215 over his first three seasons, yet upped his average to .276 while hitting 31 homers and 32 doubles in 2025.
This year, he is leading the AL in batting (.336) and has a 1.017 OPS, his 11 homers putting him on a 40-homer pace.
“The trust in myself and belief in myself now is truly there,” says Langeliers.
Should he remain healthy, Langeliers will be an All-Star this season, his stock steadily going up, to his mates’ delight.
“Every day, week, month, year it seems like he’s making improvements to get where he is now – which is one of the premier hitters in baseball,” says Rooker. “And he has been for a while.
“It’s been a blast to watch.”
Langeliers and Kurtz – currently on a 34-game on-base streak - are among the A’s few premier talents who aren’t bolted down.
With pressure from Major League Baseball to spend its revenue-sharing money and internal desires to present a serviceable product to Las Vegas, the A’s went on a commitment spree from December 2024 – when they committed to Severino for three seasons – to February 2026.
Rooker: Signed in January 2025 to a $60 million deal through 2029.
Center fielder Lawrence Butler: Signed in March 2025 to a $65.5 million deal through 2031.
Slugger Tyler Soderstrom: Signed in December 2025 to an $86 million deal through 2032.
Wilson: Signed in February to a $70 million deal through 2032.
Langeliers missed the long-term extension train in one sense: He was stacking up service time while figuring things out at the big league level. Now, he’ll have four years of service and be just two seasons from hitting the market, his near-league minimum years long since past.
“I love this organization. I love this staff. I love my teammates. I love playing here,” says Langeliers. “Stuff like that, I know it will work out the way it’s supposed to so I’m not really worried about it.”
Athletics 'journey' continues
If nothing else, the A’s are assured of having Kurtz, Wilson and others around well into their projected time in Las Vegas. The club is gradually trying to get one foot firmly down in the desert, holding Wilson’s contract extension press conference there in February and sharing frequent updates on the ballpark’s construction.
While Fisher has pledged $1 billion to the ballpark project and said in March the stadium is “on time and on budget,” it remains to be seen whether he will tap new investors or a grander portion of his family’s fortune to fund that portion of the $2 billion project.
Skeptics have seen the club’s vision of the stadium change right in front of their eyes.
When the club released initial renderings of their 33,000-seat Strip ballpark in 2024, the message board displayed Gelof’s very encouraging batting average on the screen.
Injuries and ineffectiveness limited Gelof, then a second baseman, to 30 big league games in 2025. When the most recent renderings were released that year, the video board had a new player to tout: Rooker.
Now, in a full circle kind of moment, Gelof is back in the majors, recast as a highly useful utility guy who can play second, third and center field – nearly robbing Bryce Harper of a home run despite not possessing an outfielder’s glove until days earlier.
“It’s been a journey,” says Gelof. “I feel like I’m still on it and my best baseball is ahead of me. Coming up and having success and battling through life – it’s been a lot of learning experiences.
“I’m going to try and continue to learn and be the best person and player I can be.”
Not unlike their Oakland predecessors, the A’s have their share of scrap heap success stories. Outfielder Carlos Cortes’s career was revived after he left the Mets as a seven-year free agent in 2024.
Now, he’s batting .355 with a .978 OPS in 103 plate appearances.
“Carlos didn’t get an opportunity with the Mets,” says Kotsay of Cortes’s last days with New York in which he averaged 325 at-bats his past two minor league seasons. “He’s always been a professional hitter.”
Says Cortes, who signed a minor league contract with the A’s the first day he was a free agent in 2024: “It was really refreshing to go somewhere and almost feel like you’re valued. It kind of felt like at the end I wasn’t valued there.”
The A’s are hoping this year brings more mutual appreciation in West Sacramento. The region has just enough to keep the big leaguer happy; as one veteran put it, there are two Ruth’s Chris steakhouses and a handful of excellent breakfast venues, which is a significant part of the battle.
For what it’s worth, crowds are up at Sutter Health Park. This weekend, the club can paint a stark difference between their success and the failings of their former Bay Area neighbors when the San Francisco Giants visit the 916.
More reinforcements may be coming. Outfielder Henry Bolte went on a batting rampage for their Class AAA team this past weekend, recording hits in 12 consecutive at-bats; he had back-to-back 5-for-5 nights that included eight extra-base hits.
Whenever Bolte or top prospect Leo De Vries reach the majors, a nucleus will await to greet them.
“More and more guys are getting to be a part of it,” says Langeliers. “It feels like we’ve been building toward this for a couple of years now. We’re starting to put it all together – one unit, one big family.”
Says Rooker: “We’ve got a lot of talent. And we’re playing our hearts out.”
PHOENIX — The New York Mets sat in dead silence Sunday afternoon. No music. No TV. No conversation.
The only sound was chop sticks snatching sushi off plates, the packing of bags, and the shuffling of feet out of the visiting clubhouse, down the corridor and towards the team buses.
The Mets, after spending 10 days on the beaches of Southern California, the snow-capped mountains in Colorado and the desert in Arizona, are finally going home.
And they return to New York the same miserable, underachieving team that left.
Their only dignity leaving Phoenix was that they didn’t suffer the humiliation of being no-hit, losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1, producing a combined total of nine hits and three runs in regulation during the three games at Chase Field. Their three hits and two runs in the 10th inning in their 3-1 Friday victory saved their weekend from being a complete disaster.
They managed to make Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez, Merrill Kelly and Ryne Nelson look like Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Brandon Webb of D-backs’ lore. The D-backs trio, who entered the weekend with a 5.50 ERA, yielded a 1.23 ERA in the series, yielding just nine hits and three runs in 22 innings. Rodriguez, who has pitched 11 years in the major leagues, making 243 career starts, pitched 8 ⅓ innings Sunday for the longest stint of his career.
“We’re better than that," said a visibly frustrated Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, “especially the past couple of days. We needed to be better."
The Mets’ offense was not only awful Sunday, but for their entire trip. The Mets hit .209 on the nine-game journey, averaging 3.6 runs a game.
Juan Soto and Bo Bichette, who are earning $103.875 million this year, highlighted the Mets’ woes, going 0-for-20 in the three games in Arizona.
“I mean, there’s no issues right here," Soto said. “We’re all professionals. We all can handle this stuff. But definitely, we’re struggling a little bit right now.
“But I think it’s going to pass."
Clock is ticking on these Mets
The Mets managed to go 5-4 on the trip, thanks to their staff producing a 3.05 ERA, but they also were facing three teams with a cumulative 51-70 record: the Los Angeles Angels, Colorado Rockies and Diamondbacks.
At 15-25, the Mets haven’t had a worse 40-game start since 1993 and are actually are in worst position now than when they departed Queens. They are a season-equalling high 12 ½ games out of first place in the NL East behind Atlanta.
Their only silver lining is that they knocked off their third West Coast trip off the schedule with one last one remaining the first week of June.
“No excuses, but we’ve had a crazy schedule with these West Coast swings," Mets reliever Luke Weaver told USA TODAY Sports, “so maybe when we get settled in here, we can be the best team in baseball."
Weaver smiled sheepishly.
But didn’t laugh.
It was a year ago when the Mets actually did have the best record in baseball. They were 45-24 on June 12. Then, they went into an epic collapse.
So, hey, why not dream of a flip-flop?
“I think everybody’s on the notion that it’s a long season, there are a lot of games to be played," Weaver said. “Our game has that ability to just go through stretches as a team, and as individuals, and so we’ve always kept the faith.
“We’re not clicking fully, but were stringing things together. It’s about getting hot. And when the hot comes, we ride that pretty hard.’’
And until that winning streak happens, if it happens, the Mets will be mocked and ridiculed throughout the baseball world as the Worst Team Money can buy.
“I think at this point we’re definitely tired of talking about it,’’ Weaver said, “... so we’re going to continue to have to talk about it until we prove to them that we don’t need to talk about it.
“We get it. I get it. As a pro, we’ve got to do our job, but the best way to quiet people is to go out and just win.
“It’s that simple."
Certainly, it has to start with their stars doing star-type things.
Mets' offseason acquisitions struggle
The Mets spent $765 million for Soto to be their aircraft carrier. He went hitless in the D-backs series, and hit .121 with one homer and two RBI on the road trip.
“I’ve just been missing a lot of balls," said Soto, who’s hitting .264 with four homers and 10 RBI this season. “They’ve been throwing the pitches right there, and I have just been a little under, definitely. I’ve been working with my hitting coaches, swinging the bat, like doing my routines, working on mechanics.
“We’re at the point where you just got to stop missing it."
They gave Bo Bichette a three-year, $126 million contract, including a staggering $40 million signing bonus with opt-outs after each season. He hit .194 on the trip and is hitting .222 with two homers, 16 RBIs and a .559 OPS this season.
“We have to live in the present moment," Bichette said. “I mean, what has happened has happened. You can’t change that. We’re paid to figure it out and get better."
They traded outfielder Brandon Nimmo for infielder Marcus Semien, who’s earning $26 million in the fifth year of a $175 million contract. Semien hitting .225 with two homers and 13 RBI, hitting .250 with one homer and four RBIs on the trip.
“We just need to stick to playing the game hard," Semien said, “playing the game hard, playing the game the right way. That’s what it always comes down to. That’s the attitude I’m going to take into a major league game.
“We’re all going through this together. We know how to handle it together. Obviously, we didn’t play our best baseball the first month, but everybody’s positive and ready to turn it around."
The Mets are hoping that at some point the calvary will come in the way of reinforcements.
All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor, who hit .226 with two homers in 24 games before injuring his calf, is scheduled to be re-examined this week with hopes he can return in June.
Jorge Polanco, who was given a two-year, $40 million contract to replace fan favorite Pete Alonso at first base, is hitting .179 with one home run. He has played just 14 games and is on the IL with Achilles bursitis, but took batting practice Saturday in limited workouts.
“Some days good," Mendoza said, “some days when it’s not as good."
Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. was acquired from the Chicago White Sox for his fine defensive skills and power, but played only 24 games before going on the IL with a lumbar spine disc herniation. He has not resumed baseball activities, Mendoza said, with no timetable for a rehab assignment.
The Mets have no choice but to stay patient. They’re not going to start dumping players. They’re not going to start making aggressive trades. And they said they’re not going to start firing folks either, with David Stearns, president of baseball operations, letting it be known that manager Carlos Mendoza’s job is safe.
At least for now.
“I’ve respected him mightily for how he’s handled things and who he is as a manger," Weaver said. “He’s transparent, communicative and look, we’re trying to right the ship and we’re trying to do it for him.
“There’s only so much we can do. We’ve just got to go out there and do our part. He can only best serve us that way. So he’s doing everything he can. And David is very strong in what he believes and re-assuring us."
'Ready to turn it around'
The Mets insist that even with all of their new players, the clubhouse chemistry is strong. There’s certainly an adjustment getting acclimated to their new surroundings, Semien, Bichette and Weaver say, but they understand they’re into this together.
“We used the first month to kind of understand each other, spend time off the field, and do all of the little things we can to get to know one another," Semien said. “So when we go out to battle, and things maybe don’t go our way, we know how to react. We know how to handle it together.
“But everybody’s positive and ready to turn it around."
Still, it’s only human nature to want to make a huge first impression, meeting new teammates playing in front of a new fanbase. Wgen it doesn’t immediately happen, there can be self-inflicted pressure.
“You come over, and you’re trying to prove your value," Weaver said. “You want to make an impact. You want to be yourself as quickly as you can. I think those things on a relationship level have been really seamless. I think on the field there comes moments like trying to be a hero.
“Our game is not really built like that. Our game is built collectively for nine innings, playing sound baseball. And adding pressure I don’t think it’s ever really worked for anybody. Some people can thrive. We have outliers in our game. But no one’s been asked to carry the burden of 26 guys for a team. So, we’re doing everything we can, except just consistently winning games at our expectation level.
“We have to do that collectively. Individually, we can’t carry the burden all the time. So we have to find a way to do it as a team. We’ve got to put our worst baseball behind us and our best baseball in front of us.’’
Can the Mets, who lost 12 consecutive games, possibly do that and turn it around?
Sure, it’s baseball.
The landscape is filled with crazy momentum swings over the course of a long season.
If it does, and the Mets are playing deep into October, they could become a sequel to the ’69 Miracle Mets.
“This game eats you up, spits you out," Weaver says. “It also gives you a lot of cool, rewarding moments. So, we’re hoping to lean more on the right side of that, and maybe stop jumping on the left scale. Put on some good weight, some good muscle, and put the bad fat over to the side."
New York Yankees outfielder Spencer Jones hits an RBI single during the second inning of their game against the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday, May 10, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
MLB.com | Casey Drottar: Although the Yankees suffered a second straight walk-off loss and a series sweep on Sunday, at least one Yankee enjoyed a nice moment. After going hitless with four strikeouts in his first two games, Spencer Jones got his first major league hit in the second inning against Logan Henderson, a 106.4 mph single up the middle that scored José Caballero. Fittingly for Mother’s Day, his mom (along with the rest of his family) was there to cheer him on. Hard to top that in terms of presents, I imagine. Congratulations, Spencer, and I hope the hits keep coming for you.
NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: Camilo Doval was trusted with the eighth inning of the Yankees’ Saturday extra inning loss to Milwaukee, and Doval played his part in getting the game to extras by allowing Brice Turang to get aboard, steal second, and score on a William Contreras hit. Doval has managed to cut back on issuing walks, his previous Achilles heel, and yet he’s allowed 10 runs in his last 12.1 innings of work largely due to the 15 hits he’s allowed over that span, three of which were long balls. The former Giants closer doesn’t look like he can be trusted with high leverage outings at this point, leaving a gap in the team’s bullpen hierarchy that needs to be filled sooner rather than later.
MLB.com | Casey Drottar: Another Yankee who achieved an important milestone on Sunday was Carlos Rodón, who made his first start of 2026 after missing the first month of the season while recovering from offseason surgery to remove a bone spur from his left elbow. While his overall line was forgettable – 3 earned runs, 5 strikeouts and 5 walks over 4.1 innings – Drottar points to one undeniably positive sign; Rodón averaged 95.7 mph on his heater during the start, 1.6 mph faster than his 2025 average. If nothing else, this suggests that his elbow is indeed in better shape. If he can improve his control, Rodón might be able to recapture his excellent 2025 form, or maybe even surpass it.
FanGraphs | David Laurila: If you’re a fan of the splitter, you’ll enjoy this interview with Spencer Medick, currently the pitching coach for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, on the various shapes and properties that splitters can have. According to Medick, by generating less spin on their splitters, pitchers can make the pitch “dance” in a way akin to knuckleballs from the batter’s viewpoint. The erstwhile Driveline coach cites Fernando Cruz as an example of a low-spin splitter, while naming Yovanny Cruz and Brendan Beck as current Triple-A hurlers that have the pitch in their arsenal (though their spin rates vary).
ESPN | Bradford Doolittle: You might’ve taken a look at the AL standings at large lately and become perplexed at how bunched up most of the field is. Outside of New York and Tampa Bay, everyone else is either under .500 or skirting around it. While the standard deviation between the teams in the league is currently 14.4 wins, it’s projected to dive back down towards a final number of 8.8, by far the lowest amount since the turn of the decade and a sharp nosedive from the drastic disparity that 2019 displayed with three 100 win teams and three 100 loss teams in the league. Whether this can hold up or not remains to be seen, but the huge clump that has formed at the start of the year should give us a race where most teams are in the running for a long time.
MLB.com: There are flaws to be spotted on each and every team after more than a month of play, and the Yankees have their fair share of them. One of the areas they can reasonably improve on is their leadoff production, and their biggest culprit can lead the charge to fixing the problem. Trent Grisham has received the lion’s share of starts atop the lineup but struggled out of the gate. Grisham’s peripherals have looked amazing, however, and he’s starting to see more of the hits that he’s deserved based off of how hard he’s been ripping the ball setting the table quite nicely for the Yankees’ sluggers behind him.
The Athletic | Amy Cuddy: ($) Baseball players are a superstitious bunch, and there’s no shortage of stories of weird rituals that escape the confines of the clubhouse — like, for example, Jason Giambi’s lucky gold thong. Here, Cuddy, a social psychologist, sheds some light on why baseball’s characteristics make the sport uniquely conducive to ritualistic behavior, and argues based on neuroscience that rituals may actually help hitters perform.
The Los Angeles Dodgers won't go wire-to-wire in the National League West - nor will they in USA TODAY Sports' power rankings.
The preseason No. 1 club may very well win a third consecutive championship this autumn but for now, they've been dislodged from the top spot for the first time this season by the Atlanta Braves.
The passing of the torch came head-to-head, as Atlanta won two of three games at Dodger Stadium and improve to a major league-best 28-13. Their plus-87 run differential is also tops in the majors, and they also lead in OPS and ERA.
Uh, any questions?
The Braves' newfound position will be tested immediately, as they return home for a three-game series against the No. 3 Chicago Cubs, beginning Tuesday, May 10 at Truist Field.
A look at our updated rankings:
1. Atlanta Braves (+1)
Spencer Strider punches out eight Dodgers in second start of year.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (-1)
Mookie Betts is back this week, not a moment too soon for flaccid offense.
3. Chicago Cubs (+1)
Have the Cubs rescued Michael Conforto? Batting .364 with 1.132 OPS in 55 plate appearances.
4. Tampa Bay Rays (+2)
Nick Martinez's 1.70 ERA is best in club history through eight games for a starter.
5. New York Yankees (-2)
Carlos Rodón makes season debut, but can't prevent unsettling sweep at Milwaukee.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 04: Camilo Doval #75 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on May 4, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
NY Daily News | Gary Phillips: Camilo Doval was trusted with the eighth inning of the Yankees’ Saturday extra inning loss to Milwaukee, and Doval played his part in getting the game to extras by allowing Bryce Turang to get aboard, steal second, and score on a William Contreras hit. Doval has managed to cut back on issuing walks, his previous Achilles heel, and yet he’s allowed 10 runs in his last 12.1 innings of work largely due to the 15 hits he’s allowed over that span, three of which were long balls. The former Giants closer doesn’t look like he can be trusted with high leverage outings at this point, leaving a gap in the team’s bullpen hierarchy that needs to be filled sooner rather than later.
NY Post | Greg Joyce: Spencer Jones recorded the first hit of his MLB career on Sunday, lining a single up the middle to drive in a run in the second inning. It was an extra special moment for Jones, playing on Mother’s Day with his mom and family members in attendance sitting just next to the Yankee dugout. Jones got a trial by fire in his first series of play, going 1-for-9 with five strikeouts and a walk against Milwaukee’s pitching staff, but Jones thinks he’s gotten to settle in having faced the challenge head on.
ESPN | Bradford Doolittle: You might’ve taken a look at the AL standings at large lately and become perplexed at how bunched up most of the field is. Outside of New York and Tampa Bay, everyone else is either under .500 or skirting around it. While the standard deviation between the teams in the league is currently 14.4 wins, it’s projected to dive back down towards a final number of 8.8, by far the lowest amount since the turn of the decade and a sharp nosedive from the drastic disparity that 2019 displayed with three 100 win teams and three 100 loss teams in the league. Whether this can hold up or not remains to be seen, but the huge clump that has formed at the start of the year should give us a race where most teams are in the running for a long time.
MLB.com: There are flaws to be spotted on each and every team after more than a month of play, and the Yankees have their fair share of them. One of the areas they can reasonably improve on is their leadoff production, and their biggest culprit can lead the charge to fixing the problem. Trent Grisham’s gotten the lion’s share of starts atop the lineup but struggled out of the gate. Grisham’s peripherals have looked amazing, however, and he’s starting to see more of the hits that he’s deserved based off of how hard he’s been ripping the ball setting the table quite nicely for the Yankees’ sluggers behind him.
