Category: Baseball

Say what you will about the series finale on Thursday against the Philadelphia Phillies, but the San Diego Padres showed some offensive fight. Despite not getting a hit until the sixth inning off of Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, the Padres managed to put up two runs in the seventh on a Manny Machado homer to make it a one-run game.

Unfortunately the bullpen (combined with Freddy Fermin’s poor defense) resulted in a three-run seventh inning for Philadelphia that pushed the score to 6-2. The Padres were close to a comeback in the ninth, with a Jackson Merrill homer making the score 6-4, Philly. But Phillies reliever José Alvarado recorded the final three outs.

It’s been a majorly disappointing stretch for the Friars the last few weeks. That being said, this series against Philadelphia was better than it seems. The Padres showed they could score runs, but the bullpen picked the wrong time to get shaky, giving up all three games to the Phils. As San Diego returns home to Petco Park, the Friars will need to rebound while facing the New York Mets this weekend.

Taking the mound

Christian Scott (NYM) v. Michael King (SD)

Scott has had a solid sophomore campaign with the Mets, posting a 2.97 ERA through 30 1/3 innings pitched. He hasn’t worked very deep into games. That’s likely due to New York giving Scott a rather short leash after he had a 4.56 ERA in his 2025 rookie year (47.1 IP).

After struggling at the beginning of May, Scott has turned things around. He’s surrendered just one run across his last 10 2/3 innings. He’s kept balls in the yard well, giving up just one home run this year. The Padres will need to get to Scott early.

King has been an ace for the Friars, though his stat line might not fully suggest it. He’s been saddled with a 3.18 ERA thanks to a few tough outings. For the most part, King has been a stalwart in the Padres’ rotation.

After one of the best starts of his career (7.0 IP, 0 ER), King has since given up nine runs across 9 2/3 innings of work. It’s been a rough go of it lately. King will be looking to rebound against a talented (but thus far unimpressive) Mets lineup.

Batter up!

Machado and Merrill both went yard in San Diego’s series finale on Thursday. Their breakouts (along with Tatis’ recent hot streak) would be incredible for the Friars’ offensive production.

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
2. Gavin Sheets, LF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Ty France, 1B
6. Xander Bogaerts, SS
7. Miguel Andujar, DH
8. Jase Bowen, RF
9. Rodolfo Durán, C

None of the Padres have had an opportunity to face Scott in the past, so they’ll have to figure him out on the fly. France has continued to prove his worth offensively, going 6-for-17 with three walks during this road trip.

Durán has turned into King’s personal catcher with Luis Campusano stuck on the injured list. After a short hot streak at the plate, Durán has cooled down lately. He’s been much better than his counterpart backstop, Freddy Fermin.

Relief corps

The bullpen was forced to pick up after Lucas Giolito’s shaky start. After giving up just one run across four innings, Giolito came back out for the fifth and surrendered a leadoff home run to Adolis García and a double to Justin Crawford. That forced manager Craig Stammen to turn to Yuki Matsui.

Matsui didn’t do much to limit the damage, walking Kyle Schwarber before getting two outs. With runners on first and third, Matsui made a crucial throwing error attempting to pickoff Trea Turner at first base. The error allowed Crawford to score from third.

In the seventh, Ron Marinaccio worked around a leadoff single to Alec Bohm for a scoreless frame. He was replaced by Adrian Morejon in the eighth and couldn’t get out of the inning. Wandy Peralta emerged from the ‘pen and finished out the inning.

That leaves some options for today, though the Friars certainly will be banking on King to return to form. Jason Adam, Jeremiah Estrada, Mason Miller and Bradgley Rodriguez are all available. They’ve all been high-leverage options for San Diego in the past.

Do you like barrels? Hard hit balls? Dingers and gap-to-gap doubles? Too bad! We’ve got Bryan Woo facing off against Framber Valdez today. 174 pitchers have faced at least 500 batters since the start of 2024, and of them, Woo has the 6th lowest wOBAcon (damage on contact), and Valdez, the 23rd lowest.

On the other hand, each of them will be pitching in front of one of the three worst defenses in MLB, so maybe some balls will get through.

Lineups

Rob Refsnyder gets the nod over the hot-lately Patrick Wisdom, but nothing too fancy from Dan Wilson today as the Mariners face the lefty Valdez.

The Tigers, who also run a pretty platoon-heavy team, will go with their standard lineup against righties except for starting Zack Short over Wencel Perez. As a group, this collection of hitters has slashed .208/.240/.292 against Bryan Woo.

Game Info

First Pitch: 3:40 PDT
TV: Mariners TV
Radio: Old reliable
Game Thread Comment of the Day: To be determined!

The Dodgers and Angels continue their weekend series with the middle game on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the Dodgers, and Jack Kochanowitz is on the mound for the Angels.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Angels
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market), KCOP channel 13 (Angels broadcast)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Beucase this is a day ending in Y the Jay have made a roster move. Simeon Woods Richardson is active for tonight’s game. Chad Dallas is on his way to Buffalo.

3.2 good innings from Dallas, thank you very much, 2 hits, 1 earned, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts.

SWR wasn’t good for the Twins, this season, but he’s been a good pitcher in the past and can likely give us 5-6 innings at a go.

And the team says that Dylan Cease is ‘very likely’ to make his next start with the Blue Jays. They say he feels good after his start for the Bisons yesterday. He was hit pretty hard in that game but that’s really not what’s important.

We should hear that Kirk is coming back pretty soon. Max Scherzer will be ready soon. Yimi Garcia will only need a couple more rehab appearances. And Shane Bieber will start tomorrow for Buffalo. He’ll need a couple more rehab appearances before they talk about him coming back. Tommy Nance isn’t all that far from coming back as well. Addison Barger will likely be a week or so before he’s ready to come back.

Tonight’s lineups for Pride Day at the ballpartk. No Lips tonight.

Paul Toboni.

On July 6, 2025 the Washington Nationals sacked President of Baseball Operations and former Diamondbacks head of scouting, Mike Rizzo, and their manager Dave Martinez. It was the duo that surprisingly won the 2019 World Series. But, after winning that World Series, there was a quick downfall from which the Nationals were never able to recuperate.

Though in 2025 the Nationals were probably never expected to be fierce competitors, the onfield performance was not according to the owner’s expectations, where the young core wasn’t as exciting as hoped for.

The Nationals finished the disappointing 2025 with some interim management and announced as soon as the season was over that Paul Toboni would be the new leader in the front office.

With his signing as new President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni is currently the youngest baseball executive in the MLB with his 35 years. A Berkeley graduate, and a 2011 team mate of Marcus Semien’s college world series Golden Bears, Toboni started his career in the MLB in 2013 as an intern. In 2015 he joined the Red Sox (so he must have met Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen) and since 2019 he oversaw the Red Sox farm system. On his arrival in Washington Toboni overhauled the front office, with his most notable signing being Blake Butera as the on field manager.

Toboni’s immediate focus was the starting rotation. He made 3 notable free agent pitching signings: Foster Griffin came over from the NPB, while Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell joined as free agents from the Cardinals and Reds. All three were signed to a 1-year contract. Max Kranick and Cionel Pérez are two relievers who also joined the Nationals on a 1-year contract.

Toboni also made a bunch of waiver claims and DFAd a lot.

However, the biggest headlines were taken when he moved MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers for 5 prospects. Gore struggled out of the gate in Texas, but has found his groove of late. The 5 prospects that Washington got in return have all easily slipped into the Washington Nationals farm system ranking. Though none is seen as a top talent, the expectations is that the first two got join the big league team this season.

There was some speculation that CJ Abrams could be the next player out of Washington, but the Nationals either couldn’t find a willing trade partner or decided to stick with the infielder, who hasn’t been completely free of some controversy.

Many runs guaranteed in this series.

The early results say that when the Nationals play, you get to see a lot of runs.

The Nationals is the team that scores most runs per game: their 331 runs is one run more than the almighty Dodgers and two more than the Atlanta Braves, the two teams that are currently battling for the power ranking throne in the MLB.

The downside is that the Nationals is also one of the teams that gives up most runs: their 341 runs allowed is second behind the Rockies (355). Their 298 earned runs allowed show that defence has a lot of improvement left. Their 90 homeruns allowed is top in the league and shows that their pitching allows too much hard contact. Their FIP, according to baseball reference, is still third worst in the league.

So, while Toboni hasn’t had a lucky hand in his free agent signings on the pitching front, luckily for him Washington’s bats are about as hot as you can get them. That success is pretty much carried by two players: CJ Abrams and his 155 OPS+ and James Wood’s 160 OPS+. Abrams is the team’s RBI leader, while Wood’s has hit most home runs (16), though what stands out is his huge 17% walk percentage. That makes both players a top 10 position in the entire MLB in those categories.

Woods sports a huge BABIP of .400 over the past two weeks, which is enormous, but until now he has always had higher BABIP in the past two seasons than you’d normally see. The Nationals were a bit down in their latest series against the Marlins, scoring “only” 7 runs and getting swept by Miami, dropping from 31-29 to 31-32.

Matchups.

Game #1 Fri 06/05 6:40 PM MST, Merrill Kelly (ARI) vs Foster Griffin (WSN).

• Merrill Kelly. 9 GS, 53.1 IP, 5 W-3 L, 5.06 ERA, 5.60 FIP, 1.46 WHIP, 33/22 K/BB. $18,000,000.
• Foster Griffin. 12 GS, 67.0 IP, 6 W-2 L, 3.76 ERA, 4.90 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, 65/21 K/BB. $5,500,000.

After pitching twice against the Giants and one each against Rockies and Mets, Merrill found himself a tougher opponent in his latest performance in Seattle. The mainstay allowed only 2 runs, but you could say that it could have been much worse. Though Kelly could easily line up for another win in this matchup, it could be more because our bats back him up than him being able to quiet Washington’s. That is a similar view of his performance last time against Washington, last year in May, when he gave up 6 runs in 5 innings, but got a no-decision.

That isn’t such a strange prediction, if you look at it, because Merrill gives up a ton of homeruns, but I give you my Merrill and you show me your Foster Griffin: he has the same HR/9 rate as Merrill Kelly (1.7). Before this season, Griffin had 14.1 innings under his belt in the major leagues, debuting with the Royals in 2020. He played in the NPB the past 3 seasons, where he had an especially strong season for the Yomiuri Giants last season, pitching to a 1.62 ERA in 78 innings.

Griffin has a huge 7-pitch arsenal. Cutter, four-seamer, sweeper, sinker, change-up, curve and split finger. His fastball is weak, reaching an average a bit above 91 mph. The change-up is his best pitch, but he only shows it against right-handed pitching. His barrel percentage is in the 8th percentile, i.e. one of the worst in the league.

With Corbin being a lefty, Ketel a switch hitter and CJ Abrams and James Woods on fire, I foresee a slugfest in this first matchup, with the decision coming late in the game.

Game #2 Sat 06/06 1:10 PM MST, Eduardo Rodriguez (ARI) vs Zack Littell (WSN).

• Eduardo Rodriguez. 12 GS, 72.1 IP, 5 W-1 L, 2.24 ERA, 3.64 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 52/26 K/BB. $21,000,000.
• Zack Littell. 12 G, 8 GS, 59.1 IP, 5 W-4 L, 5.01 ERA, 6.22 FIP, 1.37 WHIP, 35/19 K/BB. $3,000,000.

After a great 2024 season for the Rays, Littell was okay-ish in 2025, though probably worse than hoped for, for both the Rays and, after a trade, for the Reds. That is how Littell got to see the Diamondbacks twice last season, in April in a Rays shirt, in August in a Reds shirt. Both times he could not get a win. This year Littell hasn’t been great for the Nationals, though his numbers are very much skewed by three terrible performances at the end of May against Giants (!), Braves and Mets, when he gave up 18 runs in 13.2 innings. Lately, Littell has navigated into quieter waters, a couple of times behind an opener, and over the past 6 innings he sports a 2.53 ERA and 3.49 FIP, pretty similar to Eduardo Rodriguez’s season numbers. His command and his breaking balls (split finger, sweeper) are Littell’s strengths. Littell is a lefty and has a slightly better split against lefties because of that.

So, this matchup could be way more different than the previous one and instead of a slugfest, it could be a tight game with both starting pitchers leaving the game with less than 5 runs scored.

Game #3 Sun 06/07 12:15 PM MST, Michael Soroka (ARI) vs Cade Cavalli (WSN).

• Michael Soroka. 12 GS, 67.0 IP, 7 W-3 L, 3.49 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 66/15 K/BB. $7,000,000.
• Cade Cavalli. 13 GS, 64.2 IP, 3 W-3 L, 3.62 ERA, 3.00 FIP, 1.42 WHIP, 74/24 K/BB. $862,500.

Despite making his debut in 2022, we have never seen Cade Cavalli starting against the Diamondbacks and that is because the former star prospect struggled with injuries and setbacks until returning to the MLB in August 2025, when he made his first start in 3 years. Now, Cavalli is finally ready for his first full major league season in his career, at 27 years of age. His four-seamer/sinker combo is a strong 96+ mph fastball combo, but his strength is in his off-speed changeup and sweeper. Cavalli also shows a knuckle curve. The Oklahoma native is a ground ball pitcher, so a bit of a different profile than Michael Soroka. Cavalli has some strong splits, with lefties getting the upper hand over him.

Soroka will be eager to show the Nationals that his 2026 version is a lot better than the 2025 version who was in Washington. Michael survived the Dodgers’ batting lineup, but will have to be wary of allowing too much hard contact.

Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford has been activated from the 10 day injured list, the team announced today. Because there was an open spot on the active roster after yesterday’s transactions, no additional move was necessary to clear a spot for him. In addition, the Rangers activated Sam Haggerty from the bereavement list and have designated him for assignment.

Langford has been out since mid-April due to a forearm strain. He had gotten off to a slow start prior to his landing on the injured list, but hopefully he will be able to hit the ground running and, along with Corey Seager, who was activated yesterday, will be able to provide a boost to the Ranger offense.

Haggerty had a solid 2025 campaign, and started the 2026 season as Evan Carter’s platoon partner. He has just a 395 OPS this year, however, and it appears Michael Helman has displaced him in that role.

It has been nearly a calendar year since Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach fired a pitch in a baseball game. On Friday, Braves manager Walt Weiss confirmed that Schwellenbach continues to throw from flat ground but is still nowhere near close to beginning a rehab assignment for the team.

It’s not exactly surprising news as the Braves have preached caution and a long timetable for Schwellenbach’s potential return since he underwent elbow surgery in February. Schwellenbach also, of course, broke his elbow last June.

It’s good news that Schwellenbach continues to throw, although it would seem based on the timeline that even if everything goes perfectly from here, we’re likely looking at August or September before Schwellenbach could find himself in the mix to make starts for the big league club.

It’s also worth considering that even if Schwellenbach is physically up for pitching in a game, would he be effective enough to make crucial starts for the Braves in September and October? That would mean 14 or 15 months since the young righty appeared in a big league game. That certainly feels like a cart-before-the-horse situation at the moment, but it’s something that may present itself at some point.

The Milwaukee Brewers are back on the road for the beginning of a six-game road trip out west. After failing to complete comebacks in the final two games against the National League West’s San Francisco Giants, the Brewers look to set the record straight against the NL West’s worst, the Colorado Rockies.

Yesterday afternoon, we watched the ball fly at American Family Field as we saw a combined five home runs and seven doubles in the series finale. Thankfully for Brewers fans, the Brewers had their hat mixed in consistently throughout the day, with Jackson Chourio going deep twice and David Hamilton hitting his second long ball on the season, not to mention the numerous flyouts to the warning track. Expect similar action tonight at Coors Field, another ballpark that’s notorious for deep flies.

The Brewers will try to avoid losing three in a row for the first time since late April, and getting the ball in tonight’s series opener will be Brandon Sproat. There’s no doubt that Sproat has struggled this season in terms of giving up runs, but home runs have been a backbreaker so far this season, as he has allowed 10 on the season. In his last outing against the Houston Astros, he made it just 4 1/3 innings while allowing five runs on six hits and gave up one home run.

Though the Rockies are at the bottom of their division, they’re still pesky and have been playing better ball over the last week, as they have won back-to-back series, winning four out of their last six. The big question surrounding tonight’s game is how short Sproat’s leash will be after some comments made by manager Pat Murphy following his previous start: “We’re not going to tolerate too many duds like this, that’s for sure.”

Getting the ball to open up the six-game home stand for the Rockies is the right-hander, Ryan Feltner. The month of April wasn’t too kind to Feltner, posting a 7.41 ERA while allowing five home runs. After being placed on the 15-day IL and having most of May off, he came back and dominated against the San Francisco Giants, throwing six scoreless innings while allowing just four hits on the day.

After the bullpen had a rough day at the office yesterday, we saw a couple of changes. DL Hall is officially on the 15-day IL with a left pectoral strain, with Jake Woodford being designated for assignment after another rough outing in yesterday’s game. Replacing the two arms will be Craig Yoho and Brian Fitzpatrick.

Yoho is back on the big league club for the first time since last season and is looking to have a better trip around. Last season he posted a 7.27 ERA through eight appearances. This season down in Nashville, he has had a great start to the 2026 season as he has posted a 1.00 ERA in 18 innings, recording three saves and 24 strikeouts.

Backup with the club is the southpaw Fitzpatrick, who has shined in his first four outings with the Brewers. Through 5 2/3 innings, he has four strikeouts and has allowed just one earned run.

Though Murphy has yet to announce tonight’s starting lineup, most of the everyday starters have seen Feltner a fair amount throughout his first six years in the big leagues. William Contreras has seen the most of him, as he has 16 at-bats, though he hasn’t fared well against him, batting just .188. Christian Yelich has hit the best against Feltner — through 12 at-bats, he’s hitting .417 with a 1.084 OPS.

Like most nights, you’ll be able to catch the game on Brewers.TV, WTMJ 620, and the Brewers Radio Network. First pitch is set for 7:40 p.m.

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The Freeway Series gets renewed as the Los Angeles Angels make the short trip to Chavez Ravine to face the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight, with the home side favored.

Reid Detmers and Roki Sasaki toe the rubber in the series opener, potentially creating some value on the underdog.

See why my Angels vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks for Friday, June 5, are enamored with Reid Detmers. 

Who will win Angels vs Dodgers today: Angels (+175)

Plug your nose if you have to, but the Los Angeles Angels are undervalued in this series opener. 

Reid Detmers gives them a starting pitching advantage. His 2.92 xERA, 20.8% K-BB%, and 104 Stuff+ are clear indicators of an effective arm. 

Roki Sasaki’s hittable heater (.328 xBA) and penchant for allowing loud contact (11th percentile barrel rate) are major concerns. 

The Angels’ bullpen will be fully rested after Thursday’s day off, whereas the Los Angeles Dodgers are playing their eighth game in as many days and have a 6.08 ERA in the last 10 days. 

I'd play this to +165.

COVERS INTEL: Detmers is bound for positive regression given his 60.8% left-on-base rate. That’s the worst luck among all qualified starters, so no wonder his actual ERA is nearly two runs higher than his xERA.  

Angels vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-125)

There’s value betting on Detmers’ positive regression, combined with a bruised-up Dodgers lineup. Let's break it down...

• Shohei Ohtani sat yesterday with a blister
• Max Muncy may be absent after a hard collision on Thursday
• Mookie Betts (.183/.246/.365) has temporarily lost the ability to hit baseballs
• Teoscar Hernandez is still on the IL

Not great.

The Dodgers were already an Under team (12-19 O/U at home) and are looking even more so like one, given the circumstances. 

Both starters have an above-average Stuff+ (104) and are in fine form, so it’ll be another low-scoring Dodgers game.

Angels vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Angels +178 | Dodgers -185
• Run line: Angels +1.5 (-125) | Dodgers -1.5 (+105)
• Over/Under: Over 8 (-110) | Under 8 (-110)

Angels vs Dodgers trend

The Dodgers have cashed the Under in 15 of their last 22 games. Find more MLB betting trends for Angels vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Angels vs Dodgers and game info

Angels vs Dodgers latest injuries

Angels vs Dodgers weather

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A busy evening in the big leagues offers intriguing value in the home run market, with several stars on my radar. 

My MLB player props will focus on Jackson Chourio, Oneil Cruz, and Tyler Soderstrom.

Read more in my MLB picks for Friday, June 5. 

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Jackson Chourio	+292
Oneil Cruz	+388
Tyler Soderstrom	+496
💲Today's HR parlay	+11625

Home run pick: Jackson Chourio (+292)

Jackson Chourio is one of the hottest hitters in baseball at the moment. He owns a .765 xSLG over the last week, including three home runs during that span, while possessing a 44.4% hard-hit rate. If we take a deeper dive, the power is very evident. Chourio also has a .524 ISO across his previous six games.

He'll face Colorado Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner tonight. The starter recently returned from the IL and has made just one start since late April, so we'll look at his season as a whole.

Feltner owns a 6.35 xERA and has allowed a 46.9% hard-hit rate. He's also surrendered 38.3% of his contact through the air, while carrying a concerning 16.1% HR/FB rate.

That's an appealing matchup for Chourio, who owns a 33.3% HR/FB rate over the last week and continues to generate loud contact consistently.

With this game taking place at Coors Field — one of the most favorable home-run environments in baseball — the conditions only strengthen the case.

I'll take this pick up to +200.

• Time: 8:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Brewers.TV, Rockies.TV

Home run pick: Oneil Cruz (+388)

Oneil Cruz is consistently making loud contact at the moment. Aside from his three bombs in the last six games, he owns an astounding 23.1% barrel rate during that span while carrying a ridiculous .912 xSLG.

Cruz has also slugged above .500 against left-handed pitching this season, and he'll face Atlanta Braves southpaw Martin Perez this evening.

Perez has been getting hit, with 34.1% of the contact he's allowed against left-handed batters coming in the air, and 14.3% of those fly balls leaving the yard. That's a recipe for disaster against a hitter like Cruz, who has seen 36.4% of his fly balls against lefties land in the bleachers.

I'll play this pick up to +350.

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh, BravesVision

Home run pick: Tyler Soderstrom (+496)

Tyler Soderstrom is making plenty of loud contact right now, carrying a 52.6% hard-hit rate and an expected slugging percentage north of .500 over the last week. The Athletics slugger has also gone deep twice in his last six games, and the matchup is what stands out most here.

The Houston Astros hand Peter Lambert the ball, and while he hasn't allowed a home run across his last two starts, the underlying metrics suggest he's been fortunate. The right-hander has surrendered a 46.7% fly-ball rate, 46.7% hard-hit rate, and a 22.7 average launch angle during that span. Those indicators suggest opposing hitters are generating the type of contact that often turns into home runs.

Add in the short porch in left field at Daikin Park, and this matchup becomes even more appealing.

I'll take this pick up to +400.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBC Sports California, Space City Home Network

Today’s HR parlay

Jackson Chourio	Bet Now +11625
Oneil Cruz
Tyler Soderstrom

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The Astros have reinstated 2B Jose Altuve from the 10-day IL.

The club optioned OF Zach Dezenzo to Triple A after last night’s game.

Altuve, 36, was initially diagnosed with a Grade 2 oblique strain, but recovered faster than expected. Altuve last played May 16, missing almost 3 weeks with an injury that was expected to sideline him 4-6 weeks.

Altuve started the season red hot, hitting .378 over the first 11 games of the season, but then cooled off considerably, and was batting only .245 at the time of his injury.

Dezenzo, 26, was batting .191 this season with the Astros in limited time. He was also 3 for his last 21 at the plate with 11 strikeouts. Dezenzo should see regular time in Sugar Land alongside Joey Loperfido and Zach Cole as the team hopes at least one of them will find their batting stroke and get hot, allowing them to be productive upon a recall.

Aaron Judge was officially moved to the injured list before the Yankees' game against the Red Sox on Friday, June 5. Top prospect Spencer Jones was recalled to take his spot in the outfield. Judge was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his first right rib and is expected to miss several weeks.

The Yankees said Judge will be shut down for four to six weeks before reimaging. That means the most optimistic timeline would be a late July, early August return.

Jones, a left-handed slugger, made his major-league debut last month and was underwhelming. The No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Jones hit .167/.259./.167 in 27 plate appearance during his first stint. The Yankees are thin in the outfield at the moment with Giancarlo Stanton on the IL with a right calf issue and Jasson Dominguez also on the IL with a left shoulder strain.

The Cincinnati Reds should be fresh following their off-day on Thursday, but they’re also ‘fresh’ off losing 4 of 6 at home during their most recent homestand against the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Royals, respectively.

Now, the Reds are in St. Louis and ready to face a Cardinals club that they saw briefly two weeks ago in a series that was a complete weather mess. You’ll recall that the Friday game between these two was banged, they played a Saturday doubleheader to compensate, and then Sunday’s game was postponed until later in the season.

Even with those surprise breaks, the Cincinnati pitching staff has still been in complete shambles. They’ve been forced to cycle through players (Yunior Marte, Lyon Richardson, Brandon Liebrandt) and cull them from the 40-man roster just to find some, any fresh arms to activate, and their league-worst bullpen continues to give up games that the offense has fought hard to make close. Such was definitely the case again on Wednesday in the series finale when Tony Santillan was rocked in a 5-2 loss to Kansas City.

Still, this Reds club limps in at 31-30, above .500 for the time being. It’ll be up to Brady Singer in the series opener to turn his own personal struggles around, as on Thursday he still sported the single worst HR/9 (2.82) of the 119 MLB pitchers who have thrown at least 50 IP so far this year. He also ranks 4th worst in ERA (6.18), 3rd worst in xERA (6.49), and dead last in FIP (6.88) among that group, which is the kind of individual calamity that can tank an entire team’s season if not rectified quickly.

Kyle Leahy will start for the Cardinals. First pitch is set for 8:15 PM ET.

Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

The idiot that said, “Harper is coming” asks:Rather than focus on trade acquisition candidates, let’s focus on who might get traded away for a moment. Who in the Yankee organization do you believe will be most likely to be traded away at the trade deadline?

Let’s start with the prospects that carry value but probably will be sticking around. Spencer Jones’ security in the organization became a lot stronger after news broke that Aaron Judge would be going on the IL with a stress fracture in his ribs, and earlier today he was indeed called back up to the major leagues for what will likely be a lengthier stint than his first one. Carlos Lagrange is viewed as a potential stalwart in the Yankee rotation, but he’s also moving over to the bullpen to get a shot at contributing this year and thus likely is also safe, especially given the team’s need for relievers. Finally, George Lombard Jr. looks to be the future Yankees shortstop and could be ready as soon as next spring, with an outside shot of getting a look this year even. He’s the team’s top prospect overall and among the game’s best in any organization meaning he could carry a lot of weight as the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade, but it would take a monumental one to convince the Yankees to part with the promising infielder.

Elmer Rodríguez sits near the top of the organization’s pitching prospects with Lagrange, and he made his MLB debut earlier in the year after a meteoric rise following his trade acquisition from Boston. He’s a name that the Yankees would certainly also like to hold onto, but he also sits on the threshold of player that the Yankees might listen in on for the right deal. There are, however, some other pitching prospects with less of a pedigree and may not have a path to the majors laid out for them yet. Bryce Cunningham fits this bill, having been held back by a couple of injuries, and even though you can never have too much pitching I’m almost certain that New York will pull from their depth here to look for a good upgrade. Given the team’s needs, it makes more sense to me that the team will trade from their pool of players outside of the upper echelon to get relief arms or an upgrade to the bench, and Cunningham fits the bill for the type of player they’d be willing to gamble on.

BetweenthePinstripes asks:At the end of every season, there’s always a team (or three) that go on a tear, upending the standings and altering the playoff picture. What’s your best guess as to which team(s) will play their best baseball at the end?

I’m afraid that the main answer to this question will be the Astros, who sit in fourth place but have survived the big blows that the pitching staff took and have started to get their lineup in order even without Carlos Correa for the rest of the season. The AL West still looks to be a mess of a division, with the Mariners finally back in first place but clinging to a 2.5 game lead over the Rangers and Athletics. Houston is a couple ticks behind at 5.5 games behind, but being three games out of a postseason spot in the final Wild Card is nothing to scoff at all things considered. With Yordan Alvarez on an absolute heater at the plate, they could force the window of contention open a crack after missing the postseason last year.

Outside of the Astros, there’s another team in their division that could turn it on late in the year. The Mariners got off to an abysmal start offensively, but their push back to the top of the division was achieved by some of their regular stars finding their groove at long last. With a core of Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, and Randy Arozarena alongside the veteran assistance of Josh Naylor this is a team that should compete, and their rotation outside of Luis Castillo has been lights out on a near-daily basis. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them make a run for not just the division title but a shot at hosting an ALDS or even an ALCS matchup, and they have the blueprint of what went right for them last year as the calendars turned towards fall to study from.

torturedsoulv1 asks: Will the Yankees playoff rotation be just Cole/Fried/Schittler. Or does Rodon get a start? I guess it depends on days off between games.

Days off are the essential factor, and given the turnaround for each round of play the Yankees would likely go with the main three for the Wild Card Round (assuming all of them stay locked in and healthy should they make it there). From the ALDS on it depends on what they can get away with, but Carlos Rodón has done more than enough to earn a bit of trust in a hypothetical Game 4. As for the overall order, that remains to be seen as well — Schlittler’s making a case for himself to be one of the best if not the best pitcher in the AL this year, which should give him the upper hand even over a pitcher as prolific as Gerrit Cole should winning be the biggest factor.

Two of the top four offenses in runs scored will face off tonight when the Pittsburgh Pirates come to town to play the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are third in MLB in runs and the Pirates are only four runs behind them.

The Braves will be facing Mitch Keller who has yet again put together a season of almost the exact same output of an ERA in the low fours. This year it is currently at 4.35. The good news for the Braves is that many of their core lineup bats have a history of doing well against Keller. Ronald Acuña has nineteen at-bats against Keller in which he already has three HRs, a .421 average, and 1.371 OPS. Matt Olson has the same exact OPS against Keller in twelve at-bats to include one HR and a .500 average.

Austin Riley has ten at-bats against Keller and has a .400 average and 1.055 OPS, and Mauricio Dubón has a .400 average and .955 OPS in ten at-bats. Michael Harris has struggled to an OPS of .500, but has a .250 average against Keller in twelve at-bats, so before the lineup dropped it was interesting to wonder if Walt Weiss was going to factor this in when he penciled in the names.

The other question mark, which has been daily at this point, is who is going to get the start at shortstop. Ha-Seong Kim has faced Keller in eleven at-bats and is hitless and has not exactly been living up to expectations this season so it made sense to sit him tonight, but Weiss could have decided to give him more reps to try and get him in a groove.

Finally, Austin Wynns had not made his first start yet, so some may have been patiently awaiting to see if tonight was going to be the night, especially considering Sandy León is clearly on the roster for his glove and veteran presence since it seems like he has not hit in a decade.

It turns out that Weiss went with Dubón at SS so that Mike Yastrzemski could be in LF and Dominic Smith could be the DH. It also looks like we will have to wait for Austin Wynns to get his first start in a Braves uniform. Outside of León, this looks to be the best offensive lineup to face Keller.

Martín Pérez will be on the bump for the Braves in the midst of his best season since 2022. He has been aided by BABIP and strand rates, but he still has his best expected ERA (xERA) since 2022 as well. Even though Martín Pérez has been in MLB since 2012, no player on the Pirates has more than nine at-bats against him. Brandon Lowe has an OPS of .788 in those nine at-bats. One player to keep an eye on is long time Brave, Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna is second on the team with seven at-bats against Pérez, and has done a ton of damage. He owns a .571 average and 1.700 OPS.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT.