Category: MLB

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

For the Royals:

Let’s talk about it.

Last week, our Rangers Reacts survey asked folks what the Texas Rangers should prioritize, should they be buyers at the trade deadline.

It is still up in the air, of course, whether they will be in a position to buy — they are currently occupying Wild Card 3, but a couple of bad weeks could put the Rangers in a place where they’d be more likely to be sellers than buyers. We are going to be optimistic for now, though…

A majority of folks believe that the bullpen is the area that the Rangers should prioritize, and its hard to argue with that stance, given the overall state of the team. Outfield/DH was the next most popular option, followed distantly by the rotation, catcher, and the infield.

For the MLB-wide questions, when asked which MLB exec currently has the hottest seat, David Stearns of the Mets got by far the most votes, though Buster Posey of the Giants and Craig Breslow of the Red Sox each got some support.

In the wake of MLB’s proposal to change the MLB draft rules and length, almost half of folks think the draft should be revamped.

And taking a look back at the Rafael Devers trade from a little over a year ago, the consensus is that no one came out well in that deal.

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The Giants should be damn happy they play in the same division as the Rockies. If it weren’t for the best-run front office of 2004, San Francisco would be in an even worse spot than their current .420 winning percentage, but regardless look to be sellers at the trade deadline. I’m of the opinion that the entire organization needs to be taken back to formula and Buster Posey is perhaps not the guy to run things, but in the medium term at least, they will attempt a more conventional rebuild.

The chief challenge with the fit between the Yankees and Giants is the discrepancy in the latter’s asset performance. The Yankees need bullpen help, no question, and there are a trio of San Fran relievers who are free agents at the end of the year, classic trade bait pieces: Tyler Mahle, JT Brubaker, and Sam Hentges. Unfortunately Mahle is terrible, and while the other two both boast sub-3.00 ERAs, any other underlying metric indicates that those ERAs will not stay that low for long. Hentges is walking a comical 19.7 percent of batters faced, and Brubaker’s 17 percent strikeout rate does not help a Yankee bullpen that desperately needs some more whiffs.

If I had to pick one of the three, I would roll the dice on Hentges since he’s never had a year this bad from a walk rate perspective. Before 2026 he sat at a comfortable 8.4 percent rate for his career, so I’m going to be optimistic and say this is a flukey thing or the Giants are just bad at managing their pitchers. Still, I’m burned enough by Camilo Doval that I don’t really want any bullpen help from San Francisco.

If the Yankees choose to shore up their pitching rotation instead, given the impact of injuries and the potential of moving one of their own starters to the bullpen, Robbie Ray is also coming up on free agency. The 34 year old former Cy Young winner has a 3.45 ERA, pretty good, but you’ll never guess what happens if you look under the hood. The third-worst strikeout rate of his career matched with an unholy home run rate while playing in a park that doesn’t allow a lot of dingers should make us all very frightened of the idea of Ray pitching in the Bronx.

So the pitching’s all kinda bunk.

It may be unsurprising for a 37-51 team but the offense doesn’t look all that much better. The Giants have a bunch of pretty fat contracts on the books that I’m sure they’d be interested in trying to dump, but there’s no fit for Rafael Devers on this team. The Yankees certainly aren’t going to take on some $150 million worth of Willy Adames, and while I suppose you could squint and rub the bridge of your nose and maybe huff a Sharpie and see a spot for Matt Chapman on the club, he’s not even been a league average hitter in 2026. The Yankees already have a defensively-talented third baseman who can’t hit, and he isn’t under contract through his age-38 seeason.

I guess the one guy you could ask about, especially if it’s true that Aaron Judge won’t be back until September, would be Jung Hoo Lee, but I don’t know why the Giants would want to move one of their only productive hitters who’s still 27 and under team control for four more seasons at a relatively reasonable rate. I feel like there are some dark times coming for the Giants, perhaps some moral judgement for the harms the Bay Area have visited on the globe over the last two decades. There’s just not a lot here, and the prospect capital the Yankees would be expected to give up is probably best suited going elsewhere.

Worcester: W, 7-3 (BOX SCORE)

In the finale against the Mets, the pitching provided a steady frame, even having to use five arms, allowing just six hits on the game, two of which were home runs. But this game was on the verge of turning into a laughter in the top of the first when the WooSox batted around and catcher Nate Knizner (who was the DH Sunday) had his first home run in his new organization. Mickey Gasper also continues to rake at a Triple-A level; two doubles on Sunday adds to that sample. The score was 5-1 at the end of one and the fate of Worcester’s win was never in worry.

Portland: W, 10-0 (BOX SCORE)

This was a masterclass by Blake Wehunt and Jedixson Paez as the Curve (Pirates AA) absolutely got carved up, striking out seventeen times and managing just two hits. Paez didn’t allow a walk and got the 12-out save. Now, this win would have been safe even without run support, but the Sea Dogs had plenty of that too. Brooks Brannon had a home run to heat his bat back up, bringing the score to 6-0, and it’d only grow in the later innings. For Paez in particular, though, a lengthy relief appearance going this successfully is amazing. Paez was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the White Sox in December, made the opening day big league roster, and, pretty immediately, was returned to Boston after falling flat in the majors. The 22-year-old has some developing to do, but getting eight of twelve outs via strikeout is a promising sign.

Greenville: L, 3-8 (BOX SCORE)

Devin Futrell has either been automatic or struggled quite a bit this season. The Dash (White Sox High-A) tagged him for eleven hits but the towering lefty was able to put in five innings, and the bullpen held it. But, it was tough for Greenville to overcome allowing Winston-Salem two runs in each of the first three frames. No one was safe offensively from striking out at least once, but almost everyone also was in the “getting knocks” business. Unfortunately, no one out of six attempts was successful in the “getting knocks with runners in scoring position” business.

Salem: L, 1-4 (BOX SCORE)

Not going to win many games with just three hits against the Green Jackets (Braves A), including the four through seven holes in the lineup going 0-for-14 with 10 strikeouts. As a whole, if you look at the team’s OPS up and down the lineup, nothing really jumps off the page in the lower levels. The pitching did enough to win a game where there was more offense than that, but it wasn’t to be on Sunday.

Charlotte Knights
Record 2-4 (last week), 4-8 (second half), 46-41 (overall)

Knights Players of the Week
Caden Connor .421/.500/.526, 19 at-bats

Ryan Galanie .296/.310/.370, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 27 at-bats
Mario Camilletti .250/.280/.417, 24 at-bats
Jason Matthews .278/.350/.333, 18 at-bats
Dustin Harris .500/.667/1.167, 1-for-1 stolen bases, six at-bats
Korey Lee .182/.400/.455, 11 at-bats
Edgar Quero .133/.235/.333, 15 at-bats
Rikuu Nishida .059/.333/.059, 17 at-bats

Jonathan Cannon 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Mason Adams 6 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 4 K
David Sandlin 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Shane Murphy 5 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Adisyn Coffey 4 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K

The Knights are off to a slow start in the second half, as they have dropped their first two series. This time, they lost four of six against the mighty Redbirds (52-35) in Memphis.

Outfielder Caden Connor, 25, was a tough customer at the plate all week against the Redbirds. Connor went 8-for-19 with two doubles and three walks to finish the week with a 1.026 OPS. That was easily enough to lead the team among players with more than six at-bats. This was a cold week for the Knights offense, which averaged 4.17 runs per game. That average is not particularly low, but considering that the Knights have averaged 6.18 runs per game this season, it was a bit disappointing. Regardless, Connor was extremely reliable, and with this excellent performance, he boosted his slash line in 63 games with the Knights to .266/.336/.388. Congratulations to Connor on his first weekly award of the season, as there has been a lot of competition all year for Knight of the Week.

2026 Charlotte Knights Players of the Week
Korey Lee (March 27-April 5)
Oliver Dunn (April 6-12)
Shane Smith (April 13-19)
Jarred Kelenic (April 20-26)
Oliver Dunn (April 27-May 3)
LaMonte Wade Jr.(May 4-10)
Jacob Gonzalez(May 11-17)
LaMonte Wade Jr.(May 18-24)
Jacob Gonzalez(May 25-31)
Braden Montgomery(June 1-7)
Ryan Galanie(June 8-14)
Kyle Teel(June 15-21)
Korey Lee(June 22-28)
Caden Connor(June 29-July 5)

Birmingham Barons
Record 4-2 (last week), 5-7 (second half), 31-50 (overall)

Barons Player of the Week
Colby Shelton .333/.455/.778, 18 at-bats

Alec Briley .360/.385/.440, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 25 at-bats
Caleb Bonemer .250/.400/.550, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 20 at-bats
Samuel Zavala .313/.353/.563, 16 at-bats
Jacob Burke .182/.308/.364, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 22 at-bats
Boston Smith .333/.467/.833, 12 at-bats
Anthony DePino .150/.261/.450, 20 at-bats

Dylan Cumming 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Gabe Davis 6 2/3 IP, 8 ER, 10 H, 4 BB, 7 K
Lucas Gordon 5 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K
Jake Palisch 4 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 4 K
Jackson Kelley 3 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 7 K

The Barons had a solid week, winning four of six against Montgomery (39-42) in Birmingham.

Infielder Colby Shelton, 23, who has experience at second base, third base and shortstop, got off to a flaming start to the season with the Dash (.339/.464/.661 in 31 games). After earning the promotion to Double-A, things have not been nearly as easy for the talented infielder. Entering this week, Shelton had a .170/.240/.327 slash line in 41 games with the Barons. However, Shelton turned that trend around in a huge way against the Biscuits, finishing 6-for-18 with two homers, two doubles, and four walks. That was enough to lead the way for a team that went 4-2, and not even Caleb Bonemer (who also had a strong performance) kept pace with Shelton.

2026 Birmingham Barons Players of the Week
Samuel Zavala (April 6-12)
Braden Montgomery (April 13-19)
Alec Makarewicz (April 20-26)
Wilfred Veras (April 27-May 3)
Jake Palisch(May 4-10)
Wilfred Veras(May 11-17)
Alec Makarewicz(May 18-24)
Drake Logan(May 25-31)
Dylan Cumming(June 1-7)
Anthony DePino(June 8-14)
Grant Magill(June 15-21)
Alec Briley(June 22-28)
Colby Shelton(June 29-July 5)

Winston-Salem Dash
Record 5-1 (last week), 9-6 (second half), 47-34 (overall)

Dash Player of the Week
Kaleb Freeman .500/.538/1.250, 12 at-bats

James Taussig .333/.385/.708, 24 at-bats
George Wolkow .292/.357/.458, 24 at-bats
Ely Brown .273/.448/.273, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 22 at-bats
Arxy Hernández .208/.269/.250, 24 at-bats
Ryan Burrowes .286/.464/.476, 21 at-bats
Eddie Park .571/.667/.857, 1-for-1 stolen bases, seven at-bats

Max Banks 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Riley Eikhoff 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Justin Sinibaldi 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Grant Umberger 4 2/3 IP, 6 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Drew McDaniel 3 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K

After four consecutive .500 weeks, the Dash returned to their dominant ways with a 5-1 week against Greenville (30-43).

Kaleb Freeman, 23, only played in three of Winston-Salem’s six games, but he made his time on the field count. Freeman, who suits up at catcher, first base and left field, went 6-for-12 with three homers, seven RBIs, and a walk. The White Sox selected Freeman in the 16th round of last year’s draft, and he is exceeding expectations by a wide margin so far. In 43 games (40 with Winston-Salem, three with Kannapolis), Freeman is slashing .281/.463/.562, as he is seeing the ball quite well and punishing seemingly every mistake that comes his way.

2026 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Week
Caleb Bonemer (April 6-12)
Colby Shelton (April 13-19)
Colby Shelton (April 20-26)
Caleb Bonemer(April 27-May 3)
Colby Shelton(May 4-10)
Boston Smith(May 11-17)
George Wolkow (May 18-24)
Morris Austin(May 25-31)
Caleb Bonemer(June 1-7)
James Taussig(June 8-14)
Kyle Lodise(June 15-21)
George Wolkow(June 22-28)
Kaleb Freeman(June 29-July 5)

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Record 3-3 (last week), 7-8 (second half), 40-41 (overall)

Cannon Ballers Player of the Week
Christian Gonzalez .333/.522/.600, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 15 at-bats

Stiven Flores .296/.321/.407, 27 at-bats
Matthew Boughton .304/.333/.348, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 23 at-bats
Alexander Albertus .250/.348/.300, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 20 at-bats
Nick McLain .313/.500/.500, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 16 at-bats
Jurdrick Profar .313/.389/.688, 16 at-bats
Steven Lancia .444/.444/.667, 1-for-1 stolen bases, nine at-bats

Alexander Martinez 8 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 12 K
Caedmon Parker 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Truman Pauley 5 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K
Jesús Méndez 4 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 5 K
Gabriel Rodriguez 4 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K

The Cannon Ballers dropped their first two games against the Wilson Warbirds (43-38), but they rallied to even the series.

Outfielder Christian Gonzalez, 19, could hardly be kept off base in Wilson. Our preseason No. 33 White Sox prospect went 5-for-15 with a homer, a double, seven walks, and a stolen base in his only attempt. After starting out the season in the Complex League, Gonzalez made his debut with the Cannon Ballers on Wednesday, and he made a positive first impression. During his first game, Gonzalez went 1-for-1 with a double, two walks, and a sacrifice fly. Well done to Gonzalez, who is handling the new level nicely so far.

2026 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Week
Stiven Flores (April 6-12)
Abraham Núñez (April 13-19)
Javier Mogollón(April 20-26)
Arxy Hernández(April 27-May 3)
Javier Mogollón(May 4-10)
Max Banks(May 11-17)
Riley Eikhoff(May 18-24)
James Taussig(May 25-31)
James Taussig(June 1-7)
Derek Cerda(June 8-14)
Matthew Boughton(June 15-21)
Ryan Schiefer(June 22-28)
Christian Gonzalez(June 29-July 5)

ACL White Sox
Record 1-4 (last week), 13-33 (overall)

Complex Sox Player of the Week
D’Angelo Tejada .385/.429/.923, 13 at-bats

Alan Escobar .333/.333/.467, 15 at-bats
Jordan Rich .333/.400/.333, nine at-bats
Jefrank Silva .273/.385/.545, 11 at-bats
Eduardo Herrera .250/.250/.625, 1-for-1 stolen bases, eight at-bats
Steven Lancia .300/.417/.600, 10 at-bats

Fabian Ysalla 8 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Justin Fuson 4 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Dylan Carmouche 3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K
Felix Doroteo 3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Orlando Suarez 3 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K

Stop me if you have heard this before, but the Complex Sox only picked up one victory in five games this week. Incredibly, in a season that started in May and plays five games a week at most, the team is now 20 games worse than .500.

Despite another lackluster week for the team, infielder D’Angelo Tejada, 20, was on top of his game. Tejada, who primarily plays third base, went 5-for-13 with two homers, a double, and a walk while only striking out once. Tejada was born 17 days after Game 4 of the 2005 World Series, and in 24 games in the Complex League, he has slashed .313/.405/.507. Tejada struggled in Kannapolis, where he opened the season, but he is still very young, and this week was a big step in the right direction.

2026 Complex Sox Players of the Week
Alexander Albertus(May 4-10)
Eduardo Herrera(May 11-17)
Yordani Soto (May 18-24)
José M. Mendoza(May 25-31)
Yordani Soto(June 1-7)
Landon Hodge(June 8-14)
Tommy Vail(June 15-21)
Yordani Soto(June 22-28)
D’Angelo Tejada(June 29-July 5)

DSL White Sox
Record 4-1 (last week), 9-16 (overall)

DSL White Sox Player of the Week
Orlando Patiño .400/.500/.600, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 15 at-bats

Ronald Cardozo .400/.526/.467, 15 at-bats
Fernando Graterol .250/.350/.438, 3-for-3 stolen bases, 16 at-bats
Sebastian Romero .235/.316/.471, 4-for-5 stolen bases, 17 at-bats
Carlos Vielma .333/.438/.583, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 12 at-bats

Jhoriel De La Rosa 4 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K
Yordany Marte 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K
Roderic Ramirez 4 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 K
Franchel Crisostomo 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Alexander De Los Santos 2 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Whoa, hold on a moment. The DSL White Sox won four out of their five games this week. Yes, this really did happen, and they are out of the cellar of the Dominican Summer League. After dropping the first game of the week, the team ended the week on a four-game winning streak.

Outfielder Orlando Patiño, 18, was terrific, and his performance was strong enough for him to earn his first weekly award. Patiño went 6-for-15 with three doubles, three walks, and a stolen base in his only attempt. Well done to Patiño, whose performance spearheaded his team’s best week of the season.

2026 DSL White Sox Players of the Week
Carlos Vielma(June 1-7)
Sebastian Romero(June 8-14)
Sebastian Romero(June 15-21)
Ronald Kelly(June 22-28)
Orlando Patiño(June 29-July 5)

The 2026 MLB draft is just under a week away, and Pittsburgh has the fifth pick in the draft. The big question is what position should the Pirates address ?

The position I would love to see the Bucs address is catcher. Henry Davis just isn’t working anymore and he is starting to turn into a bust. Endy Rodriguez has been playing pretty well but there are some catchers that I think have a lot of potential. 

Vahn Lackey from Georgia Tech isn’t just the top catching prospect he is also one of the top prospects in the entire draft. Lackey had a .397 batting average, 87 hits, 20 home runs and 78 RBIs. It has been a while since Pittsburgh has had a catcher who can hit for serious power and Lackey brings that to the table.

Another catcher to look at is Ryder Helfrick from Arkansas. Taking Helfrick with the fifth overall pick could be a stretch but he is an excellent defender with some power. Helfrick had a .283 batting average, 64 hits, 18 home runs and 53 RBIs. 

Another position that the Pirates could look at is in the outfield. The Pirates do have some outfielders in their farm system now but Pittsburgh should build that depth and there are some good players with a lot of potential. 

Eric Booth Jr from Oak groove high school in Hattiesburg Mississippi is a prospect I really like. Booth is incredibly athletic with a serious upside to him. 

Pittsburgh could take pitcher Jackson Flora here who a lot of people like but I think the upside of Booth is really exciting. I also think there is more of a need for a bat than an arm at this point. 

The Pirates can go in a bunch of different directions come July 11th. Catcher is the position that I think should be addressed the most, especially with the catching prospects that are available. 

Comment below what position you think the pirates should address at the draft.       

On Sunday night, we reported that Owen Murphy would be the next big prospect call-up for the Atlanta Braves. This was after the news came out that Martín Pérez would likely be heading to the IL due to the injury that he suffered after getting hit with a comebacker during Sunday’s loss to the Mets. We also speculated that Carlos Carrasco would be getting designated for assignment because, well, it’s 2026 Carlos Carrasco and it’s the 2026 Atlanta Braves.

Today, all of that news was confirmed as the Braves made their roster moves official. Owen Murphy is, in fact, being called up and Carlos Carrasco being DFA’d is the corresponding move. Martín Pérez is heading to the IL and JR Ritchie has been recalled to the major league roster as a result.

I’d say that it’s pretty good news that Pérez got away from that incident with just a contusion. It’s still tough to lose him for at least 15 days but we’ll take that over a fracture or any other type of structural damage for Pérez. It makes sense that he’s going to be sitting out for a bit since you wouldn’t want a guy pitching with that ype of injury and hopefully he does heal pretty quickly from this.

With that being said, it’s pretty exciting to see Owen Murphy getting the call-up and hopefully we’ll see him make a successful debut once he’s called upon. There’s still some questions as to whether or not JR Ritchie is ready but it’s better for him to be getting major league reps so that he can continue to get used to this level of competition so that he can hopefully become a positive contributor to this pitching staff.

As far as Carlos Carrasco goes, I’m going to add my personal opinion here and say that this should be the last stop on the DFA cycle for Carrasco. I understand that they value his experience and that the team has a pretty decent relationship with him at the moment.

With that being said, Carrasco’s value as a baseball player comes from his ability to throw multiple innings and it has rarely gone well for him if he goes past an inning of work. Atlanta has plenty of internal options who can serve the same role that Carrasco does and do it better than he can at this point, so hopefully this JR Ritchie can stick around so that the temptation to bring Carrasco back doesn’t creep up.

That’s just speculation on my part and we very well could see Carrasco back in action in the near future. For now, the Braves are turning towards their farm system for help and hopefully both Murphy and Ritchie can find a way to stick around for the time being.

1933
The first-ever All-Star Game was played at Comiskey Park. The White Sox won a coin flip with the Cubs for the right to host the game that was the idea of Chicago Tribune sports editor Arch Ward, and was played in connection with the Chicago World’s Fair that started in May along the lakefront. The American League won the game, 4-2, thanks to a home run by Babe Ruth in the third inning off of Bill Hallahan. 

The Sox representatives in that first game were Jimmy Dykes (3B) and Al Simmons (OF). Dykes scored the first-ever All-Star run.

1954
Virgil Trucks threw a one-hitter at Detroit, beating the Tigers, 4-0. It was the second one-hitter thrown by Trucks in little more than two months; on May 1, he had beaten Boston at Fenway Park, 3-0, with a one-hitter. In this game, the only hit Trucks allowed came in the third inning, when Harvey Kuenn singled to center. Trucks struck out eight in the game. 

For the season, Trucks would go 19-12 with a 2.79 ERA, and he’d save the All-Star Game in Cleveland for the American League.

1980
For the first and only time in White Sox history, the club hit two pinch-hit home runs in the same game. And that feat, late in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Comiskey Park, keyed a sweep of the Oakland Athletics.

After a 2-0 squeaker (courtesy of first-inning RBI singles from Jim Morrison and Harold Baines, snapping a 21-inning scoreless drought) supported a complete-game five-hitter by Steve Trout in the opener, the White Sox brought out the heavy lumber late in the nightcap. The club snapped another scoreless streak, this one of 13 2/3 innings within this very twinbill with four homers.

Trailing 4-0 with just seven outs left, the first came courtesy of a Todd Cruz solo shot. The second homer came from Thad Bosley to lead off the eighth inning, followed by a pinch-hit homer from Lamar Johnson. Trailing 4-3 in the ninth, Oakland reliever got the first two outs of the inning before Cruz snuck on with a bunt single. Greg Pryor was sent up to pinch-hit and blasted a sayonara home run deep to left field to send fans home frenzied and happy.

Three of Oakland’s four runs came on solo homers, including an inside-the-park round-tripper from Rickey Henderson, making a total of seven homers in the nightcap.

1983
The golden anniversary All-Star Game was held at Comiskey Park, hosting the game for the third time. The American League mangled the National League, 13-3, stopping an 11-game losing streak. Chicago native Fred Lynn of the Angels hit the game’s first-ever grand slam, off of San Francisco’s Atlee Hammaker (who’d later go on to pitch for the Sox). 

Ron Kittle, who’d go on to win the 1983 AL Rookie of the Year, got an infield single in the seventh inning. He was the South Siders’ lone representative.

1999
Chris Singleton became the first White Sox rookie to ever hit for the cycle, when he turned the trick against Kansas City. It was also the first cycle hit by a White Sox player in their eight-plus seasons at New Comiskey Park. The Sox would lose the game, however, 8-7, in 10 innings. 

Singleton went 5-for-6 with three runs scored and four RBIs. He would later go on to be a Sox broadcaster for a short period of time. 

2007
The Minnesota Twins scored 32 runs and hammered eight home runs in a day/night twin bill at U.S. Cellular Field, winning 20-14 and 12-0. It was a low point for a franchise that had won the World Series less than two years earlier. Jon Garland and Gavin Floyd took the losses.

2010
Facing Mike Napoli in the second inning of a start at Sox Park, Jake Peavy suffered an (officially) unprecedented injury: a complete tear of his lat (back) muscle. He would undergo experimental surgery on July 14 to heal.

At the time of injury, Peavy had made 17 starts, going 7-6 with a career-worst 4.63 ERA. The star righty did come through his possible career-ending injury and made his first start back on May 11, 2011, and would pitch in six more seasons after getting hurt.

2021
The unbelievable injury run continued to plague the White Sox. Catcher Yasmani Grandal became the 15th different player and fourth key starter to go on the injured list for the club, with only a little more than half the season played. He was diagnosed with a torn tendon in his left knee, suffered the night before in Minnesota on a checked swing. A few days earlier in Detroit, he took himself out of the game with a tight calf muscle in the same leg. At the time he was among the club leaders in home runs, on-base percentage and among the league leaders in walks. 

After a stint on the IL Grandal came back to put up impressive numbers, finishing the season with 23 home runs and 62 RBIs. In a game against the Cubs on August 27 he’d tie the team record by driving in eight runs in a 17-13 win. 

Later that same night, with the Sox needing something positive, pitcher Carlos Rodón gave it to them. The lefthander kept the Twins in check for six innings, allowing one run and striking out eight as the Sox got a badly-needed win, 4-1. With the eight strikeouts, Rodón tied a club record (first set by Juan Pizarro back in 1961) with eight or more strikeouts in nine straight starts.

Clippers 6, Bats 2

Petey Halpin had a triple, a homer and four RBI, Ralphy Velazquez went 2 for 5 with a double and two strikeouts, Angel Genao had a double and a walk, while Logan Allen allowed 2 runs in 6 strong innings and Daniel Espino pitched a scoreless ninth. See you in Cleveland again soon, Daniel.

SeaWolves 4, Rubber Ducks 3

Bennett Thompson continued his strong start in Triple-A with another home run and a walk, and Alfonsin Rosario hit another homer, his 16th of the year. Rafe Schlesinger struckout six in six innings without walking anyone, and Matt Jahec struck out four in two innings and seems like he might need a promotion soon, with a 2.38 ERA.

Captains 6, Whitecaps 4

Aaron Walton had his 20th steal and Nolan Schubart hit is 12th double while Jervis Alfaro threw five scoreless and Cam Schuelke had another scoreless outing. Jace Laviolette went 2 for 5 with two strikeouts. He is such an interesting player.

Woodpeckers 10, Howlers 9

Juneiker Caceres was 2 for 3 with 2 walks and appears to be the best hitting prospect in the Guardians’ system.

I just can’t wait until the end of the season to do the final analysis of the San Francisco Giants/Farhan Zaidi opting not to sign Kevin Gausman to an extension after the 2021 season. With the trade deadline less than a month away now and Robbie Ray almost certainly on the move, it’s begging to be written right now.

The history of the Giants getting burned by long-term pitching contracts is pretty spectacular. I don’t know what moron opted to sign Barry Zito to that 7-year deal after the 2003 season, and if it was Larry Baer, it just goes to show what an untouchable and blessed man he is. But after that, extensions for Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain didn’t provide value in the actual extension years. The Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto deals were similarly hailed as massive failures that doomed the franchise. So, that’s a pretty good sampling of failure, which ignores the context of all the success.

That’s pretty much what happened with Gausman. The Giants ignored the context of success or that the player wanted to remain in San Francisco or that he worked well with a burgeoning young pitcher already in the fold in Logan Webb. A couple of years later, Farhan Zaidi would be able to show his work and convince ownership that signing Webb to an extension in a similar AAV range as Gausman would be good for the team and they acquiesced… but they’ve still bothered to let their disgruntlement echo through the halls of Oracle Park and into the curious ears of beat writers and pundits. It is known that the Giants don’t favor, value, or want pitchers signed to big, long-term deals. It’s why they were willing to let Madison Bumgarner walk after his deal.

When you’re the sole team in a country as the Blue Jays are in Canada, it’s not a big deal.

This isn’t to say that the Giants totally have the wrong idea and high value, high payroll teams like the Blue Jays do, but before we look at Kevin Gausman and his Blue Jays teammates, let’s finish this analysis. Kevin Gausman left the Giants and signed a 5-year, $110 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays that started in 2022. Rather than re-sign him, the Giants went with Carlos Rodón, Alex Cobb, and Robbie Ray. Here’s how the plan has worked out over the past almost-five seasons:

Now, the total amount for the Giants’ side of the equation is based on two assumptions: that the Giants, owing Alex Cobb $10 milion for 2024, saved about $3.333 million the rest of the season after trading him away to the Guardians before he’d finished his rehab; and, that in trading Robbie Ray with approximately two months to go in 2026, they will have paid Robbie Ray $16.7 million and gotten half a win above replacement out of him (yes, this is envisioning a trade before his next start).

So, if all this holds, the Giants’ missed it by… an awful lot. From a straight money perspective, they were off by just about $2 million, and for most wagon circling front office lovers out there that might be more than enough to still bother to affirm the previous regime’s “genius,” but the substantive part of the analysis — that wins above replacement total — is a big whiff. The Giants were so afraid of committing long-term to a pitcher out of fear of injuries or ineffectiveness that they wound up acquiring THREE pitchers with injury histories and 2/3 of them saw their production hampered by injuries. This was some penny wise, pound foolish nonsense and I’m glad we all got to experience it. Farhan Zaidi, encouraged by ownership, attempted to recreate Kevin Gausman in the aggregate so that the Giants could have a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation, and the team failed.

Anyway, this post’s headline is a reference to the penultimate episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, which was about Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beaming down to a planet that was about to be obliterated by its star going supernova after getting signs of life. Upon beaming down, they discover that the entire civilization has devised a time travel technology that will allow every single person to escape into their planet’s past to live out their lifespans and not have to be lost to the supernova.

It’s a good enough episode that if it had been the series finale it would’ve been a good one to go out on — certainly better than the actual finale, the genuinely awful and misogynistic “Turnabout Intruder” — but as a talking point for the 2026 San Francisco Giants it carries exactly this weight: as nice as it is to escape into the past to avoid a terrible future, the punishing nature of the major league schedule and the cruel passage of time prevents that from happening.

We’ll never know if re-signing Gausman would’ve worked out as well as it did for the Blue Jays and if that working out would’ve meant a couple more winning seasons interspersed in the last 5 seasons, and as nice as it would be to escape into that past or that reality, the supernova is here and the Giants must once again ask if the rules they’ve self-imposed that have brought them into its path were of any use. Hmm, why bother wondering. Powerful, successful people have made these rules. They can’t fail, they can only be failed.

But I can’t be totally critical. Since 2020, when the Blue Jays kicked off this latest competitive window, their pitching staff (with or without Gausman) hasn’t been as valuable as the Giants, trailing the orange and black 82.2 to 94.1 Sure, they have a better record over this same span (514-446 to 494-465) and four postseason appearances including a World Series loss, but the Giants have had the better pitching — or, at least, Logan Webb along with their aggregate approach has mostly worked.

Not this year, of course. This year has been an unmitigated disaster. Not much the Giants have done has worked.

That’s sort of what’s happened with the Blue Jays. They’ve done all the things a big market/high-spending team is supposed to do: build through the draft and international signings, developing talent through the farm system, retaining the most valuable farm players with long-term deals and supplementing the roster with free agents. They signed Vladimir Guerrero to a 14-year, $500 million deal last April. Gausman was brought in to be the #2 behind Alek Manoah, and when that didn’t work out, he’s managed to be the steadiest pitcher behind whoever was considered “the ace,” ascending to that role in the 2025 World Series year. This year, he’s part of a three-headed monster with Trey Yesavage (drafted) and Dylan Cease (free agent).

Still, with all that talent at the top of the rotation, Toronto’s pitching staff is a lot closer to middle of the pack (13th in fWAR). Compounding problems is that their lineup just hasn’t clicked. Their 92 wRC+ is just 23rd. They are second to last in runs scored (356), making them the lowest-scoring team in the American League. The cause? Well, they let Bo Bichette go and 36-year old George Springer won’t replicate 35-year old George Springer’s 32 home run season of 2025. The team’s power dropoff is precipitous and their team batting line compared to last year — keeping in mind that the 2025 squad is the type of lineup the Giants seem to want — is stark:

2025: .265/.333/.427 (.162 ISO), 8.4 BB%, 17.8 K%
2026: .244/.306/.382 (.139 ISO), 7.4 BB%, 20.0 K%

Walking less, striking out more, hitting for less power, making less contact — a bad recipe that makes a bad lineup, which is just what Toronto has had. Since getting back to 39-39 a few weeks ago, they’ve gone 3-9 thanks to averaging just 3 runs per game. They’ve been shutout in 3 of their last 5 games including 2 straight. They were 3-7 on their last homestand.

This team still has playoff aspirations. The Giants do not.

Series overview

Who: San Francisco Giants (37-52) vs Toronto Blue Jays (42-48)
Where: Oracle Park | San Francisco, California
When: Monday & Tuesday at 6:45pm PT, Wednesday at 12:45pm PT
National broadcasts: Peacock (Sunday)

Projected starters
Monday: Landen Roupp (RHP 5-8, 4.55 ERA) vs. Kevin Gausman (RHP 4-7, 4.19 ERA)
Tuesday: TBD vs. Trevor McDonald (RHP 3-6, 4.42 ERA)
Wednesday: Logan Webb (RHP 5-6, 3.66 ERA) vs. Dylan Cease (RHP 5-4, 2.79 ERA)

Blue Jays to watch

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Vlad Guerrero has yet to homer at home this season! That has no bearing on this series, necessarily, but it’s an interesting factoid. He has just 4 all season anyway and a very bad .698 OPS to boot. Baseball Savant took a look at Vladito’s power drought and found some reasons to think he’s due for a turnaround in-season. You’d like to think that the slump would linger a little longer, though. He’s played at Oracle Park just twice in his career (2019 & 2024) and the two homers he’s hit came in 2019. He was 1-for-13 in the 2024 series.

Tyler Rogers: Why didn’t I make the whole series preview about the Tyler Rogers’ return? Well, because he’s got two more years left on his deal. Instead, Buster Posey will get to watch the funky submariner attack Giants hitters and see if the organization’s familiarity with him gives any of the hitters an edge. Rogers has allowed 0 homers in 42 appearances (40.2 IP). Toronto’s closer, Louis Varland (18 saves, 2.2 fWAR) has allowed just 1 in 47 IP.

Ernie Clement: I am not the only one who remembers how he absolutely obliterated the Giants at Oracle Park back in that 2024 series. Total annihilation. He was 5-for-11 with 2 homers and 7 RBI. Both of his homers were 3-run homers, one off of Ryan Walker and another off of Logan Webb, both of whom he’ll face in this series. But! He’s just 13-for-55 in his last 16 games (.236/.276/.273) with only 2 extra base hits (doubles) and a single RBI.

Giants to watch

Logan Webb: Can the Giants’ ace get back on track after a disastrous start in Coors Field or have the wheels come off the season and now it’s all about turning to next season?

Rafael Devers: He has 24 career homers against Toronto across 108 games and 449 plate appearances. A career .927 OPS hitter in the matchup. His two homers yesterday gave him 18 on the season which ties him with Manny Machado, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, and CJ Abrams — good company. Half of them have come since June 15th… the day I published a post assessing Devers’ present and projecting his future. I didn’t think he’d be much better than around the league average. Since that post went up, he’s hit .306/.386/.790 (70 PA), an 11.4 BB%, and 20 K% — far, far better than the league. Is he reading my posts???

Heliot Ramos: He’s got a couple of homers in 7 games off the IL with a 6.9 BB% and surprising 17.2 K%. Whether or not the Giants trade him is irrelevant. He’s an easy Giant to root for and if he’s back on track, really fun to watch.

Prediction time

Kevin Gausman will strike out some Giant at least twice. Tyler Rogers will get a pair of strikeouts in at least one appearance. Jung Hoo Lee will hit a home run.

Tacoma Rainiers

The Rainiers dropped the series to a poor Reno team, unable to best the Arizona affiliate that’s struggled for much of the 2026 season. There’s reason for optimism for the Rainiers and they should have a reasonable chance of rectifying their losing ways over the next month or so, but they’ve really struggled up to this point and will need to get things turned around quickly if they want any hope of sneaking into the PCL playoffs.

He’s largely flown under the radar for the past few years, but lefty reliever Peyton Alford has been incredibly consistent during his time in the Mariner system. Primarily a fastball-breaking ball pitcher, Alford has posted excellent K-rates across all six of his seasons as a professional and makes him a strong candidate to debut in the big leagues at some point this season. He’s older (28) for a prospect, but given his reliability and lengthy track record of success, he’s a name to know as a bullpen candidate for the stretch run.

Arkansas Travelers

The Travelers, who dropped last week’s slate by a score of 4-2, will be losing two of their best hitters after to promotion in the coming days. Top sluggers Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo have reportedly earned their way up to Tacoma this week and will make their Triple-A debuts at just 21 years of age, a well deserved move that puts them on the doorstep of a big league debut. Montes (25 HR, .919 OPS) has seemingly optimized his “Three True Outcomes” approach while Arroyo (.820 OPS) has steadily improved his numbers after a slower start to the year. Two of the top five prospects in this system, Tacoma will get some much needed prospect power in their lineup that’s really struggled to put together consistent production.

Reclaiming the lead on the minor league strikeout leaderboard, Kade Anderson was again lights out on the mound this past week. Now sitting with a ridiculous 108/10 K/BB ratio, Anderson’s elite command and deceptive stuff have arguably made him the best pitcher in all of minor league baseball, baffling hitters with four pitches he can place anywhere he wants at any given time. The Mariner brass have made it clear they have little desire to move Anderson up to the hitter-friendly PCL despite his dominance against Texas League competition, so both he and Ryan Sloan (who was also excellent this week) seem like locks to hold down this rotation for the foreseeable future, giving the Travs a great shot at staying competitive through the summer. The offense will need some people to fill the hole left by Montes and Arroyo, but with a nasty bullpen and elite rotation, expect the Travelers to be just fine through the dog days of summer.

Everett AquaSox

It was a clean sweep for the Frogs this week, punctuating a dominant week over the Angels’ affiliate with an 11-6 victory in Sunday afternoon’s contest. The bats have really come alive in recent days and should give this club a great chance at a playoff spot; Spokane’s currently on a nine game winning streak and looks unreal right now, but Everett’s managed to keep pace and sits just one game back with plenty of season left to play.

It’s been a rough handful of weeks for stud catching prospect Luke Stevenson, but he had a great week against the Tri-Cities and has hopefully escaped his slump. Launching two homers (one being a grand slam off of Tyler Bremner) and reaching base in half of his plate appearances, Stevenson showed off just how good he can be when he’s got things going right offensively. The power is the key for him; he both walks and whiffs at extremely high clips and needs consistent pop to make his offensive output tenable. Now showing off extra base thump for the first time six weeks, Stevenson is a bat to monitor in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline.

Jonny Farmelo has been truly unconscious at the plate for the better part of two months now and could be a candidate to replace Lazaro Montes in Arkansas’ outfield. Collecting 11 hits across five games this week, Farmelo has raised his season OPS up to .877 and cut his strikeout rate down to 25%, both excellent progressions that bode well for his seemingly inevitable jump up to the Texas League. Healthy for the first time in his career, Farmelo’s combination of speed and power make him one of the most exciting prospects in this entire system; a 20 homer season is certainly on the table, and he’s got a very real shot at pushing his stolen base total up beyond 40 if he continues to be aggressive on the basepaths. Look for Farmelo to take his talents to Arkansas in the coming weeks. He’s earned it.

Inland Empire 66ers

IE split yet again this week and largely remain in a state of limbo in the standings. Yet to break through and truly get hot for an extended period of time, the 66ers have been stagnant for the majority of this season and lack star power up and down their roster. They’ll likely get an injection of talent after this weekend’s draft, but until those reinforcements make their way to the Cal League, it seems unlikely a marked change is on the horizon.

Despite the general struggles of the team overall, there’s a handful of bullpen arms that have earned some praise for their strong 2026 campaigns. Anthony Karoly, Anderson Guevara, Connor Wilford, and Cole Cheatham each have produced in the opportunities they’ve been given, with Guevara in particular carrying a large load for the 66ers ‘pen. Relief prospects in A-ball are always hard to evaluate and are closer to lottery tickets than anything else, but having arms that are producing at every level of the minor leagues is important for the overall health of the system and affords them some peace of mind as they construct waves of prospect talent for the coming years. Watch out for these guys over the coming seasons; the M’s turned some arms not wholly dissimilar from them into Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez at last year’s trade deadline and radically changed the outlook of the team for the next half decade.

ACL Mariners

The electric tandem of Nick Becker and Yorger Bautista continued to rake in the ACL and look to be heating up rather rapidly. Becker, who’s had a great stretch at the plate that’s lasted nearly two months at this point, stole another two bags and collected five hits across four games, smacking a pair of doubles in Friday night’s contest. Bautista, who had a four-hit game in that same game, launched his seventh homer of the season and continues to flash some elite power potential. Both players will need to prove they can hit enough to make their offensive profiles work as they climb through the minor leagues, but with steady improvements being made as the season progresses, the two teenagers have given evaluators enough to overlook the present bat-to-ball issues and dream on the gaudy potential if it all clicks. Both immensely talented, it seems closer to a coin flip if we see these two in A-ball this year; they’re producing, but slow playing bats with contact problems may prove to be a prudent decision.

DSL Mariners

This is easily the best lineup the DSL squad has had in years. Juan Rijo, Gregory Pio, Gabriel Guanchez, Jarvis Gomez, Fabian Gonzalez, and Elias Perez all have an OPS north of .900, and there’s plenty of others that have consistently helped with the run production all season. With a strong crop of talent this season and one of the best tandems of talent incoming next season, the DSL squad has found new life after several years of ineptitude and disappointment.

The Cubs had a successful homestand, going 4-2, though they had some real ups and downs in scoring runs, first crushing the Padres and then being crushed by the Cardinals. They outscored San Diego 35-12 in sweeping them, then got outscored by the Cardinals 24-7, though managed to win the final game against St. Louis.

That said, let’s see who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.

Three up

Dansby Swanson had himself a week in just three games

Over the six-game homestand, Swanson batted .409/.409/1.136 (9-for-22) with a double, five home runs, 11 RBI and eight runs scored.

The thing is, that split up in this way: 8-for-13 against the Padres with all five of the homers, then 1-for-9 against the Cardinals. It’s a weird way to have a possible Player of the Week performance. We’ll find out whether Dansby gets that honor later today.

In the meantime, enjoy his three-homer game vs. the Padres [VIDEO].

Pete Crow-Armstrong gets an All-Star nod and has another fine week

PCA is another candidate for Player of the Week, which would be his third this year (along with his NL Player of the Month for June award).

Over the six games, he batted .474/.615/.842 (9-for-19) with a double, two home runs, five walks, six runs scored and three stolen bases. That gives him 19 home runs and 23 steals for the year, on pace for about 35 homers and 40 steals. His .383 OBP ranks ninth in the NL, his .527 SLG ranks eighth, and his .910 OPS is fifth.

And he continues to play stellar defense. Here’s a sliding catch he made in the fog on Saturday [VIDEO].

Alex Bregman has shown signs of coming out of his season-long slump

Bregman batted .261/.393/.478 (6-for-23) over the week with two doubles, a home run, five RBI and five walks. Even with his batting drought, he continues to draw tons of walks. His season OBP of .340 is decent enough, and over his last 23 games it’s .377.

His three-run homer last Tuesday helped galvanize that 9-7 win [VIDEO].

Three down

David Peterson, yikes

Peterson’s first start, against the Brewers in Milwaukee, was pretty good.

His second, Friday against the Cardinals, was… I don’t really have words for how bad it was. He would get ahead of hitters and not put them away. He’d get two easy outs in an inning and then get pounded.

Maybe it’s the Cardinals. Peterson has a 19.64 ERA (16 earned runs in 7.1 innings) vs. St. Louis this year and a 5.40 ERA (42 earned runs in 70 innings) against everyone else. Okay, 5.40 isn’t great but it’s a lot better than 19.64.

Peterson is scheduled to start Thursday against the Orioles in Baltimore. Do better, David.

Ian Happ is slumping again

Happ had kept his OPS in the .800 area for a while, which is a good range.

Now it’s at .768 after he hit .143/.217/.190 (3-for-23) over the six games with seven strikeouts.

The good news for Happ is that three games this week will be in Cincinnati, where he loves to hit. In 63 career games at GABP, Happ has batted .291/.393/.619 (65-for-223) with 18 home runs. The 1.012 OPS is by far his best at any ballpark, including Wrigley Field.

Hopefully three games there will help send Happ into the All-Star break on a high note.

Nico Hoerner just can’t seem to turn the corner

Nico again had a mediocre week, batting .227/.280/.273 (5-for-22) with one extra-base hit (a double). He hasn’t stolen a base since June 2.

He continues to play solid defense. Here’s hoping the All-Star break will get Nico back on track.

Welcome back to Monday Stat Party, a weekly series showcasing some of the most curious and nostalgia-inducing statistical developments from the past week of Mets baseball. What unites each entry is the sense of intrigue which they aim to spark, and the unbridled love of the game’s anomalies from which they arise. Without further ado, let the stat party begin.

MONDAY

The Mets committed their 19th error in 12 games, the most errors they’ve committed in a 12-game span since committing 20 from August 20-September 2, 2014.

TUESDAY

Within the first three innings, the Mets recorded five outs on balls with an exit velocity of 101 mph or higher. That’s the most outs the Mets have recorded on balls hit that hard in the first three innings of a game in the Statcast era (since 2015). The only team to record more outs on balls hit that hard in the first three innings of a game since 2015 was the Dodgers (6) against the Padres on April 4, 2017.  (credit: SNY broadcast)

Nolan McLean racked up seven strikeouts for the 14th time in his first 25 big league games. The only other pitchers to debut since 2015 and post that many seven-strikeout performances in their first 25 outings are Paul Skenes (17), Jacob Misiorowski (15), and Chase Burns (15).

WEDNESDAY

Francisco Lindor has hit a solo homer in three of his past four games at Rogers Centre in Toronto, dating back to a ninth-inning, no-hitter-ending homer on September 11, 2024 against Bowden Francis (see Saturday’s entries for more on that game). All three homers came on fastballs between 91.9 mph and 93.0 mph.

With his 10th homer of the season, Benge is already just the fourth Mets rookie to record 10 homers, 10 doubles, and 10 steals, joining: Darryl Strawberry (1983), Gregg Jefferies (1989), and Ty Wigginton (2003).

Benge racked up multiple extra-base hits in the same game for the fifth time this season. The only other rookie with that many multi-XBH games this season is Sal Stewart, who has eight.

FRIDAY

Juan Soto hit the 71st opposite-field home run (as categorized by Statcast) of his career. Since 2018, Soto’s rookie season, the only player with more opposite-field homers is Aaron Judge, who fittingly has 99. Soto and Judge are the only players in MLB with more than 60 opposite-field homers during that span. (credit: SNY Broadcast)

In just a year and a half, Soto already has 13 opposite-field homers with the Mets, which rank second for the club from the left side since 2015 behind only Michael Conforto (31).

The Mets allowed three home runs with a projected distance of 410 feet or more, their most in a game since July 14, 2024, when Jose Quintana allowed a trio of 410+ foot homers to the Rockies at Citi Field (see Saturday’s entries for more on that game, as well). The Mets have now accomplished the unfortunate feat three times at Truist Park in Atlanta (tied with Coors Field for their most in any opposing ballpark), with Matt Olson hitting a combined four homers of 410+ feet in those games.

SATURDAY

Mark Vientos hit his 65th career home run before turning 27 years old, moving him into a tie with José Reyes for 11th place among Mets for homers before their 27th birthday.

Sean Manaea threw 108 pitches, his second-most in a game as a Met behind only a 109-pitch outing in Toronto on September 11, 2024.

The Mets allowed five home runs in a game for the first time since July 14, 2024, against the Rockies at Citi Field.

The Mets allowed four or more home runs in back-to-back games for just the sixth time in franchise history, and the first since May 24-25, 2022, in San Francisco.

The Mets allowed nine home runs in a two-game span for the sixth time in franchise history, and the first since September 17-18, 2020, when they allowed 10 in a two-game span (allowing four homers in Philadelphia, and six at Citi Field the following day to the Braves).

The Mets allowed 14 or more runs for the third time this season, tied for second-most in the majors. The Nationals are the only team in MLB to have allowed 14+ runs more times (4) this season. The only other seasons in Mets history where they have allowed 14+ runs on at least three occasions through their first 90 games were 1962 (5), 2012 (3), and 2020 (4).

On the nation’s 250th birthday, the Braves celebrated by winning their250th home game vs. the Mets since moving to Atlanta in 1966. (credit: FOX Broadcast)

SUNDAY

Luke Weaver recorded his 23rd consecutive scoreless outing, tied with Aaron Loup for the fifth-longest streak by a pitcher in franchise history behind Mark Guthrie (33), A.J. Minter (25), Francisco Rodríguez (24), and John Franco (24).

Bo Bichette recorded his sixth three-hit game since May 18, tied for fourth-most in the majors during that span behind Yordan Alvarez, Otto Lopez, and James Wood, who each have seven.

The Mets have now allowed nine grand slams this season. No other team in MLB has allowed more than five. Since 2024, the Mets have now allowed 11 grand slams in the eighth inning or later. No other team has allowed more than seven during that span.

Mark Vientos initiated his 23rd ABS challenge of the season, and his second unsuccessful one in as many days. Vientos is one of only four batters in MLB to have initiated that many challenges (along with Sal Stewart, Gary Sanchez, and Bryce Harper), and his 19.7% challenge rate (out of called strikes with a challenge available to use) ranks first among players with a minimum of 50 plate appearances.

The Mets scored and allowed nine runs in a game for the first time since August 29, 2025, a 19-9 win against the Marlins at Citi Field.

The Mets scored and allowed five runs in two halves of a single inning for just the eighth time in franchise history, and the first since September 3, 2019, during the ninth inning of a heartbreaking walk-off loss in Washington.

Miscellaneous Mets stat of the week:

Juan Soto became the third player to earn an All-Star selection with both the Mets and the Yankees, joining David Cone and Carlos Beltrán.

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The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets meet tonight in their season finale, with Atlanta looking to keep their offensive brilliance alive. 

Against a vulnerable Freddy Peralta, my Mets vs. Braves predictions are targeting the hosts to take the rubber match. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Monday, July 6. 

Who will win Mets vs Braves today: Braves (-126)

The Atlanta Braves send Reynaldo Lopez to the mound tonight, and he's been quite reliable. The right-hander owns a 2.26 FIP over his last six outings. While just two of those were starts, he hasn't allowed a single home run during that span. 

Lopez typically serves as an opener, tossing 3-4 innings, but the Braves' bullpen has been solid lately, posting a 3.92 xERA over the last week. 

Meanwhile, the New York Mets send Freddy Peralta to the bump. The righty has a 5.08 FIP across his last five appearances, and he's allowed 1.54 HR/9 in the last month. 

That's a dangerous statistic against a Braves offense that just scored 23 runs across the last two games of this series while carrying a .205 ISO over the last six games. 

Atlanta will stay hot at the dish, while Lopez and the bullpen will keep the Mets at bay. 

I'll play this pick up -140. 

COVERS INTEL: The Braves have posted 121 wRC+ across the last seven days, compared to their season average of 98 wRC+.

Mets vs Braves Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 runs (+114)

The Mets may have scored 10 runs on Sunday, but they're still struggling offensively. NY has posted just 99 wRC+ over their last six contests while carrying a .179 ISO.

Lopez has limited opponents to a 32.9% hard-hit rate over the last month, and the Braves pen has allowed just a 38% hard-hit rate during that span. 

This feels like a game where the Braves will do most of the scoring given their recent offensive consistency, but Atlanta's pitching can limit the Mets. 

A 6-2, 5-3 scoreline feels possible. 

I'll play this pick up to -110. 

Mets vs Braves weather

Rain is possible at first pitch, with a 49 percent chance of precipitation at 7 p.m. ET before conditions clear up as the game progresses. Wind stays light all night, topping out around 4.7 mph, so it shouldn't meaningfully affect fly balls or scoring. The bigger factor is the early rain chance, which could cause a brief delay but is unlikely to impact the full game.

Mets vs Braves odds

• Moneyline: Mets +117 | Braves -122
• Run line: Mets +1.5 (-170) | Braves -1.5 (+163)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (-122) | Under 8.5 (+117)

Mets vs Braves trend

The Atlanta Braves have hit the Game Total Under in 26 of their last 45 home games (+9.50 Units / 19% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Mets vs. Braves.

How to watch Mets vs Braves and game info

Mets vs Braves latest injuries

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