Prior to Tuesday's series opener against the Houston Astros, the Yankees made a couple of moves to their 40-man roster.
First, New York selected the contract of right-hander Justin Topa, calling him up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and adding him to the 40-man roster. He will be available starting Tuesday night against the Astros.
To make room for Topa on the 40-man roster, the Yankees transferred Giancarlo Stanton to the 60-day IL following his injury setback during rehab.
Topa, 35, has pitched in the big leagues for the last seven seasons and was pitching for the Minnesota Twins this year before getting DFA'd and subsequently released in May after pitching to a 8.05 ERA in 23 appearances. New York signed him to a minor league contract on Aug. 14.
The right-hander pitched well for the Twins in 2025, owning a 3.90 ERA across 60 innings in 54 games. His best season, though, came with the Seattle Mariners in 2023 where he saw action in 75 games and had a 2.61 ERA.
With the RailRiders in Triple-A, Topa had a 1.80 ERA in four appearances before getting promoted.
In his career, Topa owns a 4.27 ERA in 168.2 innings pitched.
On the latest episode of The Mets Pod, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo turn to the youth for positivity as the Mets turn down the light a bit on the 2026 season..
Following a 4-3 week for the team, the guys discuss the NL Rookie of the Year cases for both Nolan McLean and Carson Benge.
The Mets Pod Answering Machine shouts out voicemails about the bullpen and the solid catching situation, then Joe sits down for an exclusive interview with 2026 Mets third-round draft pick Aiden Robbins, as the outfielder gets his pro journey started at Single-A St. Lucie.
The show wraps up with a Mailbag that unwraps questions about Tobias Myers, the struggles of prospect Ryan Clifford, and protection decisions ahead of the Rule 5 Draft
Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The agreements represent another significant step in prediction markets' push into mainstream sports, even as Kalshi remains locked in legal battles across the country over whether its sports event contracts should be regulated exclusively as financial products at the federal level or also be subject to state gambling laws.
The geography of the new partnerships is particularly notable.
Traditional online sports betting remains illegal in California — home of the Dodgers, Padres and Giants — as well as Georgia, home of the Braves.
Massachusetts has legal sports betting, but a state court issued a preliminary injunction in January preventing Kalshi from offering sports event contracts there without complying with state gaming laws.
The five deals therefore span states where traditional sports betting is either prohibited or where Kalshi's sports contracts have faced a direct legal challenge.
The partnerships will give Kalshi a presence through in-stadium advertising, digital and radio promotions, branded spaces and fan activations, according to the company's release. Financial terms were not disclosed, and MLB declined to comment on the announcement.
The Dodgers' agreement includes Kalshi-branded LED signage throughout Dodger Stadium, naming rights to the Gold Glove Bar and fan activations in Centerfield Plaza.
"The idea is that fans are already engaging with their favorite teams on Kalshi, so it only makes sense to extend that fandom to some of the most beloved baseball teams in America," Adam Barrick, Kalshi's head of sports partnerships, said in the company's announcement.
Kalshi said baseball activity on its platform has increased dramatically over the last year. Nearly 13 billion baseball-related contracts have been traded in 2026, according to Fortune, up from roughly 355 million over the same period last year.
The company could eventually establish an even larger relationship with baseball.
The five agreements come amid a broader race among prediction markets to establish relationships with professional sports organizations. Polymarket recently partnered with the New York Yankees, while Novig signed a multi-year agreement with the New York Mets in July. Polymarket also struck a deal with Major League Soccer in January.
MLB itself has also become more involved with the emerging industry. The league entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in March intended to facilitate information sharing surrounding the integrity concerns of baseball event contracts.
Is Kalshi legal in the United States?
Kalshi's expansion has unfolded alongside a complicated legal battle over who has the authority to regulate sports prediction markets.
Kalshi does not operate as a traditional sportsbook or under state sports betting licenses. Instead, it is a federally regulated Designated Contract Market (DCM) overseen by the CFTC, where customers buy and sell event contracts tied to real-world outcomes.
Those events increasingly include sports.
Kalshi's belief is that its sports contracts are derivatives regulated under the federal Commodity Exchange Act and therefore fall solely under the CFTC's jurisdiction.
Several states disagree.
State regulators and attorneys general have argued that putting money on contracts tied to the outcome of sporting events is no different than sports wagering, regardless of how the products are structured or labeled. Under that interpretation, Kalshi would need to comply with individual state gambling laws, including licensing requirements and other regulations imposed on traditional sportsbooks.
That disagreement has produced a growing collection of lawsuits — and conflicting court decisions.
Kalshi scored a significant victory in April when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit sided with the company in its dispute with New Jersey. The appeals court concluded that Kalshi was likely to succeed in showing that its sports-related event contracts qualify as "swaps" under federal law and that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts New Jersey from regulating them under its gambling laws.
Kalshi hasn't enjoyed the same success everywhere.
New York has become another major battleground. Attorney General Letitia James sued Kalshi in July, alleging the company operates an illegal gambling operation.
New York has sought a temporary restraining order and at least $36 billion in damages.
The federal regulator has responded aggressively to the growing state challenges.
This month, the CFTC exercised emergency authority after New York filed its lawsuit, ordering Kalshi to continue operating in accordance with the Commodity Exchange Act's Core Principles. The agency said federal law requires it to provide a uniform national market in derivatives transactions.
The CFTC has also intervened in or challenged state efforts to regulate prediction markets elsewhere.
The result is an unusual legal landscape.
Kalshi is a federally regulated exchange operating under CFTC oversight. Courts including the Third Circuit have supported its argument that federal law supersedes state gambling regulation. Other courts and state regulators conclude otherwise.
Until higher courts or Congress more definitively settle that conflict, whether states can regulate or prohibit Kalshi's sports event contracts will remain an open legal question.
For now, those challenges haven't stopped prediction markets from moving deeper into mainstream professional sports or teams from doing business with them.
Kalshi's five new MLB partnerships are the latest evidence of both.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - AUGUST 20: Shane Bieber #57 of the Toronto Blue Jays delivers a pitch in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on August 20, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Blue Jays starting pitcher Shane Bieber has been added to the 15-day IL with right teres major inflammation. Chad Dallas is being called up from the AAA Buffalo Bisons to take his roster spot.
For those who, like me, didn’t know what a teres major is, it’s a muscle that runs from your shoulder blade to your humerus. The good news is that it’s a different injury from the elbow-forearm issue that cost him the first half of the season. The bad news is that Bieber, who’s managed just 20 appearances over the past three seasons combined, will now be out for a large chunk of the remainder of the season if not all of it.
This is a blow for a team that had been playing its first good baseball of the season. They Jays just won six of seven series in a stretch that included 23 games in 24 days and wins at the contending Phillies and Astros and against each of the three AL East rivals in the playoff picture. They’re currently two games out of the third wildcard, and don’t play another team with a winning record this year. Bieber himself has been a part of that run, with a 2.96 ERA and 22:6 K:BB ratio in August.
The Jays’ rotation right now starts promisingly with Cy Young contender Dylan Cease and deadline acquisition Jose Soriano, but then it’s Max Scherzer (age + ERA rounds to 50), Spencer Arrighetti (himself just off the IL and with very shaky numbers), and ???. Simeon Woods Richardson has worked as a starter this season, but has recently been converted to the bullpen and probably isn’t stretched out for 4+ innings anymore. Dallas himself converted to the bullpen a little over a month ago and hasn’t gone two full innings since. Ditto Spencer Miles, who at any rate has more than tripled his previous pro innings total (not high, total) so far in 2026. He’s also been good enough that the team should be treating him as a part of the 2027 plan and beyond, so protecting his arm is a priority. Trey Yesavage and Jameson Taillon were both reported to be throwing on flat ground last week, but neither seems likely to jump directly back into the rotation soon. Jake Bloss, the most promising AAA option, has missed a month and a half (coincidentally also with a teres major strain) and is most likely done for 2026.
I imagine we’ll see a lot of openers and maybe SWR and Dallas piggybacked to try to cobble six innings together every fifth day. The bullpen, which has already pitched the fourth most innings in the majors, will probably have to pick up even more slack.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 22: Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, right, is seen before a MLB baseball game in Houston, Saturday, August. 22, 2026. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
We are approximately 24 hours removed from the Houston Astros and GM Dana Brown having a mutual parting of ways (i.e. – he was fired) and the team announcing it would finish the year with a three-headed monster of the team’s current assistant GM’s and special advisor Jeff Bagwell running things under the supervision of team owner Jim Crane.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Following the 2022 season, one in which Houston was crowned World Series champions, this same scenario essentially played out. The things that most stand out from that situation are:
the ill-advised contract given to RP Rafael Montero
the failed contract given to 1B Jose Abreu
the power struggle between new GM Dana Brown and future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker
it seemed Dana didn’t have the keys to the car his first year-plus in the organization
There is no defending the Montero deal. One of the basic tenets of being a GM is never give a journeyman reliever a big contract following a career year that is a massive outlier from career norms. That deal was always going to bust, and the fact that no one around Crane stood up and expressed just how awful an idea that was is mind boggling.
The Abreu contract was understandable, it simply failed. The Cubs had reportedly had an offer on the table to Abreu for 2 years at $20M per. There were upwards of 5 teams bidding on his services. Houston was in desperate need of a 1B, and their top choice (Anthony Rizzo) re-signed with the Yankees. Crane pushed in, and went to 3 years at the same $20M per to make sure he won the bid. No one expected Abreu to fall off as sharply as he did, but such are the risks of signing older players.
The power struggle between Dusty and Dana was real. Dusty had just won a power struggle with former GM James Click, evidenced by his ability to convince Crane to reject a trade Click had with the St. Louis Cardinals to send SP Jose Urquidy to St. Louis for C Willson Contreras. A GM in the final year of his contract having a trade rejected by the owner that made sense for the franchise was the writing on the wall that Click would not be back (sounds familiar?). Winning the World Series couldn’t change that.
Dusty was now waging war with Dana Brown. An old school manager, Baker didn’t want the front office telling him what to do. It didn’t matter to Dusty who the GM was, he was the manager and he believed he should be the only one calling the shots in the dugout. Modern front office/manager relationships didn’t work that way anymore.
However, it should have taught Crane a valuable lesson about making sure his manager reported to his GM. Everyone can’t have a lifeline right to the owner, or discord will follow. Astros fans who are also Texans fans remember how that situation played out when both Texans HC Bill O’Brien and GM Rick Smith answered to team founder Bob McNair directly, instead of O’Brien answering to his GM.
Getting the GM hire right is paramount for this team in it’s current state. That GM also has to be able to sell Jim Crane on their vision for the franchise, whether it’s rebuild, retool, re-focus, the owner must be on board.
Crane is one of the most hands-on owners in the sport. He is incredibly competitive. He wants to win, and he doesn’t accept excuses.
Reports say the Astros are looking at candidates from the Cleveland Guardians, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays, and that an in-house candidate may be considered. Crane has gone to the Tampa tree before, with Click. Click was on point with his numbers, but struggled to build a strong relationship with the owner, something paramount for the GM role in Houston.
I’ve even seen some say that Crane is open to bringing back former GM Jeff Luhnow, although I have a very hard time believing Crane would even consider the idea of re-hiring someone who previously sued him for breach of contract. It is unknown how other owners or the league office would ever feel about a Luhnow return in Houston or elsewhere, but he is technically eligible to return as his suspension from MLB ended following the 2020 season.
Choosing a GM from a small market tree is no guarantee of success. The Mets are the most recent example, as their current President of Baseball Operations David Stearns has drawn heavy scorn for the failed team he built this season despite it’s enormous payroll. Stearns is not only a small market success story in Milwaukee (where he was GM and later POBO) but is also from the Jeff Luhnow tree where he was Luhnow’s sole assistant GM in Houston until he accepted the GM role in Milwaukee.
Hiring an unproven GM always comes with risk, regardless of the size or market they may come from. Hiring a GM with experience in one market does not always translate in another. It is a difficult process where personality and ability to mesh with the owner are also a big part of the equation, along with aptitude, experience, prior success, and philosophy.
We have seen in the not too distant past that Crane cannot act as sole GM, not even with 3 assistants advising him. Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Reggie Jackson weren’t a successful triumvirate in advising Crane as GM perviously and swapping Jackson for Enos Cabell likely will not change that today.
Crane has to get this pick right. It can’t be a hire to ‘work the margins’ as Click was or to ‘restock the minors’ as Brown was, but someone who has experience in building both the minors and majors for success simultaneously or ability to sell their vision on the owner that Crane truly believes it and is willing to be on board 100%.
The major league team is very much at a crossroads. Ravaged by injury for 3 straight seasons, it has suffered loss of star power and has not been able to backfill the losses as it had during the prime of the Golden Era. The lack of high end prospects has prevented the team from replenishing it’s stars or trading for them. Various developed minor leaguer position players who weren’t top prospects promoted to the majors have had brief success before flaming out (Chas McCormick) or never really made much impact (Jake Meyers, Joey Loperfido). Recent call ups (Zach Cole, Brice Matthews) have struggled badly. The MLB club is in desperate need of a talent influx.
The minor league system is still ranked low but has legitimate high end talent, it is simply at lower levels of the minors. Brown has put a lot of talent in the system in the 17-20 year old range, but that fruit cannot be harvested for several more years. None of that top talent is available to help the team now or next season.
The Astros missed a potential big opportunity to sell at the deadline and inject the franchise with a lot of young talent by selling off players who were pending free agents or a year away from free agency. Some of those players could have helped next season, some could have been used to get players who would help next season. Instead they refused to sell, did practically no buying either, and find themselves in the situation they are due to inaction and a severe lack of foresight.
The next person hired as GM will be the difference between the Astros extending a real window of opportunity or going to the bottom of the division for an unknown period of time. No one wants to see Jose Altuve’s twilight of his career spent on a bottom feeder team. No one wants to see Yordan Alvarez’ prime years wasted for nothing. No one wants to see Hunter Brown being the last high quality starter on the team, only to watch him leave and be a star elsewhere.
Whatever direction Crane goes with his new hire, Crane himself has to have a real plan that he and his new GM share. Whether it’s re-tooling, rebuilding, bringing in the talent to make this current team a contender again, they need an actual plan and it needs to be the right plan.
If it isn’t, the plan will be crashing out, and it will be chosen for them.
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 22: Trevor Story #10 of the Boston Red Sox, Jarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox and Roman Anthony #19 of the Boston Red Sox look on during the National Anthem before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 22, 2026 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This morning, Bob wrote about the coming middle infield roster crunch, which is the most difficult roster issue the Sox will have to navigate down the stretch of the season. By comparison, the outfield issue seems relatively straightforward. Jarren Duran has been one of the worst hitters in baseball all season. Roman Anthony is not one of the worst hitters in baseball and has flashed the potential to be one of the best. Seems like the logical move is to bench Duran and put Anthony out in left, no? Not exactly. “Reading between the lines, it seems like Boston plans on Jarren Duran still being the regular left-fielder against right-handed pitchers with Anthony serving as the designated hitter.” So that means we’ll still be seeing Duran’s bat in the lineup for most of the Sox remaining games. Obviously there is a hole at DH with Masataka Yoshida hitting the injured list (though it’s only a hole if you think having a regular DH is better than cycling people like Jahmai Jones through that spot), but I continue to be amazed at the way this team keeps finding ways to put Duran in the lineup. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
Of course it’s worth nothing that, even with Duran’s limb bat in the lineup, the Sox offense has been fine for the past few months after struggling to score runs to start the season. What’s caused the turn around? One answer is plate discipline: “Daily hitters meetings started including increasingly detailed breakdowns about swing decisions in the various hitting regions — the heart of the zone, where damage is most likely and thus an area of focus before two strikes; the shadow zone, on the edges of the plate, which hitters defend with two strikes; the chase zone on pitches clearly off the plate; and waste pitches that are off the plate by at least one foot.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
Willson Contreras was the only thing keeping the lineup afloat at times during the first two months of the season. But he didn’t hit a ball back then like he did the other night, when he blasted a 450-foot homer at Fenway. “That was a crazy homer,” said Contreras. “I mean, that’s one of the best swings I ever had in my career, and I’m happy it happened here.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
As a result of his heroics, Contreras just finished fourth in an early American League MVP poll. (Max Ralph, MLB.com)
Unlike the Jekyll and Hyde lineup, the bullpen has been relatively strong all season long, with the exception of a little bit of fatigue-induced wobbling lately. Thankfully, Erik Miller has been just the addition the Sox need.“He’s been everything as advertised,” Chad Tracy said. “He’s been so good for us since we got him.” (Hayden Bird, Boston.com)
And Miller and his arm barn mates will get some more help soon. Garrett Whitlock is expected to rejoin the team this weekend against the Yankees. After being shut down with elbow inflammation earlier this month, he’ll face live hitters down in Miami this week and may not need a rehab assignment. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
Andrew Baker of the Reading Fightin Phils delivers a pitch during a Minor League Baseball game at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, United States, on April 19, 2026. (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
Andrew Baker will tell you, politely but firmly, that the pitch chasing him around scouting reports right now is not a cutter.
“It’s technically not a cutter,” the Colorado Rockies right-hander said. “It’s like a gyro slider.”
Public pitch-tracking systems still file it that way — Baker’s version averages 87.8 mph and has been his most-used weapon at Triple-A Albuquerque this year, thrown 49.7% of the time — but by his own account, it’s really two different sliders wearing one label.
“I have a sweeper that’s anywhere from 84 to 86, and the hard gyro is the 88 to 91 one,” he explained. “I just don’t call it a cutter. I like calling it a gyro slider, and that’s technically what it is.”
However, it gets classified; the pitch has become a legitimate weapon to pair with a fastball that sits at 97.3 mph — a combination that shows up clearly in the underlying numbers. Bakers’ swinging-strike rate and overall whiff rate both rank near the top of the Triple-A population this season, and his strikeout rate has climbed into elite territory (29.7% at Triple-A, and better than 35% during his time in Double-A). The pitch itself didn’t exist in his repertoire two years ago.
“Last year, I was in High-A with the Phillies, just trying to figure out everything, and my pitching coach there, Ryan Buchter, brought it to me, and he just said he thought that it was something that would really help me,” Baker said. “I just started throwing it then, and it’s slowly turned into probably my best pitch other than my fastball. It’s gotten better and harder, and it’s really working for me.”
Adjusting to life at altitude
That development has coincided with a career year, one that’s come with its own new challenge: pitching a mile above sea level. Since being promoted to Albuquerque, Baker has had to recalibrate both his body and his stuff.
“It’s definitely different as far as the recovery goes here. It just seems like it’s a little bit more enhanced as far as the soreness, and it takes a little bit longer to get over,” he said, crediting time spent with Craig Kimbrel for instilling recovery habits that have helped him adjust.
The pitch shapes themselves haven’t been immune, either.
“There are times where I’ll throw a slider, and it won’t move like I want it to, and I’m kind of like, well, I did everything correctly there to make it do what I wanted it to do, and it didn’t,” Baker said.
Rather than fight it, he’s adapted his approach pitch to pitch.
“You just have to adjust to that and really set your sights where you need to put the pitch, so that if you do miss, it’s not just a dead-zone home run pitch. I’ve changed sights with certain counts and against certain hitters, according to scouting reports. It’s just a new game out here, being at altitude.”
A championship run in Puerto Rico
Baker credits part of his 2026 breakout to a decision that he made well before the season started: spending four months pitching winter ball in Puerto Rico. He suited up for Cangrejeros de Santurce, helped the club win the Puerto Rican championship in his first year on the island, and then represented Puerto Rico at the Caribbean Series in Guadalajara, Mexico, facing off against the Dominican Republic, Panama, and two Mexican League clubs.
“It was a blast, man — it turned out to be a complete dream the entire time,” he said. “It’s just one of those once-in-a-lifetime deals.”
He views the grind as directly connected to his performance this year.
“I think that’s kind of the reason why I’m having a lot more success this year, because I made the sacrifice to go down there for four straight months and continue to play, and that kind of paid off.”
The trade: A phone call before first pitch
The season also brought a jolt that Baker didn’t see coming.
After six seasons in the Phillies organization — six years in which he’d never pitched above Double-A — he was off to a strong start in his return to Reading in April and May, striking out 13.24 batters per nine while walking just 2.65, when the phone rang before a game in Portland, Maine on Friday, May 22.
The #Rockies have acquired RHP Andrew Baker in exchange from the Phillies for international bonus pool money.
“The farm director calls me, and I run outside, and it was pretty blunt, straightforward,” Baker recalled. “He told me they were trading me to the Rockies for international bonus money, told me they appreciated everything and how good of a kid I was, and that was pretty much it.”
Baker described the moment as sentimental, but not bitter.
“I knew that was the best thing that could have happened for me. I’ve been there for six years and never made it past Double-A. At the end of the day, they traded me up for a better opportunity, and they gave me a lot of opportunity as well. No bad blood there.”
From catcher to Rockies prospect
Part of what makes Baker’s rise notable is where he started: behind the plate, not on the mound. He caught for most of his life and, by his assessment, didn’t become a full-time pitcher until he signed with the Phillies as a 2021 draft pick out of Chipola College, following a shortened college run that included a semester at Auburn before COVID-19 hit.
“That transition from catching all my life to becoming a pitcher — it was tough. I won’t lie to you,” he said. “But I think I’m turning the corner now, as far as throwing strikes and everything. You remember your athletic traits and combine them with what you’re learning with the pitching, and it’s working out pretty good right now.”
He points to a stretch after a 2024 demotion from Double-A back to High-A as the real turning point in how he approaches the job mentally.
“I just drew the line — I’m going to get myself right, make sure everything I’m doing outside the field is good, and get a better mentality about this baseball,” he said. “You can’t let results get to you. I just think that comes with experience.”
Trusting the stuff over the iPad
That same even-keeled approach shows up in how Baker treats the data available to him. Despite pitching in an era saturated with scouting information, he’s deliberately kept his distance from it as a reliever.
“I don’t look at the iPad. I care about my velo and making sure my stuff is there, but I just go out there and compete,” he said. “I don’t even look at the scouting reports on hitters. They tell me right-left before I go in there, and that’s it. My stuff’s pretty good, and I do my best when I’m just getting here and preparing to play.”
Life off the mound
Off the field, Baker carries a piece of his childhood with him: he lost hearing completely in his right ear after being struck by a line drive at age 11. It hasn’t affected him on the mound.
“Physically, no. It’s kind of literally like I’m walking around covering my right ear, but it’s fully one,” he said. “I’ve lived with it since I was 11, and nothing’s really changed drastically — other than I just need to make sure that the PitchCom is on the left side of my head.”
Six years after being a modest, 11th-round pick out of a Florida junior college, Baker has turned a converted arm, a devastating slider, and a stint pitching more than a mile above sea level into one of the more interesting relief profiles in the Rockies’ system. If the fastball velocity and the whiff numbers hold as he continues climbing, Coors Field may not be far off.
Albuquerque lost five of six at home to the Las Vegas Aviators (Athletics) and slipped from two games over .500 to two under. The series had a single explanation: with runners in scoring position, the Isotopes went 15-for-73 in the five losses and 7-for-12 in the lone win, a 14-4 rout on Saturday. Sterlin Thompson (PuRP No. 16) homered twice and scored seven runs, Ryan Ritter and Adael Amador each collected six hits, and Jose Cordova homered in back-to-back appearances behind the plate.
⬆️ Stock Up: Betancourt Drives In Everything
Bryant Betancourt (HM PuRP) hit .471 over four games, going 8-for-17 with three doubles and a team-high six RBIs despite sitting for a third of the series. His best afternoon came Saturday, when he went 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBIs in the only game Albuquerque won all week. It was comfortably his most productive stretch of the year for the Isotopes.
Bryant Betancourt is your @Toyota Reliable Player of the Week after collecting eight hits, three doubles and six RBI over four games! 😎 pic.twitter.com/98T43quPsr
TJ Shook came in on Friday with Albuquerque leading 3-2 and left having allowed four runs in the ninth, taking both the blown save and the loss. It was his only appearance of the series, and it’s worth saying plainly that he’s been largely excellent for the Isotopes so far this season.
Upcoming
The Isotopes hit the road to meet the Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers) for six games.
Hartford took two of six from Somerset and slipped to five games under .500 for the season. Four of the six were decided in the eighth inning or later, and Hartford lost three of them. Cole Messina drove in eight runs across four games with a pair of home runs, Stu Flesland III delivered another gem in a game the club lost after he left, and Friday’s doubleheader captured the week in miniature: an eight-run afternoon, then a one-hit shutout at night.
⬆️ Stock Up: Wimmer finds the gaps
Braylen Wimmer went 6-for-15 (.400) over five games, and three of those hits went for extra bases — a home run, two doubles, and a pair of stolen bases as well. He reached base 11 times in all, adding four walks and a hit-by-pitch. His homer and double keyed Monday’s 6-5 win.
KEEP IT ROLLING! 🔥🐐
Braylen Wimmer brings home Jared Thomas with an RBI single!
Victor Juarez faced 18 batters over two appearances and allowed 10 hits and 10 runs while recording five outs. The finale was the worst of it — he entered Sunday with a 6-4 lead in the ninth and left having surrendered five runs, taking the loss.
Upcoming
The Yard Goats head to New Hampshire for a six-game series with the Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays)
High-A: Spokane Indians (2-4, 54-65 Overall)
Spokane scored 39 runs in six games at home against Hillsboro (Arizona Diamondbacks) and lost four of them, including a 15-13 defeat Saturday in which the Indians scored eight runs in the first inning. The Hops arrived below .500 and took the series anyway. There were bright spots — the bullpen was much sharper than the previous series, with Seth Clausen, Justin Loer, and Grif Hughes combining for 11 innings of one-run ball, and Clausen recorded two saves after a difficult stretch. The Indians sit five games back of a playoff spot.
⬆️ Stock Up: Calaz Carries the Offense
Robert Calaz (PuRP No. 26) hit .480 with four home runs, collecting 12 hits in 25 at-bats and driving in seven runs across all six games. He opened the series 4-for-5 with a homer, then hit two more in Saturday’s slugfest along with five RBIs and added a fourth in the finale. His 12 hits and eight runs scored both led the club by a wide margin, and for a prospect who had spent much of the season struggling, it was encouraging to see this level of production.
Yujanyer Herrera allowed 18 hits over 7.2 innings across two starts, giving up 16 runs. He worked 4.2 innings in Tuesday’s opener and surrendered 12 hits — Spokane won that game 12-10 anyway — then lasted three innings Sunday, allowing seven runs. He didn’t walk many, issuing three all week, but nearly everything he threw got put in play, and most of it found a gap.
Upcoming
Spokane will visit the Vancouver Canadians (Toronto Blue Jays) for a six-game set.
Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies (4-2, 65-55 Overall)
Fresno won four of six at home against Stockton (Athletics), closing with a 10-9 walk-off in 11 innings on Sunday. The bullpen carried much of it: three different arms finished the series without allowing an earned run. Ronny Ugarte hit .444, Cristian Arguelles (PuRP No. 5) added a triple among eight hits, and Jack Natili (PuRP No. 20) drove in five, including a three-run homer. Bryson Van Sickle had a rough week, taking his first loss of the season Tuesday and allowing 10 earned runs across two starts. Fresno is now tied for a playoff spot in the California League with 12 games to play.
⬆️ Stock Up: The Rhino has arrived
Daniel Jackson (PuRP No. 12) hit .571 this week, going 12-for-21 with two home runs, two doubles, eight RBIs, and 11 runs scored across all six games. He reached base 19 times in total, adding seven walks, and struck out only twice in 21 at-bats. He was 3-for-3 with a homer Thursday and 4-for-6 with three RBIs in Sunday’s walk-off win. Whatever the adjustment period was supposed to be, Jackson appears to have skipped it.
Daniel Jackson records a career-high 4 hits for the Single-A @FresnoGrizzlies!
Ethan Cole threw seven innings across two relief appearances without allowing an earned run, striking out six and giving up three hits. He worked three scoreless innings for his first save Wednesday, then went four innings Sunday to earn the win in the 11-inning finale.
Upcoming
The Grizzlies hit the road for six games against the Inland Empire 66ers (Seattle Mariners)
DSL: DSL Colorado (4-1, Season Complete)
DSL Colorado’s season ended Saturday with an 8-2 loss to the DSL Reds, with the winner advancing to the DSL Cup semi-finals. DSL Colorado finished the season at 38-19.
They went out playing well. The week opened with a 7-6 walk-off win over the Marlins, followed by a 9-1 win in which the staff allowed just three hits. Pool play began with a 19-5 rout of the DSL Tigers 2 — 19 hits, a Jeandry Guaraco grand slam among his five RBIs, and a 10-for-12 mark with runners in scoring position — followed by a 6-2 win over DSL Yankees in which five relievers combined for five hitless innings.
⬆️ Stock Up: Morejon Finishes Strong
Luis Morejon closed his season by reaching base 11 times in four games, hitting .429 (6-for-14) with a home run, a double, two stolen bases, and a club-leading six runs scored. His biggest swing came in Friday’s postseason win over the Yankees — a two-out, two-run homer in the third that gave Colorado the lead and effectively decided it.
DENVER, COLORADO - AUGUST 19: Roki Sasaki #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during a game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on August 19, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Gavin Liddell/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The battle of National League division leaders continues on Wednesday night at Truist Park in Atlanta, with the Dodgers taking on the Braves.
Roki Sasaki starts for the Dodgers, with AJ Smith-Shawver on the mound for the Braves
PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 04: Trevor Williams #32 of the Washington Nationals pitches during the game between the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Derik Hamilton/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
After the Nats DFA’d Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell earlier this month, they cut bait with another veteran arm. This time it is Trevor Williams who is being shown the door. Williams was one of the Nats longest tenured players, having been with the team since 2023, but now he is gone.
The Nationals have announced the following roster moves:
-Activated Matt Waldron -Designated Trevor Williams for assignment
— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) August 25, 2026
Trevor Williams’ time with the Nats was the epitome of a mixed bag. He was terrible in 2023 and 2025, but was excellent in 2024 despite missing time with injury. That 2024 season earned Williams a second 2-year deal with the Nats, which he was just finishing this year.
The veteran right hander missed most of the season recovering from elbow surgery. Even when he was out, Williams was always around the team and was a mainstay in the clubhouse.
This season Williams made 8 relief appearances and was honestly pretty good. He posted a 2.65 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 17 innings. After not allowing a run in his first five outings, Williams had been shakier lately. However, the overall body of work was not bad by any means.
I would not be surprised if another team picked up Williams for the end of the season and used him as a long man. His stuff looked a lot better in that role than it did as a starter. Williams’ fastball was up over 2 ticks and he was striking out 31% of hitters.
The Nats are replacing Williams with Matt Waldron, who is a knuckleballer. Waldron was a dependable swingman for the Padres in 2023 and 2024, before struggling the last couple of seasons. This year he has a 7.54 ERA in 37 innings. Interestingly, his xERA is 3.75, so he has been unlucky this season.
The knuckleball is a lost art these days, but Waldron has one and features it prominently. It is his most used pitch, with the 30 year old throwing it 30% of the time. However, unlike R.A. Dickey or Tim Wakefield, he also has a complete arsenal. Waldron also throws a cutter, 4-seamer, sinker and sweeper. I am not sure how it will go, but having a knuckleballer is cool.
This month has seen several veteran arms shown the door and Williams is the most recent one. With the Nats knowing that Williams won’t be back next year, it makes sense to give other guys a shot. Even if Waldron isn’t that likely to suddenly break out, he is a unique arm. Who knows, maybe the Nats can catch lightning in a bottle.
Jefferson Rojas stayed hot on Tuesday afternoon as the Mets' top prospect homered for a second straight game, and for the third time in his last four games in Double-A Binghamton's 8-6 loss to the Reading Fightin' Phils.
Rojas' blast, a solo shot to right-center field, came in the fourth inning against LHP Adam Seminaris on an 0-2 pitch that gave the Rumble Ponies a 2-0 lead. It was Rojas' only hit of the game as the DH struck out in his three other at-bats in the No. 3 hole.
In 17 games with Double-A Binghamton since coming over from the Knoxville Smokies, the Chicago Cubs' Double-A affiliate, Rojas has been on fire and is slashing .279/.329/.588 with five home runs, four doubles, a triple, and 20 RBI.
The 21-year-old was traded to the Mets by the Cubs at this year's deadline for RHP Clay Holmes and OF Tyrone Taylor and immediately became the organization's No. 1 overall prospect.
Rojas' home run was one of five long balls hit by the Rumble Ponies in the game. Eli Serrano III got things started in the second and Chris Suero extended the lead to 4-0 with a two-run shot in the sixth. John Bay and Corey Collins went back-to-back in the seventh, but Binghamton gave up five unanswered runs late and lost, 8-6.
Another prospect New York acquired at the trade deadline, Gary Gill Hill (from the Tampa Bay Rays in the Freddy Peralta deal), was on the mound for the Rumble Ponies and pitched well, going 5.1 innings while allowing three earned runs on seven hits and striking out seven on 81 pitches (52 strikes).
In four starts since joining the Mets organization, Gill Hill has a 3.63 ERA to go along with 24 strikeouts to just four walks in 22.1 innings.
The Yankees surprised us with a veritable explosion of offense on Sunday, vanquishing the Blue Jays, 8-3, to secure the series, season series, and their highest run total in a game since scoring ten against the Mariners on August 12th. The story of that game can be distilled down to the bottom of the sixth inning, Ben Rice providing the pivotal blow to become the first Yankee to earn back-to-back mentions on At-Bat of the Week.
We join Rice with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. The Yankees loaded the bases with no outs on three straight singles by George Lombard Jr., Spencer Jones, and Jazz Chisholm Jr., but a strikeout by Austin Wells and a pop out by José Caballero put them one out away from Houdini’ing themselves out of the inning. It was an all too familiar sinking feeling as Trent Grisham stepped into the batter’s box, until the plate discipline extraordinaire spat on a couple of close breaking balls to work the walk and ensure they plate at least one run and take the narrowest of leads. That left it up to Rice to truly make the most of this golden opportunity.
Before Rice got a chance to dig in, John Schneider called on lefty reliever Mason Fluharty from the bullpen to present a less favorable matchup for the Yankees’ slugger. He throws the cutter and sweeper combined over 90-percent of the time, and indeed it appears the strategy is to throw Rice only pitches that break away from him, starting with this first pitch sweeper.
Even though this pitch lands a fair distance out of the zone away, it still requires a good take from Rice. The pitch leaves Fluharty’s hand aimed down the middle before the 14 inches of glove-side lateral movement sweeps it off the plate as Fluharty targets an area for Rice to get himself out by chasing.
After watching Rice take that sweeper for ball one, Fluharty attempts to steal a strike low in the zone with the cutter. If Rice is expecting another sweeper to a similar location as the first one, he should give up on any pitch that exits Fluharty’s hand out of a similar tunnel, which would make him susceptible to a called strike on a low heater.
Fluharty just misses the bottom of the zone with this cutter and Rice displays an excellent eye to not chase this pitch. It was close enough that Alejandro Kirk initiated an ABS challenge, which confirmed the ball call on the field.
Rice has now seen what both of Fluharty’s pitches look like and has worked the count in his favor, 2-0. He has all the leverage in this situation to hunt a specific pitch in a specific location — I’d imagine something elevated and out over the plate that he can drive to the outfield.
Rice swings, but I have a hard time believing this is the exact pitch he as looking for. It’s a perfectly executed cutter from Fluharty dotted on the corner up and away, and there’s really nothing Rice can do except whiff as he attempts to pull this pitch — pretty hard to do in that location on a pitch moving away from you.
Fluharty looks to leverage the swing on that pitch into a chase on the next one. Kirk sets a target off the plate away as the pair hope they can get Rice to flail at a sweeper out of the zone.
Instead, Fluharty throws a cookie right down the middle. Rice is geared up for another fastball and swings way out in front, failing to punish the one good pitch he’s gotten to hit in this AB. There’s really not much more to it than that. Rice got his pitch and he flat out missed it — a worryingly frequent refrain for the whole Yankees lineup for long stretches this summer.
One perfect pitch and one missed mistake later, and now it’s Fluharty who has the count leverage in his favor. Having seen Rice whiff wildly over the top and early against that last sweeper, the obvious pitch is another sweeper only this time one that’s actually executed to its target low and away out of the zone.
This is a hell of a take by Rice. The pitch exits Fluharty’s hand looking like an elevated, centrally located strike before taking a sharp right-hand turn into the righty batter’s box.
After trying to stay away the whole AB, Fluharty finally comes inside with a full count cutter.
This is about as well as you can execute a front door cutter, painted on the inside edge of the zone but also elevated in a spot that makes it incredibly difficult for a lefty to drive with power. I have no idea how Rice managed to pull his hands in so quickly against a pitch that was more that six mph faster than the one that immediately preceded it and muscle it into right field for the two-run single. Instead of having to settle for just the one run, this clutch hit ensured that all three runners who reached to make it bases loaded with no one out would score, sending the Yankees to the seventh with a far more comfortable lead, 5-2.
Rice’s approach in this AB was emblematic of encouraging signs from the wider team performance in this game. His was one of several full counts worked by Yankees hitters after falling behind in the count. They also finally managed to come through with runners on, their impressive 3-for-9 with RISP a marked improvement over recent games. For Rice specifically, you felt he really needed to come through in a clutch situation after failing to do so a handful of times in the second half, and that success in this situation could serve as a boost in morale to help jolt him from the deep slump (.150/.262/.310 with a 65 wRC+) he’d been mired in since the third week of July. If the Yankees are going to mount a challenge for the division and indeed make a deep postseason run, they need Rice coming through with hits like this and performing at the level he did in the first half.
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 10: Bryce Elder #55 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, May 10, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Tom Wilson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Hey, MLB schedule — what gives? The Braves enter a skid, have to play the Brewers (which doesn’t help with the skid), then get a day off to travel home and… have the Dodgers next? Woof. Yes, the Braves took a series from the Dodgers in Los Angeles earlier this season, but the offensive ineptitude-driven skid continues, and the Dodgers are, well, the Dodgers.
Actually, let’s stay on that for a second. The Dodgers are supposed to be extreme world-beaters on paper, but really, they’ve been just another team. A good team, mind, but not anything obscene. They don’t have MLB’s best record, and in fact, like the Braves, they’re 11-10 in August. They were also “only” 13-11 in July, so they’ve gone about seven weeks being generically above-average rather than anything else. They had a six-game losing streak earlier, something that helped the Braves actually overtake them for the second seed for a time… but they’re in the midst of a six-game winning streak and have put some distance between themselves and the Braves record-wise. This is a chance for the Braves to close that gap, but honestly, the Braves have enough issues right now that setting lofty goals like “catch the Dodgers” doesn’t have much of a sense of immediacy.
Still, the Dodgers are good. They have the second-most position player fWAR, and the fourth-most pitching fWAR, even as they’ve babied their pitching staff to an extreme degree. For example, tonight’s scheduled starter, Tyler Glasnow, has made just seven starts before being shelved with a back injury; this will be his return to active duty for the first time since early May. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani have dominated on the mound, backed by the usual superlative relief performance from a mix of expected-ish (Tanner Scott, with a gigantic rebound after his dreadful 2025) and unexpected (Edgardo Henriquez) sources. The bats, well, you know about the bats. Max Muncy has crossed the 4 fWAR threshold for the first time since 2021, though the Braves do get a break as Andy Pages is out with injury. The Dodgers do feel a bit more stars-and-scrubs-y than they have in recent years, but it’s really more “stars-and-guys-who-produce-at-an-okay-clip” and the combined effect is still daunting.
On the hill for the Braves to start this series will be Bryce Elder, who comes in with a 94/111/99 line (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-), good for 1.1 fWAR in 137 2/3 innings across 24 starts. Elder has been has usual inconsistent self, though homer issues (see that large FIP-xFIP gap) have made it difficult for him to have an unequivocally good start recently. He hasn’t had a start with an FIP and xFIP both below 4.00 since June 2, and his line is 135/151/107 since. There’s no huge upswing to point to here, though he did acquit himself pretty well against the Diamondbacks in his most recent start (36/99/87), helping the Braves salvage a game of that set.
Elder started against the Dodgers back in LA earlier this season and had one of his better outings of the year, an eight-strikeout, four-walk affair in 5 2/3 innings. The Braves gave him a four-run lead early, and he and the bullpen pretty much rode it to the end of the game. Elder has made six career starts against the Dodgers and has a 5.51 FIP and 4.43 xFIP to show for it. It’s not clear whether that’s good considering it’s him and the Dodgers (his career FIP and xFIP are between 4.00 and 4.50), or disappointing. In any case, those numbers will probably budge in some direction today.
As mentioned, this game will be Tyler Glasnow’s return from the Injured List. As has been the case for much of his career, Glasnow has been excellent when available, but not available all that much. He put together a 66/75/69 line in seven starts this season before hitting the shelf, though even that can be diced up into four dominant starts in five tries at the start of the year, then an outing where something was Probably Wrong (six walks in 5 2/3 innings), and then a start where he lasted just one inning before being forced out with injury. Maybe Glasnow will be rusty, but if he isn’t, facing him probably won’t cure the Braves’ offensive doldrums.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Monday, August 25, 7:15 p.m. EDT
Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA
TV/Streaming: BravesVision, Gray TV, Gray Media Telemundo, TBS
Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM
Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams in 2003 at Santo’s number retirement ceremony | | Getty Images
As I posted here last week, the Cubs will be having celebrations this weekend honoring their 150th anniversary in the National League.
Monday on Marquee Sports Network, the team announced the 40 players that had been chosen as their 15oth anniversary team. The 40 players were chosen in a fan vote and around 20 of them will be in attendance for a ceremony pre-game on Saturday.
This really can’t be argued with. Two managers who brought the Cubs World Series titles, and another who came close. Honorable mention should be given to Joe McCarthy, who was the manager of the 1929 NL champion Cubs and came close to winning again in 1930. It was that failure that led team owner William Wrigley to fire McCarthy, one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history. McCarthy went on to win eight pennants and seven World Series with the Yankees. Would that have happened with the Cubs? Obviously we’ll never know, but I think some of those pennant-winning teams in the 1930s might have squeaked one or two titles out with McCarthy at the helm.
Another honorable mention here for Johnny Kling, who caught over 1,000 games with the team from 1900-11 — except for 1909, when he held out for a higher salary after the two World Series titles. Not getting paid what he thought he was worth, he told the Cubs he thought he could do better running a pool hall in his native Kansas City, so he took a year off. His replacements were awful and the Cubs finished six games out of first place. Could they have won the 1909 pennant with Kling?
Phil Cavarretta, the 1945 MVP and Chicago native who played on three Cubs NL title teams and managed the club for parts of three seasons, should have been given consideration.
Johnny Evers, a Hall of Famer who posted 39.7 bWAR in 12 Cubs seasons, should be here.
Hornsby’s a Hall of Famer too, but he played only four years for the Cubs, his best seasons (apart from 1929) were elsewhere, and his managerial tenure was turbulent.
No arguments at all with these choices. Stan Hack should be in the Hall of Fame.
Again, no arguments. Don Kessinger’s probably the best player not on this list, with six All-Star appearances and two Gold Gloves, but his offensive numbers were pedestrian.
I would have put Hall of Famer Kiki Cuyler on this list instead of José Cardenal. Cardenal was a fun player who stole 129 bases for the Cubs, but Cuyler was just a better player. Cuyler stole 161 bases as a Cub and his 43 steals in 1930 were the last 40-steal season for any Cub until Ivan De Jesus stole 44 in 1978. His .325 BA in over 3,600 at-bats for the Cubs ranks fourth in the Modern Era.
Speaking of which, Riggs Stephenson deserves consideration, too. His .336 BA as a Cub is tied for the franchise record with Bill Madlock. Stephenson was a key part of the 1929 and 1932 NL pennant winners and finished fifth in MVP voting in ‘32.
There is a major omission here: Charlie Root, who holds the Cubs franchise record for wins with 201, and got MVP votes in five different seasons, back when there was no Cy Young Award. He’d likely have won it in 1927, when he won 26 games and led the NL in innings.
Don Elston, who was a reliable Cubs reliever for some really bad teams in 1953 and again from 1957-64, deserves some consideration here.
As you can see, the fan vote tended to give more credit to recent players, and even some active players. There were some great Cubs before 1945, and they should have been given more recognition. Nevertheless, this is a pretty good representation of franchise history, and the entire team will be honored on Saturday.
Here’s the entire team reveal as broadcast Monday on Marquee.
PHOENIX, AZ - AUGUST 22: Cincinnati Reds third baseman Ke'bryan Hayes (3) looks on during the MLB baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 22, 2026 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Reds fans and fans across the country.
The Cincinnati Reds sought out the Pittsburgh Pirates last summer as they inched their way closer and closer to a potential spot in the 2025 playoffs, practically begging them to hand over their defensive maestro 3B at the trade deadline.
Hand them over the Pirates did, as Ke’Bryan Hayes became a Red – as did the roughly $32 million that was owed to him over the remainder of his long-term contract. His defensive reputation has held the part. So far in 128 games with the Reds, he’s been a 10.1 DEF run player defensively at the hot corner, per FanGraphs, while being 10 outs above average per Statcast.
Everything else, though, has been an abject disaster.
Among the 374 MLB players who have logged at least 150 PA so far this season, Hayes owns the single lowest marks in wRC+ (23), wOBA (.207), OBP (.206), OPS (.457), and has somehow managed just 8 RBI the entire time. The cratering is catastrophic, really, even though it isn’t perhaps the single biggest problem the Reds have seen from him in his time in Cincinnati.
What’s also plagued him this year is the very same bad back problem that began to undercut his abilities in Pittsburgh. He hit just .233/.283/.290 in 396 PA during a banged-up 2024 season the year before the Reds went out and traded for him, and he was hitting just .235/.290/.306 for Pittsburgh at the time of the trade. Those numbers ticked up initially after the deal (.271/.328/.441 across his first 19 games as a Red) but bottomed back out to just .213/.312/.255 over his final 32 games of the season.
He’s an offensive hole in the lineup bigger than any other team in baseball can boast, and he’s that with a chronic back problem that can flare up whenever.
The knowns were all there, and the Reds still acquired him. The knowns are all still there right now, too, as Hayes inches closer to his 30th birthday in January. Still, the red flags haven’t been enough for the Reds to completely call time on the experiment despite FanGraphs having suggested he’s been “worth” -0.8 fWAR this year in only 76 games played.
He’s under contract for $7 million in 2027, $8 million for 2028, $8 million for 2029, and the team holds a $6 million buyout on a would-be $12 million salary for 2030. So, to simply eat his contract and cut him would still require about ~$30 million given how much time is left this season, and it sure doesn’t look like the Reds are ready to simply cut him right now as they slide further and further into the NL Central cellar.
If they don’t cut him this season, there’s not really time for him to do anything worse between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027. In other words, it sure does look like the fact that he’s still on the team right now means they plan on giving him at least one more chance to show he can be something, anything more offensively for them while also providing his elite glove work. That might at least get him to be a replacement level player, something that would be leaps and bounds better than what they’ve gotten from him now.
Of course, that would again come at the expense of Sal Stewart, who came up as a 3B. That’s the position where he’d provide the most value to the Reds, and he’s been shoehorned into playing 1B more often than not all season due to the presence of Hayes (and Eugenio Suarez). Will the Reds really kick another year of experience at the move valuable spot down the road with Stewart just to see if a hope and a prayer that Hayes can post an OPS that begins with 6 actually comes to fruition?
I think, sadly enough, all signs point to the Reds giving Hayes the 3B job to start next season and then – only then – will they make the move to cut him if his production stays where it has been.
What say you? Do you think it’ll be Hayes on the Reds roster at 3B again to start 2027?
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 19: Abimelec Ortiz #81 of the Washington Nationals doubles against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning at Globe Life Field on August 19, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Abimelec Ortiz started his big league career on top of the world. In his first 11 games, he went 10 for 29 with 4 homers and a 1.160 OPS. It looked like the Nats not only replaced Luis Garcia Jr., but found an upgrade. However, big league pitchers have adjusted to Ortiz and he has come back to earth. Despite that, my faith in the young slugger remains high.
Just from the eye-test alone, Abimelec Ortiz looks hitterish. He has a beautiful left handed swing and always looks ready to fire. That swing took Ortiz from an undrafted free agent to a big leaguer in just a few years. Ortiz was a dominant power threat in the minors, with 116 career MILB homers. The power he showed in the Rangers system caught the Nats eyes and they made him part of the MacKenzie Gore package.
This season was more of the same for Ortiz, who slugged 18 homers in 85 AAA games. In Rochester, he posted an .845 OPS, though many of his underlying numbers suggested he should have been even better. Ortiz has never been the most highly touted prospect but he has always had power and makes more contact than you would expect.
That was sure the case when he burst on to the scene in the big leagues. With big league pitchers not having a book on him, Ortiz dominated early. He crushed fastballs and made consistent contact on pitches in the zone. That caught the league’s attention though, and pitchers adjusted.
Teams noticed Ortiz’s tendency to chase and exploited it. With a better scouting report on him, Ortiz has gotten his welcome to the big leagues moment. Before getting a hit at the end of last night’s game, the 24 year old was going through a 1 for 24 slump.
Abimelec Ortiz in the big leagues: First 14 games: 12-for-40, 1 2B, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 1.017 OPS Last 7 games: 1-for-24, 1 2B, .198 OPS
There was some bad luck and hard contact in that stretch, but some of his flaws got exposed. In the minors, Ortiz chased 27.6% of the time, which is right around average for the level. However, against better pitching that number has gone up to 36.7%, which is right in line with Keibert Ruiz.
With Ortiz facing big league pitching for the first time and pressing during his first slump, this is not a huge surprise. Ortiz is a fairly aggressive hitter by nature, but as he gets more experienced, he will have to find a way to tone it down.
His first two at bats last night were really ugly examples of Ortiz chasing. However, as the game went on, he started to make some adjustments. Even though he chased some pitches in the at bat, Ortiz did find a way to work a walk. He also smoked a low line drive the other way for a base hit at the end of the game.
Those at bats feel like potential momentum builders for the youngster. Ortiz is a pull hitter, and that is a big part of his success, but going the other way to get a knock was great to see. Along with being a power hitter, Ortiz’s ability to be adjustable and make contact is another strength. That is what makes him different from your run of the mill Quad-A power bat in my opinion.
Even after this slump, Ortiz’s numbers are still pretty encouraging. His OPS has dipped to .727, but his slugging percentage is high at .470. Ortiz’s bat speed is elite at 75.4 MPH, which points to serious power upside. He is also great at hitting balls at optimal angles and pulls the ball in the air over 25% of the time.
Ortiz is still doing most of the things that made me so excited about him as a prospect. When I dug into his profile prior to his debut, I saw a very complete hitter. The chase has come up against better pitching, but he still has huge power and makes contact at an average rate. That is a very exciting combination.
Big Abimelec Ortiz got the call. Here is some of the context around the move as well as some info on the slugger https://t.co/SrQfIAu3GI
As Ortiz adjusts to big league pitching, I expect that chase rate to be closer to 28-30% rather than over 35%. With his skills, he can afford to chase a little more than average. I also think we could see another Big Abi heater before too long based on his last couple at bats.
I saw him gain confidence after that walk and hit. Like the rest of the team, yesterday’s offensive outburst seemed like it took a weight off his shoulders. We still have to see more, but I am still high on Abi.
A big reason why the Nats traded Luis Garcia Jr. is because of their belief in Ortiz. Nobody expected it to be perfect, but you can see the talent with this player. Hopefully he has a big finish to the season and locks down a role as the Nats first baseman against right handed pitching entering 2027.
