Mar 13, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Kane Kepley against the Chicago White Sox during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
If I can just rant about something, MLB knows that one of the things that draws in younger fans is the idea of new, young talent coming into the game. So why do we then play the Futures Game on a Sunday morning (OK, early afternoon Eastern Time) opposite an entire slate of MLB games and the Draft? And why is it only seven innings?
Josiah Hartshorn played right field and got two at-bats. He grounded out to first and he ended the game in the bottom of the seventh with a fly out to center field.
Mason McGwire faced two batters in the seventh inning. He hit the first one and then sent him to second on a wild pitch. He then struck out the next batter on a 96.3 mph fastball. McGwire then left the game and the runner on second scored and was charged to McGwire.
Jordan Wicks started and took the loss after he allowed two runs on four hits over three innings. The good news was that Wicks struck out five and walked no one, although he did hit one batter.
Center fielder James Triantos hit a solo home run in the second inning, his seventh on the year. Triantos went 2 for 4 with the double and the home run.
DH Moisés Ballesteros cracked a two-run home run in the fifth. Ballesteros was 2 for 3 with two walks.
Brody McCullough had been on the injured list since April 0f 2024. Today he was activated by the Smokies and got the start. He didn’t pitch poorly, but he still got the loss after allowing two runs on two hits over four innings. Both runs scored on a two-run home run in the third inning by Blake Burke. One of the two runs was unearned. McCullough struck out four and walked two, but he also hit three batters.
Right fielder Alex Ramírez singled home first baseman Drew Bowser with the only Smokies run of the game. Ramírez was 1 for 4. Bowser went 0 for 2 and he was hit by a pitch.
Jostin Florentino started his first game in almost two weeks. He was very strong, surrendering just one run on two hits over four innings. The one run came on a solo home run. Florentino struck out six and walked just one.
Eli Jerzembeck pitched the next two innings, didn’t allow a run and collected the win. Jerzembeck surrendered one hit. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out one.
Cole Reynolds got a three-inning save. Reynolds gave up one run on one hit and one walk. He struck out one.
Center fielder Kane Kepley scored a run in the sixth inning and hit an RBI triple in the seventh. He went 1 for 3 with the triple and a walk.
Second baseman Michael Halquist was 1 for 3 with a double and a walk. He scored once.
Starter David Avita took the loss after getting knocked around for four runs on give hits over three innings. He walked two and struck out one.
The Pelicans were trailing the FredNats 8-0 going into the bottom of the ninth and they managed to score six times and get the tying run to the plate. Left fielder Ethan Conrad hit a two-run home run, his second on the year and first with the Pelicans. Conrad went 1 for 4 with a walk.
Catcher Ivan Cespedes was a perfect 2 for 2 with a a double and two walks. He scored on a wild pitch.
First baseman Edward Vargas hit a two-run double in the ninth. He went 2 for 4 and also scored on Conrad’s home run.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 12: Kade Anderson #32 of the Seattle Mariners on the American League Team pitches during the 2026 MLB Futures Game at Citizens Bank Park on July 12, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) | Getty Images
You might have missed it because MLB is terrible at marketing its own product, but today was the Futures Game, the de facto All-Star game for minor-leaguers. It was also the second day of the MLB Draft, covering sixteen rounds in a single day, and the final day of the Mariners’ current Road Trip From Hell, all conveniently happening at the same time – early on a Sunday here on the west coast. Like, 9 AM early. And also streamed on Peacock. Apparently while a helicopter hovered overhead directly next to the on-field mics. So it’s actually more surprising if you did watch the American League prospects defeat the National League prospects, 6-1.
If you did tune in, hopefully it wasn’t too late, because Kade Anderson appeared in the game for a flash. He was the AL squad’s starting pitcher, and needed just ten pitches for his first and only inning of work. The box score will tell you that Anderson threw six of his ten pitches for strikes and the box score is a liar, because HP umpire Alex Shears engaged in a bit of nominative determinism and clipped Anderson for two pitches at the bottom of the zone that should have been ruled strikes.
Anderson’s outing will likely be overlooked in favor of Pirates prospect Seth Hernandez – who might have been a Mariner if the Angels had actually taken Anderson as everyone expected them to instead of whatever it was they did in the 2025 draft – as Hernandez had a clean 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts where his fastball touched 101 mph. Big stuff, very nasty (was gifted a strike call outside the zone, not that I’m counting).
But Anderson was a quiet assassin on the mound, a model of efficiency cutting through the top of the NL lineup. He elicited a weak contact popout from leadoff hitter Eli Willits of the Nationals on the second pitch of his at-bat on a perfectly located fastball up and in. Anderson fell behind his next hitter, the Rockies’ Roldy Brito, 2-1, as he couldn’t quite get the feel for his changeup, but then dropped in a slider Brito swung over for a weak contact comebacker cleanly fielded by Anderson. The Brewers’ Jesús Made ruined what should have been a clean 1-2-3 inning for Anderson, swinging at a 95 mph fastball in at his knees in a 1-1 count (should have been an 0-2 count) and managing to parachute it weakly into right field, where it dropped into no-man’s-land between the second baseman and right fielder. But Anderson recovered against Rockies prospect Charlie Condon, getting a first pitch flyout on a slider that was actually the hardest hit ball all day against Anderson at 97 mph. Maybe it’s a factor of pitching at Dickey-Stephens Park, but Anderson seemed to know without turning around that the ball was destined for an outfielder’s glove.
It was a stark contrast for Anderson from his last national showcase outing, the Spring Breakout game this spring training. The spring game between the Mariners and Brewers drew a lot of national attention, with one of the densest collections of Top-100 prospects in baseball, and Anderson did not perform well on the big stage. The normally pinpoint command Anderson walked an unheard-of four hitters in two-plus innings of work, struggling to land his fastball and falling behind in counts. He left pitches on the plate that got damaged, most notably a three-run homer on a hanging slider. It was a poor enough performance that it seemed to affect his prospect stock, with certain national prospect writers and fans alike quick to anoint Ryan Sloan – who pitched three perfect innings to open the game – the true ace of Seattle’s system.
Anderson has sufficiently silenced those critics as he’s torn through the Double-A level this year, obliterating hitters with his same strikeout stuff while actually cutting down his walk rate from college, making it easy to write off the spring breakout performance to the triple-digit Arizona heat and the fact that Anderson, a creature of routine, wasn’t the day’s starter. His performance in today’s Futures Game is an exclamation mark on what’s been a truly extraordinary first professional season for him, and an opportunity to stake a claim as one of the best pitching prospects in the game.
The thrill of having a two-headed pitching monster in the Futures Game means Mariners fans had to wait until the fifth inning of this seven-inning contest to see another Mariners prospect. Ryan Sloan came on in the fifth with the AL leading 6-1 and had to fight a little harder against the NL hitters. In a flip-flop from the spring breakout game, this time it was Sloan who seemed to have a little trouble with fastball command, pumping plus velocity – he was up to 100 mph on his fastball – but missing with it out of the zone.
Sloan had to battle his first hitter, Cubs top prospect Josiah Hartshorn, for seven pitches before dropping in a cutter for a groundout; the cutter was his friend again for a first-pitch groundout with his second hitter, the Giants’ Gavin Kilen. In a 1-1 count, Sloan tried to go back to the off-speed again against another Giants hitter, Dakota Johnson, who was coming in on a heater after a three-homer game for Eugene on Friday. Johnson caught a sweeper that got too much plate and was able to knock it down the left field line for a line-drive double (97.4 mph EV, not softly hit but not exactly the “laser” described on the broadcast). Sloan recovered to hang a zero for the inning, but it wasn’t easy against the Brewers’ Jesus Made – part of the same spring breakout lineup Sloan dominated this spring – who battled him for six pitches before flying out on a sweeper in on his hands. Like Anderson, Sloan also signaled for the inning-ending flyout, but couldn’t help but watch it to make sure it got caught:
It wasn’t the sharpest inning for Sloan but it was an exciting opportunity to benchmark the Sloan of the early spring against the Sloan of today. This spring, Sloan leaned almost exclusively on his heater, using it to annihilate the Brewers hitters. Today, lacking his usual fastball command, he was able to dig into a deeper arsenal, showcasing his cutter, sweeper, and changeup (Gameday is labeling it a splitter).
It’s been more of an up-and-down season for Sloan at Double-A this season – as one would expect for a pitcher as young as he is being challenged at the level – but he’s continuing to build volume and efficiency while still developing his arsenal and gaining experience against more advanced hitters, several of whom he saw up close at today’s event.
Right-hander Alex Petrovic grew up in Cypress, Texas, a suburb of Houston, the son of parents who played basketball at Oberlin College. Alex’s physical gifts manifested themselves on the baseball diamond rather than the basketball court, and the youngster quickly began standing out on the sandlots around Texas. He attended Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Texas, where he dominated as both a hitter and a pitch, earning TAPPS First Team All-State honors in 2022 and 2023. Inflammation in his right arm kept him off of the mound for the majority of his senior year, and may have cost him a selection in the 2023 MLB Draft; despite solid results, Petrovic was not considered an elite talent, and he ended up going undrafted, leading him to honor his commitment to Auburn University.
His career with the Tigers began inauspiciously, as the inflammation in his arm returned that fall. It calmed down to the point that, when the spring began, the right-hander was able to take the mound for his new team after missing the first three weeks of the season. Appearing in 7 games for Auburn, Petrovic allowed 7 earned runs in 11.0 innings, good for a 5.73 ERA, giving up 15 hits, walking 3, and striking out 17. There is a chance that the right-hander might have improved as the weather continued warming, but Petrovic sustained a stress fracture in his right elbow in early April, ending his season prematurely.
The right-hander had surgery on his elbow, having screws inserted into it, and returned to the mound at Plainsman Park for the 2025 season. Improbably, the exact same thing almost happened a second year in a row. The right-hander appeared in 7 games, starting 5, and posted a 4.34 ERA in 18.2 innings, allowing 13 hits, walking 4, and striking out 25, but once again, an injury on a different spot on his arm sustained in early April ended his season early. His velocity had backed up from the low-90s into the high-80s and his breaking balls did not look as sharp, and it was only a matter of time before something in his arm went off. A draft-eligible sophomore because of his age, Petrovic did not hear his name called in the 2025 MLB Draft.
When his arm felt better later that summer, the right-hander went to a baseball training facility in Lakeland, Florida- the Florida Base ARMory- and worked on making subtle changing his mechanics to put less stress on his arm and elbow and hopefully prevent a third-consecutive season-ending injury in 2026.
The 22-year-old returned to Auburn for his redshirt sophomore season armed with new mechanics and not only was he able to make it through the entire year without an injury, but Petrovic also had a very solid season. His fastball having gained a few ticks from the mechanical changes that were made and his secondary stuff looking sharper, he appeared in 17 games, starting all of them, and posted a 3.21 ERA in 92.2 innings, allowing 70 hits, walking 24, and striking out 92.
Standing 6’5” and weighing 235-pounds, the big Serbian is well-proportioned and athletic, not exactly striking an imposing figure. Likewise, his stuff is not exactly imposing, but it got the job done, as the right-hander was one of the best SEC pitchers in 2026. Petrovic throws from a high-three-quarters arm slot, working exclusively from the stretch with a high leg kick and long arm action through the back, throwing with downhill plane, getting good extension. Petrovic is a strike thrower, commanding his arsenal well and pounding the strike zone. He throws a four-seam fastball, circle changeup, sweeping slider and cutter.
Prior to the 2026, while he was pitching compromised and/or in pain, his fastball sat in the low-90s, often backing up into the high-80s. In 2026, the pitch was sitting more in the low-to-mid-90s, reportedly hitting as high as 96 MPH. In addition, the pitch featured above-average spin rates between 2400-2500 RPM, giving the pitch as much as 18 inches of induced vertical break, a well above-average, borderline elite measurement.
His changeup is his go-to secondary pitch, a high-70s-to-low-80s offering that features a high spin rate, giving it a ton of fade when he is able to turn the ball over properly in addition to . The pitch tunnels extremely well with his fastball, and the pitch gets a fair amount of whiffs against left-handed batters and right-handed batters alike. Thanks to the amount of run the pitch has, Petrovic can sometimes have trouble commanding it and can get gun shy about using it when behind in the count or with runners on base.
The right-hander’s sweeping slider sits in the high-70s-to-low-80s, while his cutter sits in the low-to-mid-80s. At present, his slider is a bit more advanced than his cutter, with the pitch being more likely to develop into an average offering; at present, the pitch relies more on big loopy movement rather than bite and batters going fishing for it outside of the strike zone, particularly right-handed batters.
While not exactly a groundball machine, Petrovic posted a strong 44.2% groundball rate in 2026, a consequence of batters making poor contact with his fastball, changeup, and slider.
A bonfire burning in Craigyhill, Larne, as part of events to mark the Twelfth of July. Picture date: Monday July 13, 2026. (Photo by Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty Images) | PA Images via Getty Images
“It’s the injuries” is a common excuse for why the A’s, once 38-38 and in the thick of a weak AL West race, have cratered, fallen, and can’t get up. “Wait until we’re back at full strength” is a commonly heard game plan for letting a season in which 2 games over .500 gets you 1st place at the All-Star break slip away in a slow but deadly implosion.
Without question the A’s have missed, when out, Jacob Wilson and Zack Gelof, Tyler Soderstrom and Luis Severino, even Brent Rooker though he never got his season untracked. At the same time, no one in the division is feeling too sorry for the A’s just because they have not been at full strength and have been without some key cogs.
The Mariners were without Cal Raleigh for a long stretch and Brendan Donovan last played on May 13th. The Rangers were long absent Wyatt Langford, lost Corey Seager to an IL stint, and Cody Bradford has yet to throw a pitch all season. The Astros were without Jeremy Peña for 5 weeks while Carlos Correa is out for the season and Hunter Brown only recently rejoined the rotation. The difference is that these teams weathered their adversity enough to win roughly half their games.
Here are some truths that better explain why the A’s sit at 41-55 at the All-Star break when even just 48-48 would have served them quite well…
The Myth Of “Good Offense/Bad Pitching”
This is only half true. The pitching has, in fact, been awful but the A’s offense is very much part of why the A’s have the third worst record in the American League. Following the A’s sad showing in Chicago, in which they scored 2 runs in 3 games, it’s now official: on the road the A’s have the very worst OPS in all of MLB.
That’s right, the A’s road slash line of .223/.297/.347 yields a .644 OPS that ranks a cool 30th out of 30th. Certainly injuries play a part — the A’s would have hit better on the road if they had not lost Wilson or Gelof or Soderstrom at all, but the reality is that as a group their players, when healthy, have not performed outside the hitting paradise that is West Sacramento.
A healthy (save for the last 2 games) Nick Kurtz batted a strikingly ordinary .236/.364/.394, 114 wRC+ on the road in the 1st half. That’s in contrast to a 180 wRC+ at home.
The other hitter the A’s relied on heavily in the first half, All-Star Shea Langeliers, has hit all of .236/.303/.434, 103 wRC+ on the road (135 wRC+ at home).
Tyler Soderstrom, with a 162 wRC+ at home, has hit just .216/.290/.383, 84 wRC+ on the road.
Zack Gelof may have a 148 wRC+ at home, but on the road it’s .222/.287/.374, 84 wRC+.
The point being that if the excuse is that the A’s really miss these guys, they don’t actually get as much from them away from West Sacramento as you may think. And as a team, no one puts together a worse OPS on the road than your Athletics.
Can’t Stop The Hemorrhaging
The A’s have certainly been hit hard by injuries of late and it provides a neat excuse for accepting strings of losses. But one fact remains: 2 seasons in a row now, when the A’s have begun to crater Mark Kotsay and his coaching staff have not been able to find a way to put a tourniquet on the massive bleeding.
And we’re not talking about any ordinary skid here. Last year the team plunged, out of the blue, into a 1-20 funk that conjured up the image of Bill King’s wildest alcoholic dreams. Before the All-Star break the team plunged into such a prolonged morass it effectively ended their season in June.
Fast forward a season, with higher expectations and more opportunity, and here we are at the All-Star break with the A’s, recently 38-38 and essentially deadlocked for 1st place, having spiraled into a funk that is now 3-17, only a couple games better than 2025’s historic 21 game collapse.
It’s not inherently a manager’s fault how a team plays in a game or for a week, or even in a season. There are too many factors, some based around on field talent and others around the romantic unpredictability of baseball. Nonetheless, 2 years in a row now the A’s have suddenly fallen off a cliff, and perhaps more importantly they have been unable to find a way just to slow the bleeding even if they couldn’t stop it, just to maintain some semblance of a pulse even if they came out of it the worse for wear.
A 21 game stretch that ended the A’s hopes in June, 2025, followed by a 20 game stretch in June/July 2026 that has done the near impossible: take a race in which .500 gets you within a game of 1st place, and in the span of 3 weeks fall completely off the map, winning just once a week for a full 1/8 of the season.
Ask the managers in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia if the combination of high expectations and hugely disappointing performance costs you your job — and none of those managers piloted collapses this deep, 2 seasons in a row.
But those managers were canned, early enough that the team’s season was still very much salvageable, and guess what? In 2 of 3 cases, the team has risen from the dead and returned to relevance by the All-Star break. The Red Sox are suddenly just 2 games under .500 and 0.5 game back of the 3rd wild card while the Phillies hold the 2nd wild card spot and sit just 2 games back of the Braves in the NL east. That is not to say Boston and Philly don’t have more talent to work with, but it is to say they were still failing badly and only turned it around following a changing of the guard.
What Does This All Mean?
Unfortunately, from where I sit it means the A’s have a serious problem. The easy narrative is to bemoan that the A’s problem is basically their pitching, and really if they could just figure out how to pitch decently at home they would be fine. Sounds like half a problem.
The reality is that the A’s appear to have 3 fundamental problems. Not only is their pitching ranked near the bottom in many categories, but when their stats are not masked by their home hitting environment the offense has been “bottom of the barrel” as well. And their leadership has not shown it can guide a team through a long season without a crippling month in which everything accomplished before and after is rendered moot by a daily nightmare no one can shake the team from.
This doesn’t make for a “feel good” piece going into the break, but that’s kind of what you have to expect when you’re facing 4 days off to ruminate on 9 straight losses, 17 out of 20, and a division race that has, in just 3 weeks time, become “anyone’s to win — well, anyone except you.”
BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 09: Executive vice president and general Manager Mike Elias of the Baltimore Orioles looks on during batting practice prior to a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on September 9, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Orioles rolled through rounds 5-20 on day 2 of the MLB draft as Sunday went along, adding to the four players they took over the first four rounds on Saturday. The O’s wrapped up the draft not all that differently from how they started it. Their top pick, Eric Booth Jr., came from the high school ranks, and in all they picked eight high school players plus one junior college player. That’s unprecedented for the Orioles in the Mike Elias era. Hopefully it ends up paying off.
Much more typical of an Elias draft is that he picked pitchers in bulk without using his top two picks on pitchers. The Orioles drafted 11 pitchers in their 20 selections. The earliest of these was taken in the third round, and only four pitchers were taken in the top ten rounds where the player being signed is a near certainty. If the O’s are lucky, they have found the 2026 version of Joseph Dzierwa, now one of the team’s top prospects after a dominant pro debut following being drafted in the second round a year ago.
Every team’s general manager, scouting director, or whatever title they give to their person in charge of the draft has been out there giving quotes about how much they like their draft class, how they can’t believe all of this talent fell to them, and so on. Prospect outlets are pumping out reports that make so many players seem like future big leaguers or even All-Star level players. Hit the brakes. Most of these guys aren’t going to make it.
The thing is that neither you, nor I, nor the Orioles, know with certainty which ones will or won’t make it, so for now, all of them could. That’s what is fun about the draft and about prospects in general. Nobody knows. You can dream as long as you steel yourself for a lot of disappointment.
Notes on the Orioles picks:
First rounder Eric Booth Jr. is a fast center fielder whose father was a late-round Blue Jays draft pick way back in 1993 before going to college for football instead. He only turned 18 years old on July 4. The younger Booth, ranked #6 on MLB Pipeline’s list of prospects in this class, is said to have “an excellent feel to hit, even with an unusual setup at the plate.” Praising the pick, FanGraphs wrote “Booth has an electricity to him that is unmatched in this draft. The quickness of his hands and his speed for his size are both show-stopping.”
In the second round, the Orioles went into the college ranks to pick outfielder Ty Head from NC State. Head is notable for how little he struck out as a college player, with just 23 strikeouts in 56 games with the Wolfpack this year. He walked 57 times. That’s an uncommon skill set and not one that the Orioles have typically targeted with their high picks. FG said, “he needs to add strength, but everything else (contact, speed, defense, natural launch, baseball IQ) is already in place.”
The third round brought the first pitcher selected, Dominic Voegele from Kansas. If the draft telecast is any indication, it’s pronounced the same as “vaguely.” Don’t worry about his ERA, which if you look you will see is bad (5.85). The environment for college offense with the metal bats is nuts. What the Orioles surely like about Voegele is he struck out 120 batters in 97 innings this year.
The Orioles went to Mississippi high school ranks again in the fourth round, taking Kevin Roberts Jr. He was picked from the same high school as Pirates rookie Konnor Griffin, who debuted before his 20th birthday early this season. Griffin was the #9 overall pick. This is a big guy, listed at 6’5” and 200 lbs. He’s still young, as he won’t turn 18 until later this month. Pipeline’s capsule noted he played basketball and track in high school; we’ll see if he benefits from focusing just on baseball.
Jimmy Anderson (fifth round) has been drafted by the Orioles before, in the 19th round a year ago. The O’s surely saw him before this, because, as the prospect enthusiasts of Orioles On The Verge noted, Anderson was a high school teammate of 2024 draft pick Nate George. He hit 26 home runs in 59 games against the junior college competition. The scouting world thinks he’s ticketed for second base.
Sixth round pick Zane Adams was draft eligible as a sophomore one year ago, but his sophomore season was bad, so he went undrafted and returned for his junior year. Pipeline summarizes the lefty’s arsenal as “a 91-94mph fastball that touches 96 … a plus upper-70s curveball and shows good feel for a 77-81mph changeup that dies at the plate.”
With their seventh round pick, the Orioles chose righty Ryan Piech from Xavier. Piech did not have a freshman year because he needed Tommy John surgery. Most recently, he had the best strikeout rate (11.6 K/9) among Big East pitchers.
Another high school position player went to the Orioles in the eighth round: Will Plunkett from a New York high school. Prospects from states in the northeast generally don’t get as many reps as ones in the south because of the weather, so there’s always potential for growth as they focus year-round on baseball. Pipeline ranked this prospect #198 on is draft board and called him one of the most intriguing picks of day 2, noting he has “a promising approach at the plate with room to grow into more power, and he has plenty of arm to fit on the left side of the infield.”
6’5” righty pitcher Collin McKinney was the ninth round pick. McKinney is a college senior out of Arizona. He’s already 22. Typically, “senior signs” are picked to save a little money against the pick’s slot value ($213,000) that will be used on other players. McKinney pitched mostly in relief for the Wildcats this spring, striking out 49 batters in 37.1 innings.
Tenth round pick Carlos Sanchez is one of three players drafted by the Orioles whose birthplace is listed as Venezuela. The 22-year-old Sanchez is listed as a junior, but for a guy to be labeled “utility” in the MLB database plus his already being 22 probably marks him as a spiritual “senior sign” if not a literal senior.
My complete tracker of the Orioles picks, including the rounds 11-20 players, can be found here.
Across the whole league, around 99% of players picked in rounds 1-10 typically sign. The system is set up such that teams lose bonus pool money if they don’t sign one of those players, so the incentives are to draft guys they know will sign. There are sometimes medical concerns, as when the Orioles didn’t sign third round pick Nolan McLean four years ago. McLean now has a 3.07 ERA in 155.1 innings across two seasons with the Mets. Not looking like the concerns were worth tanking a signing in the $750,000 range.
The rules are different for the rounds 11-20 players. They can sign for up to $150,000 without counting against the team’s bonus pool. Additionally, a player who attends a junior college rather than a four-year school can be a “draft and follow” who can sign for up to $225,000 any time up until a week before next year’s draft. Later round picks aren’t guaranteed to sign. The O’s had three unsigned players among their 24 picks a year ago.
My guess is that there will be a number of unsigned players in the later rounds of this class as well. It’s almost guaranteed with five high school players picked from 11-20. There could be overslot money ticketed for some of those players, but since the Orioles also have three high schoolers and a junior college player in their top 10 rounds, a lot of the overslot might go there instead.
Two years ago, the Orioles signed George for $455,000 and catcher Andrew Tess from a Florida high school for $347,500. We’ll probably see a couple of contracts like that among the 11-20 set while the rest head to a college campus. Sometimes, the go-to-college players turn into multi-million dollar prospects three years down the road. Most times, they don’t.
Was this a good draft for the Orioles? Baseball’s draft lacks the instant gratification of other American sports like football and basketball. Not even the most knowledgeable person can answer the question for sure. These are 18-21 year old guys who may develop or not develop in unexpected ways.
What I can say for sure is that this is a different draft for the Orioles, with a focus on young talent that hasn’t been seen in Elias’s tenure. There are no “home run or bust” players among their top few picks. That should be welcome for anyone who feels that the farm system has stagnated in recent years. They are not just trying the same old stuff and hoping it still works out. It won’t feel much better if this doesn’t work out either, but it is something different.
Teams have until July 27 at 5pm Eastern to reach agreements with their draft picks.
Representing the Mets at the MLB Futures Game on Sunday afternoon was first baseman Ryan Clifford who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the fifth inning and worked a walk in the sixth.
Clifford, of course, was acquired by New York at the 2023 trade deadline when the Mets traded Justin Verlander and cash considerations to the Houston Astros for Clifford and Drew Gilbert.
Since then, Gilbert was traded to the San Francisco Giants and has made his MLB debut while Clifford remains in the Mets’ farm system as their No. 6 ranked prospect, per SNY contributor Joe DeMayo.
Clifford, a power bat currently playing for Triple-A Syracuse, has had an up and down season in his first full season with Syracuse. The 22-year-old is slashing .196/.283/.395 with 16 home runs and 47 RBI and while the power is obvious, Clifford has struggled to make enough contact and has struck out 129 times in 86 games.
Never one to hit for a high average, Clifford is hitting a career-low this season and his .678 OPS is well-below his career average of .799 in 494 games across all minor league levels. But what Clifford lacks in batting average, he makes up for in on-base percentage and even though his walks are down this season, the lefty-swinging slugger walked in his only at-bat on Sunday against a left-hander after working the count full.
“It was great. It was fun to play in front of a big crowd and hopefully one day be back in this environment again,” Clifford said about his experience at the MLB Futures Game at Citizens Bank Park.
For Clifford to reach the next step in his development he needs to work on consistency, something he’s already well aware of.
“I think the first half was kind of up and down so I’m looking to, after the break, just maintain some consistency and stay out on the field and be healthy,” he said. “Look to cut down on strikeouts and keep the power up.”
Because of that elite power he possesses, New York, in the middle of a lost season, might be inclined to promote Clifford at some point later in the year even if he doesn’t improve with his consistency at the plate, especially because of the long-term hole at first base since the departure of Pete Alonso.
At the very least, Clifford is certainly a candidate for a September call-up to show what he can do at the big league level. In fact, earlier this year Clifford was invited to the Mets’ spring training for the first time and went 2-for-20 with seven strikeouts before being reassigned to minor league camp.
Despite the results, just being around major league players gave Clifford some great insight into being a pro and he was grateful for the opportunity.
“The clubhouse is great,” he said. “Everyone is open to helping out the younger guys and I shared a locker next to [Marcus] Semien so it was cool to be able to work with him everyday and overall just all the infielders were all kinda close to each other.”
June 6, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama pitcher Tyler Fay (8) makes a pitch during the NCAA Tuscaloosa Super Regional game between Alabama and St. John’s at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
After Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron was drafted #18 in the first round by the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, three of his teammates joined him in pro ball on Sunday. Right handed pitcher Tyler Fay was picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates, left handed pitcher Zane Adams went to the Baltimore Orioles, and catcher/outfielder Brady Neal was nabbed by Cincinnati. Two pitchers that had committed to Alabama out of the transfer portal were also chosen, as well as two incoming freshman, and two former Tide pitchers also were taken. Dylan Marionneaux, a right handed pitcher out of NW State, and Garrett Lambert, a righty out of Mercer, were both drafted. Canadian high school pitcher, Cade Dorland will have a decision to come to school or sign after being picked, as will as pitcher Hudson DeVaughn out of Indiana. Former Alabama hurlers Beau Bryans and Ariston Veasey also heard their names called on Sunday.
The 6’6’ Fay was drafted in the 6th round, 169th overall, by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Fay had a special season in 2026 with an 11-5 record and 4.54 ERA, striking out 127 batters in 109 innings. The strikeout total was one short of tying former Tide left hander Wade Leblanc’s single season record of 128, set in 2006. The highlight of Fay’s year was the no-hitter he tossed against Florida, striking out 13 Gators along the way. The slot value of the 169th pick is $406,500.
Adams was picked two spots after Fay at 171 by the Baltimore Orioles. Adams was a three year starter for the Tide and has a career record of 19-14 with a 5.09 ERA. In 2026 Adams finished 8-5 with a 4.58 ERA, pitching 90 innings and striking out 100 batters. The slot value for Adams is $396,300.
The Cincinnati Reds took Neal in the 8th round at #242. Neal played catcher and outfield for the Tide. After two years at LSU, Neal transferred to Alabama in 2025. The Tallahassee, FL native had a career year in 2026, hitting .316 with 15 doubles, 10 home runs, with a .969 OPS. The slot value for pick 242 in $229,700.
Dylan Marroineaux, a junior at Northwestern State in Louisiana, committed to the Tide out of the portal in June. The Chicago Cubs used the 126th pick in the 4th round on the right hander. Originally a walk-0n at NW State, Marroimeaux had a break out year in 2026 with a 4-2 record and 3.51 ERA in 84 innings with 81 strikeouts. The slot value is $609.200. However, Marroineaux was not listed as a top 500 prospect, and the thought is there may have been a deal cut at a lower bonus to secure the draft spot. Lambert, a redshirt freshman from Mercer, committed to transfer to Alabama out of the portal in June. The Colorado Rockies picked Lambert with the #165 pick-6th round- on Sunday. After two injury plagued years, Lambert broke out in 2026 with a 5-1 record, and a 4.31 ERA while pitching 71 innings, allowing 58 hits, and striking out 90 batters. The slot for the pick is $417,400.
Alabama had two 2026 high school signees drafted. Dorland was taken #382 in the 13th round by the Atlanta Braves and DeVaughn was picked with the 569th pick in the 19th round. The Tide will have a good chance of getting the two right handers to campus.
Former Tide players chosen were: left handed pitcher Beau Bryans out Jacksonville State in the 7th round with the 208th pick by the SF Giants and right handed pitcher Ariston Veasey out of Clemson with the 337th pick in the 11th round. Bryans pick carries a slot value of $292,300.
Arkansas Razorbacks' Ethan McElvain (33) and Ryder Helfrick (27) celebrate victory as Auburn Tigers take on Arkansas Razorbacks during the SEC baseball tournament at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in Hoover, Ala. on Saturday, May 23, 2026. Arkansas Razorbacks defeated Arkansas Razorbacks 2-1. | Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
While the big names in the MLB draft are all gone after the first day (or essentially committed to going to or back to college next year), there are future big leaguers every year in the second or third day of the draft. Recent Royals draft picks outside of the first 150 picks in the last decade to make it to the big leagues include David Sandlin, Noah Cameron, Anthony Veneziano, Noah Murdock, Vinnie Pasquantino, Tyler Tolbert, Austin Cox, Jonathan Heasley, Nate Eaton, Tyler Zuber, Brewer Hicklen, Nicky Lopez, and Richard Lovelady.
Can anyone from today join them? Only time will tell, but let’s not forget: being drafted at all is an incredible achievement. Only 5% of the roughly 10,000 draft-eligible NCAA baseball players every year are selected by an MLB team.
151st pick: Ethan McElvain, left-handed pitcher from the University of Arkansas
McElvain transferred from Vanderbilt and moved completely to the bullpen, where he threw 38.1 innings, struck out 34.4% of batters, and had a 1.88 ERA. He stands at a hefty 6’ 4”, 250 lbs. Rated by MLB as the 144th-best prospect in the draft.
180th pick: Justin LeGuernic, left-handed pitcher from Clemson University
Another bullpen arm, LeGuernic is young to be drafted as a junior—he doesn’t turn 21 until October—and had a 4.69 ERA in 19 games. Rated by MLB as the 220th-best player in the draft.
Pick 209: Dylan Vigue, right-handed pitcher from the University of Georgia
A starting pitcher, Vigue started 16 games for the Bulldogs with a 4.43 ERA against tough SEC competition. Rated by MLB as the 201st-best player in the draft.
Pick 239: Hunter Possehl, left-handed pitcher from Florida Gulf Coast University
Kansas City’s first position player selected on day two, Johnson transferred from Witchita State to Oklahoma this year and slashed .298/.403/.478 with 31 stolen bases. Rated by MLB as the 116th-best player in the draft.
Pick 299: Grant Fontenot, right-handed pitcher from Louisiana State University
Another reliever, Fontenot has battled with injuries and only has 48.1 total college innings over the last three years. When healthy, he’s been able to strike out 26.9% of batters.
Pick 329: Tanner Griffith, outfielder from St. Mary’s College
At 5’ 9”, the small Tanner Griffith nevertheless swung a big bat this year for St. Mary’s, hitting .342/.477/.545 with 22 doubles in 303 plate appearances.
Pick 359: Lance Hartley, right-handed pitcher from the College of Central Florida
Clement and his very nice mustache have pitched out of the bullpen as a starter. Clement is another guy coming back from injury, only tossing 3.1 innings last year.
Pick 479: Dylan Alonso, right-handed pitcher from Troy University
Rated by MLB as the 138th best player in the draft and by Baseball America at 111, DeVaughan is the type of guy who could get some signing bonus overage to try to lure him away from the University of Alabama.
Pick 599: Riley McDonald, two-way player from State College of Florida
With their final pick today, the Royals selected McDonald, interestingly calling him an infielder and right-handed pitcher out of a junior college in Florida.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 12: J.T. Ginn #35 of the Athletics exits the game the fifth inning of the a game between the Athletics and the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 12, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Griffin Quinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The A’s couldn’t manage to escape the South Side with a win, getting swept by the White Sox 9-1 to wrap up the first half.
Righty J.T. Ginn was off today. After the A’s gave him a quick lead in the first he coughed that right back, allowing six runs in the first inning to put the squad in an early hole they wouldn’t come out of.
The tough part about today was all of the offense came in the first inning off the bat of Shea Langeliers. Other than that, nothing. The offense continues to run silent during this critical stretch.
Now the team has a little less than a week off, Hopefully they can take the time off and figure things out.
Jul 12, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho (5) steals second base ahead of the tag of San Diego Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts (2) during the fifth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images | Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Blue Jays 4 Padres 3
A rough eight cost them.
Hoffman in. Xander Bogaerts, leading off, ground one softly (63.4 mph) up the middle, but between second and short. Ernie Clement got to it too deep to make a play. Bogaerts stole second. Manny Machado lined a single to center, scoring the run. Gavin Sheets ground one at Andrés Giménez, but Clements was slow getting to second so they couldn’t get the lead runner. The out at first wasn’t enough. I didn’t understand why Clements couldn’t get to the bag before the base runner. They had a shot at a double play. After that, a steal of third and a sac fly brought in the go ahead run. That was the game.
Barker talked about it after and watching it, again, I still don’t get what Ernie was doing.
And the bottom of the ninth went too quick. Ground out, pop out, strikeout.
Kevin Gausman had one bad inning. In the second he gave up a Machado single, Sheets walk, Ty France singled (scoring one). Jake Cronemworth singled to load the bases. A pop out got us one out. A walk scored run number two. Fernando Tatis struckout, but there was a rather weird balk in there. Gausman threw out of the stretch, instead of the windup with the bases loaded. Earlier he had told the plate umpire that’s what he was going to do, but not that time. I’m always unclear on balk rules, but I don’t think that I’ve seen that one before.
He got out of the inning after that, and went 6.0. Three hits and a walk that inning, one hit, two walks in the other five, with eight strikeouts total.
Tyler Rogers pitched a quick seventh.
Offensively:
One in the first: Nathan Lukes homered.
Two in the fourth: With two out, Andrés Giménez doubled and Ernie Clement homered.
One in the eighth: Kazuma Okamonto led off with a single. Two outs later, Alejandro Kirk (pinch hitting for Sean Keys) was intentionally walked. Jonatan Clase singled the run in.
We should have scored more. We had nine hits (two home runs) and three walks.
Clase and Okamoto had two hits each. Vladimir Guerrero (with a walk) and Sean Keys had 0 fors.
We had two on in the second, two on in the third, one on in the fifth. We were two for nine with RISP.
Jays of the Day: Clase (0.26 WPA), Okamoto (0.11
Other Award: Hoffman (-0.55, some of that belongs to Clement), Varsho (-0.11) and Valenzuela (-0.09) anad Keys (-0.09).
Tennessee's Tegan Kuhns (21) throws a pitch during a baseball game between Tennessee and Wright State in Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, March 6, 2026. | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The 2026 Major Legue Baseball Draft is now in our rearview mirror. While it wasn’t a 2024 or 2025-esque firestorm of Tennessee Volunteers flying off the board, Tennessee still had a solid six players selected over the two-day event.
Let’s take a closer look at who went where.
CB-A, No. 32: Tegan Kuhns, St. Louis Cardinals
The headliner was, of course, Tennessee ace Tegan Kuhns. He had been projected from anywhere as high as 24 to Seattle down to below where he was taken, which was at No. 32 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals.
Yes, the Cardinals. For the second straight year, St. Louis tabbed the top of Tennessee’s pitching rotation early in the draft. Last year, St. Louis took Liam Doyle with the No. 5 overall pick.
Kuhns was the second player taken by the Cardinals in the top 32 this year. With pick No. 13, St. Louis also tabbed Tennessee commit OF Trevor Condon out of Etowah High School in Woodstock Georgia.
So, Tennessee fans should have a keen eye on St. Louis to see where the progam’s ace pitchers from 2025-26 end up, as well as who could have been their freshman superstar in 2027.
Rd 6, No. 191: Henry Ford, Seattle Mariners
Tennessee’s biggest bat from 2026 finds his new home, and he’ll be joining a team that certainly has the pitching, but still needs to find some answers at the plate.
Ford slugged a team-high 20 home runs last year, which put his total at 48 for his three collegiate years. Without question, he showed he has high upside at the plate from a power perspective at the MLB level. But his batting average dropped off pretty heavily in 2026 from his previous two seasons at Virginia. He posted a .293 average after hitting .362 in 2024 for the Cavaliers.
Opportunity is there for Ford, and he’ll hit his fair share of long home runs with a path to move up — if he can continue to make contact.
Rd 7, No. 219: Bo Rhudy, Philadelphia Phillies
Not a bad franchise to land with as far as being a consistent winner. Rhudy ended up putting together a very nice stat line in his one year at Tennessee: 3.38 ERA, 41 Ks, six walks.
His unorthodox delivery and arm slot should help him out at the big-league level and continue to give him a slight edge by deceiving hitters.
Rd 8, No. 229: Garrett Wright, Los Angeles Angels
Another Vol is headed to Orange County, California. Wright joins Christian Moore and Ben Joyce in the Angels organization. He was a crucial part of Tennessee’s offense last year, hitting an impressive .348 with nine homers and 17 RBIs. A catcher and outfielder, he has some added benefit with positional flexibility.
Rd 12, No. 367: Brandon Arvidson, Chicago Cubs
Arvidson was certainly an important part of the Vols’ pen last year, appearing in 16 games with one start and logging 37.1 innings. He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but the 6-5, 210-pound lefty has the frame and delivery to be a problem for hitters with proper development.
Rd 13, No. 381: Evan Blanco, Athletics
Last but not least, one third of the Vols’ weekend rotation gets the nod in Round 13 by the (future Las Vegas) Athletics. He doesn’t have the Kuhns-type stuff, but he wasn’t all that far behind the Vols’ ace in strikeouts (101 in 89 IP vs. Kuhns’ 106 in 81). However, he gave up a team-high 17 home runs. He’ll have to learn how to avoid mistakes to get by with his arsenal at the next level.
Emmet Sheehan (80) battled through 5⅓ strong innings, and Shohei Ohtani belted his ninth leadoff homer, but the Dodgers were swept for the first time this season. (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers needed to turn things around Sunday to wrap up the first half on a high note. Manager Dave Roberts said as much the night before.
“When you give teams free bases, extra outs, it’s hard to win a game, regardless of the opponent,” he said. “Emmet [Sheehan] needs to go out there and throw the baseball well tomorrow. We’ve got to find a way to win a game tomorrow to feel somewhat better about going into the break.”
Instead, the Dodgers fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3, swept for the first time this season. It was Arizona’s first sweep at Dodger Stadium since September 2017.
“I guess,” Roberts said. “Gives guys a reset. ... We’ve got some good teams coming up and we’ve got to play good baseball.”
Sheehan at least did his job, holding the Diamondbacks to three runs in 5⅓ innings. It was clear from the first at-bat that his pitch count could limit how deep he pitched into the game. Sheehan won a 14-pitch battle to strike out Ketel Marte.
The right-hander then struck out the side and was efficient enough to pitch into the sixth. He exited after his pitch count reached 101.
Max Muncy swings at a pitch in the seventh inning. (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Shohei Ohtani sparked the offense with his ninth leadoff home run of the season — and 22nd overall — on a two-hit day. But he’ll get treatment this week instead of playing in the All-Star Game.
It wasn’t a clean defensive game for the Dodgers. In the midst of the Diamondbacks’ two-run fifth, All-Star center fielder Andy Pages tracked a long fly back to the wall but missed the catch as the ball bounced off his glove for an error.
In the sixth, the tying run scored when All-Star third baseman Max Muncy’s throw to the plate hit Geraldo Perdomo in the back as he ran home for another error.
“Just a slump,” Muncy said. “You go through slumps both offensively and defensively, mentally. It’s just one of those stretches for us right now, and I think everyone’s ready for the break.”
Regardless of some sloppiness, the Dodgers have had a successful season going into the break.
“Just flush it,” Roberts said. “We’re still in a really good spot. Don’t let it carry over to the second half.”
They have the best record in the majors (61-36) and an 11½-game lead in the National League West. They also had six players selected as All-Stars.
So, as Major League Baseball pauses play and honors some of the best performers in each league, now’s a good time to hand out our first-half awards.
MVP: Shohei Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani follows through on a double in the third inning. (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Who else? Ohtani’s the frontrunner for the NL most valuable player — not just these unofficial first-half awards — for his two-way performance.
He’s been a top performer both on the mound and in the batter’s box. He entered Sunday among the top three in the league in offensive fWAR (26.6) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.940). And his 1.79 earned-run average ranked second among NL pitchers who have thrown at least 50 innings. He remains in the Cy Young conversation, despite pitching only 85 ⅔ innings in the first half because of the Dodgers’ six-man rotation and a missed start stemming from an irritated left knee.
Honorable mention: Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy
Cy Young: Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Diamondbacks on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Yamamoto has carried this rotation through both performance (2.85 ERA) and workload, leading the team with 110⅔ innings.
Last month, he carried a perfect game into the eighth inning and no-hitter into the ninth against the Chicago White Sox. That was one of two starts of at least eight innings that he’s authored. He’s thrown six or more innings in all but two starts.
Pitcher Justin Wrobleski holds an All-Star jersey during a pregame ceremony honoring the Dodgers' All-Stars. (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
This time last year, Wrobleski was moving back and forth between triple A and the majors, providing length out of the bullpen after making changes to his delivery.
Coming into this season, a regular rotation spot was not guaranteed. Now, he’s an All-Star. And in a star-powered rotation, he has the second-best ERA (2.69) and has pitched the second-most innings (100⅓).
Honorable mention: Tanner Scott, Dalton Rushing, Andy Pages
Second-half breakout candidate: Kiké Hernández
Dodgers infielder Kiké Hernández high-fives his daughter, Penelope, after she threw out the ceremonial first pitch Sunday at Dodger Stadium. (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
Hernández has been on the field for only four plate appearances, exiting because of a strained left oblique in just his second game back from offseason surgery on his left elbow. But he recorded a hit in each of those plate appearances, including a pair of doubles.
Hernández, on the verge of a rehab assignment, is on a faster track to return than Roberts initially expected.
Others to watch: Edwin Díaz, Edgardo Henriquez, Alex Freeland, Kyle Tucker
Jul 12, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Colorado Rockies center fielder Cole Carrigg (16) loses his helmet on a swing during the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
The Colorado Rockies fell to the San Francisco Giants in yet another close, low-scoring game in the Bay Area. This afternoon’s series finale was the last of 17 straight games the Rockies had to play before the All-Star Break. After a hard fought close series in Los Angeles, the Rockies lost four of their final five games of the half.
“It’s disappointing,” said manager Warren Schaeffer after the game. “We come expecting to win every night, but the season isn’t over yet.”
The season so far has been full of ups and downs, but has also been infinitely more watchable. The Rockies finish the first half with a 39-59 record, a full 17 games better than they were at the All-Star break in last year’s 119-loss campaign.
Now the Rockies will take a well deserved rest in preparation for the true dog days of summer: the second half of the MLB season.
“We’ll come back and get after it on Friday,” said Schaeffer.
Lorenzen gets the job done
Rockies starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen wasn’t necessarily sharp, but he gutted his way through five innings while only giving up one earned run to Giants hitters. Lorenzen entered today’s game having given up more than two earned runs in just one of his last six starts while going at least five innings in all but one outing during that same stretch.
Lorenzen struck out just one batter while giving up five hits and issuing three walks. That one strikeout came in the first inning against Rafael Devers, who came to the plate with runners on first and second with just one out. The Giants would fail to score that inning. Lorenzen worked just two 1-2-3 innings–the second and fifth–and dealt with frequent traffic, but really only had one truly bad inning where the Giants were able to capitalize. In the fourth inning, Lorenzen gave up a walk and back-to-back singles with two outs, allowing the Giants to score their first run of the game. He then issued a walk, but was able to navigate out of the inning with no further damage.
Jake McCarthy—who has been an electric acquisition for the Rockies this season—kicked off the game with a leadoff inside-the-park home run. It was his second such feat of the season and put the Rockies ahead early.
McCarthy becomes the just the third Rockies player in franchise history to hit two inside-the-park home runs in a single season–joining Brandon Barnes in 2014 and Charlie Blackmon in 2017–and is also the first player to hit two leadoff inside-the-park home runs since 1929.
“If anybody’s going to do it, it’s going to be Jake,” Schaeffer said of the accomplishment when informed after the game.
In addition, Hunter Goodman went 2-for-2 and the Rockies lineup as a whole struck out just six times.
That sadly does it for the positives, as the Rockies’ offense was whisper quiet for most of their final game of the first half. Outside of those two Goodman hits and the McCarthy home run, the Rockies had just one other hit. It came off the bat of Tyler Freeman in the fifth inning.
With the Rockies down to their final out in the ninth inning, rookie center fielder Cole Carrigg fought valiantly to keep the game alive. He worked an 11-pitch at-bat with a full count and fouled the ball off six times. Unfortunately, a sliding catch by Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee in shallow right field cemented the Rockies’ loss.
Relievers Brennan Bernardino and Jimmy Herget combined to give up just one hit and one walk over their two innings of relief for Lorenzen. Each pitcher recorded a strikeout.
Where things fell apart was when Antonio Senzatela entered the game in the eighth inning.
Senzatela issued a leadoff walk to Devers and a single to Bryce Eldridge to put a runner in scoring position. The pinch runner for Eldridge stole second base and an errant throw from Goodman ended up in the outfield allowing Devers to score the go-ahead run for San Francisco. A Willy Adames single plated another run to put the Rockies behind 3-1 in what would be the final score of the game.
After an incredibly strong start to the season, Senzatela has faltered as the months wear on. Since the start of June, he had a 6.60 ERA over his last 13 appearances, although his 3.17 FIP in that stretch indicates he’s also gotten unlucky.
Coming Up Next
The Rockies are off until Friday for the Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia, where Hunter Goodman will be their sole representative. After the break, they will start a three game series against the Cincinnati Reds at home.
The first game of that series will start at 6:40 PM MDT with right-handed pitcher Brady Singer on the bump for the Redlegs. The Rockies have yet to announce who will start for them.
The Mets closed out their disappointing first half on Sunday afternoon with a heartbreaking loss against the Boston Red Sox, wasting rookie Zach Thornton’s incredible performance in just his third major league start.
The left-hander pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out five and throwing just 82 pitches (56 strikes). It was the best outing of Thornton’s young career which has seen him only make sporadic starts for New York – one in May, one in June and one in July.
But after his dominant outing, Thornton, at least for now, has earned a spot in the rotation and will make his next start for the Mets at some point after the All-Star break.
“We’ve been mostly floating with four starters for a while, so to have him step up and throw the baseball the way he did we’ll take a lot of encouragement from that because we’ve been needing that from someone and you can see he’s unafraid and you can see he’s on the attack,” interim manager Andy Green said. “So as painful as this moment is, those are good signs for our future to see a young guy step on the mound and pitch like that.”
Through three starts, Thornton owns a 2.60 ERA (0.92 WHIP) in 17.1 innings. His last start against the Philadelphia Phillies, which came on June 26, was also a good one. He pitched six innings while giving up one earned run on five hits and a walk. He also struck out seven and kept his pitch count to 78 pitches, 54 of them being strikes.
The back-to-back solid outings by the left-hander is a great sign, considering his struggles during his MLB debut against the Washington Nationals on May 20, in which he allowed four earned runs in 4.1 innings.
“[Thornton is] just a guy who can mix and attack with aggression and he just needs to continue to repeat that and step on the mound,” Green said. “Not every time is it gonna be seven scoreless… but for us that is what we want to see out of him. There’s days that he’ll pop it up to 95 [mph] and he can use that to punch guys late in counts. Didn’t see a lot of that today, didn’t need a lot of that today so just encouraged three starts in. We know he's unafraid.”
After the game Thornton was asked about his performance and what it is he needs to do to continue pitching like he did on Sunday.
“Just get back to what I do best and throwing strikes with all five pitches,” the rookie southpaw said. “I'm super excited to be here and just keep contributing to getting wins around here.”
The 24-year-old also mentioned that his teammates giving him words of encouragement has helped too.
“I think I belong anywhere,” Thornton said.
After all, Thornton earned his right for the call-up earlier this season after owning a 3.32 ERA in 48 games (39 starts) in his career in the minor leagues, making him the next highly touted Mets pitching prospect.
Thornton joins fellow rookie starters Nolan McLean and Christian Scott in the team's starting rotation, both of whom have shined as well. Meanwhile other pitching prospects are waiting in the wings for their opportunity to take the mound.
“Thornton was really good in his third major league start against a lineup that has hit left-handed pitching all season long, and Luis Torrens called a great game for him,” Green said. “They kept hitters off balance the entire game, he missed barrels the entire game, he got some punchouts, and it was fun to see. Encouraging for us as we look to round out the rotation.”
In a season where very little has gone right for New York, perhaps Thornton is a bright spot worth keeping an eye on as the Mets look to the future.
Ole Miss' Austin Fawley (24) strikes out against Mississippi State in Oxford, Miss. on Saturday, March 28, 2026. | Bruce Newman/Special to the Clarion Ledger / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Day two of the 2026 MLB Draft is now complete and five more Rebels will now have a choice to make between signing with the clubs that drafted them or returning to Ole Miss and attempting to improve their draft position.
Interestingly enough none of Judd Utermark, Will Furniss or Tristan Bissetta were selected in the 20 round draft. It was also announced that Hunter Elliott was returning to Oxford and withdrawing from the draft.
Wil Libbert was the first off the board on Sunday, going to the Atlanta Braves in the 5th round (144th overall). Libbert is an interesting one regarding his decision to stay or sign. He could become a weekend guy for the Rebels or opt to start his pro career in a $500,000 signing slot.
The New York Mets took another Rebel hurler in the eighth round, selecting Landon Koenig 240th overall.
Bullpen arm Landon Waters was taken in the 17th round by the Toronto Blue Jays and is likely to return to Oxford.
The Atlanta Braves double dipped and took Austin Fawley in the 19th round. With Drake Baldwin set to be the Braves catcher for the next decade plus, Fawley would be wise to return to Ole Miss and have a more consistent year at the plate.
Rounding out the Rebel draft picks is JP Robertson, taken by the San Francisco Giants 598th overall (out of 613 total).
If any of the three big bats sign free agent deals to with a minor league team, the Cup will be here to update you.
