The Mets are officially making a change to their pitching staff.
David Peterson will be sliding back to the bullpen as of this weekend, and Sean Manaea will receive an opportunity in his spot in the rotation as the bulk arm the next time around.
Peterson had been enjoying success during the early part of May, but he was roughed up his last time out, allowing six runs on a season-high 11 hits across five innings of work in a loss to the Reds.
Manaea, on the other hand, has turned things around nicely after a brutal start to the season.
The Philadelphia Phillies open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Scheduled starting pitchers are Zack Wheeler for Philadelphia, with a 1.67 ERA, and Justin Wrobleski for Los Angeles, with a 3.07 ERA.
How to watch Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
The New York Yankees, second in the AL East with a 34-22 record, face the Athletics, who are second in the AL West at 27-29. The New York Yankees are favored with a -153 moneyline compared to the Athletics' +127. Starting pitchers are scheduled to be Carlos Rodón for the Yankees, with a 4.15 ERA, and Luis Severino for the Athletics, with a 4.23 ERA.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 07: Nick Mears #31 of the Kansas City Royals looks on during the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on April 07, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
The Royals’ bullpen took another hit on Friday when the team announced Nick Mears has been placed on the Injured List with right shoulder impingement. The Royals recalled reliever Eric Cerantola from Triple-A Omaha to replace him on the roster.
Mears pitched on Tuesday, giving up two walks and two hits among the six Yankees batters he faced in a 7-0 loss. The Royals already had relievers Carlos Estévez and Matt Strahm on the Injured List, in addition to starters Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic. Mears had appeared in 21 games this year with a 5.12 ERA and 15 strikeouts and 11 walks in 19.1 innings.
Cerantola had been up in a previous stint with the Royals, appearing in two games with five strikeouts, while giving up four walks and three runs in three innings.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - MAY 23: Pitcher Chris Paddack #56 of the Cincinnati Reds looks on during game one of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park on May 23, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Jeff Dean/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Chris Paddack has logged a pair of starts for the Cincinnati Reds since they picked him up as an emergency band-aid for their starting rotation, and he’s been perfectly fine in those outings. He’s thrown exactly 5.0 IP in each, allowed a total of 4 ER in those 10 IP, and has 8 strikeouts against just 4 walks.
That’s about as good as anyone could have hope for from him given how much he’d been shelled as a starter for the Miami Marlins, and the Reds will ask for more from him on Friday evening in Great American Ball Park as the roaring Atlanta Braves come to town.
To date, Atlanta boasts a collective .334 wOBA offensively, and that’s the third best mark of any club in the game (behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees). They also have the most wins in the sport (38) and best win percentage (.667) of any team, and that’s enough to make any pitcher – let alone Paddack – shake in their boots a little bit.
Of course, the Reds offense has become something of a force itself lately, too. In fact, over the last 30 days it’s been Cincinnati’s offense (.322 wOBA) that’s been better than that of Atlanta (.315). So, maybe we’re just in-line for a good old fashioned shootout in GABP tonight.
Grant Holmes will start for the Braves, and first pitch is slated for 6:40 PM ET.
Here’s how the Reds will line up for this one, with Spencer Steer starting at 2B and Matt McLain out of the lineup to begin:
The New York Yankees are rolling and are the rightful favorites against the Athletics tonight.
Luis Severino’s walk and barrel issues give New York’s power-heavy lineup the cleaner scoring path, and that's why my Yankees vs. Athleticspredictions are laying the run line instead of paying the -155 moneyline tax on the Bombers.
Who will win Yankees vs A's tonight: Yankees -1.5 (+108)
I see the New York Yankees' run line price as generous and would play it down to -110.
Luis Severino’s contact profile is a bad fit against New York. His 45th-percentile hard-hit rate and 35th-percentile barrel rate are real concerns against a Yankees lineup built to punish mistakes, led by an MLB-best 11.1% barrel rate and an overall depth of hard-hitting bats.
Carlos Rodon also adds separation on the mound. His 2.96 expected ERA and .153 expected BA allowed point to a sharper current form than Severino’s, giving New York the cleaner starter and louder offense.
New York has a strong path to crooked innings, and the A's aren't a dead offense against left-handed pitching.
While Rodon’s contact profile is excellent, his 18.6% walk rate creates risk against an Athletics lineup with plenty of pop.
Severino is the bigger trigger. His high walk rate is also a risk factor in this matchup.
I project the Yankees to drive the total, and the A's to do enough to get this Over. I'd play this to -130.
Chris Hatfield's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 24-19, +4.56 units
Over/Under bets: 28-15, +15.34 units
Yankees vs A's odds
Moneyline: Yankees -155 | A's +145
Run line: Yankees -1.5 | A's +1.5
Over/Under: Over 9 | Under 9
Yankees vs A's trend
The Yankees have covered the F5 run line in 31 of their last 50 away games (+9.50 Units / 16% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. A's.
How to watch Yankees vs A's and game info
Location
Sutter Health Park, Sacramento, CA
Date
Friday, May 29, 2026
First pitch
9:40 p.m. ET
TV
YES, NBC Sports California
Yankees starting pitcher
Carlos Rodon (0-2, 4.15 ERA)
A's starting pitcher
Luis Severino (2-5, 4.23 ERA)
Yankees vs A's latest injuries
Yankees vs A's weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
The stars are out in Southern California as the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers host the Philadelphia Phillies tonight, with the game to be broadcast on Apple TV at 10:15 p.m. ET.
With ace Zack Wheeler on the mound and a red-hot, fully rested bullpen behind him, my Phillies vs. Dodgers predictions like this visitors in a low-scoring contest.
Read on for my full analysis and pick against the total with my MLB picks for Friday, May 29.
Who will win Phillies vs Dodgers tonight: Phillies (+100)
This game offers a choice between fool’s gold and pure gold.
Fool’s gold: Los Angeles Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski and his 3.07 ERA. He doesn’t make batters miss (second percentile whiff rate, fifth percentile K rate) or induce grounders (36.7%), so all that glitters ain’t.
Pure gold: Zack Wheeler, 1.67 ERA. It’s the third consecutive season his ERA is under 2.75. He limits free passes (88th percentile walk rate) and generates a 98th percentile chase rate.
The Philadelphia Phillies have been destroying southpaws (135 wRC+ in May) and face a hittable one, so I’d play it up to -105.
COVERS INTEL:With winds of 6-12 mph blowing out, Wrobleski’s high fly-ball rate (44.4%) is an issue against a Phillies lineup that makes loud contact (38% hard-hit rate against LHP this month).
Phillies vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-120)
This spot makes for an appealing Under as both bullpens are fully rested following Thursday’s off day.
Philadelphia has an unreal 2.00 SIERA and 28.9 K-BB% in relief over the last 20 days. LA holds a 2.94 FIP in that span and recently had an incredible 38-inning scoreless streak from the bullpen snapped.
The Phillies have cashed the Over just nine times in 26 away games, whereas the Dodgers have done so 11 times in 28 home games.
Interim manager Don Mattingly has changed the Phillies’ identity, and they’ve gone 2-14 O/U in the last 16 games.
JD Yonke's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 16-17, -5.33 units
Over/Under bets: 26-9, +16.54 units
Phillies vs Dodgers odds
Moneyline: Phillies +105 | Dodgers -116
Run line: Phillies +1.5 (-205) | Dodgers -1.5 (+177)
Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-120) | Under 7.5 (+100)
Phillies vs Dodgers trend
The Phillies have hit the Under in six consecutive games. Find more MLB betting trends for Phillies vs. Dodgers.
How to watch Phillies vs Dodgers and game info
Location
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Date
Friday, May 29, 2026
First pitch
10:15 p.m. ET
TV
Apple TV
Phillies starting pitcher
Zack Wheeler (4-0, 1.67 ERA)
Dodgers starting pitcher
Justin Wrobleski (6-2, 3.07 ERA)
Phillies vs Dodgers latest injuries
Phillies vs Dodgers weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 24: Jorge Mateo #2 of the Atlanta Braves bats against the Washington Nationals in the eighth inning at Truist Park on May 24, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Brett Davis/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves have lost three of their last five games, and their offense has been a roller coaster. They scored seven and ten runs respectively in their last two wins, but scored zero runs twice and one run in the other game. Still, their offense ranks as second in MLB in total runs scored.
The Braves will have a chance to build on their ten run performance from yesterday when they face off against Chris Paddack who is struggling to a 6.86 ERA. His expected ERA (xERA) is much better at 4.32, but us still to a point that the Braves on paper should be able to tag him for some runs.
Mike Yastrzemski has done very well against Paddack in his career. In twenty-five at-bats he has three HRs, a .400 average, and 1.324 OPS. Ozzie Albie has been successful as well with a .364 average and 1.000 OPS in eleven at-bats.
A big question mark before the lineup card dropped was whether Dominic Smith would DH since Walt Weiss has been known thus far to not use the same lineup everyday. Smith has had a fantastic season, but has struggled to a .182 average against Paddack in eleven at-bats, but has a HR. Another lineup move that many likely had their eyes on was who was going to play SS. Jorge Mateo has been on fire by his standards this year. He has started nineteen games and has multi-hit games in eight of them. That being said, the reason he got the start yesterday was likely due to the pitcher being a lefty. Ha-Seong Kim has clearly struggled this season, but he also has not fully ramped up.
As it turns out, Smith did end up being in the starting lineup and will bat fifth. Mateo also got the start proven against the idea what Weiss may be using his as the main option for lefties moving forward. Chadwick Tromp will get the start a week after his walk-off magic in the eleventh inning.
Grant Holmes will take the mound the the Braves to face the Reds. No Reds player has faced Holmes more than seven at-bats, but most of the ones that have had success against him. Of the nine players to face him, six of them have at-least a .333 average.
TJ Friedl is the player to keep an eye on. In his four at-bats against Holmes, he has two HRs.
Interestingly, Freidl will be batting ninth against Holmes. As can be seen in the graphic above, the Reds will be wearing their city connect jerseys this evening.
The Braves look to jumpstart their offense tonight. First pitch is at 6:40 EDT
Undeniably a key factor in the Phillies’ turnaround after an atrocious start to the season, a recently recovered Zack Wheeler is winning the current round of a battle against Father Time by being one of the more dominant starters in the National League since his return to a big league mound in late April. Although it is not always the case, for Wheeler in particular, the level of dominance he has presented has been enough to make the Phillies unbeatable in his starts.
The Dodgers will be the seventh team to go up against Wheeler this season, and evidently the best he has faced. Los Angeles will try to accomplish what each of the previous six failed to do, which is to beat the Phillies, who are 6-0 in Wheeler starts.
Justin Wrobleski might not have been the first pick for such a lofty task, but the southpaw carries an edge in this particular matchup. The Phillies offense is redefining the meaning of “top-heavy,” with two-thirds of their lineup carrying an OPS of .656 or lower. Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brandon Marsh have carried this offense, all three of them lefties. Now, Harper and Schwarber are scary hitters regardless of who they’re facing, but you’d still prefer a lefty there.
This lack of anything even remotely resembling a bit of depth is why Philly enters play on Friday with the fifth-worst team wRC+ in the sport, relying primarily on their pitching to carry this team.
Apr 14, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Adolis Garcia (53) reacts after striking out against the Chicago Cubs in the fourth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
When Adolis Garcia came into camp after signing with the Phillies, the team had specific ideas on what they wanted him to work on in the hopes that he could recapture his past form. Garcia tweaked his batting stance and worked on improving his plate discipline to try and cut down on his high chase rate. So far, he has done exactly that, as his 28.1 % swing rate on pitches outside of the zone is the lowest it’s been since 2023, which was the best season of Garcia’s career and the last time he was an above average hitter. He’s also cut down his overall swing rate to 43.4% from 52.2%, cut his whiff rate down to 12.9% from 14.6%, and his 83.7% rate of contact on pitches inside the zone is the best of his career. Through the first two months of 2026, he’s accomplished all of the goals he and the Phillies laid out for him this spring.
Season
Swing Rate
Chase Rate
Whiff Rate
Zone Contact Rate
2025
52.2%
35.7%
14.6%
79.4%
2026
43.4%
28.1%
12.9%
83.7%
So why is he in the midst of the worst season of his career after a particularly brutal month of May where he hit .141 with a .447 OPS and 33 strikeouts in 24 games?
To attempt to understand that conundrum, we must first look at what made Garcia successful in the past. In that All-Star 2023 season, Garcia was one of the most aggressive hitters in baseball, swinging early and often as evidenced by his swing rate of 48.6%. He did not hit for a high average at just .245 overall, but his .508 slugging percentage was tenth best among all hitters with at least 600 plate appearances. Garcia still swung and chased at a high rate, but he did damage on the pitches he got to hit.
Fast forward to 2026, and Garcia’s .312 SLG is among the worst in baseball, and he has the worst barrel percentage of his career by half. His new swing and approach have resulted in the intended plate discipline improvements but have had unintended side effects.
Cutting back on his aggressiveness has limited Garcia’s ability to do damage on the increased amount of pitches he’s seen in the zone. Even in a poor 2025 season where Garcia had the worst SLG of his career to that point, his expected SLG of .427 was right around league average and his 11.6% barrel rate was above average. In 2026, those numbers are dramatically lower, with Garcia carrying a .350 xSLG and a 7.1% barrel rate that would both be his career worst for a full season. He’s especially struggling to catch up to fastballs, as his .284 actual SLG and .378 xSLG against heaters are both the worst marks of his career. He hasn’t been any better on breaking balls, with a .292 SLG and .294 xSLG that are also the worst of his career and a 39.4% whiff rate that is the second worst of his career.
Garcia is hitting more line drives at a career best 24.4% rate, but his flyball rate has plummeted ten percentage points to a career worst 36.2%. He’s also pulling the ball at a career worst rate of 37.8%, continuing a declining trend that started in 2024. His isolated power of .111 is another career worst mark and is over a 50-point dropoff from last season. Simply put, Garcia is not impacting the ball even close to the way he used to and has been worse at it than even his disappointing 2025 season.
Season
SLG
xSLG
Barrel %
ISO
2025
.394
.427
11.6
.168
2026
.312
.350
7.1
.111
Now, some of this can be contributed to the obvious factor: age. At 33-years-old coming off of two below average seasons, it’s quite likely that Garcia is in decline and will never reach his previous heights but rather will continue to get worse. But the steep drop from even his poor 2025 suggests that maybe something else is at play here. There’s not much to contribute to luck either, as Garcia’s .276 BABIP is only slightly below the league average of .287 so far.
Perhaps trying to change Garcia into a different hitter has made him worse than he already was in two disappointing seasons. A hitter trying to become more patient at the plate is not necessarily a bad thing, as it usually leads to more quality plate appearances. But that’s not the case for everybody. Some hitters thrive on being aggressive. Garcia is one of those hitters. By trying to cut back on that aggressiveness, Garcia and the Phillies have inadvertently taken away the few things he was still good at even in his worst years.
Maybe better results with the new approach will come eventually. It isn’t exactly “early” in the season anymore as we’ve passed the first unofficial checkpoint of Memorial Day, but there are still 106 games to go. That’s still plenty of time for something to click and everything to fall in place.
Or maybe the Phillies and Garcia need to accept that he is what he is at the plate and let him go back to leaning on his strengths, even if the result is another below average season. Because even below average is better than what Garcia is right now.
Coming into the 2026 season, the Mets were seemingly blessed with an overabundance of starting pitching. They traded for Freddy Peralta, who joined Nolan McLean, Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes, and David Peterson in the rotation. They also acquired Tobias Myers, who is capable of starting, in the Peralta trade, and they had Sean Manaea, Christian Scott, and Jonah Tong as depth.
Heading into June, the rotation has become a big question mark. While the team got good news that he doesn’t need surgery, Holmes is out for the foreseeable future with a fractured fibula. Senga is has made a pair of appearances on a rehab assignment as he recovers from lumbar spine inflammation, but there’s no guarantee he can be an effective major league pitcher when he does return.
As for the other starters, here’s how they’ve fared in the month of May:
Freddy Peralta: 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA
Nolan McLean: 1-2 with a 6.92 ERA
David Peterson: 3-1 with a 4.30 ERA
Christian Scott: 0-0 with 3.00 ERA
Myers isn’t stretched out and has been used both as an opener and a long man. He is 0-0 with one save in ten appearances in May. His ERA is 5.54 in those ten games. Jonah Tong has been fantastic since his call-up, but he has yet to start a game. In his two games, he has yet to give up an earned run in 6.2 innings.
And then there is Manaea. Overall his numbers look terrible, as he’s 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA in 34.0 innings pitched this season. And the fact that he’s coming off a 2025 season in which he struggled with both injuries and ineffectiveness isn’t exactly inspiring. In the month of May, however, he is 0-1 with a more respectable 3.75 ERA. He has been fine serving as the long man out of the bullpen when called upon.
At this point the team has nothing to lose giving Manaea a chance to start. They are in desperate need of arms, and he is capable of giving them some innings. Carlos Mendoza would not commit to giving Peterson another start after his last disastrous outing so there is an opportunity to piggyback the two. Plus in that scenario the team wouldn’t need to burn an opener like Huascar Brazobán, meaning crucial bullpen arms will be available in the later innings.
The current state of the rotation is a mess, so now is the time to get creative with the arms you do have and that means giving Manaea an opportunity to prove himself as a stater. There is still every chance that he will not succeed, but with the Mets already in last place, why not see what you have? The only way to go is up, right?
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 18: The mascot of the Seattle Mariners, Mariner Moose, gestures during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Chicago White Sox at T-Mobile Park on May 18, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Maddy Grassy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Diamondbacks are the hottest team in baseball. Full stop. They have won nine of their last ten. They’ve done it with great starting pitching, better than average offense, and they’ve even mixed in some spectacular defense from time to time. Yes, it comes against two of the worst teams in baseball, but even when you’re playing bad teams, you still have to beat them, and to do so in such a stretch is both impressive and exactly what they needed to do. They’ve got to keep the momentum up against the top teams now, but this is exactly the kick start they needed.
They go from the bottom of the NL West, to the top of the AL West. The AL West is slightly less competitive than the NL West, though, so that isn’t as scary as it could be. The Mariners are currently first in their division, but that only requires a 28-29 record at the moment. They’re on a hot streak of their own, however. They just swept division rival Oakland. We’ll see which sweep of a sub-.500 team holds up more.
Game 1 — 5/29, 7:10 PM: Zac Gallen (-0.3 bWAR, 3-4, 4.80 ERA/85 ERA+, 1.43 WHIP) vs. George Kirby (1.0 bWAR, 5-4, 3.54 ERA/110 ERA+, 1.20 WHIP)
Someone should do the math on how much money each mediocre start costs Gallen. At the rate he’s going, it’s going to be a lot. His hopes of a bounce back campaign to secure the multi-year, nine figure contract is waning, and he just hasn’t done much of anything particularly of note this season. The month of May has been especially rough after a decent start to the season in April. He has given up more than four earned runs in three of his five starts so far, and gave up three in an additional start just for good measure.
George Kirby has had a solidly above average season so far, but he’s been on a bit of a downward trend lately. In seven of his first nine starts, he held opponents to two runs or less, and he did not give up more than four. He also has been consistently pitching into the sixth inning or longer. However, his last two starts against the Padres and the Royals have been out of the ordinary. HE gave up six earned runs to the Padres, and five runs, three earned, to the Royals. The Padres game he got bit by the home run ball, but the Royals it seems it was just the errors that held him back. The Diamondbacks have power, and they have the speed to force misplays, so they’ll be looking to recreate those games.
Game 2 — 5/30, 7:10 PM: Ryne Nelson (-0.3 bWAR, 2-3, 4.65 ERA/88 ERA+, 1.18 WHIP) vs. Bryan Woo (0.7 bWAR, 4-3, 3.82 ERA/102 ERA+, 1.03 WHIP)
Don’t look now, but Ryne Nelson has been actually rather successful in the month of May. He has an ERA of 2.36 for the month, with the crowning achievement being his eight innings of one run ball against the Rockies in his most recent start. The question becomes how sustainable it is. He has a FIP of 4.29 for the month, almost exactly two runs higher than his month of May ERA. The strikeouts are inconsistent, the walks are high, and he’s basically a guarantee for a home run per start. Not promising for long term success.
In 2026, Woo has had similar results to Kirby. About a month ago, Woo had back to back starts where he gave up seven and six runs repsectively, but beyond that, it’s been good starts. One thing to note, the only home runs he has given up this year came in those two previously mentioned bad starts. Other than that, he has kept the ball in the park all season long. He’s given up two walks in each of his last four starts, so he will give you those free base runners. The Diamondbacks should probably plan on building innings, not mashing home runs, for this one.
Game 3 — 5/31, 1:10 PM: Merrill Kelly (-0.1 bWAR, 5-3, 5.25 ERA/78 ERA+, 1.41 WHIP) vs. Bryce Miller (0.4 bWAR, 1-0, 2.25 ERA/176 ERA+, 1.00 WHIP)
After a very rough first four months, Merrill Kelly is starting to look much more like the Mainstay that we thought Hazen had signed this off season. In his most recent four starts, he has thrown at least six innings, twice going seven, and a complete game just for good measure. The Giants tagged him for a couple runs, three in their first start against him and two in their second, but nothing crazy. With how rough his first four starts were, it will take a while before the stats start to look better, but he’s making progress.
This will be Miller’s fourth game, but third start as his last appearance was actually out of the bullpen. Not much to go off of so far, of course, but early returns have been positive. He’s gone at least five innings in all of his appearances, including his relief outing, and he has yet to give up more than two runs.
Conclusion
We aren’t picking on the bottom of the standings anymore, so the Diamondbacks should expect the Mariners to put up a bit more of a fight. That being said, this is a division leader that is sub-.500. Still plenty of room for them to continue padding their win column. I expect them to take two out of three in fairly low scoring affairs.
May 8, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman (15) reacts with infielder TJ Rumfield (7) after hitting a two-run home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the fourth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Paul DePodesta made a name as one of Billy Beane’s acolytes during the Moneyball era and in 2004, at the age of 31 became the Dodgers’ GM. He was hounded by the musty old LA Times sportwriters (who called him “Google Boy) and local LA media for the two seasons he lasted in the job — one local radio host summoned all of his brain cell to coin the name ”Paul Stupid-desta.“ He landed on his feet with the Padres and then the Mets before leaving MLB altogether. In January 2016, he became the ”chief strategy officer” of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and proceeded to spend 9 years further burying the wholly irrelevant franchise while introducing the NFL to SQL.
So, when the Colorado Rockies — a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season since 2018 and has lost 629 games over the previous 7 seasons —set out to hire someone from outside the organization to run the operation, DePodesta was at the top of their list, naturally. He has similarly introduced the Rockies to Computer and it seems like it’s going… okay? They’re 20-37 as they prepare to host the loserly San Francisco Giants in Coors Field for the first time this season, and while that’s definitely not good, it’s a vast improvement over where they were a year ago. Their record through 57 games going back to 2019:
There’s bad, there’s awful, and then there’s whatever the Rockies have been. It’s not pleasant to look at and it’s only palatable when they’re losing to your favorite team. Even with the DePodesta providing his “genius” as President of Baseball Operations— and with Josh Byrnes back in the org as GM (he’d been their AGM at the turn of the century) following successful stints with the Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Padres, and Dodgers — they’re still the worst lineupe in the sport (81 wRC+) with the worst team ERA in the sport (5.18). Their 229 runs scored isn’t last (it’s 21st) but that’s the extent of the Coors Field effect. They still don’t hit for power (.135 ISO — 24th) or walk much (7.6 BB% — 29th) and they strike out a lot (24.3 K% — 28th). They are tied with the Giants in home runs with 49. Their team batting average of .241 is 15th, though, not too far behind the Giants’ .245 (10th).
They’re just 6-19 in May with a -70 run differential. The Giants are 9-16 with a -28.
So, while the Rockies are worse than the Giants both on paper and in reality, they’re probably a lot closer in quality than Giants fans want to admit and Rockies fans might be surprised to see.
They didn’t do much in the offseason, but their “big” acquisitions have made impacts:
INF Willi Castro (2 years, $12.8 million) hasn’t hit much (77 wRC+), but has been great on defense (+1.8 Defensive Runs Above Average)
SP Michael Lorenzen (1/$8MM) has been one of the worst starters in baseball (7.21 ERA / 5.13 FIP), but has a comically large home/road split: HOME: 10.03 ERA (2.44 WHIP), ROAD: 5.04 (1.48 WHIP).
RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (1/$5.1MM) has been their most consistent starter, with a 4.01 ERA (5.33 FIP) in 11 starts.
1B TJ Rumfield (acquired in trade with Yankees) has 7 home runs and a triple slash of .281/.359/.448.
Before he hit the IL, they were getting a great contribution from starter Chase Dollander, their 1st round pick of the 2023 draft. But otherwise, the modest bounceback from the demonic 2025 season seems to be the result of tinkering at the margins as DePodesta and Byrnes assess the entire organization. Not unlike how 2019 was a transition season as Farhan Zaidi took over from Bobby Evans.
But the question is if Computer will beat No Computer in the battle for Not Last Place in the NL West. The Rockies have been last place for so long that it has started to feel like they’d achieved a tenured position. But this year, the Giants might be bad enough — and dumb enough — to unseat them from the Last Place Chair.
Series overview
Who: San Francisco Giants (22-34) at Colorado Rockies (20-37) Where: Coors Field | Denver, Colorado When: Friday at 5:40pm PT, Saturday at 6:10pm PT, Sunday at 12:10pm PT National broadcasts: None.
Projected starters Friday: Logan Webb (RHP 2-4, 5.06 ERA) vs. Michael Lorenzen (RHP 2-7, 7.21 ERA) Saturday: Adrian Houser (RHP 2-4, 5.30 ERA) vs. TBD Sunday: Robbie Ray (LHP 3-6, 4.60 ERA) vs. Tanner Gordon (RHP 0-0, 5.85 ERA)
Players to watch
Rockies
Antonio Senzatela: He’s been a foil for the Giants throughout his career (5-3, 4.89 ERA) and this season might change the nature of the rivalry in that he’s transitioned from an iffy starter to a dominate reliever. In 33 IP (16 G), he has a 1.36 ERA (3.19 FIP) and allowed just 2 home runs (career 1.1 HR/9). Conventiently, Michael Baumann wrote a nice piece about Senzatela this morning for FanGraphs.
If you take “believe” to mean “think Senzatela will continue to put up Prime Dennis Eckersley numbers,” there’s reason to be skeptical. Senzatela’s running a .198 BABIP, an 87.8% strand rate, and a 5.4% HR/FB rate, which is a little over a third of what it usually is. All of those are big, honking regression indicators.
But where should we expect Senzatela to regress to? Well, his FIP is 3.19 and his xERA is 3.09. Not only are those numbers really good for a multi-inning reliever, full stop, they’re also about half of what he was running last year. That’s a huge improvement. He’s like a new pitcher.
So what’s different?
The Rockies have done some weird stuff with bullpen roles this season (pre-injury Chase Dollander’s stint as the world’s greatest bulk reliever comes to mind), and they’ve been similarly creative with Senzatela. He’s faced at least four batters in all 16 of his appearances this year, and recorded five or more outs on 14 occasions. He’s yet to pitch on back-to-back days, and he’s turned over the lineup more often (five times) than he’s pitched on just one day’s rest.
The piece goes on to highlight how he throws a great fastball and more than one fastball: a four-seamer, a sinker, and a cutter, which opponents have hit just .143 against.
This will be an interesting series because the Rockies’ formal closer, Victor Vodnik, has been on the IL since 5/20 with right ulnar nere inflammation. Dollander, who has also relieved, is on the IL. It’s not as though the Rockies had a great bullpen before, but it’s a little dinged up.
TJ Rumfield: The offseason acquisition has been day to day recently after a hit by pitch on May 25th. Prior to the injury, he was hitting .308/.400/.500 in May with 4 homers and 3 doubles, with 13 strikeouts against 9 walks. Pretty close to a Three True Outcomes player who would be one of the biggest threats in the Rockies’ lineup with Mickey Moniak on the IL. Otherwise, it’s last yaer’s All-Star and Silver slugger Hunter Goodman who is the real remaining power threat (12 HR).
Tanner Gordon: His third major league start ever came back in 2024 against a barely recognizable Giants lineup:
DH Jorge Soler RF Mike Yastrzemski CF Heliot Ramos LF Michael Conforto SS Tyler Fitzgerald 3B Matt Chapman 2B Brett Wisely 1B David Villar C Curt Casali SP Hayden Birdsong
He gave up 4 runs in 6 innings but struck out 5 and walked 0. Last season, he started 15 games for the Rockies and… it didn’t go well (6.33 ERA). His first 7 appearances this year were in relief, but his last appearance was against the Dodgers in LA. He allowed just 1 run on 6 hits in 5 innings of work, striking out 3 and walking 1.
Giants
Rafael Devers: He has 3 homers in 8 career games at Coors, making a triple slash of .229/.315/.454. His 0-for-4 in Wednesday’s game didn’t damage his hot May too much. He’s at .287/.333/.564 (.897 OPS) through the first 25 games of the month. Can he start another hot streak in these three games?
Jung Hoo Lee: He’s set to be activated off the IL today and for good reason. He has a career .911 OPS against Colorado, but in Coors Field, he’s hitting .357/.455/.539 (.990) in 33 PA. Not a robust sample size, but maybe a great way for him to step into a hot streak right off the IL.
Logan Webb: On the flip side, this is a tough place for a pitcher to come off the IL, but the Giants need Webb to get that ace-like performance going ASAP. In 10 career starts at Coors, he’s got a 4.37 ERA. The Rockies have a team groundball rate of 42%, which is 14th in MLB, so it might not be that easy for Webb to get the groundballs he needs in order to get out of long innings. On the other hand, they have just a 37.1% flyball rate, one of the worst in the sport (24th) and their HR to flyball rate of 9.5% is also nearer to the bottom third of the sport (19th). It could go either way, which only means that if Webb is right, he should be able to give the Giants a solid start.
Tony Vitello watch
His opponent in the Rockies dugout is Warren Schaeffer, who was a Rockies farmhand turned coach who wound up on the major league coaching staff in 2023 before taking over as interim manager from the deposed Bud Black. I only bring this up because in the first couple of months of the season it has seemed as though the least experienced managers still have an edge over Vitello simply by having been around the major leagues more. That doesn’t mean Vitello might never become the type of success he was in college ball, but it suggests that aura isn’t transferrable. Or, at least, there’s an exchange rate.
If you remember, Coors Field is where Buster Posey first met Tony Vitello, and it was this meeting that Andrew Baggarly remembered when coming up with a list of managerial candidates following Bob Melvin’s dismissal. Does this stadium hold a special place in Vitello’s memory or has it become a house of horrors for him as it has for the Giants over the years?
Prediction time
Last time out, I predicted that the Giants would not get swept by the Diamondbacks, so, what do I know? Also, what an embarrassment. I thought the Giants could win 1 game at home against a division rival. Oh well. Lesson learned. This time, I’ll predict that the Giants will hit at least 5 home runs in this series.
Jace Avina of the Somerset Patriots is present before a Minor League Baseball game at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, United States, on May 15, 2026. (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
As much as some people seem to deny it, the Yankees’ player development has taken tremendous strides over the last several years and is generating value all throughout the 20 rounds that the team gets in each year’s MLB Draft.
Every year, there’s a new prospect that seemingly comes out of nowhere to shoot up the minor leagues or become interesting enough to become trade bait. We’ve seen Ben Rice rise from a 12th-round pick to a star, we’ve seen Cam Schlittler go from a seventh-rounder to a Cy Young candidate, and we’ve seen Will Warren progress nicely from his origins as an eighth-round pick out of Southeast Louisiana.
Even guys like Dillon Lewis, Dylan Jasso, and Brendan Jones, three position players who massively overperformed their draft positions, combined to make up a trade package that got the Yankees a high-upside arm in Ryan Weathers. Regardless of whether these players ever play in pinstripes, they can produce value.
So who could be the next player to join this crop of players? Here are five candidates from all around the diamond:
Jackson Lovich
It’s not every day that you see a shortstop with considerable game power, but that is what the Yankees have in Lovich, who they selected in the 16th round under 11 months ago out of Missouri. If you want to see who could move through the minor leagues in the fashion that Rice did a few years ago, Lovich is the best bet.
The 6-foot-3 right-handed hitter made his professional debut last August, where he excelled in six games with Single-A Tampa over the course of 10 days, going a blistering 14-for-22 with six extra-base hits, four walks, and three stolen bases. He started 2026 on the injured list, but made his season debut just a week later.
He’s gone through the ebbs and flows of a minor leaguer in his first full season, opening the season on fire before enduring a prolonged slump at the end of April. He’s wrapping up a stellar May that’s seeing him slash .362/.438/.797 through Thursday night, including a three-homer game last Wednesday.
Lovich leads the Florida State League with 11 home runs and is third with a 162 wRC+. He posts well above-average barrel and hard-hit rates, while also displaying great speed and athleticism, with 11 stolen bases while splitting time at third base and shortstop. It’s more likely he mans the hot corner as he climbs the minor league ladder, but the longer he keeps getting reps at short, the better.
Here's every Minor League shortstop to have multiple 113+ MPH barrels in their ENTIRE MiLB career.
There are multiple areas that the 22-year-old can still improve upon. His game power in all fields is extremely impressive, but he’s got the James Wood disease of being unable to harness his raw power into launching fly balls to the pull side. His Pull Air% is just 6.5 percent.
Another area he’s lagging behind is his overall contact rates, as he is striking out 29 percent of the time with mediocre chase and whiff rates. There’s some vulnerability against non-fastballs, and his Z-Contact% is Spencer Jones-level bad, but has steadily improved as the season has continued. He’s still young, so his ability to cover up the in-zone hole in his swing will be the difference between being a Jones-level hitter or a Rice-level hitter.
Wilberson De Pena
Good organizations can take toolsy prospects from the Dominican Republic and make them into something. Every team dangles young players currently playing in the Dominican Summer League in trade conversations due to how far away they are from a big league impact and the low hit rate, but good orgs can make you pay. Just look at what the Dodgers are doing to Christian Zazueta, whom the Yankees sent them for… Caleb Ferguson.
The other team from LA swung a recent trade with the Yankees, which saw things go the opposite way. Out went the perennially underwhelming Oswald Peraza to Anaheim in exchange for Wilberson De Pena, an 18-year-old who was going through the motions in the DSL in his second pro season. At least initially, there wasn’t much to talk about with him.
Now there is. He came stateside to the Florida Complex League and has spent the first three weeks of the season absolutely raking. In 18 games, he’s slashing .392/.451/.743 with an FCL-leading six home runs, 27 RBI, 13 extra-base hits, and 11 stolen bases. His 184 wRC+ is eighth in the FCL. He’s already topped his full-season totals from 2025 in several categories. He already has more stolen bases and home runs and has tied his XBH total in 40 less plate appearances.
FanGraphs ranked him the No. 15 prospect in the organization entering the season, but he was unranked on MLB Pipeline. The big concern that FanGraphs had was his contact ability, but he seems to be improving in that regard, slashing his strikeout rate to under 18 percent. He’s reaching his game power potential while using his speed tremendously more. He’s split time across all three outfield positions in 2026, but he’ll almost certainly settle into a corner down the road.
De Pena doesn’t seem long for the FCL, and we’ll get a chance to see more with Statcast data when he gets promoted to Tampa, but the signs are there for him to rise the rankings.
Jace Avina
We showed you the profile of a player with great raw power who wasn’t able to optimize it due to an inability to pull it in the air. Now, what if you had a player like that who’s the same age, playing two levels higher, and has an innate ability to drive the ball in the air to the pull side.
That, my friends, is Jace Avina. Originally a 14th-round pick out of Spanish Springs High School in rural Nevada by the Brewers, he was traded to the Yankees along with Brian Sanchez after the 2023 season for Jake Bauers. Avina spent a year and a half with High-A Hudson Valley, steadily improving before earning a promotion to Double-A Somerset in July 2025, where he endured growing pains.
Now, as he nears his 23rd birthday, he’s figuring out yet another level. He’s been one of the best players in MiLB in May, slashing .313/.411/.615 with seven home runs and 19 RBI after a so-so April. On the season, he’s got an .895 OPS and a 135 wRC+.
Jace Avina rips his 12th HR of the season to tie things up in Bowie!
Avina’s profile is pretty straightforward. He has tremendous pull-side power that he gets to quite easily. Since joining the Yankees’ organization, he’s pulled 54 percent of his batted balls and has never posted a ground ball rate north of 33 percent. He hits the ball in the air and pulls it, which doesn’t have quite the same impact as a right-handed hitter in this specific system, but is usually a successful formula for power bats.
Defensively, he’s considered to be decent enough in center field with a fair amount of athleticism, but being pushed to a corner is definitely possible in the future. So far this year, 20 of his 38 starts have came in center field.
The weaknesses are the same as guys like Jones and Lovich: his ability to consistently make contact. His strikeout rate has spiked from 24.4 percent in High-A last year to 31.6 percent this year. It doesn’t help that he’s also walking less. He’s also tremendously inconsistent, going from one of the best hitters in the system one month before ghosting the next.
Lovich and Avina are similar prospects in some ways, but completely different in others. Not only do they have completely different styles of displaying their raw power, but they also thrive on different pitches. Avina feasts on breaking balls, but struggles against fastballs. But still, with him just now turning 23 in early June in his fifth minor league season and a propensity to figure out a level in his second year there, he’s on a solid trajectory.
Tyler Boudreau
The Yankees certainly aren’t starved for high-end pitching prospects, but it doesn’t hurt to have more in your arsenal. You know the big names: guys like Ben Hess, Carlos Lagrange, Elmer Rodríguez, Bryce Cunningham, etc. Guys like Pico Kohn and Thatcher Hurd have more pedigree. Where’s the later round guy that could emerge as Warren and Schlittler did?
Let’s go way outside the box. Tyler Boudreau didn’t get drafted out of Texas Tech in the 2025 MLB Draft, but was scooped up by the Yanks shortly after as an undrafted free agent. He became a rare pitcher to toss pro innings in his draft year, striking out nine in five innings for Tampa in August of last year to set up his rotation spot this year.
Through eight starts, he’s pitching to a 2.94 ERA and 3.19 FIP in 33.2 innings with 42 strikeouts to just 12 walks. Posting a 22.2 K-BB% as a starter in Single-A is elite, and when you couple that with premier chase and whiff rates? That’ll play.
#Tarpons RHP Tyler Boudreau (W, 1–1) logged a scoreless 5.1 IP (4H, 1BB, 5K, 79P/56S), lowering his ERA to 2.94. In 4 May starts, owns a 1.83 ERA (4ER/19.2IP) w/ 22Ks and only 6BB. #Yankeespic.twitter.com/N9hmyibpfT
The Halifax, Canada, native is 23 in Single-A after spending four years in the Big 12, so the performance numbers themselves aren’t too impressive, but let’s look at the pitch data:
Tyler Boudreau, an UDFA, was my breakout pitching prospect for the Yankees this season, and he delivered in his first start!
The 23-year-old righty flexed his high-riding fastball in addition to his trio of secondaries to strike out 9 over 4.1 innings. Excited to see more of him pic.twitter.com/kupdYtCPCe
He leans heavily on a low-to-mid 90s fastball that has tremendous ride, frequently sitting with over 19 inches of induced vertical break (IVB). He couples it with a changeup that grades out pretty well, as well as a slider and curveball. At 6-foot-1, he’s not the stereotypical massive starter that the Yankees have thrived with of late, but figures to be able to fill out a bit more. With his age, we’ll know pretty soon how the Yankees feel about his long-term prospects.
Ben Grable
Lastly, let’s look for someone who can be a big-time relief prospect. The Yankees used their 2025 11th-round pick on a solid Big Ten reliever from Indiana in Ben Grable. Despite nothing jumping off the page in terms of his collegiate performance, the Yankees pushed the 24-year-old to High-A immediately, where he dominated with 17 strikeouts in 7.1 innings.
Ben Grable (RHP – 11th round 2025) tonight: 1.2 IP 0 ER 0 H 5 K 1 BB + 1 HBP
Ben was featured in Baseball America's statcast standouts article released after the draft under the Yankees' subsection. Ben made easy work of this Blue Rocks lineup with his fastball to both R/L… pic.twitter.com/RVndrJNxQp
That earned him a quick promotion to Somerset, where he’s endured some growing pains in immediate high-leverage roles. Still, the fact that an organization that has multiple elite High-A relievers at a similar age seemingly stuck has pushed a guy like Grable after less than eight innings shows the belief they have in him. So far in his 18 career innings, he has a 35.0 K-BB%.
Baseball America has already shot him up to No. 14 in the system, thanks to his electric mid-to-upper 90s fastball that has up to 21 IVB. His three-pitch mix also includes a slider and splitter, but he hasn’t seemed to trust either of them as much as his complete outlier of a four-seamer.
There were a grand total of ZERO MLB pitchers last year to average 95+ MPH and 20”+ IVB on their fastball.
The fact that his entire professional career has been contained in the two full-season levels without Statcast data makes it harder for more in-depth analysis, but it’s clear that he’s on the fast track to big league consideration. As of Friday, he is the only member of the 2025 draft class to be above A-ball, and he’s been aggressively promoted in a way that we haven’t seen from this organization with relievers. He’s absolutely someone to watch going forward if you’re looking for homegrown relief pitching.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 25: Tyler Stephenson #37 and Graham Ashcraft #23 of the Cincinnati Reds celebrate after the game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on May 25, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The blows to the Cincinnati Reds bullpen keep right on coming.
On Friday, somewhat out of the blue, the Reds placed Graham Ashcraft on the injured list with what’s being called a “UCL sprain right forearm,” and they didn’t just place him on the 15-day IL, either. Ashcraft went straight to the 60-day IL, a move that’s both ominous and potentially an indication that we’ve seen the last of Graham for the 2026 season (and maybe longer).
The Reds announced the move on Friday afternoon, noting that they had selected the contract of Yunior Marte from AAA Louisville in a corresponding move.
Ashcraft was a key cog in the bullpen prior to the hamstring injury that landed Emilio Pagan on the 60-day IL himself, but had assumed a much higher importance in the wake of said injury. His last trio of outings had also been rock solid, and he was beginning to be looked upon as a legitimate closing option as the team attempts to manage Pagan’s absence.
Now, though, the Reds must figure out how to reconfigure their bullpen once again, while we all wait and see the severity of the injury. I’m not going to bring up the guy whose medical procedure has been named after him, but it’s hard not to go right to that with your mind the moment you hear that there’s damage to a UCL.
COVERS INTEL:
