Category: MLB

Sean McAdam, one of the most experienced reporters on the Red Sox beat, recently wrote that it was “nearly impossible” to imagine Craig Breslow surviving this season as the Red Sox CBO. While that certainly feels true at this juncture, he is only third on this list of front office executives facing the most pressure leading up to this year’s trade deadline. (Buster Olney, ESPN)

What’s so interesting about Breslow’s precarious job security is that he can point to many offseason moves that have unquestionably been smashing successes. The Willson Contreras trade is foremost among them, as Contreras is on pace to hit 38 homers, obliterating his previous career-high of 24. “I’m not looking to put the pressure on myself to get to 30 [home runs], or to get to some number,” he said. “[T]here’s still a lot of season left, but I feel good at the plate, try to make contact, and if I get to 30, thank God.” (Avery Hill, Boston Globe)

Another move that’s worked out is Wilyer Abreu getting at-bats against left-handed pitching. His success is not a coincidence. “Five or six days per week, November into February, he practiced by initially using little more than a traditional pitching machine. Instead of putting the machine on the mound, he shaded it off to the first base side “to exaggerate the angle” of a real lefthanded pitcher. ‘As close as I can, literally behind my back,’ he said. ‘Try to work the angle.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

But despite the success they’ve had this season, neither Contreras or Abreu is going to start the All-Star Game. In fact, with the first round of voting under way, no Red Sox player is even close. (Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald)

If Craig Breslow does decide to sell at the deadline, who are the Sox’ most likely trading partners? Look to the Padres as a good fit for Jarren Duran and the surprising White Sox as a good fit for Sonny Gray and Aroldis Chapman, says one analyst. (Jim Bowden, The Athletic)

But while Gray, Chapman, and possibly Contreras are already considered to be amongst the biggest potential prizes of the trade deadline, some executives are pushing back on the idea that the Red Sox will get a haul for any of them. “I think a lot of these players have a chance to be difference makers, but here would be my questions if acquiring any of them,” one NL executive said. “You have to treat Sonny and Aroldis as one-year deals, and that’s a big buyout. Would you pay Sonny $20 million for the rest of this year? Aroldis will almost certainly opt out…Duran would be a sell-low [option] at this point; he has struggled to hit even though he has had some power.” (Mark Feinsand, MLB.com)

But don’t talk to Sonny Gray about being traded. He says he’s not remotely paying attention to any of that:

Malcolm Moore, the Texas Rangers’ first round draft pick in 2024, has been promoted from high-A Hub City to AA Frisco, it was announced today.

Moore, a 22 year old catcher, had a disappointing 2025 season, as he slashed .195/.300/.276 on the year, primarily at high-A Hub City, while missing time due to a fractured thumb. He also played 17 games in the Arizona Fall League, slashing .231/.275/.328.

Moore returned to Hub City to start the 2026 season and initially got off to a slow start before heating up. He has slashed .300/.387/.542 in 217 plate appearances for Hub City this year, with 10 homers, 20 walks and 42 Ks while throwing out 33% of baserunners. He joins fellow 2024 draftees Dylan Dreiling, Rafe Perich, Keith Jones II, Dalton Pence, Eric Loomis and Joey Danielson on the Frisco roster.

The Roughriders have an 11 a.m. game today, and I would guess Moore will be in the lineup.

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The St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Padres meet once again tonight as Michael King looks to get back on track. 

However, my Cardinals vs. Padres predictions are targeting St. Louis to capitalize on King's recent struggles with an impressive offenisve display. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Tuesday, June 16.

Who will win Padres vs Cardinals today: Cardinals moneyline (-109)

San Diego Padres right-hander Michael King hasn't been his dominant self this season, sporting a 4.30 FIP. 

King has compiled a 7.64 xERA and 6.81 FIP across his last two starts while allowing an alarming 2.84 home runs per nine innings. He also owns a 38.6% hard-hit rate during the last month.

The St. Louis Cardinals counter with Andre Pallante, who's allowed a mere 3.2% barrel rate over his last two starts to go along with a solid 3.19 xERA. Pallante has surrendered just 0.77 home runs per nine innings over the last two weeks.

St. Louis should generate offense against King, while Pallante is well positioned to keep a struggling Padres lineup in check.

I'll play this pick up to -130.

COVERS INTEL: The Cardinals have an impressive 48.7% hard hit rate over their last seven games, suggesting this matchup against a struggling King is a perfect spot to keep raking. 

Padres vs Cardinals Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-125)

Despite King's recent struggles, he's worked into the sixth inning in three consecutive starts, limiting the amount of bullpen exposure.

San Diego's relief corps has been elite, posting a 2.30 ERA and 3.36 FIP over the last week while allowing just 0.66 home runs per nine innings.

As for St. Louis, Pallante typically pitches into the fifth or sixth inning. While the relief corps owns a 4.46 xERA over the last two weeks, the unit enters extremely well-rested after Dustin May threw a shutout on Monday.

The Padres are batting just .234 over their last six games and own a modest .172 ISO during that stretch. 

I'll play this pick up to -140. 

Padres vs Cardinals odds

• Moneyline: Padres -100 | Cardinals -104
• Run line: Padres -1.5 (+170) | Cardinals +1.5 (-186)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+113) | Under 8.5 (-117)

Padres vs Cardinals trend

The Padres have hit the Under in 24 of their last 40 games (+6.50 Units / 15% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Padres vs. Cardinals.

How to watch Padres vs Cardinals and game info

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The present day New York Yankees are in a fight for the lead in the American League East. Of course, there’s plenty of season left, but the Tampa Bay Rays have been either ahead of them or right on their heels. And in order for the Bombers to stay in the lead (and help separate themselves from the pack now without their leading slugger), they’re going to need even more of a full team effort.

That effort stems across the organization, from the hitters in the lineup, to those in the rotation, and those in the bullpen. One of the members at the back of the Yankees rotation who has continued to show just how valuable he can be is Will Warren, the young right-hander who is hoping to solidify himself not just as an above-average major league starter, but someone who can go above and beyond in the biggest moments for a Yankees team looking for another World Series title.

William Harper Warren
Born: June 16, 1999 (Brandon, MS)
Yankees Tenure: 2024-present

Will Warren was born in the southern region of the United States in Brandon, Mississippi. He grew up on the diamond before attending Jackson Preparatory School in Flowood, Mississippi from 2013 to 2017. He wasn’t the tallest, and he certainly wasn’t the biggest player on the field, but he racked up excellent numbers on the mound in high school, finishing his senior season with a 1.59 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 52.2 innings pitched in his 10 appearances.

Warren attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana from 2018 to 2021. His freshman year he was utilized exclusively in the bullpen, appearing in 18 games and finishing with a 3.04 ERA. However, in his sophomore year he transitioned into a starter role; it was a slow start for the right-hander, though. In 14 games started and 16 games played, he finished with a 6.72 ERA in 67.0 innings pitched. He only allowed four home runs through the season, but he also allowed 74 hits and 50 earned runs. His coaching staff didn’t give up on his stuff, though. In his junior season, which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Warren only pitched five games (which he finished with a 1.90 ERA in 23.2 innings pitched). He pitched two games as a starter and three out of the bullpen, but, just as it was in MLB, it was an odd season for every level of every sport.

His make-or-break senior season was where Warren finally seemed to grip the reins a bit more than he had in previous years. He pitched in 14 games and started all of them. He finished with an ERA of 2.57 across 91.0 innings (an average of 6.2 innings per game). He also pitched two complete games that year and finished with 95 strikeouts.

Following his four seasons at Southeastern Louisiana, he was drafted by the Yankees in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Amateur Draft. He made his professional debut in 2022 with the Hudson Valley Renegades of the High-A South Atlantic League, where he pitched eight total games before a call up to Double-A with the Somerset Patriots. He had a 3.60 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 35.0 innings pitched with the Renegades and then didn’t return to High-A ball. He stayed in Double-A for the rest of the season and pitched 18 games, all as a starter, and he acclimated as well as many would expect for a 23-year-old fresh to pro ball. He finished the season with a 4.06 ERA in 94.0 innings pitched with 83 strikeouts. And even though he allowed a decent amount of hits, he avoided the long ball and was able to strike batters out when he needed to.

Warren returned to Somerset at the beginning of the 2023 season, but the same story unfolded for him between Double and Triple-A as it had for High-A and Double-A the year before. He pitched in only six games with the Patriots before being called up again — the Yankees thought he should be with Scranton following a dominant 2.45 ERA start. He stayed in Triple-A for the rest of the year and pitched 99.2 innings, crossing the 100 strikeout mark for a single team for the first time in his career with 110. The first half of his season was a lot more rocky than the second half, given that he was still adjusting to the Automated Balls-Strikes system that Triple-A had just adopted at that point. But when he found his stride, there was a clear look at the potential he could provide to a major league rotation. He finished the year not just having allowed only two runs in 28.2 innings in September, but he also won the International League Pitcher of the Month award thanks to that performance. He ended with a 7-4 record with the Railriders, and would earn himself a shot with the big league team in the 2024 season.

However, the next year wasn’t as glamorous for Warren as he may have wanted it to be. He was invited to spring training as a non-roster player, but was eventually sent backto Triple-A and struggled. He pitched 23 games and crossed the 100.0 innings pitched plateau for the first time in his professional career. However, a 5.91 ERA was not the number in the box score anyone was expecting as one of the Yankees farm system’s top pitchers. Nonetheless, he was given the chance to make his major league debut after Gerrit Cole was scratched from his July 30th start due to general body fatigue. At age 25, Warren, donning the number 98, ran out to the mound for his first major league start. And it wasn’t the best start of all time, but there were certainly flashes as he posted 5.1 innings pitched with four hits, six strikeouts, two walks, and four earned runs against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Remaining with the team for the rest of the 2024 season, Warren received five more apperances on a major league mound (four of which were starts), but he posted a 10.51 ERA, a result of problems that had plagued him prior to the big leagues: giving up lots of contact and a lot of baserunners.

Warren was on the Opening Day roster for the Yankees in 2025 due to injuries to both Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil, and he was thrown into the fire. He won his first major league game against the San Francisco Giants at Yankee Stadium on April 12th, and went on to pitch 162.1 innings that season over 33 games, 33.1 more innings pitched than ever in his career, and about 53 more innings pitched at a single level in his career. A highlight of his year was posting his career-high in strikeouts against the Los Angeles Angels in six innings pitched a day following his 26th birthday.

Warren finished the season with a 4.44 ERA, a 92 ERA+, and questions about his future with the Yankees arose considering the return of Gil and, eventually, Cole, put his position in the rotation in jeopardy. The 2026 season (particularly his start to the year) was going to be crucial. But, Cole wasn’t set to return until a bit into the season, and Carlos Rodón, who had elbow surgery in October, wasn’t going to be ready for Opening Day either, giving Warren the perfect chance to seize his moment.

And he did. Warren, alongside new acquisition Ryan Weathers at the back of the rotation, was fantastic through the early parts of the season and helped build confidence in a fanbase that may have been shaky on him. He finished with a 2.59 ERA and 3-0 record in six games through March and April, and, even though things have begun to come back down to Earth following a 3.82 ERA in May (despite a 4-1 record over that time as well), he still managed plenty of excellent outings, including another 11 strikeout performance at Yankee Stadium against the Kansas City Royals, tying his career-high.

June has been less favorable to Warren than Yankees fans may want to see, but he has the stuff to remain a solid, durable arm at the back of the Bombers rotation. We’ll be celebrating his birthday following an outing where he had to labor against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, but also with the start of a new series, as the Yankees welcome the Chicago White Sox. Happy birthday Will, and best of luck the rest of this season!

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

This team is stupid. This season is stupid. This game makes WPA look stupid. It isn’t often that I look at a one-run deficit heading to the ninth and am pretty sure the Cubs will eventually walk the game off. I wasn’t sure it would be in the ninth. But I was pretty sure they’d get there. This was definitely a game where it felt like both teams were trying to give the game away, but the Rockies are a bit more adept at doing so.

By the third batter of the ninth inning, I was positive the Cubs would walk this one off barring something like a freak line-drive triple play. And make no mistake, I was factoring that in way beyond any reasonable estimate at the exact likelihood of that event. The Rockies certainly seemed incapable of throwing enough strikes down the stretch of this one to exploit the Cubs’ biggest weakness of striking out three straight times with runners in scoring position. Nor were they likely to even get a couple of weak pop-ups with the gas they were throwing. Any contact seemed likely to be a line drive.

I showed my Nostradamus skills and ability to go way out on tenuous limbs and predict that Pete Crow-Armstrong would eventually hit for the cycle. He’d already had one close call and one close-ish call this year. That felt to me a little like Jake Arrieta before he eventually threw a no-hitter. You just knew that Pete had all of the skills that would make a batter hit for a cycle. He blistered five balls on the day and very easily could have had a five hit cycle.

PCA’s game was one that almost certainly has people looking at WPA confused. I could say that both getting picked off and the sacrifice fly had significant adverse effects on the game. The pickoff of PCA flipped the momentum of the game. The Cubs had two singles, two walks and saw a Rockies wild pitch and didn’t score a run. Then, the Rockies hit a three-run homer in the top of the next inning. But somehow, PCA had a homer, triple, and double before the Rockies scored their first run and if he’d left the game at that point, PCA still wouldn’t make the podium in this game.

If I wanted to defend WPA, I’d say yeah but the Cubs flipped the script and scored a run in the eighth and two in the ninth to walk this off. So much of the equity is tied into those late clutch plays that helped walk it off, right? Then how the heck do I explain how Shōta Imanaga was the Superhero? Well, Imanaga was the Superhero of the first chunk of this game. He allowed one run over 5.2 innings of work. For WPA purposes, Phil Maton gets charged for the one run. But Matt Shaw is the hitting star of those first six innings, by way of his RBI triple to give the Cubs the lead in the sixth.

Then Shaw comes back and gets the walk off to nudge him into the Hero spot in this one. Pedro Ramirez gets a game-tying single in the ninth. That lands him the third spot. Ian Happ’s contribution to the walk off actually lands him fourth. No love from PCA for the cycle in a tight game. That’s about as tough a crowd as you’ll see. But we are watching PCA emerge as a potential Rizzo award winner. Michael Busch is no slouch, but PCA has gained three points on Busch over the last eight games, despite Busch being fairly hot too.

Only one team has fewer saves than the Cubs. That team has nine fewer wins (Angels). I’m not doing a research project on this, but off the top of my head, two of the 10 saves the Cubs do have are three-inning saves. No team has fewer save opportunities than the Cubs. The three teams tied with them for the least opportunities are at 29, 29 and 32 wins. And again, among the 21 save opportunities the Cubs have had are two three-inning saves. If I were going to deep dive these numbers, I would look into how many of the Cubs 11 blown saves were even in the ninth inning? Toss the two three-inning saves and all of the blown saves that were like this one, with the save being blown in the eighth. Not that those don’t count, but I’m looking for the number of actual ninth inning (or later), turn the ball over to a reliever to get three outs for a save. I’m pretty sure also that at least one of the saves is in extra innings.

I did peek quickly at the wins and I think it is one last at bat win, in addition to the nine walk offs. There was one game against the Dodgers in LA where the Cubs scored two runs in the ninth and won 6-4. Unless I’m forgetting a game that entered the ninth tied and ended up being a bit of a blowout, that’s the only last inning road win so far. But at 10 of 38 wins, that means that more than a quarter of this team’s wins are in the final inning. Simply wild. I don’t go down the rabbit holes often, but I wonder what the records are for walk offs and for last inning wins.

Positives:

• Pete Crow-Armstrong with the reverse cycle, giving the Cubs a lead off homer to get things started. He added a sacrifice fly that helped the comeback.
• Shōta Imanaga allowed one run over 5.2 innings.
• Pedro Ramirez came off the bench for two hits and drove in the tying run. I get the frustration that he’s not playing more, but I applaud that A) they are trying to pick spots to allow him to succeed and B) they didn’t shy away from getting him into a close game late and take key plate appearances.
• Matt Shaw got a start and made the most of it. Two hits, one a triple and the walk off walk.

Hat tips to Michael Conforto who had a nice plate appearance and drew a walk and Daniel Palencia who recovered from a lead off walk with three straight strikeouts.

Game 73, June 15: Cubs 5, Rockies 4 (38-35)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Shōta Imanaga (.294). 5.2 IP, 22 BF, 5 H, BB, ER, 3 K
• Hero: Matt Shaw (.286). 2-4, 3B, BB, 2 RBI, R
• Sidekick: Pedro Ramirez (.276). 2-2, RBI

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Caleb Thielbar (-.508). IP, 4 BF, H, ER, K
• Goat: Phil Maton (-.101). 0.1 IP, 3 BF, BB, HBP
• Kid: Michael Busch (-.099). 0-2, 2 BB, HBP

WPA Play of the Game: Cole Carrigg’s three-run homer off of Caleb Thielbar in the eighth inning turned a one run deficit to a two run lead. (.616)

Cubs Play of the Game: Ian Happ barely got a bat on a ball and bounced it back to Juan Mejia with a runner on first and no outs in the ninth, the Cubs down one. Mejia threw it into centerfield and the Cubs ended up with runners on first and third. (.329)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 72 Winner: There are ongoing issues with polls that Al and I are working on. Informally, it looked like about 4-3 in favor of Pete Crow-Armstrong over Ryan Rolison. Hopefully, that was a representative sample.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Michael Busch +25
• Pete Crow-Armstrong +15
• Ben Brown +12.5
• Michael Conforto +10
• Trent Thornton/Carson Kelly +7.5
• Matt Shaw/Jameson Taillon -8
• Phil Maton -10
• Caleb Thielbar -11
• Dansby Swanson -12
• Seiya Suzuki -23.5

Up Next: Game two of the three-game series. Edward Cabrera (4-3, 4.86) starts against Ryan Feltner (2-2, 5.20) in a rematch from a game the Cubs won 9-3 last Thursday. The Cubs scored six runs in just 4.1 innings off of Feltner and Cabrera held the Rockies to two runs over 5.1. It could help that the Rockies ended up using six relievers on Monday and the Cubs only four.

As we close in on the 2026 MLB Draft, the focus on who the Atlanta Braves are looking at for the ninth overall pick has come into focus a bit. Names like Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress, Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick, Kentucky shortstop Tyler Bell, and Florida prep lefty Gio Rojas seem to be the names most prominently linked to the club. Massachusetts prep lefty Brody Bumila is also a name that has received some buzz. My goal is to start to break down who these players are and their strengths and weaknesses to prepare you for the newest Braves prospect.

We will continue the series by staying locally with Tech All American outfielder Drew Burress, as his name is getting the most buzz right now.

Bio

Name: Drew Burress

Position: Centerfield

Height: 5’9”

Weight: 185

College: Georgia Tech

High School: Houston County HS (Warner Robins, GA)

Previously Drafted: N/A

Bats/Throws: R/R

Stats

2024: .381/.512/.821, 15 2B, 3 3B, 25 HR, 67 RBI, 8-10 SB, 58 BB, 37 K in 285 PA over 58 games

2024: .125/.282/.219, 3 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3-4 SB, 13 BB, 22 K in 78 PA over 18 games in Cape Cod League

2025: .333/.469/.693, 23 2B, 1 3B, 19 HR, 62 RBI, 10-11 SB, 53 BB, 42 K in 290 PA over 60 games

2026: .358/.473/.657, 22 2B, 3 3B, 16 HR, 60 RBI, 10-14 SB, 49 BB, 43 K in 311 PA over 61 games

Hit 50/55

Burress came onto the scene as a true freshman and has never looked back, with an OPS of 1.130 being his lowest mark in three seasons. He’s never hit below .333 and because he is a patient hitter who will take his share of walks, he has never had an OBP lower than .469. He also struggled to hit with the wood bats in the Cape back in 2024 as well as last summer with the US National team – though to be fair that team as a whole struggled with the bats against Japan.

Two areas where Burress has struggled are against breaking balls and some offspeed. Against 76 to 79 MPH pitches he has slashed .091/.259/.136 with only an 84.2 MPH exit velocity, while in 55 plate appearances against sweepers he slashed .357/.471/.357. Those pitches, particularly low in the zone, have been able to beat him and are why I tend to go with the 50 hit tool grade instead of the 55 others may give, as I think better pitchers in the big leagues will be able to exploit that weakness better than college pitchers were able to.

Power 55

One of the biggest knocks on Burress is that his production has dropped each year at Tech, as his homers and slugging percentage have dropped in both 2025 and again in 2026. Still he hit 35 homers between those two seasons, thanks in part to a quick, compact swing with plenty of bat speed. His raw power is definitely plus, despite him being undersized – but I have him as more of a 55 grade, because I think that will play down slightly on the next level.

It’s known that Burress isn’t very big, probably a bit smaller than his listed 5’9 size. With that and the fact his exit velocities are more good than the elite numbers you would expect from a player with his power production, I tend to believe that his power may not play to it’s maximum in games as a pro. It is also worth noting on pitches between 94-97 MPH he slashed .375/.444/.438 in 16 at bats, with no at bats registered at velocities above that. His exit velocities on those pitches were high, but it is something we haven’t seen him show his power against.

Speed 55

Burress is an above average runner, who should have the speed to both have a real chance to stick in center and steal 20+ bases a year in the big leagues.

Glove 55

He’s got the speed and instincts to be an above average center fielder in the longterm. I would not be too worried about him having to move off the position, at least for the next 5-10 years. In the event he did have to move, his athleticism would be more than enough to slide to either corner and be an asset defensively.

Arm 60

The arm is a plus arm which means in the event that he couldn’t stick in center, he would be more than adequate if he moved over to right field. Not only is his arm big, but he’s displayed a strong ability to pick up the outfield assist – a skill not all big armed outfielders have mastered.

Overall

I like Burress, but at the same time I am not in love with him as a prospect. There are too many questions regarding his hit tool and even the power. I think his ceiling is probably more of a solid regular who hits sixth in a lineup, rather than a potential All Star you want in the heart of the order. When you’re picking at 9th overall, I tend to prefer upside, and am not sure that Burress has that, especially due to the fact his game seemed to take a step backwards ever since his breakout freshman season – rather than forwards.

I personally am a bit lower on Burress than any other rankings I’ve seen, but if the Braves drafted him he would probably rank in the Top 3 prospects in the system – behind Eric Hartman, and right there with Cam Caminiti and Tate Southisene. He could probably start his pro career in High-A Rome, though the Braves could do what they did with Alex Lodise and send him to Low-A to work with that coaching staff – a coaching staff excellent at working with hit tools. Depending on their plan for him, he could possibly make it to Atlanta by the end of next year to late in the 2028 season – but that depends on if they go aggressive or if they believe he needs more work on the hit tool.

2026 MLB Draft Preview: Justin Lebron scouting report.

The 2026 is about a month away — the first round kicks off on July 11, 2026 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #16, their second round pick is at #54, and their third round pick is at #89.

Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at University of Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron.

Justin Lebron is a 6’2”, 180 lb. righthanded hitting shortstop at the University of Alabama, where he has been a three year starter. Lebron was undrafted and largely off of folks’ radars out of high school in Florida. He turns 22 in November.

Lebron is a toolshed who Keith Law says would probably be the “obvious 1-1 pick” 30 years ago. The reports praise his bat speed and his ability to handle velocity. He also has impressive power, with his raw power grade projecting at 60 to 70. Unfortunately, he also has major contact issues, and struggles with pitch recognition. The result is a hit tool that lags behind everything else — if his hit tool profiled even as average, he’d be a top 3 pick.

Defensively, he’s a true shortstop who should have no problems sticking at the position, and who could be an above-average defender. He also has very good speed. MLB Pipeline says that all his tools other than his hit tool are plus, and Lebron gets good marks for his makeup and athleticism as well.

As a freshman, Lebron slashed .338/.429/.546, with 20 walks against 53 Ks in 254 plate appearances. He improved as a sophomore, slashing .316/.421/.636, with 18 homers, 68 Ks and 35 walks in 281 plate appearances while going 17 for 18 on the basepaths. His junior season has been more difficult, however — his slash line dropped to .277/.384/.536, with 27 walks against 56 Ks in 281 plate appearances, though he was an eye-popping 41 for 42 in stolen base attempts.

Baseball America has Lebron at #19 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Lebron at #9 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Lebron at #10 on his top 150 list. Keith Law’s rankings have Lebron at #14 on his board. Fangraphs has Lebron at #9 on their board. Baseball Prospectus has Lebron at #25 on their top 30 draft board.

In the June 8 Baseball America mock draft, Carlos Collazo has Lebron going to the Angels at #12, though he’s mentioned as a possibility with a number of teams, including as high as the Pirates at #5. The BA staff draft on June 15 has Lebron going to the Rangers at #16.  Jim Callis’s June 4 mock draft has Lebron going to the Astros at #17, but also mentions him in connection with several other teams, including the Rangers. Jonathan Mayo’s June 11 mock draft has Lebron going to the Nationals at #11, and mentions him in connection with the Rangers. Keith Law’s May mock draft has Lebron going to the Rangers. Law’s June 10 mock draft has Lebron going to the Astros at #17. Kiley McDaniel’s May 29 mock draft has Lebron going to the Astros at #17.

I’ve seen Lebron described as a big wild card in this draft, due to his extreme upside/extreme risk profile. He has arguably the most upside of anyone in the draft, but the pitch recognition issues and difficult against non-fastballs means that there’s big bust potential there that could scare teams in the top half of the first round off.

Lebron’s disappointing junior season would appear to have hurt his draft stock, although he picked things up late in the year, and impressed early on in the College World Series, though Alabama was eliminated yesterday. I saw multiple write-ups discuss him as fitting the profile that the Orioles, who pick 7th, like. He doesn’t seem to fit the profile of what the Rangers have gone after in the draft in recent years, though the upside may be high enough that Texas would roll the dice on him at #16.

Previously:

Liam Peterson

Tyler Bell

Aiden Robbins

Jared Grindlinger

Logan Reddemann

Cooper Harris

At the trade deadline coming up, the Phillies are going to make a move. That is all but a guarantee at this point being as how, under Dave Dombrowski, they have made a move at each deadline under his control. This year, there are some pretty striking needs the team has that are probably going to be upgraded from the outside as opposed to bringing someone up from the minor leagues.

What the priority order is for those positions can be debated rather thoroughly. The offense has been quite uneven on the season, meaning a bat, preferably a right handed one, should top the wishlist of the team, but an argument can be made for each of these other two. There is no order done here that shows which position is most in need of an upgrade. It’s just some hopes and dreams at three spots on the roster.

Left handed reliever

Dream target: Aroldis Chapman

Jose Alvarado has been shaky, at best. Tanner Banks has been bitten by the BABIP gods far too often and looks simply unreliable. Kyle Backhus was looking decent prior to his injury, but it’s still Kyle Backhus. The team needs a reliable, lockdown left handed reliever and the one best suited to their needs is Chapman. While he’s no longer the dominant force he was before, he’s still one of the premier left handed relievers in the game. His 34.6% strikeout rate is ninth among all relievers with at least 20 innings pitched, his whiff rate of 32.7% still in the top percentiles.

Break it down further, his sinker, among those that have thrown the pitch at least 100 times, has the second best whiff rate in the game, his slider, among those that have thrown it at least 50 times, 14th best in the game at generating swings and misses. He still possesses swing and miss stuff, something that is particularly useful during the postseason. In a still more granular level, Chapman has seen left handed batters 22 times this year and has allowed a .167 slugging percentage. He’s pretty much exactly what the team needs from a left handed pitcher.

The asking price on his services is likely to be high. The Red Sox, if they decide to sell, will have an asset in Chapman that they will want to cash in on. Relievers are always in high demand, particularly those who have Chapman’s skillset. In a bidding war, the team may not have the pieces needed to entice the Red Sox in a trade.

Realistic targets: Jojo Romero, Stephen Okert, Andrew Nardi, Erik Miller

All four pitchers listed here are something of the same: they’re playing on teams that are probably going to sell at the deadline and they’re kind of iffy against left handed hitting. The only one to have a slight quibble with is Romero, who is pitching for the Cardinals, a team in surprising contention in the National League, but they have made no bones about their desire to continue rebuilding, so we’ll throw him in here.

Usually when acquiring a left handed pitcher, one looks to see how well he fares against same sided hitting. These four are surprisingly not that great.

These aren’t numbers that blow anyone off the page when considering how well they’d do at their primary job, which would be to get left handed hitters out. The biggest tests in the postseason would come from the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Christian Yelich, et al., so seeing that they haven’t been that good can be a bit disconcerting. These same numbers against right handed hitters are more or less the same, giving a “what you see is what you get” feel.

Yet as with anything, their market they can shop in will be limited thanks to their lack of impact talent they can offer back in a trade. How much team control they have might work in the Phillies favor for a few. Romero is a free agent after this season, Okert has one year of team control left, Nardi two years of control, Miller three. You can basically see how the price would change for each pitcher as their control goes up.

Starting pitcher

Dream target: Tarik Skubal

I mean, this is everyone’s top target. Skubal is the best trade piece on the market no matter the position. The Tigers have more or less faded from the playoff picture, even if Skubal helps them win every fifth day. Their future is best served by moving him and he will command a high asking price.

But consider the fit.

A rotation of Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler, Tarik Skubal and Jesus Luzardo is instantly, without a doubt, the best rotation in the game. You could pick the Phanatic to pitch as the fifth starter and it would still be the best. Any playoff game that would be started by that quartet, they should be the favorite. They would have to score runs for them, something this offense feels allergic to, but they’d also allow few, if any, runs themselves.

It truly would be the best possible trade they could make.

What would have to go in return? Andrew Painter? Sure, send him on. Painter plus Aidan Miller? Hey, does David Wright 2.0 need help packing? If there is a package that the Phillies could create to make a move for Skubal, they should be entertaining it.

Realistic targets: Michael Lorenzen

It’s not the most desirable outcome for the team as simply keeping the status quo is probably more desirable than trading for someone like Lorenzen, but he is the aisle the team would probably be shopping in considering the quality of their prospects to trade away. Lorenzen had this insane desire to actually want to pitch in Colorado this year and as his numbers suggest, he’s kind of gotten what he’s asked for. He’d be someone to come in and give the team innings, something that maybe they could use if they decided to head to a six-man rotation in August, but he’s not someone they’d pitch in the playoffs at all. That’s something of a benchmark for making trades for a team like the Phillies.

Right handed starting outfielder

Dream target: Byron Buxton

Alright, here me out.

Buxton has for years been the über-talented, oft injured center fielder for the Twins, one that always seemed to put up great numbers in half the time. He is putting together yet another fantastic season, hitting .276/.335/.606 with 23 home runs at the plate, his defense in center field once again sublime and his contract more than palatable to absorb. For a team that is starved for any kind of production from the right side, Buxton would be the perfect salve for what ails them.

The issues?

Price tag and desire.

Buxton has already once refused to be traded from his humble abode in Minnesota. Understandable. Being traded from the organization that drafted, developed, played and ultimately extended you has to be something that would create massive upheaval in one’s life. Maybe Buxton was simply so comfortable with his surroundings last year, he didn’t wish to move. There haven’t been any more whispers of his waiving that no-trade clause he has in his contract, but one can never know exactly what would happen.

The other issue would be the price tag. Trading Buxton would be franchise altering for the Twins. They’d be moving someone that has grown with them into a star, someone who is quite productive and someone who has a contract that isn’t particularly burdensome. It would take a handsome price to pay for the Phillies to be able to pry him loose, likely detonating the top half of their prospect lists to facilitate a move.

Is that worth it?

Realistic targets: Jo Adell? Seiya Suzuki?

I suppose we have to identify these two as the ones the team should be pursuing the most as they have been named already as the targets the Phillies have already been asking about. Both are flawed, but possess something the Phillies have little of: right handed power.

Adell hit 37 home runs last year, yet managed an OPS below .800. That’s difficult to do. He has followed that up with a slugging percentage closer to .375 than .450, something of a problem. To say he struggles on defense would be an undersell, those home run robberies notwithstanding. He would fill that particular need on the Phillies, but would he do it well?

Suzuki is a pending free agent on a team that is looking to add for a postseason run, not really give players away. The Cubs are looking for starting pitching, something the Phillies are also looking to add a dash of themselves. He’s been good with his bad, made a surprisingly good recovery on defense in right field and would be playing regularly in an outfield that is currently without his type of profile.

Yet the Cubs are playing better and are going to need all the offensive help they can get for their own playoff push. Is there really even a match to be made here?

JT Benson

Week: 5 G, 16 AB, .250/.400/.813, 4 H, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 3 BB, 5 K, 0/1 SB (High-A)

2026 Season: 33 G, 116 AB, .276/.361/.578, 32 H, 10 2B, 5 3B, 5 HR, 11 BB, 36 K, 8/11 SB, .355 BABIP (Single-A) / 19 G, 63 AB, .238/.360/.460, 15 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 BB, 20 K, 3/5 SB, .317 BABIP (High-A)

This was not a good week for the Mets minor league offense. In total, the St. Lucie Mets, Brooklyn Cyclones, Binghamton Rumble Ponies, and Syracuse Mets hit 16 home runs in a combined 24 games. Add in two triples and twenty-seven doubles, and that’s 45 total extra base hits over 24 games, which comes out to roughly two per game. JT Benson was responsible for 2 home runs and 4 extra base hits- 13% of all of the home runs hit this week and 8% of all of the extra base hits- and is our Mets minor league hitter of the week as a result.

Johnathon Tyler Benson was signed by the Mets this March. Previously, he attended the University of Louisville, where he played for three seasons, hitting a cumulative .284/.402/.494 in 128 games with 16 home runs, 51 stolen bases, and 66 walks to 96 strikeouts between 2022 and 2024. The outfielder went undrafted after graduating and played for the Lake Country DockHounds, an independent team in the American Association. There, he hit .286/.385/.418 in 27 games with 2 home runs, 9 stolen bases, and 9 walks to 19 strikeouts. The right-hander was unable to garner a contract with a major league team and returned to the indies in 2025, signing a contract with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier Association. There, he hit .295/.412/.477 in 80 games, with 10 home runs, 24 walks, and 45 walks to 67 strikeouts. He planned on returning to the DockHounds for the 2026 and had reached an agreement with team management, but the Mets offered him a minor league contract and he wisely did not turn the opportunity down.

The 24-year-old Benson was assigned to the Single-A St. Lucie Mets to begin his professional career and played with them for roughly a month and a half before being promoted to the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones. In 33 games with St. Lucie, the outfielder hit .276/.361/.578 with 5 home runs, 8 stolen bases, and 11 walks to 36 strikeouts and in 19 games with Brooklyn is currently hitting .238/.360/.460 with 2 home runs, 3 stolen bases, and 8 walks to 20 strikeouts. Altogether, in his first few months of professional baseball, Benson is hitting a cumulative .263/.361/.536 in 52 games with 16 doubles, 6 triples, 7 home runs, 11 stolen bases in 16 attempts, and 19 walks to 56 strikeouts.

At the plate, Benson stands slightly open, holding his hands high at the eyes, waggling his bat between one and three o’clock. He swings with a moderate leg lift, swinging with a bit of loft; while playing at St. Lucie, he regularly registered 100+ MPH exit velocities and launch angles in the 8-32 sweet spot. On the whole, he is a dead-red fastball hitter; while in St. Lucie, he hit .306/.405/.694 with a 25% Whiff Rate against fastballs, as opposed to .231/.286/.385 with a 50% Whiff Rate against breaking balls and .125/.125/.500 with a 50% Whiff rate against off-speed pitches.

Benson’s batted ball data is very encouraging. With the caveat that he is older than practically everybody else in the league and has much more experience than most, he currently has a 25.6% line drive rate, 33.3% groundball rate, and 41.0% flyball rate. While playing with the St. Lucie Mets earlier in the season, he had equally encouraging 34.2% line drive, 27.8% groundball, and 38.0% flyball rates. At both levels together, he has been pulling the ball at a 40.0% rate, going back up the middle at a 28.3% rate, and going to the opposite field at a 31.7% rate.

Putting the ball in play has been an issue for the outfielder, who had a 27.1% K% in St. Lucie and currently has a 28.2% K% with the Brooklyn Cyclones. Thanks to his extremely favorable spray tendencies, he was able to post a .355 BABIP in St. Lucie and is currently running a .342 BABIP with the Cyclones, and his success seemingly will be highly dependent on his ability to continue maintaining those favorable tendencies and maintaining that high BABIP, because, with a .237 batting average, Benson might quickly become untenable as a hitter if it begins dropping with a BABIP normalization.

Nicolas Carreno

Week: 1 G (1 GS), 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K (High-A)

2026 Season: 11 G (6 GS), 41.2 IP, 23 H, 14 R, 9 ER (1.94 ERA), 21 BB, 58 K, .253 BABIP (Single-A) / 1 G (1 GS), 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER (1.50 ERA), 2 BB, 9 K, .273 BABIP (High-A)

Venezuelan left-hander Nicolas Carreno was initially signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates back on January 15, 2023, signed to an undisclosed sum- as an undersized left-handed pitcher whose fastball sat 89-91, it is unlikely that the southpaw received much more than a token sum. The 17-year-old was assigned to one of Pittsburgh’s Dominican Summer League affiliates, the Pirates Black and posted a 10.50 ERA in 12.0 innings over 12 games, allowing 12 hits, walking 21, and striking out 17. He began the 2024 season assigned to their other DSL affiliate, the Pirates Gold, and had a bit more success; in 21.2 innings over 8 starts, he posted a 3.74 ERA, allowing 11 hits, walking 17, and striking out 36.

On July 30, 2024, the Pirates traded Carreno to the Mets in exchange for 29-year-old left-hander Josh Walker, who had a 5.11 ERA in 12.1 innings at the major league level and a 2.83 ERA in 28.2 innings with Triple-A Syracuse. Carreno was assigned to the DSL Mets Orange and made three more starts on the season, allowing 4 earned runs in 10.1 innings, giving up 8 hits, walking 7, and striking out 9. All in all, for the DSL Pirates and DSL Mets combined, the left-hander posted a cumulative 3.66 ERA in 32.2 innings over 11 starts, allowing 19 hits, walking 24, and striking out 45.

The 19-year-old was brought stateside in 2025, assigned to the FSL Mets. He appeared in 12 games for them, making 3 starts, and posted a 6.85 ERA in 22.1 innings, allowing 20 hits, walking 19, and striking out 25. He was promoted to Single-A St. Lucie at the end of August and appeared in 2 games for them, making 1 start. In 6.0 innings of work total, he allowed four runs but just one earned run, giving up 6 hits, walking none, and striking out 7. He remained with the St. Lucie Mets when the 2026 season started, and ended up appearing in 11 games, starting 6. The left-hander posted a 1.94 ERA in 41.2 innings, allowing 23 hits, walking 21, and striking out 58. He was promoted to the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones on June 11 and has since made a single start with them, which went quite well.

Carreno, who is listed at 5’10”, 155-pounds, has certainly put on some weight but looks every inch 5’10”. The left-hander throws from a slingy three-quarters arm slot with a long arm action through the back. So far this season, Carreno has relied on a three-pitch mix consisting of a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, and a slider. He used his four-seam fastball about 30% of the time while pitching for St. Lucie, where statcast hookups can give us precise information about his pitches, his two-seam fastball also about 30% of the time, and his slider about 40% of the time.

Carreno’s four-seam fastball sits in the low-to-high-90s, averaging 95 MPH and topping out at 98 MPH. The pitch has averaged 2,500 RPM of spin and roughly 15 inches of induced vertical break, the former above-average for a four-seam fastball and the latter about average. Opposing batters are hitting .267/.452/.467 against the pitch with a 29% Whiff Rate; Carreno often has trouble throwing his fastball for strikes, leading to hittable, grooved pitches in the strike zone when the left-hander needs to throw one in the zone.

His two-seam fastball mirrors almost all of the metrics that his four-seam fastball produces except it has roughly 5 inches less of induced vertical break and about 4-8 additional inches of arm-side movement. He gets fewer swings-and-misses with the pitch but held opposing hitters in the Florida State League to a much more palatable .133/.235/.300 batting line.

By far, Carreno’s best pitch is his slider. The pitch sits in the low-80s-to-low-90s, averaging 86 MPH. With anywhere between 1-5 inches of horizontal movement, the pitch has sharp, cutter-like sudden slice and has carved up Florida State League hitters, limiting them to a .145/.272/.188 batting line with a 44.3% Whiff Rate. The left-hander is able to control and command the pitch better than his fastballs, and the pitch gets reliable swings-and-misses both inside and outside of the zone.

Earlier in his career, when he was still with the Pirates, he was working on adding a changeup to his repertoire, but the project has since been paused and/or cancelled, as the southpaw does not throw a change. As he progresses up the minor league ladder, he will need to develop a suitable third pitch to remain a viable pitcher, though the need for one diminishes a bit if his ultimate destiny is the bullpen, especially with how effective his slider has been.

Players of the Week 2026

Week One/Two (March 27-April 5): Hayden Senger/Cam Tilly

Week Three (April 7-April 12): A.J. Ewing/Christian Scott

Week Four (April 14-April 18): Randy Guzman/Jose Chirinos

Week Five (April 21-April 26): A.J. Ewing/Channing Austin

Week Six (April 30-May 3): A.J. Ewing/Jonah Tong

Week Seven (May 5-May 10): Ryan Clifford/Jonathan Santucci

Week Eight: (May 12-May 17): Jacob Reimer/Zach Thornton

Week Nine: (May 19-May 24): Ryan Clifford/Channing Austin

Week Ten: (May 26-May 31): Ryan Clifford/Jose Chirinos

Week Eleven: (June 2-June 7): Vincent Perozo/Frank Camarillo

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The Chicago Cubs picked up a high-scoring victory over the Colorado Rockies in the series opener.

My Rockies vs. Cubs predictions and MLB picks are backing the home team to produce a similar outcome in Game 2.

Who will win Rockies vs Cubs today: Cubs -1.5 (+100)

Ryan Feltner owns a 3.86 ERA over the past 30 days despite an alarming 4.73 xFIP and 5.03 SIERA.

He has lucked out with an unsustainably low .174 BABIP, light years below his career average of .301.

He is not a good starter — he sits in the seventh percentile in Pitcher Run Value — and these red flags are catching up to him. The Chicago Cubs scored six runs on Feltner just a few days ago and should be heading for another strong output.

Back the Cubs on the run line to -110.

COVERS INTEL:The Cubs rank fifth in flyball rate against right-handed pitching at home, which sets them up for success with windy conditions expected to provide a boost to hitters.

Rockies vs Cubs Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (-110)

We’ve already discussed the good spot the Cubs are in to produce runs.

The Colorado Rockies have a nice matchup of their own against Edward Cabrera. The wheels have completely fallen off after a strong start to the campaign, with the veteran righty conceding at least three runs in eight of his past 10 games.

Cabrera ranks in the 23rd percentile in xERA, the 13th percentile in Pitcher Run Value, and the fourth percentile in barrel rate. That he is bleeding runs is no coincidence.

Windy conditions are also expected to help balls carry, creating a perfect environment for offense.

Play to -125.

Rockies vs Cubs odds

• Moneyline: Rockies +160 | Cubs -190
• Run line: Rockies +1.5 (-120) | Cubs -1.5 (+100)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (-110) | Under 9.5 (-110)

Rockies vs Cubs trend

Colorado has only hit the moneyline in 14 of its last 50 away games (-10.75 units, -22% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rockies vs. Cubs.

How to watch Rockies vs Cubs and game info

Rockies vs Cubs latest injuries

Rockies vs Cubs weather

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Outfielder Brett Callahan has been an interesting though unheralded Detroit Tigers’ prospect for a few years now. Initially, he caught our eye with good pull power and a strong throwing arm. Over the last few seasons, his complete game has really come together. After a modest start in his Double-A debut this spring, he’sreally caught fire over the last month. Callahan has a strong enough all-around game, the kind of the Tigers sorely lack in their outfield, that if he even develops into an average hitter he’s going to be a pretty valuable. His speed and defensive ability lower the bar a bit, and at the same time the 24-year-old is now tearing up the Eastern League pretty well.

The Tigers selected Callahan in the 13th round of the 2023 draft. He played his college ball at St. Joseph’s University, a relatively small Jesuit run private college near Philadelphia. The Tigers have seemingly scouted smaller colleges, and the northeast in general, more than most MLB teams in recent years, and it has paid some dividends. They landed Callahan for just $197,500, and got a very good deal.

The left-handed hitter posted a solid full season debut in Single-A ball in 2024. His numbers didn’t leap off the page, and for a relative unknown on draft day, it takes a lot to get some attention. It didn’t help that a dislocated finger and a leg injury shortened his season. Still, he hit seven homers in 62 games with an 8.8 percent walk rate and an acceptable 21.2 percent strikeout rate, slashing .276/359/.439 while stealing 20 bases. That, combined with the built-in loft and pull tendencies in his swing got our attention here.

A quad injury in 2025 made for another somewhat abbreviated campaign, but he advanced to High-A West Michigan and remained productive despite being a little more limited in the speed department. His strikeout and walk rates moved just slightly in the wrong directions, but he still hit nine homers in 55 games, slashing .259/.316/.473, good for a 123 wRC+ and was clearly slowed by the injury a while.

That kept him enough on the radar that we ranked him 26th in the system with a 40+ grade over this past offseason. However, he still was unnoticed by most of the national prospect sites. His “pedigree” as it were, along with the injuries and an aggressive approach at the plate despite decent K-BB numbers, just never got him on the radar.

Things changed this spring, as Callahan made a few trips over to the major league side of spring training camp with the Tigers and did damage. Clearly healthy, running well, and with a little more muscle on his 6’0” 195 pound frame, Callahan launched a pair of homers in Grapefruit League action, as he and fellow Erie SeaWolves hitter, 2B/SS John Peck, both made an impression as more mature, physical players showing some signs of breaking out into really legitimate prospect territory.

That impression has proved accurate. Callahan now has 12 homers in 55 games, and while UPMC Park is a bit of a launching pad, the exit velocities have been strong. Even more importantly, Callahan has improved his plate discipline, walking 13.9 percent of the time against a very reasonable 20 percent strikeout rate despite the difficulty of the toughest leap in competition prospects face until they hit the big leagues. He’s hitting .278/.388/.527 and has collected 20 stolen bases. The Double-A rule allowing only one disengagement, rather than two as in the majors, has probably helped with that as fellow SeaWolves Peyton Graham and Seth Stephenson are both racking up huge stolen base totals as well, but Callahan has above average to plus speed, and that translates to covering quite a bit of ground in the outfield as well.

What really ties this all together is that Callahan isn’t just some wild swinging masher bound to flame out in Triple-A or the bigs. He’s really put together a much more disciplined approach and is chasing less and less, despite the fact that he will absolutely take his hacks when he sees something he likes. Despite the aggression, his swing is fairly compact as well, so he’s not as vulnerable to getting started too early the way many big swinging left-handed power hitters are. Even better, Callahan’s good speed and excellent arm strength and accuracy translate into a future as a pretty good right fielder. Even as a future role player, he has the well-rounded game to contribute even during cold stretches at the plate.

I’ve jokingly referred to Callahan as Kerry Carpenter 2.0 for a while now, and though he’s unlikely to be quite as dangerous a hitter as Carpenter at the major league level, the defense and base stealing ability give him dimensions to his game that Carpenter has never had to offer. And possibly the run he’s on says that a true breakout is underway that could give the Tigers the whole package.

Callahan has mashed five home runs over his last eight games alone, striking out just four times in that span against six walks. He’s trimmed his swinging strike rate down 2.5 percent to a pretty manageable 13.5 percent despite the tough leap in competition this season. His progress now bears close watch, as he’s angling toward a promotion to Triple-A Toledo sometime around the All-Star break, when the Tigers usually do most of their midseason promotions.

As you might expect for a left-handed power hitter with loft in his swing and pull tendencies, Callahan does struggle somewhat with left-handed pitching. He’s getting his first taste of consistently good left-handed pitchers at Double-A, and he’s holding his own with a .786 OPS, but his .983 OPS against right-handed pitching speaks to a likely future role as the strong side of a right field platoon.

Callahan holds a 1.274 OPS overall in June, so he is clearly on one heck of a tear. Whether he can sustain it into July remains to be seen, but he has clearly improved quite a bit. He’s not going to crash the gates and end up on top 100 lists this offseason unless he keeps it going the rest of the year, but all signs point to a developing hitter who already has the speed, arm strength, and defensive chops to be a valuable all-around contributor.

If you like an underdog story in the vein of Carpenter, or Keider Montero, Brett Callahan is your guy right now. His chase and strikeout rates are fine for the Double-A level, but he projects to a low average hitter who walks some and ideally hits for average power. With his all-around game, including the ability to play some center field, that’s enough to make him an average player. And if it all comes together with the bat Tigers fans are going to be very pleased with the results.

Yesterday MLB released the first update of the voting totals for next month’s All-Star game which, if you haven’t heard, will be hosted at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. We still have a lot of baseball to get through before we arrive to the Midsummer Classic, but the first vote totals paint a pretty good picture for the hometown Phillies as far as how many representatives will take the home field.

If voting ended today, Brandon Marsh would be a starter on the NL All-Star team. Obviously, it doesn’t, but it’s very encouraging to see Marsh’s fantastic season so far being rewarded with the recognition it deserves. He seems to be a safe bet to be at the game in some capacity. Ditto Kyle Schwarber, who in almost all likelihood will not pass Shohei Ohtani in votes for the NL designated hitter and therefore won’t start but looks likely to be the NL’s reserve DH as far and away the second most vote getter. Elsewhere, Bryce Harper is currently third in voting for first baseman with a decent gap between Matt Olson and Freddie Freeman ahead of him, but it’s not out of the question that the gap could be closed somewhat, as Harper’s numbers are either on par or superior to the other two. It’s possible he ends up as a reserve or a replacement.

After that, things get strange. Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott are both second at their positions in voting despite their poor starts to the season. Justin Crawford and Adolis Garcia are ahead of such players as Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jackson Chourio. Trea Turner, despite being one of the worst qualified hitters in the sport so far, is fourth in voting for NL shortstops. Of course, much of this is Phillies fans stuffing the ballot for the hometown team, but it’s an almost certainty that no one from this group will make the roster unless something drastic changes or Philadelphia commits to the bit.

So, now that we’ve seen the first voting update, how are we feeling about the NL vote leaders so far? How are we feeling about the Phillies possible representatives? Keep in mind that this of course does not include pitchers, of which the Phillies should have at least one nomination in Cristopher Sánchez. But still, these vote totals so far bode well for the Phillies chances of having multiple representatives for their home All-Star game.

It was a rough weekend for Orioles star shortstop Gunnar Henderson. With two outs in the bottom of the 9th Saturday, Gunnar took a fastball to the ribs from Padres reliever Ron Marinaccio, presumably as retribution for Xander Bogaerts being hit in the head by a pitch earlier in the game. That moment sparked a bizarre reaction from manager Craig Albernaz postgame, as the skipper seemed to defend the intentions of the San Diego reliever more than his player. Things didn’t get much better Sunday, as Henderson made two errors in the 9th that allowed an insurance run to score in another loss to the Padres.

His struggles against the Padres are not part of a developing situation with the former All-Star, but the continuation of a season filled with frustration and disappointment. The soon-to-be 25-year-old is on pace to set career-worsts in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and walk rate while seeing noticeable dips in his average exit velocity and hard-hit rate.

That’s not to say he’s been an outright bad player. His .715 OPS is right around league average. His OPS+ of 100 is exactly at league average. Despite his obvious struggles at the plate, he is still only two behind Pete Alonso for the Orioles’ home run lead, is tied for second on the team with 68 hits and is third with 34 RBIs. He’s still on pace for a bWAR around 3.0, which would be well below his career rate of 6+ bWAR per season, but still make him an above-average starter.

But as we near the halfway point of the 2026 season, it’s clear that his performance hasn’t been good enough to elevate this Orioles team above mediocrity. And unlike many of his teammates, the shortstop doesn’t seem to be making significant strides as the season goes on. On May 11th, when we last spoke on this site about Gunnar’s underwhelming performance, the Orioles’ country boy was slashing .211/.269/.421 (.690 OPS) with 9 HR, 21 RBI and 56 Ks in 171 ABs.

In 32 games since then, we’ve seen the Orioles’ presumed best player pick up his game somewhat. In that time frame, he’s slashing .250/.333/.414 (.747 OPS) with 5 HR, 13 RBI and 24 Ks in 128 ABs. The strikeout rate falling from just shy of 33% to just below 19% is easily the stars’ biggest improvement over the last month or so. But even those improved numbers would represent career lows in average and slugging and a near career low in on-base percentage.

During that same time period, we’ve seen several of his fellow Orioles take significant leaps in their offensive output. From May 11th onward, Pete Alonso is slashing 301/.364/.520 (.885 OPS) with 8 HRs and a 22% strikeout rate. The much-maligned Coby Mayo is slashing .241/.310/.519 (.829 OPS) with 6 HRs and a 37% strikeout rate. Colton Cowser has also begun to turn his season around since the middle of May, hitting .263 with a .897 OPS, 7 HRs and a 29% strikeout rate.

This is not to blame Gunnar for all of the Orioles problems, nor to say that good teams can’t survive cool patches from their stars. If you look around the league, you can find plenty of examples of teams finding success with underwhelming performances from star players. Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez are struggling in Seattle and the Mariners still find themselves atop the AL West. The Braves are the best team in baseball despite superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. battling through a hamstring injury that’s cost him 18 games this season.

However, the Orioles’ path to success was meant to go through the route of an elite offense that props up an average to above-average pitching staff. After their recent offensive upturn, the O’s currently sit 8th in MLB at 4.7 runs/game. Baltimore is 14th in batting average at .243 and 11th in OPS at .728.

And while the offensive numbers are certainly good, they are also distinctly not great, and having a great offense seems to be the only thing that can propel the O’s to the postseason. Currently, the Orioles sit two games out of the final Wild Card spot in the American League (three games in the loss column).

Without changing anything about their pitching staff, Bill James’ Pythagorean Theorem of Baseball says the O’s would have to score about half a run more per game to make up the difference between them and the Rangers/A’s for the final AL playoff spot. That increase would also catapult them from 8th to 4th, just behind the Nationals, Dodgers and Brewers, and just ahead of the Yankees.

And while, yes, Adley Rutschman continuing his recent hot streak, or Jackson Holliday finding some measure of consistency, would undoubtedly upgrade this offense, the biggest missing piece right now is a fully operational Gunnar Henderson.

The West Coast road trip that starts today should provide Henderson with an opportunity to show how locked in he can be going forward. It starts with a rematch against the Seattle Mariners, a team that Gunnar has a .845 career OPS against, but which held him to a 2-for-14 series last week at Camden Yards. The O’s then travel to the two-time defending champion Dodgers, a team that has stymied Henderson to the tune of a .546 career OPS. Make it past LA and he heads to Anaheim with his 1.203 career OPS against the Angels—his best mark against any single opponent. All three series should offer opportunities for him to continue to make adjustments against tough pitching and build confidence at the plate.

With 89 games left to play, the story of the 2026 season is far from complete for both Gunnar Henderson and the Orioles. But more than anyone, Baltimore needs their best player and face of the franchise to play like his best self if they want to improve upon their current 13.5% odds to make it to the postseason.

One thing is for sure. You cannot say you were not entertained by the Cubs’ 5-4 win over the Rockies Monday evening at Wrigley Field.

It had a little bit of everything — some solid pitching, some blown leads, Pete Crow-Armstrong’s cycle and and in the end, the Cubs’ ninth walk-off win of 2026 on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Matt Shaw.

Let’s rewind to the beginning.

Shōta Imanaga continued his good pitching over the Rockies. He allowed a leadoff single, then retired the next three Rockies in the first inning.

Then PCA hit his second leadoff home run in the last three days [VIDEO].

That one took four pitches instead of the one pitch it took for him to do it Saturday. And that ball was crushed! [VIDEO]

Cubs leadoff homer facts from BCB’s JohnW53:

Pete Crow-Armstrong’s homer was his second in three games as the Cubs’ first batter of the game. The first was at San Francisco.

He is the 39th Cub since 1876 to do it at least once at home and on the road.

The Cubs have hit 137 first-batter homers at home and 130 on the road, for a total of 267.

Jimmy “Pony” Ryan and Rick Monday hit the most at home, 12. Alfonso Soriano is a distant third, with five, followed by Ian Happ and Corey Patterson, with four.

Soriano is the leader in total first-batter homers, with 22. Ryan had 19; Monday, 17; Dexter Fowler, 12; and Abner Dalrymple, Happ and Brian McRae, eight. No one else had more than five.

Imanaga allowed a two-out single to Jake McCarthy in the second — and then picked him off [VIDEO].

The game stayed at 1-0 Cubs into the sixth. The Cubs had several scoring chances, mainly because PCA was putting together his cycle. He tripled leading off the third [VIDEO].

Unfortunately, he was stranded. The same thing was PCA’s, and the team’s, fate in the fifth — leadoff double, then stranded [VIDEO].

Imanaga had a run charged to his record in the sixth, and it wasn’t all his fault. He allowed a leadoff walk, then a fielder’s choice and a fly to center had him one out away from finishing six innings with a 1-0 lead. But another single put runners on first and second with two out, and Craig Counsell replaced Imanaga with Phil Maton. I was a bit surprised, as Imanaga was at 89 pitches. But Counsell must have realized that Rockies manager Warren Schaffer would replace Ezequiel Tovar with pinch-hitter Troy Johnston and he preferred that matchup.

Unfortunately, Maton hit Johnston to load the bases and then walked Cole Carrigg to force in the tying run.

The Cubs got the lead back in the bottom of the sixth. With two out, Moisés Ballesteros walked. This triple by Matt Shaw made it 2-1 Cubs [VIDEO].

The Rockies asked for a review and as you can see in that clip, the ball was clearly fair.

PCA completed his cycle — in reverse order, the first Cub to do that! — with this leadoff single in the seventh [VIDEO].

It was the team’s first cycle since Carson Kelly’s last year against the A’s in Sacramento, and the first by a Cub (and by anyone at Wrigley Field) since Mark Grace cycled in 1993. Later this morning (at 9 a.m. CT) I’ll have a full history of Cubs cycles here. Here’s more on Cubs cycles from John:

PCA’s was 13th in franchise history, including two before Modern Era, both by Jimmy Ryan, in 1888 and 1891.

…..

No player before PCA had been picked off after completing his cycle.

On Aug. 2, 1940, Joe Cronin of the Red Sox, against the Tigers, tripled in the first and struck out in the third. He led off the fifth with a double, then was picked off on pitcher Bobo Newsom’s throw to shortstop Dick Bartell.

Jimmie Foxx, up next, homered, after which Newsom was replaced by Tom Seats. Cronin singled in the sixth and homered in the eighth to complete the cycle.
…..
After George Sisler of the Browns completed his cycle with a two-out single in the ninth inning on Aug. 13, 1921 against the Tigers, he tried to steal second and was tagged out, ending the game.

Less than a year later, on July 3, 1922, Bob Meusel of the Yankees began his cycle by singling in the first inning and was caught stealing.

No other player who hit for a cycle was nailed on a steal attempt for more than a century, until Elly
De La Cruz was out trying to steal home after his cycle-completing triple on June 23, 2023.

Here’s more on the reverse cycle:

And a bit more on reverse cycles from John:

There have been only 10 games in MLB history in which a player made a natural cycle in reverse: homer, triple, double and single in that order. 

The first two were in 1885 and 1887; the third in 1904; and only seven since 1937. None were by a Cub.

There have been exactly 400 cycles since the first, in 1882. The most recent before PCA’s was by Byron Buxton of the Twins on July 12, 2025.

Oh, yes. As John mentioned, PCA immediately got himself picked off [VIDEO].

The pickoff hurt the Cubs in that inning, because they then loaded the bases on a single by Alex Bregman and walks drawn by Michael Busch and Seiya Suzuki. But Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner struck out to end the inning.

Jacob Webb had thrown a 1-2-3 top of the seventh but gave up a leadoff single in the eighth. That brought in Caleb Thielbar, who struck out TJ Rumfield, but then issued a walk. After a fly ball to center, Carrigg smashed a three-run homer.

That, I am certain, brought out the sad thoughts in you that most of us have been thinking for a month now.

But the Cubs did not give up on this game. In the bottom of the eighth, pinch-hitter Pedro Ramirez led off with a single. He wa forced at second by Shaw, and then another pinch-hitter, Michael Conforto, walked.

Both runners moved up on a wild pitch, which was important. PCA was the next hitter and he hit a line drive to right, deep enough to score Shaw to make it 4-3 [VIDEO].

The chanting of “PCA! PCA! PCA!” you hear in that clip is about the loudest I’ve ever heard it. Pretty cool.

Bregman followed with a walk, but Busch struck out to end the inning.

Daniel Palencia threw a 1-2-3 ninth, with all three outs recorded by strikeout.

That set up the Cubs’ game-winning rally, which was accomplished with only one baseball put in play. Suzuki led off with a walk. Happ hit a weak little comebacker to pitcher Juan Mejia, who threw to second — at least one out, and possibly a double play, right?

Well, nope, fortunately for the Cubs. Mejia threw the ball away and Happ was safe. Suzuki, the tying run, wound up on third.

Ramirez, who is looking like a quality MLB hitter and should be getting more playing time, singled in Suzuki to tie the game [VIDEO].

The bases remained loaded, with Happ at third representing the winning run.

Shaw drew ball four on a 3-1 pitch and the Cubs had their wacky win [VIDEO].

As I mentioned earlier, that’s now nine walk-off wins for the Cubs this year. The franchise record is 14, set in 1930 — that seems a mark this year’s Cubs might break. The MLB record for such things is 17, set by the Pirates in 1959 and matched by them in 1977.

More on the walk-off wins from the Cubs this year:

The number of walk-offs is one reason Palencia has only three saves (and no blown saves) — there just haven’t been many save opportunities! The Cubs have had only 21 save opportunities, tied for the fewest (also Red Sox, Giants, Mets) in MLB this year. The Rays and Nationals have the most with 39. The Cubs have 10 saves — three by Palencia, two by Thielbar and one each from Ben Brown, Corbin Martin, Hoby Milner, Colin Rea and Jacob Webb.

Here are Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

The Cubs, after a 7-22 run, have now won four of their last five. That’s something to build on, and it is still just mid-June.

The Cubs will go for the series win Tuesday evening at Wrigley Field. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Ryan Feltner goes for the Rockies. Game time is again 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.