Category: MLB

It’s time to get annoyed with the Astros’ short left-field porch.

The Guardians are 40-35 with a -7 run differential, 23rd in wRC+ with 93, 10th in baserunning runs above average at 2.2, 10th in Defense at -6.4, eighth in starting pitching ERA at 3.86 (4.17 FIP), and 11th in bullpen ERA at 3.66 (3.66 FIP).

The Astros are 35-41 with a -41 run differential, 12th in MLB with a 103 wRC+, 22nd in baserunning runs above average at -2.4, 16th in Defense at -10.1, 29th in starting pitcher ERA at 5.00 (4.83 FIP), and 25th in bullpen ERA at 4.72 (4.78 FIP).

You’re gonna need to score some runs to beat the Astros. You should be able to take advantage of a poor pitching staff to do it. Please do so, Guardians.

Matchups:
Game One, Friday, 8:10PM ET, Tanner Bibee 3.96 ERA (4.69 FIP) vs. Tatsuya Imai, RHP 6.43 ERA (5.24 FIP)
Game Two, Saturday, 7:15PM ET Joey Cantillo 4.38 ERA (4.76 FIP) vs. Spencer Arrighetti, RHP 2.57 ERA (3.81 FIP)
Game Three, Sunday, 2:10PM ET Slade Cecconi 4.60 ERA (4.33 FIP) vs. Kai-Wei Teng, RHP 4.31 ERA (4.88 FIP)

It’s all about not letting Yordan Alvarez (190 wRC+) and Christian Walker (121 wRC+) – who kills Cleveland – beat you this series. The rest of the lineup is manageble. So, let’s get some hits with runners in scoring position and go take this series. DO NOT LET YORDAN BEAT YOU!!!

1884
Ill-fated hurler and inventor of the knuckleball, Eddie Cicotte, was born, in Springwells, Mich. Cicotte made his MLB debut in 1905 and was up for good as a major-leaguer in 1908. Four years later, he was swapped to Chicago and saw his career take off. Cicotte’s 11.9 WAR to lead the greatest White Sox team in history in 1917 led all of baseball and stands in a tie for 36th-best all-time and second-best in White Sox annals.

While he couldn’t have known it then, Cicotte’s popularization of the knuckleball ushered in a tradition of knuckleballers on the South Side, from Hoyt Wilhelm to Eddie Fisher to Wilbur Wood and even briefly to Charlie Hough.

Of course, Cicotte consorted with gamblers and famously was a fixer of the 1919 Black Sox World Series. The righty was banned from baseball for 95 years, and despite Hall-worthy statistics has so far been kept out of Cooperstown.

1912
Don Gutteridge, at 109-172 the owner of the fifth-worst record among White Sox managers tenured for at least one full season, was born in Pittsburg, Kan. He played for 12 years in the majors as an infielder clearly valued for his knowledge of the game and ability to fill a role as opposed to his prowess between the lines (1.4 total WAR over 1,151 games).

Gutteridge had bad fortune on the South Side as skipper in at least three ways:

1. He wasn’t White Sox manager by choice, returning to the White Sox organization only after the surprising return of Al Lopez as manager in 1968 and being forced into the job after Lopez resigned in 1969
2. By taking over as an interim manager 17 games into the season, he was neither prepared to manage in the majors nor establish himself as the leader of the club
3. The late-1960s White Sox were severely lacking in talent (over four seasons as a manager in the organization’s minors, his clubs finished with a winning record every year

Gutteridge was nonetheless as associated with the record 17 straight winning seasons the White Sox ran off in the 1950s and 1960s, on the MLB coaching staff (mostly as first-base coach) from 1955-66.

After retiring from baseball, Gutteridge returned to Pittsburg, which honored him ever June 19 with “Don Gutteridge Day”. He died there in 2008, at 96, and at that time he was one of the 10 oldest living major league baseball players, the oldest living former manager or coach, the last surviving member of the St. Louis Cardinals “Gas House Gang,” and the last living member of the St. Louis Browns to appear in a World Series.

1926
The Sox celebrated Eddie Collins Day at Comiskey Park. Collinswould be admitted into the Hall of Fame in 1939 and was one of the finest second baseman in major league history. He played 12 seasons with the White Sox and is the only member of the 3,000-hit club to get that milestone safety in a White Sox uniform.

1941
Joe DiMaggio went 3-for-3 with a home run in a 7-2 loss to New York at Yankee Stadium. It was the 32nd game of his eventual 56-game hitting streak, with the streak now the 14th-longest of all time, tied with Harry Heilmann of the Detroit Tigers.

DiMaggio had started his hit streak about a month earlier, on May 15, against the Eddie Smith and the White Sox. At this point, eight of the 32 games Joltin’ Joe had hit safely in had come against the South Siders. In a month, DiMaggio would hit safely in games 52-55 of the streak in Chicago, before seeing it snapped two games after leaving town, vs. Cleveland.

All told, six White Sox pitchers were victimized by DiMaggio’s streak, with Smithand Thornton Lee both getting touched over three games, for four total hits. Johnny Rigney also extended DiMaggio’s streak by three games, and three hits in total.

1951
The White Sox split a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium in front of 60,441 fans (ranking among the Top 20-attended games in White Sox history), maintaining their 3 1⁄2-game lead in the American League.

The Sox dropped the opener, 11-9, despite rallying to tie after falling behind, 5-0, in the first inning. In the nightcap, the White Sox took a 4-3 lead on Bud Stewart’s three-run homer in the eighth, and after the Yankees fought back for one, tallied the eventual game-winner on Bob Dillinger’s double in the ninth.

The White Sox would fall out of first for good in July and finish the season in fourth place, 17 games back. But their 81-73-1 record represented their first winning season in eight years — and more importantly, kicked off a string of 17 straight winning seasons on the South Side.

1977
Wilbur Wood threw his last good game for the White Sox in throwing eight innings of one-run ball in beating the A’s, 2-1, in the first game of a doubleheader at Comiskey Park. But the real star that afternoon was first baseman Lamar Johnson, who did everything in this contest. Johnson’s three hits (and two home runs) were the only Sox hits in the opener. He also sang the National Anthem beforehand!

The Sox also won the nightcap 5-1, with Lamar adding a hit and scoring a run.

2009
Levi Maxwell of the White Sox High-A affiliate Winston-Salem Dash threw a seven-inning no-hitter in a doubleheader opener against the Wilmington Blue Rocks. It was the first no-hitter in the Carolina League in three years, and the first for the Dash since 2001. Maxwell ended up as the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week for his achievement.

However, it was a bright spot in an otherwise rough season. Maxwell finished 2009 at 4-15 (4.54 ERA) after going 15-5 a year earlier for the Low-A Kannapolis Intimidators. In true Joe Cowley fashion, Maxwell retired (or was released) at season’s end.

(The manager of that Intimidators club in 2009? None other than future White Sox third base coach Joe McEwing.)

2015
In a game against the Texas Rangers at U.S. Cellular Field, Chris Sale recorded his fifth consecutive game with at least 12 strikeouts, as he fanned 14 Texas hitters. That tied him with Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson as the only pitchers in baseball history to accomplish that. Sale’s streak began on May 28, and in those five starts he struck out a total of 65 hitters.

He got a no-decision in this game, though, as Texas scored two runs in the ninth inning with two outs and stole a 2-1 win.

If you were to make a list of the most important baseball players, Lou Gehrig would rank quite high on the list. For one, he would also rank quite highly on the best players of all time list, but his importance goes beyond that. His famous iron man streak, its end, and Gehrig’s subsequent battle with ALS takes him to a level of recognition that goes past him being a Hall of Fame player. While it’s becoming less common as the disease has gained more and more notoriety over the years, but it’s not entirely uncommon to hear ALS referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease.”

Today happens to be the “Iron Horse’s” birthday, so in his honor let’s take a look back at the legendary player, who means so much more than what he did on the field.

Henry Louis “Lou” Gehrig
Born: June 19, 1903 (New York, NY)
Died: June 2, 1941 (New York, NY)
Yankees Tenure: 1923-39

Gehrig was born in 1903 in the place in which he would become famous: New York City. His parents, Heinrich and Christina, were German immigrants who had three other children, but none outside of Lou lived past toddlerhood. Gehrig grew up speaking German at home, and even later formed a bond with Babe Ruth — also of German ancestry — by speaking to each other in the language. While he was growing up, Christina Gehrig was mostly the main breadwinner of the family, working as a maid, as Heinrich often struggled with alcoholism and epilepsy. Lou would often help his mother with her work and the two had a very close bond, with him calling her his “best pal.”

As you might expect as the child of immigrant parents from a place where baseball isn’t much of a thing, Gehrig’s parents weren’t initially thrilled with Lou’s love of baseball, which he formed at an early age. However, it quickly became clear that Gehrig was very, very good at the game. After his high school won the New York City championship, they were invited to take on the Chicago champions at the stadium now known as Wrigley Field. During the game, Gehrig hit a grand slam clear out of the stadium, which would’ve been an impressive feat for a major leaguer, never mind a high schooler.

Despite his baseball skill, Gehrig’s parents still hoped for him to get into business or another field, so he enrolled at Columbia University, where his mother worked at a fraternity house. He still had an eye on athletics, though, as he also played on the college’s baseball and football teams. In one 1923 game, Gehrig struck out 17 Williams College batters as a pitcher. That caught people’s eye, including that of legendary Yankee scout Paul Krichell.

After attending further games, Krichell came away even more impressed by Gehrig’s hitting and excitedly told Yankees GM Ed Barrow that he had found the “next Babe Ruth.” Despite his parent’s earlier reluctance, the money offered by the Yankees proved to be too much to not accept and he signed with the team on April 30, 1923.

In his first two years after signing with the Yankees, Gehrig played just 23 games combined across 1923 and ‘24. Despite that, he showed plenty of potential in his sparse chances, putting up a 209 OPS+ in 42 plate appearances. He also spent some time in the minors with the Hartford Senators, where he also opened eyes with 61 homers in 193 games. His talent was evident, and he was subject of poaching attempts. In 1924, Rochester of the International League tried to get him when the Yankees acquired Fred Merkle of “Merkle’s Boner” fame. However, his shot was on the horizon, and he took it by both hands.

In a moment that now lives in fame, Gehrig was given the start at first base on June 2, 1925. That day, Wally Pipp, a star of the 1923 World Series champions and a Yankee great in his own right, was given the day off. The legend is that he came that day with a headache and Huggins told him to just take the day off and rest. There’s also a line of thinking that, as the Yankees were struggling a bit in ‘25, Huggins decided to just get a look at a still-young Gehrig. Whatever the reason, the only people that day it didn’t work out for were Pipp and the rest of the league. Gehrig went 3-for-5 with a double on June 2nd. He wouldn’t leave the Yankees’ lineup again until 1939.

Huggins stuck with Gehrig for the rest of 1925, and the youngster repaid that faith with a very good season. The Yankees sold Pipp to the Reds the following offseason, confirming that the first base job was Gehrig’s. Gehrig improved in 1926, and then improved even more in 1927, as part of the dominant “Murderers’ Row” team. The 1927 championship was Gehrig’s second as he had been around for ‘23, but it was the first in which he was a regular, and would be the second of his seven in total.

From 1926-38, Gehrig was probably the second best player in all of baseball, behind only his teammate, Babe Ruth. Over the course of those 13 seasons in particular, he hit .343/.452/.640, with 472 home runs, 1913 RBI (cracking the 100+ mark every year), with a 182 OPS+ and 110.1 rWAR. In addition to 1927, the Yankees went on to win titles in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, and 1938. With the exception of the final one when he would’ve been in the early stages of his battle with ALS, Gehrig would’ve been the running for Series MVP had the award existed at the time.

The feats just kept on coming for Larrupin’ Lou. On June 3, 1932, he accomplished something that not even Ruth did, swatting four homers in the same game against the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park. He was just the third player to do and the first in American League history. No other Yankee has done it in the 84 years since then; in fact, it’s only been 18 other times by players on any team.

Also famously, he never took a day off. From taking over the first base job in 1925 until early 1939, Gehrig played every single day, for a streak totaling 2,130. It shattered the previous record of consecutive games played and would take another legend in Cal Ripken Jr. to come along and break it. The fact that all the wear and tear that would’ve come with that streak never really affected his stats is also insanely remarkable.

The final full year of that dominant stretch was 1938, when Gehrig first started to notice that something was off. His stats for that season still ended up at an excellent level for a normal player, but a bit below Gehrig’s usual. He didn’t seem to have quite the power that he once had, noting “I see the ball all right and take a proper cut and seem to connect like I want to, but somehow the ball doesn’t seem to take the proper zoom.”

While Gehrig spent the following winter trying to exercise and regain his strength, the opposite was happening. Upon reporting to spring training, he was struggling even worse than he had the prior year, and even collapsed in the clubhouse on a couple occasions. Upon the beginning of the 1939 campaign, Gehrig went just 4-for-28 at the plate, and looked noticeably slower in the field and running the bases. On May 2nd, he went to manager Joe McCarthy and asked for a day off, the first in over a decade. 

As he continued to sit out, Gehrig kept traveling with the Yankees, but the rest wasn’t changing anything. That eventually led to him checking into the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, still searching for some sort of answer. The one he got wasn’t good. Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — then a relatively unknown condition but an absolutely devastating one. A return to the baseball field was out of the question, and ALS would likely take his life within a matter of years.

After the revelation that he would have to retire, the Yankees announced a Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day would be held on July 4, 1939. The event brought many dignitaries and former teammates out, including Ruth, even though the two had gone through a falling-out in prior years.

The ceremonies were held in between games of a doubleheader that day. After numerous speeches, Gehrig himself was invited to the microphone. While you can probably recite the most famous line by heart, in its echo-y, crackly recorded form, Gehrig said so much more than that on that day, and all of it is worth reading:

For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for seventeen years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans.

When you look around, wouldn’t you consider it a privilege to associate yourself with such a fine looking men as they’re standing in uniform in this ballpark today? Sure, I’m lucky. Who wouldn’t consider it an honor to have known Jacob Ruppert? Also, the builder of baseball’s greatest empire, Ed Barrow? To have spent six years with that wonderful little fellow, Miller Huggins? Then to have spent the next nine years with that outstanding leader, that smart student of psychology, the best manager in baseball today, Joe McCarthy? Sure, I’m lucky.

When the New York Giants, a team you would give your right arm to beat, and vice versa, sends you a gift — that’s something. When everybody down to the groundskeepers and those boys in white coats remember you with trophies — that’s something. When you have a wonderful mother-in-law who takes sides with you in squabbles with her own daughter — that’s something. When you have a father and a mother who work all their lives so you can have an education and build your body — it’s a blessing. When you have a wife who has been a tower of strength and shown more courage than you dreamed existed — that’s the finest I know.

So I close in saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for. Thank you.

After the festivities of that day, Gehrig retired back to his Bronx home with his wife, Eleanor, who he had met in Chicago back during the 1932 World Series. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia appointed him to a term as a New York City Parole Commissioner, which he performed for the remainder of his life. Said life sadly only lasted a little while longer. On June 2, 1941, Gehrig passed away just a few weeks shy of his 38th birthday, an age at which plenty of players are still on the field.

Following his death, Eleanor Gehrig devoted the rest of her life to ALS research and never remarried. A regular to Yankees Old-Timers’ Day, she did everything she could to keep his memory alive until her own passing in 1984. She said of Lou, “I would not have traded two minutes of the joy and grief with that man for two decades of anything with another.”

Just as a player, Lou Gehrig is an unquestionable Yankees and baseball icon. However, he also means so much more than that in many ways.

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

Columbus Clippers 7, Scranton RailRiders 5

Clippers improve to 39-31

Cooper Ingle had the game of his life on Thursday, going 4-for-4 with three home runs and a double to power the Clippers to victory.

Ingle has been getting reps in the outfield lately, but he did his damage this time from the catcher position.

The other top two Guardians prospects also had great games as Angel Genao went 3-for-4 and Ralphy Velazquez went 2-for-4.

Pedro Avila pitched well, allowing two runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings while striking out two and walking three.

Jack Leftwich and Franco Aleman both pitched scoreless innings while Ryan Webb allowed two runs and Trevor Stephan allowed a run from the bullpen. 

Akron RubberDucks 10, Altoona Curve 9
Akron RubberDucks 1, Altoona Curve 4

RubberDucks move to 34-31

In game one, Wuilfredo Antunez had a big game, going 2-for-5 with a triple and a double. Jose Devers went 2-for-3 with two walks, Conner Barstad went 2-for-4 with a walk, Luke Hill doubled and walked and Alfonsin Rosario walked three times. 

Rosario, Hill and Devers also stole a base.

A rehabbing Eric Sobrowski allowed two unearned runs without allowing a hit, striking out two and walking one in 0.2 innings.

Dylan DeLucia allowed two runs on five hits in 5.0 innings with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. 

In game two, Akron managed just five hits. Jacob Cozart went 2-for-4 with a double and Conner Barstad wetn 1-for-2 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Rafe Schlesinger allowed four runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts in 4.1 innings in his Double-A debut.

The bullpen was tremendous the rest of the way as Sean Matson, Reid Johnson and Adam Tulloch combined for 4.2 scoreless innings, but the offense couldn’t muster much.

Lake County Captains 4, Great Lakes Loons 5
Lake County Captains 3, Great Lakes Loons 2

Captains move to 37-27

Lake County scored four runs on three hits in game one with the big blow coming off the bat of recently-activated Welbyn Francisca, who blasted a three-run home run.

Bennett Thompson also went 1-for-2 with a walk.

Starting pitcher Braylon Doughty pitched decently, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in 6.0 innings. 

Cam Schuelke pitched 1.1 innings, allowing an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth inning to take the loss.

In game two, Lake County won despite just collecting two hits. Thankfully both hits were big ones. Jace LaViolette had a two-run double while Nolan Schubart blasted his 15^th home run.

Starting pitcher Jervis Alfaro allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 5.0 innings. 

Hill City Howlers 3, Augusta GreenJackets 10

Howlers fall to 31-35

Hill City got taken out of this game early as Joey Oakie had a nightmare game, getting blistered for eight runs on three hits with seven walks and three strikeouts in just 1.2 innings.

Offensively, Dauri Fernandez tripled and scored a run.

The Baltimore Orioles (35-41) open a three-game series against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who are first in the NL West with a 48-27 record. The Los Angeles Dodgers are favored with a -199 moneyline compared to the Baltimore Orioles' +165. Starting pitchers are Trey Gibson for Baltimore, with a 5.91 ERA, and Roki Sasaki for Los Angeles, with a 4.76 ERA.

How to watch Baltimore Orioles vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

• Date: Friday, June 19

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET / 7:10 p.m. PT

• Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

• TV Channels: SportsNet LA, MASN

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Baltimore Orioles: 35-41 (No. 4 in AL East)

• Los Angeles Dodgers: 48-27 (No. 1 in NL West)

Odds

• Spread: Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5

• Moneyline: Los Angeles Dodgers -199 (63.8%) / Baltimore Orioles +165 (36.2%)

• Over/Under: 9.5

Starting pitchers

Baltimore Orioles: Trey Gibson (1-2, ERA: 5.91, K: 12, WHIP: 1.59)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Roki Sasaki (3-4, ERA: 4.76, K: 64, WHIP: 1.33)

Weather: 68°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 56,000 | Roof: Open | Surface: Grass

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The weekend is here, and I’ve got a trio of MLB same-game parlay predictions for the loaded 15-game slate on the diamond Friday, June 19.

My top MLB picks are headlined by the rolling San Francisco Giants in the early window and wrap up with the Los Angeles Dodgers beating up on the Baltimore Orioles in the nightcap.

Today's best MLB SGP picks

Game	SGP Odds
SFG vs MIA	+380
STL vs KCR	+315
BAL vs LAD	+335

Giants vs Marlins SGP: San Francisco stays hot

The San Francisco Giants are rolling along an 8-5 stretch while averaging 5.6 runs per game and ranking fourth in wOBA and ninth in xwOBA.

In the opposite dugout, the Miami Marlins rank below average in both metrics during the same timeframe and are expected to piece together a bullpen game on Friday.

San Francisco, on the other hand, has sneaky righty Landen Roupp set to toe the rubber. He ranks in the 93rd percentile in hard-hit rate, with his 3.37 xERA and 3.44 xFIP both top-20 marks among qualified starters.

Still, because he’s only fanned six or more batters in one of his past five starts, the Under on his strikeout prop is a nice odds booster.

Finally, Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee sports an elite .325 batting average, and his 42.4% squared-up contact rate ranks seventh among qualified hitters.

I recommend backing this SGP down to +350.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MIAM, NBCSBA 

Cardinals vs Royals SGP: McGreevy paves way to victory

St. Louis Cardinals righty Michael McGreevy has surrendered two runs or fewer in 10 of 14 starts this season while ranking in the 93rd percentile of fastball run value and 96th percentile in offspeed run value.

He’ll likely face the Kansas City Royals without superstar Bobby Witt Jr. (knee).

The Cards are rolling at the dish with a top-ranked xwOBA while averaging 5.8 runs per game the past two weeks. Additionally, this serves as a bounce-back spot for go-to hitter Ivan Herrera.

He’s mired in a 1-for-16 slump across the past five games after posting a sterling .371 wOBA and .372 xwOBA to start the season.

Finally, I anticipate the Royals will be off-balance against McGreevy without Witt anchoring their offense.

Because the shortstop paces the majors in WAR, his absence makes this SGP an advised play down to +300.

• Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Apple TV

Orioles vs Dodgers SGP: Gibson struggles in L.A.

Los Angeles Dodgers righty Roki Sasaki sports a tidy 3.26 ERA at home, supported by an equally impressive 3.41 xFIP.

The Baltimore Orioles, on the flip side, haven’t traveled well with a 22nd-ranked road wOBA. 

Sasaki has also allowed just five hits across his past two home starts, and he’s surrendered four or fewer in four of his past five.

Turning to Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson, he brings a lackluster 6.62 xERA and 5.19 xFIP to the mound against a lineup pacing the majors in xwOBA across the past 30 days, so this SGP is in play down to +300.

Finally, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy hits in the heart of the potent lineup and has posted an impressive .387 wOBA, .906 OPS, and .252 ISO against right-handed pitchers over the past three years.

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNLA, MASN

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Let's get this weekend off and running!

Tonight's MLB player props feature some of baseball's most exciting hitters. 

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Alec Burleson	Over 1.5 Total Bases	-134
Yordan Alvarez	Over 1.5 Total Bases	-111
James Wood	Over 1.5 hits+runs+rbi	-122

Alec Burleson Over 1.5 Total Bases (-134)

A player I love this evening can be found in a game your father will be unable to watch, the first Apple TV broadcast of the night between the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals.

I am in love with Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson tonight as he draws Royals right-hander Seth Lugo. The St. Louis slugger owns an elite rating in the current season dataset on Batters-Box and a strong rating in the default dataset. More importantly, his strong-rated trends are pretty mouthwatering.

In 40 strongly rated games:

• 1+ Hit: 75%
• 2+ Hits: 30%
• Double: 25%
• Home Run: 20%
• Over 1.5 Total Bases: 52.5%

On top of that, Burleson has been seeing the ball extremely well, posting a .357 batting average, .964 slugging percentage, and 1.364 OPS over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching. During that stretch, he has also produced a 47.6% hard contact rate and a 28.6% barrel rate.

Lugo, on the other hand, has been getting knocked around by left-handed hitters this season. At home, he is allowing a 63.9% elevation rate, and over the last 60 left-handed batters he has faced, they own a .356 xBA, .699 xSLG, and .395 xwOBA while generating 49% hard contact and an 18.4% barrel rate.

I think this is a great spot to back a hitter who is not only seeing the ball exceptionally well, but also owns nearly 90% arsenal coverage against a struggling arm.

If you are not in the juice-paying business, I would consider taking his home run and double props individually for a little more value.

• Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Apple TV

Yordan Alvarez Over 1.5 Total Bases (-111)

Yup, our boy, Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez.

He finds himself in a fantastic spot this evening against Cleveland Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee. Alvarez not only carries an elite rating against Bibee, but he also owns 100% arsenal coverage against the entire pitch mix.

The Guardians starter has struggled mightily against left-handed bats this season, and things have not improved over his last 60 left-handed hitters faced. Those hitters have produced a .460 xBA, .944 xSLG, and .461 xwOBA, while generating 45.2% hard contact, a 21.4% barrel rate, and elevating the ball 64.2% of the time.

As for Alvarez, the big fella has been on an absolute tear. Over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, he owns a .444 batting average, .852 slugging percentage, and a 1.352 OPS, while producing nearly 60% hard contact and a 27.3% barrel rate.

At this price, it is hard for me to pass up the most dangerous hitter in baseball when he is en fuego. I would play this up to -125.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SCHN, CLEG

James Wood Over 1.5 Hits, Runs, RBI (-122)

“Colby, are we really just running chalk today?”

Numbers talk. Good players are good for a reason.

James Wood is a good player, and today he is our guy as he finds himself in a strong spot against Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Griffin Jax. Much like Yordan Alvarez, Wood brings elite arsenal coverage, handling 87.1% of Jax’s pitch mix.

He also clears this prop 51.11% of the time, backed by a sample of 135 elite ratings, per Batters-Box.

Wood is having a career year, and the recent underlying numbers are borderline diabolical. Over his last 30 at-bats versus right-handed pitching, he is posting a .360 batting average, .680 slugging, and 1.113 OPS, with a 50% hard hit rate and 11.1% barrel rate.

On the other hand, Jax has been allowing plenty of hard contact and high-quality contact. At home against left-handed hitters, opponents are lifting the ball nearly 71% of the time. 

Over his last 60 lefties faced, they are producing a 9.8% barrel rate while elevating the baseball 61% of the time. Those hitters also hold a .409 xBA, .591 xSLG, and .363 xwOBA.

I would play this up to -130, or take the plus money on his bases.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: RAYS, NATS

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The Boston Red Sox, fifth in the AL East with a 29-43 record, face the Seattle Mariners, who are first in the AL West at 39-37. Seattle is favored with a -132 moneyline compared to Boston's +111. Scheduled starting pitchers are Ranger Suarez for Boston, with a 3.21 ERA, and Bryce Miller for Seattle, with a 1.54 ERA.

How to watch Boston Red Sox vs. Seattle Mariners

• Date: Friday, June 19

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET / 7:10 p.m. PT

• Where: T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA

• TV Channels: Mariners.TV, KING 5, NESN

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Boston Red Sox: 29-43 (No. 5 in AL East)

• Seattle Mariners: 39-37 (No. 1 in AL West)

Odds

• Spread: Seattle Mariners -1.5

• Moneyline: Seattle Mariners -132 (54.6%) / Boston Red Sox +111 (45.4%)

• Over/Under: 6.5

Starting pitchers

Boston Red Sox: Ranger Suarez (2-3, ERA: 3.21, K: 70, WHIP: 1.17)
Seattle Mariners: Bryce Miller (3-0, ERA: 1.54, K: 36, WHIP: 0.71)

Weather: 80°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 47,929 | Roof: Retractable | Surface: Grass

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The weekend has arrived, as have our MLB expert picks for tonight!

We're calling for a Dodgers blowout of the Orioles, and a pitcher's duel in Arlington. 

Read on for our free MLB picks for Friday, June 19.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Neil Parker: Dodgers -1.5	+100
Joe Osborne: Padres vs. Rangers Under 7.5	-122

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Neil Parker's expert pick: Dodgers -1.5

Price: 50¢ (+100) at Polymarket

Baltimore Orioles rookie Trey Gibson brings a lackluster 6.62 xERA and 5.19 xFIP to the mound against a lineup pacing the majors in xwOBA across the past 30 days. The Los Angeles Dodgers counter with righty Roki Sasaki, and he sports a tidy 3.26 ERA at home, supported by an equally impressive 3.41 xFIP.

Additionally, the Orioles haven’t traveled well and sport a 22nd-ranked road wOBA.

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• How to watch: MASN, SNLA

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Padres vs. Rangers Under 7.5

Price: 55¢ (-122) at Polymarket

Everything points to a low-scoring game in Texas tonight, where strong pitching should overwhelm two struggling offenses.

Jacob deGrom is in excellent form, allowing just four earned runs across his last four starts, and he’s been nearly untouchable at home with a 1.26 ERA through six outings. He draws a San Diego Padres lineup that ranks 27th in OPS against right-handed pitching over the past two weeks.

On the other side, Randy Vasquez has been at his best on the road where he owns a 2.08 ERA, while Texas Rangers hitters rank 29th in OPS versus righties during that same two-week span and have scored three runs or fewer in five of their last six games.

San Diego’s bullpen deserves some love here too as they've been locking things down, posting a 2.28 ERA over the last two weeks.

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
• How to watch: Padres.TV, RSN

More MLB best bets for today

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2026 MLB Draft Preview: Hunter Dietz 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 Arkansas lefthanded pitcher Hunter Dietz.

Hunter Dietz is a 6’6”, 235 lb. lefthanded pitcher who just wrapped up his junior year at the University of Arkansas. As a high schooler coming out of Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater, Florida, in 2023, he was seen as a potential top five round selection, but went undrafted due to signability issues. Dietz barely pitched his freshman and sophomore seasons due to injury issues, but was part of the Razorback rotation this year.

Dietz is a great big guy who throws his fastball in the mid-90s, touching 98. He has a cutter that touches 90 which MLB Pipeline describes as plus, and which Keith Law says is his best pitch. He also throws a slider and a curveball, which are also see as potential plus pitches. His stuff this season was described as “elite” by Baseball America and “spectacular” by MLB Pipeline.

After facing seven batters his freshman year and seven batters his sophomore year, he threw 11 innings over seven games in the Cape Cod League last summer, striking out 13 batters and walking 12. This year, he logged 85 innings over 16 starts for Arkansas, with a 3.57 ERA, 131 Ks and 31 walks.

Baseball America has Dietz at #41 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Dietz at #15 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Dietz at #24 on his top 150 list. Keith Law’s rankings have Dietz at #13 on his board. Fangraphs does not have Dietz on their board. Baseball Prospectus doesn’t have Dietz on their top 30 draft board.

In the June 8 Baseball America mock draft, Carlos Collazo has Dietz going to the Red Sox at #20, and also mentions him in connection with several teams before that, including the Rangers. The BA staff draft on June 15 has Dietz going to the Phillies at #36. Jim Callis’s June 4 mock draft has Dietz at #23 to the Cubs. Jonathan Mayo’s June 11 mock draft has Dietz to Boston at #20. Jim Callis’s June 18 mock draft has Dietz going to the Brewers at #25, but mentions him as a possibility as high as the Rockies at #10. Keith Law’s May mock draft has Dietz going to the Marlins at #14. Law’s June 10 mock draft also has the Marlins at #14 taking Dietz. Kiley McDaniel’s May 29 mock draft has Dietz going to the Kansas City Royals at #30. Kiley McDaniel’s June 18 mock draft does not include Dietz.

As you can see, there’s a big spread in where folks have Dietz ranked and where they see him going. He was referenced as a possibility in the back half of the top ten in a couple of the mock drafts, while other mocks, as you can see, don’t have him in the first round at all.

In what has been a recurring theme with our profiles so far, if Dietz had been healthy during his college career, he’d probably be off the board when the Rangers are picking. The lack of track record and the injury history is worrisome, and, as with several others, what the medicals show when he’s at the Combine will be significant.

Dietz has the build, stuff and repertoire to be a mid-rotation starter, and possibly better if he continues to tick up. His workload would need to be managed early on as a professional, and the injury risk is real, but the upside he offers would make him an intriguing gamble at 16.

Previously:

Liam Peterson

Tyler Bell

Aiden Robbins

Jared Grindlinger

Logan Reddemann

Cooper Harris

Justin Lebron

Cameron Flukey

Derek Curiel

The New York Mets’ bullpen has been a stable force for an otherwise disappointing club, and Thursday night in Philadelphia was no different.

Led by Luke Weaver’s continued scoreless inning streak and another save from Devin Williams, the bullpen backed up starter Sean Manaea to secure a 6-4 victory. The win was an example of what this bullpen is capable of when given a chance to protect a lead.

Weaver is in the midst of a career-best and MLB-leading 20-inning shutout streak that dates back to May 1. His current ERA (2.25) and WHIP (0.90) are at career lows, while the bullpen as a whole has been above league average.

Focusing almost exclusively on his fastball, changeup, and cutter, Weaver is using his changeup at a career-high rate. The result has been the lowest hard-hit and sweet-spot rates of his career.

A viral moment waiting to happen, Weaver has been the best offseason acquisition for the Mets’ front office, and he’s one of the few that hasn’t elicited groans from the Queens faithful. The bullpen is maybe the only portion of the roster that’s clearly improved over last year’s team that missed the playoffs.

At the end of New York’s brutal 12-game losing streak in April, Weaver offered perhaps the quote of the year in his postgame interview with SNY’s Steve Gelbs. A statement he’s been able to back up in resounding fashion.

“Look, people smell fear. I’m not the biggest guy in the room, but I ain’t scared of nobody,” he said. “That’s the attitude I try to take, and if I screw up, it’s on me, but at the end of the day I’m going to sleep at night, and I’m going to feel good about the effort I put in.”

As solid as Weaver has been, he might not even be the Mets’ best reliever. According to WAR, that would be Huascar Brazobán, who has done everything the coaching staff has asked of him. Opening games for struggling starters, or coming in late with runners on, Brazobán’s hard-hit rate is in the 99th percentile, even better than Weaver’s.

Williams has had some ups and downs in the closer role, including Thursday night, where he gave up a run and allowed the winning batter to the plate before notching his 11th save of the season. Another offseason addition, Williams has posted scoreless outings in 15 of his last 18 appearances.

New York has enjoyed depth beyond Weaver, Brazobán, and Williams. AJ Minter hasn’t given up a run in his first eight innings since returning from elbow surgery, while Austin Warren has a 2.63 ERA across a career-high 27.1 innings pitched. Brooks Raley had been able to stay healthy and effective despite being in his age-38 season.

The Mets can count on Weaver and the bullpen, but will they feel that way about the rest of the squad before it’s too late, if it’s not already? Getting a win in the series opener against the Phillies is helpful. Maybe take this series, go after the up-and-down Cubs, then rinse and repeat against Philadelphia at home as June winds down. It sounds simple, but it’s been so hard for this Mets squad to go on a run. If they ever do, this bullpen will be a big reason why.

I bought a pocket radio recently. Although it’s posed a few problems (reception for my favorite station is a bit shaky), it’s been a real joy to have it. It really doesn’t offer any advantages over streaming the stations digitally, but there’s something charming about it, a tactile satisfaction in tuning it manually and hearing the voices emerge from the static. I sometimes use it to listen to baseball, of course, but I’m not yet the sort of nerd who brings his radio to the ballpark (though I will be as soon as I get around to buying earbuds that’ll work with it). That sort of appreciation for the old-fashioned and analog is growing, as anyone in the vinyl record business has noted. A similar appreciation for the joys of yesteryear is developing in baseball; it turns out that our delightfully crotchety and nostalgic sport can become even more so. You see, the bunt is back.

As Ben Clemens of FanGraphs recently noted, 2026 is the Year of the Bunt. Bunts are more common than they’ve been in years, and teams are getting an unusually large amount of value from those bunts. That’s in part the result of teams figuring out how best to deploy them. As Clemens noted, bunts with a runner on first, the other bases empty, and no outs, remain unfashionable, like Jell-O salads, but bunts in situations where you can get some real benefit from them are like vintage jeans— increasingly in demand.

The Phillies, however, have not joined this trend (all stats prior to Friday’s games). They’ve attempted just nine bunts this season, the second-least in baseball, and laid down just three of them for hits; only two teams have fewer. Contrast with the Rays, who lead baseball with a whopping 56 attempts and 21 hits. The Rays braintrust is famously savvy; if they think bunts are the future, there’s good reason to believe it (though this point may be a bit less effective for this audience, given that Phillies fans are reminded of one of the Rays’ most infamous errors in judgment every fifth game). Tampa Bay is an outlier; the median number of bunt attempts this season is 22, and the median for bunt hits is 7. Still, that puts the Phillies decidedly behind average.

The tiny number of bunts attempted so far means that any attempt to explore how good the Phillies are at bunting is going to fall prey to small sample size. Still, we can note that their success rate on bunts is 33.3%, which puts them squarely in the middle of the pack. The lion’s share of the Phillies’ bunt attempts and successes have come from Justin Crawford, who has two hits on four tries. The other bunt hit came from Brandon Marsh, in his lone try. Bryson Stott and Garrett Stubbs both tried twice, to no avail. No other Phillies have attempted to bunt.

Of the Phillies who have joined Bunt Club this year, Brandon Marsh probably shouldn’t renew his membership. He’s pretty fast (74th percentile sprint speed), and solid at bunting (7 for 22 in his career) but he’s hitting well enough that there’s probably no need for him to lay down more. Bryson Stott might want to give it a whirl, though. Unsurprisingly for someone with his above-average speed, he’s good at bunting, having turned half of the 18 bunts in play across his career into hits. In the midst of a down season at the plate (.235/.291/.393, 87 wRC+), a successful bunt here and there would help him add more to the team’s offense. The same can be said of Justin Crawford, whose blazing sprint speed (96th percentile) no doubt explains why he’s bunted more often this season than any other Phillie.

What about the Phillies who haven’t attempted any bunts so far, though? Most obviously shouldn’t try it; they’re either not fast enough, or would be better off just swinging. But there is one candidate who should perhaps ask if bunting is right for him. When you think about it, it is somewhat odd that the fastest Phillie hasn’t attempted a bunt this season. Actually, he hasn’t attempted a bunt at all since 2019. Said fastest Phil would be Trea Turner, of course. As the fastest player on the team, and the fifth-fastest in baseball this season, he’s got the legs for it (the fastest, if you were wondering, is the fittingly and marvelously named Henry Bolte, of the peripatetic Athletics). And he’s done well with bunting in the past. He’s converted 9 bunts into hits out of 15 he’s put into play. 14 of those attempts came in 2018. He had no bunts at all in the first four seasons of his career. I assume that the explanation for the sudden change in 2018 lies with a managerial change: Dave Martinez took over for Washington that year and presumably put that strategy into place. I don’t know why it was suddenly abandoned afterwards; perhaps Turner was hitting well enough that the Nats felt it wasn’t necessary to do it anymore.

But, unfortunately, he is not hitting well this season. With a .223/.274/.334 slash line, Turner has struggled mightily with the bat. Bunting isn’t going to be a solution to that: even if deployed frequently and successfully, it won’t change the larger picture at the plate. Still, Turner’s speed makes the bunt an arrow in his quiver, and thus that of the Phillies. If Trea Turner were born a few generations earlier, he’d have been bunting all the time. The fact that he was born in a bunt-shy era, though, certainly doesn’t mean he has to avoid it. You can live in the modern day and still appreciate the pastimes that are, or at least seem to be, truly past. At least that’s what I tell myself before dropping $45 on a new record.

Moisés Ballesteros had an excellent start to his 2026 season, serving mostly as the Cubs designated hitter. Over his first 25 games this year, “Mo Baller” batted .387/.435/.710 (24-for-62) with five doubles, five home runs, 16 RBI and 12 runs scored.

Unfortunately, he then went into an extended slump. Since that great start he’s batting just .128/.217/.170 (12-for-94) with one home run and 24 strikeouts in 34 games.

The Cubs quietly optioned Ballesteros to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday’s off day, per the team’s transactions page.

To replace Ballesteros on the 26-man active roster, outfielder Justin Dean was recalled from Iowa Friday.

Dean is 29 and a career minor leaguer who played in 18 regular season games for the Dodgers last year, mostly as a defensive replacement and pinch-runner (only two plate appearances). He also played in 13 games for the Dodgers in last year’s postseason, all as a pinch-runner or defensive replacement.

You might recall this play from Game 6 of the 2025 World Series [VIDEO].

That’s Dean in center field for the Dodgers, putting his arms up to indicate the ball hit by Addison Barger of the Blue Jays was stuck in the wall. That prevented Toronto from scoring a run on that play, and the Dodgers eventually won the game (and the World Series).

Dean wore uniform No. 1 for the Cubs in Spring Training this year and I assume he’ll continue to wear it when he makes his Cubs debut. Oddly enough, if he plays this weekend, that Cubs debut will be against the Blue Jays.

As for Ballesteros, he absolutely has the talent to hit at the major league level. The league appears to have adjusted to him and now he’ll have to make adjustments himself. I believe he’ll do so and will be back at some point later this season.

As always, we await developments.

This week’s MLB Reacts question may well feature a classic case of striking while the iron is hot. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll look back on it later as an example of being irrationally exuberant at precisely the wrong time.

Either way, this week we got some pretty definitive results!

On Tuesday, we laid out the case that the projected roster of the Cincinnati Reds in 2027 sure looked like it could use a thumper, a big bat capable of playing corner infield defense given the holes existing both on their roster as-is as well as on the farm behind it. We also highlighted that in Eugenio Suárez, they’ve already got a franchise icon who is capable of providing just about all of that, whose mutual option for next year could maybe be reworked into a contract for the 2027 season.

Of course, we also asked that the morning after Geno socked a pair of homers – one a grand slam – while driving in 6 runs in a 12-0 rout of the New York Mets. The timing seemed impeccable for some classic Geno love, and that’s precisely what happened.

70% of respondents thought bringing back Geno for the 2027 was a good idea!

In the two games since that two-homer night, Geno has gone 0 for 8 with 5 Ks. He’s hitting .212/.274/.376 on the season (a .651 OPS), with just 7 homers and 25 RBI through 47 games played. Baseball Reference values him at -0.5 bWAR, and FanGraphs concurs (-0.5 fWAR), and his 35th birthday is almost exactly one month away.

Perhaps we’d get a markedly different result here if we’d asked on just about any other day of the 2026 season. But this week, after Monday’s game, it’s clear that Geno once again endeared himself to the Cincinnati Reds faithful, who wouldn’t mind seeing him back in the uniform again next year.

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