Category: MLB

Shohei Ohtani, that two-way playing unicorn, may actually get a chance to both hit and pitch when his turn in the rotation comes up on Wednesday vs. the San Diego Padres.

According to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Ohtani will probably hit and pitch next time he is on the bump amid a season when he is not only struggling for consistency on offense but has also seen his status as both pitcher and hitter become a rare occurrence, with the slugger regularly sitting as DH on days he pitches.

The Dodgers' skipper said on Tuesday that the "plan" for the series finale in San Diego is to have Ohtani hit the same game he is set to start, according to ESPN's Alden Gonzalez.

The news comes during a crucial slate down south for the boys in blue, who find themselves 0.5 games back of their NL West counterparts after dropping Monday's game, 1-0.

The two teams do battle once again on Tuesday night, with the Dodgers' Emmet Sheehan set to pitch against the Padres' Griffin Canning.

Good afternoon, folks. Wondering why it’s a 4:10 pm ET game? Me, too. The best explanation I’ve got for you is this tweet from Marlins beat writer Craig Mish:

Lucky us, on the other end of this grand experiment. Regardless, here’s hoping the Baldwin-less Braves can even up this four-game set today after last night’s game to forget.

ICYMI

Pitching matchup

Lineups

Today’s roster moves

Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo are proud to finally deliver a happy pod on the latest episode of The Mets Pod. 

After a week of dramatic wins, which included a sweep of the Tigers, a Subway Series victory over the Yankees, and a 10-run 12th inning in Washington, Connor and Joe recap it all - including notes on Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Bo Bichette, Nick Morabito, Mark Vientos, and more, plus a pitch to the audience to come up with a different nickname for the Mets youth movement that is better than "Baby Mets." 

The guys also go deep on the pitching, discussing Clay Holmes' injury, the call-up of Zach Thornton, and what Jonah Tong has been doing Down on the Farm. 

The show wraps with a Mailbag featuring questions about the race back to a .500 record and what the lineup could look like once Francisco Lindor returns. 

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

It was not Kyle Schwarber who socked a backbreaking homer off the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night in Philadelphia. That honor went to Bryson Stott, who crushed Cincinnati’s dream of a come-from-behind victory with a 2-run shot off Graham Ashcraft in the Bottom of the 8th inning that turned a 4-3 Reds lead into a 5-4 Phillies victory.

Schwarber, though, will get more opportunities to keep sockin’ dingers on Tuesday against Reds pitching, with rising ace Chase Burns getting the start for Cincinnati in the second game of the series.

Burns enters play on Tuesday having been valued at 2.6 bWAR on the season already, a mark that’s fourth best in all of Major League Baseball and behind only Phillies star Cristopher Sanchez among players pitching in the senior circuit. Burns has been on a particularly brilliant role during the month of May, as he’s fired 19.0 IP across a trio of starts and yielded just a lone earned run in the process. He’s holding right-handed hitters to a ridiculous .124/.143/.169 (.311 OPS) so far this season, though lefties – like Schwarber! – own a much more robust .242/.348/.455 (.802) line against him with 5 of the 6 homers he’s yielded this year.

Lefty Jesus Luzardo will start for the Phillies, with first pitch set for 6:40 PM ET once again. With a southpaw on the mound, the Reds have tinkered with their lineup once again, with right-handed outfielders Blake Dunn and Dane Myers in the lineup. Matt McLain remains in the leadoff spot for a second straight day, and Sal Stewart will get a defensive break as the team’s DH for the night.

Here’s the full Reds lineup:

Nick Morabito’s father and uncle both played baseball. His father Brian played at James Madison University in the late 80s and early 90s, and his uncle John played at Wake Forest University and then in the Chicago White Sox’ minor league system in the late 80s. With their genetics and coaching, Nick took to baseball, playing little league in and around Fairfax County in Virginia and Washington D.C., and then eventually attending Gonzaga College High School, a private Catholic college-prep school in D.C.

Initially, he was not on many radars, but by the end of his junior year, the outfielder had turned himself into a follow for scouts and evaluators. In 2022, he hit.545 for the Eagles with 10 doubles, 6 triples, 12 home runs, and 52 stolen bases, helping lead them to the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and win the D.C. State Athletic Association title. Morabito won the Gatorade Player of the Year Award (Washington D.C.) and truly established himself as a bona fide high school prospect ahead of the 2022 MLB Draft.

With the 75th overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, obtained as compensation for Noah Syndergaard signing with the Los Angeles Angels, the Mets selected Nick Morabito. He already had a commitment to Virginia Tech but decided to forgo it after the Mets offered him a $1 million signing bonus, roughly $125,000 over the MLB-recommended slot value of $873,300. The organization assigned the speedy outfielder to the FCL Mets for the remainder of the season and the 19-year-old went 1-22 in his first taste of professional ball.

His poor performance at the end of the 2022 season, coupled with less-than-enthusiastic reports over the winter led many to question why the team had gone overlot to sign him, but Morabito flipped the script when he returned to the field for the 2023 season and began the year hitting .324/.437/.432 in 30 games in the complex, with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 11 steals, and 20 walks to 22 strikeouts. He was promoted to Single-A St. Lucie in August and finished the season with them, hitting .286/.403/.378 in 27 games with 4 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 10 stolen bases, and 14 walks to 27 strikeouts. All in all, the 20-year-old hit .306/.421/.407 in 57 games combined, with 9 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 21 stolen bases in 25 attempts, and drew 34 walks to 49 strikeouts, just missing the 2024 Amazin’ Avenue Top 25 Mets Prospects list, garnering one 26th place vote.

Morabito remained in St. Lucie to start the 2024 season, and what a start it was. The 21-year-old center fielder appeared in 24 games for the St. Lucie Mets and hit an impressive .397/.530/.513 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 11 stolen bases in 15 attempts, and 18 walks to 18 strikeouts, forcing a promotion to High-A Brooklyn in early May. He stayed in Coney Island for the rest of the season, and while he did slow down a bit, it was more a case of being unable to maintain such a torrid pace rather than looking overmatched. In 95 games, he hit .294/.373/.374 with 15 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs, 48 stolen bases in 59 attempts, and 42 walks to 80 strikeouts, setting the Cyclones single-season franchise record for hits (110) and stolen bases. On the season, he hit a combined .312/.403/.398, with 17 doubles, 5 triples, 4 home runs, 59 stolen bases in 74 attempts, and drew 60 walks to 98 strikeouts. Leading the system in batting average, on-base percentage, and stolen bases, Morabito won Organizational Player of the Year 2024 honors and was ranked 19 on Amazin’ Avenue’s 2025 Top 25 Mets Prospect List.

Morabito began the 2025 season with Double-A Binghamton and remained there for the entire season. Appearing in 118 games, he hit .273/.348/.385 with 27 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, 49 stolen bases in 60 attempts, and drew 47 walks to 115 strikeouts. After the season ended, the organization sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where he appeared in 17 games for the Scottsdale Scorpions and hit .362/.450/.464 in 69 at-bats with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run, 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts, and drew 10 walks to 15 strikeouts. He was ranked 15 on Amazin’ Avenue’s 2026 Top 25 Mets Prospect List, and began the season assigned to the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. He hit the ground running in his first taste of Triple-A baseball, hitting .300 in the month of April, but slowed down as May progressed. Prior to his promotion, the outfielder was hitting  .253/.364/.390 in 41 games with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 14 stolen bases in 16 attempts, and drew 21 walks to 40 strikeouts.

The 5’10”, 180-pound Morabito is solid and thick, but quick-twitch speedy and athletic. Year after year, the Mets have tinkered with Morabito’s set-up at the plate. After changing it during the 2025 season to have him more square at the plate, and then closing him up during the Arizona Fall League, Morabito is now standing fairly open, with his hands at his eyes and his bat head angled almost perpendicular to the ground. The slight leg lift that he began using in the AFL remains, as opposed to the toe tap he used throughout the 2025 season in Binghamton, but even with the slight leg lift, his load and weight shift are still minimal and his mechanics at the plate have very little wasted movement.

He is quick and direct to the ball with a level, flat swing plane. Morabito is capable of hitting the ball hard- during his time with the Syracuse Mets, statcast radars tracked 18 batted ball events resulting in exit velocities over 100 MPH and 39 resulting in exit velocities over 95 MPH, roughly 33% of his registered batted ball events- but because of his swing path, he is hitting the ball on the ground more often than not. Morabito had a 23.6% line drive rate, 51.9% groundball rate, and 24.5% fly ball rate upon his promotion, which is in line with his career data; in 2025, he had a 24.1% line drive rate, 53.9% ground ball rate, and 21.9% fly ball rate, and in 2024, he had a combined 24.9% line drive rate, 55.0% ground ball rate, and 20.1% fly ball rate. Most concerningly, Morabito has been absolutely unable to elevate fastballs of any kind, averaging a 3-degree launch angle against them. Against breaking and off-speed pitches, Morabito has had a bit more success elevating them, but even still, he is averaging a 10-degree launch angle against all secondary pitches, still highly suboptimal.

On the whole, Morabito has struggled against fastballs, hitting .197/.340/.316 in the limited data of his month-plus in Syracuse this season. He had his most success against breaking balls, hitting .315/.383/.500 against them. Against fastballs, his swing typically seems be late, going back up the middle or to the opposite field, but against slower secondary pitches, he is pulling the ball more.

Allowing Morabito to succeed, such as he has, with his batting profile and spray chart, is his elite speed. The outfielder’s calling card are ground balls that are legged out for hits, keeping his minor league batting average and BABIP inflated. A true plus runner, Morabito has posted 90th percentile outcomes in various speed-quantifying metrics over the years, and leverages that speed into extra bases when the ball is put into play, leading the system in stolen bases (129) since being drafted in 2022.

A shortstop for the majority of his high school experience, Morabito began playing the outfield late and was drafted as an outfielder. Despite having experience, he has not played in the infield since turning pro save a handful of games where he manned second base in 2023. The majority of his playing time has come in center, where he has shown the ability to be an above-average fielder. Morabito is not graceful like many of the great center fielders, but he has above-average range and can cover a lot of ground. His arm is fringe-average for the outfield, but his glove work is sure. Over the years, Morabito has improved as a defender, learning on the fly. As long as he remains a plus runner, he will have the ability to play center, tracking down balls and correcting himself with “brute speed” when the technical aspects of the position allude him.

Emmet Sheehan gets the start on Tuesday for the Dodgers in the middle game of their series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, but what’s notable is that it’s the first start this season for Los Angeles on four days rest.

Sheehan allowed two runs in six innings with six strikeouts in his win last Thursday over San Francisco. He swapped rotation slots so Shohei Ohtani could start on Wednesday’s series finale, directly in front of an off day, reducing the number of games Ohtani might hit with next-day fatigue after a pitching start.

Pitching on four days rest was the norm for decades in baseball, but that’s waned a bit over time. Here’s a look at the Dodgers starts on four (or three) days rest over the last few five-year check-ins.

Dodgers starts on (3 or) 4 days rest

• 2006: 90 starts
• 2011: 70 starts
• 2016: 59 starts
• 2021: 61 starts

That’s a slow-ish decline, and even in some recent years when the Dodgers have looked for avenues to give extra rest whenever possible, through spot starts, bullpen games, the decline in starts on four days rest wasn’t precipitous, until 2024.

• 2022: 45 starts
• 2023: 40 starts
• 2024: 10 starts
• 2025: 9 starts

Last season, after excluding openers, relievers making spot starts, and some final-week shenanigans, the Dodgers had 150 real starts, and only nine of them were on four days rest. The rest were split essentially evenly, with 70 starts on five days rest and 71 starts with six days or longer. Through Monday, this year has 15 starts on five days rest and 32 starts on longer rest (Friday’s bullpen game in Anaheim is not included).

How the Dodgers have truly shifted came with the signing of Yoshinobu Yamamoto in December 2023. Used to pitching roughly once a week in Japan, Yamamoto has pitched with at least five days rest in every one of his major league appearances, save for one lore-creating, championship-clinching performance in the World Series last November.

Roki Sasaki signed last year and is also on the same extra-rest plan, as is Ohtani, who returned to pitching last June. Ohtani as a two-way player means he doesn’t count against the roster limit of 13 pitchers, which makes it much easier to use a six-man starting rotation, because the team can still keep a full complement of eight relievers. Hence the decline in starts on four days rest. Tuesday is just the 30th such start for the Dodgers since the start of 2024, which is a quarter fewer than the 2023 season alone.

In 2024, the Dodgers’ first start on four days rest was in the 15th game of the season, when Bobby Miller allowed two runs in four innings on the road in Minnesota on April 10. Last year the first start on four days rest was May 11 by Tony Gonsolin, who threw five scoreless innings in the 41st game of the season. Tuesday is the Dodgers’ 49th game of 2026.

Tuesday is technically Sheehan’s third career start on four days rest, though his one-inning “start” last September 26 — the final weekend of the regular season, keeping him available for relief work as early as four days later in the wild card round — doesn’t really count. Sheehan also struck out nine in 4 2/3 innings with one run allowed on four days rest on September 21, 2023, but that was following a three-inning relief outing, not another start.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Padres
• Ballpark: Petco Park, San Diego
• Time: 6:40 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

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We're sticking to the Eastern divisions for our expert MLB picks today, eyeing an AL and NL East moneyline, as well as an AL East total.

Read on to see why our MLB experts like the Braves and BoSox to win... as well as plenty of runs in Orioles/Rays (again).

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Josh Inglis: BAL/TB o7.5	+100
Jon Metler: ATL ML	-127
Joe Osborne: BOS ML	-133

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Josh Inglis' expert pick: Orioles/Rays Over 7.5

Price: 50¢ (+100) at Polymarket

Yesterday’s series opener exploded for 22 runs, and the projections are calling for more offense today with a fair price on this Over sitting around -126. Kyle Bradish is coming off his best start of the season and threw 100 pitches, after averaging closer to 90 per outing beforehand — there could be some drop-off in quality after the heavier workload.

Griffin Jax is a reliever-turned-starter whose strikeout rate has fallen sharply, from 35% down to 18.2% this season. Both offenses should be able to contribute on a relatively low total, with THE BAT projecting 8.72 runs.

Jon Metler's expert pick: Braves moneyline

Price: 56¢ (-127) at Polymarket

We have two southpaws on the mound at loanDepot park this afternoon, and Martín Pérez and the Atlanta Braves have a much easier matchup with the lineup they’ll face than Braxton Garrett does.

Three of the first five hitters in the Marlins lineup bat from the left side, and the lineup features five left-handed hitters in total. This is a dream matchup for Pérez, as he can neutralize a lot of that power by working the outer half of the plate with his sinker-changeup combination, forcing those hitters to drive the ball the other way.

Garrett, meanwhile, isn’t nearly as fortunate. He struggled with his command and lasted only 1 1/3 innings in his first start of the season, and with Ronald Acuña Jr. expected back in the lineup, the Braves can throw several hitters at him who thrive against left-handed pitching, along with Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley. I price the Braves closer to 61-cent (-156) favorites in this spot.

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Red Sox moneyline

Price: 57¢ (-133) at Polymarket

The Boston Red Sox hold advantages across the board tonight in Kansas City. Ranger Suarez continues to pitch at an elite level, allowing zero earned runs in five of his last six starts, while carrying a stellar 1.96 ERA on the road.

The Royals are 2-10 against lefty starters this season, and the offense ranks 27th in OPS against southpaws over the last two weeks. Boston’s bullpen has also been dominant during that span, with an MLB-best 1.90 ERA. With a struggling Bailey Falter set to open for KC, scoring opportunities should come early and often for Boston.

More MLB best bets for today

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

As quickly as spring came and went, the White Sox leapt from horrendous to… fun? I’m not talking fun in the lovable loser type of way that the North Siders affectionately refer to their tribe, and not in the way a little league parent earnestly cheers for their kid, knowing they’re about to do a swinging bunt and then run to third instead of first. I’m talking fun fun. Like, plan my weeknights around watching the game, save up money for tickets that don’t offer a giveaway, and, dare I say it, fully buy into this team making a wild card run kind of fun.

Like a cold glass of water on a hot day, this team has been refreshing. The gritty play, comical home run sushi celebrations, and extremely clutch hitting from guys who were scoffed at as lineup starters have started the season with a bang. Although it’s tempting to slot this team into the wild card race automatically, it’s time to start pumping the brakes on the hype train. Trust me, I don’t want to be writing this more than you want to read it, but let’s take the emotion out of the equation and carefully evaluate this team.

Run differential is still the Sox’s worst enemy. With a current run differential of -7, the Sox should be happy they aren’t further behind the eight ball. The bullpen deserves a lot of credit recently for keeping them close to zero, but injuries haven’t hit yet, and the arm barn is notoriously one of the shakiest aspects of this team. The relief pitching crew’s 3.81 ERA, 0.3 WAR, and only two blown saves in May have gotten the team through its fair share of troubles, but don’t expect this steadfastness to be long-term. It’s only fair to expect the run differential to get worse as relievers get hurt and the season goes on. And as run differential goes, so will the team’s playoff odds.

Psychology is also playing tricks. While a winning record looks excellent on paper, especially to excitement-starved Sox fans, a record above .500 doesn’t guarantee a postseason appearance. Since 2022, when the playoffs expanded from 10 to 12 teams, 57 teams held a winning record at the 46-game mark, yet only 45 made the postseason that year. Although a near 80% success rate is promising, there’s one big factor working against Chicago: money.

Miserly ownership will weigh a winning team down, no matter how good they are. Thirty-six of the 45 teams that exhibited sustained success had a payroll over $100 million. The nine exceptions to this case were the Guardians, known for developing the best talent on a shoestring budget; the Marlins, led by Kim Ng and exceptional management in 2023; and the Orioles, who were quite the outlier in 2024. While Zach Bove and Derek Shoman are proving to be impactful coaches, there are too many things that have to work in favor of the Sox to defy the challenges that come with competing against clubs with plenty of money to spare at the trade deadline.

Finally, the Sox being fun to watch and playoff-caliber aren’t mutually exclusive. Tuning in to a Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery back-to-back home run and following Davis Martin’s dark horse Cy Young campaign won’t get old any time soon, but that doesn’t mean they’re an 81-plus win team. It simply means this team is finally taking up primetime space in fans’ minds, in a good way. 

Hopefully, I’m wrong once again, like I was wrong about Montgomery being impactful last year and Murakami adjusting to the big leagues this year. But until then, let’s enjoy the ride.

We’d probably all like to forget the Yankees’ soul-crushing loss on Sunday against the Mets. That being said, there were several moments that can be remembered in a positive light, including Anthony Volpe’s first hit of the 2026 campaign — a two-out double off Freddy Peralta in the second inning. Volpe arguably had a pair of more impactful plate appearances later in the game, driving in two with a sixth inning single and fighting back from 0-2 down to draw a bases loaded walk in the seventh, however the approach Volpe showed in his first AB will serve him well if he can maintain it, and merits analysis in this week’s installment in this series.

Peralta seemed to be extra amped for his start against the crosstown rivals, his fastball coming in about two mph above his season average during the first turn through the order. He starts Volpe with a first-pitch four-seamer at 96 mph, he and catcher Luis Torrens looking to jam Volpe up and in.

Peralta executes this pitch perfectly to his spot and all Volpe can do is fight it off foul. Last year, among the many issues for Volpe included being too passive against pitches in the zone, particularly fastballs early in counts. It’s at least some bit of progress to be offering at a pitch like this, if for no other reason than being evidence of good pitch recognition and strike zone awareness.

With the muscle memory of the previous pitch execution, Peralta looks to throw the exact same pitch here.

Instead, he gets his release point all wrong and sails this one above the zone at head height, making for an automatic take from Volpe.

Now that he has shown Volpe two straight fastballs, the second resetting Volpe’s eye level up, Peralta now sees if he can get him to chase a slider off the plate low and away.

Oh man, Volpe missed an absolute cookie here — a cement mixer slider right down the middle. This is just not a good swing from Volpe, his front side bailing out early as he guesses fastball, and he’s in nowhere near the right hitting position to do anything but foul this very hittable pitch back and out of play.

After his previous mistake went unpunished, Peralta doesn’t dare throw another mistake slider. Instead, he goes back to the fastball, now attempting to climb the ladder above the zone for the strikeout swinging.

Once again, Peralta is wild with his release, spraying this four-seamer up and in and not close enough to the zone to entice Volpe to chase.

That’s now two fastballs and a slider where Peralta cannot find the right release. Perhaps that is why he opts for a changeup here — a dangerous pitch to a same-handed hitter if you can’t bury it below the zone.

Indeed, we see exactly what happens when you can’t get a changeup low enough to a same-handed hitter — it turns into a batting practice fastball when thrown in the zone. Volpe sends it right back the way it came, driving this pitch to the wall in left-center for a double, the first hit of his season.

Here’s the full AB:

Volpe entered this game hitless, but with a robust .455 OBP in his first three games thanks to drawing five walks in his first 11 plate appearances of the year. Following his two hits and four times on base on Sunday, he’s got a 188 wRC+ and 43.8-percent walk rate — obviously a minuscule sample size that doesn’t provide conclusive evidence, but still offers an optimistic outlook on his process to open his campaign.

This AB alone provides a ton of encouragement when it comes to Volpe’s approach to the plate. Volpe struggled to control the strike zone last year, letting hittable pitches go by while also chasing junk off the plate. It’s why he found himself 0-2 in so many spots last year, taking an early in-zone fastball for a strike and then trying too hard to make up for it by chasing a breaking pitch out of the zone. There seems to be a concerted approach to to improve that area of his game. Including this contest, Volpe has an in-zone swing rate of 74.1-percent and a chase rate of 12.5-percent, both massive improvements of his career marks of 65.6-percent and 27.2-percent, respectively. In this AB, he swung at all three pitches in the zone and didn’t chase the two out of it. As simple as it sounds, swinging at strikes and taking balls is a big part behind the impressive walk rate he has posted so far.

Finally, I feel this encounter highlights a mid-AB adjustment from early in the count to a two-strike approach. I’ve taken screenshots of the moment right after contact on Volpe’s swings against the 1-1 slider he fouled back vs. the 2-2 changeup he barreled for the double, both offspeed pitches in the exact same location.

In the lefthand image, his swing on the mistake slider, you can see how open his front hip is and how all of his momentum is traveling toward third base. This is because he’s trying to make room for his top half to get the bat head out early as he tries to pull the ball in the air. Contrast that with the righthand image, the swing that produced the double, and you can see how he’s keeping his weight back an extra tick and letting the ball travel, and then when he does swing, his momentum is traveling forward toward the pitcher as he goes with more of an up the middle approach. It’s way early, but this improvement in his swing decisions and the employment of a two-strike approach makes me excited to watch Volpe play for the first time in a long time.

ICYMI: Buster Olney spoke with the folks at 680 The Fan’s Cellini & Dimino on a variety of Braves-related topics yesterday, but none were more buzzy than the following: should the Braves trade for Byron Buxton?

It’s been discussed a lot over the years. A two-time All-Star and Georgia native who’d be a great cultural fit in this clubhouse; everything about him screams “Brave”. Our Feed largely falls into three camps:

Blue box him NOW

We keep saying it and will keep saying it – this year’s team depth is 1) great 2) has been put to the test, but can you IMAGINE what the team would be like at full strength, PLUS Buxton? It’s a beautiful thing.

Skeptical, but open-minded

There’s a few people who see both sides, but ultimately wouldn’t mind if Alex Anthopoulos made a call or had a few conversations. We have a bit of an outfield logjam at the moment, but things can certainly be shifted to bring a player with his kind of tools onto the roster.

Stay far, far away

He’d be a perfect fit in several ways… including the unfortunate and recurring injury bug. That’s the biggest issue people have, along with what Minnesota might want in return as a secondary concern. And with the aforementioned OF logjam? For some, that’s a hard pass.

Just some fun, mid-May spectulation… if you’ve got a different take, let us know in the comments below.

Phillies provide encouraging update on top-ranked prospect Aidan Miller originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

There’s a lot happening down on the farm for the Phillies.

Philadelphia has seen breakout candidates at the plate since the start of the Minor League season. And Gage Wood dominated his way into a two-level promotion to Reading.

But the club’s top-ranked prospect still has not played a game in his fourth professional season.

There was a great deal of anticipation for Aidan Miller’s campaign entering the year, with the possibility of a midseason callup to the big leagues if everything clicked. Instead, the soon-to-be 22-year-old has been working through a back injury, something he also dealt with a year ago.

Miller went down during Spring Training, which kept him out of Grapefruit League action and has delayed his season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. It had earlier been believed that Miller was doing everything except swinging a bat, but Mattingly said on May 6 that the shortstop prospect was not participating in baseball activities.

There has at least been some progress.

“Aidan Miller is beginning to do light baseball activity,” Mattingly said Thursday.

Asked if that included swinging, Mattingly kept it broad.

“Light baseball activities,” he said. “So we’re moving in the right direction.”

It is clearly a slow play for the organization with the former first-round pick. There is no obvious reason to rush him, especially with Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm both swinging the bat better lately.

Last year between Double-A and Triple-A, Miller slashed .264/.392/.433 with 43 extra-base hits and 59 stolen bases in 116 games. In the final two months, he posted an OPS over 1.100 and racked up 22 extra-base hits in his final 36 games.

SCHWARBER OUT AGAIN, REALMUTO SITS

For the second straight day, Kyle Schwarber is out of the lineup with an illness.

Mattingly mentioned the possibility of Schwarber pinch-hitting Wednesday, but said Thursday there was no real chance that would have happened.

“Yesterday really was no shot,” Mattingly said. “Today, maybe. He didn’t feel great, but we may have a shot to hit.”

Schwarber was feeling a little better, just not enough to start. Temperatures around first pitch were expected to hover around 95 degrees before cooling into Memorial Day Weekend, and the Phillies had no reason to force it.

J.T. Realmuto will sit as well.

It’s just a day of rest for the Phillies’ catcher. At 35, the Phillies want to keep him fresh behind the plate throughout the season, and Mattingly’s player perspective goes into that decision.

“He’s getting a little older,” Mattingly said. “I just don’t think him catching five, six days in a row at this point in the season makes a lot of sense. We’re going to try to keep him stronger through the course of the season.”

Realmuto has pushed to play through a lot over the years, and Mattingly knows that part of him.

“I know he wants to play, and he wants to be in there every day, and we appreciate that,” Mattingly said. “But sometimes you have to save guys from themselves and try to give them days here and there, especially when they make sense.”

Those days also keep Rafael Marchán and Garrett Stubbs involved. That depth showed up Wednesday, when the Phillies’ next-man-up mentality helped power an eighth-inning comeback victory behind Bryson Stott’s go-ahead homer.

PHILS GO FOR ANOTHER

When the Phillies beat the Pirates at PNC Park, it was their sixth consecutive series win.

That came after they had lost six straight series under Rob Thomson.

The Phils will hand the ball to Jesús Luzardo Thursday night against Cincinnati as they look for their seventh straight series victory.

The left-hander was lights out in his last outing in Boston, firing six scoreless innings against the Red Sox as he went toe-to-toe with former Phillie Ranger Suárez.

He issued just one walk in that start, which is usually the biggest indicator of how his outings will play out. Luzardo has walked three or more batters in three starts this year. In two of them, he allowed five earned runs. In the other, he did not complete the fifth inning.

Mattingly has seen the same trend. When Luzardo’s innings start to get away, it is often less about stuff and more about tempo.

“For me, he always looks the same,” Mattingly said. “I just think sometimes he speeds up. Instead of slowing down a little bit and making pitches, it gets to be, ‘I’m competing,’ and he’s competing harder. To me, [that’s] not as good.”

Even through his struggles, Luzardo’s underlying metrics remain strong. The strikeout stuff is there, and he gives the Phillies immense upside in a rotation that already features Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and Andrew Painter, who has improved a great deal recently.

The Phillies will oppose Reds righty Chase Burns, who has posted an eye-opening 1.87 ERA in nine starts and is firmly in the National League Cy Young conversation. Burns routinely runs his fastball into the triple digits and will be a tough opponent for the Phillies.

Mattingly still likes the way his club should think each night.

“Our guys should expect to win,” he said. “We’ve got good players. We’ve got good starting pitching on an everyday basis. Those guys, for the most part, keep us in a game and give us a chance.”

The Phillies have been playing like it lately.

Now they get another chance to keep the run going.

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Parker Messick takes the hill for the Cleveland Guardians against the Detroit Tigers tonight at Comerica Park.

The impressive lefty gives Cleveland the edge in my Guardians vs. Tigers predictions.

Don't expect a boatload of runs in these MLB picks on Tuesday, May 19, either.

Who will win Guardians vs Tigers today: Guardians moneyline (-150)

Parker Messick is finally getting some helium in the AL Rookie of the Year odds race. The Cleveland Guardians left-hander is 5-1 with a 2.35 ERA over nine starts.

He is flummoxing opposing lineups with chase and strikeout rates that rank in the 85th percentile, and he's finished at least five innings in all nine outings, consistently putting the Guardians in a position to win.

This Detroit Tigers offense boasts a 96 wRC+ against left-handed pitching, which will only be further exposed by a hurler of this caliber.

While Cleveland's bullpen has an inflated ERA, the relief corps also owns the best K% in the majors and ranks second in K-BB%. This is a dominant bullpen that will help shut things down once Messick leaves.

COVERS INTEL: Messick suppresses hard contact at an elite level, sitting in the 87th percentile in hard-hit rate and the 85th in average exit velocity.

Guardians vs Tigers Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (+105)

I fully expect Messick to get the job done against the Tigers, as he's allowed fewer than three runs in seven of his nine outings, and Comerica Park isn't a hitter-friendly locale.

That should also benefit Tigers starter Keider Montero, who owns a 3.14 ERA at home, suppressing power more effectively in Detroit than on the road (.295 SLG at home, .508 away).

Montero is a pitch-to-contact hurler, which may bite him a bit against this Guardians offense that boasts baseball's third-lowest strikeout rate, but the lack of consistent power means Cleveland won't run up the score.

Guardians vs Tigers odds

• Moneyline: Guardians -167 | Tigers +138
• Run line: Guardians -1.5 (+102) | Tigers +1.5 (-123)
• Over/Under: Over 8 (-107) | Under 8 (-112)

Guardians vs Tigers trend

The Guardians have hit the moneyline in 28 of their last 50 road games for +12.45 units and a 23% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Guardians vs. Tigers.

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