Category: MLB

Yesterday, the Orioles announced the return of infielder Jackson Holliday to the roster. Holliday’s activation ends a 3+ month stint on the IL after surgery to repair a broken hamate bone in his right hand. Originally, the expectation was that the former No.1 overall pick would make his return sometime in mid-April. Then again, the expectation was also that this Orioles team would be distinctly better than last year’s squad. Neither has come true, as Holliday rejoins an O’s team that is struggling to get back to .500 and stay within striking distance of a Wildcard spot.

When the news of Holliday’s injury was announced back in February, the Orioles were losing their starting 2B and a high-upside player who could add length to a reimagined lineup. Now, Holliday is coming back to uncertainty; no one can be sure if he’ll make this lineup better or if the lineup really needs him.

Part of the reason it took so long for Holliday to make it back to the big leagues was a prevailing feeling of him “just not being right” throughout his minor league rehab assignments. Through 11 games with Norfolk to begin his rehab season, he was hitting .167 with a .453 OPS and 12 Ks. Those struggles led the O’s to recall him to Baltimore to reset, and then send him on a two-game rehab assignment with High-A Frederick. After some good swings with Keys, he returned to Norfolk, only for a 1st-inning strikeout (where he was visibly in pain) to put him back on the shelf after one AB.

After a 15-day break from rehab games, Holliday went 0-for-6 in three games with the Baysox, before finishing his final rehab stint in Norfolk with a four-game hit streak. Those last four games with the Tides saw Holliday hit a go-ahead home run and a triple to the deepest part of the park. That power surge was apparently all the Orioles needed to see, as a day later, he was back on the active roster.

JACKSON HOLLIDAY HITS THE GO-AHEAD HOME RUN IN THE 9TH!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/uZeICQWVjQ

— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) May 17, 2026

Even with the recent announcement that Jordan Westburg will miss the entire 2026 season due to Tommy John surgery, fitting Holliday into the current infield mix isn’t straightforward. Jeremiah Jackson seemingly had a vice-grip on the starting 2B role after a hot start to the season. Through his first 21 games of the season, Jackson was slashing .296/.311/.535 with 5 HR and 17 RBI.

However, in 75 ABs since then, Jackson has gone from offensive revelation to struggling to hold on to his place in the lineup. After last night’s game against Tampa, Jackson is hitting .213 with a .307 slugging percentage and an OPS below .600. Jackson’s recent offensive downturn has him looking a lot like last year’s Jackson Holliday.

Jeremiah Jackson still has an edge defensively; he’s proven to be an above-average defender, while Jackson Holliday has shown to be a below-average defender through 200+ major league games. It’s possible that Craig Albernaz could platoon the two players, as JJ has a .707 OPS against LHPs this season, while Holliday posted a .735 OPS against RHPs in 2025.

At one point, there was also a thought that Holliday could help bolster their options at 3B—whether that meant the 22-year-0ld would play the hot corner himself or slide Gunnar Henderson to third and play Holliday at SS. A potential stumbling block to that proposition was the fact that Holliday had never played 3B in the majors, and only 38 career minor league innings at the hot corner.

The recent play of Coby Mayo may make the whole idea completely moot, however. Mayo was once the poster child for the greater struggles of the Orioles, as he struggled at the plate and in his attempt to adapt to life as a full-time MLB 3B. However, since his 9th-inning error cost the Orioles a loss in Miami, Mayo has been a different player. In his last 10 games, the 24-year-old is hitting .281 with a .529 slugging percentage, a current five-game hit streak and some moonshot home runs.

This one is definitely gone. pic.twitter.com/tThiUWVkIX

— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 17, 2026

Mayo is in a group of Orioles, with Samuel Basallo, Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso, who all possess truly elite bat speed and raw power. We’re finally seeing him tap into that power with more consistent contact rates, and that means Mayo needs to remain in the lineup.

With Holliday, Craig Albernaz and the greater Orioles’ organization face the same dilemma they’ve stared down with Mayo, Colton Cowser and (to a lesser extent) Samuel Basallo. Through 200+ games and 850+ MLB ABs, Holliday has shown himself to be an aggressively average major league player. In terms of on-field output, Holliday’s career is closer to a utility player like Blaze Alexander rather than a star like Gunnar Henderson.

And yet, we can’t forget that this is a 22-year-old, former No.1 overall pick and former No.1 prospect in all of baseball. Just because Holliday hasn’t yet lived up to the talent that he displayed in the minors does not mean he is doomed to always be a league-average offensive player. Albernaz & Co. almost have to play him if for no other reason than he offers higher upside than Jeremiah Jackson, Alexander or any other option at 2B.

In all likelihood, Jackson Holliday’s reintegration into the lineup will not substantially change the fortunes of this baseball team any time soon. In fact, the change may not even be noticeable. But this Orioles team needs to start building momentum with small improvements and changes that give them a higher ceiling. And because of his immense untapped talent, Holliday will get the chance to contribute to those incremental improvements and steady raising of this team’s ceiling.

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes that poor defense was the main culprit for the Texas Rangers dropping the series opener against the Colorado Rockies.

McFarland writes that Josh Jung in particular felt responsible for the defeat to Colorado after Jung’s error led to two runs scoring in a one-run loss.

Kennedi Landry writes that the game felt adverse from the start as Texas lost MacKenzie Gore to a muscle ailment after just one inning in the chilly conditions.

McFarland notes that Gore didn’t seem to think his injury was serious but the lefty will surely require more monitoring.

In addition to whatever the heck happened to Gore, Landry notes that Corey Seager finally landed on the IL proper yesterday after already missing several games with a back issue.

And, Matt Snyder has a power rankings for CBS sports but it’s mostly about how teams leaguewide have been bad and/or disappointing in what has been a very unusual season thus far.

Have a nice day!

It’s funny that it happened yesterday for two reasons, at least to me.

First, in the recap thread for Sunday’s game, there was a brief exchange about non-competitive games. Using a couple of different methodologies, True2Atlanta and I noted that there have only been four-ish games where the Braves weren’t competitive. I did a method that used average leverage throughout the game, and found that about 40 percent of games this season have been below-average in competitiveness basically all the way through, but 80 percent of those were Braves wins/dominations.

Second, Sunday’s game was the first time this season I missed a few innings. I did it “deliberately,” in the sense that the Braves had a big lead and I surmised I wouldn’t miss anything at all if I went to deal with “you’ve recently been in a car wreck” stuff. Yesterday’s game, well… there wasn’t really any reason to watch the horror show descend on Bummer and company.

Anyway, was last night rock bottom in terms of single-game dismantling of the Braves, or are we somehow going to be in for even worse somewhere in the 100ish remaining games of the season?

Throughout their history, the Boston Red Sox have notoriously done damage at the plate.

It’s pretty difficult to find an era in which they didn’t have mashers — or at least long, sustained periods where they ranked among the best in baseball at putting runs on the board.

Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr were the standard bearers in the 1940s and 1950s. Carl Yastrzemski then showed up in 1961, ushering in an era that included the likes of Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, and Carlton Fisk. Dwight Evans and Wade Boggs knocked the cover off the ball throughout the 1980s. (I don’t want to talk about the early 1990s, because that doesn’t fit my agenda.) Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Rafael Devers are just a few of the names who have led the charge for top-five offenses since the turn of the century.

It’s tradition — though that seems to have been lost this season…

The Red Sox seem to have forgotten what they’re supposed to be, as they ranked 29th in OPS (.666) and HR (33), 27th in total bases (546), and 22nd in batting average (.235) entering this week’s series against the Kansas City Royals.

EW!

I don’t need to get into all of the things that got them to this point, but a mix of stupid personnel decisions (Durbin, Caleb), regressing veterans (Duran, Jarren; Story, Trevor), injured youngsters (Anthony, Roman) and an entirely new coaching staff full of dweebs who have never played the sport in their lives are probably a good place to start the conversation — but where does it end?

I’d be extremely surprised if we see any meaningful moves made to get this group back on track before it’s too late, nor do I expect many of the names listed above to just turn things around. I just think they’re going to start playing a brand of baseball that works for them.

If that means playing like the Tampa Bay Rays, they’re going to play like the Tampa Bay Rays!

Boston’s pitching staff could be one of the three or four best in baseball, with the starting rotation giving you a quality start in seven of the last nine games. The Red Sox haven’t been able to consistently turn those performances into wins however, so there has been an emphasis on getting guys into the lineup who can actually put the ball in play and attempt to manufacture runs.

Mickey Gasper has started seven of the last nine games. Nick Sogard was called up and immediately inserted into an every day role. Andruw Monasterio is getting regular at-bats with the injury to Story. Connor Wong is playing a bit more.

It’s not sexy, but at least they aren’t swinging through everything and routinely posting uncompetitive innings.

Wong, Sogard, and Duran combined for an instance of small ball in Monday’s victory at Kauffman Stadium, with the former lacing a double down the line, moving over to third base on a bunt single, and scoring on a sacrifice fly — scoring an insurance run that gave them some breathing room in a 3-1 win over Kansas City.

It’s insane that those things get me excited, but that’s where we’re at!

Boston needs to continue playing that brand of baseball, which means more Sogard, Monasterio, Gasper, and whoever else is willing to actually give a shit.

Junior Caminero would be helpful, too, but they can’t actually be those guys…

Meet the Mets

The Mets won an absolute insane baseball game, becoming the first team since 1983 to score double digit runs in extra innings as they prevailed 16-7 over the Nationals in twelve innings. It was the club’s third straight victory and their sixth win in their last seven games.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Daily News, NY Post, ESPN

After the game, the team designated Austin Slater for assignment.

The Mets brought up Daniel Duarte and optioned Joey Gerber to Triple-A. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred A.J. Minter to the 60-day IL.

Will Sammon shared the story of Joe Raccuia, the scout who discovered A.J. Ewing. Raccuia is recovering from a stroke and the loss of his son, but has found solace in watching Ewing’s rise to the majors.

Bo Bichette discussed his slow start and how he’s trying to get back to being the player the Mets signed.

Bichette did break through with a three-hit game last night.

Juan Soto discussed the difference between his reception at Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium.

The Mets are calling up Zach Thornton to pitch on Wednesday. Nolan McLean will remain on turn and pitch on Tuesday for the Mets.

Anthony DiComo explored why they picked Thornton over some of the other options.

Tim Britton offered a blueprint for the team’s turnaround on the latest edition of This Week in Mets.

There is a chance Francisco Lindor could be back in June.

Jorge Polanco has begun the strengthening phase of his road back to the majors, with the hope being that he could begin a rehab assignment in a week or so.

Kodai Senga tossed 46 pitches during a Sunday bullpen session as he tries to work his way back from injury.

Jared Young will move his rehab to Triple-A as aims to return from his injury.

Dave Kerpen, CEO of Kerpen Ventures, talked about how being a Mets fan, moreso than exiting companies or getting an MBA, was the best training to becoming a founder.

Around the National League East

The Braves activated Ronald Acuña Jr. from the injured list and played Kyle Farmer on the 10-day IL.

Atlanta topped the latest MLB Power Rankings.

The Phillies scored two in the eighth to top the Reds 5-4.

The Marlins cooled off the red-hot Braves, shutting them out 12-0.

Around Major League Baseball

Gerrit Cole could make his next start in the majors after touching close to 100 mph in his latest rehab start.

Tarik Skubal was encouraged by his latest symptom-free rehab start.

Roman Anthony of the Red Sox has hit a snag in his rehab and has hit pause as he tries to work his way back.

Pete Crow-Armstrong expressed regret at his ‘choice of words’ with a White Sox fan in a recent exchange.

An Astros fan who did not interfere with Brandon Nimmo stealing back a home run was rewarded with a signed ball and a nice message from the ex-Mets outfielder.

The Guardians beat up the Tigers 8-2.

The Rays walloped the Orioles 16-6.

The Yankees held off the Blue Jays 7-6, as David Bednar buckled down to secure a comeback win one night after his ninth inning collapse.

The Red Sox topped the Royals 3-1.

The Twins doubled up the Astros 6-3.

The Brewers earned a decisive 9-3 victory over the Cubs.

The Rockies held on to defeat the Rangers 7-6.

The Angels were being no-hit heading into the ninth, but ended up winning 2-1 in walk-off fashion.

The Padres blanked the Dodgers 1-0. Mason Miller showed his human side but still recovered to shut down L.A.

The Diamondbacks toppled the Giants 12-3.

The Mariners easily handled the White Sox 6-1. In the win, Colt Emerson hit his first major league home run, and after missing his debut, his family did not miss this feat.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Seth Ashby looked at what might be wrong with Bo Bichette.

Chris McShane previewed the team’s series against the Nationals.

Linus Lawrence provided a Monday Stat Party.

Allison McCague brought us the position player and pitcher meters for the week.

This Date in Mets History

David Wright hit a memorable walk-off hit against Mariano Rivera to give the Mets a series-opening victory against the Yankees on this date in 2006.

Let’s dial back to Sunday. With the caveat that I’m surprised Sean Manaea is still on an MLB roster, Aaron Boone hit all the right buttons. Pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt gets dotted to load the bases with one out, Max Schuemann comes into run for him. Anthony Volpe has his big two-run single, and Boone goes to his bench one more time, eschewing J.C. Escarra in favor of Amed Rosario. Rosario gets a ball in the air, Schuemann scampers home, and the Yankees have their third run of the frame. Not a bad bit of managing from Aaron Boone, and more importantly, highlights this reported sense of “urgency” the team seems to be running with.

From in-game snap decisions to broader choices like optioning Volpe to Triple-A, cutting Randal Grichuk, sending down Luis Gil, this does feel like a Yankee team that’s less interested in waiting out the first half of the season than most years. Of course the great irony is that while Boone made all those good moves in the top of the sixth, the Yankees actually lost that game because the bullpen collectively allowed six runs across five remaining innings.

And that’s the circle that we’re here to square today. The Yankees have some very obvious holes. It starts with the bullpen, where the team hovers around the median of baseball and can creep into the top ten depending on what metric you want to use. However, when we pair the relative weakness of the bullpen with the inconsistency of the offense — holes at catcher, third base, and a newly-discovered lack of depth in the outfield — and you start to get a picture of a team that can’t hit its way out of trouble.

I know people don’t like to hear this, but it is still early. I don’t think anyone should be doing serious roster analysis until a team has played 50 games, but I’m writing this a couple of hours before Game 48 with the Blue Jays kicks off. It’s early, but it’s starting to get not early. The trade market hasn’t quite kicked off yet, but one wonders just how far the Yankees are going to take this supposed sense of urgency. The club seems to perennially trade for relief pitchers that on paper improve the club, even if the 2025 version of that plan leaves some things to be desired.

Neither Escarra nor Austin Wells seems particularly interested in hitting a baseball, or are perhaps even aware there is a baseball to hit, and a change in the backup catcher slot seems inevitable. Ryan Jeffers’ 166 wRC+ will not hold up over a full season, but in a contract year for a pretty tough Twins team, he might be the type of target these oh-so-ruthless Yankees need to slightly overpay for.

Improving the outfield depends on how confident you can be in Jasson Domínguez’s return, and how he’ll hit upon returning. Spencer Jones, in at least his first taste of MLB action, doesn’t seem to have it, and while I’m going to be a little skeptical Domínguez has it long term, at least he’s shown more flashes than Jones has. That the Martian avoided a concussion while colliding with the wall should make us all optimistic, but outfield support could still be needed.

I know there are a lot of people who will probably stop reading the moment I type this, but this is a good baseball team. More than that, the club is combining yet another, improbable, year of Aaron Judge’s prime with performances by Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice that we may never see again. You can’t bank on a 1.35 ERA in perpetuity, even if Cam continues to soar across 2026 every reasonable bettor in the world would hedge on him being worse next year. The Yankees have wasted potential seasons of destiny before — the nice thing this year is you know exactly where the holes are. Want to prove you’re feeling the urgency? Fill them.

The Mets are designating outfielder Austin Slater for assignment, with his replacement on the active roster being outfield prospect Nick Morabito.

In addition moves, the Mets selected left-handed pitcher Anderson Severino to the major league roster before optioning him to Triple-A Syracuse, and transferred Clay Holmes to the 60-day IL.

Morabito, 23, is hitting .253/.364/.390 with four homers, six doubles, one triple, and 14 stolen bases in 41 games for Syracuse this season in what is his first taste at the level.

He spoke to reporters before Tuesday's game against the Washington Nationals, a team he grew up rooting for, and said he got the call "pretty late" on Monday night that he was getting called up and said the last 12 hours have been "kind of hectic."

"Just do my best out there and be the [best] player I can be," Morabito said of the Mets' expectations of him. "Go out there and have fun and just try and help this team win."

Morabito has been a weapon against left-handed pitchers this year, posting a .936 OPS (his OPS against righties is .702).

In five minor league seasons in New York's system, Morabito has a .769 OPS.

Morabito has played primarily center field this season, but has also gotten starts in right field and left field. He'll make his MLB debut on Tuesday in left field while batting seventh in the lineup.

"It’s very special," he said of his debut. "I grew up coming to this park so it’s a pretty surreal moment for me, just to be here and it’s very special."

The youngster added that he'll have a good amount of family and friends at the ballpark.

Meanwhile, Slater, 33, struggled in limited opportunities with New York this season. Often getting chances against left-handed pitching, the right-handed hitter slashed .250/.286/.300 with one double in 21 plate appearances across nine games.

He had been signed by the Mets earlier this season after being DFA'd by the Marlins.

Last night in the Red Sox 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals, Masataka Yoshida hit a triple and threw out a runner at the plate. When I think about Masataka Yoshida, hitting triples and throwing runners out at the plate aren’t things that come to mind. In fact, it was his first of each statistic since 2023.

What are some other uncharacteristic games that come to mind? Did Mo Vaughn ever steal two bags in a game or something? I’m young(ish), educate me! Talk about what you want and be good to one another. Go Sox.

Blake Snell will undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Whether his return is expected to be about three months, like closer Edwin Díaz, or perhaps a shorter timetable depends on what Dr. Neal ElAttrache finds during the procedure.

A potential example of the shorter timeline is Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, who had surgery on May 6. Skubal’s surgery was also performed by Dr. ElAttrache, who used a smaller NanoNeedle during the procedure. Cody Stavenhagen wrote about the procedure at The Athletic:

In the room with Skubal, ElAttrache explained how the smaller scope could change the procedure. There would be a smaller incision, almost like a poke for an IV. Where a larger arthroscope has to push through layers of tissue, sometimes causing more bleeding, scarring and inflammation, the NanoNeedle could more easily glide to the location. The surgery would require pumping an estimated 65 percent less fluid to insufflate the joint.

Skubal threw his first bullpen session for the Tigers on Monday, just 12 days after the surgery.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes spoke with reporters about Snell and other topics on Monday in San Diego, per Sonja Chen at MLB.com:

“Hopefully, it’s the shorter timeline,” Gomes said. “That’s the hope and expectation right now. Obviously we don’t know 100% until they’re in there, but that’s what we’re expecting.”

Gomes also talked about newcomer Eric Lauer, who was acquired on Sunday and will be activated during this series in San Diego. Lauer will likely pitch in relief this week before slotting into the six-man rotation next week at some point, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.

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Justin Turner through the weekend was hitting .314/.424/.543 in 21 games for the Tijuana Toros in the Mexican League, where he’s managed by Roberto Kelly, another former Dodger. The 41-year-old Turner talked with Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times:

“I love playing,” he said. “I love competing. As long as I feel I’m serviceable and not just here for entertainment purposes, I’m going to keep doing it.”

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John Gennaro writes about the Padres at his Bandwagon Beach newsletter, and captured the concept of baseball rivalries quite nicely:

The thing about rivals is that they are necessary. They are the result of multiple teams from the same division going after the exact same piece of glory and hardware. You’re probably not going to get to where you want to go without a rival pushing you to find your absolute peak. That’s what shows you where the ceiling is. That’s how you get to where you want to be.

The promotions have begun. If you were waiting to go see this year’s possible breakout pitching prospect Joseph Dzierwa in Frederick, tough luck, because he’s headed to Double-A. You’ll have to find him now in Bowie, where the team that once called itself Bowie and now calls itself Chesapeake plays its home games. We can hope this is the start of a summer full of prospects playing so well that they practically have to be promoted. Dzierwa may just be the first to go from Frederick to Chesapeake within this season.

These weekly updates focus on the team’s top prospects, particularly those on Camden Chat’s composite top 20 Orioles prospect list from before the season. They also include other guys who interest me who might develop into prospects over time. I do not tend to spend much time on non-prospect journeymen, though one never knows who might turn into the next Jeremiah Jackson. Or even, over the long haul, whether someone turning into Jackson is worth all that much to the franchise.

Here’s how things went this week:

Triple-A Norfolk Tides

• Last week: 3-3 at Charlotte (White Sox)
• Coming week: at Jacksonville (Marlins)
• Season record: 18-27, last place (9 GB) in International League East

Norfolk has been simultaneously playing host to the rehab assignments of Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad. The infielder may finally be settling back in to a good groove on this latest assignment; though he had 4-17 hitting, that included a triple and a homer, plus three walks, so it was a good OPS. Kjerstad, on the other hand, had 6-22 batting, with only one double, and no walks, so at .591 his OPS looks much worse.

Tougher to find real prospects in this lineup, particularly with Enrique Bradfield not having played since April 21. One other outfielder made his way back from the IL over this week. That’s Reed Trimble, who is on the 40-man roster right now. Trimble was back for two games and that was enough time for him to hit two home runs. Offseason acquisition Payton Eeles batted 15 times across five games, picking up five hits and five walks. Eeles is now sitting at a .327/.465/.364 line for the season. Gotta like the OBP, even if you also gotta be skeptical he’ll do anything like that at the next level when hitting for so little power.

More interesting are Norfolk’s pitching prospects, or at least they would be if they were pitching well. The trio of Nestor German, Trey Gibson, and Levi Wells each pitched four innings this week. Of these, only Gibson’s approximated something like acceptable, as he gave up one run on three hits and four walks. The others were much worse.

Others of interest

• C/1B Creed Willems – Not a great week for Creed, 5-19 with no walks, but he’s still OPSing .842 in 37 games.

Norfolk season-to-date stats.

Double-A Chesapeake Baysox

• Last week: 1-5 at Akron (Guardians)
• Coming week: vs. Somerset (Yankees)
• Season record: 15-23, fifth place (13 GB) in Eastern League Southwest

Not a good week for the Baysox as a team, but it was a good week for my guy Aron Estrada, so I’m going to tell you about him first. Eight hits in 19 AB, plus a couple of walks and a couple of stolen bases. These were his first two steals of the year. He’s got a .672 OPS after that hitting, so, I’d like to see more hot weeks. Mostly light-hitting infielder Griff O’Ferrall got in on the party as well, batting 6-19 with a pair of doubles, five walks, and three stolen bases. Don’t look at his season batting average. Dang it, I told you not to look.

It was mostly the offense that dragged the Baysox down this week, as they lost four games where they scored 3, 3, 2, and 1 runs apiece. Among pitching prospects worth following, things were mixed, with some decent things if you look only at the earned runs column. My honorary hyphenated cousin Juaron Watts-Brown tossed four scoreless, though he did walk four batters. Lefty pitching prospect Luis De León also had a zero in the ER column, though there were three unearned over a 3.1 inning start. This team has a 5.43 ERA. It’s not great.

Others of interest

• OF Thomas Sosa – 5-21 hitting for the week included a double and a homer. Now a .666 OPS for the season, which is nothing to be superstitious about except that it’s way below a number where he’d be more exciting.
• C/1B Ethan Anderson – Not one of his better weeks so far this season, batting 4-21, also with a double and a homer. Season OPS remains at .816 after 31 games.

Chesapeake season-to-date stats.

High-A Frederick Keys

• Last week: 6-0 at Hudson Valley (Yankees)
• Coming week: vs. Greenville (Red Sox)
• Season record: 25-13, first place (0.5 games ahead) in South Atlantic League North

There is one affiliate in the Orioles system that has been playing good baseball, and one affiliate only. It is this one. The Keys are winners of seven games in a row and 12 of their last 13. That’s good stuff. They will have to do it going forward without Joseph Dzierwa, since he got the promotion – certainly a deserved one. Dzierwa allowed two runs over five innings in his start this week, picking up six strikeouts. That almost feels disappointing compared to some of his earlier games. Over eight games with the Keys, he had a 2.21 ERA and 0.811 WHIP.

Hopefully they don’t have to do it without Ike Irish; this wasn’t a good week for last year’s first round pick anyway, but also he was removed from the last game of the week after being hit by a pitch on the hand. That is the kind of luck the Orioles are having in 2026. Geez.

Fellow high 2026 draft pick Wehiwa Aloy did not add to his double-digit home run total this week. He still had an excellent week at the plate overall, with nine hits, including a pair of doubles, across 21 at-bats. Leading the way for Frederick on the week, though, was Braylin Tavera. Still just 21 years old, this outfield prospect hit three homers and stole four bases this week, raising his season OPS to .792. Heading in the right direction there.

Dzierwa wasn’t the only Keys pitcher worth following over this past week. Twine Palmer, the pitcher from last July’s Ramón Urías deal, threw another scoreless game, allowing two hits and two walks over four innings. Boston Bateman from the Padres trade also had a zero in the earned run column, though he managed to walk five batters and gave up one unearned run over 4.2 innings.

Others of interest

• OF Vance Honeycutt – This week’s “How many times did Vance Honeycutt strike out?” answer is 11. Eleven times in 21 at-bats! I wanted that spring training stuff to mean something good for the future. It’s just not looking that way.
• 1B/DH Victor Figueroa – 6-22 hitting with nine runs driven in for the week. This big dude from the Padres trade last July is slugging .600 through 32 games. He’s 22, which is old to be a prospect at this level, but I’m keeping an eye on him anyway.
• RHP Yeiber Cartaya – This 6’5” Venezuelan righty is 23, old to be a pitching prospect at this level, but he’s got an 11.3 K/9 and sub-1 WHIP and it’s possible there’s some late blooming going on here.

Frederick season-to-date stats.

Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds

• Last week: 1-5 vs. Fayetteville (Astros)
• Coming week: at Wilson (Brewers)
• Season record: 14-25, last place (13 GB) in Carolina League North

It’s the 18- and 19-year-olds on this roster who are probably the ones worth watching; hopefully enough of them can actually do good things. For the youngest guy, outfielder Stiven Martinez (turns 19 in August), this was a good week, as he hit two home runs to give him three on the season. After 25 games in his first taste of a full-season affiliate, he’s hitting .242/.308/.411. A tougher week for another young guy, DJ Layton, who struck out 10 times in 20 AB.

The pitching prospect on this roster who came into the season with the most hype was Esteban Mejia. Like Keeler Morfe before him, I’m just not seeing it in the actual results so far. Mejia walked three guys in a 3.2 inning start where he gave up four earned runs, and has now walked 25 batters in 22.1 innings. No, really, that’s more walks than innings pitched. That takes some work.

Others of interest

• LHP Caden Hunter – A sixth round pick from USC last year, Hunter is old for this level, so it’s only worth so much, but still: Two starts this week, just one hit and three walks allowed over 8.2 innings. 0.95 ERA and 0.842 WHIP for the season.

Delmarva season-to-date stats.

Player of the week

With the option to create polls in The Feed, we are able to once again proclaim a fan-voted minor league player of the week.

Last week, you voted Aloy to be the player of the week. No surprise! He hit five homers. Irish was the choice in the first poll the week before that. Maybe a player from somewhere other than Frederick will win this week? The choice is yours. Vote below:

Tuesday’s Scheduled Games

• Norfolk: at Jacksonville, 7:05. Starter: TBD
• Chesapeake: vs. Somerset, 6:35. Starter: TBD
• Frederick: vs. Greenville, 6:00. Starter: JT Quinn
• Delmarva: at Wilson, 7:05. Starter: Esteban Mejia

Kris Bubic heads to the IL.

“It’s frustrating,” Bubic said. “I want to be available. A big goal of mine, I don’t set many numericals, but in terms of just being available, I wanted to make a full season of starts this year. And the goal is to keep this at a couple weeks, which we should. But yeah, it’s frustrating. I’m not gonna lie.”

This is the fourth straight season Bubic has been placed on the IL. He missed part of the 2023 and ‘24 seasons after having Tommy John surgery. A year ago, a strained left rotator cuff ended his season early.

Anne also details Bubic’s trip to the IL.

If Bubic’s recovery goes the way he and the Royals expect it to, though, it will be a short stint on the IL before he slots back into the rotation.

“Very mild in nature,” Bubic said. “It’s not something I want to push, given my history and given the timing of the year. So for me, this is good news in a sense. I’ll talk to [Dr. Vincent Key] when he’s here later, but I expect this to be pretty minimal IL, just a few weeks, and we should be back. That’s the expectation in my head.”

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep takes a look at Vinnie Pasquantino’s struggles.

There’s a lot to be said about Pasquantino, who launched 32 home runs, collected 113 RBI, hit .264, posted a 116 wRC+, and accumulated a 1.5 fWAR in 682 plate appearances last year, a career-high. The Royals agreed to a modest extension with him for the 2026-2027 seasons ($11.1 million), and it seemed like Pasquantino was going to continue to be a force in the Royals lineup this year. 

Unfortunately, that’s been far from the case for Pasquantino.

In 189 plate appearances, Vinnie is hitting .201 with a .627 OPS. He also has five home runs, 18 runs scored, 22 RBI, and a wOBA of .278. When it comes to his Statcast percentiles, they haven’t been impressive, though he has been walking more (10.8%) than he did a season ago.

Jac Caglianone talks about recent lineup choices and how he’s sometimes not in them (video interview).

The Sports Business Journal named Kansas City as a top-10 sports city.

Caleb Moody at Kings of Kauffman takes a look at ESPN’s recent mock draft.

Kari Anderson at Yahoo Sports gives a little more detail on Blake Snell’s surgery. Max linked to a story yesterday on this topic; this story just expands it a bit.

Kyle Teel will remain out with a sprained LCL for a bit longer after suffering a setback in rehab.

The Mariners are promoting top prospect Colt Emerson to MLB.

DraftKings is closing its in-person sportsbook at Wrigley Field.

Gio Urshela announces his retirement.

KU Baseball won its first conference championship since 1949.

The KC Streetcar extension to the KC Current stadium is now open.

How John Michael-Gyllenborg could make the Chiefs roster.

The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 Overtime last night to advance to the Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Pep Guardiola is expected to leave Manchester City.

Sports Illustrated is in hot water once again for AI plagiarism accusations.

Urban Meyer lost his arbitration case against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Ranking the musical guest performances of SNL’s 51st season.

Your song of the day is That’s How I’m Feeling by Jack White.

Good morning, baseball fans!

The San Francisco Giants continue their local road trip later today when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the meantime, I thought we’d take a moment to watch a video that the team’s social media crew put out last week on their YouTube channel.

In the video, Giants players answer some of the most frequently asked baseball questions. I’ll admit, I didn’t have the highest hopes upon beginning the video and seeing Harrison Bader reading his own name off the queue cards. But his first answer was an absolute lock, so I’ll let it pass.

Anyway, it’s not a long video but it’s pretty fun to see everyone’s answers. So grab a coffee, settle in, and enjoy!

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants begin their three-game road series against the Diamondbacks tonight at 6:40 p.m. PT.

The Yankees’ 2-7 road trip left a sour taste in all our mouths, the club following up a stellar stretch of play with a frustrating week and a half that saw a number of bullpen blowups and close losses. New York now trails the Rays by three games in the AL East despite pacing the American League in run differential, ERA, wRC+, and a host of other measures.

These periods of time are grating, but they happen to every team, even good ones, over the course of the season. As we wait for the Yankees to pull out of this current skid, let’s try and focus on the positives and ask: what has been the most positive development so far in 2026?

I think there are two obvious choices that will pop first into everyone’s heads, those being the play of Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler. Rice enjoyed a breakout 2025 campaign, but every last piece of underlying data we had available to us from Rice’s first two seasons suggested that he was capable of even more. This year has been proof of concept, Rice leading the majors in wRC+. For almost every team in baseball, there’d be no question that a player like Rice, in his prime, blossoming into one of the finest players in the league would be the best development of the early season.

And yet, it’s possible to argue that Schlittler’s ascension is not only the most positive development of the Yankees’ season, but of any team’s campaign thus far. Somewhat similar to Rice, Schlittler had a great 2025 that hinted at even greater promise, and just like Rice, Schlittler has fulfilled that promise and then some. He’s been the AL’s best pitcher so far and, even if it’s still early, is the current favorite to take home the Cy Young award. A year ago, many Yankee fans wouldn’t have even known Schlittler’s name; now, he is the premier name to watch in the Junior Circuit.

In truth, the most positive development of this season probably has to come down to one of these two, but I do want to highlight some other positive things we’ve seen this year that were far from guarantees. It might seem strange to note Aaron Judge here, with Judge’s metronomic excellence take for granted at this point, but the fact that at age-34 he’s still producing a 172 wRC+ even while slightly underperforming some of his underlying numbers, and while also just feeling like he hasn’t even really gotten going yet, has to qualify as a positive. And, though he has yet to debut in the majors and thus we can’t yet say anything all that definitive, the fact that Gerrit Cole has progressed has far through his rehab both healthy and flashing elite velo is also a nice development for this Yankees club. Just like Judge, Cole is at an age where precipitous physical decline could be around the corner at any moment. The fact that the team’s two superstar veteran cornerstones have not fallen off an athletic cliff yet is a positive that can’t be taken for granted at this point in their careers.

What do you think? What’s been the most positive development so far out of these 2026 Yankees?

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On the site today, we’ll get Michael’s recap of the week that was down on the farm for the Yankees, while Matt sums up Monday night’s American League action. Josh will wonder whether the Yankees’ apparent sense of urgency early this season will translate to the trade market, Peter’s At-bat of the Week features some good work from Anthony Volpe (!), while Jonathan profiles Gil McDougald, one of the driving forces behind the Yankees’ 1950’s dynasty.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Time: 7:05 p.m. EST

Video: YES Network, Sportsnet One, TBS

Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY

Over the last couple of seasons the starting pitchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates have grown into some of the best pitchers in baseball and have cemented themselves as one of the best overall units. Between strong scouting, good use of draft picks and player development, the Pirates have established themselves as an organization with a knack for creating a strong rotation.

The Pirates offseason strategy in recent years has been reliant primarily on the draft and not in free-agency or on the trade market. With this being the case, the crop of pitchers they have are all home grown talent. Mitch Keller serves as the veteran of 2026’s rotation, was drafted back in 2014, and made his MLB debut in 2019. Keller was drafted by Joe DelliCarri who ran the Pirates’ drafts from 2013-2023. DelliCarri was the Senior Director of Amateur Scouting before being promoted to Vice President of Scouting, and had a hand in selecting every one of the pitchers in Pittsburgh’s rotation, to include Jared Jones who is currently on rehab assignment.

In that 10-year span DelliCarri and the Pirates selected several of the best pitchers in baseball. Keller in 2014 was just the start as Braxton Ashcraft was drafted in 2018, Jared Jones was a second round pick in 2020, Bubba Chandler was selected in the third in 2021 and Paul Skenes was taken first overall in 2023. Carmen Mlodzinski who has seen work as a starter off and on in his career was selected by the Pirates in 2020.

#MLBTonight talks about the NL Cy Young race with Shohei Ohtani currently at the top, Cristopher Sánchez second and Paul Skenes third ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Adn0rrbwtC

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) May 18, 2026

To be clear, those are just the names that have seen consistent Major League action, because there are several names in the organizations top 30 prospect list that were also drafted in that span. Hunter Barco has been up and down and has been primarily used as a bullpen pitcher was drafted by the organization in 2022 is Pittsburgh’s third highest ranking prospect. Thomas Harrington is in Triple-A and is the organization’s 12th highest ranked prospect was picked in 2022, while Low-A 13th ranked hurler Levi Sterling was selected in 2024. Kristian Curtis was picked in 2023 and is the 21st highest ranked prospect for the Pirates and the 23rd overall prospect for Pittsburgh, Zander Mueth, was selected in 2023 by the club.

In 2024, following the promotion of DelliCarri, the Pirates hired Justin Horowitz to be their director of amateur scouting. Horowitz oversaw the Pirates’ draft from 2024-2025 before taking a job with the Washington Nationals to be their Assistant General Manager. While with the Pirates, Horowitz selected Sterling in 2024 and then in 2025 he drafted Seth Hernandez. In his first season of professional baseball Hernandez has blossomed into Pittsburgh’s top prospect, the third highest rated prospect in baseball and the best pitching prospect in baseball.

2025 was a breakout season for Pittsburgh’s pitchers. The Pirate’s led Major League Baseball in shutouts with 19, while allowing the third fewest home runs of any team. The Pirates also ranked tied for fourth in WHIP (1.22), and seventh-best in ERA (3.76). Skenes was named to his second All-Star game and won the NL-Cy-Young award.

The Pirates in the span that DelliCarri has been with the organization has also had a fairly consistent cast of pitching coaches. Oscar Marin was hired by manager Derek Shelton prior to the 2020 season to be the team’s pitching coach. Marin had previously worked with the Texas Rangers as a bullpen coach and two previous years in Seattle serving as a minor league pitching coordinator. For five seasons, Marin helped to develop what are now some of the top pitchers in baseball, but was ultimately not brought back following the 2025 season, with pitchers citing that they thought they were not getting all they could from his coaching.

Jared Jones strikes out the side in the first inning! See all three strikeouts here! pic.twitter.com/4uLVF9KXSW

— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) May 17, 2026

With the departure of Marin Pittsburgh went out and signed some top tier pedigree talent in pitching coach Bill Murphy. With the Houston Astros Murphy started as a rookie ball pitching coach, but was brought onto the major league staff in 2019 as a pitching coordinator. In 2021, Murphy was named the assistant pitching coach and helped the Astros win a World-Series title in 2022. While under Murphy, Houston led MLB in ERA (3.61) and the club finished eighth in team pitching WAR (18.0) in his last season with the club.

In his first season with Pittsburgh, Murphy and the Pirates currently rank in the top 10 in baseball for K/9 (10), HR/9 (4), BABIP (10), HR/FB (3) and WAR (7). The Pirates also have the 11th lowest ERA in baseball (3.86). Paul Skenes leads the staff as he is currently tied with eight other pitchers for the most wins in baseball with 6, and is 11th in K/9, first in BB/9, second in BABIP and seventh in WAR.

Overall, the organization hasn’t had the results in the win column that fans would like, but it is undeniable that they built one of the best rotations in baseball and have several more young pitchers waiting in the wings.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: In Gerrit Cole’s most recent rehab outing, the former Cy Young winner touched 99.6 mph on the gun, velo that would impress even among the best in MLB. Given that pitch-level success, it’s been debated within the Yankee org whether it would be better to let Cole have one more rehab outing, or activate him in time to pitch on regular rest during this current homestand Friday night. While the Yankees will be understandably careful after Tommy John at Cole’s age, adding a player of his caliber to both replace Max Fried and spell the bullpen a bit must be awfully tempting.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: As I said above, adding someone like Cole could eat up innings that are currently being taken by the bullpen, and generally those are not well pitched. While the club has continued to shift payroll allocation away from the relief unit, avoiding the bloated contracts that kept people like Aroldis Chapman around for longer than he probably should have been, the replacements brought in have yet to impress, particularly in high-leverage spots. Part of this is the lack of swing and miss, for all the value of a groundball — and the Yankees boast a 50 percent GB rate — when you really, absolutely need an out, a strikeout is preferential to anything else.

NJ.com | Bob Klapisch: While discussing how underwhelming the bullpen as a whole has been, David Bednar in particular has become a problem. We can debate the exact value of a true, ninth-inning closer, but when you’re handed a three-run lead in the ninth, you really need to come out of that game with the win. While his FIP is significantly lower than his ERA, which should indicate some positive regression coming your way, those kind of splits can last for longer than you think because of how little closers pitch, and the impact two or three bad outings can have — both on a pitcher, and in a close division race.

MLBTR | Darragh McDonald: We close with a couple of “in case you missed it” posts. The Yankees optioned Elmer Rodríguez back to Triple-A after a meh start Sunday, bringing righty Yovanny Cruz up as pitching depth while Max Fried will continue to be evaluated on the IL.

MLBTR | Darragh McDonald: Happy trails to Gio Urshela, one of the big pieces of the 2019 Yankees, putting up three-plus wins in a year that saw the Yanks make it to the ALCS. The ten-year vet announced that he was hanging up the spikes yesterday, unable to find an MLB job this season. Best of luck going forward, Gio!