Category: MLB

So a day with actual Jays’ news. Barger to IL, Lauer to anywhere else. Pinango back and Yariel back on the 40-man and the 26-man all at the same time.

Today’s lineup:

Go Jays Go.

It’s time for another massive roundup covering the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates and all their weekend games, starting on Friday. That’s a whole lot of baseball to get to, so let’s get to it!

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

News

The big news on the farm is, of course, that San Francisco traded catcher Patrick Bailey, which brought 2 very valuable assets to the Minor League system: the No. 29 pick in July’s draft, and LHP Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson. Tugboat is more than just a great name for a very large man: he’s also a very strong pitching prospect who has been dominating the Eastern League this year. The 23-year old, who was taken in the 10th round of the 2023 draft out of Central Arizona College, has a 1.59 ERA and a 2.58 FIP in 6 starts this year, with 36 strikeouts against 9 walks in 28.1 innings. He has a low-mid 90s fastball, tons of deception, and some great command. Welcome to the system, Tugboat!

Joining Wilkinson in Richmond is RHP Ben Peterson, who was promoted from High-A Eugene. Richmond RHP Logan Martin was placed on the Injured List.

In sadder news, the Giants released a pair of players: Richmond RHP Cameron Pferrer and LHP Dylan Carmouche.

And in happier news, Richmond LHP Joe Whitman (No. 26 CPL) was named Pitcher of the Week in the Eastern League, while High-A Eugene shortstop Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL) was named Player of the Week in the Northwest League!

AAA Sacramento (20-17)

Friday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces 2-1 [box score]
Saturday: Sacramento River Cats lost to the Reno Aces 4-2 [box score]
Sunday: Sacramento River Cats beat the Reno Aces 9-7 [box score]

With Bryce Eldridge (No. 1 CPL) and Jesús Rodríguez (No. 16 CPL) in the big show, the most notable part of Sacramento’s roster right now is the rehabbing players. A trio of Major Leaguers are rehabbing with the River Cats right now, and they all showed good things over the weekend.

Catcher Daniel Susac (No. 20 CPL) is the most notable of the 3, simply because of the shocking Patrick Bailey trade on Saturday, which sets Susac up to to play a huge role in the Majors going forward. He played twice over the weekend — once at catcher and once at designated hitter — and went 4-7 with a hit by pitch and a strikeout. Tony Vitello said a few days ago that Susac won’t join the Giants for their series against the Dodgers (a 4-game set that begins tonight) but it certainly seems like he’s close to returning, and splitting catching duties with Rodríguez.

Harrison Bader played all 3 games, starting twice in center field and once at designated hitter, before getting activated ahead of Monday’s game. After going just 1-7 with 2 strikeouts on Friday and Saturday, the right-hander exploded on Sunday when he reached base in all 4 plate appearances, with a solo home run, 2 walks drawn, a hit by pitch, and a stolen base.

Bader had just a .338 OPS and a -9 wRC+ with the Giants before landing on the IL, so the hope is that his time in Sacramento got his bat back on track. The Giants could certainly use an offensive boost at the position, as Drew Gilbert hasn’t exactly been lighting the world on fire in Bader’s absence (Gilbert has a .634 OPS and an 80 wRC+).

There wasn’t much notable offense to speak of beyond the rehabbing pair. Third baseman Buddy Kennedy and first baseman/third baseman Jake Holton continued looking like decent AAA depth in their debut seasons in the organization. Kennedy hit 2-8 with a 2-run home run and a strikeout, and now has a .918 OPS and a 144 wRC+; Holton went 2-10 with a solo home run, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts, which gives him a .739 OPS and a 107 wRC+ in his 1st season of AAA ball.

Outfielder Grant McCray, who played all 3 grassy positions over the weekend, has fallen back into a slump following a brief hot stretch. The lefty went 1-13 with 3 strikeouts over the weekend, which moved his batting average back to the interstate, whole lowering his OPS to .647 and his wRC+ to 79.

The 3rd rehabbing player was on the mound, as LHP Erik Miller opened Sunday’s game with a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out a batter. Miller expressed optimism that his IL stint would be short, and that’s great news to anyone who has watched the Giants bullpen lately.

As for the prospects pitching, Sacramento used a trio of notable starters, with 3 very different results: bad, good, and in between.

The bad belonged to RHP Carson Seymour, who “started” Sunday’s game after Miller’s rehab inning. Seymour made it through 5 innings, but it was a bit of a mess. He allowed 8 hits (which included a homer and 2 doubles), hit a batter, and gave up 5 runs. He only walked 1 hitter, which is good, but he also only struck out 2.

It’s been a disappointing season for Seymour, a 27-year old who made his MLB debut last year. While he’s done a good job limiting walks, Seymour has only struck out 27 batters in 33 innings, and just doesn’t appear to have the electric stuff he has at times shown in the past. On the whole, it’s a 5.18 ERA, a 5.08 FIP, and perhaps a tenuous hold on his roster spot.

The OK start belonged to RHP Blade Tidwell (No. 9 CPL) on Saturday. Tidwell is back to getting stretched out in the Minors after some time in the Major League bullpen, and he showed some really nice things. The power righty struck out 5 batters in just 3.2 innings, while allowing 3 hits (which included a home run to rehabbing Carlos Santana), 1 walk, 2 runs, and 1 earned run. It will be interesting to see what Tidwell’s role is the next time he’s called into Major League duty.

And the best start belonged to LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 8 CPL) who had an awesome showing on Friday, pitching 5 innings while allowing just 4 hits, 2 walks, and 1 run, with 8 strikeouts. Whisenhunt’s season has been up and down, but he’s been pretty darned good lately: in his last 3 starts, the 25-year old has pitched 16 innings and ceded just 10 hits, 4 walks, and 4 runs, while striking out 21 batters. With that, Whisenhunt has lowered his ERA to 4.25 and his FIP to 3.51, and has now increased his year-over-year strikeout rate in AAA from 7.9 to 10.8. Highly encouraging stuff!

RHP Trent Harris (No. 29 CPL) made 2 appearances out of the bullpen and was great, throwing 3 shutout innings and allowing just 2 hits, while striking out 4. He could definitely play his way into the bullpen’s plans in the 2nd half of the season, as could RHP Marques Johnson, who needed just 16 pitches to throw 2 perfect innings on Saturday, with 2 strikeouts. Johnson has been great at everything this year except suppressing walks (he’s issued 13 in 14.2 innings), so it was nice seeing him throw 13 of 16 pitches for strikes.

AA Richmond (25-7)

Friday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Akron RubberDucks 9-6 [box score]
Saturday: Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Akron RubberDucks 12-5 [box score]
Sunday: Richmond Flying Squirrels beat the Akron RubberDucks 6-0 [box score]

Whisenhunt isn’t the only high draft pick southpaw who is starting to come into his own. Over on the other side of the country, LHP Joe Whitman (No. 26 CPL) is quietly starting to shown some real signs of development after a disappointing 2025.

Whitman, the compensation round pick the Giants got when they lost Carlos Rodón in free agency, started on Sunday and dominated the Ducks with 5 shutout innings. The 24-year old Kent State alum gave up just 3 hits on the day — all singles — and walked 1 batter, while striking out 8. That’s one of the best starts this season, not just for Whitman but for the entire farm!

The biggest issue for Whitman in his career has been allowing hits, but lately he’s started to make significant improvements on that front. This 5-inning, 3-hit outing came after last week’s 6-inning, 1-hit showing, and just like that, the southpaw has dipped to a very respectable 26 hits allowed in 33.1 innings. That’s a massive improvement over last season, when he gave up 129 hits in 117.1 innings.

I would argue that the hits are the biggest improvement Whitman has made, but it’s certainly not the only improvement. Year over year, his strikeouts per 9 innings has jumped from 9.5 to 11.6 and his walks per 9 have lowered, from 3.6 to 3.0. Those numbers rank 5th and 10th, respectively, out of the 51 Eastern League pitchers with at least 20 innings thrown this year, while his FIP (2.99) is all the way up to 3rd. The ERA is lagging a bit behind, at 4.05.

Whitman was a top-10 prospect in our CPL a year ago before stagnating in AA last year, so it’s great to see him excelling. If he keeps this up, he could be in Sacramento’s rotation for the 2nd half of the season.

That was the standout pitching performance, though LHP Cesar Perdomo certainly had a start worth mentioning on Friday. The 24-year old had a funny game, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, and 5 runs in just 4.2 innings … but struck out 9 Akron batters. Hot and cold! It’s been a pretty solid AA debut for the Venezuelan, who has a 3.81 ERA and a 3.09 FIP through 6 games. He’s walking a few too many batters (12 in 26 innings), but has 29 strikeouts, has allowed just 19 hits, and hasn’t given up a home run.

RHP Mitch White pitched 2 perfect innings with 4 strikeouts to earn the save on Friday. White, a 26-year old who who is making his professional debut after the Giants signed him out of indy ball, has started his career with 18 strikeouts against 5 walks in 13.2 innings, and has a 2.63 ERA and a 4.29 FIP.

No hitter had a superstar weekend, but plenty had good outings. Most notably, third baseman Parks Harber (No. 17 CPL) smashed his 1st AA home run, as part of a weekend where he went 3-9 with a double, a walk, and 2 strikeouts.

Harber missed about a month while rehabbing a hamstring injury sustained during Spring Training, but is wasting no time getting up to speed. While there are still signs of rust — most notably the 30.6% strikeout rate — Harber is rocking an .888 OPS and a 132 wRC+. His 2-run shot on Saturday may have been his 1st homer at the level, but he already has 8 doubles in just 13 games.

Second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL) had his best game of the year on Friday, when he hit 3-4 with a 2-run home run and a double, though he also committed an error. The 22-year old switch-hitter followed that up by hitting 2-4 with a strikeout on Saturday, though he went 0-3 with 3 strikeouts and a hit by pitch on Sunday.

Velasquez isn’t making a ton of noise this year, at a level he’s been at since late 2024, but it’s still been a nice year, as he has a .775 OPS and a 110 wRC+. Most notably, Velasquez has really cranked up the power: during his stint with Richmond in 2024, he had just a .061 isolated slugging percentage, and that mark was only .059 last season. This year it’s all the way up at .141. If that can maintain, that will be huge.

The only other player to homer was catcher Adrián Sugastey, who went 2-3 with a 2-run blast and a sacrifice bunt in the only game he played over the weekend. Like Velasquez, the 23-year old Sugastey is trying to shine in his 3rd year with the Squirrels. And while his numbers still aren’t particularly good, he’s improved virtually all of them for the 2nd year running. In his 3 stints with Richmond, his average has gone from .210 to .231 to .283; his on-base percentage from .241 to .284 to .302; his isolated slugging percentage from .094 to .111 to .167; and his wRC+ from 55 to 84 to 92.

Decent weekends for center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) and left fielder Scott Bandura. Davidson hit 4-12 with 1 double, 1 walk, and 0 strikeouts, while Bandura went 4-11 with 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, 1 sacrifice fly, and 3 stolen bases. The 23-year old Davidson now has an .809 OPS and a 109 wRC+, while the 24-year old Bandura has a .932 OPS and a 146 wRC+, with 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts.

High-A Eugene (25-8)

Friday: Eugene Emeralds lost to the Vancouver Canadians 4-2 [box score]
Saturday Game 1: Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians 7-5 (7 innings) [box score]
Saturday Game 2: Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians 5-1 (7 innings) [box score]
Sunday: Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians 13-8 [box score]

Welcome back, Gavin Kilen (No. 7 CPL). Welcome back.

The Giants 1st-round pick last year — and the 1st draft pick ever by Buster Posey — began his debut full season with a flurry back in early April. And then he started slumping in a big way. And now he has started bouncing back in an even bigger way.

On Saturday, in the 1st game of a doubleheader, the lefty shortstop had about as good of a day as you can have in a 7-inning game: he went 3-4, with all 3 of his hits being extra-base knocks: a pair of doubles and a 3-run home run, all as part of a day in which he knocked in 5 of the team’s 7 runs.

On Sunday, he attempted to one-up himself, by hitting 4-5 with yet another 3-run home run. My goodness!

In all, the recently-turned 22-year old hit 9-15 with 2 home runs, 2 doubles, 1 walk, and 0 strikeouts on the weekend, with the only negative play being when he was caught stealing. What a dynamic string of games! Not only that, but Kilen played shortstop in all 4 games, including both ends of Saturday’s doubleheader.

Kilen had been having really good at-bats coming into the weekend, but it was still very nice to see the power play, as his big game on Saturday broke a streak of 9 straight games without an extra-base hit. On the year, he’s up to an .876 OPS and a 138 wRC+, with just a 16.1% strikeout rate, and the Giants have to be utterly thrilled with all of that. It’s extremely early days, but he’s looking like a fantastic draft selection.

The 2nd draft pick Buster Posey made has had a slightly rockier season, but you wouldn’t know it based on the weekend, as right fielder/center fielder Trevor Cohen (No. 15 CPL) had a delightful string of games as well. The 3rd-round pick hit 6-15 over the quartet of games, with 2 doubles, 2 walks, 1 strikeout, 1 stolen base, and 1 caught stealing. The 22-year old lefty has really started to find his swing lately, and has a 6-game hitting streak with just 1 strikeout. You can certainly see Posey’s affinity for contact in these recent draftees: the Rutgers product has a .732 OPS and a 110 wRC+, with just a 15.8% strikeout rate (and a matching 15.8% walk rate). He’s also up to 13 stolen bases in 16 attempts.

Left fielder Carlos Gutierrez (No. 18 CPL) had a hilarious game during the double-header: despite being a contact maven, he didn’t put the ball in play at all, as he drew walks in all 3 of his plate appearances, and then proceeded to steal a pair of bases. That’s one way to offense, and a way that is completely foreign to the Major League Giants!

Gutierrez did have an 0-4 on Friday, but he followed up Saturday’s walk excursion by hitting 1-3 with 2 walks on Sunday, bringing his walk rate up to 16.2%, which isn’t tremendously out of the ordinary, as it was 12.6% is Low-A a year ago. His batting average, however, has tumbled from .351 to .209 (though his strikeout rate is still very low) … so even though he’s walking a lot and has had an uptick in power, he has just a .716 OPS and a 103 wRC+ in his High-A debut. Super fun player, still!

A quartet of Emeralds hitters joined Kilen with home run trots: left fielder/right fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL) hit 4-10 with a solo blast, a walk, a strikeout, and a caught stealing, moving his OPS to .681 and his wRC+ to 78; first baseman Jakob Christian (No. 40 CPL) went 2-8 with a solo shot, 2 walks, a hit by pitch, and 3 strikeouts, and is sitting on a 1.279 OPS and a 245 wRC+ through 8 games; third baseman Walker Martin hit just 2-12 with 4 strikeouts and his 11th error of the season, but blasted a 3-run home run, and now has a .707 OPS and a 98 wRC+; and infielder Zander Darby went 3-12 with a 2-run dinger, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, and a caught stealing while playing first, second, and third base, moving his OPS to .894 and his wRC+ to 143.

Diaz’s season in particular has been a touch funny: the 20-year old has the speed and defense to make you think he might be a light hitter, yet he has 5 home runs and a .191 isolated slugging, marks that rank among the top on the team, all while sporting just a 19.2% strikeout rate. Yet despite that, he only has a .225 batting average and a 4.0% walk rate, and that has resulted in poor numbers overall.

It was definitely a series where the hitting was more interesting than the pitching, but there was a standout performance on the mound, from someone it was great to see excel: LHP Luis De La Torre (No. 14 CPL). LDLT started Friday’s game and absolutely shined in 4 innings, giving up just 1 hit, 3 walks, and 1 unearned run, while striking out 7 batters.

It’s been a little bit of a troubling season for De La Torre after his breakout 2025, as the strikeouts and ground balls have been way down, and the walks have been way up, so it was nice seeing him dominate a lineup, even if there were still a lot of walks. Those 7 Ks are what we’ve grown accustomed to for the 22-year old, who had 109 strikeouts in just 74.1 innings last year, between the ACL and Low-A. Hopefully this is the start of him finding his groove in the Northwest League, as he entered the game with just 14 strikeouts in 15 innings.

The other notable starters didn’t have such good days, as LHP Jacob Bresnahan (No. 11 CPL) gave up 2 hits, 5 walks, and 2 earned runs in 3.2 innings in his 3rd start of the year, though he struck out 6. The strikeouts are definitely playing to the level for Bresnahan, who has 16 punchouts in just 11.2 innings. And RHP Yunior Marte (No. 25 CPL) allowed 4 hits, 3 walks, and 3 runs in 4 innings, with 4 strikeouts. The 22-year old, who came to the Giants in the Mike Yastrzemski trade, has been pretty dynamic this year, with a 2.25 ERA and a 3.71 FIP. He only has 26 strikeouts in 28 innings, but has only allowed 16 hits all year.

A pair of relievers had great games: RHPs Ryan Vanderhei and Liam Simon. Vanderhei retired all 7 batters he faced, with 4 strikeouts, marking his 3rd straight scoreless appearance. The 2023 10th-round pick has had a dynamic year in relief, with a 2.00 ERA, a 3.21 FIP, and 11.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, against just 3.0 walks. As for Simon, he struck out 2 batters in a no-hit inning, while issuing 1 walk, as he finally appears to be shaking off the injury rust. Simon could not find the strike zone to save his soul after returning from Tommy John, as he walked 31 batters in 27.2 innings last year … then started this season with 9 walks in 4 innings over 4 appearances. But since then? He’s pitched in 5 games and allowed just 2 walks in 5 innings, while striking out 10 and only allowing 1 hit. You love to see it!

Low-A San Jose (19-14)

Friday: San Jose Giants beat the Fresno Grizzlies 4-3 [box score]
Saturday: San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies 8-7 [box score]
Sunday: San Jose Giants lost to the Fresno Grizzlies 8-2 [box score]

A pretty uninteresting group of games for the Baby Giants, who really didn’t have standout performers on either side of the ball. Like Sacramento, however, San Jose had a few players rehabbing. Most notably, Major League RHP Jason Foley began his rehab assignment on Sunday, though it didn’t go great. Foley made it through just 0.2 innings while ceding 2 hits and a walk which, combined with some rough defense, resulted in 4 runs, though just 1 earned run. He also struck out a batter. The start of rehab assignments is just about getting on the field and getting used to playing again, so nothing to read into the poor results.

LHP Nick Margevicius, who has MLB experience but was signed to a Minor League deal, also is beginning a rehab assignment, as he started Saturday’s game, which was his 2nd outing during his rehab (the 1st came in the ACL). He got ripped up, allowing 8 hits, 6 runs, and 5 earned runs in 3.1 innings, with just 1 strikeout. So it goes.

The best pitching performance belonged to RHP Cody Delvecchio, last year’s 12th-round draft pick out of UCLA. The 22-year old was awesome on Sunday, striking out 7 batters in 4 innings, while giving up 5 hits, 0 walks, and 1 run. All of Delvecchio’s hits were singles, and he threw 43 of 64 pitches for strikes. The Giants are surely quite pleased with his 28-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 22 innings this year, though the rookie has just a 4.09 ERA and a 5.01 FIP, the result of having given up 3 home runs already this year.

Shortstop Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL) had a great day on Friday, when he hit 2-3, drew a walk, and stole 2 bases. The rest of the weekend didn’t go so well, as he had Saturday off and had an 0-4 on Sunday, but my goodness what a season he’s having. It’s now a .977 OPS and a 144 wRC+ for Level, who has 10 stolen bases in 12 attempts and just a 15.7% strikeout rate, to make no mention of the quality defense. If he and Kilen keep this up, I’m guessing we see double promotions sometime in July.

Third baseman Dario Reynoso had an up-and-down performance, hitting 3-11 with 2 doubles, 2 walks, and 2 stolen bases, but also 5 strikeouts. He has a .989 OPS and a 152 wRC+. Left fielder Jose Astudillo hit 2-7 with a walk and stole 3 bases (his 1st 3 of the year), and now has an .808 OPS and 123 wRC+ through 7 games, after getting a late start to the season. He’s only struck out 1 time this year.

Arizona Complex League (1-5)

Friday: ACL Giants lost to the ACL Mariners 2-1 (7 innings) [box score]
Saturday: ACL Giants lost to the ACL Rockies 6-1 (7 innings) [box score]

A very boring set of games down in the desert. That included mild-mannered weekends for the pair of stars on the ACL Giants team, as shortstop Josuar González (No. 2 CPL) hit 1-4 with a double and 2 strikeouts, while shortstop/third baseman Luis Hernández (No. 6 CPL) went 2-8 with a double and 3 strikeouts. The future is incredibly bright thanks in large part to those 2, but they weren’t enough to lead the Giants to success in these games.

Left fielder/right fielder Oliver Tejada had the best weekend among the hitters, as he went 2-4 with a walk and a hit by pitch, though he also committed an error. Otherwise, it was slim pickings: outside of those 3 players, the team managed just 3 hits in the 2 games.

The pitching wasn’t too much better. RHP Brayan Narvaez, a 21-year old from Venezueala, had a nice game on Friday, tossing 2 no-hit innings with 1 walk and 3 strikeouts in his 2nd game. This is Narvaez’s 1st year stateside after 3 seasons in the DSL, so he’s hoping to run with the opportunity.

RHP Luke Mensik, an 18-year old taken in the 17th round a season ago, struck out 5 batters in 4 innings on Saturday, though he gave up 3 hits, 3 walks, and 2 runs. Always exciting to see High School pitchers in the ACL, though it hasn’t been the smoothest start to his career for Mensik through 2 games.

Home run tracker

5 — Lisbel Diaz — [High-A]
5 — Zander Darby — [High-A]
4 — Buddy Kennedy — [AAA]
4 — Gavin Kilen x2 — [High-A]
4 — Walker Martin — [High-A]
3 — Harrison Bader — [1 in MLB; 2 in AAA]
3 — Jake Holton — [AAA]
2 — Diego Velasquez — [AA]
2 — Adrián Sugastey — [AA]
1 — Parks Harber — [AA]
1 — Jakob Christian — [High-A]

Go Rays!

LOS ANGELES — For the first time since April 4, the Dodgers have Mookie Betts back after he missed 32 games with a strained oblique. To make room on the active roster, Alex Freeland was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Betts is batting second for the Dodgers on Friday night.

Betts played two rehab games with Oklahoma City, which was news in and of itself because he hadn’t previously played in the minors since 2015 despite a handful of other injured-list stints. Betts singled in each of his games with the Comets and also added a walk, and played 11 total innings at shortstop on Friday and Saturday.

Freeland in spring training won the heavy side of a platoon second base, which shifted into more regular playing time once Betts was injured, in total starting 31 of the Dodgers’ 40 games at second base, where he totaled three outs above average (tied for fifth in the majors) and three defensive runs saved (tied for eighth).

Freeland hit .235/.309/.337 with an 86 wRC+, two home runs, and four doubles, and the second-highest strikeout rate (28.6 percent) on the team.

This means more playing time at second base for Hyeseong Kim, an excellent defender in his own right who started 24 of the 32 games at shortstop with Betts on the injured list. Kim since returning from Triple-A in April hit .289/.353/.395 with a 114 wRC+, three doubles, a home run, and a triple.

“What it came down to is Hyeseong performed better. Alex did everything we asked as far as playing defense and being a pro, learning and taking good at-bats. The last 10 days has been really good as far as getting on base,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But at that point, given Hyeseong some runway given the way he’s performed since he’s been here, we felt that was fair.”

Santiago Espinal is still around as the right-handed-hitting option off the bench, for at least the two weeks until Kiké Hernández is eligible to return from the injured list, when another roster decision will need to be made.

“It’s more overall infield coverage. Having Hyeseong and Alex on the roster at the same time then trying to play both sides as far as playing time, versus letting them both play an ample amount of time, that’s kind of how we looked at it,” Roberts said. “Espinal can give Max [Muncy] a day versus a left-handed pitcher, he can pop over to short or second base if we need him.

“Putting it all together, letting Alex go play every day [in Triple-A], letting Hyeseong get the lion’s share at second base, that’s what we thought was best.”

The San Francisco Giants are kicking off a road trip tonight when they visit the Los Angeles Dodgers. And, as expected, there are some reinforcements meeting them in Southern California. On Monday afternoon, a few hours before the start of their four-game set with their hated rivals, the Giants announced that center fielder Harrison Bader had been activated off of the 10-Day Injured List, while right-handed reliever Tristan Beck had been called up. To make space for that pair, right-hander Dylan Smith and catcher Logan Porter were optioned to AAA Sacramento.

Beck, who has a 5.40 ERA and a 3.15 FIP in AAA this year, is called up for the first time this season, after appearing in 31 Major League games a year ago. The move is primarily about getting a fresh arm after a taxing weekend series: during Saturday’s blowout loss, the Giants used five relievers (not counting infielder Christian Koss), who threw 119 pitches; during Sunday’s 12-inning affair, they called on six relief arms (including Smith) to throw 98 pitches. Now they at least get a rested arm up against a deadly Dodgers lineup.

As for Bader, he returns after six rehab games with Sacramento. Bader hit 4-18 during his rehab, with two home runs, three walks, five strikeouts, and one stolen base. The Giants are hoping that full health mixed with his time in AAA will fix Bader’s offense, as he hit just 6-52 with one home run, one double, two walks, and 17 strikeouts before landing on the IL. Watch out, Harrison: that kind of offense will get you shipped out to Cleveland, no matter how good your defense is!

Smith and Porter return to Sacramento after very brief stays with the Giants. Smith pitched in one game, and recorded two outs (while walking a batter), while Porter only appeared as a pinch runner. The Giants are back down to two catchers (Jesús Rodríguez and Eric Haase), though they might go back to three when Daniel Susac is done with his rehab.

It was an ugly weekend in Milwaukee for the Yankees, as they suffered their second series sweep of the season at the hands of a stout Brewers team that overwhelmed them with some sensational pitching and out-executed them late in games. Let’s chalk it up to revenge from Torpedo-gate.

A new series begins today in Baltimore, as the Yankees look to keep beating on the subpar teams that populate the American League, as they did to the Orioles in a historic four-game sweep last week in the Bronx.

Ryan Weathers makes his return to the mound for the Yankees after being scratched from his last start against the Texas Rangers due to an illness. In his first seven starts as a Yankee, he’s 2-2 with a 3.03 ERA (140 ERA+) and 3.58 FIP with 45 strikeouts in 38.2 innings. Weathers will get another crack at an Orioles lineup that he dominated for five innings in his last start before unraveling with a five-run lead in the sixth (although two runs were unearned due to an error). He’s already thrown more innings than he did last year!

The merry-go-round of the Orioles’ rotation continues with Brandon Young making his fifth start of the season tonight at Camden Yards. He’s improved considerably from his disastrous 12 starts in 2025, pitching to a 4.35 ERA and 4.81 FIP in 20.2 innings with just 14 strikeouts to eight walks. Three of his four starts have been perfectly adequate for the O’s, but he does have a late April blowup against the Astros on his ledger.

Young’s peripherals are mostly below average, particularly his strikeout and whiff rates. He does a good job getting hitters to chase and is solid at limiting barrels, but he gives up too much hard contact for him to be an effective starter. Against lefties, the 27-year-old is a pretty even two-pitch pitcher with fastballs and splitters, but he mixes in considerably more sliders and sinkers against righties with the occasional curveball. The splitter has gotten absolutely hammered in the early going, which doesn’t serve him well against a lefty-heavy lineup.

Trent Grisham leads off for the Yankees in front of Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger. Ryan McMahon has been swinging a hot bat lately and slides up to sixth, as Spencer Jones DHs and bats seventh. Max Schuemann is in for José Caballero, who suffered a finger injury and is due to be evaluated tomorrow.

Taylor Ward leads off for Baltimore, followed by the slumping Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and the warming Pete Alonso. They’d love to get Tyler O’Neill going in the five-hole, while continuing to get production from Samuel Basallo and Leody Taveras behind him. Weston Wilson and Blaze Alexander round out the lineup.

How to watch

Location: Oriole Park at Camden Yards — Baltimore, MD

First pitch: 6:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, MASN

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), 98 Rock 97.9 FM, WBAL 1090 AM (BA. L) n

Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only), Gotham Sports App

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René Cárdenas, a broadcasting pioneer who became the first full-time Spanish-language broadcaster for domestic audiences in MLB history when he began working for the Dodgers in 1958, has died at 96 years old.

According to the Astros, one of three teams Cárdenas worked for during his decades-long career, he passed away at his home in Houston on Sunday.

A native of Nicaragua –– where one of his grandfathers was not only president of the country in the late 19th century, but also introduced baseball to the nation –– Cárdenas was hired by the Dodgers shortly after they moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, calling games on AM radio during their years playing at the Coliseum. 

In 1962, he moved to Houston to work for the Astros (then known as the Colt .45s), becoming their director of Spanish broadcasting. In that role, he organized and produced the first international radio network in MLB history, which reached 13 countries in Central and South America, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In 1981, Cárdenas was hired by the Texas Rangers as the first Spanish broadcaster in their club’s history.

Then, in 1982, he returned to the Dodgers, where he would remain through 1998 while working alongside Jaime Jarrín –– another Spanish-language broadcasting legend who originally joined the Dodgers a year after Cárdenas in 1959.

Among his many career highlights, Cárdenas was part of several other Spanish-language broadcasting firsts, including the 1959 World Series and 1961 All-Star Game.

He also returned to the Astros in 2008 to call games on TV in the United States for the first time in his career.

“We mourn the passing of René Cárdenas, who in 1958 with the Dodgers became the first full-time Spanish-language broadcaster in MLB history and would ultimately spend 21 years behind the mic for Los Angeles,” the Dodgers said in a statement. “We send our condolences to his loved ones.”

The Orioles will look to pick up their first win over the Yankees tonight. Baltimore found itself on the wrong end of a four-game sweep at the beginning of May.

Taylor Ward will leadoff and play left field. Adley Rutschman will handle the catching duties, but Samuel Basallo will still start as the DH against LHP Ryan Weathers. The lefty opponent will lead to Weston Wilson at third base and Blaze Alexander at second.

Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso will complete the infield. Tyler O’Neill will get a chance in right, and Leody Taveras will play up the middle.

Brandon Young will get the start for Baltimore.

There’s absolutely no benefit to dropping a fifth consecutive game to the Yankees. The Orioles will need their struggling offense to backup Young as he faces Aaron Judge and a talented New York lineup.

You can check out more about the three-game set against the Yankees here.

Edit: Samuel Basallo was scratched with left knee discomfort. MASN’s Roch Kubatko reported that the discomfort was a product of yesterday’s collision at the plate. Additionally, the Orioles selected the contract of LHP Josh Walker. The team optioned RHP Trey Gibson.

Orioles lineup:

1. Taylor Ward LF
2. Gunnar Henderson SS
3. Adley Rutschman C
4. Pete Alonso 1B
5. Tyler O’Neill RF
6. Coby Mayo DH
7. Leody Taveras CF
8. Weston Wilson 3B
9. Blaze Alexander 2B

Starter: RHP Brandon Young

The latest cult sandwich spot in Los Angeles isn’t tucked inside a trendy strip mall or an influencer trap — it’s hiding in an industrial corner of Santa Clarita, next to warehouses and storage units.

Chef James Dalton — the longtime private chef to Dodgers superstar Mookie Betts — quietly opened Table 504 last week, a low-key sandwich shop that’s already generating quite the buzz.

The star of the menu is the 12-day pastrami sandwich, which, you guessed it, takes 12 days to prep. The process involves a 10-day brine followed by eight hours in the smoker, on bread baked fresh in-house.

Locals are also raving about the 504 Italian, another $20 must-order, made with prosciutto, imported mortadella, sweet soppressata, burrata, red-wine vinaigrette, house-pickled pepper spread and served on house focaccia.

Dalton’s culinary résumé is a far cry from your average sandwich slinger. The Florida-born chef has spent 26 years in hospitality and eventually transitioned into private cheffing for Betts after the MLB superstar moved from Boston to Los Angeles.

After years of working together, Dalton and Betts launched the Table 504 brand.

“Ive been a Dodgers fan all my life and came to try the 504 Italian sandwich but also hoping to bump into Mookie!” Jesse Mark, 30, told The Post while grabbing a bite Monday.

Social media videos showcasing the shop describe it as “hidden in an industrial area behind Public Storage” in a minimalist space serving up items that look more like they’re coming out of a high-end tasting kitchen than a warehouse-district lunch spot.

Betts, one of the most decorated active players in today’s game, is scheduled to return to the Dodgers lineup Monday. He suffered an oblique strain during LA’s 10–5 victory over the Nationals on April 4 and immediately went on the injured list. 

His return couldn’t come at a better time as the vaunted Dodgers offense has been ranked among the worst in the major leagues over the past three weeks. 

Although Betts struggled to start the season, hitting just .179 in eight games, his mere presence in the lineup balances everything out. 

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BALTIMORE — José Caballero’s hopes of remaining the Yankees starting shortstop hinge on a Tuesday morning MRI.

For now, a right middle finger injury was enough to keep Caballero out of the Yankees lineup for Monday’s series opener against the Orioles at Camden Yards, sustained while diving back into first base in the ninth inning of Sunday’s loss to the Brewers.

After Monday’s game, Caballero will travel to New York to undergo an MRI and see team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad and a hand specialist to determine the severity.

“I don’t think it’s a fracture,” Caballero said before pinch-running in the ninth inning and getting thrown out trying to steal second to end a 3-2 loss. “Not worried [about going on the injured list]. I’m just not happy that I have to be out of the lineup today.”

But Aaron Boone, who generally downplays any worries about potential injuries, sounded more concerned than Caballero.

“There’s definitely some concern because Cabby, he’s as tough as they come,” Boone said. “Just had a little hard time when he went to throw today. The good thing is hitting was good. So we’ll see. He’s going to get some tests [Tuesday] morning. See what we have over the next day or two.”

Max Schuemann started at shortstop Monday night, and Boone indicated he would be comfortable with him (and perhaps Ryan McMahon in spot duty) filling the void if Caballero just needs a few days.

If Caballero has to go on the injured list, the recently demoted Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera would be candidates for a call-up from Triple-A.

But first comes the MRI for Caballero, whose strong play on both sides of the ball over the first month-plus of the season forced the Yankees to change their plans for Volpe, whom they initially planned to reinsert at shortstop once he came off the IL last week.

“[Caballero] has been great,” Boone said. “He’s been such a good performer for us here to start the year, on both sides of the ball. He’s been a key part of our team to this point, but again, hopefully it’s just a day-to-day situation. We’ll have a better idea of that [Tuesday].”

Caballero dodged an injury concern last week after he was hit on the left elbow by a pitch, needing only a day out of the lineup Thursday to deal with some swelling before playing all three games over the weekend in Milwaukee.

He is still wearing tape on that left elbow Monday, but now has his right middle finger taped up as well.

The speedy Caballero was trying to steal second base in the ninth inning of a tie game Sunday when he dove back into first base, and while he was wearing a sliding glove on his right hand, it did not fully protect him.

“Didn’t work,” he said. “It’s just the part that is covering that part of the finger, it’s kind of soft, so it doesn’t really help much.”

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

And so the shortstop with a 1.6 bWAR — the fifth-highest mark on the Yankees entering Monday — was put on hold.

If Caballero does need to go on the IL, it would set up an interesting decision for the Yankees.

Volpe did not exactly set the world on fire in his first week at Triple-A following his activation off the IL and demotion to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

In five games, he hit 4-for-24 (.167) with a .472 OPS.

Cabrera, who offers more positional flexibility, had a rough start to the season but has hit better of late, going 14-for-36 (.389) with a 1.032 OPS over his last nine games.

Boone said he had not spoken to Volpe since giving him the news last Sunday that he was being optioned to Triple-A, but has maintained that the 25-year-old is equipped to handle it well.

“Definitely it’s challenging to deal with that, but everyone has challenges they’ve got to deal with and some adversity they’ve got to deal with,” Boone said. “He’s mentally a very tough kid and that’ll serve him well as he navigates this.”

BALTIMORE - New York Yankees shortstop José Caballero will be sent back to New York for tests on his right middle finger after he injured it diving back into a base, manager Aaron Boone said Monday, May 11.

Caballero, who seized the starting shortstop job from Anthony Volpe with his early season play this year, hurt his finger diving into first base on a pickoff attempt in the ninth inning of the Yankees' loss at Milwaukee Sunday. He will need an MRI to determine the extent of the damage, but said he doesn't believe the finger was broken.

"There’s definitely some concern. He’s as tough as they come," says Boone. "So, just had a little hard time when he went to throw today. His hitting was good.

"He’s going to get some tests tomorrow morning. We’ll see what we have the next day or two."

Texas Rangers lineup for May 11, 2026 against the Arizona Diamondbacks: starting pitchers are Jakob Junis for the Rangers and Michael Soroka for the D-Backs.

The Rangers, who haven’t allowed a run since the seventh inning of Friday’s game, find their scoreless streak in greater jeopardy now that Nathan Eovaldi has been scratched. Texas is going with a bullpen game fronted by Jakob Junis. Cal Quantrill, the long man — and also the last Ranger pitcher to give up a run — threw 70 pitches on Friday, so he’s likely unavailable.

The lineup:

Nimmo — RF

Duran — 2B

Seager — SS

Jung — 3B

Carter — CF

Pederson — DH

Osuna — 1B

Higashioka — C

7:05 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -126 favorites.

René Cárdenas, the first radio announcer to broadcast major league baseball games in Spanish to a domestic audience while with the Dodgers and who helped start Spanish-language broadcasts for two other teams, died Sunday in Houston. He was 96.

The Dodgers announced his death Sunday night, noting his 21 years — over two stints — with the team starting in 1958. The broadcasting pioneer also served as the Houston Astros' first Spanish-language announcer starting in 1962.

Cárdenas called games for 38 seasons with the Dodgers, Astros and Texas Rangers and paved the way for Jaime Jarrín, who joined the broadcast team in 1959 and served as the Dodgers' broadcaster for 64 seasons.

"He was indisputably one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball radio broadcasting, and he opened the door for other broadcasters to reach the major leagues," Jarrín told The Times in Spanish on Monday morning. "He was a total professional, truly."

Read more:Dodgers muster only two hits, drop series to MLB-leading Braves: 'We're struggling'

Cárdenas was born on Feb. 6, 1930, in Managua, Nicaragua. His grandfather, Adan Cárdenas, was president of the country from 1883 to1887 and is recognized for introducing baseball to Nicaragua in the late 19th century while his uncle, Adolfo, played on the first national team.

But Cárdenas became more adept at describing the action and before he left high school, he was not only writing for La Prensa, Nicaragua’s leading newspaper, but also broadcasting games for Radio Mundial, the capital city’s top-ranked station.

“He had a very original style,” Edgard Tijerino, a Nicaraguan sports journalist, told The Times' Kevin Baxter in 1995. “It was a way of broadcasting that nobody here in Nicaragua had. The people of my generation remember him with fondness and still value the work he did.”

When the Dodgers moved from Brooklyn ahead of the 1958 season, they partnered with KWKW-AM (1330), the only Spanish-language radio station in L.A. at the time, to broadcast the games in Spanish. Cárdenas was hired as the lead play-by-play announcer while Jarrín shadowed him that first season before settling in as the No. 2 announcer. During that time, Cárdenas was part of the first Spanish broadcast of the World Series in 1959 and the All-Star Game in 1961.

Before the 1962 season, Cárdenas moved on to serve as the lead play-by-play announcer for Houston's new team, then known as the Colt .45s. He chronicled the team's first 14 seasons, during which the team moved into the Astrodome and were renamed the Astros in 1965.

Cárdenas returned to Nicaragua in the late 1970s to live in semi-retirement, but political unrest in the country, in the form of the Sandinista National Liberation Front, forced him to flee and eventually return to the United States. The rebels’ final push to victory would take them right past the front door of Cardenas’ three-quarter-acre hacienda.

“They were fighting around my house every night. We used to go under the bed every single night for months,” Cárdenas told The Times in 1995. “We were in a war without being soldiers.”

Cárdenas, who became a U.S. citizen in 1963, had his house, life savings and many priceless mementos from his broadcasting career seized.

After working with Texas Rangers, Cárdenas returned to the Dodgers for the 1982 season. By this point, Jarrín was firmly in place as the team's lead Spanish-language play-by-play announcer — particularly in the wake of Fernandomania the season before, when Jarrín's profile was raised as Fernando Valenzuela's interpreter during his media interviews.

"It was explained to him by our producer, 'You can't come back as the No. 1 announcer because Jaime is established, he has many years as the lead announcer and he is beloved by the community,'" Jarrín said Monday. "René said, 'I don't care, I'll come back as the No. 2 with Jaime. I just want to come back to the game of baseball.' He was determined to return to the Dodgers.

"It was during that time that we established a close-knit friendship and we were well-received by the community as a broadcast duo."

Cárdenas worked with the Dodgers through the 1998 season and moved back to Houston, where he wrote for multiple outlets and then broadcast Astros games on the radio in 2007 and on TV in 2008, setting another first at the time: the only MLB team with a standalone Spanish-language broadcast featuring dedicated cameras and Spanish-language graphics separate from the English-language broadcast.

Read more:Dodgers star Fernando Valenzuela, who changed MLB by sparking Fernandomania, dies at 63

Fifty years after his first broadcast with the Dodgers, Cárdenas remained a pioneer.

He was nominated several times for the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award, including last year, but did not receive enough votes for induction. He is in the Nicaragua Baseball Hall of Fame, the Broadcasters Wing of the Hispanic Heritage Baseball Museum Hall of Fame and in the Astros' team hall of fame.

"I think what hindered him was that he didn't fully establish himself with the Dodgers," Jarrín, one of three Latino broadcasters in the Baseball Hall of Fame, said of Cárdenas' chances of enshrinement. "He was away for many years. So that lack of continuity may have hindered him, possibly. Because professionally, he is deserving of being in the Hall. I would love it if he got inducted posthumously because he was a broadcasting pioneer and a true professional."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Season Record: 19-21

Week Record: 3-3

Series Record: 5-7, 1 split

GAME 35: 4-7 LOSS @ NEW YORK YANKEES
GAME 36: 6-1 WIN @ NEW YORK YANKEES
GAME 37: 2-9LOSS @ NEW YORK YANKEES

GAME 38: 1-7 LOSS vs CHICAGO CUBS
GAME 39: 6-0 WIN vs CHICAGO CUBS
GAME 40: 3-0 WIN vs CHICAGO CUBS

So the Rangers pitched 20 innings (and counting) of shoutout innings this weekend. And managed to get some hits with runners in scoring position. All good things that hopefully continue and get the Rangers on a roll.

However, something that has been proven over the last few seasons, something both myself and the Rangers broadcast has pointed out, once Corey Seager gets out of his funk, the rest of the lineup will follow. And his funk is bad.

I believe he had a similar start last year, he turned it around in May and then stayed hot but right now he’s looking lost in most plate appearances.

In the seventh inning of Sunday’s game, the At Bat app popped up a surprising stat for Seager, his wiff rate last season was 27.9% and this year its up to 35.9%. League average is 25.3%. So if you feel like he’s swinging and missing a lot more, you are not wrong. Its especially frustrating and prevalent considering Texas has the lowest chase rate in Spring Training.

Offensive upside? Both Josh Jung and Ezequiel Duran have both figured it out at the plate and have been the most reliable and consistent bats in the lineup.

And maybe playing the Arizona Diamondbacks will trigger some of that magic from the World Series and the team can start turning it around? Here’s hoping at least!

This morning, our head Tom reported that Yariel Rodriguez was coming up and speculated that Eric Lauer might be the roster casualty. He was right, as Lauer caught a DFA this morning and his roster spot has gone to Rodriguez.

It’s been a rough season for Lauer. As Tom noted, his velocity is down. for a while that could be attributed to the stomch flu he suffered in early April, but that was a month ago and in his most recent outing he was still a mile per hour off his average from last year. For a guy who didn’t have great stuff at his best, losing a little edge is a problem. It’s been confounded by some location issues. If he makes it through waivers, hopefully he’s able to work in Buffalo and rediscover his form from last season, but I suspect we’ve seen the last of him in a Blue Jays uniform.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, was DFA’d back in the winter. He’s been effective as a 1-2 inning reliever for the Bisons, with a few more walks than you’d like but an excellent strikeout rate. He’s de-emphasized his fastballs and leaned harder on his splitter, throwing either that or the slider 70% of the time. Hopefully that translates to the majors, as Rodrigez has been a pretty disappointing singing after a lot of hope when he came over from Japan.

In other news, Addison Barger is officially on the IL. That’s hardly a surprise after it was announced this morning that he was getting an MRI on his elbow. No actual new information on the injury has been reported. Coming up in his place is Yohendrick Piñango. The Venezuelan rookie made an impression in his first call up this season, striking out just three times in 27 PA and posting excellent contact numbers and strong exit velocities. The latter haven’t translated into MLB power yet as he struggles to get the ball in the air with authority, but all the tools are there to hope that he can replace most of what Barger would offer offensively even if he can’t match his defense.