Category: MLB

Let’s jump straight to the question of the day: would you give Brandon Marsh a contract extension beyond this season?

Is this a question based on yesterday’s performance? Perhaps, but let’s think this one through a little bit. The team’s outfield depth is near nonexistent in the minor leagues outside of maybe Dante Nori. There isn’t much available on the free agent market coming up in the next several seasons in the outfield, so basically, Marsh might be their best option for left field.

That does make it a little more imperative that he improve against left handed hitters. It would be difficult to justify paying a platoon player significant money if it came down to it. Yet they have put themselves in this position by not creating the depth necessary to withstand these kinds of issues. They will almost undoubtedly continue using Justin Crawford in center field, but what about the corners in the future?

Is Brandon Marsh part of that future?

While this Orioles team entered the season with plenty of questions, the shortstop position wasn’t one of them. Gunnar Henderson’s name was etched in stone as perhaps the most dependable piece of Craig Albernaz’s lineup. Now healthy and fresh off of a solid showing at the World Baseball Classic, it felt like 2026 was poised to be a big year for Birdland’s star player.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case through the season’s quarter pole. Henderson is struggling. On the year, he owns a .211/.269/.421 batting line and a 91 wRC+. Since April 15 he has an OPS of just .580. During that time his batting average has dipped into the .190s twice, including this past weekend.

Henderson is well aware of how much he has scuffled. He told the media recently that he had “been pretty terrible for about a month now” and went on to explain the things he is doing to get out of his ongoing skid.

No one is going to question Henderson’s work ethic or desire to succeed for the Orioles. He wears his heart on his sleeve, for better or worse. But he will continue to be under the microscope anyway because, more than any other player on the roster, his ability to performe is tied directly to the team’s fortunes. If he starts hitting like he is capable of, the Orioles are going to score a lot more runs and win a lot more games.

So, what exactly is going on with Henderson?

We know he missed time with an oblique injury right at the start of 2025, and then he revealed during the winter that he also had a shoulder impingement as well that lingered. Could there be residual effects from those things? Maybe, but that isn’t obvious from what we can see. Henderson’s bat speed (74.2 mph) and sprint speed (28.2 feet/second) are down from last year, but not too dramatically, and both are still well above league average. At the very least, any sort of minor injury is not the only reason why he has seen all of his outputs crater.

What seems more likely is that Henderson’s approach has changed quite a bit coming into 2026. He’s way more aggressive. His 32.4% first pitch swing rate is the highest it has been since 2023. And the 34.4% chase rate is the highest of his career.

Orioles hitting coach Dustin Lind said as much when he spoke to the press on Sunday. He described Henderson as “not controlling the zone,” and went on to explain that the team encourages a shift in approach with two strikes that focuses on contact above all else. Maybe Henderson missed that memo. He is striking out 30.1% of the time, by far the worst rate of his career.

As you would expect for a player that is swinging and striking out more than ever, his walk numbers are in the tank. He has a 7.1% walk rate right now. Usually he walks at a 9-10% clip, which makes a big difference, especially for someone that is being placed in the lead-off spot regularly.

Rather than acting like a table setter, Henderson is swinging for the fences. His average launch angle is 15.3 degrees this year. His career average launch angle is 9.9 degrees. Would it shock you to learn that he is also hitting more fly outs than ever before? At 39.7%, he is posting the highest fly out rate of his career. That is part of why his .252 BABIP this year is so much lower than his career .315 number.

Another change in approach: Henderson is pulling everything. More than half (50.9%) of his batted balls are yanked to the right side of the field. His career average for pulled contact is 39.8%. This feels connected to the increased launch angle and the aggressiveness in that each tendency feels aimed at increasing power outputs.

To that point, Henderson is homering more than he did in 2025. He’s already got nine home runs this season, compared to 17 all of last year. This current pace would get him to 36 long balls for the year. And his home run per fly ball rate of 19.6% is much better than 2025 (12.3%), closer to what he posted in 2023 (19.3%) and 2024 (23.9%).

But those home runs have come at the expense of just about every other productive avenue of offense Henderson is usually responsible for. He is on pace for fewer doubles, triples, walks, and stolen bases than he had in 2025, which was already considered something of a disappointing year for him. His fWAR is projected to be 3.2. Still solid overall! But nowhere near the MVP-type of output that many of us hoped for and a steep regression from the 7.9 fWAR he posted in 2024 and even the 4.8 fWAR from 2025.

The Orioles aren’t going to do anything drastic with Henderson. He is not at risk of being sent to the minors or riding the bench for a week to change his mindset. The team needs him in the lineup, even in the midst of this slump. But it also doesn’t make sense for them to bang their head against the wall with him and repeat the same issues day after day.

For starters, he shouldn’t be the lead-off man right now. It’s not a role that is setting him up for success. Slide him down to third or fourth. That will give him more chances with runners on base, putting pressure on the pitcher and possibly giving him more pitches in the zone.

Next, do what you can to ditch the power-first approach that seems to be stuck in his brain. Henderson’s ability to hit 35+ home runs in a season is great, but it’s not worth losing everything else about him that has made him so valuable. If the 37 home runs he hit in 2024 turns out to be an anomaly so be it. He is much better off hitting 20-25 bombs with a .340 on-base percentage and 25 stolen bases than what we are watching right now.

And perhaps the final piece to all of this is making it clear to Henderson that the weight of the world is not on his shoulders. Between Pete Alonso, Adley Rutschman, Taylor Ward, and Samuel Basallo, plus any other hitters that eventually turn it around, there are other capable players on the roster that can bear the brunt of any one day. Whether that sort of mental load is contributing to Henderson’s struggles or not is unclear, but it feels worth the team’s time to make that clear to the player. If these Orioles are going to bounce back, they don’t need Henderson to be perfect, they just need him to play his game. Maybe the 4-for-9 he posted this past Saturday and Sunday were just the start of a big turnaround.

Welcome to week 7 of our 2026 NL Central Power Rankings — let’s rank some teams!

1. Chicago Cubs (27-14); 5-2 this week; 86.5% chance to make postseason (FanGraphs)

The Cubs stayed hot this week, stretching their win streak to 10 with a four-game sweep of the Reds before finally losing over the weekend, dropping two of three against the Rangers in Texas.

Michael Conforto and Seiya Suzuki led the offense with two homers each this week, with one of Conforto’s coming as a walk-off winner against the Reds. Conforto added three doubles and three walks, hitting .500/.588/1.143 for the week. Michael Busch led the team with eight hits, including a homer, while Pete Crow-Armstrong had seven hits, including a homer.

Shota Imanaga picked up the win with 10 strikeouts and just one run allowed across six innings in his start this week, while Ryan Rolison picked up a pair of wins in relief, striking out five over 2 1/3 innings. Javier Assad totaled five scoreless innings in two relief outings, earning a win and striking out two. Phil Maton, Ethan Roberts, and Trent Thornton also had scoreless weeks for the bullpen.

After an off day on Monday, the Cubs continue the road trip in Atlanta against the Braves before returning to Chicago for the weekend, where they’ll play on the “road” against the White Sox on the South Side.

2. Milwaukee Brewers (22-16); 4-1 this week; 55.8% chance to make postseason

The Brewers had a great week, splitting two games with the Cardinals on each side of a rainout Tuesday before sweeping a three-game set against the Yankees over the weekend, stretching their win streak to four.

Brice Turang remains one of the best hitters in the league, as he led the team with two homers this week, including a walk-off homer on Sunday afternoon against New York. The return of Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn also loomed large this week, as Chourio led the team with eight hits, including three doubles, and Vaughn added three hits, including a homer and a double. Jake Bauers also homered on Saturday night.

Jacob Misiorowski continues to mow down opposing hitters, as he went six scoreless innings in Milwaukee’s win on Friday night, striking out 11 and allowing just two hits and two walks. Aaron Ashby added two more wins to give him an MLB-leading seven on the season, as he totaled five innings in relief, allowing just one unearned run and striking out seven over three appearances. Brandon Sproat also had a scoreless, albeit inefficient, four-inning start against St. Louis, striking out five.

Milwaukee gets Monday off before beginning a nine-game stretch without an off day that stretches to next Thursday. That stretch begins with three games against the Padres in Milwaukee before a six-game road trip takes them to visit the Twins and Cubs.

3. St. Louis Cardinals (23-17); 3-3 this week; 25.3% chance to make postseason

The Cardinals had a pair of series splits against the Brewers and Padres this week, going 1-1 against the Brewers (with a rainout in the middle) before a 2-2 series split in San Diego over the weekend.

Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker each slugged a homer this week, while Iván Herrera led the team with nine hits, including three doubles, driving in four. Nolan Gorman, Nathan Church, and JJ Wetherholt each added five hits on the week, with Gorman and Church each picking up a pair of doubles.

Kyle Leahy made a pair of solid starts, totaling 10 1/3 innings with 10 strikeouts and just one run allowed. Matthew Liberatore also had a quality start, going six innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts, while Michael McGreevy went six scoreless with nine strikeouts to pick up the win in his start. The bullpen was solid as a whole, as Justin Bruihl, JoJo Romero, Jared Shuster, George Soriano, and Ryne Stanek all had scoreless weeks, totaling 11 2/3 innings with 13 strikeouts.

St. Louis gets Monday off before continuing the road trip to Sacramento, where they’ll face the A’s for three games. They then head back home to host the Royals over the weekend.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates (22-19); 3-3 this week; 58.5% chance to make postseason

The Pirates had a .500 West Coast road trip this week, taking two of three over the D-backs in Phoenix before dropping two of three to the Giants in San Francisco.

Brandon Lowe led teh Pirate offense with seven hits this week, including two homers, a triple, and a double, driving in six and scoring five runs. Oneil Cruz, Konnor Griffin, Joey Bart, and Marcell Ozuna dded a homer each, while Spencer Horwitz added six hits, including three doubles and a triple, driving in six.

Paul Skenes had another strong start against Arizona, going eight scoreless innings with just two hits allowed, striking out seven. Bubba Chandler went 10 innings over two starts, allowing four runs and striking out seven, while Braxton Ashcraft (7 IP, 1 ER, 6 K) and Mitch Keller (6 IP, 2 ER, 4 K) each turned in a quality start and earned the win. Mason Montgomery, Evan Sisk, and Gregory Soto all had scoreless weeks for the bullpen, and Soto also earned two saves over 3 1/3 scoreless frames.

The Pirates now head back home, where they’ll host the Rockies and Phillies for three games each following an off day on Monday.

5. Cincinnati Reds (22-19); 2-5 this week; 16.4% chance to make postseason

After jumping out to an early division lead, the Reds have struggled in May. They lost their first eight games of the month, including sweeps at the hands of NL Central rivals in the Pirates and Cubs. They finally put together a pair of wins to win their three-game set with the Astros over the weekend.

The Reds had no problem hitting homers this week, putting together nine as a team, including two apiece for both JJ Bleday and Spencer Steer. Elly De La Cruz led the team with 11 hits, driving in four. Blake Dunn, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Nathaniel Lowe, Matt McLain, and Sal Stewart each added a homer.

Andrew Abbott made a pair of scoreless starts this week, totaling 11 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts. Chase Burns picked up the other win for Cincy, going six innings with one run allowed and a pair of strikeouts. In relief, Jose Franco, Pierce Johnson, and Luis Mey all had scoreless weeks, totaling eight innings with four strikeouts across the three of them, as Johnson also picked up the only save of the week.

Cincinnati gets the day off on Monday before welcoming the Nationals to town for three games this week. They’ll then hit the road, though they won’t go very far as they visit the Guardians and the Phillies.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

We finished off the week in the black, and with the good weather coming, this is the week to flip those early-season losses to profit, and we need four units this week to do so. It's home run and MLB player props all week, right here. 
 
Kazuma Okamoto just took Drew Rasmussen deep last week, and with the way he's swinging it over the last 14 days, he has to be on the card at today's price.

We're adding him to Julio Rodriguez and Pete Alonso in my favorite home run props and MLB picks for Monday, May 11. 

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Julio Rodriguez	+520
Pete Alonso	+490
Kazuma Okamoto	+410
💲Today's HR parlay	+11808

Home run pick: Julio Rodriguez (+520)

I will fade the Houston Astros every chance I get. Their starters are weak, and the bullpen is near the bottom of the barrel. Today, they’re turning to Peter Lambert, who is pitching above expectations and coming off a season-high 104 pitches. The quality could dip today, and right-handed hitters have done most of the damage against him.

Julio Rodríguez will not close at +520 to homer. This number could fall to +400, and I’d still bet it. The right-handed slugger is slashing .348/.375/.717 over his last 11 games with four home runs and five more extra-base hits. His production away from home has also stood out.

If he doesn’t get to Lambert early, the Houston bullpen still ranks among the worst in home runs allowed and has been used heavily over the last two weeks.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Space City Home Network, Mariners.TV

Home run pick: Pete Alonso (+490)

The Polar Bear has treated us well this season, and today vs. New York Yankees southpaw Ryan Weathers is another great spot to smash the Dinger button on the Baltimore Orioles slugger. Weathers missed his last start due to an illness and ranks in the bottom 40 among all MLB starters in both BlastCont% and HR/FB rate. 

There is also a familiarity factor here, as Weathers' last start came against the Orioles, who stacked four runs on him with Pete Alonso taking him deep on a 114-mph laser. The fair price for this four-bagger is around +400, per the projections at Covers. 

• Time: 6:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, YES

Home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+410)

Kazuma Okamoto is sporting a tidy 1.254 OPS over the last 10 days with five home runs and seven extra-base hits. One of those bombs came against the Tampa Bay Rays and Drew Rasmussen last Tuesday. The Tampa Bay righty owns one of the worst HR/FB rates among MLB starters, ranking 29th worst.

Okamoto is squaring everything up right now, and with the Toronto Blue Jays’ second-fastest swing behind Vladimir Guerrero Jr., he’s doing real damage.

The rookie owns the 17th-best SqUpCon% in baseball over the last two weeks and owns the fastest swing among the Top 35 hitters in that metric. All of his Over props are live today, and the familiarity angle works in his favor.

• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Rays.TV, Sportsnet 1

Today’s HR parlay

Julio Rodriguez	Bet Now +11808
Pete Alonso
Kazuma Okamoto

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

An average week for the Guardians felt like it had a lot more losses than what it really did. That means that some positive moments are definitely needed.

Bazzana Hits Big

After making his Major League debut on April 28th, Guardians’ top prospect Travis Bazzana was struggling to collect his first hit. While he walked twice in two of his first three games, he went hitless in that same amount of time. He collected his first hit, a single, on May 2nd. He began hitting more consistently after that, and it culminated in his first Major League home run on May 8th versus the Minnesota Twins. So far this season, he’s hitting .233/.425/.333 with eight walks and four RBIs.

Aleman Finding Success Early

The Guardians announced on Friday that they would be calling up pitcher Franco Aleman to give the bullpen a boost. He did exactly that in his debut on Sunday, pitching two innings while striking out one and giving up two hits. He did not allow any runs to score, and he kept the Guardians in a spot where they had a chance to at least tie the game (which they did not do). While it’s too early to tell if he can keep this success up throughout the season, he has been extremely promising in Triple-A Columbus so far this season. He’s managed a 0.00 ERA across 12 innings, giving up just one unearned run on three hits. He’s struck out a whopping 18 hitters and walked only four.

Guards Make Big Trade

In a shocking move, the Guardians announced on Saturday that they would be acquiring catcher Patrick Bailey from the San Francisco Giants for Minor League pitcher Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson and a 2026 compensation pick. While he’s only hitting .141/.207/.176 so far this season, he’s averaging a .224/.281/.328 line in his career. He is known for his success behind the plate, however, getting calls outside of the zone without being challenged. The Guardians definitely needed a boost at that catcher’s spot after sending Bo Naylor back to the minors.

Social Media Spotlight

My favorite post from the week comes from the official Guardians account. After Travis Bazzana hit his first Major League home run, the team posted an upside down video of it captioned “For our folks in Australia”.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The Los Angeles Angels visit Progressive Field for Game 1 of a three-game series with the Cleveland Guardians.

Joey Cantillo and his filthy changeup have been tough to beat, and my Angels vs. Guardians predictions expect Cantillo to dominate this Angels lineup. 

Read on for my MLB picks for Monday, May 11. 

Who will win Angels vs Guardians today: Guardians -1.5 (+130)

The Cleveland Guardians send Joey Cantillo to the mound tonight against a Los Angeles Angels lineup that ranks 24th in wRC+ over the last two weeks and owns the worst walk rate in baseball. 

Cantillo's changeup grades at the 88th percentile in run value, and his 95th-percentile release point makes him difficult to square up consistently. 

Without a named starter, the Angels figure to deploy their bullpen tonight, and Los Angeles relievers have surrendered home runs at the highest rate in baseball over the last two weeks. 

With too much juice on the moneyline, take Cleveland to cover the run line instead. 

COVERS INTEL: Cantillo has been one of the better bets in baseball this season, going 6-2 in his starts while generating +4.51 units for bettors.

Angels vs Guardians Over/Under pick: Under 7.5 (+104)

Wind blowing in off Lake Erie on a chilly May night sets the table for a low-scoring affair.

Cantillo has held opponents to a .294 BABIP with a 75% strand rate in 2026 despite pedestrian underlying stuff. 

The Angels rank 24th in wRC+ over the last two weeks and own the worst walk rate in baseball, while Cleveland has been equally futile offensively, posting a 91 wRC+ over that same stretch.

Neither lineup has shown the consistency to threaten this number, and Los Angeles has gone Under the total in eight of their last 10 games.

Angels vs Guardians odds

• Moneyline: Angels +144 | Guardians -150
• Run line: Angels +1.5 (-144) | Guardians -1.5 (+117)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-127) | Under 7.5 (-117)

Angels vs Guardians trend

The Cleveland Guardians have covered the Run Line in 23 of their last 40 games at home (+10.25 Units / 21% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Angels vs. Guardians.

How to watch Angels vs Guardians and game info

Angels vs Guardians latest injuries

Angels vs Guardians weather

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

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

Kazuma Okamoto has been swinging the hottest bat in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup, and I’m expecting another productive night at the plate for the star slugger tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Read on to see why with my Rays vs. Blue Jays predictions and MLB Picks on Monday, May 11.

Rays vs Blue Jays predictions

Rays vs Blue Jays best bet: Kazuma Okamoto Over 1.5 total bases (+110)

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto is finally swinging the bat with consistency, and I expect that to continue tonight against Tampa Bay Rays starter Drew Rasmussen. 

He’s gone Over tonight’s posted total of 1.5 bases in six of his last 10 games, averaging 2.9 bases per game in that stretch. 

Included in this span of games is a May 5 outing against Rasmussen, where he went 1-for-3 with a home run.

Rasmussen throws a lot of four-seam fastballs to right-handers, and Okamoto has handled them extremely well this season. 

He owns a .321 average against the pitch, with a .643 slug and a 67.8% hard-hit rate, with nine of his 13 XBH.

COVERS INTEL:Rasmussen ranks in the 22nd percentile in barrel rate allowed, while Okamoto is in the 92nd percentile with a 16% barrel rate.

Rays vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

Daulton Varsho has recorded a hit in eight of his last 10 games. He’s hitting .316 in that stretch, including a 1-for-3 outing against Rasmussen on May 5. I’ll add Over 0.5 hits for Varsho to tonight’s SGP

For the final leg of the SGP, I’m taking Kevin Gausman to go Under his 2.5 earned runs line. He held the Rays to just two runs in his last outing and is 3-1 to the Under across his last four starts.

Angels vs Blue Jays SGP

• Kazuma Okamoto Over 1.5 total bases
• Daulton Varsho Over 0.5 hits
• Kevin Gausman Under 2.5 earned runs

Rays vs Blue Jays home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+300)

Okamoto leads the team with 10 home runs this season. 

One of those homers came off Rays starter Rasmussen back on May 5. 

It’s a good matchup for Okamoto, who hits the four-seamer extremely well, which is Rasmussen’s most used pitch, with a .643 slug-rate and a 67% hard-hit rate. 

He also barrels the ball well, and Rasmussen has allowed a lot of barreled hits this season. 

If Okamoto gets a fastball in the zone, he could launch it into the seats again, as he’s done many times over the past couple of weeks.

Rays vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Rays +1.5 (-190) | Blue Jays -1.5 (+160)
• Run line: Rays +110 | Blue Jays -130
• Over/Under: Over 7 (-125) | Under 7 (+105)

Rays vs Blue Jays trend

The Toronto Blue Jays have covered the Run Line in 6 of their last 8 games at home (+4.85 Units / 49% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rays vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Rays vs Blue Jays and game info

Rays vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Rays vs Blue Jays weather

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

To kick off the week, the Yankees will head back to the East Coast for a three-game set with the Orioles. For the most part, the American League in 2026 can reasonably be described as “unimpressive,” a description the Yankees are mostly exempt from, but describes Baltimore’s season fairly well. At 18-23, they are already in a nine-game hole in the East, and could be headed for a forgettable season, similar to 2025, after they made the postseason in two consecutive seasons.

The Yankees, after opening the month of May with some exemplary baseball, are coming off of a sweep at the hands of the Brewers. Now having fallen out of first place, being overtaken by the red-hot Rays in the East, they’ll need to beat up on the O’s in order to regain status in their division.

Monday: Ryan Weathers vs. Brandon Young (6:35 pm ET)

Ryan Weathers will take the hill to open up the series on Monday. Although he has been up and down at times, his first season in pinstripes has started off quite well on the whole. In 38.2 innings thus far, the lefty has managed a 3.03 ERA and 3.60 FIP, while striking out more than a batter per inning. He most recent start also came against Baltimore, in which he struck out five in as many solid innings of work. He’s also completed at least five innings in his last five outings, a streak he’ll look to continue on Monday.

The Yankees will square off with 27-year-old Brandon Young on the mound for Baltimore. A rookie last season who had an ERA north of 6 last season in 12 starts, he’s made strides in his sophomore campaign. The right-hander has split time between triple-A and the Majors in 2026, but has stuck around for a few turns through the rotation currently. His last outing saw him go six hard-earned innings against the Marlins, giving up three runs and striking out five.

Tuesday: Will Warren vs. TBD (6:35 pm ET)

Will Warren is slated to start on Tuesday, and has enjoyed a mostly terrific 2026 season. Despite that, he may still have a bad taste in his mouth, coming off of his only bad start this year, when he gave up six runs in four innings against the Rangers. On the bright side, prior to that start, he had a sub-2 ERA across his four previous outings, and he has now struck out six or more batters in five straight starts. He’ll look to right the ship after his first blemish on an otherwise excellent 2026.

The O’s have yet to announce a starter, though it could possibly end up being Trevor Rogers returning from the injured list. Rogers was incredible in 2025, posting a sparkling 1.81 ERA in 18 starts last season for Baltimore, though he has not gotten off to the start they hoped for this year. He’s likely run into some tough luck, running a decent 3.72 FIP, but he also hasn’t pitched since April 25, hitting the shelf with an illness.

Wednesday: Max Fried vs. TBD (6:35 pm ET)

The series’ final game will likely see Max Fried on the rubber for New York. After beginning his eight-year deal with a tremendous 2025, Fried has picked up right where he left off in 2026. Despite slightly decreased strikeout numbers, Fried is more than getting by with a 2.74 FIP m and has been one of baseball’s most valuable pitchers to this point in the season. He has cemented himself as one of the most reliable starters around, and the Yankees will get to enjoy just that on Wednesday.

Baltimore does not have an official starter announced for Wednesday either, but righty Kyle Bradish is the probable starter according to RosterResource. After a breakout campaign in 2023, Bradish has had difficulty staying on the field, as his 42 innings this season are already the most he’s had since that ‘23 season. Although health is the top priority, it has been a disappointing start to the year, as he hasn’t gotten a ton of length, and has allowed multiple runs in all but one start. He pitched against the Bombers on May 2nd, and allowed five runs and a pair of homers in four innings.

Hello and happy Monday, folks. Hope you enjoyed your weekend—shout out to all of the mothers out there.

The Red Sox do not have a game tonight! They’re gonna be playing the Philadelphia Phillies next, but that series will begin on Tuesday. So, we’ve got ourselves a good ol’ fashioned off night tonight.

My question to you: how will you be spending it? Watching other sports? Playing video games? Doing grown-up responsibilities? Enjoying a night on the town? You tell me in the comments below.

Be good to each other and go Sox.

A busy week in the National League West was marked by a few All-Star starting pitchers getting sidelined, and a few roster shakeups among the under-.500 teams in the division.

San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb, who led the National League in innings pitched in each of the last three seasons, including leading the majors in 2023 and 2025, was placed on the 15-day injured list on Saturday with right knee bursitis. The Dodgers got an All-Star pitcher back in their rotation in Blake Snell, but he returned one start early — to a rusty first outing back — because another All-Star, Tyler Glasnow, was placed on the IL with back spasms.

San Francisco shakeup

The Giants continue to flounder, last in the majors in runs scored (3.25 per game) and 29th in wRC+ (83), but made a few roster moves with an eye toward the future this week. First was calling up 21-year-old slugger Bryce Eldridge, the consensus top-50 prospect, last Monday for an extended look. Eldridge started five games .. at designated hitter and hit his first major league home run on Saturday, in a game San Francisco lost by 10 runs.

On Saturday, the Giants traded starting catcher Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians for pitcher Matt Wilkinson — with the incredible and apt nickname Tugboat — and the 29th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. While Bailey was otherworldly defensively with his two Gold Glove Awards, he hasn’t done much with the bat, a career .224/.282/.329, 72-wRC+ hitter who was hitting just .146/.213/.183 this year. Though you might remember him from his only home run this year, a three-run bomb off Jack Dreyer to beat the Dodgers on April 22, orBailey’s walk-off grand slam last September off Tanner Scott.

Steven Kennedy wrote about the Giants Bailing on Patrick for McCovey Chronicles.

Deserted

The Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday designated center fielder Alek Thomas for assignment, jettisoning the rangy defender who was hitting just .181/.222/.340 with a 53 wRC+ in 100 plate appearances this season and a career .273 on-base percentage in five major league seasons. That opened the door for consensus top-100 prospect Kyle Waldschmidt to get his first major league opportunity.

Arizona only allowed 10 runs in their six games this week, but still managed to lose three times, thanks to an offense that scored nine runs on Tuesday but only 10 runs over the five games since. Another D-back struggling at the plate is Ketel Marte, who received National League MVP votes in each of the last few years and finished third in 2024. Through Sunday, Marte is hitting just .212/.268/.370 with a 76 wRC+ this season. Jim McLennan at AZ Snake Pit examined what’s wrong with the three-time All-Star.

Divisional notes

• Lincoln Zdunich at Gaslamp Ball wrote about the “little league grand slam” that got past San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. on Friday night.
• Joelle Miholm at Purple Row examined the Colorado Rockies success, or lack thereof, in using an opener this season.

NL West standings

Dodgers 24-16, – –
Padres 24-16, – –
D-backs 19-20, 4.5 GB
Giants 16-24, 8 GB
Rockies 16-25, 8.5 GB

The week ahead

• Dodgers: vs. Giants (4 games), at Angels
• Padres: at Brewers, at Mariners
• D-backs: at Rangers, at Rockies
• Giants: at Dodgers (4 games), at A’s
• Rockies: at Pirates, vs. D-backs

On Sunday night in Kansas City, Detroit Tigers infielder and longtime farm hand Gage Workman, launched a two-run homer in his first major league at-bat with the Tigers. He’s already contributed, but whether he can continue to help the Tigers is a pretty big question mark. For years, Workman has been a talented minor league player whose weaknesses at the plate were too exploitable by upper level pitching. He’s still only 26 years old and the Tigers could certainly use an injection of power and better defense. Workman may be able to provide that in Kerry Carpenter’s stead, at least in the short term.

Gage Tater Workman played with Spencer Torkelson at Arizona State and was the guy who bumped Tork from third base over to first base, his more natural position. The Tigers drafted Workman in the fourth round in the shortened 2020 draft, the same year Torkelson went first overall. In our early prospect coverage after the draft, we preached patience with Workman, as he was both a little young for his draft class and pretty raw as a switch-hitter with power but plenty of swing and miss in his game. But at the same time, he had speed, defensive ability, a pretty good idea of the strike zone, and power. He was a high risk, high reward prospect from the beginning.

Workman struck out 30.6 percent of the time in A-ball in 2021, and there aren’t many college hitters who start out with that many strikeouts and go on to significant major league success. On the other hand, he cracked 12 home runs and stole 31 bases as a strong-armed shortstop. The biggest issue for him was a right-handed swing that just wasn’t getting it done. For a couple of seasons, the Tigers worked with him on it, but eventually were able to convince him to abandon switch-hitting in 2024.

By then, he was also starting to transition to playing third base in the upper minors while still sidelining at shortstop and sometimes in the outfield. Even in 2026 with the Toledo Mud Hens, Workman has started 15 games at shortstop, though that’s partly due to Trei Cruz getting injured early on. He can handle the position decently well, but has always been a little mistake prone making more subtle plays around second base. Third base allows him to pick balls and let his arm eat, and that’s really where he’s best suited. He also has enough speed to play anywhere in the outfield. He just doesn’t have as much experience with it.

Workman reached Double-A in 2022, but he struck out 40 percent of the time with the Erie SeaWolves. 206 strikeouts in 515 plate appearances is a wild amount of strikeouts, and there probably aren’t too many successful major league hitters who ever struck out 200 times in a minor league season. Things went no better in a little extra work in the Arizona Fall League that October. He struck out 38.8 percent of the time with Erie in 2023, and by that point prospect watchers were cutting bait on him.

Workman’s transition to hitting left-handed full-time really helped him. His cut his strikeout rate with Erie to 27.5 percent hitting only left-handed in 2024, and he hit 18 homers and stole 30 bags along the way. That was progress in terms of trimming the strikeouts, and to his credit, Workman has always drawn his share of walks. He wasn’t doing any better against left-handed pitching than he had when he switch-hit, and he still was highly vulnerable to good breaking stuff, but he was hammering right-handers with much better consistency. There was, and is, still a lot of swing and miss, but those improvements finally got him within striking distance of the major leagues.

At that point, with the 2024 Double-A season behind him, Workman turning 25 years old, and he was exposed to the Rule 5 draft. The Tigers elected not to protect him or catching prospect Liam Hicks, and it was suspected that Workman might well be picked up by another team. That team was the Chicago Cubs, and they took Workman on their Opening Day roster last year. The Miami Marlins took Hicks, and that has gone much better for them.

It was a short struggle for Workman in his few weeks on the north side, and he was quickly designated for assignment and then traded to the Chicago White Sox. That didn’t go very well either, and when he suffered a minor hip injury, the White Sox designated him as well, and he returned to the Tigers in May of 2025. All tolled, he only got 17 major league plate appearances combined between the Chicago clubs. He’d made his major league debut, but otherwise wasn’t in any better position than he started, and didn’t get much of a chance either. Things didn’t improve with the Tigers, as Workman struck out nearly 40 percent of the time with the Toledo Mud Hens over the rest of the season.

All of this is to say, don’t go getting too excited just yet. Workman has power, zone recognition, speed, and pretty good defensive ability at third base. There’s plenty to like, but he’s always been really poor against breaking stuff and will strike out quite a bit. Workman isn’t an unknown around the league. He has huge potential, because if he could hit even decently against right-handed pitching, you’d have a pretty valuable strong-side platoon player who does a lot of things to help you win in all phases of the game. If there was real confidence league wide that he’d figure it out at the plate, the Tigers may never have gotten him back.

There is one key sign to watch this spring that might indicate that Workman is starting to find his way against upper level pitching. Workman batted a grisly .146 against breaking stuff in his combined time at the Triple-A level last year, with a horrendous whiff rate of 49.6 percent. Every once in a while he’d run into a hanger, but for the most part pitchers who could command a breaking ball could get ahead and then spam breaking balls down without throwing another strike and pretty easily get Workman out.

Against fastballs he was still quite good. Against offspeed stuff he was at least okay. But breaking balls, and not even good quality ones, were his kryponite, and most prospects who flame out against upper level breaking stuff never break through.

However, the worm turned a bit this spring. He’s still whiffed at breaking pitches 41.3 percent of the time in Toledo this season, so he hasn’t suddenly turned into a low risk contact hitter. But, he also hit .324 against breaking balls over the first five weeks of the Triple-A season, with a whopping .265 isolated power mark. His expected batting average is just .240 and his expected slugging percentage is just .408 compared to actual results of .588 slug, so he’s certainly had plenty of good fortune, but he is also clearly doing better at avoiding chasing so much, and hammering some mistakes up in the zone.

Overall, he’s cut his strikeout rate down to 23.7 percent in Toledo this spring, so while that’s not the kind of sample you want to bet the house on, he’s never put up numbers this good either. Possibly, he’s figured it out just enough that he’s no longer easy prey for breaking stuff, and if he can at least keep pitchers honest and not chase sliders and curveballs in the dirt constantly, they’ll have to feed him more fastballs and try to spot some sliders and curveballs in the zone. Workman is a solid fastball hitter who will do some damage and always has been. It’s partly a question of patience, partly a matter of breaking ball recognition.

So, expect plenty of swing and miss from Gage Workman, and know that this may just be a case of catching a hot hitter and riding him until major league pitching figures him out. It’s at least possible that some growth last year may have been masked by the chaos of getting picked by the Cubs, making his major league debut, struggling, bouncing through the White Sox organization briefly, rehabbing a minor injury, and then ending up right back in Toledo after a whirlwind ride to the places with the tall buildings, as Jim Price would say. He still did plenty of damage against right-handed pitching, and he’s a versatile defender who can steal you a base.

Gage Workman doesn’t have to become a good pure hitter to help the Tigers. He just has to avoid slipping back into old bad habits that made him an easy mark for upper level pitchers with good command of their breaking stuff. If he’s just disciplined enough to get pitchers up in the zone, Workman might do enough damage to let his secondary skills play up and find a sustainable role in Detroit. For now, any contributions are much appreciated.

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (20-18)

ROCHESTER 8, SYRACUSE 5 (BOX)

The recently signed Xzarion Curry made his first start as a member of the organization and the right-hander was alright, allowing a pair of runs over five innings. The bullpen took over in the top of the sixth with the score tied 2-2, and that’s where things went downhill. Joey Gerber allowed three runs in the sixth, the recently signed Cionel Perez allowed a run in the seventh, and Anderson Severino allowed two runs in the ninth. Syracuse went down fighting, at least, scoring a run in the sixth and two in the seventh; in that seventh inning, they had the opportunity to mount a true comeback, loading up the bases, but Christian Arroyo struck out to end the inning.

·  DH A.J. Ewing: 2-5, 2B, RBI, SB (5)

·  CF Nick Morabito: 0-3, BB, 2 K

·  RF Ryan Clifford: 2-3, 2 R, 3B, HR (7), RBI, BB, K

·  1B Christian Arroyo: 0-3, RBI, 2 K

·  3B Yonny Hernández: 0-4, K

·  LF Cristian Pache: 1-4, R, HR (4), RBI, 3 K

·  C Hayden Senger: 0-4, 3 K, PB (7)

·  SS Jackson Cluff: 2-4, 2 R, HR (5), RBI, K, SB (3)

·  2B Kevin Villavicencio: 1-3, 2 K

·  PH Ji Hwan Bae: 0-1

·  RHP Xzavion Curry: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

·  RHP Joey Gerber: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, L (1-1)

·  LHP Cionel Pérez: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Dylan Ross: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

·  LHP Anderson Severino: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Alex Carrillo: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (11-22)

GAME ONE

HARTFORD 5, BINGHAMTON 2 / 7 (BOX)

Irving Kota was quite hittable in his four-plus innings of work, allowing five runs on nine hits. The Rumble Pony bats kept them in the game early, with Eli Serrano driving in a run on a double and a second run scoring during the sequence on a fielding error, but that ended up being the totality of their offense for the contest.

·  DH Eli Serrano III: 1-4, 2B, RBI, 2 K

·  3B Jacob Reimer: 0-4, 3 K

·  CF Jose Ramos: 1-2, BB, SB (3)

·  C Kevin Parada: 1-3, K

·  1B JT Schwartz: 0-3

·  LF TT Bowens: 0-2, BB

·  RF Matt Rudick: 0-2, R, BB, SB (2)

·  SS Wyatt Young: 1-3, 2B, 2 K

·  2B Diego Mosquera: 0-2, R, BB, K

·  RHP Irving Cota: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, HBP, L (0-1)

·  LHP Gabriel Rodriguez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

·  LHP Jefry Yan: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

GAME TWO

HARTFORD 5, BINGHAMTON 0 / 7 (BOX)

At least they weren’t no-hit? It’s been a few weeks since I wrote a report where Binghamton got no-hit, so I feel like we’re due. Outside of R.J. Gordon allowing five runs in the top of the second, Binghamton’s pitching was solid. The bats, on the other hand? Not so much. With two hits in this contest, Wyatt Young boosted his team-leading batting average to .225. That about says it all.

·  CF Eli Serrano III: 0-2, 2 BB, K, SB (1)

·  DH Jacob Reimer: 0-3, 2 K

·  C Chris Suero: 0-0, 3 BB, SB (7)

·  RF Jose Ramos: 1-3, K

·  3B Nick Lorusso: 1-3, K

·  LF JT Schwartz: 0-3, 2 K

·  2B Wyatt Young: 2-3, CS (1)

·  1B Onix Vega: 0-3

·  SS Diego Mosquera: 0-2, BB, K

·  RHP R.J. Gordon: 1.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, E (1), L (0-1)

·  LHP Matt Turner: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, WP

·  RHP Brian Metoyer: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Douglas Orellana: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

·  LHP Felipe De La Cruz: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (8-24)

BOWLING GREEN 5, BROOKLYN 4 (BOX)

With the score tied 4-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, Joe Charles was summoned from the bullpen. The right-hander walked the first batter he faced and then allowed a double, putting the winning run 90 feet away. After escaping leaving a meatball right down Broadway, he got burned by throwing a hanger down and in to centerfielder Theo Gillen, who laced a line drive down the first base line to win it for the Hot Rods.

·  SS Mitch Voit: 0-4

·  2B Yonatan Henriquez: 0-3, BB, 2 K

·  RF John Bay: 0-4, K, CS (2)

·  DH Ronald Hernandez: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR (3, 4), 2 RBI, 2 K

·  C Daiverson Gutierrez: 0-4, K, E (6)

·  3B Colin Houck: 1-4, K

·  1B Trace Willhoite: 0-2, R, BB

·  LF Vincent Perozo: 2-3, R

·  CF Sam Biller: 1-3, RBI, SB (2)

·  RHP Brady Miller: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

·  RHP Garrett Stratton: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, BS (1)

·  RHP Bryce Jenkins: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

·  RHP Joe Charles: 0.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, L (0-1)

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (14-19)

LAKELAND 8, ST. LUCIE 3 (BOX)

Daviel Hurtado and Nicolas Carreno combined to throw six solid innings, with the former allowing a run on 2 hits over 2.0 innings while striking out 4 and the latter allowing a run on 2 hits and 3 walks over 4.0 innings while striking out 7. Elwis Mijares replaced Carreno in the bottom of the seventh and let the game get away from St. Lucie after allowing five runs to score. The bats were sluggish to start things off, but came alive in the later innings, scoring a run apiece in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings.

 ·  SS Elian Peña: 2-4, R, RBI, BB, CS (3)

·  LF JT Benson: 1-4, 2B, BB, K

·  1B Randy Guzman: 1-4, BB, 3 K

·  RF AJ Salgado: 0-4, 3 K

·  C Julio Zayas: 1-3, R, BB, 2 K

·  3B Sam Robertson: 1-4, K, SB (17), E (4)

·  DH Chase Meggers: 1-4, RBI

·  CF Simon Juan: 3-4, R

·  2B Branny De Oleo: 0-3, BB, 2 K

·  LHP Daviel Hurtado: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

·  RHP Nicolas Carreno: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, WP

·  RHP Elwis Mijares: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, L (2-2)

·  RHP Joe Scarborough: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Rookie: FCL Mets (1-6)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Ronald Hernandez

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Joe Charles

Last Week’s Results

• Monday: Cardinals 6, Brewers 3
• Tuesday: Postponed (rescheduled for July 7)
• Wednesday: Brewers 6, Cardinals 2
• Thursday: Off Day
• Friday: Brewers 6, Yankees 0
• Saturday: Brewers 4, Yankees 3
• Sunday: Brewers 4, Yankees 3

Division Standings

• Cubs 27-14
• Brewers 22-16
• Cardinals 23-17
• Pirates 22-19
• Reds 22-19

Last Week

• Cubs: 5-2
• Brewers: 4-1
• Cardinals: 3-3
• Pirates: 3-3
• Reds: 2-5

Top Pitching Performance of the Week

Just like last week, our selection here goes to Jacob Misiorowski. Miz made all sorts of history on Friday night when he threw the seven fastest pitches ever thrown by a starting pitcher, but it wasn’t just that he was throwing hard: the Yankees couldn’t hit him, either. Misiorowski threw six shutout innings, struck out 11 batters, and allowed just two hits and two walks while outdueling Max Fried.

As for honorable mentions, there were good pitching performances up and down the roster this week, but I’d like to single out Aaron Ashby, who picked up two more wins this week and threw five scoreless innings across three outings.

Top Hitting Performance of the Week

There are several players worthy of this honor this week, but I’m going to go with Sunday’s walkoff hero, Brice Turang. He hit two of the team’s four homers this week, including Sunday’s winner, and compiled an OPS over 1.000. Sure, Tchaikovsky seems appropriate for the occasion.

Honorable mentions to Jake Bauers, who was 4-for-9 with a homer, a double, and two walks, plus the two “we’re back” guys: Andrew Vaughn, who homered and had a .982 OPS over his first five games back, and Jackson Chourio, who sparked the offense in St. Louis and picked up a team-high eight hits (three of which were doubles) this week.

Injury Notes & Roster Moves

• The biggest news this week was on Monday, when Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn were both, finally, activated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, Blake Perkins was optioned to Triple-A Nashville and Greg Jones was designated for assignment. Jones cleared waivers and was outrighted to Nashville four days later.
• Perkins, though, did not stay in the minors for long. Brandon Lockridge suffered a scary, but ultimately hopefully relatively minor, injury when when he crashed into the wall going after a foul ball on Friday night. On Saturday, Lockridge was placed on the injured list, and Perkins was back with the Brewers after just two games with the Sounds.
• We got a positive update Friday on Christian Yelich, who has been out since April 13th. He has been swinging and running the bases, and the team mentioned that he could be back with the Brewers as soon as the next series.
• Brandon Woodruff was scheduled to begin throwing again on Saturday. We’ll see how he responds, but given that there’s supposedly nothing structurally wrong, he could rejoin the team soon.
• Ángel Zerpa, who was placed on the injured list last week, needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of the season. That surgery is scheduled for Monday.
• Akil Baddoo is getting close, and should go out on a minor-league rehab assignment this week.

On Deck

• Monday: Off Day
• Tuesday: vs. Padres (6:40 p.m.)
• Wednesday: vs. Padres (6:40 p.m.)
• Thursday: vs. Padres (12:40 p.m.)
• Friday: @ Twins (7:10 p.m.)
• Saturday: @ Twins (6:10 p.m.)
• Sunday: @ Twins (1:10 p.m.)

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Milt Pappas, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1955, Ernie Banks hits a grand slam — the first of five on the year — to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 10-8 victory that snaps the Brooklyn Dodgers‘ 11-game winning streakand other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1904 – Cy Young‘s 23-inning no-hit string ends. The streak included two innings on April 25th, six on April 30th, a perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 5th, and six innings today.
• 1919 – Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators pitches 12 scoreless innings in a duel with Jack Quinn of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds. Johnson allows only two hits and retires 28 batters in a row.
• 1946 – The New York Giants defeat the Boston Braves, 5-1, in the first night game played at Braves Field. The 37,407 fans are surprised as their hometown heroes enter the field wearing shiny satin uniforms designed to reflect the light generated by the electricity used for the evening contest.
• 1957 – Even though the game is practically over before the Pirates come to bat, having given up six runs to the Phillies in the top of the 1st inning, the first Pirate at-bat provides the most memorable moment of the game, Roberto Clemente‘s 440-plus-foot inside-the-park home run. The Phils win the game, 7-2.
• 1963 – Sandy Koufax pitches the second of four career no-hitters to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat San Francisco, 8 – 0.
• 1972 – Tom Seaver wins his 100th game in a 2-1 New York Mets victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets also acquire veteran outfielder Willie Mays from the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Charlie Williams and $50,000.
• 1980 – 39-year-old Pete Rose steals second base, third, and home in one inning for the Phillies. The last National League player to pull off this feat had been Jackie Robinson in 1954.
• 1990 – Dave Winfield rejects a trade that would have sent him from the New York Yankees to the California Angels in exchange for pitcher Mike Witt. A no-trade clause in Winfield’s contract gives him the right to turn down the deal. Five days later, Winfield will reach an agreement with the Yankees and give his permission for the trade to take place.
• 1998 – Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs sets the major league record for strikeouts in consecutive games (33) by fanning 13 Arizona Diamondbacks in a 4-2 victory. The record for strikeouts in two starts had been 32, set by Luis Tiant in 1968 and matched by Nolan Ryan (1974), Dwight Gooden (1984) and Randy Johnson (1997).
• 2000 – The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 14-8, in the longest nine-inning game in National League history: 4 hours, 22 minutes. The game features one of the longest home runs in the history of Wrigley Field. A picture circulated by the Associated Press puts it this way: “Rick Frohock celebrates on the rooftop of a three-story building on Waveland Ave. behind the left-field bleachers of Wrigley Field after catching a home run hit by Chicago’s Glenallen Hill against the Brewers. It was believed to be the first time a ball landed on top of the apartment building.” Hill’s shot is estimated at 490 feet by the next day’s press accounts and eventually measured at 500 feet.
• 2009 – Ryan Zimmerman goes 4 for 5 with two home runs to extend his hitting streak to 29 games, but San Francisco beats Washington, 11 – 7. Randy Johnson strikes out nine for career win number 298. The game features the tallest pitching match-up in history, with the 6′ 10″ Johnson facing Daniel Cabrera, who stands 6′ 9″.
• 2012 – Brandon Inge drives in four runs as the A’s romp past the Tigers, 11-4. Detroit released Inge earlier this season, but he is now on a tear, becoming the first major leaguer since Lou Gehrig in 1931 to drive in four or more runs four times in a five-game span.
• 2016 – Max Scherzer ties the major league record by striking out 20 batters in a nine-inning game against his former team as the Nationals defeat the Tigers, 3-2. He now shares the mark with Roger Clemens (who did it twice), Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson. Scherzer does not issue a single walk in the game.

Cubs Birthdays:Trenidad Hubbard, Jerry Martin, Milt Pappas,* Mel Wright, Gene Hermanski, Dewey Adkins, Jim Connor. Also notable: Charlie Gehringer HOF.

Today in history:

• 330 – Newly built city of Constantinople (Byzantium) dedicated to Emperor Constantine the Great, becomes the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
• 868 – “The Diamond Sutra”, the world’s oldest surviving and dated printed book is printed in Chinese and made into a scroll.
• 1812 – The Waltz is introduced into English ballrooms; some observers consider it disgusting and immoral.
• 1864 – Battle of Yellow Tavern in Henrico County, Virginia; Union Army prevails and Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart is mortally wounded.
• 1900 – James J. Jeffries KOs James J Corbett in 23 for heavyweight boxing title.
• 1931 – “M” Fritz Lang’s first sound film starring Peter Lorre premieres in Berlin.
• 1947 – BF Goodrich announced the development of tubeless tire.
• 1959 – “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb” by Edd Byrnes & Connie Stevens hits #4.
• 1965 – Ellis Island added to Statue of Liberty National monument.
• 1969 – British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.

Special Music Segment! Since you probably didn’t know all the words to “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb,” here are several that you should know:

• 1963 – “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” single by Peter, Paul & Mary hits #2; Peter Yarrow adapted a poem that college classmate Lenny Lipton had left behind after borrowing Yarrow’s typewriter.
• 1968 – Irish actor Richard Harris releases single “MacArthur Park”; it becomes a million-seller topping the charts in Canada and Australia, and peaking at #2 in US and #4 in UK.
• 1970 – “The Long and Winding Road” becomes Beatles’ last American single release.
• 1974 – ABC Records releases Steely Dan single “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” from the “Pretzel Logic “album; it peaks at #4 in the US, making it their biggest hit.
• 1975 – Capitol Records releases Natalie Cole‘s debut album “Inseparable”; it features two hits “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” and the title track.
• 1981 – Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s musical “Cats” (based on poetry by T. S. Eliot) directed by Trevor Nunn, opens at the New London Theatre in the West End, London; runs for 8,949 performances.
• 1985 – Madonna‘s “Crazy For You” single goes #1.

*pictured.

Is Cristopher Sanchez at the beginning of a Cy Young run? He’s got his ERA down to 2.11 and has looked dominant the past two outings. There’s this guy in Los Angeles is having an arguably better season, but Sanchez has put himself back into the conversation.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Brandon Marsh had another great day at the plate, going 4 for 4 on Sunday. He’s “believing” in himself ($).
• The Phillies made another waiver claim yesterday, bringing Jackson Rutledge into their organization. A good depth piece.
• Keith Law went to see some Phillies’ prospects this weekend and came away with decent looks at Dante Nori, Bryan Rincon and Aroon Escobar ($).

MLB news:

• The Reds have had a nice start to season, but they’re going to be without Rhett Lowder for a little while his shoulder is barking.
• Harrison Bader has been on the injured list since April 15, but it’s starting to look like a return is near in his future.
• The inside story of why the Giants decided to trade Patrick Bailey to the Guardians is really kind of interesting ($).