Category: MLB

Only the Tulsa Drillers lost as the Loons and Tower Buzzers executed comeback wins, and the Comets outlasted the Isotopes in a shootout.

Player of the day

At twenty-six years of age, catcher Eliezer Alfonso already has vast experience in the minors, and early on in 2026, he’s putting up the best numbers he has ever had with performances such as this four-hit game yesterday against the Isotopes in a 12-10 win.

Alfonso now has a .312 batting average across 77 at-bats, significantly better than the .247 mark he showcased through two levels last year. How much of this he can sustain remains to be seen, but his production helps deepen this Comets lineup.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

A normal game that had a 2-1 score in favor of OKC after five innings turned out to be a dazzling slugfest on both sides, with the Comets getting the last laugh in a 12-10 win on the road. Given that the bullpens were responsible for all of the fireworks, Comets starter Christian Romero delivered quite the performance, allowing just one run in six full innings.

Offensively, the production was rather evenly distributed, with seven different batters recording multihit games and the same number getting at least one RBI. Out of all of them, catcher Alfonso gets the biggest praise as the only hitter to record four knocks on either side, but ninth-hole hitter Zach Ehrhard was also key with a pair of doubles and three RBI.

Double-A Tulsa

It’s difficult to overcome 12 free passes, as the Tulsa Drillers came to know in a 7-2 loss at the hands of the Cardinals. For the third time this season, left-hander Wyatt Crowell conceded at least four walks, moving to a 2-4 record with a whopping 2.01 WHIP.

As if the walks alone weren’t problematic, the Drillers also saw their opponents be successful in five out of six stolen base attempts, whereas Tulsa’s only stolen base came from shortstop Elijah Hainline. Speaking of onlys, Kendall George was alone in his multi-hit effort, scoring a run.

High-A Great Lakes

Without swinging the bat in the tenth inning, the Loons overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat the Whitecaps in walkoff fashion by a score of 3-2. Well, to put it more clearly, the Loons set up a situation in which a walk and a wild pitch were all they needed to take the win at home. They did so with the only hit, not even leaving the infield—a bunt single.

Allowing the two runs scored by the Whitecaps, both of them unearned, Nicolas Cruz finished the game with a blown save as he failed to protect a 1-0 lead, but also earned the win, his second of the season. The biggest performance from the bullpen, though, came from Matt Lanzendorfer, covering 3.1 scoreless frames in relief of starter Zach Root, who didn’t even finish the third.

Class-A Ontario

Maximizing your opportunities was the theme of the Tower Buzzers’ 8-4 win over the Giants, stranding fewer than half of the baserunners that their opponents did. For the fourth time this month, Ching-Hsien Ko left the yard, and he did so in a crucial spot, hitting a three-run bomb in the fourth back when the Tower Buzzers trailed this one four-zip.

Ko was also involved in the five-run rally in the eighth, scoring one of the runs as Ontario took the lead for the first time, capitalizing on Luis Carias’ performance, who delivered five scoreless innings in relief with 16 punchouts.

Transactions

Right-handed pitcher Logan Tabeling was placed on the 7-day IL by the Great Lakes Loons. Right-handed pitchers Tyler Gough and Alvaro Benoa were sent on rehab assignments to the ACL Dodgers by Ontario.

Thursday’s scores

• Albuquerque 10, Oklahoma City 12
• Tulsa 2, Springfield 7
• Great Lakes 3, West Michigan 2
• Ontario 8, San Jose 4

Friday’s schedule

• 3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Jakob Wright) vs. West Michigan (Carlos Marcano)
• 5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Payton Martin) vs. Springfield (Liam Doyle)
• 5:35 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (River Ryan) at Albuquerque (TBD)
• 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (Hyun-Seok Jang) vs. San Jose (TBD)

It’s Rivalry Weekend or whatever — 15 matchups that I guess link two teams that are supposed to be rivals together.

Sometimes, this is inherently fun, like when the teams in question are basically co-located and it’s a battle-for-the-jurisdiction of sorts (Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox, and I guess even Angels-Dodgers, sorta). Sometimes, it’s a bit weirder, a la Twins-Brewers. And then there are the leftover teams, including Braves-Red Sox, Diamondbacks-Rockies, and maybe Blue Jays-Tigers (though maybe you feel that one is more justified).

Would you change any of these? Keep in mind that if you do, you have to find a new set of partners as needed.

Rivalry Weekend begins tonight. Some of the matchups are obvious: you needn’t ask why the Cubs and White Sox have beef with each other (not Italian beef. Disliking each other, they would not likely share a meal of that delicious Chicago specialty). Some are not: Detroit and Toronto may be close to each other, but there’s no real rivalry between the Tigers and Blue Jays. And some are somewhere in between. The Phillies will play the Pirates at PNC Park tonight, in a matchup that was once a ferocious rivalry, but now has become a less vicious affair. But rivalry never really dies. Or does it? That’s for you to decide and debate. Today’s question is: do you consider the Pirates a rival?

Good morning, LSB.

The Rangers were off yesterday.

Jeff Wilson calls the Rangers walk-off win over Arizona the kind that could spark their otherwise so-so season.

Evan Grant’s Rangers stock report focuses on Jacob deGrom heating up and the streaky Jake Burger

There isn’t much else out there besides prospect list fun. Keith Law released his top 100 draft prospects.

And Konnor Griffin graduated from MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 prospect spot, so they named a new one.

That’s all for this morning. The Rangers start up a weekend series with the hated Astros tonight at 7:10 with Jack Leiter on the mound for Texas.

Happy Friday!

Back on Wednesday, with evening showers threatening to spoil the Orioles’ series finale against the Yankees, the mounting clouds parted, and out from the mound shone a sliver of light: Kyle Bradish and his six scoreless innings. I jest, but Bradish had started this season with an ERA above five in his first seven starts, and this return to form was a massive bit of good news.

One good outing from Bradish doesn’t change the larger picture, though, which, for this starting rotation remains rather bleak. Presumptive ace Trevor Rogers, who carried a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts last season, has a 5.77 ERA. Three other O’s starters carry an ERA above five: Shane Baz, Cade Povich, and Chris Bassitt. Three starters are on the IL, for that matter: Povich, Zach Eflin, and Dean Kremer.

The rotation’s failure is especially galling because the front office set expectations high this winter. O’s GM/president of baseball operations Mike Elias touted an ownership group “that’s really enabling us to invest,” and promising that “Plan A” would be finding a top-tier pitcher. Top tier meant, according to our best intel at the time, an arm ike Dylan Cease, Michael King, Ranger Suárez or Framber Valdez. The Orioles were confirmed to be in hot pursuit of multiple impact starters at the winter meetings in December.

Well, Plan A turns out to have belonged to someone else. Michael King took a hometown discount to stay with the San Diego Padres, accepting three years and $75 million. Suárez landed with the Boston Red Sox on a five-year, $130 million deal. Cease went to the Toronto Blue Jays for seven years and $210 million. Valdez signed with the Detroit Tigers on a three-year, $115 million deal. After watching all four opportunities disappear, the Orioles pivoted to veteran reliability. Chris Bassitt, 37, one of the last established veterans on the free-agent market, signed a one-year, $18.5 million deal with Baltimore in mid-February.

Not to dwell, but the gamble hasn’t gone great. The Orioles starting rotation’s numbers since Opening Day tell a tough story. They have the AL’s lowest WAR and a 5.04 ERA, worse than everyone but Houston and Colorado (Houston also due to injuries, Colorado due to being Colorado). Bradish can be an ace, but he can’t lift a bottom-quartile rotation producing bottom-quartile results into a contending outfit, right?

An analysis piece about the potential for improvement held by guys like Shane Baz and Trevor Rogers would be interesting; I wanted to write instead about the pitchers the Orioles didn’t sign. Maybe that’s just sour grapes. I thought it was a question worth asking, anyway.

Snapshots of the road not taken leave some room for jealousy. Start with the best. Which makes him the worst. Dylan Cease has been superb for Toronto: a 2.41 ERA, career bests in ground ball rate and strikeout rate—and on top of that, 75 K’s to lead all qualified AL starters. Cease is, in a word or two or several, everything the Orioles could use right now.

Michael King has been a very good acquisition for San Diego in parts of three seasons. He had an excellent first year in 2024—a 2.95 ERA, 3.33 FIP, and 173 innings. And although injuries limited him to just 15 starts in 2025, the righty is on track for what may be his best season yet. The right hander has a 2.63 ERA over 51.1 innings so far, and what BaseballSavant considers one of the best changeups in the game. To be sure, there are signs of overperformance that suggest King’s numbers will settle in around his career 3.18 ERA: a somewhat inflated FIP (3.69) and mediocre strikeout numbers (50). But with his 1.6 WAR, King would lead all current Orioles players in value.

The 30-year-old Ranger Suárez started off slow for Boston, posting a 5.02 ERA through his first three starts. But now he has a 2.44 ERA and what is considered one of the best fastballs in the game. In three of eight starts so far he’s tossed a stinker, allowing four runs apiece to Houston, San Diego and New York. But two of those three are great offenses, and he’s pitched a shutout in his last three starts.

Finally, Framber Valdez. The 32-year-old lefty has been less glowing for Detroit, with a 4.32 ERA and other indicators trending in the wrong direction. He posted a 3.67 ERA in six starts in April, but he got absolutely rocked in Boston a week-and-a-half ago, allowing seven runs in three innings. In particular, there’s evidence of concerning velocity dips on Valdez’s heaters. Based on ERA+, this is the first time since 2019 that Valdez is a below-average pitcher.

Would one of them have fixed Baltimore’s rotation? Yes, and it’s not even a hard question. Put it in terms of WAR. Cease, King, Suárez and Valdez each has a bWAR between 0.4 to 1.8. Right now, the only O’s starter who’s healthy and has a positive WAR is Kyle Bradish (0.1): all the rest are in the red. Thus, in WAR-terms, each of the four sought-after candidates would have made the rotation better; more, each would be the best starter on the staff.

Would the Orioles have paid this kind of money for any of them? This notoriously tight-fisted team really stretched itself over the offseason with $60-plus million extensions for Shane Baz and Samuel Basallo. Only King, whose team-friendly deal was probably only possible given his injuries the season before, would have been in the ballpark, so to speak.

Maybe that shows the limitations of this team’s approach to signing pitching. Maybe the Orioles were true players for these arms, and saw things they didn’t like. Maybe it was reasonable for them to presume, after Trevor Rogers’ ace-like season last year, that he and Bradish needed only a supporting cast to lead this outfit. But the rotation thus far has been in desperate need of someone who can give the team a reliable win every five days and keep the bullpen from working itself into the ground. As currently constructed, the rotation has room to grow, and a much higher ceiling than they’ve shown so far, but an ace might have papered over some of those cracks, and given this team room for error.

Happy Friday, everyone! Well, it’s been a dismal week to be a Tigers fan, that’s for sure. They were swept by the Mets, which is the first time all season the Mets have swept anyone. But they’re home again, they’re facing the Blue Jays this weekend, and hopefully they have some wins ahead.

If we want to look at the positive, though, we’re spotlighting our choice for Rookie of the Year, Kevin McGongile below, who continues to amaze us and prove he’s no fluke. In terms of broader baseball news, we discuss the CBA, the Rays stadium deal, jail time for Yasiel Puig, and Cy Young chatter around Shohei Ohtani.

Let’s just get right into it.

Detroit Tigers News

• This kid is good.

• He also joined the Have a Seat podcast to chat about his incredible debut.

• We see you, Riley Greene.

AL Central News

• Very scary news from a recent White Sox game.

• Excuse me, the White Sox are a .500 team now?
• The Twins are sending Matt Wallner to Triple-A.

MLB News

• Where do things currently stand with the CBA and a potential salary cap?
• This quiz to help select your perfect MLB team is very scientific and not at all silly. (I got the Royals! Let us know who you ended up with).
• Is Yandy Diaz one of the most underappreciated hitters in baseball?
• Jay Jaffe writes a joint memorial for Ted Turner and Bobby Cox and their impact on baseball.
• A little Fangraphs tangent about arm strength.
• Some injury updates from around MLB.
• What exactly is the “Tito Speedo” and how did it help turn things around for the Reds?
• Another May trade, this time between the A’s and the Mariners.
• Shohei Ohtani’s insane 0.82 ERA is sparking some Cy Young chatter.
• SI ranks all 30 MLB teams into watchability tiers and the Tigers land about where you would imagine.
• Yasiel Puig might be facing jail time over federal charges.
• The Rays have a tentative deal in place for their new stadium.
• Corey Seager is trying to “figure it out” amid a terrible slump.
• How are the father-son Mattingly duo in Philadelphia embracing their unexpected season? ($)
• We love a good baseball superstition. Cal Raleigh, before his injury, apparently busted his slump by showering in his uniform. ($)
• This is such a cool idea, honestly.

The Cubs are still having trouble scoring runs, as you likely saw in the team’s 2-0 win over the Braves Thursday evening in Atlanta.

But with Ben Brown’s second straight excellent start and solid work from the bullpen, two runs was enough to win the game and end the Cubs’ four-game losing streak.

The Cubs had their chances off Chris Sale in the early innings, with two singles in the first and second innings. But all that did was add to their RISP woes.

They had five hits over the first four innings, but nothing doing. Brown, though, was holding the Braves down even better than that — just one hit and one walk over four innings, with seven strikeouts. Brown threw 65 pitches (40 strikes) and just two runners got past first base.

Here are the seven K’s [VIDEO].

Here’s more on Brown’s outing [VIDEO].

And more from BCB’s JohnW53:

The last Cubs starter to depart after four scoreless innings was . . . Ben Brown, last week at Texas. He gave up no hits in that one; tonight, one.

Shōta Imanaga gave up no hits in a four-inning start on Opening Day of 2025 against the Dodgers at Tokyo.

Brown allowed one hit in 4.0 at home vs. the Braves on May 23, 2024, after Imanaga had yielded two at home vs. the Dodgers on April 7.

Javier Assad (four hits) and Marcus Stroman (two) turned the trick in 2022, for a total of seven such games in the last five seasons.

There had been 14 in all of 1901-2021.

The Cubs finally broke through against Sale in the sixth. Ian Happ led off with a walk. Seiya Suzuki hit a ground ball on which Ha-Seong Kim made an error, and the runners wound up on first and third.

Matt Shaw then grounded to short and beat a double-play relay, with Happ scoring [VIDEO].

Hoby Milner threw the fifth and sixth, allowing just one single. He had some help from Dansby Swanson on defense [VIDEO].

Phil Maton, who got hit pretty hard Wednesday evening, entered to throw the seventh, also allowing a single, but striking out two. In the top of the eighth, Happ gave the Cubs an insurance run with this long home run [VIDEO].

Just how long was that home run? Pretty darn long! [VIDEO]

Jacob Webb, who has been very good lately, threw the eighth, and like his predecessor relievers, allowed one hit, a single. Webb, last 10 games: 1.69 ERA, 12 strikeouts in 10.2 innings. He’s definitely going up in Craig Counsell’s circle of trust.

Thus Daniel Palencia got the save opportunity. He struck out the first two Braves in the ninth on six pitches, then allowed — you guessed it! — a single.

Palencia then retired Dominic Smith to end the game for his third save [VIDEO].

You can hear it on that clip — there were a LOT of Cubs fans in Atlanta. I think we’ll see that in most road series the rest of this year.

Here are some postgame remarks from Happ [VIDEO].

And here are Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

I concur with Counsell on his thoughts about Brown. As you know, I’ve been skeptical of Brown as a starter, but these two starts have certainly given Brown a lot of confidence, and adding new pitches has definitely helped him. It gives the Cubs the possibility of choosing Brown to do this again, and if they continue the rotation in order, his next turn would come up Tuesday against the Brewers at Wrigley Field.

One more note about Brown — check out these nasty curveballs, including the velocity and spin rate [VIDEO].

Everyone in the NL Central won on Thursday, so the Cubs’ lead remains 2.5 games over the Brewers and Cardinals. This was a solid team effort, especially from the bullpen. Here are some shutout notes from John:

This shutout, the Cubs’ third of the season, was their…

1,465th in the regular season since 1876
656th on the road in the regular season since then
183rd vs. the Braves
76th vs. the Braves on the road
34th vs. the Braves since 1966, their first year in Atlanta
13th at Atlanta, in 291 games there

The last had been July 18, 2015, by 4-0. Jon Lester gave up two hits in 7.1 innings, Hector Rondon retired two batters to end the eighth and Jason Motte walked one in the ninth.

Lastly, the Cubs pitchers did a pretty good job of holding down a really good Atlanta offense, giving them just nine runs in three games. The Cubs, though, scored just five runs in the three-game series. They’ll have to do better than that going forward.

The Cubs returned home to Chicago after this win and will take on the White Sox this weekend on the South Side in the first of two three-game series against their crosstown rivals (the other, at Wrigley Field, will be in August). The teams will open the three-game series Friday evening. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Sean Burke goes for the Sox. Game time is 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and CHSN with the Sox announcers).

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The Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates begin a three-game set tonight, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET at PNC Park. 

My Phillies vs Pirates predictions are targeting Pittsburgh to continue their winning ways against Philly with Braxton Ashcraft on the mound. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Friday, May 16. 

Who will win Phillies vs Pirates today: -127 at Polymarket

The Pittsburgh Pirates have yet to face the Philadelphia Phillies in 2026, but they are riding a three-game winning streak against them dating back to last season. The Bucs also send one of their top arms to the hill in Braxton Ashcraft, who has been spectacular alongside Paul Skenes. 

Ashcraft owns a 2.77 ERA, and he's given up only one run across his last two starts. Ashcraft's last outing at PNC Park was 7.2 scoreless frames against the Cincinnati Reds. The righty has a 3.42 ERA at home, and he's throwing the baseball with a lot of confidence.

The Phils also have one of the worst offenses in the sport, and they didn't score more than three runs in any game in their most recent series against the Boston Red Sox. 

Aaron Nola, meanwhile, has a 5.48 ERA, and his ERA also sits at 4.94 on the road. The Pirates haven't had a ton of success against him, but Pittsburgh is sixth in runs scored, and they just scored seven runs on Thursday. 

COVERS INTEL: Nola has a career-worst .432 xSLG so far this season, and he's surrendered 11 earned runs across his last three road starts. 

Phillies vs Pirates Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 runs (-122 at Polymarket)

Three of the last four meetings between these two have cashed the Under in runs, and there are signs that Nola is trending in the right direction, which strengthens this play.

The righty has given up just three earned runs across his previous two appearances. I do expect the Bucs' impressive offense to give him some trouble, but he's shown more composure lately, which should help him limit serious damage. 

Philadelphia's bullpen has also been better lately, and they've hit the Under in four straight contests. As for Pittsburgh, Ashcraft's consistency is crystal clear, and he often brings his best each week.

While he hasn't faced this Phillies lineup a lot, he's only allowed more than two earned runs once this season.

With both starters in good form and Pittsburgh's pen also holding their own lately, this contest screams value with the Under.  

Phillies vs Pirates odds

• Moneyline: Phillies +122 | Pirates -127
• Run line: Phillies +1.5 (-178) | Pirates -1.5 (+170)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+117) | Under 8.5 (-122)

Phillies vs Pirates trend

Four of the last five meetings between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh have cashed the Under. Find more MLB betting trends for Phillies vs. Pirates.

How to watch Phillies vs Pirates and game info

Phillies vs Pirates latest injuries

Phillies vs Pirates weather

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• Rangers have lost four consecutive league matches for only the second time in the club's history, after a run of five successive defeats from October to November 1983.
• Including the curtailed 2019-20 campaign, Rangers have only lost their final league game in one of the past 17 seasons (W9 D7), a 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock in 2018-19.
• Falkirk have lost just one of their past five home league games against Rangers (W2 D2), although that was their most recent, a 6-3 defeat in April.
• Rangers have only lost one of their past 48 top-flight matches against Falkirk (W39 D8), a 1-0 defeat in December 2006 under Paul Le Guen.
• Falkirk have lost four of their past five league games (W1), including both of their latest two. They are yet to lose three in a row in the league this season, last doing so in the top flight in March 2010.

Here's what happened in Mets Land on Thursday, in case you missed it...

• Manager Carlos Mendozaprovided positive injury updates on Francisco Lindor and Francisco Alvarez
• A.J Ewinghit his first career major league home run
• The Mets smacked five home runs and Nolan McLean locked in for a series-sweeping win over Tigers
• Juan Soto shook off an injury scare and snapped out of a recent offensive funk with a go-ahead RBI single and solo homer
• McLean tossed seven strong innings in New York's comeback victory over Tigers
• The Mets showed resiliency, battling back in all three games against Tigers for first sweep of season
• Soto and the Mets are ready to renew their Subway Series rivalry with the Yankees starting on Friday night
• Jorge Polancoreceived a platelet-rich plasma injection a month ago
• The "Baby Mets" and McLean gave a glimpse of what the team can still be in 2026 — and beyond
• Jonah Tong continued his up-and-down season in Triple-A with a disastrous outing
• 5 things to watch and series predictions of Round 1 of the Subway Series at Citi Field

The Yankees have been sputtering a bit of late, losing five of their last six games while also dealing with injuries, including one to Max Fried that the extent of is not known yet. However, it almost always could be worse, and we just need to look at this weekend’s opponent for an example of that.

This weekend, the Yankees are headed across the city, as they go to Queens for a three-game set against the Mets. Not only do the Mets currently sit in last in the NL East with one of the worst records in baseball so far, they’ve also been dealing with a mess of injuries. Expected regulars Francisco Lindor, Francisco Alvarez, Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco, and Kodai Senga are all currently on the IL. Juan Soto has been one of the only regularly good bats for them, but he’s already had an IL stint and recently had another scare after fouling a ball of his foot (though he did homer yesterday).

However even with those struggles, the Mets always seem to get up for Subway Series matchups, and both fanbases certainly do, too. Before the action gets going tonight, here’s a look at this weekend’s expected pitching matchups.

Friday: Cam Schlittler vs. Clay Holmes (7:15 pm ET)

In his last outing, Schlittler had a gem wasted, as the Yankees’ offense and bullpen couldn’t hang on after the young ace allowed just two hits and no runs. There’s not much more you can say about Schlittler other than that he’s been awesome, leading the league in a number of statistics (namely ERA, FIP, WHIP, and H/9 entering play yesterday). We’ve seen how he gets up for the rivalry against the Red Sox, so let’s see what he does for this cross-city matchup.

The second year of the Holmes as a starter experiment is going … pretty well. The former Yankees closer has a 1.86 ERA in 48.1 innings across eight starts. He has yet to allow more than two runs in any one start, which is especially solid considering he’s made it through at least five innings in every start he’s made. Anecdotally, the Yankees also sometimes seem to struggle against pitchers who had down notes while a member of the Yankees, so we’ll see what happens this time around.

Saturday: Carlos Rodón vs. TBD (7:15 pm ET)

On Saturday, Rodón will be making his second start back off the injured list. His 2026 debut definitely saw some rust despite some good velocity, as he walked five batters in 4.1 innings. That partially caused him to give up three runs to the Brewers despite only giving up two hits. At least, hopefully that was only rust. You still can’t judge much on only two outings, but we’ll get a better sense of how he looks after this game.

At time of writing, the Mets haven’t announced who will be going in the second game. As mentioned, they’re a bit injured, and previous times at this spot in their rotation, they’ve gone with Huascar Brazobán as an opener. 2025 All-Star David Peterson lost his spot in the rotation with an awful start to 2026, but he’s been getting some work as a “bulk guy,” so he could follow Brazobán.

Sunday: Ryan Weathers vs. Freddy Peralta (1:40 pm ET)

Last time out, Weathers flirted with a no-hitter at Camden Yards, only for things to go to pieces after he left the game, leading to a Yankees’ loss to the Orioles. After an up-and-down start to his Yankees career, Weathers has been very solid in recent weeks. Over his last four starts, he has a 1.88 ERA and a 2.77 FIP.

Peralta was one of the biggest name pitchers to move over the offseason, as the Mets acquired him in a trade with the Brewers. He’s been good so far, especially of late, posting a 3.10 ERA and a 3.67 FIP over his first nine starts as a Met. As was the case in Milwaukee, he’s not the type of guy to go 7-8 innings, as his longest outings of the season have been 6.0 innings flat, without ever starting the seventh. However, he can still go out there and strike a bunch of batters out in bunches.

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It's another busy slate across the majors tonight, which means tons of value in my MLB player props.

I'll start things off with Cam Schlittler, followed by Taylor Ward and Edward Cabrera. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Friday, May 15.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Cam Schlittler	Over 5.5 strikeouts	-138
Taylor Ward	Over 0.5 runs	-115
Edward Cabrera	Over 5.5 strikeouts	-104

Cam Schlittler Over 5.5 strikeouts (-138)

Cam Schlittler has been a dominant force for the New York Yankees this season, making up for the loss of two key arms and inserting himself in the AL Cy Young conversation in the process. The right-hander owns a 1.35 ERA while striking out 59 hitters in only 53 1/3 innings of work. 

Schlittler has cashed the Over in Ks in two of his last four outings. The youngster collected six punchouts against the Minnesota Twins in his most recent start, and he also had eight Ks in his last road appearance.

The Yankees visit the New York Mets tonight. The Mets are one of the worst teams in the big leagues, and Schlittler has a mind-boggling 0.98 road ERA, striking out 42 in 36 2/3 frames. 

• Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: YES, SNY

Taylor Ward Over 0.5 runs (-115)

Taylor Ward has been a nice pickup for the Baltimore Orioles. In his first season with the team, Ward is hitting .265, coming across the plate 28 times in 43 games. The veteran has hit the Over in runs in back-to-back games, also registering three hits during that span.

The O's begin a series with the Washington Nationals tonight, and the matchup plays in Ward's favor. 

The Nats send the struggling Zack Littell to the hill, who has a 6.94 ERA. Ward is 4-for-8 lifetime against the right-hander with two home runs and three RBI. Ward also has 20 of his runs versus righties, and Littell allows a lot of runs. 

• Time: 6:45 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, Nationals.TV

Edward Cabrera Over 5.5 strikeouts (-104)

The Chicago Cubs' rotation is led by Edward Cabrera, who owns a 3.88 ERA. He's struck out 43 in 46 1/3 innings of work, and he's cleared tonight's number in three consecutive starts.

Cabrera has been hit around a bit lately, but he racked up six Ks in his most recent outing, and eight before that. 

The Cubbies take on the Chicago White Sox this evening, who struggle to make contact. They rank 28th in the MLB in strikeouts, and Cabrera is striking out more hitters than usual at the moment.

A matchup against a lineup who aren't swinging it well plays in the right-hander's favor. 

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marquee Sports Network, CHSN

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Hickory starter Aidan Deakins allowed two runs in 5.2 IP, striking out 5. Louis Marinaro struck out two in 2.1 scoreless innings.

Yolfran Castillo was 2 for 5 with a homer and a sotlen base. Dewar Tovar was 2 for 4. Hector Osorio homered. Paulino Santana had a hit.

Hickory box score

J’Briell Easley started for Hub City, allowing four runs, including a pair of home runs, in three innings, striking out three and walking two. Brock Porter struck out four and walked three in four shutout innings.

Malcolm Moore doubled twice and drew a walk. Maxton Martin was 3 for 6 with a walk. Rafe Perich had a pair of hits and a walk. Paxton Kling homered and walked twice. Gleider Figuereo drew a pair of walks. Yeison Morrobel had three hits and a walk. Chandler Pollard was 4 for 5 with a double.

Hub City box score

2024 11th rounder Dalton Pence was promoted to Frisco and made his first start for the Roughriders, striking out three, walking two and allowing two runs. Bryan Magdaleno allowed a run in two innings, striking out two.

Frisco box score

Jose Corniell struck out four in five innings for Round Rock, allowing two runs. Michel Otanez allowed faced five batters, walked four of them, gave up a hit, threw a wild pitch, and allow four runs. Ryan Brasier struck out two in a shutout inning. Dane Acker allowed 6 runs in 0.2 IP. Emiliano Teodo needed 10 pitches (9 strikes) to retire four batters, including one via strikeout.

Round Rock box score

ACL Rangers box score