Category: MLB

The Dodgers and Chicago White Sox continue their weekend series on Saturday afternoon at Rate Field in Chicago, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound coming off his best start of the season.

Yamamoto retired his final 22 batters faced in his eight innings to beat the Angels last Saturday at Dodger Stadium, and allowed just one run. Yamamoto has allowed only three runs over his last four starts, and has lasted at least seven innings three times during that span, with 25 strikeouts and five walks in 27 1/3 innings.

Right-hander Sean Burke starts for Chicago.

Saturday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at White Sox
• Ballpark: Rate Field, Chicago
• Time: 1:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

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Friday is here, and the MLB slate is loaded with hitters in prime spots to leave the yard.

My favorite looks and MLB player props this evening include Yandy Diaz, Samuel Basallo, and Kody Clemens.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Yandy Diaz	+359
Samuel Basallo	+389
Kody Clemens	+437
💲Today's HR parlay	+11953

Home run pick: Yandy Diaz (+359)

One of my favorite home run looks this evening is Tampa Bay Rays slugger Yandy Diaz.

Diaz has been crushing the baseball lately against left-handed pitching. Over his last 30 plate appearances versus southpaws, he's produced a 56.5% hard-hit rate and 13% barrel rate while batting .400, with a .720 SLG, 1.187 OPS and 221 wRC+.

Tonight, the Rays star draws Los Angeles Angels left hander Sam Aldegheri, who has allowed a 61.9% fly-ball rate and 19% line-drive rate to right handed hitters this season. Those elevated contact numbers have been a consistent theme throughout his professional career.

Diaz also owns the highest arsenal coverage among Batters-Box elite-rated hitters tonight, covering 94.7% of Aldegheri's pitch mix. With the amount of hard contact Díaz is generating and the amount of elevation Aldegheri is allowing, this is a matchup I have to be all over.

If you're looking to add another home run sprinkle from this game, I do not hate the idea of Junior Caminero leaving the yard as well.

• Time: 9:38 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: ABTV, RAYS

Home run pick: Samuel Basallo (+389)

Baltimore Orioles young slugger Samuel Basallo is a guy I am already a fan of. His hits, runs and RBI prop looks good this evening, and when I like a hitter to have success at the dish, I am always a strong advocate for sprinkling on their home run prop as well.

The 21-year-old draws San Diego Padres right hander Griffin Canning, who enters today with the one of the worst pitcher ratings on the day, according to Batters-Box.

• Time: 7:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, SDPA

Home run pick: Kody Clemens (+437)

Minnesota Twins outfielder Kody Clemens has been making a ton of hard contact lately. Over his last 30 at-bats against right-handed pitching, he owns a 54.2% hard-hit rate, 16.7% barrel rate, and 66.7% elevation rate while batting .379 with an .862 SLG and 1.262 OPS.

Roger's son draws St. Louis Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy, who grades poorly in hard contact and strikeout metrics on Batters-Box.

The right-hander has struggled this season against left-handed hitters, allowing 60% hard contact and a 13.7% barrel rate. Those lefties have produced a .619 xSLG and .434 xwOBA against him.

According to FanGraphs, only 14% of Leahy’s arsenal grades above league average. On the other side, Clemens owns an 84.2% arsenal coverage rating against Leahy’s pitch mix.

After an 0-for-4 day at the dish on Thursday, Clemens should be looking to bounce back this weekend and do damage against the below-average pitches Leahy will throw his way.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MNNT, CARD

Today’s HR parlay

Yandy Diaz	Bet Now +11953
Samuel Basallo
Kody Clemens

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.

It’s hard to argue against the idea that a Yankees outfield feels incomplete without the 6-foot-7 right fielder manning the grass, warning track, and wall. No, Aaron Judge isn’t just a huge presence in the field missing (literally and figuratively), but losing a .907 OPS with 17 home runs and 38 RBI in 59 games is a major hole in the lineup that needs to be filled for the time being.

For a while, there was a concern about the team’s outfield with Trent Grisham starting in center following his signing of a one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer to remain with the team. Through his first 29 games of the season in March and April, he was batting .151 with a BABIP of .145 and a wRC+ of 76. For a guy hoping to prove that his breakout 2025 season wasn’t a fluke and that he deserves a significant free-agent contract after 2026, Grisham was not doing a very good job through the first couple months of the season. However, over the last 30 games, the tide has turned in his favor.

Grisham went from well below the Mendoza line in the box in his first 35 games of the season to slashing .296/.382/.454 in his next 30. Now, he’s hitting .232 on the season with an 114 wRC+ and a career-high walk rate and career-low strikeout rate (to this point).

The Yankees needed this change, but what’s driving it? It was highly unlikely that Grisham would hit .150 all year, but the change has been a tale of two halves through the first 65 games of the season.

There are a few major changes to what Grisham has been doing in the box that have helped expedite his resurgence. First, he’s probably just gotten some better luck. He was hitting the ball hard through the early parts of the season, but it was right at defenders. His process was not terrible, showing the same solid plate approach that helped him excel in 2025, but he just wasn’t seeing the ball find grass.

But Grisham has also seen an improvement in his batted ball profile. He’s seen an increase in both pulled balls (slightly up from 41.1% to 41.6% in May and 43.3% in June) and those hit to the opposite field (up from 17.8% to 24.7% in May and 20% in June). But he has also seen an increase in line drives and decreases in both groundballs and fly balls. His line drive rate through March and April was 8.2%, well below the league average, and that shot up to 14.3% in May and is even higher in June (23.3%). The line drives have made it easier for him to score runs or put his team in position to do so, like this hard-pulled line-drive triple following an incredible ABS challenge, which kept the inning at one out and allowed Grisham to score the fourth run on a sacrifice fly. And the Yankees would go on to score two more runs in the inning to make the score 6-3.

The Yankees needed their outfield production to replace Judge in the aggregate (or at least try their best with a rookie Spencer Jones still getting a hold of playing in the majors), and Grisham’s return to an above-average level is a boon. A change in approach that involves putting the bat to the ball while also keeping emphasis on high exit velocities has helped Grisham not just find the gaps in both right and left more, but it’s kept his power around. There’s still quite some time left until Judge returns, but the Yankees will have an easier time weathering the storm as long as Grisham continues at this rate. Grisham resembling the version of himself from 2025 (as well as Cody Bellinger’s return to MVP-caliber form) will go a long way to keeping the team afloat in Judge’s absence.

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Toronto Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage profiles well against a New York Yankees squad that has been swing-happy this season, making his strikeout prop appetizing.  

Read on for my Blue Jays vs. Yankees predictions and MLB picks for this Thursday, June 12, matchup. 

Yankees vs Blue Jays predictions

Yankees vs Blue Jays best bet: Trey Yesavage Over 6.5 Ks (+110)

Trey Yesavage is 2-0 against the New York Yankees, throwing 11.2 scoreless innings with 19 strikeouts. His splitter gave this Yankees team fits last season, and the Toronto Blue Jays' rookie right-hander is poised to baffle those Yankee bats again. 

He limits contact, garnering a .188 xBA, while ranking in the 85th percentile in barrel rates. 

The Yankees don’t barrel the ball very well, and have the second-highest strikeout rate against right-handers with Yesavage’s pitching arsenal (four-seamer, Splitter, slider).

New York’s offense also owns a league-worst .199 xBA against those pitch types. I’d bet Yesavage O 6.5 strikeouts up to +100.

COVERS INTEL: Yesavage owns a 54% strikeout rate against the Yankees. 

Yankees vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

I’m expecting a lot of swings and misses from the Yankees' bats tonight, so I’ll add Over 0.5 strikeouts to Trent Grisham.

He owns a 37.5% strikeout rating against Yesavages pitch mix, and struck out in 3-of-4 playoff appearances against him. 

I’ll also bet over 0.5 singles for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He profiles well against Yankees starter Ryan Weathers and has been hitting the ball harder recently, which has led to line drive singles and hard hit balls into the outfield. 

Additionally, 80% of his hits this season have been singles. 

Yankees vs Blue Jays SGP

• Trey Yesavage Over 6.5 strikeouts
• Trent Grisham Over 0.5 strikeouts
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 0.5 singles

Yankees vs Blue Jays home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+370)

Weathers has been prone to the longball over his last four starts, surrendering seven bombs in that stretch. 

Kazuma Okamoto’s hitting profile matches up best against Weathers, who uses a four-seamer as his primary pitch. 

The Jays slugger barrels the baseball well and puts power into his swings with a 64% hard-hit rate and a .544 slug against the four-seamer this season. 

I’ll bet half a unit on this, however, considering the Jays’ inconsistent power numbers all season. 

Yankees vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: New York -115 | Toronto +104
• Run line: New York +1.5 (-210) | Toronto -1.5 (+180)
• Over/Under: Over 8 (-110) | Under 8 (-110)

Yankees vs Blue Jays trend

The Toronto Blue Jays have hit the Game Total Over in 9 of their last 12 games (+5.80 Units / 45% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Yankees vs Blue Jays and game info

Yankees vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Yankees vs Blue Jays weather

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As the Arizona Cardinals closed up minicamp on Wednesday, Mike LaFleur decided he had seen enough through mandatory minicamp and the Cardinals are now off until training camp opens, with the Cardinals being one of the first teams reporting.

Fans were a little perplexed by the decision, which I get their thoughts, the Cardinals are one of the worst teams in the NFL in terms of odds to even make the playoffs. They are being bet heavily that they will not even make their over 4.5 wins, so why would you take the last day off?

Well, here is my thoughts on it… Why does it matter?

Everyone that is there and participating have been there and participating through all of voluntary OTA’s as well, so what is one day for those guys?

If Jacoby Brissett was back and participating, then to me it makes more sense to keep getting an extra day of work and getting some more camaraderie. However, Gardner Minshew and Carson Beck have been throwing to these guys for over a month already. One day isn’t taking it to the next level, and one day isn’t causing them to lose anything.

Again, I get the concern, but these guys who have been at camps are there everyday and working. It is one day, it is one less two hour workday. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, and those who think it is bad can’t be convinced otherwise. Yet, for me it is a nice way to say thank you for the work and effort put in over the last month from those that were there.

If Brissett had shown up to work (I understand why he did not) then get all three days in and work, but if he’s not doing anything, then those that have been here have gotten enough work in and will be prepared for the next phase.

After narrowly escaping Pittsburgh with their first series win there in five years, the Dodgers are now in the South Side of Chicago to take on the first-place White Sox. Yes, you read that right, the first-place White Sox.

While it is currently just a half game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central, they are taking advantage of the situation that is presented to them. Two years ago, they won 35 games total. This season brought them their 36th win on Wednesday. They are a group of young and exciting players who don’t really have anything to lose. The ChiSox are coming off a mini sweep of the Braves, winning their first two of the series with the game on Thursday being postponed due to weather.

Old friend Miguel Vargas has found a home in Chicago after he was traded midseason in 2024. He has 16 homers on the season and while his .243 batting average is not high, it’s much higher than his lifetime average of .212.

The White Sox are sending Anthony Kay to the mound, a left hander who is 5-1 on the season with a 4.40 ERA. His ERA in May was 1.95, however he is coming off a clunker of an outing against the Philadelphia Phillies where he allowed six runs in 4.0 innings including two homers. He does not strike out a lot of batters and walks about 25% of the right-handed batters that he faces.

For their part the Dodgers are sending Roki Sasaki, who has been fantastic in his last three outings and seems to be figuring things out again. The White Sox are very good against right-handed pitching however, scoring three or more runs on each of the last five righties they’ve faced. The White Sox do strike out a fair amount as a team, so look for Sasaki to exploit that.

The Dodgers will be without Will Smith, and Shohei Ohtani left Thursday’s game with an inflamed left knee. Manager Dave Roberts did indicate after the game that Ohtani’s removal was precautionary, and that he is expected to be back in the lineup on Friday.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at White Sox
• Ballpark: Rate Field, Chicago
• Time: 4:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network (out of market)
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

This week, our Rangers Reacts Survey asked y’all to give new manager Skip Schumaker a grade for his work as manager so far.

Y’all seem to find him to be, generally, just okay.

Just over half of you gave him a “C” grade, and over 80% of you have him with either a “B” or a “C.” So a fairly unremarkable performance so far from Skip.

As for the national questions, Yordan Alvarez narrowly edged out Shohei Ohtani for the title of “best hitter in baseball”:

Asked about the looming labor negotiations, over half of respondents are following, and a large majority are worried about a work stoppage.

This has been brought to you by FanDuel.

The Astros missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2016, but still finished with 87 wins. This year, the bottom may be dropping out, as they are tied for the eighth-worst record in baseball and are headed to their first losing season since 2014. Their dynasty run that included nine playoff appearances, four pennants, and two titles, appears to be coming to an end.

Houston Astros (31-39) vs. Kansas City Royals (28-41) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Astros: 4.50 runs scored/game (13th in MLB), 5.04 runs allowed/game (24th)

Royals: 3.90 runs scored/game (29th), 4.62 runs allowed/game (20th)

Despite playing in Minute Maid Park, the Astros have hit better away from home this year, and only five teams in baseball have hit more road homers. Jose Altuve is one hitter who has struggled on the road, hitting .189/.252/.263 away from Houston. Yordan Alvarez leads all qualified hitters in slugging percentage (.636) and wRC+ (189), and is second in on-base percentage (.430) and home runs (22). He is hitting lefties equally as well as righties. Jeremy Peña is hitting .328/.418/.534 with three home runs over his last 17 games.

Isaac Paredes has a 53.8 percent pull rate, seventh-highest in baseball. He’s a lifetime .196/.328/.373 hitter in 14 games at Kauffman Stadium. The Astros have the worst success rate on stolen bases, getting caught 33 percent of the time. Altuve and Paredes rank as poor defenders by Outs Above Average, but much of the rest of the team rates well.

Tatsuya Imai struggled in his first few starts in the big leagues after coming over from Japan, but he allowed just four runs in 17 innings over his last three starts. He has a 3.24 ERA in four road starts. He throws his slider 44.7 percent of the time, helping him induce a 51 percent groundball rate.

The Astros acquired Mike Burrows in the offseason in a trade with the Pirates, but he has struggled. He leads the majors in losses (8), home runs allowed (17), and he has the highest ERA among qualified starters at 5.77. He has given up four or more runs in 7 of his 13 starts. Lefties are hitting .321/.397/.575 against him. Noah Cameron has allowed just six earned runs in 30 innings over his last five starts for 1.80 ERA, but the Royals have won only one of those games.

Spencer Arrighetti is tied for third in the American League with seven wins, with five Quality Starts. Opponents are hitting just .185/.322/.260 against him. He throws his curveball one-third of the time, and the pitch has a 42 percent whiff rate. Stephen Kolek has allowed just seven earned runs in 32.1 innings over his last five starts.

The Astros have a 4.82 ERA from their bullpen, seventh-worst in baseball, with the third-highest walk rate. And yet, they have the fewest blown saves in baseball with just three. Josh Hader missed the first two months with shoulder and bicep injuries, but earned a save in his first game back. He has struck out 7 of the 13 batters he has faced so far, without allowing a hit. Bryan King, Bryan Abreu, and Enyel de los Santos had each earned saves prior to Hader’s return. Abreu has the highest walk rate among relievers. Steven Okert has a 60 percent flyball rate, third-highest in baseball.

The Astros had an awful month of April, but have played .500 ball since then. They split their season series with the Royals last year, with Kansas City winning the series at Kauffman. This is the fifth consecutive series for the Royals against a team that currently has a .500 record or worse. They’ve gone 6-7 over that stretch so far, and will need to do much better if they any hopes for climbing back into contention.

Is Craig Breslow being fired? Better not tell you now.

Is Boston selling? Reply hazy, try again.

Is Chad Tracy going to lose the interim title? Outlook not so good.

But the Texas Rangers are in town for three games andm like Boston, they’re struggling. Unlike Boston, that means staying at .500 rather than going below. The Rangers are sitting in second place in the AL West with a 34-34 record, 2.0 games behind the Mariners but in control of a Wild Card.

As usual it seems, the pitching matchups are in Boston’s favor. But playing at home with little offense outside of Caleb “Home Run” Durbin what can possibly go right?

Jack Leiter opens things up for the Rangers and he’s pitching, well, not great. He’s coming off a 4.2 innings, 5 run loss to the Cleveland Guardians. He gave up 4 runs to the Rockies and Astros a couple weeks before that. He has 76 Ks in 71 innings but also has 31 walks. Sonny Gray won the only game in New York. With 6.1 innings, 3 runs against the Yankees lineup he’s continued to have a great season. The pitching usually gives them a chance to win. Maybe he can convince the bats to show up? My grandfather would say they call him Sonny because he’s bright, so maybe he’s got a trick up his sleeve?

deGrom remains good, if fragile. At the moment he isn’t hurt. He might get hurt during the game. Who can say. He’s struck out 84 in 70.2 innings. The stuff is still there. And Boston loves striking out. He only has two outings longer than 6.0 innings. Maybe they’ll wear him down? Ranger Suarez had a bounceback start against the Yankees that the Sox should have won. But we all remember the bullpen setting the game on fire. That 6-1 loss really hurts. The Sox can’t get out of their own way in these games and it’s that sloppiness that has really killed them.

Old friend Nathan Eovaldi has thrived in Texas but he’s in a rough patch right now, dragging his season down to something the Sox might exploit. In his last three starts he’s allowed 4 in 5.2, 4 in 6.0, and 5 in 7.0. He still strikes out almost a batter per inning. He’s allowed 15 homers in 13 starts, although 4 in one game skews that a tad. Connelly Early, who has been plagued by the home run ball, has given up just 12 long balls this season. Maybe this is a strategy Boston can exploit? Homers in Fenway? Is that…legal? Craig Breslow will make it legal. The Ks have been there for Early, at least 6 in four of his last 5 starts. They’ve lost three of his last five starts 3-1, 4-2, and 3-2. So while the rookie isn’t lights out, he’s keeping them in the game.

Jake Burger leads the Rangers with 11 home runs and no one else has double digits.

Evan Carter has 10 steals and no other Ranger has more than 5.

The Rangers are a bottom five offense in terms of runs scored.

They’re, really, not a great team. But that gets you a .500 record in the AL this year. Boston can win this series. Or rather they can pitch to win it. Can they score enough to keep the weak part of the bullpen in the ‘pen?

As a reminder, Sunday is a night game on Peacock.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday, June 12: Jack Leiter (4.69 ERA / 4.46 FIP) vs. Sonny Gray (3.20 ERA / 3.94 FIP)

Saturday, June 13: Jacob deGrom (3.76 ERA / 4.07 FIP) vs. Ranger Suarez (3.18 ERA / 4.45 FIP))

Sunday, June 14: Nathan Eovaldi (4.26 ERA / 4.59 FIP) vs. Connelly Early (3.30 ERA / — FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Friday, June 12: 7:10 PM ET on NESN

Saturday, June 13: 4:10 PM ET on NESN

Sunday, June 14: 7:20 PM ET on Peacock

The Cubs looked like they were going to have a great 2026 after they started 27-12. They had a 3.5 game lead in the NL Central with that record after defeating the Rangers 7-1 on May 8.

Since then, as you know, the Cubs are 8-22 and trail the first-place Brewers by 7.5 games. I’ll save you the math — that’s an 11-game drop over a 30-game span. Clearly, that isn’t good.

But the Cubs never dropped below .500 during this 30-game swoon, or collapse, or whatever you want to call it. There are still 93 games remaining in the 2026 season. If the Cubs can win 55 of them, that’s 90 wins, which should be enough for at least a wild-card spot. 55 wins in 93 games is a .591 winning percentage, which is a 96-win pace. That’s a pretty good pace, but it should be noted that the 27-12 record posted to start the season is a .692 winning percentage, or a pace for 112 wins.

These Cubs aren’t that good. But can they be .591 good over a 93-game span? I think they can.

Here are 10 teams that made comebacks from large deficits over fairly long periods of time to make the postseason over the last 25 years. Of these 10, six reached their low point in June, two in late May and two as late as August. Two of these 10 are Cubs teams, and you’re likely very familiar with at least one of the others.

Here’s hoping the 2026 Cubs join this list by the end of the year.

2002 Athletics

After losing to the Mariners June 5, the A’s were 28-30. They went 75-29 the rest of the way to finish at 103-59 and won the AL West by four games. This included their famous 20-game winning streak. The 2002 A’s lost a division series to the Twins.

2005 Astros

After losing to the Orioles June 15, the Astros were 26-38 and 14.5 games out of first place. They went 63-35 the rest of the way and were the NL’s then sole wild card. They wound up getting to the World Series, where they lost to the White Sox.

2007 Cubs

After losing to the Braves June 2, the Cubs were 22-31 and 7.5 games out of first place. That loss was the famous Lou Piniella dirt-kicking game [VIDEO].

In those pre-video review days, Lou came out for a vehement argument with umpire Mark Wegner. He later said he knew Angel Pagan was out, but he wanted to “light a fire” under his team.

It worked. The Cubs went 63-46 the rest of the way and won the NL Central by two games before losing a division series to the Diamondbacks.

This is one of only two Cubs teams in franchise history to be at least nine games under .500 and finish with a winning record (the other: 1968, when they went from 35-45 to finish 84-78).

2009 Twins

The Twins were 56-62 after losing to the Rangers Aug. 17. They went 30-14 the rest of the regular season and won a tiebreaker game for the AL Central title over the Tigers before losing a division series to the Yankees.

2017 Cubs

The “World Series hangover” Cubs were under .500 at the All-Star break at 43-45 after losing to the Pirates July 9, and 5.5 games out of first place. They went 49-25 the rest of the way and won the NL Central by six games. They won a division series over the Nationals before losing the NLCS to the Dodgers.

2019 Nationals

They were 32-38 after losing to the Diamondbacks June 15. They went 61-31 the rest of the way, made the postseason as a wild card, and won the World Series, the only such win in their franchise history.

2021 Braves

They lost to the Red Sox June 16 to drop to 30-35. They went 58-38 the rest of the way, won the NL East by 6.5 games and won the World Series, their first WS win since 1995. Dansby Swanson hit .259/.329/.463 with 17 home runs during those 96 games, playing in 93 of them.

2022 Phillies

They were 21-29 after losing to the Giants May 31. They weent 66-46 the rest of the way, though they backed into postseason after being 80-62, then going 7-13. They made it to World Series, but lost to the Astros.

2024 Tigers

They came to Wrigley Field in late August and lost two of three, looking bad doing it, to drop them to 62-66. They went 24-10 the rest of the way, winning the AL Central. They won a wild card series over the Astros, then lost a division series to the Guardians.

2025 Brewers

They were 25-28 after losing to the Pirates May 24 and were 6.5 games behind the then-division leading Cubs. They went 72-37 the rest of the way, including winning streaks of 11 and 14 games. As you know, they defeated Cubs in the division series before being swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS.

So it can happen. I continue to believe this Cubs team has good players on it and can make a comeback like that. Let’s hope that comeback started Thursday in Denver.

After losing the first two games of a series for the first time this season, the Braves didn’t even get a chance to salvage a game from their White Sox series on Thursday, with the final game postponed to August due to inclement weather.

One could make a case for that being a positive (chance to rest, reset) or a negative (dwelling on it). We’ll probably get an idea of which way that will go when the Braves open a series at the New York Mets Friday night, finally playing their last NL East foe nearly 70 games into the season.

While the Phillies seem to have figured it out after their stunning early struggles, the Mets have…not. They’re last in the division at 30-38, 15 games back of the Braves. They had their first winning month of the season in May (16-12) but are now 4-5 in June after losing two of three to the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this week.

Juan Soto (.277/.369/.537 with 14 homers) is producing. But Francisco Lindor remains on the injured list with a calf strain and backup plan Bo Bichette (.227/.277/.330) has not lived up to his three-year, $126 million contract.

The team is 31st out of 32 major league teams in batting average (.228) and slugging percentage (.367) and tied for last in on-base percentage (.291).

It’ll be up to Spencer Strider (4-1, 4.00 ERA) to set the tone against the New York lineup. Martín Pérez was supposed to start Thursday and originally slated for Friday, but has since been moved to Saturday.

Strider has been quite consistent in what he delivers of late on the mound for the Braves. In each of his last three starts, he’s thrown exactly five innings and allowed exactly three earned runs. The strikeouts were down in his last start against Pittsburgh, though, as he had a season-low three.

Strider’s Statcast profile is an interesting mix of extremes. The xERA, xBA are very good. The barrel and groundball percentages are quite bad.

Strider has a career 6-2 record against the Mets with a 6.11 ERA in 11 career appearances (nine starts). That ERA is certainly inflated by a pair of starts where he allowed eight earned runs in four innings, the latter of which was his most recent start against New York last August. He does also have four starts of five-plus innings and three or fewer runs against the Mets.

New York’s pitching staff has not been the main problem this season, ranking eighth in ERA (3.88), 10th in hits allowed (533) and tied for fifth in strikeouts (617).

For the series opener, the Mets turn to Nolan McLean (3-4, 3.98) on the mound. After the rookie hit a speedbump in mid-May, allowing 13 earned runs over nine innings across consecutive starts against the Nationals and Reds, he appears to have rediscovered his form. He’s allowed two runs on five hits across 11 innings in his last two starts against the Marlins and Padres.

With 82 strikeouts to 27 walks, McLean has been a rock for the Mets this season, posting the best ERA on the team among pitchers with 10-plus starts.

The Braves saw his ability first-hand when he made his second career start against Atlanta last August, allowing two runs on four hits over seven innings.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, June 12, 7:15 p.m. EDT

Location: Citi Field, Queens, NY

TV: N/A

Streaming: Apple TV

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

On the heels of Cole Carrigg’s (No. 4 PuRP) call up earlier this week and Sterlin Thompson’s (No. 13 PuRP) a few weeks back, we asked you who you thought would be the next prospect to be called up. It wasn’t much of a surprise, but the majority of folks believe Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP) will be the next one to make an appearance:

This makes the most sense, since the Rockies outfield needs reinforcements with the losses of Brenton Doyle, Mickey Moniak, Jordan Beck and Tyler Freeman. Veen is also already on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move would not have to be made to bring him up.

However, one-third of respondents also believe Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP) will make his MLB debut next. Condon has been tearing it up down in Triple-A, but perhaps still needs to show some stability before he gets called.

And while the starting rotation has struggled and been decimated by injuries, only a handful of folks think Sean Sullivan (No. 8 PuRP) will be imminently called up.

Do you agree that Zac Veen will make an appearance soon? Do you still agree with your initial vote? Let us know in the comments!

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The day after Hurston Waldrep made his first rehab stint, we now have news that Waldrep will have a partner joining him on his rehab journey. They won’t be in the same level but it’s still truly a sight for sore eyes to see this particular guy getting back into action.

The Gwinnett Stripers have announced that catcher Drake Baldwin will be doing a rehab stint at the Triple-A level. He’ll be back in action starting on Saturday as the Stripers take on the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp this weekend.

Here’s more from the Stripers on the press release:

The Gwinnett Stripers, in conjunction with the Atlanta Braves, have announced that catcher Drake Baldwin will join the Stripers on an injury rehab assignment on Saturday, June 13. Baldwin, on the Braves’ 10-day Injured List since May 19 (strained right oblique muscle), is scheduled to play in Gwinnett’s 6:35 p.m. game against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp at VyStar Ballpark.

The 25-year-old Baldwin played in 48 games with the Braves prior to the injury, batting .303 (57-for-188) with six doubles, 13 home runs, 38 RBIs, and a .932 OPS. Including his 2025 National League Rookie of the Year campaign, he is hitting .283 (168-for-593) with 24 doubles, two triples, 32 homers, 118 RBIs, and an .848 OPS across 172 career games with Atlanta.

Baldwin’s rehab assignment marks his return to Gwinnett. The Madison, Wisconsin native played for the Stripers from 2023-24, batting .300 (86-for-287) with 13 doubles, one triple, 13 homers, 57 RBIs, and an .893 OPS in 75 games.

While the Braves (and Walt Weiss in particular) were initially hopeful that Baldwin could just eschew the rehab stint and jump right back into action at the big league level, it appears that the Braves have decided that it would be better for everybody involved if Baldwin did indeed take that rehab stint. The target arrival for Baldwin was initially this next week’s homestand so we’ll see if this’ll be a quick rehab stint or if they’ll let him cook a bit longer with the Stripers before bringing him back into action with the Braves.

Either way, the Braves can now start thinking about having their star catcher back at some point in the near future. With all due respect to both Sandy León and Austin Wynns (along with Chadwick Tromp’s contributions while he was here), Baldwin’s bat is sorely missed in the catcher’s spot of the lineup and he’ll also provide a very valuable DH bat as well. Hopefully this rehab stint goes smoothly and we see Baldwin back in the Atlanta lineup sooner rather than later.

The Cubs have lost 2 out of 3 in their last 4 series, including last weekend in Chicago against the San Francisco Giants. By the way, the extra innings game on Sunday Night Baseball wound up being the fourth-largest primetime audience of the MLB season. The Giants didn’t look like one of the worst teams in the sport and the Cubs, despite losing, still had the veneer of a good team despite being 8-22 in their last 30 games.

They managed to win their finale in Colorado yesterday, and it looks like this turn through the rotation will feature everything they’ve got from the starting pitching front. Javier Assad reliever Jameson Taillon in that thrilling Sunday Nighter and pitched 6.1 shutout innings, allowing only a hit and a walk to go with 5 strikeouts. Ben Brown is their best starter and shutout the Giants for 5.1 innings in the Cubs’ Saturday win, allowing only a hit and a walk to go with 5 strikeouts. Meanwhile, Colin Rea has thrown the second-most innings on Chicago’s staff (69.1 IP). He has yet to have a start where he hasn’t allowed a run, though, on three separate occasions he’s allowed only 1 run.

When we last saw the Giants at home, one of the coolest things that you will ever see in a baseball game happened. If you don’t know what I’m talking about for some reason…

All I can say is that I was listening to this game on radio until the 9th inning comeback started and I decided to switch over to watch Eldridge’s at bat. I’m not kidding, I turned the game on as he stepped in to the box. As great as Krukow and Kuiper’s hogs out banter was before the final pitch, let history never forget Jon Miller’s call.

The Giants are also throwing their best part of the rotation at the Cubs too, though, as Logan Webb has looked great since returning from the IL and Landen Roupp and Trevor McDonald at home is a good matchup.

The Cubs need this series very badly. The Giants are playing for vibes. Even with baseball, you’d like to think that the more relaxed team has the advantage.

Series overview

Who: San Francisco Giants (28-41) vs. Chicago Cubs (35-34)
Where: Oracle Park | San Francisco, California
When: Friday at 7:15pm PT, Saturday at 7:05pm PT, 12:10pm PT
National broadcasts: ABC/ESPN (Sunday)

Projected starters
Friday: Landen Roupp (RHP 5-6, 4.00 ERA) vs. Javier Assad (RHP 3-1, 4.73 ERA)
Saturday: Trevor McDonald (RHP 2-3, 4.15 ERA) vs. Ben Brown (RHP 2-2, 1.74 ERA)
Sunday: Logan Webb (RHP 3-4, 3.88 ERA) vs. Colin Rea (RHP 5-4, 5.19 ERA)

Players to watch

Cubs

Just 4 Cubs have been better than league average since May 1st: Michael Busch (166 wRC+), Pete Crow-Armstrong (145), Ian Happ (136), literally Michael Conforto (114), so let’s focus on the recent underperformers:

Nico Hoerner: The Oakland native and Stanford alum has done well when he’s returned to the Bay Area. He’s a career .275/.351/.392 at Oracle Park in 14 games (57 PA), but over his last 37 games (162 PA), he’s hitting just .208/.290/.257 (60 wRC+).

Alex Bregman: He was practically nonexistent against the Giants (0-for-12) and is hitting just .236/.317/.338 since May 1st (167 PA). Over the last two weeks, it’s just .178/.296/.333.

Seiya Suzuki: Since May 1st, his line has been a substandard .207/.280/.348 (74 wRC+), but over the past two weeks, he’s picked up his production, slashing .279/.326/.512 (134 wRC+), hitting well enough that he became the subject of a Ken Rosenthal thinkpiece about the Cubs possibly moving him for some badly needed pitching. He did well against the Giants (3-for-9 with a homer) and is on an 8-game hitting streak.

Giants

Bryce Eldridge: Of course.

Trevor McDonald: He was the starter of that Sunday night thriller and he’s bounced back nicely from that 7-run disaster against the White Sox (not entirely his fault anyway), but this entire series is a test to see just how much familiarity persists between these two teams with so few games between the rematch.

Ryan Walker: He has been recalled from Sacramento and taking Carson Seymour’s spot. Seymour wound up being batting practice for the Cubs and Nats in his two appearances this season, but Walker has been that to a large degree, too. We’ll see if his scoreless wizardry in the minors comes back up to the big leagues with him. The Giants could certainly use some outs from the bullpen.

Prediction time

The Cubs are 1-6 at Oracle Park over the past two seasons, so, I’ll predict that the Giants won’t get swept?