Category: MLB

On this day, 24 years ago, Jordan Walker was born. Happy Birthday! Young by baseball standards, it feels like we’ve been waiting on him FOREVER!

Authors Note: Some of you will fret about the VEB curse, rightfully so. I did a breakdown on Riley O’Brien the day before he blew a save in West Sacramento (the A’s). I also did one on Andre Pallante at the the start of his nosedive last year. But I did one earlier on Phil Maton and that worked out OK for him. So, I’m 1 for 3. With hope, Jordan won’t turn into a pumpkin when the clock strikes midnight. If it does, blame me. The slipper will fit.

By now we have bypassed the small sample size in many offensive statistics and should now be seeing numbers that are “stable”. The key one I’ve been waiting for? 200 PAs. We crossed that threshold earlier this week.

I’ll start by showing you two StatCast player overviews. On the top (or left, depending on your screen orientation), who else but the current version of Jordan Walker. Take a look at the second one. Notice the similarities? I could show you spray charts and they would look equally and remarkably similar. VEB bucks awarded if you ascertain which player season this describes. Paul Goldschmidt, circa 2022.

The first question everyone is asking is … is it real? Is it sustainable? Each day that passes the answer seems to be leaning harder and harder to the “yes” side. Even as the season has unfolded, we have seen improvements. Defensively, baserunning, contact hitting and power. What might this look like over a full season? Last year, we were surprised when he succeeded. This year, we look forward to his ABs.

If you accept Goldy 2022 as comp, he racked up 6.8 fWAR and that is with a somewhat harsh positional adjustment, no? Walker plays RF, where the position adjustment is less and from the Statcast sheet, it appears his defense is rated better. Jordan will likely pick up a few runs in baserunning as well. Hmmm…7 WAR maybe? Somewhere, someone is thinking I’ve had a little too much hopium today.

You all can read the HRs, the OPS, wRC+ and all that and realize that this season is very different. What I want to venture into more is what does this mean for the Cardinal line-up, the future and the rebuild. I’ll harken back to the Starz model I published this past winter here. “We need more stars!” was a common refrain on the boards. The earlier article attempted to define what “more stars” meant, and I coined the term “Starz” to reflect my data-drive definition didn’t always comport with everyone’s subjective definition of a star. Remember that a Starz player is defined as one in the top 20th percentile of WAR. Here is how it looked back then:

In 2025, the 5 Starz were Winn, Donovan, Contreras, Gray and Liberatore. Not enough, as we saw on the field and also as we see in the data. When people say the Cardinals need more “star” players, they are correct. They need around 4 more (ie. 9, not 5)…Breaking it down a bit, the 2025 Cardinals had 3 hitters finish in the top 20^th percentile (none in the top 10th) and 2 pitchers finished in the top 20^th (one in the top 10^th). Teams with 4-5-6 good players regularly just miss the playoffs. And they did.

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The new management team followed this up by trading away 3 of those Starz. Going backwards at first is a common sign of a rebuild, no matter how it is branded. But, wait!! Having traded away 2 of the 3 Starz position players, the Cardinals find themselves in the unexpected situation where they still have (currently) three Starz on the field (Walker, Herrera, Wetherholt) with two more just outside that threshold (Burleson, Winn). Even better, two of them (Walker, Wetherholt) are on track to exceed the high side of the 3.8 fWAR median that a competitive team’s Starz must achieve.

Indeed, all five players are in the top 100 fWAR accumulators in 2026. Jordan Walker’s 2.1 fWAR comes in at 9, behind such luminaries as Witt Jr, Judge, Alvarez, Rice, De La Cruz, Langliers, Judge, Olsen. He is rubbing elbows with the elite of the elite. Not exactly just eking into the top 20%.

Burleson and Winn were on the edge of this in 2025, so their presence is not unexpected. It was clear Herrera would be there if health allowed. We all hoped that Wetherholt was as advertised and would learn quickly. His start-up has not been shocking (but pleasantly refreshing). At the start, it was reasonable to think the Cardinals might have 3 or 4 positional Starz on their roster, depending on how fast JJW Wetherholt adapted. Different names than 2025, but in the same range. Not enough, resulting in an offense expected to struggle at times.

The one that stands out and changes this picture is Jordan Walker. If you take 4 Starz (Wetherholt, Burleson, Winn, Herrera) and you add in a top 10 WAR provider, that really changes the complexion of the group. In the way Cal Raleigh’s season last year changed Seattle, or how Shohei Ohtani changes the Dodgers. In the way Paul Goldschmidt affected that 2022 Cardinal team. That is what we appear to be looking at here.

So, what has changed? You can read a Ben Clemons analysis here. I won’t repeat that take, but I will add a couple of things that stick out to me. There are some odd juxtapositions, but I think they make sense in concert. Start with the walk rate. He has moved from a career BB% (before this year) of around 7.5% to over 10% in 2026. That is a good (and sustainable) sign. But his chase rate has also risen (oddly?). It sits at 36%, up from a career norm of 30.1%. That doesn’t sound good, does it? Two other things sway the outlook. His waste swing% is at a career low 7.7% (those nasty sliders!!) AND his chase contact% has skyrocketed from 30 to 36%. This tells me he is getting way better contact on chase pitches and he is doing way better at spitting on the waste pitches. His overall output tells us that he is making great contact, so I take the net of this to be he is getting great plate coverage. I don’t know exactly how Statcast interprets a “chase” pitch (outside the shadow, but not a waste), but a man his size might actually have a different definition of a “chase” pitch. Plus, I think it reasonable to expect as he gains more confidence and has more success, these chases will trend down.

If you move beyond that, you can see his SquareUpSwing%, BlastSwing% and IdealAttackAngle% are all at career highs.

Add this all together, and I get a picture of 1) a player who is seeing the ball and recognizing pitches much better and 2) being much more willing to cut loose and hit the ball, instead of feeling his way through an AB.

My favorite is purely anecdotal. Look how well is he using all fields. That is a hitter.

How does this impact the line-up as a whole? Well, at the outset of the season, Masyn Winn was the clean-up hitter. With no disrespect to Masyn (one of my favorite players), if he is your clean-up hitter, your line-up has a problem. Insert a productive Jordan Walker, and it improves 2 spots in the order. Clean-up and wherever lower in the order Masyn hits. It takes pressure off the guys in front of him, lessening the outcomes of guys trying to do too much with pitcher’s pitches. And let’s face it. A 1-4 of Wetherholt, Herrera, Burleson and Jordan is a tough row to hoe for a pitcher. It’s been a while since we’ve seen that in these parts. Oli likes to muse that if you put enough pressure on the pitcher, he will break.

To be complete about what has changed, I want to lightly touch on some more subtle things. Walker’s baserunning value is quite high and that becomes more material as he gets on base more. I think of that as a force multiplier. If Walker gets on, he becomes a force with his legs that OPS doesn’t reflect. Likewise, look at his fielding run value. Smack dab in the middle. Now that really isn’t anything to shout about, except when you consider two things. One, where he was at 2 years ago (worst) and two, how dependent this team is on defense. Again, a force multiplier. He adds with his bat, but then does NOT subtract with his defensive play, like before.

Earlier, I talked about a maybe a 6-7 WAR season (he is already at 2.1). That is Wins Above Replacement (as in zero fWAR). Walker isn’t replacing zero fWAR, his improvement is from a base last year of -1.2 fWAR. The improvement the team experiences is actually a fair bit larger, where a 7 WAR season would be an 8.2 WAR improvement. If I had told you at the beginning of the year that the Cardinals were going to add an 8.2 WAR player, you’d be wondering how many millions of dollars that would take.

Also in the near-term impact: In a time that now seems so long ago (this past off-season), Cardinals fans agonized about how this line-up was deficient against left-handed pitching and how there was an obvious need for some solid right-handed hitters to mash. In ways, the angst was overblown, as the 2025 Cardinal offense operated at a near-league average of 97 wRC+, tied for 15th in the MLB. Middle-ish, not awful. The eye-test was worse, as it could be infuriating how seemingly any journey level left-hander could dominate the line-up. As we looked at 2026, having traded away two RH hitters (Arenado and Contreras) many wondered (and worried) how bad it could get. As we look today, having only subtracted, we look up and see the Cardinal line-up has improved against LH pitching, a bit, instead of backsliding. The current line-up is running a dead average 100 wRC+, good enough for 13th in MLB. Turns out, that RH hitter was there all along, right under our noses. Another would come in handy, but platoon-split guy will do now, opening the field up to more (and cheaper) options. And that guy may be in the organization already, too.

How about the future? In the short-term, I think it reasonable that if they add one more hitter to this line-up, it will become a line-up that could be called “deep”. In my hopes, that is Lars Nootbaar upon returning from injury. Six or seven guys in the top 50th percentile is a productive line-up. One that will be less prone to outages like the 6 shutouts in 2 weeks we saw in 2025. Subjectively, I think of it in terms of the line-up becomes good enough where they can put Nootbaar in the 7 hole and his baseline performance plays really well there and if he emerges like the metrics suggest, so much the better. That is what having a productive Walker in the line-up does. This is the manifestation of “makes everyone around him better”.

In the longer-term future? This one is murky. It seems like Jordan Walker’s emergence shortens the acceptable timeline for a rebuild. Unlike JJ Wetherholt, who has 5 more years of control after this year, there is a shorter “use by” date at the end, because Walker has but 3 years of control left after 2026 and it wouldn’t seem wise to spend 1 or 2 more years fooling around with recasting the pipeline. If they can’t extend him, it would seem unlikely he will be here in 2029, so maybe a 2-year window is open after 2026. In ways, his emergence will push not only the offense, but the front office. I will imagine they view this as a good problem to have. The truckload of money it might take to solve might be in the Soto/Guerrero Jr range.

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The Brewers responded to a week filled with rivals with a 5-1 stretch, including a huge three-game sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley. They now sit in sole possession of first place for the first time since early April, and they’ve got another big week on deck with the Dodgers and Cardinals coming to town.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

Memorial Day weekend begins now. Or this evening, for most of us. Whenever it starts, have a good weekend.

Onto the links.

Phillies news

J.T. Realmuto is an iron man. But the Phillies might ask him to play a bit less this season.

Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs surveys the Phillies’ bounceback under Don Mattingly. ($)

A highly familiar trio— first names Ryan, Jimmy, and Shane— will be team captains for a 3 vs. 3 baseball event at the All-Star Game.

Chase Shugart talks to Alex Coffey of the Philadelphia Inquirer about the people who helped him on his way to Philadelphia’s bullpen.

MLB news

ESPN provides their list of the top 50 prospects.

MLB.com’s Starting Pitcher Power Rankings ought to please the Phillies faithful.

Mason Miller is, somehow, becoming an even better pitcher.

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (26-21)

SYRACUSE 12, BUFFALO 8 (BOX)

Syracuse and Buffalo went back and forth in this one. They were tied after one, and Syracuse trailed 3-2 in the third, and 4-2 after five, before the Mets broke out in a big way. Singles by Jackson Cluff and Christian Arroyo tied the game after four, and a four run sixth — headlined by a Ryan Clifford bases clearing double — made it 9-4 Mets. Buffalo made it a game again with two runs in the top of the eighth, but a three run bottom of the frame for the Mets put the game away.

• 3B Christian Arroyo: 1-4, 2 RBI, K
• 1B Ryan Clifford: 1-4, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI, BB, K
• DH Eric Wagaman: 2-3, R, HR (2), RBI, 2 BB
• LF Ji Hwan Bae: 2-5, R, 2 RBI
• 2B Yonny Hernández: 2-5, R, K
• CF Cristian Pache: 1-5, R, 2B, 2 RBI, K
• C Ben Rortvedt: 1-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, K
• SS Jackson Cluff: 1-1, 3 R, 3 BB
• RF Matt Rudick: 1-3, R, RBI, SB (1)
• RHP Xzavion Curry: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
• RHP Danis Correa: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0)
• RHP Jonathan Pintaro: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• LHP Anderson Severino: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
• RHP Dylan Ross: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
• LHP Nate Lavender: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, S (1)

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (15-27)

BINGHAMTON 9, RICHMOND 2 (BOX)

Blowout is the key word of the day in Mets minor league land, but this one was more of a blowout in theory than execution. Binghamton and Richmond held each other scoreless through the first five innings, with Binghamton finally breaking through in the sixth, plating two runs on an Eli Serrano double. Richmind would tie the game in the bottom of the eighth, sending the game into the ninth tied at two.

The top of the ninth was an outrageous inning, as Binghamton plated seven runs to turn this into a laugher. The scoring started with a misplay in center field that saw two runs come home, making it 4-2. Vincent Perozo was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 5-2, and three walks with the bases loaded made it 8-2. A sac fly would put the exclamation point on a bizarre inning, and a Binghamton win.

• SS Marco Vargas: 2-4, R, RBI, BB, K, SB (11)
• 3B Jacob Reimer: 1-4, R, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K
• RF Eli Serrano III: 1-4, 2B, 3 RBI, K
• LF Jose Ramos: 0-3, R, BB, 2 K, SB (4)
• CF D’Andre Smith: 0-4, R, RBI, K
• DH Nick Lorusso: 0-3, R, BB, K, SB (2)
• 1B JT Schwartz: 0-3, R, BB
• C Vincent Perozo: 0-3, R, RBI, 2 K
• 2B Wyatt Young: 1-3, 2 R, RBI, BB
• RHP R.J. Gordon: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• LHP Max Green: 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 WP
• LHP Felipe De La Cruz: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, H (1)
• RHP Douglas Orellana: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, BS (1), W (4-0)
• RHP Brian Metoyer: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (11-31)

GAME ONE: HUDSON VALLEY 7, BROOKLYN 3 / 7 (BOX)

A three run first and a four run fourth made it a 7-0 deficit for the Cyclones, which they simply did not recover from. They scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and one in the fifth, but the game was over virtually before it started.

• CF Yonatan Henriquez: 0-4, 3 K
• RF John Bay: 1-3, R, 2B, 2 K
• 1B Corey Collins: 0-2, RBI, 2 K
• LF JT Benson: 0-3, RBI, K
• C Daiverson Gutierrez: 1-3, R, HR (2), RBI, K
• SS Colin Houck: 0-3, 3 K, E (6)
• DH Trace Willhoite: 1-3, R, 2B, K
• 3B Nick Roselli: 0-2, BB, 2 K
• 2B Diego Mosquera: 1-2, BB, K
• RHP Noah Hall: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 0 K. 1 HBP, L (0-4)
• RHP Bryce Jenkins: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

GAME TWO: HUDSON VALLEY 7, BROOKLYN 0 / 7 (BOX)

Game two somehow went worse than game one for Brooklyn. They gave up the same seven runs, though this time it was two in the first and five in the fifth, but they mustered just two hits and one walk. It was simply a bad day at the ballpark in a bad season for the Brooklyn Cyclones, who move to an 11-31 record after the double header sweep.

• 2B Yonatan Henriquez: 1-3, 2 K, 2 E (1, 2)
• SS Mitch Voit: 0-3
• C Ronald Hernandez: 0-2, BB, K
• CF John Bay: 1-3, SB (10)
• DH Daiverson Gutierrez: 0-3
• LF JT Benson: 0-2, K
• 3B Colin Houck: 0-2, K
• 1B Trace Willhoite: 0-2, K
• RF Sam Biller: 0-2, 2 K
• RHP Hoss Brewer: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, L (1-2)
• RHP Cristofer Gomez: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• RHP Dakota Hawkins: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• RHP Ryan Dollar: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP
• RHP Juan Arnaud: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• RHP Diego Mosquera: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (17-25)

PALM BEACH 18, ST. LUCIE 6 (BOX)

Well.

St. Lucie actually led in this game, 2-0 after one, by way of a pair of doubles by Randy Guzman and Yohairo Cuevas, and 3-2 after three, on a triple by Cuevas. It would fall apart from there.

An eight run fifth followed by a five run seventh saw Palm Beach turn this into a blowout. Palm Beach also added three in the ninth on poor Kevin Villavicencio, a position player.

• SS Branny De Oleo: 1-5, 2 K, E (7)
• LF-P Kevin Villavicencio: 0-4, 2 R, RBI, BB, SB (2)
• RF Randy Guzman: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB, K
• DH Yohairo Cuevas: 3-3, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, BB
• LF AJ Salgado: 0-0
• 1B Julio Zayas: 0-3, RBI, BB, 2 K
• 3B Sam Robertson: 0-4, 3 K, E (6)
• C Francisco Toledo: 0-4, 2 K
• CF Simon Juan: 0-4, 3 K
• 2B Jamari Baylor: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, HR (2), RBI
• RHP Cam Tilly: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 WP
• RHP Joe Charles: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, E (1), L (0-1)
• RHP Tyler McLoughlin: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
• RHP Zack Mack: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• RHP Jorge De Leon: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 0 K
• RHP Luis Alvarez: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• RHP Kevin Villavicencio: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP

Rookie: FCL Mets (5-8)

FCL NATIONALS 11, FCL METS 2 /7 (BOX)

• RF Wyatt Vincent: 0-2, R, BB
• DH Boston Baro: 2-3, K
• SS Grae Kessinger: 0-2, K
• 1B Josmir Reyes: 0-1, K, 2 E (1, 2)
• C Yovanny Rodriguez: 0-3, 2 K
• 2B Anthony Frobose: 0-3, 3 K
• CF Bohan Adderley: 0-3, 2 K
• LF Heriberto Rincon: 1-3, 2B, K
• 3B Vladi Gomez: 1-1, R, 2B
• 3B-SS Diover De Aza: 0-1
• 1B-3B Yeider Mindiola: 1-2, K
• RHP Roberto Pena: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, L (0-1)
• RHP Jose Lopez: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 WP
• RHP Franyel Diaz: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 WP
• RHP Adolfo Miranda: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Ryan Clifford

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Joe Charles

It is a tough time to be a Detroit Tigers fan after watching their beloved team get swept at home by the Cleveland Guardians this week in four games. The Motor City Kitties have now lost six straight, nine of the last 10, and 14 of the last 16 — that last stat is just one loss short of the worst stretch (2-15) the franchise experienced during the abysmal 2019 campaign from June 13 to July 13.

Perhaps the good news is that AJ Hinch’s squad hits the road this weekend to face a struggling Baltimore Orioles team that is coming off a series sweep at the Tampa Bay Rays and has just one victory in its last six tries. It is truly a veritable crap vs crap matchup on deck here; if the Tigers continue to flail, things are looking really rough as we approach the 1/3 season mark.

To open things up at Camden Yards, Detroit turns to right-hander Jack Flaherty, who has posted an 8.41 ERA and 5.57 FIP over his last five starts stretching across 20 1/3 innings. The bright spot is the fact that the 30-year-old gave his team six frames last time out — just the second time this season he reached that mark.

The last time Flaherty saw the O’s was in 2024 with the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Aug. 27, when he earned a quality start for his six-inning effort that saw him allow three runs on six hits (two home runs) and two walks with five strikeouts in a game that he got saddled with the loss.

Opposite him is fellow righty Chris Bassitt, who has had three strong outings so far, while the others were nothing to write home about. However, his last start was not one of those — the 37-year-old allowed four runs on six hits (one home run) and a walk with four strikeouts over five frames to earn a loss against the Washington Nationals.

Bassitt’s last appearance against Detroit came on July 19, 2024, with the Blue Jays in Toronto, in which he allowed five runs on six hits (two home runs) and a walk while striking out six over 6 2/3 innings to earn the loss.

Take a look at how the two match up on Friday night. Make note that this game will be broadcast on Apple TV.

Detroit Tigers (20-31) vs. Baltimore Orioles (21-29)

Time (ET): 7:15 p.m.
Place: Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
SB Nation Site:Camden Chat
Media: Apple TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 52: RHP Jack Flaherty (0-5, 5.77 ERA) vs. RHP Chris Bassitt (3-3, 5.44 ERA)

FLAHERTY

BASSITT

WASHINGTON — This very nothing New York Mets season has reached the 50-game mark with only the faintest chance of becoming something.

For now, that something is very ugly: The third team in major league history to miss the playoffs with a payroll north of $300 million – following in the footsteps of the 2023 and 2025 Mets.

At 22-28, this squad heads to Miami this weekend in a battle for last place in the National League East, though with 12 1/2 games and three teams separating them from the Atlanta Braves, it’s best not to even peek until a significant reversal of fortune has occurred.

Looking back is already painful enough.

“It’s all you can control: Playing better now,” Bo Bichette, their prized off-season acquisition, tells USA TODAY Sports. “You can’t control what’s already happened.”

Toledo Mud Hens 5, Indianapolis Indians 2 (box)

Patient at-bats from the Hens along with excellent work from the bullpen carried them to victory on Thursday.

Bryan Sammons started this game, but left after slipping and hitting the dirt while pitching to the first hitter. Matt Seelinger took over and cleaned up the inning.

In the bottom half, Max Clark singled with one out, and after Max Anderson struck out, Eduardo Valencia singled and Corey Julks walked to load the bases. Jace Jung reached on an error as two runs scored, and Tyler Gentry singled in Julks for a 3-0 lead. In the second, Ben Malgeri led off with a double, and deep fly balls from Clark and Anderson moved Malgeri around to score and make it 4-0.

Seelinger did a nice job blanking Indy through the third. Beau Brieske got the first two outs on the fourth but was lifted for Tanner Rainer after only two outs. Rainey handled the rest and then tossed a scoreless fifth inning.

Drew Sommers allowed a run in the sixth to make it a 4-1 Hens lead, but they answered back when Clark doubled in Max Burt in the bottom half to make it 5-1.

Ricky Vanasco allowed a run in the seventh, but Woo-Suk Go tossed a perfect eighth, and Yoniel Curet pitched around a pair of walks in the ninth to get the save.

Clark: 2-5, R, RBI, 2B, 2 K

Malgeri: 1-4, R, 2B, BB, 2 K

Seelinger (W, 2-1): 3.0 IP, 0 R, H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The Hens lead the series 2-1 heading into a 7:05 p.m. ET start on Friday.

Altoona Curve 7, Erie SeaWolves 6 (F/10)(box)

The SeaWolves built an early lead and swung the bats well again, but they cost themselves with some sloppy defense, and then the bullpen blew this one in extra innings.

In the top of the second, Thayron Liranzo and Justice Bigbie reached on errors, as Altoona had their own defensive issues. Chris Meyers walked to load the bases, but they only scored one run on a ground out. Peyton Graham cracked a solo shot in the third inning, his third of the season, and it was 2-0.

Starter Max Alba allowed a run in the bottom of the third, but Bigbie launched a two-run shot with Liranzo aboard in the fourth to make it 4-1 SeaWolves. Alba gave up a solo shot in the bottom half, but Liranzo answered back with a solo shot in the fifth, his fourth in 18 games with the SeaWolves this year. So it was 5-2 when Alba wrapped up his outing in the bottom of the fifth.

Johan Simon handled the rest of the fifth and then the sixth inning. Moises Rodriguez tossed a 1-2-3 seventh, but in the eighth he hit the leadoff hitter. A lineout followed, but a ground ball was thrown away by Graham from shortstop, and a swinging bunt single loaded the bases. The next hitter bounced one back to Rodriguez and he fired to Liranzo to get the lead runner, but Liranzo’s throw to third trying to turn a double play went a little wild and a run scored. Luke Taggart took over on the mound and quickly gave up a two-run double that tied the game.

This eventually went to extras, and with John Peck on second base, Liranzo led off the inning with an RBI single. Unfortunately, that was all they’d get, and Trevin Michael quickly allowed the game tying run on a single in the bottom half. A catcher’s interference on Liranzo allowed the runner to reach, and Michael walked back-to-back hitters to blow it.

Liranzo: 3-4, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB

Bigbie: 1-4, R, 2 RBI, HR, K

Graham: 1-5, R, RBI, HR, K

Alba: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: Altoona leads the series 2-1 heading into a 6:00 p.m. ET start time on Friday.

The Tigers also signed a hard-throwing reliever, 29-year-old RHP Edwar Colina, to a minor league deal on Thursday. He seems bound for Erie or possibly Toledo.

South Bend Cubs 7, West Michigan Whitecaps 1 (box)

Lucas Elissalt was knocked around in this one, while the offense just couldn’t get much going on Thursday.

The Whitecaps got out to a decent start when Andrew Sojka led off the bottom of the first with a single, stole second, and took third on a throwing error on the play. A Garrett Pennington swinging bunt saw Sojka beat the throw home to make it 1-0.

That was all they’d get, and from there the Cubs did a great job grinding out at-bats and putting the ball in play against Elissalt, with good results. He allowed two in the third, one in the fourth, and two more in the fifth. Carlos Lequerica took over in the fifth and allowed two runs of his own, and it was 7-1.

The Whitecaps swung the bats decently but didn’t string anything together. Note Bryce Rainer’s more upright stance and higher setup as he lined this double today. Still some work ahead but it’s a pretty marked improvement already.

Sojka: 1-2, R, BB, SB

Rainer: 1-4, 2B

Ellisalt (L, 0-3): 4.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Friday night.

Bradenton Marauders 8, Lakeland Flying Tigers 7 (box)

Malachi Witherspoon had a rough outing, but the Flying Tigers fought back to take control only for the bullpen to blow this one in the ninth.

Witherspoon was a little wild in the first inning, and that along with several seeing eye singles cost him two runs in the first. In the second, he still was struggling to locate and issues a pair of walks that turned into a three run inning. After a pair of good outings, this one was a minor step back, and we really need to see Witherspoon string together some more consistent outings to start advancing to match his advanced stuff.

Javier Osorio got the Flying Tigers on the board with a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning. In the fourth, Bradenton walked three hitters and the Flying Tigers stole three bases and still came up empty. Finally in the bottom of the fifth, Jude Warwick and Trei Cruz walked to start the inning, and Nick Dumesnil returned to the lineup with an RBI double to make it 5-2 Bradenton.

Again in the sixth the first two Flygers hitters reached and Carson Rucker singled in Anibal Salas to make it 5-3. Edian Espinal singled to load the bases, and Zach MacDonald walked to force in a run. A wild pitch tied the game, but the effectively wild Gavin Adams escaped any further damage with the game tied up.

Donye Evans allowed a run in the top of the seventh, but in the bottom half, Salas walked and stole second, and Hunter Dobbins mashed a two-run shot to take a 7-6 lead.

That’s where things stood when Jan Carabello took over for Lakeland in the top of the ninth hunting the save. Instead, he allowed a one-out walk, and Josh Tate blasted a two-run shot to take the lead. The Flying Tigers couldn’t answer back in the bottom half.

Warwick: 1-4, R, 2 BB, CS

MacDonald: 1-3, RBI, 2 BB, K, 2 SB

Dobbins: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, K

Osorio: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, BB

Witherspoon: 3.0 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: The Flying Tigers have a 2-1 lead in the series heading into a 6:30 p.m. ET start on Friday.

FCL Tigers 13, FCL Yankees 5 (F/7)(box)

Angel De Los Santos: 3.5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR, 2 K, SB

Cris Rodriguez: 2-5, R, 3 RBI, 2 2B, 2 K

Danandres Colon: 3-3, 4 R, 2B, 2 SB

Jack Bushell: 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, BB, 3 K

New York Post | Greg Joyce: After last night’s loss to the Blue Jays, the Yankees sent Yovanny Cruz and Spencer Jones down to Triple-A. The moves clear two spots on the active roster, which will be taken presumably by Gerrit Cole and José Caballero today. This would all but confirm that the Yankees will go ahead with Anthony Volpe and Caballero both on the roster, so it’ll be interesting to see how they decide to give them both regular reps since Aaron Boone has spoken so highly of Caballero’s ability at the six.

MLB | Bryan Hoch: The 2026 Yankees sure have endured their fair share of injuries, but here’s some positive news on that front for a change: tests showed that Trent Grisham’s left knee hasn’t sustained any structural damage. The center fielder appeared to be experiencing discomfort in his knee after sliding into second base on a second inning bloop double during Wednesday’s contest, exiting the game in the top of the fifth. An IL stint would have been a real test for the Yankees’ outfield depth – already stretched thin with Jasson Domínguez’s injury – but it looks like they have avoided the worst case scenario. Exhale.

ESPN | Kiley McDaniel: Noted prospect guru Kiley McDaniel has released an update to his Top 50 MLB prospect rankings. Yankee fans rejoice; the crown jewel of their system, George Lombard Jr., ranks 10th, ahead of such notables as the Guardians’ Travis Bazzana and the Blue Jays’ Trey Yesavage. According to McDaniel, Lombard Jr.‘s improved contact rate this year has considerably brightened his outlook. Although the shortstop has cooled off in Triple-A after a blistering start in Double-A, his contact rate gains have held so far despite the promotion. Here’s hoping his bat passes the test; the defense was never the question.

The Wall Street Journal | Jared Diamond: ($) In the fall of 2020, Ivy League baseball had yet to resume, leaving then-Dartmouth player Ben Rice with nowhere to play. His solution? Make his own damn league. Well, maybe “league” is a bit strong, but he, along with some Harvard players, organized scrimmages for local college players at a facility in Worcester, Massachusetts. In this piece, Diamond sheds light on the various hurdles that Rice had to clear in his path to the major leagues as a player with limited exposure. Thank heavens the Yankees noticed the slugger; I shudder to think where they would be now without him.

The Athletic | Chris Kirshner: ($) The emergence of both Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice as elite players comes at a crucial time, argues Kirshner. With core players Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, and Giancarlo Stanton all well into their thirties, and a front office that spends less time at the top end of the free agent market, the Yankees desperately needed a homegrown talent that could sustain their window of contention – now they might have two. I implore the Yankees to protect them at all costs; please encase them in bubble wrap at all times when they’re not on the field. Just don’t forget to add holes for breathing.

Introduction

As Spring Training was getting underway this year, I wrote up an article on how the Diamondbacks might be able to improve themselves defensively as they attempted to navigate their way back into the playoffs. That argument centered on two changes: roster changes/upgrades and individual improvement from several younger players becoming increasingly comfortable and confident in their respective positions. It’s something of a bugaboo that I’ve been harping on for over a year now. In my opinion, excellent fielding not only protects pitchers but is also some of the most entertaining and rewarding parts of the game as it allows the players to demonstrate their otherworldly athleticism. Now that we’ve gotten past the quarter pole of the 2026 season, we have enough data to start teasing out some trends and conclusions on how those changed dynamics have played out to this point in the season. Overall, depending on your preferred metric, the D-Backs have definitely been better defensively so far with Baseball Reference putting them at third in the league by defensive runs saved (DRS), fifth by outs above average (OAA), and Fangraphs measuring them out at seventh – all of which represent significant improvements year–over–year.

Roster Improvements

This dynamic was probably the one I felt most confident about as it felt like a no-brainer to improve two lackluster defenders in Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez with excellent ones in Carlos Santana and Nolan Arenado respectively. Well, you can take this as exhibit #983 of why I’m not a baseball general manager. Santana has been functionally a non-factor this season after straining an adductor all the way back in the beginning of April while Arenado has been anywhere from excellent to mediocre depending on the outlet. Instead, the team has leaned on rookie Jose Fernandez and Ildemaro Vargas to fill in at first base with surprisingly positive results – especially considering it’s neither of their natural positions. Fernandez came up in the minors mostly as a shortstop and third baseman with just 17 appearances at first in the minor leagues, but he’s been able to utilize the excellent range that made him such an exciting shortstop prospect to hold his own at first base. Meanwhile, Vargas is having a career year by nearly every measure and his glovework has been no exception with excellent DRS ratings. It should be noted that both Vargas and Fernandez are not well rated by Fangraph’s version, but we’ll have to save those differences for another time.

Individual Improvements

Once again, both Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno have been defensive standouts for the team as they continue to cement themselves as stars in their own right. But in my article from February, I highlighted that Moreno’s bigger issue has been staying healthy and on the field rather than any type of skill gap. Sadly, he has once again struggled with that aspect of his game by missing nearly three weeks of action already – this time for an oblique strain to go along with his long list of maladies. Meanwhile, even as Perdomo has struggled to regain the MVP-caliber offensive contribution he displayed last year, he’s managed to (mostly) maintain his defensive prowess. This is another situation in which different ratings land in very different places. According to Baseball Savant, Perdomo has stepped back slightly by OAA and arm strength while Fangraphs has seen him accumulate nearly half of his rating from last year. Regardless of the specific nuances though, it seems like both of them have mostly maintained their defensive skills to buoy slow starts offensively – here’s to hoping they can keep it up for the rest of the season.

The Angels led for five innings before crumbling late en route to a 10-inning, 3-2 loss to the Athletics on Thursday night at Angel Stadium, all in front of a sparse crowd featuring fiery “sell-the-team” chants from shirtless fans in the upper deck.

With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 10th, the A’s Zack Gelof hit into a fielder’s choice groundout off reliever Ryan Zeferjahn.

Angels second baseman Adam Frazier had trouble getting the ball out of his glove after catching shortstop Zach Neto’s throw. That allowed Nick Kurtz to reach home as the go-ahead run.

Gelof was initially called out, but the A’s won the challenge — and ultimately the game 3-2.

“Yeah, [Frazier] looked like he just couldn’t get the ball out of his glove,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “You know, one of those things where the ball got in, and he was doing everything right to turn it, just couldn’t get out of his glove.”

The Angels were unable to tie against A’s reliever Mark Leiter Jr., who earned the save, despite having runners on the corners and zero outs in the bottom half of the frame. Zeferjahn (2-2) took the loss.

Nolan Schanuel gave the Angels a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run homer. But the Angels’ offense, which has been outscored 84-32 since a May 9 loss in Toronto, continued to struggle.

“They believe,” Suzuki said of the Angels’ spirit, specifically on offense. “Every inning, you got all the guys — they’re all up there, rooting guys on and believing that we’re going to put up runs, and really, we’re just not. And it’s not for a lack of effort; it’s not for a lack of anything like that. We just need to find ways to score runs, that’s all.”

The Athletics took advantage of the small deficit, as Darell Hernáiz and Nick Kurtz hit RBI singles in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively, to tie the game and force extras.

Angels starter José Soriano surrendered two runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts. A’s starter Luis Severino surrendered two runs on three hits over seven frames with 10 strikeouts.

“I’ll take away the positive things,” Soriano said. “[I] got into the seventh, but couldn’t complete the inning, but I feel good (about) the way I pitched today. I helped the team the most I can … I control what I could control … I battled; I feel good about that.”

Read more:Athletics rally to beat the Angels in extra innings

After failing to split the four-game series with the AL West-leading A’s, the Angels have dropped four consecutive series and hold an MLB-worst 17-34 record.

That has prompted a growing group of fans to gather shirtless in the upper deck at Angel Stadium and chant that owner Arte Moreno should “sell the team.” The chants could be heard on the Angels’ TV broadcast.

The players, meanwhile, are trying to string together enough good plays to score more wins.

“Really just trying to get the rhythm going of just piling on good at-bat after good at-bat after good at-bat,” Angels right fielder Jo Adell said. “We just haven’t really had that rhythm. It’s like a good at-bat here, and we struggle to kind of pile up after one another and get that rhythm going. We’re hoping to, at some point, find what that is; we’ve had it, we know what it is. But it’s just one of those things, baseball can kind of just slip away from you.”

The road ahead doesn’t get any easier for the Angels. The Angels host the Rangers (24-25), who are a close second in the AL West and riding a two-game winning streak.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

On Thursday night, the Arizona Diamondbacks were able to begin the weekend series against the Colorado Rockies with a walkoff win to push the team’s winning streak to a season-long 5 games. This team has now won 9 of their last 12 games.

This game was won due to the continued success of this Arizona pitching staff. Eduardo Rodriguez continued his run as the ace of this staff throwing 7 scoreless innings tonight. The 7 scoreless innings tonight drop his season ERA to a minuscule 2.24 as he continues to be the leader of this rotation. ERod continued his approach mixing up his pitches more this season vs previous seasons and getting lots of ground balls because of it. It has been such a massive development for this team continuing to get so much length from their starting rotation. Cant be overstated the importance of this.

Another equally enormous performance tonight came from Kevin Ginkel in the 8^th inning getting out of a bases loaded 1 out jam and keeping it a tie game at 1-1. Juan Morillo began the inning, and after getting some planned rest and not throwing much the past week appeared very rusty. Morillo loaded the bases and then hit the batter walking in a run and putting this bullpen in a precarious position. Fortunately, Kevin Ginkel came in and completely overpowered the next 2 Rockies hitters keeping the score where it was and giving the team a chance to win the game. Kevin Ginkel regaining the dominant form we have seen from him in previous seasons has been such a massive development in the early going for this team.

The offense really was disappointing tonight. The Rockies threw a starter who had never even started a professional game in his career before, and he held the Dbacks offense scoreless through 5 innings while only allowing 2 baserunners. Definitely not what you would expect, but the Dbacks hitters continued to chase pitches outside of the zone playing right into the pitcher’s hands.

Dbacks hitters were able to draw 8 walks, mostly off the Rockies bullpen, but the Dbacks were still only able to score just 2 runs despite all of the free passes.

Good teams can win baseball games in multiple ways, and this team this season has shown the ability to win slugfests as well as the pitching duels like we saw tonight. This is definitely an encouraging development from my perspective as it has seemed like in year’s past this team could only win games by bludgeoning teams to death with offense. The Dbacks will look to keep the momentum going tomorrow night as they will give the ball to Michael Soroka.

The biggest negative for me of this game, was the reporting from Bob Nightengale during the game that this was the smallest crowd at Chase Field since May of 2023 at just 14,761 fans. C’mon guys! We have got to do better than that! Especially when this team is winning games! I would greatly encourage people to try and show up to the ballpark this holiday weekend and give these guys some energy at home! They deserve it! Especially with the big replica jersey giveaway this weekend. LFG!

The Yankees needed to make a tough decision to bring Gerrit Cole and Jose Caballero back from the IL and optioning prospect Spencer Jones was the solution.

The team announced late Thursday that Jones and RHP Yovanny Cruz were optioned back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The corresponding moves were not announced, but with Cole slated to start Friday's series opener against the Rays and Caballero's 10-day IL stint set to end, those are the likely changes to the roster.

For Jones, the call-up felt like a long time coming for the 25-year-old. With his power numbers opening eyes in the minors, 35 long balls in 2025 and 11 this year, many wanted to see if his skills could translate with the Yankees. But the outfielder just couldn't get it going in his time in pinstripes.

In 10 games in the bigs, Jones had four hits (all singles) in 24 at-bats, with three walks, two RBI and a stolen base. He also struck out 12 times, an issue the slugger has had his entire professional career.

Across 33 games in Triple-A this season, he has struck out 46 times in 120 at-bats. He had 179 punchouts in 438 at-bats between Double-A and Triple-A. 

Cole will take the spot of Cruz, 26, who made his MLB debut on Wednesday against the Blue Jays. The right-hander was electric, striking out three batters in his two innings of work. On Thursday, Cruz wasn't as effective. He allowed a hit and hit a batter while getting just one out. 

He'll return to the minors, where he held a 3.00 ERA and struck out 23 batters in 18.0 IP across 15 appearances with the RailRiders. 

Offense was tough to come by as the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks squared off in the desert to kick off the series. A spectacular pitching duel highlighted the night as the Rockies ended up losing 2-1 on a Diamondbacks walk-off single.

The Amazing Agnos

Making his first start since high school, Zach Agnos was incredible on the mound. Coming into the game, the Rockies were hoping to get at least four innings out of Agnos, but got much more than that. Showing command of all his pitches, Agnos kept the Diamondbacks off balance as he worked quickly and efficiently, firing 71 pitches, 49 for strikes, over five innings of work while collecting four strikeouts and allowing just one walk, just the third Rockie all-time to have that stat line in his first career start. He also induced three groundouts and six flyouts. The baserunner for Arizona didn’t come until Adrian Del Castillo drew a one-out walk, and the lone hit Agnos gave up was a soft line drive by Ketel Marte with two outs in the same inning.

While it wouldn’t have been great for him to get more run support and leave with a lead instead of a 0-0 tie, the fact that he matched the veteran Eduardo Rodriguez pitch-for-pitch through five innings is a major feather in his cap and may warrant another start in five days.

A Threatening Rattle

The Rockies then turned to Blas Castaño, who had impressed in his Rockies debut against Arizona last Sunday, out of the bullpen to start the sixth inning.

Things got a little hairy out of the gate as Castaño walked Ryan Waldschmidt and surrendered a single to Marte to put runners on the corners. Corbin Carroll then grounded into a force out, thanks to a nifty play by Chad Stevens, that drove in the run to give the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead. Castaño then dug himself into a bit more of a hole as he loaded the bases by walking Geraldo Perdomo and hitting Nolan Arenado with a pitch. Stevens again came through defensively to start a double play off the bat of Ildemardo Vargas to end the inning.

The Diamondbacks threatened in the following inning as Castaño allowed a single and a walk. He managed to get Waldschmidt to strike out for the second out and then got Marte to hit a ball on the ground to first base. Willi Castro had a peculiar play as he just needed to touch the bag, but seemed to forget how many outs there were and turned to fire to second base to try and turn a double play. Luckily, Ezequiel Tovar was able to cover the bag for the force out.

The Amazing Rodriguez

As good as Agnos was for the Rockies, Rodriguez was just as good for the Diamondbacks and then some. The Rockies didn’t get their first base runner until the fourth inning, courtesy of a walk by Castro, and didn’t get their first hit until the fifth inning. Rodriguez ended up going seven innings, allowing just four hits while striking out four. He threw 63 of his 99 pitches for strikes and induced a whopping 10 ground-outs, including a couple of crucial double-play balls.

The Rockies’ best chance to score against him came in the fifth inning. Tovar led off the inning with a double to right field. Kyle Karros then ripped a ball to third base and was robbed of a hit by Arenado, who was playing even with the bag, anticipating a bunt. Jake McCarthy then reached on an infield single to put men on the corners with one out. Braxton Fulford then laid down a bunt in front of the mound for a squeeze play, but it went right to Rodriguez, who then flipped it to the plate to get Tovar. Troy Johnston then flew out to end the inning.

Rox Equalize

Once Rodriguez was out of the game, the Rockies found some momentum against reliever Juan Morillo, who hadn’t allowed a run since May 2. Johnston got things started with a one-out single and was followed by a pinch-hit single from TJ Rumfield, and another Castro walk to load the bases. The birthday boy, Tyler Freeman, was then hit by a pitch to drive in the run and tie the game up 1-1 and keep the bases loaded.

Kevin Ginkel then entered the game on the mound with the Rockies looking for the big hit to take the lead. Unfortunately, Hunter Goodman popped out softly to the catcher, and Tovar grounded out to third base to end the inning.

Tough Luck Loss

After Seth Halvorsen escaped the eighth without giving up a run, Juan Mejia wasn’t as lucky in the bottom of the ninth. Having allowed two walks in the inning, Mejia was close to sending the game to extra innings as he faced Corbin Carroll with two outs. Carroll won the batter, however, sending a ball into right field that Freeman was unable to send home to catch the winning run.

The Rockies managed six hits in the game, but went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They struck out six times and had two walks. The Diamondbacks only had four hits and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Meanwhile, walks turned out to be a huge difference maker as the Rockies’ bullpen issued seven walks after Agnos departed.

Up Next

The series continues on Friday with Tomoyuki Sugano (4-3, 4.02 ERA) taking the mound for Colorado. Michael Soroka (6-2, 3.49 ERA) will take the pill for Arizona. First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 am MDT.

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WASHINGTON — Kodai Senga’s rehab is moving to the game phase.

The Mets right-hander is scheduled to pitch Friday for Single-A St. Lucie, his first minor league rehab appearance since the team placed him on the injured list April 27 with lumbar spine inflammation.

Senga, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, will throw 50-60 pitches, a maximum of four innings. It’s still too early, Mendoza said, to know if Senga will need the full 30-day rehab window.

It’s been a rough start to the season for Senga, who owns a 9.00 ERA in five starts. Senga’s lumbar inflammation was diagnosed after a third straight subpar outing in April.

He is one of two pitchers who began the season in the Mets rotation now on the IL (Clay Holmes, with a fractured right fibula, is the other).

Another starting pitcher, Sean Manaea, has been relegated to mop-up duty in the bullpen.

The Mets have received mixed results from reinforcements from Syracuse. Christian Scott has pitched to a 4.12 ERA in five starts.

Zach Thornton debuted for the team on Wednesday and allowed four earned runs over 4 ¹/₃ innings.

Mark Vientos made a highlight-reel play at first base with a diving stop in the fifth inning that retired CJ Abrams for the final out and prevented the tying run from scoring in the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Nationals.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

“You have to give him a lot of credit because he continues to work every day with the coaching staff and he’s gotten so much better,” Mendoza said. “He’s comfortable. That wasn’t an easy play. It was a bullet and then he got a good first step on it. Overall, the awareness on bunt plays, there’s a lot that he is doing right.”

A.J. Minter’s potential last rehab appearance is scheduled for Saturday with Syracuse.

The lefty reliever, who had hip discomfort after rehabbing from lat surgery, hasn’t pitched for the Mets since April 2025.

Tobias Myers will start Friday’s game in Miami, the team announced. 

José Caballero is returning from the injured list Friday, but Anthony Volpe is sticking around. 

The Yankees optioned Spencer Jones to Triple-A following Thursday’s 2-0 loss to the Blue Jays, opening a spot for Caballero but keeping Volpe on the roster — albeit in an uncertain role. 

Aaron Boone had indicated that the plan is for Caballero to reclaim his starting shortstop job after missing just the minimum 10 days on the IL with a fracture in his right middle finger. That would relegate Volpe to a bench role, without any defensive versatility to play elsewhere, though evidently he showed the Yankees enough while filling in for Caballero to at least extend his stay. 

“[Volpe] is doing great,” Caballero said Thursday afternoon. “It definitely means a lot to me [Boone giving a vote of confidence]. But I just want to be in there and help the team as much as I can.” 

Whether the Yankees start to work Volpe out at different positions remains to be seen, though that likely would be easier to accomplish at Triple-A. Caballero has the ability to play the super-utility role, but his defense at shortstop was the best in the majors as of Thursday by Defensive Runs Saved. 

Instead, Jones was the odd man out after his first two weeks in the big leagues in which the outfielder hit just 4-for-24 (.167) with 12 strikeouts and a .426 OPS. His demotion is further indication that Trent Grisham could be back in the lineup as soon as Friday after he missed Thursday’s game with left knee discomfort — though an MRI earlier in the day showed no structural damage. 

“It’s a relief,” Grisham said. “Anytime you get something in your knee, I guess you’re a little worried. I was pretty optimistic with how I was feeling that there would be no structural damage. But still good to get the news.” 

Grisham indicated that the imaging did show some inflammation in his knee, but said it was unrelated to Thursday’s issue. He said he has banged it multiple times this season, creating some bruising on the top of his kneecap, though Thursday he felt the discomfort on the inside of his knee. 

“I think there’s a chance he’s in there [Friday],” Boone said before Jones was sent down. “Today went pretty well, he did a number of things. We’ll move him around some more [Friday] and potentially be an option for us tomorrow.” 

Without Jones, the Yankees’ fourth outfielder is now Max Schuemann or Amed Rosario, with Caballero also having played there in the past. 

Yovanny Cruz, who pitched a second straight night Thursday after not pitching back-to-back days at all with Triple-A prior to his call-up, was also optioned back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after the game to make room on the roster for Gerrit Cole’s debut Friday.

Cruz was less effective Thursday, giving up a double and hitting a batter in one-third of an inning.