Category: Baseball

The latest news and updates on the Houston Astros:

Cristian Javier will return to the Astros in the bullpen:

Javier’s inability to maintain effective velocity has plagued him since he returned from Tommy John surgery. It continues to be an issue for him on his rehab assignment. The Astros appear to be banking that shorter outings can allow Javier to maximize his best velocity in shorter bursts. How well his arm holds up to pen life is yet to be uncovered. Whether he can go back to back days, 3 out of 4, etc, whether he is comfortable coming in mid-inning with men on base (or can be trusted in such a situation as he does walk his share of batters) are all things the Astros must find out between now and the deadline.

Also noted in Rome’s piece:

Kai-Wei Teng will return to the team in the bullpen.

The Teng as a start experiment is over for 2026 (pending further notice). Teng developed arm fatigue starting, as he has pitched more innings in a short period of time than he was previously accustomed to. He was originally optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land to get some down time, but the Astros then discovered the knee injury. As a result, they cancelled his minor league assignment and placed him on the major league 15-day IL.

Teams are interested in P A.J. Blubaugh:

Blubaugh leads all MLB relievers in innings pitched. He has often been called upon to bail the Astros pen out when a starter fails to get any depth into a game (something that once again happened yesterday). Blubaugh make s the minimum, throws up to 98 MPH, and has pitched as a starter in the minors, making him highly attractive to suitors.

Could the Javier experiment in the pen be a precursor to Blubaugh being dealt to acquire a bigger need elsewhere? His stuff, early success, minimum contract and team control should make his value very high.

The maddening Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde act of Tatsuya Imai continues:

That Imai has such terrific stuff yet somehow loses all command so completely and so quickly is one of the biggest mysteries of the sport this season. That the Astros famous ‘pitching lab’ hasn’t been able to get him figured out may be the 2nd biggest mystery.

After being the first Astros starter to post double digit strikeouts in back to back games, Imai laid another colossal egg yesterday being unable to get out of the 2nd inning, allowing 2 HR and 5 BB.

Houston’s ability to get Imai straightened out will be a top 3 factor in whether the team makes the postseason or not. The swings from ‘Good Imai” to “Bad Imai” are simply too drastic to survive the dog days of August, as his bad days put far too much pressure on a bullpen that has already been overtaxed this season.

Ray Delgado: He’s here, he’s gone, he’s back, now he’s gone again:

It has been a whirlwind for the rookie infielder, who got his first taste of the bigs 2 days after the Astros acquired him for cash considerations. He has held his own at the plate, and been a versatile defender.

He then got caught in the numbers game when Nick Allen was ready to be activated, only to be recalled a day later when Jeremy Pena landed back on the IL. Unfortunately for Delgado, a bad hop just stole some of his opportunity.

Delgado has gotten the start at SS yesterday, his second game since being recalled following Pena’s injury. A bad hop ball that struck second base right in front of him led him to try to adjust to the new higher trajectory of the ball with his bare hand. The ball banged off his right pinky, dislocating it.

While the Astros have not made any official move as yet, it seems likely an IL stint is coming up.

Perhaps Braden Shewmake, who equated himself well previously this season before he landed on the IL, could be a candidate to replace him when the team will need to make a decision before Friday’s game.

Christian Walker left yesterday’s game with lower back soreness:

Walker has struggled in the month of June but has also been the team’s second best power bat behind Yordan Alvarez. Walker is tied for the team lead in doubles (16), second in HR (19), RBI (56), Hits (77) and Runs (45). His defense at 1B and ability to pick throws cannot be understated.

While Walker played down the significance of the injury, it is certainly something to monitor as the team is very much feeling the loss of Jeremy Pena right now. With Carlos Correa already lost for the season and the OF providing little offense, losing Walker for an extended period would be a big blow to the lineup.

The Astros top 2 prospects are going to the Futures Game:

Alvarez (18) and Neyens (19) are the jewels of the system. They will also be highly sought after at the deadline. In a season where top prospects should carry extra value with a looming long work stoppage expected, if the Astros decide to trade either of them, they must get absolute max value for them. They cannot be traded for marginal improvements, only for true impact players (should they be dealt at all).

Twenty-four years ago today, the Blue Jays traded Raul Mondesi, along with cash, to the Yankees for Scott Wiggins. The return wasn’t significant—Wiggins only pitched three games for Toronto—but the true benefit was shedding Mondesi’s salary and removing an unhappy presence from the clubhouse.

Toronto had acquired Mondesi from the Dodgers in November 1999 by trading away Shawn Green. The Jays hadn’t wanted to part with Green, but he demanded a trade after the team hired Cito Gaston as hitting coach. Green and Gaston had a rocky relationship dating back to Green’s early days with the team, when Gaston was manager. Gaston encouraged hitters to pull the ball, while Green favored hitting to all fields—leading to some disagreements, as detailed in Green’s autobiography.

The Jays hoped Mondesi’s statistics would improve with a move from the spacious Dodger Stadium to the more hitter-friendly SkyDome. That improvement never materialized, and Mondesi was openly unhappy in Toronto. Complicating matters, he had a hefty contract and Toronto boasted three superior outfielders in Shannon Stewart, Vernon Wells, and Jose Cruz.

Why did the Yankees want him?

It wasn’t the Yankees’ front office that wanted Mondesi, but team owner George Steinbrenner. He instructed team president Randy Levine to call Jays president Paul Godfrey to get the deal done, as reported by the Guelph Mercury Tribune:

As Godfrey tells it, the Yankees were struggling with injuries to their outfield at the time, and a play one day led a TV announcer to wonder why Steinbrenner was doing nothing with Mondesi on the market.

“Within minutes, Yankees president Randy Levine called me and said he wanted to make a deal for an outfielder,” Godfrey recalled. “I didn’t think he meant Mondesi, since we’d already tried shopping him around. So I asked, ‘Why isn’t GM Brian Cashman dealing with our GM, J.P. Ricciardi?’”

”And Randy yells, ‘George doesn’t want those two guys involved, they’ll never get a God damn deal done, I’m on instructions from George to get this God damn deal done now.’”

So Godfrey asked for five minutes, called Ricciardi and explained that he had to do the deal with Levine (to which Ricciardi replied, “I don’t care, get rid of Mondesi immediately”), got a list of prospects to ask for, and eventually settled with Levine on pitcher Scott Wiggins in return.

Toronto included $6 million with Mondesi in the trade. They’d been trying to move him for some time, but found no takers. Fortunately for the Jays, Steinbrenner was undeterred by his own front office’s reluctance. With Paul O’Neill retiring after the 2001 season, the Yankees were searching for a big bat in the lineup.

Mondesi played a season and a half for the Yankees, hitting .250/.323/.453 with 27 home runs over 169 games. At the 2004 trade deadline, he was sent to the Diamondbacks. Mondesi played for three more teams before retiring from baseball after the 2005 season.

While it might be considered one of J.P. Ricciardi’s better trades, he actually played a minimal role in making it happen.

After his baseball career, Mondesi became mayor of San Cristóbal, but was later sentenced to 8 years in prison for corruption and mismanagement of public funds during his term in office. That term ‘mismanagement is wrong. Embezzlement would be a better word.

The Red Sox have player 85 games. They have 77 games remaining until the end of the season. But the real end of the season might just be the trade deadline.

In that respect, they have just 33 days remaining. That’s only 26 games. Sitting at 37-48, the Red Sox have some work to do to decide how they want to handle things. Is Sonny Gray available? Or Aroldis Chapman? Both? Are they in the market for a right-handed bat? Probably yes regardless of their playoff hopes.

In their favor for the season, the Yankees are in the midst of a 7-game losing streak. The Blue Jays just lost 5 straight – tied with the Sox’ (and Orioles’) longest losing streak of the year. The Rays longest losing streak is 4.

There are 8 series between now and the last day to make a move. There’s a short west coast trip to see the Angels and the White Sox and Mets on the way back east. Each of those is a 3-game series.

After the All-Star Break the Sox host the Rays (4 games), Orioles (3 games), and Blue Jays (3 games).

Then it’s back to the West Coast for 7 more games: 4 against the Athletics and 3 against the Dodgers.

Right now the Rays are leading the AL East with the Yankees 3.0 games back, the Jays 10.5, Orioles 12.0, and Red Sox 13.5 behind.

Caleb Durbin has 7 home runs while Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has just 4. Durbin’s 6 June homers is the highest 1-month total for any month in his 2-year career. Vlad’s total is, of course, more of an aberration and as he will not reach free agency until 2040, the Jays have to hope he can uncover some Durbin-esque pop. He averages 29 home runs per 162 games. That’s 25 home runs in the remaining 3 months of the season. He’s currently on pace for just 8. With 75 games to go, Vlad needs a home run every 3 games instead of every 5.5. That’s a big power surge even for him, just to hit his average. To hit last year’s total of 23 that’s still a home run every 4 games. To reach his high of 11 home runs form 2025, Caleb Durbin needs 4 home runs in 3 months.

Jarren Duran has had a miserable season. But power-wise he has 12 homers and needs 4 to match his 2025 total. And just 9 – 3 per month – to reach his career high of 21 again. There was some worry about 20-homer power on the team and Willson Contreras is already at 18 dingers at around the halfway point. If only he had a little more help…

Remember the Jays being on a losing streak? Well, they took 2-out-3 against the Mets.

Even as the Red Sox look bad, the Mets are a notch worse. And they invested almost a billion dollars in their team with Juan Soto alone. The Mets have lost 51 games forming a club with the Angels, Giants, and Rockies as first to 50 losses this year. Of note, the Mets and Angels are 2 teams on the upcoming road trip. If there are any games to win, these 6 are top among them. And the Rockies won 2 games only through bullpen collapses that aren’t guaranteed. There was also a personal change at shortstop after some misplays by Marcelo Mayer.

Because the Red Sox are off on Monday, August 3 – along with many but not all teams, for example the Rays and Rockies will be playing – there won’t be any dramatics mid-game. If Aroldis Chapman is still on the team, the hugwatch will not be literally at the deadline. It might happen on August 2 if he’s still in the ‘pen at that point, assuming there was not a tremendous winning streak by the Sox to be solidly holding a playoff spot at the time. After all, he might as well get in the goodbye hugs.

That’s it.

That’s the entire road to the deadline.

Just as I was trying to figure out who to write up next, Baseball America popped out their 5th mock draft, this time with a new name as the Phillies pick. It doesn’t sound like there’s sourcing for this or actual rumors of Phillies interest so much as there is “It’s the 36th pick. Who the hell knows? But this seems to be the type of player the Phillies might roll the dice on.” So, what the heck. It’s pick 36, who the hell knows what’ll happen.

Caden is a 21 year old 6’3″ 200 lbs Center Fielder from Texas A&M. He’s a left handed hitter with a pretty enticing mix of tools. In a common theme of recent profiles none of those tools is hitting (spoiler, I guess). In High School Sorrell was a Shortstop and his first 2 years in College he split time between the corner OF positions. He has a cannon for an arm, so RF is a solid fall back option if the can’t stick in Center in the pros. He’s a plus runner and should work fine in Center early in his career, but he has that Mike Trout Linebacker-ish frame that will probably eventually grow him out of Center and off into a corner with more average speed, but for now, at least, Sorrell can really get on his horse.

As a hitter Sorrell has a swing geared to hit home runs. He probably has 70 grade raw power and is eventually going to be fun to watch in home run derbies (albeit perhaps minor league ones). Same as I wrote about for Lebron earlier this week, his game power is just grade 55 or 60 because of his contact issues. He’s recorded exit velocities of 114 mph and better, which would be elite among MLB hitters. The first video below is Sorrell just committing extreme violence on baseballs. It’s a surprisingly quiet, lightning fast swing. Almost entirely rotational with no real stride and a small toe tap for timing. He has a 24% K rate and known struggles against non-Fastballs, I think there may be an Adolis Garcia/Jo Adell type ceiling here. He may not have quite the arm of Garcia and not quite the range of Adell, but the hitting issues look similar and I could see a .230/.295/.435 line regularly getting put out here. It’s probably a 2-3 WAR player, who may occasionally be worth 4 or 5 WAR, but is also probably going to have sub 1 WAR seasons when fans will be frustrated with him.

Look at pick 36, I’ll be thrilled with any player that makes the show and puts up a positive WAR. Even if it’s barely positive, and at least massive homers are fun. While I’m not sure there’s a star ceiling, Sorrell has dealt with some injuries in College and 2026 was his first fully healthy season, so if you’re looking for a silver lining, maybe there’s still a little ceiling to come with health letting him play and see more breaking balls.

Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the season at it’s mathematical halfway point, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.

(Note: Records and standings are up to date through games played on Tuesday, June 30th.)

First Place: Atlanta Braves (49-34)

Top Position Player: Matt Olson (2.7 fWAR)

Top Pitcher: Chris Sale (2.8 fWAR)

The first-place Braves were sitting pretty for the first two and a half months, but things took a turn for the worse in June. Sitting at 45-21 entering a series with the White Sox on the 9th, they blew a 4-0 lead that night and lost via walk-off in the 10th, sparking a miserable 4-13 slump to end the month that has shrunk their once gigantic 10.5-game lead to just 2.5 games over the surging Phillies.

The team’s most likely All-Stars on the hitting side are perennial stud Matt Olson at first base and the resurgent Michael Harris II. The latter has been a completely different player since facing the Yankees last July, entering that series as one of the worst regulars in the sport, but has now posted a 127 wRC+ across a full season’s worth of plate appearances since.

We’re not getting an MVP-caliber season from Ronald Acuña Jr., but he’s remained a force at the top of the lineup. You look at all the names on this offense and wonder how they’re statistically below average on the year, but the simple answer for that is just how putrid they were in June. The bottom has completely fallen out on Austin Riley’s bat at third base and even the regulars were going into huge slumps.

On the pitching end, it’s all about Chris Sale. The reigning NL Cy Young winner won’t go back-to-back, but it won’t be for lack of trying. His 2.10 ERA across 90 innings with a 23.6 K-BB% would be good enough to potentially start the All-Star Game in the American League, but goes under the radar with the sheer volume of talented arms in the Senior Circuit. Behind him, Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes have given them average production, Martin Perez has been steady as ever, and Spencer Strider continues to struggle with both health and productivity.

The one saving grace of the team in June was that they continued to have the best back-end relief trio in the sport. Robert Suarez, Dylan Lee, and Raisel Iglesias have combined for a 1.05 ERA across 96 innings. When these guys lead after six, the game is all but over. Having Didier Fuentes, Tyler Kinley, and Reynaldo Lopez as middle relief guys is an unreal strength for the best bullpen in baseball (2.76 ERA, 3.44 FIP, 3.8 fWAR)

Second Place: Philadelphia Phillies (48-38)

Top Position Player: Kyle Schwarber (2.6 fWAR)

Top Pitcher: Cristopher Sanchez (4.2 fWAR)

If I had a nickel for every time the Phillies woke up from an early-season stupor with a midseason managerial change, in which they fired one former Yankee for another former Yankee, to be one of the best teams in baseball, I’d have two nickels.

Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened twice.

Four years after canning former Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi for his bench coach, who also had that role in New York, they did it again. Rob Thomson faced the same fate that Girardi faced, losing his job to his bench coach, Yankees legend Don Mattingly. Since then, they’ve gone 38-19 and have gained eight games in the standings in five weeks with an 18-9 month.

It’s awfully rare for a team to be successful with its most valuable player via WAR being a primary DH, but when that player is on pace to hit 60 home runs, it sounds a lot more reasonable. Kyle Schwarber is worth every penny of his new contract, and he’s finally been joined by some of his teammates with Bryce Harper (143 OPS+) and Brandon Marsh (131 OPS+). Did you know Marsh has one of the highest BABIP in MLB history? If it works, it works.

They’re still not without major flaws offensively, though. Age might finally be catching up to Trea Turner’s bat (for real this time), while Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and JT Realmuto have been black holes offensively. Adolis García is done for the year, Justin Crawford can’t hit a beach ball, and they’re gonna need some reinforcements at the deadline to have a chance to compete in October.

Their pitching, on the other hand, can compete with anyone. Cristopher Sánchez’s unreal scoreless innings streak has defined a potential Cy Young campaign, while usual ace Zack Wheeler has looked great since a scary thoracic outlet syndrome injury. The concern is that, beyond Sanchez, Wheeler, and Jesús Luzardo, who else can step up? Aaron Nola’s now in Year 2 of being one of the worst starters in the majors, and Andrew Painter’s rookie year has been a nightmare.

Jhoan Duran leads the National League with 21 saves, and you’ll never guess who’s setting him up. It’s not the struggling José Alvarado; it’s former Yankee Tim Mayza! Orion Kerkering is having a great year after his miscue in the NLDS last year, but the rest of the bullpen is lagging behind. They’ll be looking for upgrades at the deadline.

Third Place: Miami Marlins (46-40)

Top Position Player: Otto Lopez (3.6 fWAR)

Top Pitcher: Max Meyer (2.3 fWAR)

Whoa, where did this come from? For the second straight year, the Marlins have awoken from an early-season slump to go ballistic in the summer. Once sitting 26-34 at the end of May, they’ve secured just their second 20-win month in franchise history (May 2012, 21) and suddenly find themselves in the thick of the wild card race. However you feel about Peter Bendix and his analytical approach, he’s put a destitute franchise on the path to success with no financial backing.

They’ve done it without 2025 breakout star Kyle Stowers as the focal point, as he’s been limited to decent production across 62 games. Xavier Edwards has been over .300 all season and is emerging as a top shortstop in the game, while Otto Lopez has been a WAR machine, leading MLB in hits with stupendous defense and baserunning. Recent call-up Joe Mack is starting to find his stroke behind the plate, while Liam Hicks has been an All-Star caliber DH for them.

It’s been a real breakout campaign for Max Meyer, who’s having an extremely quiet All-Star campaign with a 9-0 record and a 2.60 ERA. The 27-year-old has taken the mantle of ace from Sandy Alcantara, who’s been better than last year but remains a traditional workhorse with average numbers. Eury Perez has been up and down to complete their Big 3, but they’re looking for someone else to step up with an injury to Janson Junk and the failed Chris Paddack experiment.

The one thing holding them back, though, might be the fact that their closer’s ERA is nearly seven. Pete Fairbanks has been a disaster since coming over from Tampa, and even with four extremely productive set-up options in Michael Petersen, John King, Calvin Faucher, and Lake Bachar, they’ve refused to take him out of the closer’s role. You have to think the leash is being shortened with the team’s sudden playoff aspirations.

Fourth Place: Washington Nationals (44-43)

Top Position Player: James Wood (3.0 fWAR)

Top Pitcher: Cade Cavalli (2.1 fWAR)

Another pleasant surprise, the Nationals are above .500 entering July for the first time in almost a decade. We’ve heard about the baby steps for the last few years of developing a core that can figure things out, but the new regime really seems to be making strides in player development to put this franchise on the right path.

James Wood’s strikeouts continue to be a major issue, but he’s shaken off an early rut to once again be among the NL’s best outfielders. Keibert Ruiz has suddenly found the ability to hit after entering the year with a career 87 OPS+, Curtis Mead is finally living up to his prospect billing in his third stop, and Luis García Jr. had a surprising amount of pop in June. But no player has been more impressive than CJ Abrams, who despite defensive limitations, has been one of the best hitting middle infielders in the game this year.

The rotation starts strong, but drops off fast. Foster Griffin has come out of nowhere to lead the Nats, and Cade Cavalli is undergoing a major breakout of his own, but they’re followed up by the badly struggling Zack Littell, Jake Irvin, and Miles Mikolas. Cavalli, a former first-round pick in 2020, made news for the wrong reasons to close the month due to a spat with Boston’s Willson Contreras.

If anything can hold this Nationals team back from making a return to the postseason, it’s their depressing bullpen. They’re 26th in bullpen ERA at 4.99 and can’t seem to find anyone to effectively pitch in high-leverage situations. They had some impossible chokes this month against San Francisco and Philadelphia, as it seems like everyone but PJ Poulin and Brad Lord just can’t seem to get three outs.

Fifth Place: New York Mets (36-50)

Top Position Player: Juan Soto (2.6 fWAR)

Top Pitcher: Nolan McLean (1.8 fWAR)

What a mess. Injuries have certainly taken a toll on how awful this Mets season has been, but when you’re finding a way to bum out a city that enjoyed an NBA championship this month, that’s bleak. Carlos Mendoza paid for their sloppy, uninspired play with his job late in the month after Dansby Swanson and the Cubs swept them into the Stone Age.

The offense has been horrendous. Francisco Lindor just now returned from his second major injury of 2026, and his supporting cast has been abysmal. The progress Brett Baty showed in 2025 has been erased. Mark Vientos looks so lost compared to his 2024 form. The regressing bat of Marcus Semien didn’t improve at all. Luis Robert Jr. and Jorge Polanco are still on the shelf. Rookies AJ Ewing and Carson Benge can only do so much, as can Bo Bichette’s improved June after his disastrous first two months. The one guy who’s not slumping? The inevitable Juan Soto.

The rotation was never going to be the team’s strength, but they certainly expected a lot more from Nolan McLean (3.78 ERA, 3.58 FIP) and Freddy Peralta (4.53 ERA, 4.17 FIP), who were both expected to be ace-caliber arms this year. Clay Holmes will be out for a while with his broken leg, so while Christian Scott has done admirably since his promotion, Kodai Senga and David Peterson’s struggles are further accentuated. Well, I guess just Senga now, as Peterson got sent off to the Cubbies.

In the bullpen, a lot of Yankees fans have kept one eye on Devin Williams and Luke Weaver after they jumped ship in the offseason. While Williams has experienced the same ups and downs on a much less competitive team, Weaver has fully shaken off the struggles he had last year with 24 consecutive scoreless innings. He’ll be a high-leverage arm sold off at the deadline. Huascar Brazoban and Brooks Raley will also be enticing pieces for contenders who need bullpen help.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Braves play a four-game series in Atlanta starting on Friday night at 7:15...

5 things to watch

Is Christian Scott becoming a mainstay?

Scott showed flashes with the Mets in 2024 during his rookie season, but his big league ascendance was short-lived due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery and kept him out for the entire 2025 season.

Now back at full strength, the 27-year-old has impressed since returning to the rotation.

In 45.0 innings over 10 starts, Scott has a 3.20 ERA (3.93 FIP) and 1.33 WHIP with 53 strikeouts in 45.0 innings -- a rate of 10.6 K's per nine.

Using mainly a four-seamer, sweeper, and cutter, Scott's arsenal has been remade a bit from his rookie season, when he was not yet using the cutter.

Scott's four-seamer has ticked up (averaging 95.5 mph this season after it averaged 94.2 mph in 2024), and his cutter has been especially effective -- with hitters slugging just .194 against it.  

Nolan McLean has turned a corner

Following a somewhat alarming two-start blip in May where he allowed 16 runs (13 earned) in 9.0 innings, McLean has snapped back in.

In 34.0 innings over his last six starts, the young right-hander has a 2.65 ERA.

He's still battling his command at times -- as evidenced by the 17 walks he's issued during that span -- but he looks a lot more like he did during his rookie season and earlier this year.

McLean was especially impressive during his last start, firing six shutout innings against the Blue Jays while allowing five hits, walking two, and striking out seven. 

Francisco Lindor is shaking off the rust

Lindor is still searching a bit at the plate since coming off the IL, but it's starting to come.

Over his last five games, Lindor has a two homers, a triple, and a .967 OPS.

Lindor has been batting cleanup recently, with Carson Benge still entrenched in the leadoff spot.

The Braves are sinking

Because of a 5-13 record over their last 18 games, the Braves' lead over the Phillies in the NL East is down to just 2.5 games.

Atlanta is dealing with a rash of injuries, which hasn't helped matters.

In addition to being without Ronald Acuña Jr. and Sean Murphy, Atlanta's starting rotation is decimated -- with Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Joey Wentz all on the 60-day IL.

The Braves also recently lost high-leverage reliever Robert Suarez, who landed on the 15-day IL due to a forearm injury. 

Matt Olson remains fearsome

With Acuña and Murphy out, and Austin Riley having a down season (he's hitting .207/.285/.332 with an OPS+ of 74), Olson is the most dangerous bat in Atlanta's lineup.

In his fifth season with the Braves, Olson is slashing .272/.342/.523 with 20 homers and 22 doubles in 84 games.

Michael Harris II is also having a standout year, with 14 homers, 13 doubles, and an .817 OPS -- the best mark he's had since his breakout rookie season in 2022. 

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Juan Soto

Despite a quiet series in Toronto, Soto still leads the NL with a .956 OPS. 

Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?

Nolan McLean

McLean is locked in again. 

Which Braves player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?

Ozzie Albies

Albies is having a bounce back year at the plate after struggling in both 2024 and 2025.

We asked. You answered.

The answers seem to indicate a common thread: Astros fans have more faith in Hunter Brown to have a dominant 2nd half than they do in Mike Burrows, Tatsuya Imai or Spencer Arrighetti to be even decent the rest of the season.

The poll was fashioned in such a way to flesh this out. Arrighetti leads the team currently with 7 wins, but he has struggled badly for a month. Imai has 5 wins, but it seems every time fans feel they are ready to trust his electric stuff that he suddenly has a complete loss of command and lays an egg. Lambert has 6 wins, has clearly been the most consistent of the pitchers not named Brown, but also has never had his current level of success at the major league level and it seems many fans are simply waiting for the bottom to fall out.

Meanwhile, Brown only has 1 win this season in the 25.1 innings that he has pitched this season.

Yet it was Brown most fans believed will finish the season with the most wins. That is a big indictment on fan sentiment towards an overwhelming majority of the rotation, and underscores the idea that despite the outfield’s offensive meekness, adding an impact starting pitcher at the deadline should be the team’s first order of business.

SB Nations Reacts polls are powered by FanDuel.

https://sportsbook.fanduel.com/navigation/mlb

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

Thursday's MLB card is loaded with star power, and a few of baseball's biggest bats find themselves in favorable matchups.

Before locking in your MLB player props, here are the hitters my MLB picks are targeting to leave their mark tonight.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Yandy Diaz	Over 1.5 total bases	-140
Shohei Ohtani	Over 2.5 hits + runs + RBI	+101
Max Muncy	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-106

Yandy Diaz Over 1.5 total bases (-140)

A lot of people will be rushing to bet Junior Caminero tonight, given the six-game home run streak, but I think the veteran is the better option. Yandy Diaz checks more boxes than Caminero in my opinion.

First off, Diaz covers over 80% of Royals right-hander Stephen Kolek’s pitch mix. His arsenal grades out more than 50% below league average, per FanGraphs.

The only two above-average pitches in the mix are the fastball and sinker. Diaz against sinkers this season is hitting .414 with a 1.066 OPS and a .479 wOBA. Against fastballs, his expected batting average is still north of .300.

The Tampa Bay Rays veteran has also been generating an alarming amount of hard contact. Over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, he owns a 71.4% hard-hit rate while hitting .320 with an .840 OPS and a .369 wOBA. Kolek at home against right-handed hitters is allowing a 40.5% hard-hit rate and nearly a 62% fly-ball rate.

I know this prop is super-juiced, but I would look for a boost, play his home run and double combo, or take him to record two hits.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: ROYL, RAYS

Shohei Ohtani Over 2.5 hits + runs + RBI (+101)

Finally, some value!

The great one enters today with an elite rating covering 82.7% of Randy Vásquez’s entire pitch mix on Batters-Box. Tonight will mark Shohei Ohtani’s 314th elite rating over the last three seasons. In the previous 313, these are his records:

• 1+ hits: 74.44%
• 2+ hits: 33.87%
• Home run: 29.71%
• 2+ total bases: 55.87%
• 2+ HRR: 66.13%
• 3+ HRR: 50.48%

Ohtani has surpassed this prop in six of his last ten elite-rated home games. 

On top of that, the Los Angeles Dodgers slugger in his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, he owns a .346 AVG, .462 SLG, and .862 OPS. He's also generating a 50% hard-hit rate and a 9.1% barrel rate during that stretch.

For Vásquez, the last 30 lefties he has faced have produced a 57.7% hard-hit rate, 19.2% barrel rate, and 65.4% elevation rate. Those lefties own a .764 xSLG and .596 xwOBA in that span.

People forget, this can cash with one swing of the bat, and I already like him to go yard tonight. Do not pay juice for this... plus money only!

• Time: 9:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MLBN

Max Muncy Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-106)

Snagging this price for Max Muncy Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI in a spot that covers 88.9% of Randy Vásquez's pitch mix and grades out elite on Batters-Box is a gift.

Sure, in his last 30 at-bats against right-handed pitching, he has just a .214 average and .553 OPS, but across his last 90, he owns a .440 SLG, .777 OPS, and .343 wOBA.

In addition, in 95 elite ratings over the last three seasons, Muncy has cleared this prop 53.68% of the time, hitting it in five of his last 10 elite-rated spots.

With how poorly Vásquez has been against lefties, I think this is a strong price to back Muncy. I would not play it past -115.

• Time: 9:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MLBN

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

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

The Los Angeles Dodgers look to stay hot when they open a four-game series against the San Diego Padres tonight.

The Dodgers (-178) come into the contest as the clear favorites over the Padres (+170), and I’ll break down why the hosts will run up the score against some shoddy pitching.

Read my full Padres vs. Dodgers predictions and free MLB picks below.

Who will win Padres vs Dodgers today: Dodgers -1.5 (+114)

The Los Angeles Dodgers are 11-4 over their last 15 games and firing on all cylinders offensively. The hosts are hitting .283 as a team over that span while averaging 5.5 runs per game.

The San Diego Padres are sending Randy Vasquez to the hill tonight, which will only make things easier for Los Angeles. Vasquez sits in the fourth percentile in pitching run value, as well as the bottom percentile in xERA (7.05).

Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki hasn’t been great, but he owns a solid 3.50 ERA at home, holding opposing batters to just a .228 average at Dodger Stadium.

Playable to +100.

COVERS INTEL: Vasquez is 0-3 with a 5.57 ERA in five career appearances vs. the Dodgers.

Padres vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (+119)

L.A. has loved facing right-handed pitching this season, leading the majors in runs scored (348), batting average (.272), and wRAA (68.5). Vasquez has a massive 7.84 ERA over his last five starts, so expect the Dodgers to put up plenty of offense.

Sasaki last faced San Diego on Friday, giving up three runs in just four innings, so the Padres will be capable of scoring some runs as well.

The Over is 3-0 in each of the last three starts for both pitchers.

Playable to +110.

Padres vs Dodgers weather

It'll be a fairly cool night in Los Angeles (67F), but hitters will get a slight bump with winds blowing out to right-center at 8 mph.

Padres vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: San Diego +170 | Los Angeles -178
• Run line: San Diego +1.5 (-117) | Los Angeles -1.5 (+113)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (+122) | Under 9.5 (-127)

Padres vs Dodgers trend

The Dodgers have covered the first five innings (F5) run line in 27 of their last 45 games (+5.80 Units / 10% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Padres vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Padres vs Dodgers and game info

Padres vs Dodgers latest injuries

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.

Another month down, and June was a bit of a letdown for the Athletics. The club only managed to go 12-15 against what looked like an easier portion of the schedule. They escaped getting swept by anyone but only won three series. They avoided getting swept, but they’re now lower in the standings than they were at the beginning of the month, and with more teams ahead of them too. We’re almost halfway through the regular season schedule and the A’s are hovering around playoff contention. What can we expect to see from the Green & Gold in the upcoming month, one that’ll determine the direction of this team for the final few months of the year?

1. Will we see any limitations on the young arms?

The club currently has three young starters that for all intents and purposes are rookies (though technically only in Gage Jump’s case). Righties J.T. Ginn, Jack Perkins and the lefty Jump have all made multiple starts during these past few weeks and if the A’s are going to make a push for the playoffs they’ll need each of them to pitch to their maximum potential. But more importantly, to pitch at all.

The problem for manager Mark Kotsay is that all three pitchers might be, need to be, or should be on some sort innings limit this season. Ginn is at 94 1/3 innings already while his career-high including minor league innings is 102 in 2024. Jump hit 112 frames last year in his first professional season split between Single and Double-A; he’s currently at 78 between Triple-A and the majors. Perkins might be in the best shape vis-à-vis innings as he’s only tossed 58 2/3 with a career-high of 107 2/3… back in 2023. The right maxed out at 78 and 86 innings pitched the last two years, respectively, so it’s not like he’s ready to fire off 150+ innings.

It’s not an easy position for Mark Kotsay to be in. Now in his fifth seal at the helm, he’s made progress in the win department every year but this year expectations were raised. With a bullpen as shaky as the A’s have, it can’t be easy for the manager to balance between removing his young starters early but saving their health, versus riding them another inning to ensure an extra win here and there with the playoffs on the line. He’s signed through ‘28 but his long-term position isn’t fully secure. If the club under him doesn’t show major progress before the move to Las Vegas, the front office may decide to start the Vegas years with a brand new voice leading the club.

It hasn’t helped matters that Luis Severino is currently on the IL with no set timetable for a return. If the A’s are still in contention come trading season adding a veteran starter could be a two-fold addition: allow the A’s to continue to be competitive this season, while preserving the arms and making sure we don’t blow out an elbow over the final few months. These three guys will all be critical to the Athletics over the coming seasons and how Kotsay handles them in these early days could lay the groundwork for their career arches. Is he going to be cautious, or ride them until the wheels fall off?

2. Can any of the young stopgaps step up in place of an injured regular?

The Athletics are going through a bit of a rough patch regarding injuries right now. The club is currently missing four of the lineup regulars: left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, shortstop Jacob Wilson, DH Brent Rooker and super-utilityman Zack Gelof are all on the shelf for various reasons and timelines (along with Opening Day center fielder Denzel Clarke). Before yesterday one could have argued the most serious of that group was Wilson and his shoulder injury. He’s reaggravated the shoulder dislocation he suffered earlier this year and we’re all hoping he hasn’t done anything serious to it. Baseball fans have seen every type of timeline from this injury in the past: from weeks, to months, to a full season or offseason worth of time on the shelf (most recently Gelof, who had season-ending shoulder surgery last September). Any sort of shoulder surgery would almost certainly end his season and deprive the Athletics of one of their best hitters and a real glue guy for the lineup.

Now the A’s are certainly going to miss Brent Rooker after the news yesterday that he’d be undergoing the knife on that bulky left knee of his. Even though he wasn’t off to the best start this season, he was still already at double-digit home runs and a real threat in the lineup that opposing pitchers had to consider and deal with. Losing him for the final three-plus months of the season is going to hamstring the Athletics’ lineup, and now the team has a decision to make: stick with the guys we have, or go after a trade?

Turning our attention to our starting left fielder, all indications are that Soderstrom is facing a relatively minor absence due to the hip impingement he suffered last weekend. Still, that means it’ll likely be weeks until we see him back on the field for the big league squad, and we still don’t have confirmation that we’re looking at that shorter end of the timeline for his return. It could end up being a situation where we don’t know he needed surgery until a few weeks have passed. Luckily for the A’s, they have someone ready to step into his spot in Colby Thomas.

It’s easy to forget, after two seasons of a small amount of unsuccessful big league action, that Thomas was considered the club’s #3 prospect as recently as last year. The 25-year-old proved everything he has to in the minors. He has plenty of power in his bat, is an adequate fielder in a corner, and has cut down on his swing-and-miss tendencies here in his second year in the big leagues. But the strikeouts are still around to a degree and he’s still allergic to walks, which has made everything much harder on himself when facing big league pitching. Perhaps this is the chance that he’s been waiting for. It’s not easy to ride the bench as a rookie and succeed when called upon when you’re not getting those everyday at bats. If there’s one positive to Soderstrom’s injury, it’s that Thomas will get those everyday chances. It’s up to him to make the most of those, and hopefully help the A’s while Sodey is on the shelf. We should be getting an answer one way or another on Thomas soon enough.

The player most likely to make his return soonest is also the one who is the most versatile in Gelof. And honestly, the A’s can probably play him just about anywhere on the diamond or in the grass save for perhaps shortstop and catcher. The club has used Alika Williams at shortstop and also have former first-rounder Max Muncy, but now the A’s have added a new young guy to the infield mix in Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. Gelof is still on the shelf for a bit and might need a couple games to get back in the swing of things, but if Kuroda-Grauer or Muncy or Williams can prove they’re capable at their respective positions, that’d allow Kotsay to get Gelof’s bat into the lineup at some other spot of need. We’ve gotten middling production out of Muncy so far, and now it’s time to see what we have in the 23-year-old Kuroda-Grauer, who burst onto the scene with a three-hit debut.

3. Buy, sell, or standing pat?

The A’s looked like surefire buyers earlier this year when they were atop the AL West standings. They never ran away with the division but also seemed to have finally grown into a team that could make a legitimate push for a playoff spot, even if it came a year or two before many expected. The A’s had a 2 1/2 game lead in the division in late May. The starting pitching had work to do but Ginn was pitching well and Jump was set to join the rotation. And for the most part, the A’s position player group was healthy. Everything was going well for the most part.

June has put a damper on the buying prospects of this organization. The club wasn’t awful but a 12-15 record in June was enough to drop the Athletics to where they are now, 3 1/3 games out of first in the AL West with three other teams to jump. It’s not much better in the Wild Card race as the club is in the same position, but with four teams ahead of them for the final Wild Card spot.

The next few weeks will be critical to determining how the A’s proceed around the August 3rd trade deadline. Should the A’s rattle off a few wins before and after the All-Star break, that might be enough to convince the front office to pony up some minor prospect capital to bolster this young and upcoming group. Starting pitching would be atop the list, as well as obviously relief help. In a perfect world, maybe the club swings a trade for someone like Luis Arraez to be the DH for the rest of the season. There’s a lot of paths the A’s could go if they wanted to give the roster a boost for the final playoff push.

Now, if the opposite happens and the A’s drop farther and farther in the standings, the team will have some tough decisions to make. Some of those decisions could hinge on health updates regarding Wilson, Soderstrom and Gelof. If the A’s find out that one or more of those guys will join Brent Rooker on the season-ending IL, that could push them more in a sell direction. Should the A’s go that route, guys like Jeffrey Springs, Aaron Civale, Jeff McNeil, and pretty much any reliever in the bullpen that any other team has interest in would be available. The jury is still out on if the front office would consider a deal involving Langeliers but one would think they’d need more than a king’s ransom to pry him from our grasp.

Or the team could just say, “Let it ride” with this group and hope for the best. Not the boldest strategy in the world, but for a young team like the A’s they just don’t have many attractive trade pieces that are close to free agency. One doesn’t have to make a deal simply to make a deal. If the A’s are fringe contenders and other clubs are trying to give them a bad deal on a player, then walking away and keeping our chips should absolutely be an option on the table.

Bonus: Will any other Athletics join Shea in Philadelphia?

The club will almost certainly send the starting catcher for the American League to this year’s Midsummer Classic. Backstop Shea Langeliers is having a borderline MVP-caliber season, hitting .265/.330/.497 with 20 homers while catching five out of every six games. That production alone has kept the A’s from being a bottom-dweller this year, making him perhaps the most logical MVP candidate in the league. Seriously, he’s been that important to the team.

A’s fans will be treated to seeing Langeliers catching whoever starts for the AL in the upcoming All-Star Game. Now A’s fans will begin to wonder if any of his teammates will join him fighting for the Junior Circuit.

The most obvious candidate to join the catcher is first baseman Nick Kurtz. The reigning Rookie of the Year has had a great first-half in his sophomore season. After a semi-slow start he’s batting .279/.422/.516 with 19 home runs. He’s second in the entire sport in OBP behind only first-half MVP Yordan Alvarez. He leads baseball in both RBI’s and walks. Oh and let’s not forget about that epic 48-game on-base streak he had earlier this year. In a just and fair baseball world Kurtz would be the starting first baseman for the American League but thanks to fan voting giving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. the nod (he of four total home runs), Kurtz will have to rely on another way to make his first All-Star Game.

Among A’s pitchers there’s really only one candidate on the roster: J.T. Ginn. It’s pretty remarkable considering how he began the year: initially on the outside looking in on an Opening Day roster spot, struggling through a tough camp, being a surprising selection for Opening Day, starting the year in relief, and then getting a shot to start in mid-May. Since then he’s been a revelation for the Green & Gold with a 2.87 ERA in 16 starts. He likely doesn’t have the name recognition, and with Langeliers already on the team there’s no “need” for another Athletic to satisfy the “one player per team” stipulation in the All-Star festivities. A’s fans know what Ginn has meant to this club though and no one would be surprised if Ginn ends up being selected to what would be his first All-Star Game in his second season.

The Brewers will go for a rare four-game sweep this afternoon as they wrap up their series with the Reds, but that’s not the headline. This game will feature one of the most exciting pitching matchups of the season, when Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski faces off against Cincinnati’s Chase Burns.

Misiorowski and Burns are two of the most exciting young players in the game. They’re both flamethrowers; Misiorowski’s fastball is untouchable at an average of 100.3 mph, but Burns is in the 93rd percentile at 97.9. Miz, at 24 years old, is a year older than Burns. Both have some of the nastiest stuff in the league; in FanGraphs’ Stuff+ metric, Misiorowski and Burns rank first and fourth, respectively. They’re first and sixth in ERA. They’re both in the top eight in pitching WAR via Baseball Reference and the top six via FanGraphs. Simply, they are two of the most thrilling young pitchers the game has seen in some time, and given that they’re division rivals, this will likely be the first matchup in what could become a real rivalry.

The teams, though, are going in opposite directions. The Brewers, at 53-31 on the season, have won eight of their last 10 — a stretch that includes a 6-0 record against the Reds. Cincinnati, on the other hand, is floundering: they’ve won just two of their last nine games and are just 9-18 since June 1.

After a day off yesterday, Christian Yelich is back in the leadoff spot for the Brewers. Garrett Mitchell is also back in the lineup after his big day yesterday. Sal Frelick and Jackson Chourio join Mitchell in the outfield, while David Hamilton, Cooper Pratt, Brice Turang, and Jake Bauers make up the infield. William Contreras is doing the catching.

First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network. The Brewers then jump on a plane to Phoenix, where they’ll start a series with the Diamondbacks tomorrow night.

Charlotte Knights
June record 14-11; Overall record 44-38

Knights Player of the Month
Ryan Galanie .355/.412/.671, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 76 at-bats

Dustin Harris .400/.465/.624, 7-for-9 stolen bases, 85 at-bats
Michael Turner .362/.423/.464, 69 at-bats
Andy Weber .293/.314/.424, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 99 at-bats
Dru Baker .283/.358/.467, 3-for-5 stolen bases, 60 at-bats
Rikuu Nishida .259/.333/.276, 2-for-4 stolen bases, 58 at-bats

Jairo Iriarte 1.26 ERA, 14 1/3 IP, 7 BB, 15 K
Garrett Schoenle 3.29 ERA, 13 2/3 IP, 5 BB, 15 K
Jonathan Cannon 4.66 ERA, 19 1/3 IP, 10 BB, 18 K
Shane Murphy 5.18 ERA, 24 1/3 IP, 9 BB, 20 K
Hagen Smith 5.40 ERA, 13 1/3 IP, 8 BB, 23 K
Mason Adams 5.74 ERA, 15 2/3 IP, 5 BB, 18 K

The Knights kept the good times rolling in June by finishing 14-11, although they closed the month on a four-game losing streak. Overall, the Knights have scored 518 runs, which is the most among all 20 teams in the International League. Charlotte’s +87 run differential is also No. 1 in the entire International League. In June, the Knights’ OPS was fifth in the International League in OPS (.827), and their ERA was 10th (4.84).

With Jacob Gonzalez making his way to the majors, first baseman Ryan Galanie, 26, stood out from the crowd in June. Galanie went 27-for-76 with five homers, two doubles, six walks, 17 RBIs, and he stole two bases without getting caught. With this excellent performance, Galanie’s overall season slash line is .265/.357/.521 (120 wRC+). Especially with Murakami set to return soon, the path to the majors is not straightforward for Galanie, but if he continues hitting anywhere close to this well, he will get there.

2026 Charlotte Knights Players of the Month
Jacob Gonzalez (March-April)
Jacob Gonzalez(May)
Ryan Galanie (June)

Birmingham Barons
June record8-18; Overall record 27-49

Barons Player of the Month
Anthony DePino .276/.413/.529, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 87 at-bats

Alec Briley .265/.333/.480, 3-for-4 stolen bases, 98 at-bats
Caleb Bonemer .267/.377/.378, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 45 at-bats (promoted from Winston-Salem on June 16)
Jordan Sprinkle .269/.381/.288, 5-for-7 stolen bases, 52 at-bats
Jacob Burke .241/.338/.310, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 58 at-bats
Colby Shelton .187/.245/.352, 3-for-4 stolen bases, 91 at-bats
Samuel Zavala .179/.301/.244, 0-for-1 stolen bases, 78 at-bats

Connor McCullough 3.80 ERA, 21 1/3 IP, 7 BB, 22 K
Dylan Cumming 4.21 ERA, 25 2/3 IP, 10 BB, 22 K
Lucas Gordon 5.12 ERA, 19 1/3 IP, 11 BB, 25 K
Jake Palisch 8.57 ERA, 21 IP, 9 BB, 7 K
Gabe Davis 13.22 ERA, 16 1/3 IP, 10 BB, 18 K

The Barons won the Southern League Championship in 2024 and 2025, but it is highly unlikely that they will pull off a three-peat. Birmingham is struggling immensely, only finding eight victories in June. During the month, Birmingham was sixth out of eight Southern League teams in OPS (.682) and last by a wide margin in ERA (6.34).

Once again, first baseman Anthony DePino was a diamond in the rough for the Barons. DePino went 24-for-87 with six homers, a triple, two doubles, 20 walks, 22 RBIs, and a stolen base in his only attempt. This is an offense that tends to stagnate for long periods, but DePino is not allowing the negative contagion to get to him. DePino has now won back-to-back Baron of the Month awards. The only other one this season went to Braden Montgomery, who has since been promoted to the majors, where he is off to a solid start. DePino, 23, is likely pretty close to a promotion to Charlotte, although Birmingham’s offense would be quite ugly if he moved up.

2026 Birmingham Barons Players of the Month
Braden Montgomery (April)
Anthony DePino (May)
Anthony DePino (June)

Winston-Salem Dash
June record13-12; Overall record 43-33

Dash Player of the Month
Boston Smith .293/.481/.603, 58 at-bats (promoted to Birmingham on July 1)

James Taussig .254/.375/.612, 67 at-bats
Ely Brown .253/.427/.329, 79 at-bats
George Wolkow .243/.328/.485, 3-for-4 stolen bases, 103 at-bats
Kyle Lodise .222/.393/.389, 10-for-11 stolen bases, 90 at-bats
Ryan Burrowes .221/.373/.316, 12-for-14 stolen bases, 95 at-bats

Justin Sinibaldi 2.18 ERA, 20 2/3 IP, 4 BB, 15 K
Riley Eikhoff 3.50 ERA, 18 IP, 2 BB, 15 K
Mathias LaCombe 3.52 ERA, 15 1/3 IP, 6 BB, 24 K
Drew McDaniel 5.03 ERA, 19 2/3 IP, 10 BB, 19 K
Grant Umberger 6.62 ERA, 17 2/3 IP, 8 BB, 10 K

The Dash finished June on a high note, winning four of their last six to complete their third consecutive month with a winning record. In June, out of 12 teams in the South Atlantic League, the Dash finished fifth in OPS (.802) and third in ERA (4.20).

Catcher and outfielder Boston Smith, 23, was a major contributor to Winston-Salem’s strong month. Smith went 17-for-58 with five homers, a triple, a double, 20 walks, and 13 RBIs. Smith is primarily a catcher, but he also has some experience in left field. The White Sox selected Smith in the sixth round last year, and he is off to a fast start to his professional career. Smith’s overall slash line for the season is .285/.436/.560 (157 wRC+), and that was enough for a promotion. Smith will open July as a member of the Birmingham Barons. Congratulations to Smith on his promotion, and it will be interesting to see how he adjusts to Double-A pitching. Hopefully, Smith can provide the Barons with a much-needed spark.

2026 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Month
Colby Shelton (April)
Boston Smith (May)
Boston Smith (June)

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
June record 11-14; Overall record 37-39

Cannon Ballers Player of the Month
Blaine Wynk 0.00 ERA, 15 IP, 1 BB, 11 K

Derek Cerda .319/.413/.493, 5-for-5 stolen bases, 69 at-bats
Matthew Boughton .297/.385/.473, 6-for-10 stolen bases, 91 at-bats
Efren Teran .278/.391/.333, 72 at-bats
Jaden Fauske .260/.330/.406, 9-for-10 stolen bases, 96 at-bats
Alexander Albertus .212/.395/.242, 2-for-3 stolen bases, 66 at-bats

Caedmon Parker 3.32 ERA, 21 2/3 IP, 9 BB, 30 K
Gabriel Rodriguez 3.79 ERA, 19 IP, 3 BB, 17 K
Alexander Martinez 5.87 ERA, 15 1/3 IP, 11 BB, 17 K
Truman Pauley 6.43 ERA, 21 IP, 15 BB, 22 K

After a horrible April and an excellent May, the Cannon Ballers settled for a mediocre month of June. The Cannon Ballers fell back slightly below .500 with an 11-14 month. The offense posted a poor month (.687 OPS, 11th out of 12 Carolina League teams), but the pitching staff’s ERA (3.76) was third.

Starting pitcher Blaine Wynk, 22, was mighty close to unhittable in June. Wynk did not allow any earned runs in 15 innings of work, and he collected 11 strikeouts while only issuing one walk. After this excellent month, Wynk’s season ERA sits at 2.38, and his FIP is 3.96. Overall, opposing hitters are slashing a modest .250/.322/.388 against him, and those numbers are certainly trending in the right direction. Well done to Wynk on his clean month, as he spearheaded the pitching staff’s strong effort.

2026 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Month
Max Banks (April)
Max Banks (May)
Blaine Wynk (June)

ACL White Sox
June record 5-16; Overall record 12-30

Complex Sox Player of the Month
Yordani Soto .390/.510/.585, 41 at-bats

Alan Escobar .345/.406/.483, 29 at-bats
D’Angelo Tejada .256/.370/.462, 4-for-4 stolen bases, 39 at-bats
Jordan Rich .256/.326/.282, 5-for-6 stolen bases, 39 at-bats
Alejandro Cruz .211/.262/.316, 6-for-8 stolen bases, 57 at-bats

Reinder Gomez 6.52 ERA, 9 2/3 IP, 7 BB, 9 K
Jeremy Gonzalez 6.97 ERA, 10 1/3 IP, 5 BB, 6 K
Justin Fuson 8.47 ERA, 17 IP, 3 BB, 16 K
Fabian Ysalla 9.17 ERA, 17 2/3 IP, 9 BB, 7 K
Fidel Montero 9.82 ERA, 14 2/3 IP, 11 BB, 21 K

The Complex Sox did not provide many highlights, as they are really suffering. In June, out of 15 teams in the Arizona Complex League, the Complex Sox posted the No. 14 OPS (.725) and the No. 13 ERA (7.99). Before anyone asks, yes, somehow, two teams had a worse June ERA, but regardless, it was a horrible month.

Despite the team’s poor performance, shortstop Yordani Soto, 17, was a force to be reckoned with. Soto slashed .395/.519/.651 in June to lead the way for the offense. Overall, Soto is slashing .290/.393/.540 (120 wRC+), as he has consistently been among the best players on this 12-30 squad.

2026 Complex Sox Players of the Month
Kendry García(May)
Yordani Soto (June)

DSL White Sox
June record 6-16; Overall record 6-16

DSL White Sox Player of the Week
Sebastian Romero .338/.430/.765, 4-for-5 stolen bases, 68 at-bats

Carlos Vielma .368/.542/.491, 57 at-bats
Hector Hernandez .316/.447/.421, 4-for-7 stolen bases, 38 at-bats
Ronald Cardozo .250/.391/.464, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 56 at-bats
Orlando Patino .275/.453/.375, 4-for-5 stolen bases, 40 at-bats
Dionys Medina .196/.366/.250, 5-for-5 stolen bases, 56 at-bats

Yordany Marte 4.26 ERA, 12 2/3 IP, 6 BB, 16 K
Ronald Kelly 6.00 ERA, 15 IP, 12 BB, 20 K
Roderic Ramirez 6.23 ERA, 13 IP, 8 BB, 13 K
Jefferson Timaure 7.59 ERA, 10 2/3 IP, 7 BB, 9 K
Alexander De Los Santos 8.03 ERA, 12 1/3 IP, 5 BB, 9 K

Yeah, the White Sox affiliates are not having a good time in the Rookie Leagues. The squad in the DSL just posted a .777 OPS (26th out of 51 teams) but a ridiculous 9.52 ERA (50th out of 51). Also, before anyone asks, the DSL Twins posted a 10.19 ERA.

Thank goodness for center fielder Sebastian Romero, 17, who was on top of his game. Romero went 24-for-71 with seven homers, two triples, four doubles, six walks, 27 RBIs, and he added four stolen bases while only being caught once. Romero’s big month resulted in a 154 wRC+, and he showed that he can be a jack of all trades.

2026 DSL White Sox Players of the Week
Sebastian Romero (June)

A week ago Tuesday, Pete Crow-Armstrong was on first base in a game against the Mets. It’s the top of the seventh and there’s one out. The Cubs are leading the game 7-3.

Then PCA took off for second on what turned out to be ball four to Michael Busch.

This is what happened next [VIDEO].

PCA was called safe at second, only to have the review crew rule him out for coming off the base and being tagged by Mets shortstop Bo Bichette.

Interestingly enough, in the video clip you don’t see second base umpire Stu Scheurwater make a call at all – as if PCA was just safe because Busch had walked. It should be noted that Scheurwater did not make an immediate judgment for the same reason umpires do not do so on missed tags or missed bases by runners. It’s not the umpires’ place to call attention to plays that are incomplete for any reason. It’s the players’ responsibility to know the possibilities and the alternatives, under the rules as written.

This play has happened at least two other times over the last couple of decades to Cubs runners.

On April 20, 2007, Ronny Cedeno was on first base with one out in the ninth in a game the Cubs were trailing 2-1. He took off for second as ball four was thrown to Jacque Jones.

Then this happened:

It’s much more clear here. Cedeno clearly came off the base and was tagged by Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein. Of course, there was no replay review back then, but the play was pretty obvious. That was a really bad play by Cedeno, under the rule he has to hold the base. If he had done so, he would have represented the tying run with one out. Instead the Cubs had a runner on first with two out, and Matt Murton popped up to end the game.

A similar play occurred June 9, 2023 in San Francisco. Nick Madrigal was on first base with one out in the top of the first. Ball four was thrown to Seiya Suzuki as Madrigal took off for second.

Here’s what happened [VIDEO].

The same thing happened. Madrigal briefly came off the base and was tagged out. This time, a review crew reversed the safe call and Madrigal was out. The Cubs eventually won the game anyway, 3-2.

For the sake of argument, let’s say the ball four pitches in each of these situations had been a hit by pitch instead. In that case, the ball is dead and the runner would have been safe.

So why not have the same situation if it’s ball four? In my opinion, this rule should be changed to make it the same as a HBP if a runner is going in that situation. In that case – same as a walk – the batter is awarded first base and any runners are safe at other bases.

Here are the rules in question.

MLB Rule 5.06 (3) (b) says, in regard to base advances:

Each runner, other than the batter, may without liability to be put out, advance one base when:

The batter’s advance without liability to be put out forces the runner to vacate his base, or when the batter hits a fair ball that touches another runner or the umpire before such ball has been touched by, or has passed a fielder, if the runner is forced to advance.

This applies to a hit, a hit batter, an error, many other things… except! This comment is below that rule:

A runner forced to advance without liability to be put out may advance past the base to which he is entitled only at his peril. If such a runner, forced to advance, is put out for the third out before a preceding runner, also forced to advance, touches home plate, the run shall score.

This is the situation we’re talking about here. On a hit batter, the ball is dead. But on a walk, the ball is considered “live” in this situation, and that’s the rule by which PCA was tagged out. There’s another place in the rule book where this play is specifically referred to, as a comment to Rule 5.09 (b) (6):

PLAY — Runner on first and three balls on batter: Runner steals on the next pitch, which is fourth ball, but after having touched second he overslides or overruns that base. Catcher’s throw catches him before he can return. Ruling is that the runner is out.

Again, this is precisely what happened on this play.

Here’s what Cubs manager Craig Counsell said about this incident:

“Umpires interpret rules correctly. They don’t get that stuff wrong,” Counsell said. “It’s a bad rule. It’s a terrible rule. I mean, I don’t know what else to say. Like, not a good rule.”

I concur with Counsell. The rule (or, more correctly, the comment noted above) should be changed to note that if that pitch is ball four and caught by the catcher, the ball should be dead and the runner given second base. The key here is “caught” – if the ball isn’t caught for any reason, sure, the play should then be live and continue.

That’s it. That’s the point of this article and my argument. Change this rule as noted above. That’s what I think. That’s what Counsell thinks. What do you think?

No snappy post-colon headline here. I can’t think of a better way to describe the Braves over the last two weeks, or in June as a whole, other than awful. While I’ll get to the actual horrendous stats in a bit, I do want to indicate that things aren’t awful because the Braves lost a bunch of games, or because they basically destroyed their division lead.

No, the reason why this is awful is because it’s the second year in a row that we’ve basically seen how the combination of not pushing full bore to win every game and an entirely self-inflicted adverse change in offensive approach can absolutely destroy a team.

If the Braves had hit a run of poor outcomes in one-run games (part of 2025), or a massive xwOBA underperformance (part of 2024), then you could say, “Yeah, but look at the first two months” and write it off as a correction (there’s that word again). But that’s not really what happened. This isn’t the space for it, and I’ll cover their self-inflicted gaping wound later, but fundamentally, the Braves did this to themselves. Again. So they’ll need to stop doing it to themselves, or else this is literally just going to be 2025-except-for-two-months-without-an-0-7-start-before-it. In case you forgot, the Braves started 2025 0-7, but then went on a bit of a tear afterwards, looking like the team they were earlier in terms of offensive approach, albeit with some inconsistency. Then, the offensive approach clearly shifted towards walking and slapping at the ball, and though maybe they couldn’t have overcome the injuries and one-run game stuff, the combination of all of those things destroyed the season.

The 2026 season isn’t destroyed yet, but the Braves can’t stay passive at the plate for much longer and continue to reap the withered fruit (and losses) from doing so. Whatever the rationale for changing how they approach plate appearances from April and much of May, it needs to be identified and crossed off, or else 2026 will just be 2025 compressed into four months and not six. It doesn’t matter what the pitching does, it doesn’t matter what they do or don’t do at the Trade Deadline, it doesn’t really even matter who is or isn’t healthy (within a reasonable level of injury): what matters is some collectively group of bats hitting akin to their talent level (a la, a top ten in baseball unit) and not something worse. If they can do that, this will be a good season, If they can’t, prepare for pain.

Anyway, onto the actual biweekly stuff:

Past summaries:

• So far, so good through mid-April
• Even better in late April
• May-be they’re just really good
• Late May just good, rather than absurdly awesome
• A June swoon so far

How did the Braves do recently?

Awful. At 3-9 in June’s second half, the Braves were definitively the worst team in baseball in that span. That two of those three wins came in a single series against the Brewers, of all teams, makes it worse, not better, as it means they went 1-8 against the Giants, Padres, and Cardinals. Though none of the games were these super-gigantic mismatches, the Braves should’ve gone something like 6-6 or maybe even 7-5 at the outside given the team talent levels and pitching matchups. They… did not.

The end result is that the Braves’ 9-14 June was their worst calendar month since last year’s 8-17 July… but the team was largely already dead by that point. The last time the Braves had a month with a sub-.400 winning percentage other than 2025 was August 2017, the last time it happened while they were relevant to the playoff picture was the September 2014 collapse that cost the Frank Wren regime their jobs and ushered in years of deliberate losing in Atlanta.

While some collapses are somewhat unjustified for various reasons, especially when concentrated in small samples, it’s hard to feel that way here:

• In June’s second half, the Braves were dead last in position player value (below replacement) and 29th in xwOBA. This is also true for June as a whole. The fielding was top ten-ish, but they also tossed away an entire game with bad fielding, so that doesn’t do much in the way of consolation.
• In June’s second half, the Braves were 23rd in pitching value (19th for the month). This breaks down into 27th in the rotation and 12th in the bullpen (26th and fourth for the month). The ERA-/FIP-/xFIP- ranks are 16th/19th/20th (and ninth/15th/17th for the month). This isn’t good, but it’s eminently survivable with good defense and actual hitting. The Braves… did not produce actual hitting.

So, put this together, and you have the Braves shedding, over the course of June:

• Four wins off their projected end-of-season total;
• About six percent in playoff odds (down to 92 percent);
• About 28 percent in division odds (down to 61 percent); and
• Going from the best record to the fourth-best record.

From June 16-on alone, they have shed:

• Three of those four wins;
• Even more in playoff odds (seven percent, over six); and
• 21 percent of the division odds.

How are the Braves doing overall?

This is a weird section / question to answer. On the season, the Braves look okay. But June was so aberrant and so problematic that things don’t feel okay, and they will quickly not be okay if any of June leaks into July. If June 2026 Braves was a virus, you’d need to quarantine it immediately, except that they went through all of June without doing it, so…

On the season, the Braves are now 19th in position player value and 14th in pitching value. They are underperforming their run differential by two games, but overperforming BaseRuns by two games. However, by WAR-wins, they have sunk down to a “should be a 42-41 team,” because their offensive performance has just been so unthinkably poor that it basically reverses the credit for all the good play they managed previously. Basically, it’s kind of an interesting thing, conceptually. The number of games suggests that one bad month will have a hard time counteracting two great ones, though I guess it’s technically possible if the bad month was horrendous. But, context-neutral performance without tallying wins and losses is a lot more granular.

I’ll just summarize it this way: if the Braves don’t start playing better now, they are already dead for the season, unless they luck into some kind of insane one-run game overperformance or something else that is unlikely to happen. They can’t play “the way they have been,” where that includes the season as a whole, because doing so will lead to them having a .500ish record at the end of the year.

How are the hitters doing?

What a psychotically stupid question to have as a standard biweekly recap section, past me.

The hitters died. Not literally, but figuratively. And also, if they had died literally, it’s not clear whether you’d be able to tell a difference in their results.

This chart probably says most of it here. The Braves only had two or three guys even play okay over the last two weeks. Mauricio Dubon is playing out of his mind, but no one else even played that well. On the season, this slide has transformed the team into one where they have five producers, and… nothing else. It’s basically half a lineup. Again, to be clear: the talent level is not “half a lineup.” But the overly-passive approach has killed any semblance of additional production that would push the roster into more than “half a lineup.” Drake Baldwin shed in two weeks basically a third of what he had accumulated in about two months.

Left side is last two weeks, right side is the season as a whole.

Mauricio Dubon deserves a medal for being the only guy really chugging in June, and Ozzie Albies basically stole a win from the Brewers with two cheap homers to right field that one time, but beyond those guys, Matt Olson, and Michael Harris II, the rest of the position players probably could’ve been submerged in a vat of acid and then brought back to the plate and I’m not sure June would’ve been any different.

How are the pitchers doing?

It’s kind of like the lineup…

Chris Sale is the only guy doing stuff, but he’s pitching like a normal-Cy Young-candidate-in-an-age-without-Jacob-Misiorowski. Everyone else, well… they didn’t help. Bryce Elder and Martin Perez have reasonable stats on the season as a whole, but got shelled recently — though Elder’s was largely HR/FB-related. The whole Grant Holmes saga and JR Ritchie failing to hit the ground running multiple times are additional, but nowhere near primary, reasons why June went as it did.

On the relief side, Dylan Lee, Didier Fuentes, and Robert Suarez all continued to be awesome, though it doesn’t really matter when they don’t get leads with which to pitch… or the team elects not to use them with said leads. Oh, and Robert Suarez got hurt. Lee in particular is having a ridiculous season: he has 1.4 fWAR already, and has already amassed a career-high 15 shutdowns.

Anyway, see you next month, if no one dips us all in a vat of acid. Which may be preferable at this point.