Category: Baseball

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Back-to-back home runs by the Boston Red Sox in the first inning weren’t enough to stop the Atlanta Braves from adding another win to their MLB-best record, as they prevailed 7-6 on Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

While the NL East heavyweights enter tonight’s matchup at essentially a pick’em price, my Braves vs. Red Sox predictions are backing Atlanta behind another strong outing from Bryce Elder.

Let's get right into my MLB picks for Wednesday, May 27. 

Who will win Braves vs Red Sox today: Braves (-108)

Chris Sale may get most of the attention atop the Atlanta Braves' rotation, but Bryce Elder has been every bit as dominant in his own right, leaning on a deep five-pitch mix to post a 1.97 ERA while ranking in the 90th percentile in Barrel% at Baseball Savant.

Elder is set to take on a Boston Red Sox offense that has been virtually non-existent in 2026, sitting 29th in runs per game (3.7) and sporting a .696 OPS on the year.

On the other hand, Atlanta’s lineup has swung back to form this season, ranking third in wOBA (.334), wRC+ (112), and trailing only the New York Yankees in team home runs. Take the Braves to make it consecutive wins in Beantown, and I’d play this up to -125.

COVERS INTEL: Despite Elder averaging just 92.6 mph on his heater — 2.5 mph below the league average — the right-hander’s fastball run value sits in the 100th percentile.

Braves vs Red Sox Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-117)

Although Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias each pitched an inning yesterday for Atlanta, Monday was an off-day for the Braves, which should allow them to run it back with their high-leverage bullpen arms tonight. Meanwhile, both Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock are coming off multiple days of rest for the BoSox.

Both bullpens rank Top 5 in reliever ERA, and I expect the offense to dry up for the most part after the first five innings. These teams are a combined 48-55 to the Over/Under this season, and considering the floundering Red Sox are already without Roman Anthony, I'm leaning toward the Under.

Braves vs Red Sox odds

• Moneyline: Braves -108 | Red Sox -108
• Run line: Braves -1.5 (+146) | Red Sox +1.5 (-176)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+104) | Under 8.5 (-117)

Braves vs Red Sox trend

Atlanta is a league-best 20-8 SU on the road this season. Find more MLB betting trends for Braves vs. Red Sox.

How to watch Braves vs Red Sox and game info

Braves vs Red Sox latest injuries

Braves vs Red Sox weather

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

Jorge Polanco is set to begin a rehab assignment with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies this morning as he battles back from bursitis in his Achilles. The twelve-year veteran has been on the injured list since April 14.

One of the Mets’ key free-agent acquisitions, Polanco played just 14 games before bursitis and a wrist injury sidelined him. He signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Mets in an attempt to fill the void left by Pete Alonso’s departure in free agency. Thus far, he’s hit .179/.246/.286 in 61 plate appearances with the team.

It has been a battle for Polcanco to get on the field. It was the wrist injury that originally put him on the IL, but his Achilles injury started before and lasted longer than his wrist injury. Polanco received platelet-rich plasma injections to manage the pain and return to the field.

Manager Carlos Mendoza explained that Polanco will likely need to manage his Achilles for the rest of the season and maybe beyond due to the chronic nature of the injury, adding that Polanco will likely get more run at DH than first base when he arrives back with the big league club.

“Hopefully, we can get him a game or two at first base, but try to keep him off his feet as much as possible,” Mendoza said. “He’ll play some first base once he goes through his rehab assignment, but probably looking more like DH. We want to keep his bat in the lineup as much as possible.”

Polanco is coming off a resurgent year where he hit 26 home runs with an .821 OPS for the Seattle Mariners. The last-place Mets will take whatever they can get from the veteran as they try to save the season. New York has lost seven of its last eight games with a team slugging percentage of .349 that ranks last in baseball this year.

Morning, all!

Tuesday was Josh Jung’s first game back after missing two games with a sore shoulder, an injury that “freaked him out”due to a surgery he had for a torn labrum on the same shoulder four years ago.

Jacob deGrom hasn’t missed any starts but maybe he wishes that he had, as he’s been leaving fastballs up in the zone and getting knocked around.

Shawn McFarland’s response to the Rangers getting no hit by some guy was to discuss the dismantling of the roster at the trade deadline.

Skip Schumaker blames himself for the weak performance on Tuesday.

Kennedi Landry’s mailbox column is full of questions about the temperature in the clubhouse with the Rangers’ recent struggles.

Jordan Montgomery was four weeks ahead of schedule in his return from an elbow surgery that has sidelined him since 2024 until his recovery hit a snag last week.

Jack Leiter has the potential to be an ace but is still figuring things out as evidenced by his three faceoffs against Yordan Alvarez last night.

Brandon Nimmo has taken the lead in counseling his teammates on addressing their individual strengths at the plate and kickstarted the biggest run scoring first inning the Rangers have had since 2012 last night.

The team put up eight runs in the first on the way to a 10-7 win over the Astros last night, but if it takes getting no hit to spur that kind of production it’s going to be a frustrating season.

Good morning friends! Happy Wednesday to you all.

Last night, the Mariners triumphed over the A’s 4-1 thanks to another strong outing from Emerson Hancock, who kept it rolling even in the hitter-friendly Sacramento confines.

The M’s have a chance to slide back into first place in the AL West with a win today in the series finale. At this stage, which AL West rival do you see as the biggest threat to the M’s chances of winning the division?

In Mariners news…

• Cal Raleigh resumed baseball activity for the first time since hitting the injured list with an oblique issue. He remains without a clear timetable for return.
• Eric Sanford likened the players of the Seattle Mariners to characters from Breaking Bad.
• Jeff Passan gave his take on the Mariners’ starting rotation logjam and what he thinks they should do about it.

Around the league…

• Rays shortstop Wander Franco was found guilty of sexual and psychological abuse of a minor, but he will not serve time in prison.
• Former Braves All-Star Bob Horner passed away yesterday at the age of 68.
• The Chicago Cubs can’t catch a break, dropping their 10th straight ballgame last night in a 12-1 walloping at the hands of the Pirates.
• A day after being no-hit by the Astros, the Rangers put up eight runs in the first inning of a 10-7 victory.
• Davy Andrews at Fangraphs dug into the metrics behind the Astros’ combined no-hitter to determine just how improbable it was.
• Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce purchased a minority ownership stake in the Cleveland Guardians. Though he works in Royals country, Kelce is a native of the Cleveland area.
• Matt Gelb at The Athletic wonders what the Phillies will do in the outfield with both Adolis García and Nick Castellanos struggling. ($)
• Don’t love to see Cal at the top of this list…

Happy Wednesday A’s Fans!

Over the past few years, the Athletics have built one of the most exciting young offensive cores in baseball, largely comprising players drafted and developed by the team. Guys like Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz did not need much minor league development time, while the likes of Tyler Soderstrom, Lawrence Butler and Zack Gelof spent considerably more time honing their skills in the team’s farm system. Toss in Shea Langeliers, who was acquired in the Matt Olson trade with the Atlanta Braves, and Brent Rooker, who was picked off of waivers after failing to hit with multiple teams, and the A’s have an offense that has the talent to put up multiple runs every game.

However, hitting is only part of the game, as baseball teams also need strong pitching and defense. In the A’s case, those latter two elements are especially important because both their current ballpark in West Sacramento and their future home in Las Vegas are exceptionally hitter-friendly environments.

Through 54 games this season, the A’s pitching staff has mirrored last year’s performance, posting a road ERA nearly two runs lower than its ERA at Sutter Health Park. Out of 30 MLB teams, the A’s have the 23rd-ranked ERA and have allowed the fourth-most home runs. The team’s highest-paid pitcher, Luis Severino, is not complaining as much as he did last year, although he still is struggling to pitch effectively at the minor-league ballpark.

Aware of the team’s need for better pitching to complete its rise from rebuilders to American League playoff contenders, the A’s solution may come from within. The team’s top pitching prospect, left-hander Gage Jump took Civale’s place on the roster and made his MLB debut last night against the Seattle Mariners. Jump pitched his way onto the team’s radar and league-wide prospect lists in his eye-opening first professional season last year. He had a mediocre first outing, allowing four runs on nine hits over five innings. Hopefully, now that he got his feet wet, he can pitch better and pick up his first win in his next start.

Jump could soon be joined by fellow top left-handed pitching prospects Jamie Arnold and Wei-En Lin, both of whom are doing well with the A’s Double-A affiliate. Should Jump stick with the A’s the rest of the season, that would leave a void in the Triple-A rotation, which will likely go to one of these standouts.

While these left-handers receive most of the attention, the A’s do have some noteworthy right-handers. Either Kade Morris and/or Braden Nett could follow in outfielder Henry Bolte’s and Jump’s footsteps by making the leap from Triple-A to MLB.

Right-hander Luis Morales is a big wild card. He showed flashes of promise last season, but has struggled in the majors and the minors this year. Lastly, it would be remiss to leave out right-handers J.T. Ginn and Jack Perkins, who have shown the ability to get MLB hitters out in spades over these past few weeks.

If the Athletics remain in American League West contention once the trade deadline looms, do you want them to trade a couple prospects for pitching help? If so, which pitcher would be the best fit to help this year’s squad?

A’s Coverage:

• A’s lose to Mariners 4-1, Kurtz Streak ends with O-fer
• Is A Jump In Talent Nigh?
• What to expect when A’s Jump makes leap to MLB
• What The Mariners’ Slow First 1/3 Means For The AL West
• Wilson takes swings in next step toward return from IL
• After facing Miller for first time, how is blockbuster trade looking for A’s?
• Athletics Drop Series Opener to Mariners 9-2
• A’s Win In San Diego, Beat Padres 5-2
• “State Of The Rotation”: A Projected Weakness, An Actual…?
• Big Amish, meet Man of Steal: Kurtz ties Henderson’s 46-game on-base streak
• Jump, A’s No. 3 prospect, dazzles to extend scoreless streak
• Guerrero touts West Sacramento’s MLB experience as expansion looms large
• Fans embrace ‘Sacramento A’s’ as Athletics lean into second season at Sutter Health Park
• ’Gut-wrenching’: Ginn takes no-no into ninth only to give up walk-off home run
• Kurtz in rarefied air through 162 career games

MLB News and Interest:

• MLB Power Rankings: What’s in your team’s first-half future? We’ve got some predictions
• Astros combine on MLB’s 1st no-hitter since 2024, 18th in club history
• Angels fan protests are becoming too loud to ignore, but team leadership is doing so anyway
• Blue Jays Place Dylan Cease On 15-Day IL
• Bob Horner, former No. 1 pick who had a 4-HR game, dies at 68
• Miz raises bar for 100+ mph pitches: ‘That’s what I do, I throw hard’
• Wander Franco found criminally responsible, but no charges
• MLB going all-out to celebrate America’s Semiquincentennial
• Inside the rise of Pokémon card collecting in MLB clubhouses
• Rays hope veteran Kimbrel can benefit struggling bullpen
• Dodgers Reinstate Kiké Hernández, Designate Santiago Espinal
• Rockies Place José Quintana On 15-Day IL With Sprained Elbow
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

The Athletics are shaking up their rotation, likely due to the Mariners’ team-wide struggles against left-handed pitching.

What an amazing catch by A’s Double-A Midland outfielder Carlos Pacheco in his game this past Sunday!

Outfielder Cade Marlowe is performing well with the A’s Triple-A affiliate. Should he get an opportunity to contribute at the major-league level, especially given Lawrence Butler’s offensive struggles?

The A’s continuing to show that community impact matters just as much as what happens on the field:

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Please, Lord, get me out of this home-run cooler. I have some of the best bats in some of the best matchups for dingers and MLB player props, at great prices.

I am not giving up on dingers in Sacramento, as it's the best park by far for home runs today, while the Cincinnati Reds will get a heavy dose of HR-friendly right-handed arms with winds aiding left-handed bats.

These are my favorite MLB home run predictions for Wednesday, May 27.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Shea Langeliers	+346
Nathaniel Lowe	+610

Home run pick: Shea Langeliers (+346)

Let's roll with the best +EV home run prop, per the projections at Covers, in the best HR environment on the slate, according to Ballpark Pal. This is once again a great spot for dingers, with both starters ranking in the bottom 35 among starting pitchers in HR/FB rate.

Logan Gilbert has been giving up plenty of fly balls lately, carrying just a 39% groundball rate over his last five starts. His 21% HR/FB rate also ranks in the bottom 15 among starters.

Shea Langeliers has already gone yard in this series and brings a strong fly-ball profile of his own, posting a 51% fly-ball rate over the last 30 days along with the team’s best Ideal Attack Angle, per FanGraphs bat-tracking metrics.

His arrow has been pointing up all season, and now he gets a great pitching matchup, an elite hitting environment, and a home run price sitting roughly 50 points above the fair number.

• Time: 3:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSCA, Mariners.TV

Home run pick: Nathaniel Lowe (+610)

The projections love the Cincinnati Reds to go deep today, and Nathaniel Lowe at +500 or better is the bat I want from this visiting lineup.

He’ll likely see an opener before facing bulk reliever Jonah Tong, who allowed eight home runs in 38 Triple-A innings this year while posting a 5.68 ERA. It sets up as a favorable matchup for Cincinnati hitters, who have already gotten a look at this New York bullpen.

Lowe carries a fair price around +500. Over the last 14 days, he has led the team in bat speed at 75.1 mph while also posting a 25% HR/FB rate and a .645 slugging percentage.

He has been even hotter over the last week and gets the lefty-righty edge with 9-mph winds blowing out to right field. He sat yesterday against a lefty, but now gets a right-handed opener followed by a right-handed bulk arm with home-run issues. The Mets also appear to have only one available left-hander in the bullpen today.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SNY, Reds.TV

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.

Okay, this isn’t even a “daily question” in the sense of “a question that fosters discussion.” I’m going to tell you the answer, eventually.

Last night, Michael Harris II went 4-for-4 with a homer and a double. That’s a pretty great batting line, but given that we saw a game last year where he went 4-for-4 and finished a single shy of the cycle because he had two triples, it wasn’t a career-best day or whatever. (He also had a two-homer game late last year that I bet no one remembers that nominally yielded a higher wRC+ than last night’s contest.)

But, he also did something else that was kind of amazing. Here’s a plot of the pitch locations and types that led to his four hits:

Three of those are not very close to the zone… and one is maybe a ball, maybe not — at least in our brave (ly awesome) new ABS strike zone world.

Baseball Savant lets us query the most hits a player has had outside the zone in a game, based on MLB’s pitch-tracking technology all the way back to 2009. The leader of the query is Charlie Blackmon, who somehow managed to do it five times in a 9-3 loss to the Twins at Coors Field back in 2014. So, Harris didn’t quite a set a record for the pitch tracking era. But, say what you will about Pitch F/X and MLB’s 2009-2014 data, but it wasn’t quite the level of… precision, I guess, that we expect from the Hawkeye cameras and Statcast that went into effect in 2015.

If we limit the group to 2015-onward, then we get a set of five players that have had four hits on pitches outside the “rulebook” (or, I guess, Hawkeye/Statcast-defined) strike zone. The most recent was Gavin Lux in April 2025. Before that, no one else had done it since 2019. Braves legend Eddie Rosario did it back in 2017.

So, does Harris join this… illustrious group?

Apparently not. You see, that one changeup apparently juuuuuust clipped the ABS zone. So, Harris has to settle for four hits, only three of which came on not-defined-strikes.

But, wait. That hit on the “higher” changeup was a single. Harris had two extra-base hits, on pitches further away. Is that some kind of record?

Alas, no. There are four players in the Statcast era with three extra-base hits on pitches outside the zone. One of them is Eddie Rosario, again, who — very bizarrely — did it in a different game than the game in which he had four hits on pitches outside the zone.

So, in conclusion, Harris did not tie a quirky record last night. He did come close. But, in the land of getting hits on pitches that aren’t strikes, he hasn’t quite dethroned Rosario. At least, not yet.

If you want just a little bit more substance, I’ll throw this out there. Back during his Rookie of the Year season, I noted a few things that amounted, in part, to “Boy, Harris hits non-strikes really well.”

Here are Harris’ values in wOBA and xwOBA when making contact with a pitch outside the zone, over the years, among players with 50+ balls hit toward the field of play that came on pitches out of the zone:

• 2022: .426 wOBA (2nd of 230) | .322 xwOBA (38th of 230)
• 2023: .311 (83rd of 209) | .308 (72nd of 230)
• 2024: .231 (178th of 211) | .285 (102nd of 211)
• 2025: .218 (171st of 188) | .303 (64th of 188)
• 2026 so far, for players with 20+ such balls: .482 (12th of 208) | .344 (50th of 208)

I think this tells a bit of a twee story about the Braves changing Harris’ approach to not do so much of what he was doing in 2022, and focus on max damage on stuff he didn’t quite have to reach. Harris is chasing more than ever this year, and he’s missing more than ever when he chases, too. When he hits it, though — it’s not quite as feeble as it was before. Will he or the Braves rein it in again? Maybe. But after last year’s disaster in approach change, maybe they’ll let Harris be Harris from here on out. (If he wants to do the stuff he was doing in 2023-2024, that’d be cool too.)

When Blake Butera was hired as Nationals manager, there was plenty of optimism, but there was also some skepticism mixed in. Sure, Butera seemed like a sharp guy and had the endorsement of a Hall of Famer in Mike Piazza. However, he was going to be the youngest manager in over 50 years and had been a player development guy rather than a manager the past few years.

For goodness sakes, Butera is younger than Aaron Judge. He was going to coach a young team, so his age was not as much of an issue. Through the first two months of the season, Butera has shattered all expectations as manager of the Nats. He has this team sitting at 29-27, and playing the best baseball we have seen from a Nats team since 2019.

Even a week ago, there were people whispering about Butera being a Manager of the Year candidate. This was when the team had just gotten to that .500 mark on May 20th. At that point, the Nats were shattering expectations. Since then though, things have only gotten better, and the Butera Manager of the Year candidacy is getting louder.

If the season ended today, Butera would certainly be in the mix for that award. The Nats are one of the surprises of all of baseball. This was supposed to be a tough rebuild year where 100 losses was not out of the question. Now, Butera and this team have Nats fans believing. For crying out loud, the folks at 106.7 The Fan threw a parade yesterday. That was not happening before Butera.

Of course, the lion’s share of the credit goes to the players, especially this elite offense. However, the coaching staff also plays a huge role. I think a big part of being a great manager is finding the right staff. Butera absolutely hit his staff hires out of the park.

The hiring of Matt Borgschulte as hitting coach has genuinely changed the direction of this franchise. Simon Mathews has also done a nice job helping some of his pitchers right the ship. Veteran arms Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell looked absolutely cooked at the start of the season. However, after working with Mathews, who is younger than them, these two guys have righted the ship. Cade Cavalli also seems to be getting better with every start.

The hitting coach and the pitching coach get the most press, but those are not the only hires that Butera has nailed. This is mostly a pretty young and inexperienced staff, but Butera added experience in the right spots. Bobby Wilson is a great example of that. He had a 10 year big league career as a glove first backup. After that, he was a catching coach with the Rangers, where he helped Jonah Heim a lot. In DC, the seasoned catching mind has helped turn around Keibert Ruiz’s defense.

Butera’s staff hiring genuinely gets an A+ to this point. I also think he does a solid job managing the games. There are times where I do not agree with what he does, like any manager. As a whole, I think he is good most of the time. Last night, he made a move that I was upset with at the moment, but looking back, it was pretty cool.

When Mitchell Parker was in trouble in the 9th, he did not have anyone warming up in the bullpen. He let Parker work his way out of the mess. I bet that felt really good for Parker. It showed that his manager believes in him. Sure, if the Nats had not gotten the insurance runs in the top of the inning, things may have been different. However, with the lead in a fairly comfortable spot, Butera wanted to show Parker he trusted him.

That is a good example of Butera showing feel and trusting his players. With a full bullpen, he could have easily yanked Parker after 2.1 innings of work. However, he wanted the lefty to try and finish the game himself. That sends a positive message to the locker room.

I wonder what the Nats would have to do for Butera to be in Manager of the Year contention. Obviously, if the Nats somehow make the playoffs, Butera would be a lock, but would he get the award if the Nats won 80 games? The Nats over/under for wins this year was 65.5, so 80 wins would be a massive overperformance. Butera still would probably get snubbed for a team that made the playoffs though.

Honestly, the .500 mark could be the magic number. If Butera’s Nats finish the season at or above .500, his candidacy would be tough to deny. These Nats were supposed to be basement dwellers, but now they are showing serious spunk and are rising up the NL East.

The faith that Butera has in his players is awesome. He set the tone early in Spring Training, when he talked about how CJ Abrams could be one of the best players in baseball. The Nats shortstop is making Butera look like a sage right now, having a career year so far.

It is wild how much a new coaching staff can change things. We got on Davey and Darnell Coles over the years, but maybe we were not harsh enough. Was the talent always there and just getting wasted? It is a new day now, and the Nats are led by their 33 year old wonderkid manager Blake Butera, who is impressing fans every day.

Mets first baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco took a big step in his recovery, as the veteran began a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday morning. 

In his first taste of game action with the Rumble Ponies, Polanco went 1-for-2 with a single and a strikeout looking.

Jorge Polanco lines a base hit in the first at-bat of his rehab assignment pic.twitter.com/UzK4Jy8iB7

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 27, 2026

Polanco, who signed a two-year deal with the Mets this offseason, has not played since April 14 due to Achilles bursitis and a wrist issue.

Manager Carlos Mendoza said on Tuesday that the hope was that Polanco could begin a rehab assignment this week, and that whenever he does return to the lineup, it will likely be more as a DH than a first baseman.

"The way we see it is gonna be a lot of DH, to be honest with you," Mendoza said. "Hopefully we can get him a game or two at first base, but try to keep him off his feet as much as possible. He'll play some first base once he starts going through his rehab assignment, but probably looking more like DH and try to keep his bat in the lineup as much as possible."

Mendoza has previously said that Polanco's availability will come down to how well he manages his Achilles pain, as it's unlikely to heal completely this season.

In just 14 games this season, Polanco is hitting .179 with one home run and two RBI.

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Randy Vasquez allowed solo home runs in the first, second and third inning. All three came with two outs in the inning. The Padres found themselves trailing 4-0 after three innings and would have been down by another run in the fourth inning if not for a home run robbery by Jackson Merrill in center field that ended the top half of the frame. With the San Diego offense struggling to find consistency, the deficit proved to be too much for the team to overcome as Philadelphia squeaked out a 4-3 win at Petco Park on Tuesday night.

The Padres offense could not find its footing against Phillies starter Aaron Nola who retired the first nine batters he faced. Gavin Sheets got San Diego on the board in the hit column with a two-out infield single in the bottom of the fourth. He was followed by Manny Machado with a two-run homer to left to make the score, 4-2. Nola completed six innings and allowed two runs on three hits with no walks and five strikeouts. The Padres tacked on a third run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Ramon Laureano hit a solo home run off reliever Brad Keller to lead off the inning. San Diego was unable to add to its total in the eighth after the Laureano home run despite having two on with two outs.

The Padres came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth still trailing by a run, but Phillies closer Jhoan Duran got a groundout from Miguel Andujar and back-to-back strikeouts from Merrill and Ty France to hand San Diego its third consecutive loss, which also secured the series for Philadelphia. The Padres will try to avoid a sweep in the final game of the homestand today at 1:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• Freddy Fermin has struggled in his first season as the fulltime catcher and the hope, at least for the Friar Faithful, is that he can become productive sooner than later. To Fermin’s credit he is not making excuses for his poor play — especially at the plate.

• Joe Musgrove is set to begin his throwing program with hopes that he can return for the second half of the season.

Baseball News:

• Los Angeles Dodgers have a rough night on the injury front as both Shohei Ohtani and Kike Hernandez exit their game early.

• A night after being no-hit by the Houston Astros, the Texas Rangers scored eight runs in the first inning and earned a 10-7 win.

• The New York Yankees pummeled the Kansas City Royals, 15-1.

• Shane Baz led the Baltimore Orioles to a win over the Tampa Bay Rays with a nine-strikeout outing.

• The Atlanta Braves beat the Boston Red Sox by a run thanks to four hits from Michael Harris II.

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

• David Peterson was roughed up again as the Mets fell to the Cincinnati Reds by a score of 7-2
• Peterson, who allowed a career-high 11 hits, could be headed to the bullpen, with Carlos Mendoza saying the team will discuss swapping his role with Sean Manaea
• The silver lining for the Mets was A.J. Minter, who made his first appearance in over a year, striking out two in a scoreless inning
• OutfielderLuis Robert Jr. was transferred to the 60-day IL, meaning his return to the lineup can be no earlier than June 26
• The latest episode of The Mets Podexplores whether or not the Mets can rebound from this latest downturn

The Savannah Bananas brand has, arguably, become bigger than the Savannah Bananas themselves. What would seem to be a crucial component of the Bananas experience – the actual team – is increasingly absent from games featuring the showboating version of baseball that the Bananas themselves popularized. By all accounts, however, fans don’t care.

When the Guardian last examined the Bananas in 2023, the organization had only just abandoned its amateur roots in collegiate summer baseball to focus strictly on “bananaball”, a funhouse-mirror reflection of baseball that focuses on trick plays, player antics and crowd engagement. At the time, bananaball was restricted to two teams – the Bananas and their forever foes, the Party Animals – who seemed prepared to follow a well-trodden path to long-term, if moderate success.

Basketball’s Harlem Globetrotters, for example, have been running circles (often literally) around the same, scripted-to-lose opponent in exhibition games since the 1950s. The Bananas could have easily replicated this formula for decades. A bananaball game on a sunny May evening at Richmond’s CarMax Park, however, reveals the many ways that the Bananas organization is doing things its own way.

When asked, most fans outside the ballpark answered with versions of “I’m going to the Savannah Bananas game tonight.” But they were actually on their way to see the Firefighters take on the Indianapolis Clowns, two of the six full-time, professional bananaball teams touring the US. While the Firefighters and Clowns faced off in Richmond, the Party Animals were simultaneously playing the Loco Beach Coconuts in Las Vegas. Elsewhere, the Bananas drew more than 100,000 fans in College Station, Texas, against the Texas Tailgaters. What was once a pair of barnstorming exhibition teams has become a small but growing league. The Globetrotters never made this jump.

The eccentric team names are part of an effort to broaden banana ball’s appeal to a wider audience. The Texas Tailgaters lean into good ol’ cowboy imagery. The newest team, the Coconuts, appear to exist somewhere at the intersection of Jimmy Buffett and the South Pacific. The Firefighters are composed of square-jawed hunks. The team name most familiar to baseball ears, the Clowns, also appears to have the most organic origin story. The original Indianapolis Clowns were one of the best-known Negro League teams in the early to mid-20th century.

There is also a lot of merchandising. Stalls at games flog everything from caps to koozies. This is not a flaw in itself – even coffee shops double as merch stands nowadays – but it is indicative of a larger change within bananaball. When the Guardian last encountered the Bananas, there was an enjoyable “everybody’s here” element. Happy Rockwellian families were seated alongside raucous bachelorette parties who themselves sat by pairings of older baseball fans breaking down every pitch. Bananaball in 2026 feels less like a baseball game and more like a day at Disney World.

The target demographic is clearly children. Nearly everyone at the Richmond ballpark was either a child or accompanying one. Music sets the ambience, and gen Alpha poultry-themed anthems Chicken Banana and Steve’s Lava Chicken blare from the stadium’s speakers.

The Disney comparison is not necessarily a coincidence. Multiple players mention an overlap between Disney fandom (including Disney adults) and bananaball fandom, and Jesse Cole, founder of the Bananas, identifies Walt Disney as a key influence.

Not that bananaball crowds are solely families with young kids. Plenty of other groups are scattered throughout the stands in Richmond, including hardcore baseball fans. Heather Albrecht speaks from a place of deep baseball knowledge – she and her sister have attended games at 29 of the 30 major league ballparks – part of a bucket list trip with their late mother.

“Seeing the crowds and seeing the hype, I think bananaball could overtake MLB in popularity,” she says. “They’re selling out MLB parks that, when we went to them [for MLB games], were empty ghost towns.”

MLB need not worry just yet; the average major league crowd last season was 29,386, a figure that has held pretty steady for the last decade. But perhaps MLB could take some pointers from bananaball as it frets about attracting younger fans. If bananaball’s TikTok dances, pyrotechnics and heavy crowd work were stripped away, the on-field product may make for an interesting side competition within the world of professional baseball. Bananaball could, for example, be the T20 cricket to MLB’s test counterpart.

The preference for showmanship sits at the heart of bananaball. Whether intentional or not, Cole’s bananaball is maybe best understood through the lens of comedy – the game’s outcome is less important than the laughs per minute on the way there. And, if a competitive element emerges, all the better.

It is interesting to note that, despite the Bananas’ achievements in baseball, there have been no significant attempts to replicate their process in the worlds of American football, hockey, soccer or cricket, or even tennis, golf or boxing. This lack of banana-ization in other sports persists despite the fact that format-innovation continues to occur within baseball. Just outside Richmond, for example, another amateur collegiate summer team is pioneering “cosmic baseball“ (baseball played with UV-reactive gear under black lights). The team behind cosmic baseball, the Tri-City Chili Peppers, openly namecheck the Bananas as an inspiration (both the Bananas and the Chili Peppers have their roots in the Coastal Plain League). Cole welcomes the competition.

“I commend anybody that’s trying to do something different [and] unique to make their sport fun and bring joy to people. I think it’s good – we’ll see a lot more [competitors emerge].”

Cole is similarly thoughtful when responding to critics who denounce bananaball as a passing fad, something he says he thinks about every day.

“I see the comments,” he says. “‘This will be done in a year. It’ll be done in a few years.’ I see it and, if you look at history, that would be a strong bet to make. If you look at the And 1’s of basketball and the different leagues that have come and gone – that would be a strong bet to make ... There are only a few companies that have sustained creativity over a long time. You look at Disney, you look at Saturday Night Live ... They’re continually creating, trying new things, pushing the envelope on what can be done. And, they’re not afraid to fail. I think we share that.”

And, perhaps focusing on a young demographic is the right way to secure this lofty, decades-spanning goal.

Towards the end of the game in Richmond, two Little-League-aged fans (in bananaball gear) are playing catch beyond centerfield. Before each throw, they pass the ball between their legs or around their backs, copying the trick plays they’ve seen on the field. Both talk about the sport’s teams and players knowledgably. When asked if they want to be ballplayers when they grow up, they pipe up enthusiastically.

“I want to be a Firefighter,” one shouts. When asked which player he most wants to be like, he responds “No, a firefighter. I want to fight fires.” If his dreams come true, it’s pretty clear which team his future family will be rooting for.

For as much flak as Brian Cashman can catch for hugging prospects, the Yankees are perennially one of the most active buyers at the trade deadline. Last year was one the team’s most aggressive deadlines ever, shipping out almost 20 prospects and importing seven veteran players. In 2024, it was Jazz Chisohlm Jr. and Mark Leiter Jr. that were brought over the summer. 2023 was a bit of an aberration, the Yankees skipping out on deadline shopping and the playoffs, but in 2022 they traded for Frankie Montas, Harrison Bader, Lou Trivino, Scott Effross and Andrew Benintendi midseason, while 2021 saw the additions of Anthony Rizzo, Joey Gallo, and Andrew Heaney.

As has been typical of the Yankees during this era, they are towards the top of the standings early on, but with a few clear holes on the roster. The infield is littered with question marks, the team has gotten less than zero offensive production from their catchers, and the bullpen feels very shaky (even if it’s overall numbers on the season are fairly impressive thus far). The full expectation should be for New York to once again deploy prospect capital to shore up the roster come midsummer. The topic for today, though, is which position they’re most likely to try and upgrade (for argument’s sake, let’s leave side the bullpen for now, since essentially every contending team these days makes some sort of relief trade).

For a team that has had big holes in the early going, the answer is surprisingly complex. It’d be simple enough to look at, say, third base, where Ryan McMahon’s woeful work at the plate has left him exactly at replacement level per FanGraphs. But, the Yankees could reason that if McMahon’s struggles continue, they have answers in-house. José Caballero has performed well as the team’s primary shortstop and could shift over to third, allowing Anthony Volpe to return to his old position. Amed Rosario has also been well above average with the bat, albeit with weak defense at the hot corner.

The situation at catcher is also fraught. The team’s backstop have put up a pitiful .254 wOBA this year, third worst in the league. However, the gap between the Yankees’ catchers expected wOBA and their actual figure is easily the biggest in baseball, suggesting some poor fortune, and the defensive work of Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra is so exemplary that finding upgrades at the position isn’t as simple as it might seem given the pair’s futility at the plate so far.

And then, there’s the fact that there’s already been a tiny bit of rumbling about the possibility the Yankees will actually try to add to the strongest part of their roster, their rotation, by targeting injured Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. I’ll believe it when I see it, but we can’t disregard the idea; with Detroit floundering, Skubal may end up as the best player on the trade market, and adding him could give the Yankees a super rotation unlike any we’ve seen, while also allowing them to subsequently upgrade their bullpen by bumping overqualified starters into the relief corps.

What do you think? Are the Yankees most likely to target corner infield, catcher, starting pitcher? Something else entirely? Let us know in the comments below.

It’ll be another busy day ahead of tonight’s game, with Matt running through what you might have missed last night, and Jeff profiling coach Mark Connor for our Yankee Birthday series. Also, Josh writes on the wonder that is having so many starting pitchers on one team that fans can look forward to watching, and Kento reminds us to keep things in perspective with Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals

Time: 7:40 p.m. EST

Video: Amazon Prime Video, Royals.TV

Venue: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO