Category: Baseball

As frustrating and inconsistent as this season has been for Astros fans, one question is becoming impossible to ignore: how much trust should this fan base have in general manager Dana Brown between now and the end of the season?

The timing of that question matters because, despite early struggles, injuries, and inconsistent play, the Astros remain within striking distance. Sitting just four and a half games out of first place and hovering around playoff contention, this team is still very much alive. For all the disappointment surrounding the season to this point, the reality is that meaningful baseball is still on the table.

That creates a complicated situation for the organization because Brown is operating in the final year of his contract.

Many fans have already reached the point where they would welcome a change, arguing that ownership should move on immediately and begin searching for a replacement. But from an organizational standpoint, the timing simply does not make sense.

The Astros are approaching one of the most important stretches of the baseball calendar: the amateur draft and the trade deadline. Both are critical to the immediate and long-term health of the franchise. Maintaining leadership continuity during this period matters, especially for a team trying to remain competitive while simultaneously rebuilding depth in a thinning farm system.

The draft alone makes an in-season move difficult to justify. A franchise that has relied heavily on player development to sustain championship contention cannot afford instability when evaluating and adding young talent. The farm system desperately needs reinforcements, and getting those decisions right could shape the next era of Astros baseball.

Then comes the trade deadline, perhaps the most important checkpoint of Brown’s tenure.

Between now and that moment, Brown has the opportunity to improve a flawed but talented roster and position this team to compete for another postseason run. But there is also a legitimate concern attached to his current situation: desperation.

History has shown that general managers operating as “lame ducks” can sometimes make short-term decisions with long-term consequences.

When a general manager knows he may not be around to see draft picks develop or prospects mature, the temptation can be to prioritize immediate survival over organizational sustainability. That often means sacrificing younger talent for veteran help in an attempt to save a season — or save a job.

And that is the balancing act Astros fans should be watching closely.

Would Brown make calculated, disciplined moves to strengthen the roster? Or could pressure force the organization into mortgaging future assets for temporary fixes?

Complicating the conversation even more is Brown’s overall track record.

What Astros fans may never fully know is how much autonomy Brown has actually had. How many decisions were truly his, and how many were influenced, or restricted, by ownership?

At times, the moves that were not made stand out more than the moves that were.

Questions continue to linger around roster construction, depth issues, and player acquisitions. For a roster talented enough to compete, there have been glaring holes left unaddressed. Injuries have also fueled frustration, particularly when projected recovery timelines have repeatedly shifted or failed to materialize.

Communication has become part of the criticism as well.

Too often, timelines have felt unclear, expectations have been reset, and fans have struggled to get consistent answers regarding player availability and organizational plans. Whether fair or unfair, much of that scrutiny lands at Brown’s feet.

Even his perceived strength, talent evaluation, has come under increased examination.

Take Brice Matthews, for example. While there is still time for development, he has yet to become the player many envisioned. Prospect growth is never linear, but patience becomes harder to maintain when the organization is searching for impact talent.

Then there is Cam Smith.

Brown deserves credit for finally turning an expiring veteran asset into future value instead of simply watching a player leave in free agency. That kind of proactive decision-making matters. But if Smith was the centerpiece of the return, fans are understandably watching closely as he struggles to establish himself consistently at the major league level.

Which brings us back to the uncomfortable reality facing the Astros.

This organization is stuck in something of a catch-22.

You cannot realistically move on from your general manager in the middle of a season when playoff hopes remain alive, the draft looms, and the trade deadline could determine how far this team goes. Stability matters too much.

At the same time, it is fair to question whether a general manager on an expiring deal can separate job security from long-term organizational health.

The Astros need smart, disciplined decisions over the next several months, moves that improve the team without sacrificing the future.

Because the biggest concern is not whether Dana Brown can save this season.

It is whether the pressure to save his job could influence decisions that impact the franchise long after this season ends.

Mets Lineup

1. Carson Benge – DH
2. Bo Bichette – SS
3. Mark Vientos – 1B
4. Marcus Semien – 2B
5. A.J. Ewing – CF
6. Tyrone Taylor – RF
7. Nick Morabito – LF
8. Brett Baty – 3B
9. Luis Torrens – C

Nolan McLean – RHP

Giants Lineup

1. Blake Dunn – CF
2. Elly De La Cruz – SS
3. JJ Bleday – LF
4. Sal Stewart – 3B
5. Eugenio Suarez – DH
6. Nathaniel Lowe – 1B
7. Spencer Steer – RF
8. Tyler Stephenson – C
9. Matt McLain – 2B

Nick Lodolo – LHP

Broadcast info

First pitch: 4:10pm EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: WEPN 1050AM, Audacy App 92.3 HD2

The Yankees got out of town at a good time. Aaron Judge’s walk-off home run salvaged the tail-end of a lackluster (not to mention rainy) homestand for the Bombers, who will spend their Memorial Day in a much warmer neck of the woods. The forecast calls for sunny skies with game-time temperature somewhere in the low-80s at a ballpark where the Yanks have generally had success in prior seasons: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. The Royals, who the Yankees swept in a three-game set last month, enter this series at 22-31. However, their starter in tonight’s opener is a familiar and pesky foe.

Michael Wacha has faced the Yankees 13 times in his MLB career, posting a 3.12 ERA across 69.1 innings, posting 70 strikeouts against only 22 walks. He took a turn in the rotation in that April series, completing six quality innings with two earned runs on three hits, striking out six and walking three. The Yankees still won the game 4-2, but the veteran righty has demonstrated a knack at blunting the Bombers. He’s having a terrific start to his season overall, posting a 2.70 ERA through his first ten starts.

Will Warren, though, was not to be outdone. When he faced the Royals on April 18th, he took their lunch money. In seven full innings, he struck out 11 batters to tie his career-high without allowing a single walk, with two runs allowed on five hits in a 13-4 blowout victory. Warren’s progress has slowed a tad this month, but with a 3.01 FIP entering action, he is still doing enough to win ballgames more often than not. And hey, he has a 6-1 record to prove it. No matter how obsolete wins are as a stat, pitchers still value them; and you can’t totally bumble your way into winning six games before the end of May.

Warren and the Royals offense are evidently a good match for the Yankees’ purposes; though in all fairness Kansas City has had little success against AL pitching across the board. The encouraging strides they took to make it to the Bronx for a playoff series two years ago have slowed substantially. Bobby Witt Jr. remains a can’t-miss star, but the supporting cast has been quite unimpressive. There’s still a gaggle of younger hitters who are trying to prove themselves, such as Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen; they’re both a little above-average, trying to offset the lack of production from guys like Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino.

Put another way, the slumping Yankee offense needn’t move heaven and earth to succeed in this series. It wouldn’t hurt, though.

The lineup will start like yesterday’s, with Trent Grisham in the leadoff spot ahead of Aaron Judge and Ben Rice. Cody Bellinger will clean up ahead of Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm Jr. The bottom third of the lineup will see Anthony Volpe inserted at shortstop, with J.C. Escarra taking the day behind the dish and José Caballero shifting to the hot corner.

Seeing as today is Memorial Day, this game will be broadcast on national TV! ESPN has the rights to this one, and it’ll start at a strange 3:40 pm time slot. But hey, that’s what holidays are for.

How to watch

Location: Kauffman Stadium — Kansas City, MO

First pitch: 3:40 pm ET

TV broadcast: ESPN

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | 96.5 The Fan, Royals Radio Network (KC)

Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

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The AL Central 4th place 22-31 Royals play at home on Memorial Day against the 31-22 Yankees, who are in 2nd place in the AL East behind the Rays.

I was at the game yesterday and got to see all the good parts. I skipped the bad parts at the end to go home. In my head, they beat the Marinaras 8-3. Yes, Marinaras. That’s what my 8-year-old and 5-year-old called them. Let’s hope today is full of the good parts and none of the bad parts.

The Royals will put up Michael Wacha on the bump to start against Will Warren. Wacha has continued to pitch like himself – just reliable and steady. He’s had four quality starts in a row; in fact, 8 of his 10 starts have been quality starts. He started with four in a row, had two blips, and now has another four in a row. I’m hoping we can count on that today against the Yankees.

Warren’s first full season was last year, and he has followed it up well so far this year. He’s improved the FIP metrics – strikeout rate, walk rate, and home run rate. It’s a good pitching matchup today.

The game starts at 2:40pm US Central. It is a nationally-televised game on ESPN. You can also listen on 96.5 The Fan or the Royals Radio Network.

Lineups:

Prior to the first game of a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza gave some updates on the team...

Soto dealing with a fever

Juan Soto missed Sunday's series finale against the Miami Marlins due to an illness and will remain out on Monday.

"He developed a fever again last night, still weak," Mendoza said. "We just got to wait the next few hours, how he develops, and hopefully there's some type of availability there. Who knows, we got to wait."

With Soto out of the lineup, MJ Melendez served as the DH on Sunday and Carson Benge will slide into that role Monday afternoon.

Mendoza had said Sunday that there was "kind of like a flu going around" the clubhouse, as it appears to still be affecting Soto.

Lindor starting baseball activities

On the bright side, Mendoza noted that Francisco Lindor has started doing baseball activities as he works his way back from a calf injury that has sidelined him since April 22.

"He started running and doing baseball activities. Now hitting in the cages. He's going to take ground balls," Mendoza said. "So now, we got to that phase where there's baseball involved."

The manager made it clear there is still not a timetable for Lindor's anticipated return, but he is progressing.

"I think we just go day-by-day, week-by-week. The good thing is he's already in that phase where he's doing baseball. But again, it's hard to put a timetable. He's still got to check a lot of boxes."

Additionally, Mendoza gave a positive update on catcher Francisco Alvarez, who underwent surgery for a torn meniscus in his right knee on May 14.

"Alvarez, I mean this guy is unbelievable. He's already hitting, he's already doing catching," Mendoza said. "We were talking about eight weeks, I'm not sure about that now, this guy is built different... There's a lot of positive from him too."

Knocking on the door

Mendoza was optimistic on Saturday about Jared Young being ready to return during the team's six-game homestand and it sounds like Tuesday may be the day. 

Veteran reliever A.J. Minter also appears to be in a similar situation and could be activated Tuesday or Wednesday.

"Jared Young, there's a good chance that he'll be active tomorrow. He's going to go through a workout today," Mendoza said. "Same thing with A.J. Minter. He's going to go through his throwing progression today. Hopefully either tomorrow or the next day."

Mendoza added that he sees Minter has a "big part of our bullpen" once he returns.

Young has been on the IL since April 13 due to a torn meniscus in his left knee, while Minter last pitched in the majors on April 26, 2025 as he missed the remainder of the season following surgery for a torn left lat muscle.

Upcoming rehab assignments

Kodai Senga, who threw 58 pitches into the fourth inning on Friday in his first rehab appearance for St. Lucie, is expected to pitch again on Thursday. Mendoza said they are unsure if that rehab appearance will be in Double-A or Triple-A, but the right-hander will get another start before they determine the next steps.

"Senga's throwing a bullpen today and the goal is for him to make another rehab outing on Thursday. Whether that's Double-A or Triple-A, that's TBD, we're monitoring weather and all that. That's the plan for him."

Meanwhile, Jorge Polanco could also play in a rehab game later this week as he recovers from Achilles bursitis.

"Polanco, another good day yesterday, he got some at-bats in Port St. Lucie," Mendoza said. "He's go gonna through a full workout today. Hopefully, he starts a rehab assignment at some point this week."

When Polanco returns, Mendoza said they will likely use him as DH instead of inserting him back at first base.

"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."

Toledo Mud Hens 8, Indianapolis Indians 4 (box)

Toledo won the final game of the series against Indianapolis on Sunday, 8-4, to tie things at three games apiece.

It was a good day for the offense, with Max Clark doubling and homering. Jace Jung did the same, and Max Anderson also doubled. Clark got the scoring started in the first inning with a solo shot to right field. It was a no-doubter into the second deck.

Jung opened the second with a double, and Corey Julks homered right after to make it 3-0.

Meanwhile, Dylan File put together his best start of the season. File only allowed one run on two hits and no walks while striking out four through five innings. He drew 10 whiffs on 40 swings and touched 96.6 with his fastball. He used six distinct pitches, according to Baseball Savant’s data, and was effective with each of them.

File retired the lineup in order his first time through, but leadoff man Ronny Simon got to him for a double in the fourth. Billy Cook singled in Simon two batters later, but those were the only baserunners File gave up on the day.

Beau Brieske took over in the sixth and erased a leadoff single with a double play, but he walked the next batter and gave up a game-tying home run after that. Woo-Suk Go was much more efficient in the seventh, working around a one-out walk, and that’s when the offense came back to life.

Clark and Anderson hit back-to-back doubles with one out, and Eduardo Valencia stole the RBI train going with a single. Jung capped off the five-run frame with a two-run homer.

Go came back out for the eighth and struck out the side, and Yoniel Curet closed things out in the ninth. Curet gave up a run, but he still got the job done.

Clark: 2-4, 2B (13), HR (2), 2 R, 2 RBI, BB

Anderson: 2-4, 2B (3), R, RBI, BB

Jung: 2-4, 2B (10), HR (6), 2 R, 2 RBI, K

File: 5.0 IP, 2 H, R, ER, 0 BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a rare Monday game to open the home series against Columbus, starting at 11:05 a.m. ET.

Altoona Curve 8, Erie SeaWolves 6 (box)

Erie dropped the series against Altoona 4-3 on Sunday with an 8-6 loss.

A brutal 6-run third inning all but doomed the SeaWolves. Sean Hunley was cruising until a one-out walk and catcher’s interference put two men on base. A double started the bleeding, and it was hard to stop from there. Hunley exited the game after hitting the next batter, but Yosber Sanchez didn’t fare much better.

Sanchez gave up a pair of RBI singles to the first batters he faced, and a bases-clearing double made it 6-0 before the end of the inning.

Erie answered with two runs in the top of the fourth, courtesy of Andrew Jenkins, who tripled in John Peck (reached on error) and Justice Bigbie (walk).

Lael Lockhart kept Altoona at bay for three innings of no-hit work. Unfortunately, Erie didn’t do anything significant offensively during that period.

The SeaWolves added another two runs in the seventh. Jenkins started off a string of four straight singles, followed by Peyton Graham, E.J. Exposito and Bennet Lee, who got the RBI. Brett Callahan drove in the other run with a sacrifice fly.

Lockhart left the game after that, and his replacement, Tyler Owens, immediately got into trouble with a one-out double. A disengagement violation moved the runner over to third, and an RBI single made it a three-run game, whic his significant because Erie wasn’t done scoring.

Thayron Liranzo led off the eighth with a single, and Altoona’s pitching staff walked the next three batters to bring him across. Exposito drove in another run with a sacrifice fly, which would have been the tying run if not for Owens’ troubles. Either way, Lee grounded into a double play after that, so the comeback was dead anyway.

Johan Simon got the eighth. He hit the first two batters he faced and gave up an RBI single before getting yanked. Moises Rodriguez got cleanup duty.

Liranzo: 1-5, R, 3 K

Jenkins: 2-3, 3B (2), R, 2 RBI, BB

Callahan: 2-4, RBI

Lockhart: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: Erie is at home next week against the Chesapeake Baysox, starting Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. ET.

South Bend Cubs 5, West Michigan Whitecaps 4 (box)

West Michigan finished its series against South Bend with a 5-4 loss, the fifth-straight defeat for the 14-31 Whitecaps.

This was a weird one for West Michigan. The Whitecaps only had one hit and two baserunners through six innings and four hits on the day, but a four-run seventh inning gave them a brief lead.

Jackson Strong had two of those base knocks, including an RBI single in that eventful seventh inning. Samuel Gil drove in the second run, and Strong scored the tying run on a ball thrown into center field by the catcher. Luke Shliger got the go-ahead, pinch-hit RBI with a base hit into left field, and everyone was happy for a bit.

Let’s rewind, though, because it’s a miracle West Michigan wasn’t trailing by a lot more at that point. Gabriel Reyes walked SEVEN batters in his 4 1/3 innings of work, and somehow only two of them scored. A pair of double plays and two clutch bases-loaded flyouts got Reyes there, but there’s still no excuse for seven free passes.

Reyes gave up a pair of runs in the first inning after a leadoff error from Cristian Santana at third and (you guessed it) a walk set him for a rough opening frame. South Bend didn’t score its third run until the fifth, when Carlos Lequerica took over with a runner on base. A two-out double brought that one around.

Okay, back to that brief lead in the seventh. Ethan Sloan relieved Lequerica in the top of the seventh and worked around a leadoff base hit and one-out walk, but the long inning didn’t do him any favors. A pair of one-out singles set up a two-run single, and just like that the Whitecaps are losing again…

West Michigan blew all of its energy in the seventh, so a quick eighth inning kept the momentum on South Bend’s side. Bryce Rainer struck out for a third time on the day with Ricardo Hurtado on base to send the game to the ninth.

CJ Weins worked around a leadoff single in the top of the ninth, but there was no magic in the bottom half of the inning. West Michigan went down 1-2-3 to take the loss. Womp womp.

Rainer: 0-4, 3 K

Shliger: 1-1, RBI

Reyes: 4.1 IP, H, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: West Michigan is in Lansing next week, starting Tuesday at 6:05 p.m. ET.

(F/5) Bradenton Marauders 3, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1 (box)

What was supposed to be 14 innings of baseball down in Lakeland ended up being just five, which is probably a good thing since the Flying Tigers were getting no-hit. Despite the 2-1 loss on Sunday, Lakeland still won the series 3-2, with the rest of the doubleheader cancelled due to wet grounds.

Even though Lakeland had no hits through the five innings played in this game, the Flying Tigers led for a bit. An error, hit-by-pitch and walk loaded the bases in the bottom of the second, and a wild pitch brought Jesus Pinto home for a 1-0 lead.

Caleb Leys got the start, but he only went three innings. Three hits and no runs is a good day, but three walks led to a high-ish pitch count of 68. Jose Guzman took over in the fourth and immediately gave up runs. The inning went: leadoff double, single, popout, three-run homer.

Preston Howey got the fifth. He retired all four batters he faced, and then the rain came. Oh, well.

Leys: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: Lakeland is in Palm Beach next week, starting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. ET. I’ll be at some of the games for some live coverage, so stay tuned!

The Royals will shut down starting pitcher Cole Ragans for a few days after he experienced discomfort with his elbow in his rehab start for Omaha. Manager Matt Quatraro addressed the setback with the media today, telling them, “He did not recover well from his start, so he’s gonna be shut down for a couple days.”

Quatraro said that Ragans experienced the same elbow symptoms he experienced in his last MLB start. The team will shut him down from throwing and reevaluate after a few days.

Ragans started on Saturday for the Storm Chasers and made 68 pitches over 4.1 innings, giving up just one run on a solo home run with a walk and three strikeouts. He last pitched for the Royals on May 6 when he went just three innings against the Guardians.

Ragans had struggled this year with a 4.84 ERA in eight starts, with 45 strikeouts in 35.1 innings. His walk rate has spiked signficantly, to 5.9 per-nine-innings this season. Injuries have plagued him during his career – he has twice undergone Tommy John surgery and he missed three months last year with a rotator cuff injury.

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Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jesus Sanchez has been hitting the ball well, and with Janson Junk on the mound for the Miami Marlins, the matchup should favor the slugger to keep his bat hot tonight.

Read on to see why in my Marlins vs. Blue Jays predictions and MLB picks on Monday, May 25. 

Marlins vs Blue Jays predictions

Marlins vs Blue Jays best bet: Jesus Sanchez Over 0.5 hits (-145)

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jesus Sanchez has been red-hot, eclipsing his hits total in 10 of his last 12 games, posting a .433 batting average in this stretch.

With a little extra motivation, taking on a Miami Marlins team that traded him last season, I expect him to keep his hot streak alive, especially with Janson Junk on the mound. 

Junk has struggled mightily over his last three starts, giving up 19 runs on 25 hits. This can be chalked up to a pedestrian fastball that ranks in the 45th percentile in velocity, as well as a putrid 18.7% whiff rate that ranks in the ninth percentile.

The righty regularly gets squared up, and Sanchez is batting just under .300 against right-handers.

COVERS INTEL: Sanchez ranks in the 92nd percentile in expected batting average this season.

Marlins vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

Trey Yesavage has gone Over tonight’s 5.5 strikeout total in four straight starts, averaging 6.5 per. I expect him to do it again against a team with a 33% strikeout rate against the splitter, Yesavage’s put-away pitch.  

Overall, the Jays will win by multiple runs. There’s a lot of juice in the Jays’ moneyline, but the run line still has value as they’ve covered it in four of their last five victories.

Additionally, the pitching matchup should allow Toronto to keep Miami at bay while putting up offense against Junk.

Marlins vs Blue Jays SGP

• Jesus Sanchez Over 0.5 hits
• Trey Yesavage Over 5.5 strikeouts
• Blue Jays -1.5

Marlins vs Blue Jays home run pick: Daulton Varsho (+450)

The Jays offense has picked up recently, but we’re still waiting on consistent power, so we’ll make this a half-unit wager. 

Junk has surrendered six home runs over his last four starts and gives up fairly hard contact to lefties, who have 17 extra-base hits off him for a .888 opponents' OPS. 

The lefty in the Jays lineup I’m banking on to homer tonight is Daulton Varsho, who owns a 59% hard-hit rate against the four-seamer, which Junk throws most often to lefties.

Marlins vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Miami +140 | Toronto -160
• Run line: Miami +1.5 (-150) | Toronto -1.5 (+130)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-110) | Under 7.5 (-110)

Marlins vs Blue Jays trend

The Toronto Blue Jays have covered the 1st Five Innings (F5) Run Line in 9 of their last 10 games (+7.90 Units / 68% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Marlins vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Marlins vs Blue Jays and game info

Marlins vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Marlins vs Blue Jays weather

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With mirroring campaigns on either side of the spectrum, the Dodgers and Rockies meet at Dodger Stadium on Memorial Day. The home side aims to carry on the momentum from an outstanding road trip that saw them win seven of nine, taking two of three from the Brewers and Padres, and sweeping the Angels.

While as a team the Dodgers thrived away from home, Emmet Sheehan didn’t have the best of times in his game, even if the Dodgers ended up beating San Diego 5-4. All four of the Padres’ runs came against Sheehan courtesy of a couple of long balls as their lineup made him grind, though it was his shortest outing since his 2026 debut, when Sheehan failed to complete four innings against the Diamondbacks.

Sheehan will face one of the more harmless offenses away from home in the big leagues, a nice segue to touch on the stark difference between what the Dodgers’ lineup has produced away from Dodger Stadium and at home. As the visiting club, the Dodgers have a 128 wRC+, while 28 of the other 30 teams sit at 115 or below. Playing in front of their fans, the Dodgers rank a respectable but unimpressive 11th in wRC+ (107).

Facing the Rockies, the Dodgers have the ideal opponent to juice those home stats—Tyler Gordon will be the starter for Colorado, having allowed a two-homer game to Dalton Rushing the last time he faced the NL West leaders and reigning champs.

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Rockies
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
• Start time: 6:10 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

It’s been an unfortunate yet somewhat predictable start to Nick Lodolo’s 2026 season since he missed over a month while dealing with blister issues. It forced him to tweak the way he approaches batters, looking at times to avoid throwing his slider too much and risking a recurrence of the problem. He also, obviously, missed a lot of time he’d otherwise have been building up to his best at the start of what was viewed as a crucial season for him, especially with Hunter Greene on the sidelines for months.

So far, he’s yielded 12 earned runs in just 15 IP across a trio of starts, though at times in his start on May 18th against the Phillies he looked a bit more like his old self. Still, he’s been plagued with the exact same problem as the entirety of the Cincinnati Reds pitching staff as a whole this year, as he’s walked an uncharacteristic 9 batters against just 11 Ks in that time.

For the record, he was fanning hitters at a 9.0 K/9 just last year with a stellar 1.8 BB/9. The Reds, quite frankly. aren’t going to go anywhere in 2026 if he can’t rediscover something close to that form.

He’ll get another shot to find it on Monday in New York as the Reds begin a series against the sputtering New York Mets. The Reds will do so with a rested staff, too, having had Thursday, Friday, and Sunday off thanks to scheduling and some weather postponements.

The Mets, meanwhile, will roll out burgeoning ace Nolan McLean, who has looked mostly brilliant through his first 58.0 IP of the season.

First pitch in the series opener is set for 4:10 PM ET.

Here’s how the Reds will line up for the opener, with Blake Dunn continuing to get run at leadoff and in CF, Eugenio Suarez in the lineup at DH, and hopefully a big pile of runs baked into it:

After a Sunday rainout in Cincinnati, the St. Louis Cardinals will battle the Milwaukee Brewers Monday afternoon. It would be tempting to say that the Cardinals are fighting the Brewers for first place in the NL Central, but this is supposed to just be a development year, so I won’t say what all of us are thinking. The Sunday rainout allowed St. Louis to reset their rotation which is what they hoped to achieve with the callup of Brycen Mautz on Sunday. It appears the the Cardinals will start Matthew Liberatore Monday against the Brewers as they’ll put Jacob Misiorowski on the mound. First pitch scheduled for 1:10pm in American Family Field.

First Pitch (CT):1:10 PM
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN/830 WCCO/102.9 The Wolf /Audacy App
Know Yo’ Foe: South Side Sox

Fresh off a sweep of one set of Sox, the Twins will look to do the same to a White pair this time around. Zebby Matthews is on the mound for the Twins, staying in the rotation after a couple solid outings, while Simeon Woods Richardson has been demoted to long relief for the time being.

They’ll be facing lefty Anthony Kay, who is looking strong after spending two years playing in Japan. Kay’s overall season numbers aren’t dazzling, but he’s been very strong in the month of May with 2.11 ERA in 21.1 innings and four starts. Guys are still getting on base, he’s allowed eight walks and four hit batters this month, so it’ll be up to the middle of the lineup to make sure those guys are coming home this time around.

Also of note: the White Sox currently hold the second AL Wild Card spot while the Twins hold the third. It’s too early in the season for that to particularly matter, but the Twins will likely hold the second spot if they win this series. The White Sox aren’t elite by any stretch, but they are a talented group with a lot of young talent that is moving in the right direction. Even if they don’t maintain a hold on playoff position, they have a young core and a clear path forward, more than they’ve been able to say in years.

I’m spending Memorial Day with some family so I won’t be around the comments, but I’ll see you post-game where Austin Martin will be coming off the first multi homer game of his career (if this comes true, I’ll include the lottery numbers in the recap as well).

Lineups

After an unexpected couple of weeks’ hiatus, I wanted to get back to looking at one promising Blue Jays prospect each week. Today, the Blue Jays’ intriguing 12th round selection in last year’s draft, who’s nearly matching the performance of his much more highly touted teammate, first rounder Jojo Parker.

Blaine Bullard was considered a top 3-5 round talent in the 2025 draft class, ranked #151 by Baseball America. His commitment to Texas A&M was regarded as pretty firm, though, and teams weren’t willing to risk taking him with a top 10 round pick and losing a valuable slot bonus. As a result, he slid out of the top 10 rounds entirely and the Jays were able to tab him 352nd overall. They scraped together $1.7m from money saved on Parker’s bonus and from a couple of later picks plus the allowed 5% bonus pool overage, roughly equivalent to the slot value for the 55th overall pick, and dared him to turn it down.

So far, they have to be happy that he couldn’t. Bullard is an elite athlete with easy plus speed. He’s been able to deploy that to steal 18 bags in 19 tries, one of the best success rates among all high volume runners in A ball. He’s also drawn strong reviews for his routes in centre field, and looks like he’ll ultimately be an above average to plus defender there.

The questions in his profile have all been about his future at the plate. He’s a switch hitter, but naturally left handed, and he’s far more advanced from that side of the plate. The scouting consensus was that he had the potential to be an average or somewhat better pure hitter, although he was seen as raw. He also faced questions about his ultimate power potential, with a lanky build and whippy swing that’s geared to spray grounders and line drives more than elevate for power.

So far, things have looked a little different than expected. Bullard has already launched five home runs in 167 PAs, using his wheels to add in eight doubles and a pair of triples. His .184 isolated slugging is well above the Florida State League average and third best among the 10 teenagers who have gotten regular run there. He’s also struck out a fair bit (30% of the time), though, and hasn’t produced many walks (8%, in a league where the median is 12%). It’s an effective overall package, as his .265/.337/.449 line has been 12% better than league average and in the 68th percentile among teenagers in full season ball, but it’s not quite the shape we expected.

Digging in a little, it appears that part of the difference is due to his switch hitting. All but two of his extra base hits have come from the left side, and his 27% and 9% walk and strikeout rates look a little more like it. He’s a more aggressive than average swinger, but his 68.7% in-zone swing rate and 27.4% chase rate suggest decent underlying plate discipline. He’s making contact inside the zone just 78% of the time, which is less than ideal, but not disastrous by any stretch and not necessarily a surprise for such a young player seeing professional pitching for the first time. When he does hit the ball, he’s delivering the low line drives expected, with a 5.5 degree launch angle, but he actually makes his best contact a little higher, with a 13.7 degree angle on hard hit balls. His 85mph average exit velocity and 27% hard hit rate from that side would both be near the bottom of the scale in MLB but they’re not bad for a teenager and suggest that with a little maturation he could get to the 40-grade raw power many scouts projected for him, with enough hard contact pulled for line drives or fly balls to get to all of it in games.

Things are less promising from the right. He’s struck out 11 times in just 24 PA without a walk, and has just 6 hits, two of them doubles. His 80.6mph average exit velocity is pretty dismal, as is his -4.5 degree launch angle. He’s more aggressive from that side, swinging 54% of the time, and he’s whiffing far too much both inside the zone (67.7% contact rate) and outside it (25%). It’s a small sample because Dunedin hasn’t happened to face that much left handed pitching yet, but it’s at least a yellow flag on his ability to switch hit longer term.

The overall picture is of a very talented player experiencing mixed success with an aggressive assignment to start his pro career. Many high schoolers, including for example last year’s 9th overall pick Steele Hall and Bullard’s draft-classmate Tim Piasentin, would start their first full pro season at the complex. Bullard was sent straight to a real league where he’s more than two years younger than his average competition, and has produced. His speed and defence look to be everything advertised, and his power production has exceeded expectations. He also has clear work to do on refining his approach and contact ability, though. That goes for both sides of the plate, and the gap on the right side is big enough to question whether he might ultimately wind up focusing on his natural left handed stroke full time. He remains one of the higher upside players in the system, with the potential to develop into a Lorenzo Cain or Coco Crisp type table setting centre fielder if everything comes together.

The Los Angeles Dodgers (33-20) open a series against the Colorado Rockies (20-34) in a meet of the first- and last-place teams in the NL West. The Dodgers are favored with a -327 moneyline compared to the Colorado Rockies' +259. Scheduled starting pitchers are Tanner Gordon for Colorado, with a 6.59 ERA, and Emmet Sheehan for Los Angeles, with a 4.93 ERA.

How to watch Colorado Rockies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

• Date: Monday, May 25

• Time: 9:10 p.m. ET / 6:10 p.m. PT

• Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles

• TV Channels: SportsNet LA, Rockies.TV

• Live Stream:ESPN+, MLB.TV | Follow on Yahoo Sports

Team records

• Colorado Rockies: 20-34 (No. 5 in NL West)

• Los Angeles Dodgers: 33-20 (No. 1 in NL West)

Odds

• Spread: Los Angeles Dodgers -1.5

• Moneyline: Los Angeles Dodgers -327 (73.3%) / Colorado Rockies +259 (26.7%)

• Over/Under: 9.0

Starting pitchers

Colorado Rockies: Tanner Gordon (0-0, ERA: 6.59, K: 30, WHIP: 1.50)
Los Angeles Dodgers: Emmet Sheehan (3-1, ERA: 4.93, K: 51, WHIP: 1.27)

Weather: 69°F at first pitch

Ballpark: Capacity: 56,000 | Roof: Open | Surface: Grass

Go Rays!