Pittsburgh (35-34) and Miami (34-35) meet at PNC Park for a three game weekend series in the heat. Miami won four out of seven games last season when the two met, but Pittsburgh took two out of three at home.
Miami has won five straight games and eight of the past nine. The Marlins are currently riding their longest winning streak of the season as the offense has been ripping lately. Miami is hitting .292 over the last five games (2nd) and has nine stolen bases (3rd) to go along with 27 RBI (T-7th). The Marlins also hold the MLB's best ERA in the last seven days at 1.80 with a 1.89 OBA.
The Pirates are coming off a series loss to the Dodgers and have now lost five of the past six games. Pittsburgh ranks 29th in ERA (6.70) over the past seven days (five games) and 28th in the past 15 days (6.14 ERA over 12 games). The Buccos have been struggling but are tied for third in the NL Central and 2.0 games ahead of last place. Pittsburgh was dealt some bad news when Oneil Cruz went on the IL with a broken hand. The offense is hitting .243 (19th) over the past five games with eight home runs (T-6th).
Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Marlins at Pirates
Date: Friday, June 12, 2026
Time: 6:40 PM EST
Site: PNC Park
City: Pittsburgh, PA
Network/Streaming: ESPN / MLB TV
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
The Marlins’ Otto Lopez is hitting .344 with 93 hits, 5 home runs and 30 RBI over 270 at-bats
The Marlins’ Jakob Marsee is hitting .205 with 47 hits and 61 strikeouts over 229 at-bats
The Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds is hitting .265 with 64 hits, 7 home runs, and 40 RBI over 245 at-bats
The Pirates’ Marcell Ozuna is hitting .193 with 36 hits and 60 strikeouts over 187 at-bats
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Marlins at Pirates
The Marlins are 34-35 ATS
The Pirates are 34-35 ATS
The Marlins are 39-27-3 to the Over, ranking seventh-best
The Pirates are 40-27-1 to the Over, ranking sixth-best
The Marlins are 14-16 ATS on the road
The Pirates are 16-19 ATS at home
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Marlins and the Pirates
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday's game between the Pirates and the Marlins:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Marlins on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Marlins at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Over on the Game Total of 8.5
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This was meant to be a rebuilding year for the St. Louis Cardinals. After finishing six games under .500 in 2025, they traded away established veterans like Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, and Brendan Donovan in the hopes of kick-starting a rebuild around their young roster. In a competitive NL Central division, many expected them to be the doormat for at least the 2026 season. Not that the Cardinals' hitters paid attention or cared.
"We are a young group of guys, but I think a lot of it is our mentality," said rookie outfielder Nathan Church. "We're never out of the game, and we're always going to compete, no matter what the score is. I think having that mentality, one through nine, is what's leading to our success."
It's been a surprising amount of success on the offensive side for the Cardinals. Heading into Friday's games, they rank 9th in strikeout rate (21.1%), 9th in Win Probability Added by the offense, 12th in wRC+ (103), 13th in hard-hit rate (40.3%), 14th in runs scored (298), and 14th in OPS (.715). That has the Cardinals eight games over .500 and currently sitting in a playoff spot despite having only one hitter in the starting lineup who's older than 27: Lars Nootbaar, who has played a total of six games this season.
The Cardinals have four hitters with a wRC+ over 110 this season: JJ Wetherholt, a 23-year-old rookie; Ivan Herrera, a 26-year-old in his first year as a starter; Alec Burleson, a 27-year-old elder statesman; and Jordan Walker, a 24-year-old former top prospect who is finally breaking out. In fact, in many ways, Walker is the perfect example of what makes this young Cardinals offense tick.
Jun 2, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) reacts after hitting a one run single against the Texas Rangers during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Once the No. 4 ranked prospect in baseball heading into the 2023 season, Walker had a solid MLB debut, hitting .276/.342/.445 in 117 games in 2023 with 16 home runs and seven steals. However, he wasn't able to build off that over the next two years. In 2024, he hit .201/.253/.366 with a 28.1% strikeout rate and was limited to just 51 MLB games. He got more of an opportunity in 2025, but hit .215/.278/.306 in 111 games with just six home runs and a 31.8% strikeout rate. To many, it seemed like Walker would become another top prospect who failed to live up to expectations, but Walker never wavered. He kept putting in the work with the firm belief that he would produce at the level he believed he was capable of.
“Walker deserves 100 percent of the credit," Cardinals manager Oli Marmol told MLB.com during this week’s Mets series. "This game is hard. He is the one going out there and actually putting it together, having an approach and being consistent. To go from getting beat up the last couple of years to where he is at mentally and physically at the moment, he deserves the credit.”
Marmol expounded on that before Thursday's season finale, suggesting that Walker's confidence has "freed him up to just be an athlete and go out and compete, and we're seeing it in all aspects of his game."
We're also seeing a similar development up and down the Cardinals' lineup. The hitters pride themselves on their preparation and their faithfulness to a plan, believing that putting in the work before stepping out onto the field will give them a crucial mental freedom once the game begins. Even in Walker's offseason work on his swing, he mentioned that he and [assistant hitting coach] Casey Chenoweth discussed their plan for his approach beforehand and then "started hitting off the machine, not thinking much about mechanics at all."
That dedication to a plan carries over into the day-to-day aspects of the regular season as well. Especially because this is a young offense, Marmol and his coaching staff have really stressed the importance of gameplanning and thinking through your approach before ever taking the field or stepping into the batter's box.
"I think there's a lot of teaching, anytime you have a younger group, as far as like just setting up the framework for how you want them to look at a game plan, when to veer from it, the communication in game, what that looks like," explained Marmol before the series finale against the Mets. "They're continuing to get better and better at that. Our hitters meetings are pretty interactive, where it's not just [Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown] talking to the group but them speaking into it, and what their plan is. Each hitter goes through and describes what their plan is that day and what they're trying to do against that specific pitcher, but that continues to evolve as far as how well these guys in-game are making adjustments and communicating those adjustments."
That aspect of gameplanning has been the biggest change for some of these young hitters as they rise from the minors to the big leagues.
"You definitely learn really quickly here that you have to just dive deep and be a really good chess player," explained Church, who had 65 plate appearances with the Cardinals last season but won a starting job this year and is hitting .253/.286/.399 with five home runs, 18 RBI, and four steals in 48 games. "In the minors, you kind of get away with stuff, but big leaguers are smart. They do their homework on hitters. Not saying minor league pitchers don't do that, but just trying to understand what the best pitchers are trying to do [against you]."
May 14, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring the go-ahead run against the Athletics during the ninth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
That was seconded by rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt, another top prospect, who won a starting job in spring training and has impressed with a .248/.354/.388 slash line in 62 games while producing nine home runs, 43 runs scored, 28 RBI, and two steals.
"In the minors, guys are more pitching to their game plan," he explained. "Obviously, the aces of the teams, they make a name doing what they do, so they're gonna do that, but in Triple-A, they're not really game planning too much, just a little bit. Here, it's more of a game plan, so each guy's getting pitched to their weaknesses, and so they'll spend more time scouting that. After that, once the league finds out that you're gonna swing at every slider in the dirt on a two-strike count, you're just gonna see that nonstop."
The hitters' meetings are a great chance for the young hitters and coaches to discuss the tendencies they've been seeing and the ones that they expect to see. Even the youngest MLB players have been playing this game at a high level for long enough that they can identify when a pitcher is attacking them differently, but leaning on coaches and the data they can collect to get specifics is often newer for young hitters.
"I would say the coaches will definitely know [how we're being pitched] because they do a ton of work at just looking out at all of our bats and all the data and things like that," admitted Wetherholt. "I'll definitely have that conversation, like, 'Hey, guys, I'm obviously getting more fastballs in, or getting more sliders down,' and then we'll talk about that and how we want to combat that. If it's a problem, you've got to address it."
Which leads to yet another aspect of hitting that can be challenging for younger hitters: in-season adjustments.
Offseason preparation may be more grueling and time-consuming, but it also feels less pressurized. Even if a hitter is altering their swing or approach, they have five or six months in the offseason to tear things down, construct a plan for rebuilding whatever process they're focused on, and then build it back up with regular checks and tweaks along the way. That's a luxury you don't have in the regular season when you have to not only identify if you're being pitched differently or if there's an issue with your swing, but what the change is and how to combat it, all while still preparing for your game that night. Sometimes, like with Jordan Waker, that can take years to figure out.
"I try and [make adjustments] as quickly as possible, like every at-bat, honestly, is what I try," stated Church. Wetherholt was a bit more temperate, suggesting that, "if you get pitched consistently from back-to-back teams, then you know there's something that people have found that they want to go towards."
Identifying the issue is the first step of the problem, but finding ways to address it during the grind of an MLB regular season is another challenge altogether.
"There's still some stuff that you can do early on in the day, like in the routines where you're working with some mechanical things," admitted Wetherholt. "It's not going to be anything crazy, but we'll talk about just making slight adjustments in the routine, and then, when you get on the field, you're just in compete mode. If anything, a lot can be pitches that you're trying to swing at and hunt, you know, if there are certain pitches that are giving you trouble, try to lay off those, so make those day-to-day adjustments."
Those are the adjustments Wetherholt has already had to make as a rookie. He came out of the gates well, hitting .256/.378/.479 with seven home runs, 27 runs scored, 16 RBI, and four steals in his first 31 MLB games. He then hit a rough patch once the calendar turned to May, slashing .182/.308/.236 with one home run, six RBI, and a 12/7 K/BB ratio in 14 games, but has been able to claw his way back, hitting .286/.351/.357 with one home runs, 10 runs scored, two steals, and a 9/7 K/BB ratio in 17 games since May 19th.
After that first month of the season, it seemed like pitchers started attacking Wetherholt inside more often (7% inside), and also realized that the rookie has a passive approach they could take more advantage of. Up until May, Wetherholt only had a 48% true first pitch strike rate (that excludes first pitch hits, so only when he goes down 0-1 in the count). In his cold stretch in May, that rose to 56% as pitchers found locations in the strike zone early on where Wetherholt didn't feel like offering.
However, from May 19th on, Wetherholt's early ball in play rate has jumped 4%, and his true first pitch strike rate has fallen back to 43%, while his early called strike rate has gone from 21.6% to 19.7%. These are not monumental changes, but are the small, incremental ones that Wetherholt talked about. He noticed that pitchers were being more successful at stealing first pitch strikes against him, so he got a little bit more aggressive, likely in certain areas of the zone where he knew he could still make good contact, and put more balls in play early to avoid falling behind.
"He's just very steady, especially for his age," explained Marmol. "You would think he's been in the league for a while, just the way he handles the ups and downs, and the day-to-day aspect of what we do. There's a certain demeanor to him, a presence, that's just pretty calming. He doesn't ride the highs and lows. It's pretty impressive."
It's impressive and emblematic of an entire lineup filled with young hitters who have tons of confidence and trust in one another.
"I think a lot of it is just having more confidence in myself and just not trying to do too much," said Church about the success of the team's young hitters.
Wetherholt also mentioned the closeness of the lineup: "We all have good relationships, just talk back and forth, hitting-wise. I've talked with [Nolan Gorman] a lot this year, and that's been a ton of fun. And then obviously guys like [Jordan] Walker and Masyn [Winn] are kind of more my age, that helped show me the ropes, but it's just been definitely a combined effort."
A combined effort built on communication and preparation. The Cardinals' hitters will tell you that they don't think too much about their statistics, and they won't be lying. They trust in their gameplanning and know that, if they prepare the right way, they continue to pile up the only stat that matters, wins.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, ranked first in the NL West with a 44-25 record, face the Chicago White Sox, who are first in the AL Central with a 36-31 record. The Los Angeles Dodgers are favored with a -170 moneyline compared to the Chicago White Sox's +140. Starting pitchers are Roki Sasaki for the Dodgers, with a 4.03 ERA, and Anthony Kay for the White Sox, with a 4.40 ERA.
How to Watch Los Angeles Dodgers vs Chicago White Sox
We took a while, but after a month or so off we’re back to asking you about the White Sox and baseball at large vis SB Nation Reacts surveys. This time around, with the White Sox in the catbird seat at the one-third season mark, we issued a straightforward (if unexpected, just a month ago) one:
Woof, lookee what a weak American League and surprisingly strong White Sox team does to a fan base’s confidence! The wild thing is, since we issued the survey, the White Sox have extended their MLB-best run to nine of 13 and moved into first place!
The national questions this week were a little bit fun, a little bit not. First, best hitters in baseball:
No White Sox? OK, OK, no White Sox.
Then, it was (ugh) labor concerns:
Just as things are getting good for us again. Sigh.
Did you miss out on this round of questions? No worry, sign up here to participate in our weekly emailed surveys, and have your White Sox voice be heard!
The Dodgers (44-25) continue their swing through the Midwest tonight as they open a series in the Windy City against the surprising AL Central-leading White Sox (36-31).
The Sox have won seven in a row at home including a pair earlier this week against the NL East-leading Braves. Chicago is one of five American League teams sporting a positive run differential for the season at +10. As positive a stat as that is for Chicago, LA’s run differential is +143 after their series win in Pittsburgh in which they scored 28 runs for the three games.
However, both teams are trending similarly of late. Each is 6–4 over their last 10 games, with comparable offensive production:
Dodgers: .269 team average, have outscored opponents by 14 runs
White Sox: .270 team average, outscored opponents by 9 runs
Tonight’s expected pitching matchup features:
Dodgers: Roki Sasaki (RHP)
3–3 record, 4.03 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 60 K
White Sox: Anthony Kay (LHP)
5–1 record, 4.40 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 46 K
Sasaki brings more swing-and-miss upside, while Kay has been more effective in the win column despite less dominant peripherals. Kay’s challenge will be navigating a Dodgers’ lineup that ranks among MLB’s best in on-base percentage and overall production, while Sasaki faces a Chicago lineup that has been more opportunistic than explosive.
Given recent trends, Sasaki’s ability to control early innings could be critical—Chicago has leaned heavily on momentum and situational hitting rather than overwhelming pitching matchups.
Hot Hitters (Last 10 Games)
Dodgers
Shohei Ohtani: 18-for-41, 3 HR, 9 RBI
Andy Pages: Team leader in HR (15 total) and major power threat [espn.com]
Ohtani is the clear tone-setter for LA BUT he left the series finale against the Pirates early. There has been no confirmation as of publication as to his availability for tonight. Pages flies under the radar somehow but continues to provide middle-of-the-order pop.
White Sox
Miguel Vargas: 11-for-39, 3 HR over last 10 games
Vargas has been Chicago’s most dangerous recent bat, especially in terms of gap-to-gap power and run production.
What to Watch Tonight
Contrast in styles: Dodgers bring lineup depth and power (5.3 runs/game), while the White Sox excel in situational hitting and close-game execution.
Home-field edge: Chicago’s strong home record (22–11) and active home winning streak make this more competitive than the records suggest.
Prior to the season, you would never have said this will be a competitive series. The Dodgers have the statistical edge across the board, but the White Sox counter with home momentum, a recent winning trend, and timely hitting. If the game turns into a higher-scoring affair, it favors Los Angeles; if it stays tight and situational, Chicago has a real shot to take yet another step forward in their surprising season.
Lets dive into tonight’s matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
Follow Rotoworld Player News for the latest fantasy and betting player news and analysis all season long.
Game Details and How to Watch: Dodgers vs. White Sox
Date: Friday, June 12, 2026
Time: 7:40PM EST
Site: Rate Field
City: Chicago, IL
Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, Sportsnet LA, CSN
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
The Latest Odds: Dodgers vs. White Sox
The latest odds as of Friday courtesy of DraftKings:
Moneyline: LA Dodgers (-162), Chicago White Sox (+134)
Spread: Dodgers -1.5 (+105), White Sox +1.5 (-126)
Total: 9.0 runs
Probable Starting Pitchers: Dodgers vs. White Sox for June 12
White Sox: Anthony Kay Season Totals: 61.1 IP, 5-1, 4.40 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 46K, 26 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Dodgers vs. White Sox
Kyle Tucker – 3-12 vs. Pirates earlier this week
Freddie Freeman has hit in 6 straight games (9-21) and 8 of his last 9 (14-36)
Colson Montgomery has hit safely in 3 straight games (3-11)
Andrew Benintendi is 2-13 in his last 5 games
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top Betting Trends & Insights: Dodgers vs. White Sox
The Dodgers are 36-33 on the Run Line this season
The White Sox are 39-28 on the Run Line this season
The OVER has cashed 31 times in LA’s 69 games this season (31-38)
The OVER has cashed 39 times in the White Sox’ 67 games this season (39-26-2)
Expert picks & predictions: Dodgers vs. White Sox
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Dodgers and the White Sox:
Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Dodgers on the Moneyline.
Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Dodgers on the Run Line.
Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Game Total OVER 9.0
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Although the World Cup is starting to take center stage, another day on the diamond awaits, and there's no shortage of value to be found at Polymarket!
Spearheaded by another dominant outing from Jacob Misiorowski, here are our favorite MLB picks for Friday, June 12.
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Jon Metler's expert pick: Dodgers moneyline
Price: 60¢ (-150) at Polymarket
Roki Sasaki may have stumbled out of the gate this season, but over the last 30 days, he's looked every bit like the ace the Los Angeles Dodgers expected. During that stretch, he's posted a 10.73 K/9, a 1.48 ERA, and a 2.29 xFIP, establishing himself as one of the most dominant starters in baseball.
At first glance, Chicago White Sox southpaw Anthony Kay appears capable of creating matchup problems for Los Angeles because of the number of left-handed bats in the Dodgers' lineup. However, this isn't a typical lineup when it comes to platoon splits.
Freddie Freeman has spent his entire career producing against left-handed pitching at nearly the same level as he does against righties, and Kay's sweeping slider isn't nearly as effective against hitters like Kyle Tucker, whose flat swing path matches up well against that pitch shape.
Los Angeles deserves to be a bigger favorite here, and I make the Dodgers closer to 63 cents in this matchup.
Additionally, Alcantara’s first-inning numbers (5.14 ERA with a .758 OPS allowed) are skewed because all eight runs he’s surrendered came across just three games.
Ashcraft, meanwhile, checks in with an absolutely elite .169 batting average and .414 OPS allowed in the opening frame across his 21 career starts.
Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
How to watch: Marlins.TV, SportsNet Pittsburgh
Joe Osborne's expert pick: Brewers -1.5
Price: 53¢ (-110) at Polymarket
Jacob Misiorowski is on an insane tear, allowing just one earned run across his last seven starts and helping the Milwaukee Brewers cover the run line in six of those outings.
The Philadelphia Phillies counter with Andrew Painter, whose 6.21 ERA reflects a difficult season that has included several rough road starts. Meanwhile, Milwaukee's offense is firing on all cylinders, leading MLB in both runs scored and OPS over the past week.
Add in the Brewers' elite offensive production at home and Philadelphia's struggles on the road, and Milwaukee is well-positioned to win by multiple runs tonight.
Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
How to watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, Brewers.TV
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
Pete Crow-Armstrong dives to make yet another five-star catch Thursday in Coors Field | | Denver Post via Getty Images
The Society for American Baseball Research has created something called their Defensive Index, rating players for their defense using a number of different criteria, which you can read about in detail here. The SDI is used, in part, to help decide each year’s Gold Glove and Platinum Glove winners.
SABR announced today that Pete Crow-Armstrong leads all National League players in the SDI, through games of June 7, with an SDI figure of 10.7. Former Cub Cody Bellinger leads all American League players this year at 9.4. Bellinger has played mostly left field for the Yankees this year (54 starts), with nine starts in center field and two in right.
We all know about PCA’s defensive prowess, and he’s likely going to win another Gold Glove this year, and he’ll be a strong candidate for the Platinum Glove, which goes to the best defensive player at any position.
I thought you might also be interested in where other Cubs players rank at their positions in the SDI, through June 7. Here are their rankings among National League players.
Pitcher: The highest-ranked Cubs pitcher is Shōta Imanaga, who ranks tied for 12th at 0.6.
Catcher: Carson Kelly is last among NL catchers at -3.1.
First base: Michael Busch ranks third at 3.0, behind Matt Olson (5.2) and TJ Rumfield (3.4).
Second base: Nico Hoerner ranks fourth at 2.4, behind JJ Wetherholt (4.7), Alex Freeland (3.9) and Ozzie Albies (3.4).
Third base: Alex Bregman (1.9) ranks fifth behind Matt Chapman (8.2), Max Muncy (4.2), Ke’Bryan Hayes (3.5) and Nolan Arenado (2.9).
Shortstop: Dansby Swanson (3.8) ranks second behind Joey Ortiz (4.1).
Left field: Ian Happ ranks sixth at 0.5.
Center field: PCA’s 10.5 is significantly ahead of Andy Pages (8.1).
Right field: Seiya Suzuki leads all right fielders at 3.7, slightly ahead of Corbin Carroll (3.6).
The surprise for me there is Suzuki, who the eye test says has had a good year in the field, though I didn’t necessarily think the metrics would back that up. If he continues along these lines he’ll have a shot at a Gold Glove. Also, Swanson continues to be an elite fielding shortstop even while he’s struggling at the plate. And the Cubs have high-ranking defenders at almost every position.
Here are three and a half minutes of great defensive plays by Cubs so far this year.
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 19: Patrick Sandoval #43 of the Boston Red Sox throws during a Spring Training workout at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 19, 2025 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It was a rough day on the farm on Thursday, with the top four Red Sox affiliates generating zero wins. The FCL Red Sox in the Rookie League did win a game 26-6, though, and Franklin Primera went 4-for-5 with a homer and six RBI. The 18-year-old is slashing .448/.587/.731 in 22 games with five home runs in the Complex League. I think I agree with Ed Hand, a new challenge might be in order for Primera.
Starting to think Franklin Primera might be too good for the Complex League. https://t.co/6SL0JNhAD1
Game One: Rochester Red Wings 6, Worcester Red Sox 4 (BOX)
Game Two: Canceled
All of New England waits with bated breath as Patrick Sandoval’s rehab continues at Worcester. Sandoval, who as a reminder is in year two of a 2-year, $18.25M deal, started the game and worked his way up to 33 pitches (18 strikes) in 1 ⅔ innings on Thursday. He allowed one run and struck out three.
Matt Thaiss got the scoring started early, with a three-run bomb in the top of the first off of old friend Luis Perales.
Perales threw the first 3 ⅔ innings for the Red Wings (WAS), allowing eight baserunners and four earned runs. Perales was bailed out though as the Worcester bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Zack Kelly allowed five baserunners and two runs over an inning and a third, before Devin Sweet got the loss, allowing three runs in two innings.
Nathan Hickey’s RBI double accounted for the fourth run for the Woo Sox, in a seven inning game which was supposed to be part of a doubleheader. However, the second game was rained out, and has been labeled as “Canceled” rather than “Postponed”.
Raymond Burgos (1-3, 7.11) gets the ball for the Woo Sox at 6:45 today. Since Brayan Bello had to warm up for the game, before its cancellation, he will be pushed back to Saturday.
Bello warmed up for Game 2 before Rochester had to pull the tarp for inclement weather.
Dalton Rogers got the start for the Sea Dogs and struggled against Reading (PHI), allowing nine baserunners and four runs over three innings, taking the loss. Rogers had been excellent in his first three double-A starts, yet to allow a run in the ten previous innings, before a tough one on Thursday.
On the hitting side, left fielder Will Turner had two hits, including his seventh home run. Brooks Brannon and Johanfran Garcia also contributed two hits and an RBI a piece.
Gage Ziehl (2-2, 4.98) will take the mound on Friday at 6:45 for Portland.
Jojo Ingrassia got the start for the Drive and threw three excellent innings, allowing on ehit and striking out four Dash hitters (CWS) and left in a 0-0 game. After that, it got ugly!
Greenville reliever Joe Vogatsky got the loss before giving way to PJ Labriola, who allowed six earned runs. The Drive lone run came on a double play ground ball to cut the lead to 8-1. Let’s move past this one.
Greenville has yet to announce a starter for tonight at 6:45.
Fayetteville Woodpeckers 12, Salem RidgeYaks 5 (BOX)
Salem pitching was hit hard by the Woodpeckers (HOU) in this game across the board, beginning with starter Leighton Finley who allowed four runs in 4 ⅓ innings, so let’s focus on the hitting. Avinson Pinto had an RBI single, D’Angelo Ortiz knocked in two with a single of his own, and Ilan Fernandez scored a run with a double. Skylar King stole his 20th base of the year.
The RidgeYaks will send Brady Tygart (0-0, 7.71) to the hill on Friday at 6:35.
This week has featured more big-league debuts, more IL stints, and more lineup shuffling. Let's break it all down.
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Arizona Diamondbacks
Geraldo Perdomo was recently dropped to the bottom half of the lineup after hitting inside the top three in every game through June 3. Pavin Smith returned from the IL in June and has been the primary DH against righties. Tommy Troy is the primary left fielder with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. sidelined.
Athletics
Lawrence Butler still isn't an everyday player, even against righties. Henry Bolte isn't one either, but he's starting far more often than Butler. Carlos Cortes remains in a strict platoon but draws a premium lineup slot (typically 1-4) against RHP. Zack Gelof has started every game since May 3.
Atlanta Braves
They've faced one lefty and one righty since Ronald Acuña Jr. landed on the IL. Michael Harris led off against the righty, with Mauricio Dubón getting the role against the southpaw. Austin Riley hasn't hit higher than fifth since May 18. Dominic Smith has been locked in at DH against righties for weeks.
Baltimore Orioles
Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo both returned from minor injuries on Thursday. Colton Cowser has become an everyday player against righties, which wasn't the case until recently. Coby Mayo still isn't starting every game, but the trend is in the right direction. Jeremiah Jackson's playing time has evaporated in June. Overall, the Orioles seem to be consolidating playing time more than they did to open the season.
Boston Red Sox
Jarren Duran has hit leadoff in every game since May 1. Mickey Gasper has overtaken Carlos Narváez as the starting catcher. Caleb Durbin has started every game since May 28 after starting just three of the previous nine.
Chicago Cubs
Pete Crow-Armstrong moved up to leadoff (second against lefties) on May 23 and hasn't looked back. They've been remarkably consistent with their starting nine.
Chicago White Sox
Braden Montgomery has started all three games in right field since his call-up. Sam Antonacci (vs. RHP) and Chase Meidroth (vs. LHP) are still splitting the leadoff role. Jacob Gonzalez has started 8 of 11 since being called up.
Cincinnati Reds
JJ Bleday has started every game since April 29. Blake Dunn has been the primary leadoff option, though it isn't an exclusive role. Noelvi Marte has started four of seven since being recalled from Triple-A. Edwin Arroyo has started six of nine since his call-up. Matt McLain is handling shortstop with Elly De La Cruz sidelined.
Cleveland Guardians
Steven Kwan is still hitting in the bottom third of the lineup. Brayan Rocchio has missed only three games this year. Travis Bazzana leads off against righties and hits fourth or fifth against lefties.
Colorado Rockies
Cole Carrigg has manned center field in all three games since debuting, batting sixth or seventh. Jake McCarthy leads off against right-handers; Willi Castro does so against southpaws.
Detroit Tigers
Gleyber Torres has returned from the IL and hit 1-3 in every game since. Colt Keith has been dropped in the order against righties as a result. Dillon Dingler has sat just once since May 3.
Houston Astros
Jose Altuve is back from the IL and hitting fifth. Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes are hitting 3-4 after all the offseason hand-wringing about whether there would be enough playing time to go around. Carlos Correa's injury changed that calculus. Yordan Alvarez has missed only one game this season. Joey Loperfido is back from Triple-A, seemingly to platoon with Brice Matthews in left field.
Kansas City Royals
Jac Caglianone is on fire and has started against each of the past five lefties he's had the opportunity to face. Carter Jensen leads off against righties with Lane Thomas getting the job against left-handers. Michael Massey and Nick Loftin are platooning at second base.
Los Angeles Angels
Wade Meckler hits third against righties with Vaughn Grissom sidelined. Trey Mancini has started at first base in two of the past three games since his recall. The depth in this lineup wasn't strong to open the season, and it's really hurting without Grissom, Jorge Soler, and Yoán Moncada.
Los Angeles Dodgers
All eyes are on whether Shohei Ohtani is in Friday's lineup after he exited Thursday with knee inflammation. Andy Pages has hit second or third in each of his starts since May 26. Mookie Betts has been at cleanup since the same date. Kyle Tucker has mostly batted fifth or sixth lately. Ryan Ward and Alex Call share a left field platoon.
Miami Marlins
Kyle Stowers is up to five games (four starts) at first base, cutting into Connor Norby's recent opportunities. Xavier Edwards has oscillated between leadoff and cleanup this season, which shifts the balance between runs and RBI opportunities. Joe Mack ranks 15th in plate appearances among primary catchers since his debut.
Milwaukee Brewers
Andrew Vaughn remains the odd man out against righties but continues to mix in. David Hamilton is consolidating the shortstop playing time versus right-handers. Gary Sánchez's playing time has cratered since everyone got healthy.
Minnesota Twins
Royce Lewis has started all five games since returning from Triple-A, three at first base and two at second. Brooks Lee is sticking at third base while Tristan Gray and Orlando Arcia split shortstop. Kody Clemens and Josh Bell consistently hit 3-4.
New York Mets
Some consistency has developed, with Mark Vientos losing the most playing time. He has started once in their past seven games. Jared Young is the primary cleanup option versus RHP.
New York Yankees
Paul Goldschmidt has been an everyday player since May 20 and is typically hitting inside the top three. Anthony Volpe has started 10 of 15 at shortstop since Jose Caballero returned from the IL. Caballero has started 11 times in that span, but he's back to moving around the diamond. Spencer Jones has been in the lineup against three of the four right-handers since his recall.
Philadelphia Phillies
The most consistent lineup of the past month now that Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott start against the majority of southpaws. Derek Hill was acquired from the White Sox on Thursday, possibly to platoon with Justin Crawford.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Konnor Griffin and Oneil Cruz being sidelined puts a damper on MLB's sixth-highest scoring offense. Spencer Horwitz gets the leadoff role against RHP with Nick Gonzales filling it against LHP. Jared Triolo is the everyday shortstop with Griffin out. Marcell Ozuna's playing time against righties has diminished lately.
San Diego Padres
Gavin Sheets has started all but two games since May 8. Bryce Johnson, Samad Taylor, and Jase Bowen are getting corner-outfield reps with Ramon Laureano on the IL and Nick Castellanos having been designated for assignment.
San Francisco Giants
Bryce Eldridge has started 15 of 16, but he hasn't hit higher than fifth this year. Casey Schmitt has led off every game in June. Drew Gilbert is sharing center field with Jonah Cox.
Seattle Mariners
Colt Emerson has a chance to stick at shortstop with JP Crawford on the IL. Cole Young has hit leadoff against righties in Crawford's absence. Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley continue to mash in strong-side platoon roles.
St. Louis Cardinals
Lars Nootbaar is back from the IL and hitting fifth versus RHP. He sat against the one southpaw they've faced since his return. Bryan Torres has sat three straight with Nootbaar back. Nathan Church is off the IL and playing center field with Victor Scott II now at Triple-A.
Tampa Bay Rays
Cedric Mullins has started against seven of the past eight lefties they've seen. Ryan Vilade and Austin Slater are hitting in the top half of the order against southpaws.
Texas Rangers
Joc Pederson (vs. righties) and Wyatt Langford (vs. lefties) are sharing leadoff duties. Evan Carter is back to sitting against lefties now that Langford has returned. Ezequiel Duran has started every game since April 29, bouncing between first base, second base, and right field since Corey Seager got healthy and reclaimed shortstop.
Toronto Blue Jays
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit leadoff on Tuesday, but that was a game George Springer sat. Nathan Lukes hits first or second against righties. Andrés Giménez platoons at shortstop with Charles McAdoo. Against left-handers, McAdoo slides to second base with Ernie Clement covering short.
Washington Nationals
Curtis Mead still sits against the occasional righty, but he's frequently used off the bench in those games. Luis García Jr. gets the two-hole against righties. Daylen Lile has missed only one game this year.
BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 30: Trey Yesavage #39 of the Toronto Blue Jays walks back to the dugout out during a baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 30, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Yankees faced a decently big test earlier this week as they took on the Cleveland Guardians — who are near the top of the AL Central — in a series without Aaron Judge. Capped off by a big win on Wednesday, the Yankees passed that test, sweeping all three games against Cleveland. Next up is another challenge, and one that could have an even greater impact on the playoff races this season.
Starting tonight, the Yankees will be making their first trip north of the border. While the Blue Jays aren’t currently in the AL East race, and are even below .500, you’d still expect them to get back into things at some point. They’ve also had the Yankees’ number somewhat recently, including knocking the Bombers out in the ALDS last year. However, they’ve not been not been especially great recently, going 4-7 over their last 11.
Before the action gets going later tonight, here’s a look at the expected pitching matchups over the next couple days.
Friday: Ryan Weathers vs. TBD (7:37 pm ET)
After a decent hot run in May and early June, Weathers has struggled in his most of his recent outings. His ERA has gone from 3.00 to 3.86 over his last four starts, and that included seven scoreless against the Rays during that run. One of his iffy recent performances came against the Blue Jays back on May 18th. He got knocked out after five runs and 5.1 innings.
At least at time of writing, the Blue Jays haven’t officially announced their rotation for this weekend’s series, but they’ll have regular starters on regular rest for the set, so Friday seems likely to be Trey Yesavage. That’s unfortunate for the Yankees, as they still have yet to figure out the Toronto youngster. He has had some iffy outings lately, but that doesn’t include the six innings he shutout the Yankees on May 20th.
Saturday: Cam Schlittler vs. TBD (3:07 pm ET)
The Yankees’ own young ace will go in the second game of the series. Following a couple starts that had some iffy signs, Schlittler fully bounced back against the Red Sox last weekend. He gave up just one run on four in 5.2 innings, helping the Yankees down Boston.
Again, nothing confirmed for this game, but it’s most likely that Kevin Gausman will go for Toronto in game two. The Yankees missed Gausman in the two teams’ earlier meeting this season. Last season, the Yankees got to him in their initial meeting, but then Gausman get the better of them in the following three. That included one in the ALDS, holding them to one run in 5.2 innings.
Sunday: Will Warren vs. TBD (1:37 pm ET)
Warren has his foibles, but he’s still been pretty impressive on the whole. He’s only allowed more than three runs in a start just once this season, and that was over a month ago at this point. In the first meeting between these two teams, Warren picked up a victory over the Jays, having held Toronto to three runs in five innings.
Finally, the most likely starter for Toronto in the finale is Patrick Corbin. After several years of being the worst starter in baseball, Corbin has somewhat bounced back this season, although he’s been worse of late. He had a 3.60 ERA through May 6th, but he has a 5.60 ERA since. He was okay but not great against the Yankees during that stretch, but the Yankees probably should’ve done better than they did.
We step outside the lab to look at a situation that is becoming more and more dire. However. we have to constantly remain guarded against the hyperbolic. People are often drawn to the extremes on managers. It was Whitey Herzog that said he was two players away from the pennant when he managed the Kansas City Royals: Babe Ruth and Cy Young. The clear implication is that players drive championships.
I don’t know if there has ever been a comprehensive study of how many games a good manager is worth or how many games a bad manager can cost a team. I can promise you it isn’s as much as most people think. For instance, on Monday night, Joe Espada made the same move as on Wednesday night. It worked once and backfired the second time. Therefore, it would be fair to assert that he is batting .500. However, I would argue that he was wrong on both nights, but that is besides the point.
I’ve already made this argument before and regular readers will be well aware of that. The difference is that the team is playing better baseball over the last month. They were nearly .500 in May and seem to be on the same trajectory in June. That means that every blunder is actually magnified that much more. A bad baseball team doesn’t need a good manager. A mediocre one could use a good manager if the rest of the league is mediocre.
Two teams have already made managerial changes and they were arguably in the same boat as the Astros. They were bigger payroll teams that came into the season with some level of expectations. The differences between how they have performed are as different as their situations. Suffice it to say that interim managers can sometimes work out, but much of the time it is more of the same. Obviously, it depends on whether they were fired for specific malpractice or just generic underperformance. Let’s look at those two situations.
Boston Red Sox
Alex Cora: 10-17 Chad Tracy: 17-22
It is just one man’s opinion, but this one is on Craig Breslow the general manager. He has the most similar situation in baseball to Dana Brown and the Astros. The two were dancing most the winter, but they were dancing to two different songs. I suppose in some sense the winning percentage under Tracy has improved, but I would call this spinning their wheels.
Philadelphia Phillies
Rob Thomson: 9-19 Don Mattingly: 28-12
This was clearly a situation of a team underperforming. I can guarantee that the Phillies were not as bad as they were under Thomson and they aren’t as good as they have been under Mattingly. However, results are results. The Phillies are now right back in the wild card race where they likely would have been to begin with.
Obviously, I’m not comparing the Astros situation to either situation. Every team is in their own soup so to speak. However, there are a few reasons why I think now is the right time to move on from Espada. It is more specific to what he is actually doing than how the team is playing.
He regularly gets outmanaged
This doesn’t happen nearly as often as it used to when pitchers hit, but the end of games is a chess match between managers. Managers choose when and if to pinch hit for certain regulars or bring in defensive replacements. They choose when to bring in certain relievers based on matchups against the other team. Espada regularly gets outmaneuvered by more experienced and more intelligent managers. In some cases he just overthinks things and makes moves for the sake of making moves.
The example I can think of was the Friday night game against Milwaukee. He broughtin Brice Mathews as a defensive replacement for some reason and then he had to hit with the bases loaded and one out. Pat Murphy manuevered right into that situation. He was thinking a couple of moves ahead. Espada was throwing darts at a board. That move likely cost the Astros that game.
He mismanages the pitching staff
I have come to call Espada Joe “One inning too long” Espada. He is constantly trying to get an extra inning out of relievers and starters. I get it on a certain level. This is epsecially true early in the year when the starters were trash. However, even now he is leaning way too often on multiple inning relief outings and there have been numerous occasions where the relievers throw a scoreless frame and then give up runs in the subsequent inning. It is to the point where they should be charged as managerial runs.
I mentioned Monday and Wednesday night. Why is Hader coming into a tie game in the ninth? Why is Abreu the guy taking the ball in the 10th. Heck, why is Abreu within 300 miles of a close game at this point? Just because a gamble works doesn’t mean it is a good gamble. Managers are generally more successful when they play the percentages. Espada doesn’t do that nearly often enough.
Sunday Fun Day
In all fairness, Espada is not the only manager to do this. Jimy Williams used to do it all the time. I called the “YMCA Everyone gets to play” Day. You empty out your bench and sub for as many regulars as you can. That waves a white flag. Obviously, it happens a lot on Snnday but Sunday is not the only day of the week Espada raises the white flag. Smarter managers stagger their load management. The rest one guy at a time.
This doesn’t even mention the fact that with all of the injuries you are hampering yourself when you give guys days off. I get that an occasional breather helps keep guys fresh but when you are starting your backup catcher (who was hitting under .100), that is probably not the best time to start both backup infielders and a backup outfielders.
Putting it all together
This is a simple math problem. If you want to get into the playoffs you need to get to between 83 and 87 wins. If you are doing that then you need to finish 11-15 games above .500 the remainder of the season. This can be a good baseball team but it is not a great one. The good news is that every team is in the same board. However, it means that you cannot afford to give away close games through routine managerial blunders. The sooner you make the change the better.
PITTSBURGH, PA - JUNE 11: Shohei Ohtani (17) of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a solo home run in the third inning during an MLB game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 11, 2026 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Shohei Ohtani has set the baseball world on fire on the mound despite his most recent start on Wednesday, and he’s been picking up the pace with the lumber as well since May 12.
Ohtani capped off the three-game set in Pittsburgh with his second home run in as many games while reaching base four times in the Dodgers 8-6 win, but the two-way superstar was an early exit on Thursday due to left knee inflammation. It wasn’t that long ago that on May 26 against the Colorado Rockies, Ohtani also exited early after getting plunked on the wrist.
Dave Roberts spoke with Kirsten Watson about Ohtani’s exit, noting that he acknowledged the discomfort around the sixth inning on Thursday. Roberts doesn’t expect him to miss Friday’s opener against the Chicago White Sox.
I feel good about him being in there tomorrow, but obviously with the travel tonight, we just gotta see how he comes in… I don’t know if it was when he tried to steal second base, but I didn’t hear about it last night, didn’t hear about it today until about the sixth inning.
Justin Wrobleski was also an early exit on Thursday, as after a collision with Bryan Reynolds on a play at first, the left-hander came up limping and was removed with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Wrobleski left with a left hamstring contusion, but when speaking with the media postgame, he’s not worried about his injury and noted that his poor performance on the mound resulted in his departure.
“I didn’t throw the ball very well today just as a whole… It was just one of those outings for me where I just wasn’t synced up perfect, but felt good. Thank God I’m okay, Reynolds is okay, so thankfully for that situation, everyone’s good.”
The Dodgers bullpen struggled over the final two games of the three-game set in Pittsburgh, with Kyle Hurt and Jack Dreyer allowing the lead to slip on Tuesday while the bullpen accounted for eight runs allowed in the series.
Tanner Scott managed to bounce back over what has been a worrisome past two weeks, getting a four-out save while striking out a trio of hitters that managed to account for four home runs against the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth inning. Scott spoke with Watson after recording his seventh save of the season about the bullpen’s ability to quickly turn the page after a rough outing.
“Confidence is huge. We have a great bullpen and we have a lot of special arms. One game happens, you just gotta flush it and move on to the next one.”
Old friends in new places
Outfielder James Outman has found a new home in the AL Central, as the Detroit Tigers announced on Thursday that they claimed him off waivers from the Minnesota Twins.
Since departing from the Dodgers in the Brock Stewart deal last year, Outman struggled to find any significant playing time with the big league level with Minnesota. He slashed just .151/.224/.302 with four home runs and 10 RBI, posting a -0.6 fWAR across 86 combined games before being designated for assignment on June 6.
SEATTLE, WA - MAY 02: Kyle Isbel #28 of the Kansas City Royals looks on prior to the game between the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on Saturday, May 2, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Rod Mar/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The big news yesterday was the Kyle Isbel injury. Anne Rogers reported it:
On Thursday, he was diagnosed with a Grade 3 tear of a portion of his left plantar fascia, which is a severe tear and will take some time to heal before he gets back to baseball activity. The Royals are hoping to have a better understanding of a timeline for his return after Isbel is further evaluated in the coming days.
Isbel began limping as he got aboard with a single. He knelt on the base before walking slowly toward the Royals’ dugout.
“I think it was like my first step past the base,” Isbel said. “Kind of tried to turn it on and get a double and felt it in my foot.”
The Royals placed Isbel on the 10-day injured list Wednesday. Now, he will begin the long road to recovery.
It sounds like this recovery is going to be measured in weeks or months, not days.
The team got better news about Seth Lugo and his scary injury. Again, per Anne:
Lugo went through the necessary testing and protocol Wednesday night, and his CT scan came back clear, which is an even better sign. With the welt that has formed on his head, Lugo said he feels the throbbing when he bends over but hasn’t had any headaches. His left elbow is cut up and actually hurts the most from falling on it.
Lugo received a lot of support from his teammates. Multiple players came up to check on him as he got ready for Thursday’s game.
“It’s family in here,” Lugo said. “When something like that happens, it’s scary. You know, it’s one of the dangers of baseball. And as a pitcher, you know, you can’t think of that before it happens. You would never throw a strike. We all feel for each other when something bad happens out there, but you know, it’s part of the game.”
The Royals haven’t determined Lugo’s next steps. It’s still too early to tell how his symptoms will progress in coming days. He had a large bump on his forehead and a few scratches on his arm.
How about three stories from The Athletic ($) about the Royals?
On June 18, Under Armour will drop a player-exclusive cleat and turf shoe for Bobby Witt Jr., a move that, on the surface, reads as a standard brand decision for one of baseball’s best young players. But for Witt, it’s the ultimate “Dream Pull.”
…“Dream Pull” is inspired by the thrill of ripping a pack of baseball cards and chasing a big hit. It’s that collector’s high that has driven recent growth in the hobby and prompted pro players like Witt to collect.
…Collectors and fans have multiple ways to get the new footwear. Starting on June 18, limited quantities of the Dream Pull will be available in both cleat and turf versions on Under Armour’s website and mobile app, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Academy.com. Anyone who purchases through Dick’s Sporting Goods or Under Armour receives an exclusive Panini card in the box. But on June 20, the Under Armour Factory House in Kansas City will stock pairs with some boxes containing randomly placed autographed Witt Jr. cards. (The Dream Pull PE will be playable in MLB The Show 2026’s “Road to the Show” game mode.)
This is my second or third shoe story in the last couple of months. I’m currently working on a shoe-related OT, but it’s not ready yet. Can you do a little better on your timing, guys?
When the Kansas City Royals traded catcher Freddy Fermin to the San Diego Padres at last year’s deadline, they were happy to acquire right-handers Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert. They also knew Carter Jensen was nearly ready for the majors, making them deep enough at catcher to pull off such a move.
The Royals lack the pitching equivalents of what Jensen was, potential candidates for next year’s rotation in the upper minors. So, even if they fall out of contention, they likely will not be as comfortable moving starters such as right-handers Seth Lugo (under club control through 2027) and Michael Wacha (through 2027).
Left-hander Kris Bubic, a potential free agent, would be more likely to go, along with others on expiring contracts — outfielder Lane Thomas, lefty reliever Matt Strahm and righty reliever John Schreiber, among them.
The Royals, like all teams, are open to anything. If they could trade Wacha and/or Lugo for quality pitchers under longer club control, they would need to consider it. Any form of teardown, though, is likely not an option. The Royals want to win with shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and third baseman Maikel Garcia, both of whom are under contract through at least 2030.
Keith Law released his Mock Draft 2.0 yesterday and had the Royals taking “Jacob Lombard”.
Over the past few weeks, the manager Matt Quatraro has been shuffling around his lineup. Maikel Garcia has not led off for the Royals since May 27, partially to place him in the heart of the batting order, and partially due to a hamstring injury. Since May 27, Quatraro has favored Carter Jensen to lead off against right-handed pitchers and Lane Thomas against left-handed pitchers. However, Jensen has been slumping lately, and it could be time to shake up the order yet again.
…Massey is far from the perfect leadoff hitter. His current on-base percentage of .283 is less ideal. His baserunning does not stand out in particular. His sprint speed is below average in the 37th percentile. He has only one stolen base attempt this season and has been thrown out more often than he advances when trying to take the extra base on the basepaths. If Massey can‘t improve his baserunning, he could be a frustrating fixture on the bases with stars like Bobby Witt Jr. at the plate.
Also at Royals Keep, Matt Crossland writes about one of my… do I say “favorite” topics(?)… in “The Tragic Tale of Gil Meche”:
In a memorable game against the Diamondbacks, Meche pitched a complete game shutout, only giving up four hits and striking out six. At the time, it was seen as Meche’s masterpiece, but there was only one stat that stuck out like a sore thumb: his pitch count. Meche threw 132 pitches, which is too many pitches to throw for a shutout, and it would eventually take a toll on him. Manager Trey Hillman again gave Meche too long a leash in his next two starts as he threw 121 and 114 pitches in back-to-back starts. He would finish 2009 with a record of 6–10 and an ERA of 5.09 while giving up almost 8 earned runs per game over his last nine starts. He would not be the same pitcher after that.
And this is the perfect time to link to Poz’s article from the time. The “how would you wash a unicorn” analogy has stuck with me to this day:
I don’t know. Maybe at some point, when you’re SO FAR down the wrong road, you just go: “What the hell, might as well keep going and hope we run into something good.” Maybe it would have been more damaging to have Meche throw 117 pitches and then pull him before the inning was done. I don’t know. I really don’t know. We are in such la-la land here, there can be no logical questions … these are like “How would you wash a unicorn?” questions. I do know that Meche threw four more pitches and did get Morneau to fly out to right.
We have a couple of blogs that don’t post very often.
Actually, that’s unfair to Jeff Wayman at The Diamond Chronicles. He posts mostly on Mondays. But I never get to link to his stuff because, well, it wouldn’t be very timely for “Friday Rumblings”. Still, I’ll do it this week to remind you to check him out on Mondays.
Patrick Glancy is mostly posting to his new blog, Powder Blue Pulp. But he did some baseball writing this week, too: “Back to Baseball”. He wrote about what has happened with the team this season so far.
I’m writing this on my birthday, the day before I actually publish it on Substack, and it feels a little strange to be back in baseball mode again. As most of you know, I’ve been hard at work on my debut crime novel, Shivering in Hell, which I announced in my most recent post. I’ve also been publishing short fiction through my other newsletter, Powder Blue Pulp, and I haven’t actually written about baseball since I made my preseason predictions back in March.*
A few weeks ago, over on another blog, we were talking about dinosaurs and the idea of paleontology came up. I was also in Chicago over the past weekend and we were at the Field Museum.
We joke all the time about civilizations from the future that dig up our current time and make bad assumptions. You know, the jokes about how future archeologists will dig up Memphis and assume large swaths of the population worshipped a god-king named Elvis. Better authors than I have come up with great angles on this idea.
But I was having fun noodling around with the (literally) mind-boggling concept of time and had a little fun.
I’m not a great student of history so we’re going to fall down a wiki rabbit hole. I know Wikipedia is imperfect, but it’s good for general knowledge like this.
* * * * *
We’re going to start with this concept: Events from 50 years ago seem old to an individual human. We only get, at best, maybe 100 years on this earth. 300 years ago is another civilization entirely. It seems like a good “block” to measure time in this exercise.
300 years ago (1726), the world was a very different place. Humans hadn’t achieved space flight, automobiles, or flight. But there were crude trains and civilization had sailed the seas for much longer. There was no United States, but there were a lot of other modern countries you could name. How many people could you name that were alive in 1726? Benjamin Franklin? Isaac Newton? Johan Sebastian Bach? Voltaire? Maybe you couldn’t have told me with certainty they were alive then, but you know who they were and that we were in the ballpark. It’s history, but it’s nowhere near ancient history. And this is where our journey starts.
We’re going to use a quick little “o” to represent each 300-year block. A graphic designer, I am not.
Another 300 years before that (1426) is the late Middle Ages and the start of the Renaissance. I could probably give you a few bits off the top of my head. I’d be wrong about some of it, but I’d be right about quite a bit. Joan of Arc, Vlad the Impaler, Johannes Gutenberg? We know those names. Gotta be honest, I only know of Donatello because of TMNT. But anyone with a real appreciation of art would know him. FYI: Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael don’t come along until later in the century.
Suffice to say, I feel like we have a “decent” grasp of these first two sets of “300-year” blocks. There are many major events logged in many parts of the world. There’s just a lot of written history from these times. Modern history is aware of so much happening at these times that Wiki’s editors have to spend a significant amount of energy to limit pages to “important” things.
I think this is our first major jump. Could you even tell me anything about 1126? Maybe a couple of things, but it wouldn’t be many. Dark Ages, Indeed. How much do people even know about that time? I asked Gemini who are the most famous people alive at that time and didn’t recognize any names. Anyone here a big fan of Peter Abelard, Henry I, Imad al-Din Zengi, or Emperor Huizong of Song? I’m not saying they aren’t famous – Gemini assures me that Huizong is one of China’s most famous rulers – I just don’t know who they are. Looking at the map, there’s a few countries that have their modern name, even if they’re in different shapes (England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, France, Poland, Hungary, Ethiopia, Oman, Yemen, Japan, etc). But there’s no Spain, no Germany, no Turkey, no Greece, no China, no India, no Russia.
Our information is becoming sparse very quickly. Know anything about 826? 526? Each of those years barely has a page worth of stuff on Wikipedia. We just don’t know much. How about that 500 AD map above? I don’t think there’s a single country there that has the same name. Maybe Nepal? Ghana and Albania exist, but not where they are today. 226 has an artifact in modernity: Saint Valentine! He was born in 226 and died in 269.
Now we’ve crossed over into BC. 74 BC and 374 BC have a couple of entries of known events. 674 BC only has one. Just think about that for a second. This is less than 3000 years ago. It’s in a time when there was paper and civilization. Various estimates have the world population between 50M and 150M, so let’s split the difference. There were 100M people wandering around and we know of exactly one thing that happened in the entire world. 100,000,000 people! That’s more than France, the UK, Germany, Turkey, or Iran. That’s Italy plus Canada put together. That’s California, Texas, New York, and Illinois combined (using 2022 estimates).
And we know next to nothing. If you’re curious:
Esarhaddon puts down a revolt in Ascalon supported by Taharqa, king of Kush and Egypt. In response, the Assyrians invade Egypt, but Taharqa is able to hold them off.
Here’s our next big gap. When I search Wikipedia for 974 BC, it redirects me to the page for 970s BC. We can’t even tell you anything that happened in 974. But we know that Egyptian pharaoh Shoshenq I was born and King Zhao of the Chinese Zhou dynasty ascended to the throne during that decade. In Israel, King Solomon may have had his coronation and King David might have been born – but it’s listed as “possible”.
.oooooooooo <- You are here (974 BC)
The 1270s BC were surprisingly busy. While 1274 doesn’t get its own page, there are a number of events on the 1270 page listed as happening in 1274. For instance, the Battle of Kadesh is noted as being “the largest (5,000–6,000) chariot vs. chariot battle in antiquity”. The 1570s BC page is starting to look like the pages for 826 and 526 AD. Only instead of knowing of only a couple of events those years, it’s only a couple of events from that decade.
Did you know that the Bronze Age isn’t a specific set of years for the world? It’s different for different parts of the world? I guess that makes sense, but I didn’t know that until I started looking this up.
.oooooooooooo <- You are here (1574 BC)
* * * * *
So, after 12 hops of 300 years, we get another major jump in Wikipedia chronology. Our 13th jump gets us to 1874 BC. It doesn’t even redirect me to a decade. Now it’s just a century. None of the dates are exact, and there are only about 20 major events. Kansas City gets a mention(!): “1836 BC-1818 BC: Head of Senusret III is made. Twelfth dynasty of Egypt. It is now kept at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.”
.ooooooooooooo <- You are here (1874 BC)
This is both fascinating and boring at the same time. For each entry I run across, the picture gets fuzzier and fuzzier. I’m not going to keep stretching this out one by one.
We’re going to skip a few to 20 jumps of 300 years. A nice, round 6000 years. This is the last page Wikipedia has for a single century: 40th century BC. There are no entries on the page that can point to a single year. There are things like “approximate time of the construction of the Merheleva Ridge complex”, “the Linear Pottery culture gives way to the Funnelbeaker culture in the north”, and “plough in use”. That’s it. That’s all we’ve got.
Also, here’s a sobering thought for anyone trying to make a name for themselves across history. Population estimates have the world at anywhere between 7M and 50M people. And you know what? There isn’t a single name of a single person known from that century. Or for the next century. Or even a few more. Seriously.
Writing doesn’t come about until about 3300BC and do you know our best bet at who is the oldest name in history? A guy named “Kushim the Accountant” who signed his name to a number of stone tablets counting barley shipments. Eat your heart out, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. The first person in recorded history? Kushim, a late Stone Age Excel guy.
I’m hesitant to add this because of the sensitive nature of the topic. But we’re all adults here, so we can talk about it. Biblically, this is about how old the Earth is. That is, if you add up your begats, take your ages literally, and claim the Earth was created in six literal 24-hour days. It assumes fastidious record-keeping with very limited corroborating evidence, documents people who are hundreds of years old (969-year-old Methuselah, 950-year-old Noah, and 930-year-old Adam come to mind), and even whistles past some minor genealogical conflicts in different books of the Bible. Personally, I could also argue that it misses the main message, claiming it as literal and perfect records rather than trying to point towards the idea of God keeping his covenant.
.oooooooooooooooooooo <- You are here (3974 BC)
* * * * *
After that, Wiki skips to millennia. Not just our individual years, but our whole 300-year blocks aren’t good enough to have their own page – we have to lump them in with a couple of others. But I don’t even see the point anymore. We don’t know years, we don’t know people, we’re making best guesses at places, and we’re often heavily speculating on events. We’re well past “they worshipped Elvis” territory if you’re trying to study history.
As I was writing, I needed a pause here. That’s a lot to take in. We’ve gone back 6000 years and the picture is very fuzzy. This is more-or-less what is considered “recorded history”.
On the one hand, that’s after “only” 20 of these 300-year blocks. Or 60 of 100-year lifespans. If you want to call 20 years a generation, that means 300 generations. That sounds a lot longer. It really depends on how you want to chop this up. In short, for an individual human, it’s a long time. For humanity, it’s the blink of an eye. For the history of the Earth, it’s imperceptible.
* * * * *
Humans, as in homo sapiens, have been around for 300K years, give or take.
We barely know anything after 6K years or 20 blocks.
“Modern” humans have been around for 1000 blocks.
At this point, my simple visualization starts to break down. This probably will look pretty bad, but we’ll see how it goes.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo <- You are here
We were just at 20 blocks and that seemed an almost unfathomable time ago. And this is 50x that. Humans, as we understand them, have been around that long. But we’re really in the “making best guesses” territory now. So little is around from 6000 years ago, much less 300K years ago.
If you want to take the whole “Homo” genus, that’s roughly 3M years. It was probably closer to 4M years that we evolved from Australopithecus. But let’s just roll with the 3M number to keep it an even 10,000 blocks.
Before you start thinking “well, 10K blocks, that’s not very many”. I mean, we just jumped from “we know very little about the world from 20 blocks ago” to “10K is pretty similar”? I mean, it’s just 3 more 0’s 20 -> 10000. Yeah, the logarithmic scale is rough. No, I’m not going to take that block of 1000 o’s above and draw 10 of them here. Use your imagination.
I considered taking that 6K span of time, that time we have gone from knowing nothing about it to modernity and making a block to represent that. But, really, when we’re getting into these numbers, does it even help? I think we’re just too abstracted at this point.
Besides, how different could Australopithecus be?
The brains of most species of Australopithecus were roughly 35% of the size of a modern human brain with an endocranial volume average of 466 cc (28.4 cu in). Although this is more than the average endocranial volume of chimpanzee brains at 360 cc (22 cu in) the earliest australopiths (A. anamensis) appear to have been within the chimpanzee range, whereas some later australopith specimens have a larger endocranial volume than that of some early Homo fossils.
Jokes about your friend who uses only a third of his brain aside, it kind of feels like we’re talking more monkey than man at this point. So in the time it takes to get from monkey to modern man, it’s 3M years.
…
At this point, I think our exercise has broken down and we’re just having funsies.
Want to walk back to the age of dinosaurs? That’s the Mesozoic Era. I think most of us know about the 65M years ago number. So, if we use 3M year blocks to go from monkey to man. You have to jump through 20 of those just to get to the end of dinosaurs. And dinosaurs were around for 60 of those. So, in short: the time after dinosaurs is one giant honking block. Dinosaurs lived for three of those.
Do you know how hard it is to find a timeline to scale using search? I just can’t find a good one to link here. We’re so egocentric that everyone wants to make the Paleozoic (252-539 Ma, Mesozoic (66-252 Ma), and Cenozoic (now-66 Ma) the same sized blocks. Since we lived in that later period, we want to make it as big as other periods that are much longer. Never mind that humans are only a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of the Cenozoic.
How tiny (using round-ish numbers)?
The genus Homo is around 1/20th of the Cenozoic
Homo sapiens only 1/200th
Recorded history is only about 1/10000th
And, your entire life, if you’re lucky and get to 100, are only 1/660,000th
One more? There are about 70 of those periods (from now to 65M years ago) between the start of the Earth and now.
Homo has been around for 1/1500th of that
Homo sapiens for 1/15,0000th
Recorded history for 1/750,000th
And, you, maybe 1/45,000,000th
How’s your little corner of existence feel right now?
* * * * *
This whole conversation came up because of Tyrannosaurus Rex. T-Rex was around 69-66 Ma, though it could have been around as early as maybe 80 Ma. So it was around at least as long as the Homo genus. Want a rough estimate of how many ever existed: “Over the span of the genus’ existence, it is estimated that there were about 127,000 generations and that this added up to a total of roughly 2.5 billion animals until their extinction”. Add this up with “Lastly, the study suggests that in most cases, only one in 80 million Tyrannosaurus would become fossilized, while the chances were likely as high as one in every 16,000 of an individual becoming fossilized in areas that had more dense populations.”
Obviously, there are huge error bars for something like thi- wait, what did that say? Roughly 2.5 billion (with a “B”) T-Rexes existed in history. No kidding? Wow!
Sadly, we’ve only found about 60 specimens. It’s hard for things to survive 100 years, much less millions
FYI: The estimated number of humans who have ever lived is a little over 100 billion. There’s a cool graphic at the top of the wiki page about that.
* * * * *
Finally, as I went back further, I ran across the name Rodinia. Most people have heard of Pangaea, but there are other supercontinents (theoretically) before that. It was from roughly 1130-750 Mya.
How was it?
Unlike later supercontinents, Rodinia was entirely barren. It existed before complex life colonized on dry land. Based on sedimentary rock analysis, Rodinia’s formation happened when the ozone layer was not as extensive as it is now. Ultraviolet light discouraged organisms from inhabiting its interior. Nevertheless, its existence significantly influenced the marine life of its time.
Yikes.
That page also had a link to something called the Snowball Earth hypothesis.
Then again, supercontinent theory gets really theoretical really fast.
Growing up, I loved the book “An Incomplete Education” (which is probably a bit outdated now). An entertaining reference book? Catnip for adolescent me.
In the science chapter, there’s a section on different types of numbers: integers, rationals, reals, etc. Then it starts getting a little out of control, with things like transfinite numbers and ending with quaternions. This is its explanation of them:
The feeling that, once having learned to walk, one can run. Also fly. The lesson here is that when you extend numbers beyond the complex stage, you do so at the expense of something called permanence; one by one, properties you took for granted fall away. For instance, with quaternions, you have to give up either the role 0 plays or multiplicative commutativity (i.e., x times y no longer equals y times x). Say good night, Gracie.
Yup, I think it’s bedtime.
* * * * *
This seems like the perfect opportunity to revisit Chrono Trigger.
Today’s song plays with the idea in the previously linked to Canticle for Leibowitz.
“Corridors of Time” is the overworld theme for the Kingdom of Zeal. The game starts in the present (modern-ish) times. Shortly after, you’re thrown into a dystopian future and the assumption is that civilization had peaked before the Lavos cataclysm. It’s not until late in the game that you come to find out that a much more advanced civilization existed long before, in 12000 BC. However, their hubris set in motion the events that doomed Zeal and would doom the future. But no one in the present even knew, because nothing of their civilization remained.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 23: General view during a game between Bay FC and Washington Spirit square off before a record-setting crowd at Oracle Park on August 23, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Karen Hickey/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images) | ISI Photos via Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
The San Francisco Giants are home this weekend, so let’s take a look at what Oracle Park has on deck for fans who are thinking about taking in a game.
First up, tonight is Pride Night at Oracle Park. The special event tickets are sold out, but if you happened to get your hands on those there’s a pretty great jersey giveaway. Everyone else can look forward to some Pride Night fireworks after the game!
As with all Saturday home games this season, Saturday will feature a Fiesta Gigantes celebration throughout the park. Additionally, soccer fans will want to get there early, because the first 20,000 fans in attendance will receive a Giants themed soccer jersey, just in time for the World Cup!
Sunday is Hello Kitty Day! The special event tickets for this are sold out as well, but fans who got them will be getting a pretty cool jacket. Everyone else can still get their hands on a Giants themed Hello Kitty plush keychain, if they’re one of the first 25,000 fans in attendance that is. So get there early!
If you’re headed to the park this weekend, have fun and make sure to share pictures in the comments!
What time do the Giants play today?
The Giants welcome the Chicago Cubs to Oracle Park tonight to begin a three-game series starting at 7:15 p.m. PT.
Max Scherzer might be in the last years of his career, but what a career it has been. Without a doubt, he will be headed to the Hall of Fame, but now he’s gunning to make it to the top 10 strikeout leaders of all time, and he doesn’t have far to go. This week, Scherzer notched his 3,500th career strikeout, and he only needs seven more to take the tenth overall spot away from Walter Johnson. There is only one active MLB pitcher on the board ahead of Scherzer, and that is Justin Verlander, who currently sits at 3,554 strikeouts. Verlander has been on the IL this year for the Tigers, but is poised to return to the majors soon, so he and Scherzer can continue to deck it out to see who can get the most Ks before they wrap up their respective Hall of Fame careers.
We’ve got that and more in today’s links roundup, so let’s just dive in and get to the news.
The @SFGiants are the first team in MLB history with a walkoff grand slam to cap off a comeback from 8+ runs down in the 8th inning or later. pic.twitter.com/bm10N5hUKk
