The Cubs went 3-4 over the past week, which isn’t great… until you remember that they had lost eight in a row before the week began, and then the first two games of last week.
So let’s go with this: The Cubs have won three of their last five. Something to build on, anyway.
Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.
Three up
Ian Happ. Yes, Ian Happ.
Happ went 0-for-3 in the first game of the road trip and 0-for-4 in the last one.
In between, in the other five games: .417/.417/.917 (10-for-24) with three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI. Overall on the trip, then: .323/.344/.710. That’s a pretty good run, and Happ, as you know, is a very streaky hitter. Hopefully the streakiness will continue in a positive way this week at Wrigley Field.
In Brown’s two starts last week, one in Pittsburgh and one in St. Louis, he threw 13 innings, allowed seven hits and three walks (0.769 WHIP) and posted a 1.38 ERA (two earned runs). He struck out 13.
Brown has allowed one home run this year — to the very first batter he faced on Opening Day (Jacob Young of the Nationals). The 51.1 innings he’s thrown since then without allowing a homer is the longest active homerless streak for any MLB pitcher.
Great stuff, Ben.
Honorable mention to Alex Bregman, who’s on a 10-game hitting streak and homered Sunday. Maybe he’s finally coming out of it.
Three down
Jordan Wicks needs a return trip to Iowa
Two starts, 6.1 innings, 13 hits, one walk (2.211 WHIP), 11 runs (all earned, 15.63 ERA).
I’m beginning to wonder if a change of scenery would work for Wicks. But would anyone trade for him after those two bad performances in Pittsburgh and St. Louis?
Moisés Ballesteros, same as Wicks
Ballesteros went 3-for-15 (.200), all singles, with five strikeouts in five games on the road trip. For the month of May he batted .102/.206/.153 (6-for-59) with one extra-base hit (a home run) and 18 strikeouts.
Give Kevin Alcántara and Pedro Ramirez some DH at-bats and let Ballesteros get his batting stroke back in Triple-A.
Dansby Swanson’s bat has disappeared
Swanson did have one two-hit game in Pittsburgh but overall batted .136/.321/.182 (3-for-22) on the trip with nine strikeouts. The six walks make the OBP decent, but overall in May Swanson batted .151/.233/.215 (14-for-93) with 24 strikeouts.
He continues to play stellar defense, but that bat has got to get going.
You all know about the home run issues for Shōta Imanaga and Jameson Taillon, so I won’t belabor them.
Instead of playing into June, as had been the case the previous five years, Arizona found itself done by mid-May after a disastrous 2026 season. It was a major regression from the year before, when the Wildcats returned to the College World Series for the 19th time.
But if there’s an upside to such a bad season, it’s that work on the next one can get started a little earlier.
The NCAA transfer portal officially opened on Monday, but plenty of players across the country had publicly announced their intention to enter. That included several members of the UA squad that went 19-34.
Arizona’s roster will look very different when the 2027 season begins in February with another tournament at Globe Life Field in Texas, and below is a breakdown of all the comings and goings. Updates will be made as changes occur:
The San Francisco Giants will be sellers at this year’s trade deadline and while they have some obvious “chips,” “chits,” or “pieces,” I figured it’d be a better conversation starter to rank them, as the perception of a player’s value will surely not be uniform across the fandom or even just those who read this post.
Now, it was only yesterday that I joined the community here by saying that the Giants should not rebuild, and while being sellers at the trade deadline doesn’t necessarily follow a philosophical shift from “trying to sneak into the postseason by accidentally getting the third Wild Card” to TANKING, I want to be ideologically consistent. This post isn’t to say that the Giants should be willing to move anybody on the roster, it’s just to rank the value *I* perceive players to have should the Giants decide to move them.
So, here are the 10 most valuable players the Giants could move before this year’s trade deadline.
10. Tyler Mahle
Look, I’m with you. He’s been terrible. The 1-7 record and 6.04 ERA gets the season ticketholders riled up, but it’s that 4.86 FIP (tied for 8th-worst in MLB with Zac Gallen) that really underscores how terrible he’s been. His 10.0 hits per 9 innings is explained away by the Giants being bad on defense, but the 1.7 HR/9 and 3.8 BB/9 are much closer to his career averages when the small sample size of 56.2 innings and context of his situation (being on one of the worst Giants teams in the long history of the franchise) are taken into account.
And I’ll add that Aaron Civale, he of the 4.91 ERA and 5.59 FIP in just 22 MLB innings last season, wound up being traded around this time last season by the Milwaukee Brewers — who had acquired him the previous season from the Tampa Bay Rays — to the Chicago White Sox for… Andrew Vaughn, one of the key figures in Milwaukee’s lineup these days.
Of course, Buster Posey isn’t the savvy operator that Brewers’ POBO Matt Arnold is nor are the Giants a big unlocker of hitting talent. Milwaukee really isn’t, either, but they are such a well run organization by comparison that simply getting Vaughn off a struggling team like the White Sox and onto a good team like the Brewers really did seem to reset his talent. It’s an interesting situation to note because the White Sox also had current Giant Adrian Houser on their roster last year and seemed to help him revitalize his career (2.10 ERA in 68.2 IP) to the point that they were able to trade him to Tampa Bay.
Mahle would have some value to teams because of his strikeouts (9.1 K/9 is right in line with his career average) and all of the under the hood numbers indicate that he’s still the same guy when healthy — he’s just never healthy. But he would also be more valuable than Houser in a trade scenario because he doesn’t have the extra year attached to him, unlike Houser. That fact might be moot if there’s a lockout, but Houser hasn’t pitched much better than Mahle to merit extra consideration, I think.
The Giants might not be able to get a middle of the lineup tarnished figure a la Vaughn for him, but there’s some dinged up value to be exchanged for dinged up value here.
9. Jung Hoo Lee
There are 64 hitters currently hitting 20% or better than the league average and one of them is Jung Hoo Lee. But to put it another, better way: there are 32 hitters aged 27 or younger currently hitting 20% or better than the league average and one of them is Jung Hoo Lee.
His age plus position plus hitting ability makes him valuable. Weighted against him are some big negatives:
An extensive injury history
An $18.833 CBT number through 2029, as he’s unlikely to opt out after this next season
Average defense, no stolen bases
And did I mention that he has an $18.833 CBT number through 2029? Oh, I did. Well, it’s even worse than that. Because of the structure of his deal, he’s owed $64.25 million after this season, $79.75 million if you factor in what’s left of his contract this season.
That’s a lot of money for a player who could still go either way in his career. That’s right, there’s still a good chance that he winds up hitting his way into a 3-win player over the next few years as the Giants hoped when they signed him. Another team might be able to unlock more consistency with better coaching and scouting, but with such an extensive cost attached to him, the Giants might not be able to get too much back in return, making him less valuable to trade.
On the other hand, here are the worst hitting outfields in MLB right now:
Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, and San Diego are almost certainly locks for the postseason, while the Phillies, White Sox, Astros, and Reds are extremely in the mix. With a looming lockout plus salary cap on the horizon, I’m not sure what the risk appetite will be, but if there’s a cap then there’s going to be a floor, and you could envision a scenario where the Rays, Reds, or Marlins add Lee just to help get them to a theoretical floor sooner… with the Giants kicking in some money to get back a decent prospect or two.
A bad example that still might apply. Back in 2024, the Mariners acquired Randy Arozarena (2.5 years on deal) from the Rays in exchange for their #12 and #22 prospects plus a player to be named later. Another bad example might be when the Marlins traded Jazz Chisholm (2.5 years on deal) to the Yankees back in 2024. They received the Yankees’ #19 & #20 prospects plus an infielder.
A player with 3.5 years remaining on his deal with a nonzero possibility of opting out next offseason (if there is one!) certainly limits a potential return, but given that he’s not one of Buster’s guys and the Giants needing to create some payroll flexibility, I’d say there’s a version of reality where a deal is possible and the Giants would get something in return that might be useful but would certainly be extra money they’ll need in the future.
8. Rafael Devers
In this morning’s Power Alley on SiriusXM radio, Jim Duquette and Jim Bowden talked about the Milwaukee Brewers and how the NL Central is theirs. They also pointed out that as good as they are in terms of winning a division, they’re going to struggle against the Dodgers and Atlanta come the postseason, suggesting they’re one starting pitcher short after Jacob Misioroski and Kyle Harrison and need a middle of the order bat, too. Bowden said something to the effect of “Now, they can’t afford it, but imagine them trading for Rafael Devers and dropping him into the middle of their lineup.”
Would the Giants trade Rafael Devers? I think so. He would be a great near-term value add for a lot of teams out there. I think there might be a behind the scenes scenario where the Giants, in trying to impress their new investors with their fiscal responsibility, might be looking to cut costs on a dead season as quickly as possible. Devers is owed a lot of money for a long time, so, this would be another situation where the Giants would probably need to eat some of the contract, which might be a problem unto itself, or it might be a situation where they get back another team’s problem contract just to balance the books in the near-term; but in any case, I can see another team wanting to make Buster Posey look bad by trading for Devers for even less than what the Giants gave up to get him.
I can also see the Giants figuring they need to hold on to Devers because his bat is meaningfully better than what they have on hand for the time being, and if they’re going to be good again next season or the season after, they’ll probably need him to stick around. So, moving him might hurt the team more than it helps, but I’ll put him low on this list because I think he should be on it. Just in case!
7. Keaton Winn
The Giants should try to move a 28-year old with an injury track record but who’s having a great start to a season (2.45 ERA / 2.80 FIP in 25.2 IP) in a new role as quickly as possible. Including him along with another player on the list might help boost a return, too. Just take a look at last year’s trades to see the reliever duos traded.
6. Robbie Ray
Before the start of the season, he absolutely would’ve been #1 or #2 on this list, but he has pitched so poorly this season that it’s clear the haul will be quite minimal. His 4.45 BB/9 is worst in the National League for starting pitchers (3rd in all of MLB) and his 5.37 FIP is third-worst in MLB behind Jamison Taillon and Ryne Nelson.
He’ll also be owed about $12.5 million the rest of the season, so, a team acquiring him would really need pitching and Ray will have had to string together some starts reminiscent of his best work. Last year, the Padres acquired Nestor Cortes from the Brewers in exchange for backup outfielder Brandon Lockridge. Now, Lockridge is hitting .294/.368/.341 for Milwaukee this season, so it’s not like they got nothing back for Cortes (who was by that point a journeyman several seasons removed from being an All-Star). I’m not sure Ray’s value has tumbled that low, but I’m putting him so low on this list because it feels like that might be more true than not.
5. Erik Miller
Lefty relievers who throw hard are always valuable and especially around trade deadlines. Look, Erik Miller is not is not is not Tanner Scott, but Tanner Scott has been traded twice in his career. After 156 innings of 4.73 ERA ball, the Orioles traded him to the Marlins for three minor leaguers (none of whom panned out). With the Marlins, he had ERAs of 4.31, 2.31, and 1.75 across 212.2 IP and wound up being traded to the Padres along with another pitching prospect for the Padres’ #2, #4, and #5 prospects.
The 28-year old miller is, again, NOT Tanner Scott, and has an extensive injury history that chews into the remaining value, but if the Giants were to dangle him, they’d get a really good return for him. He is a strikeout machine, and you would think an acquiring team would be able to help him tone down that walk rate, especially since they’d have him for three arbitration years after 2026. But even somebody like 34-year old Andrew Chafin netted the Tigers the Rangers’ #24 prospect and a major league reliever back in 2024.
Now, could the Giants use him in, like, 2030 when they might be an 83-win team, fighting for the fourth Wild Card? Sure. But his best value today is as a trade chip.
4. Landen Roupp
He’s got to be high on the list because he would be a tremendously valuable addition to an acquiring team which would mean that the Giants would get a lot for him. On the other hand, the hit to their starting rotation would probably be pretty steep, so, I can’t put him so high on the list. There also aren’t many comparisons to be made here and it would depend on what the industry thinks of him. Moving Roupp seems more like a move to make in the offseason, but if the lockout worries pickup, I wonder if that will change the calculation for teams hoping to compete in 2026. Roupp is also an injury risk who might only be sticking around for another 50-60 innings this season; but, really, I don’t think the Giants would be able to find equivalent value in a trade.
Still, you never know.
3. Luis Arraez
One could argue that the Giants signed him specifically to trade him at the deadline, regardless of their win-loss record. That they were able to Wash him and make him an above average defender at second base makes this whole gambit an absolute miracle, and it’s reasonable to believe that the Giants will do very well in trading him.
It’s very hard to find a comparison here because teams don’t typically trade players with this much value. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the year, so, it’s not like there will be a lot of value to be had in a trade scenario anyway, but on the other hand, we’ve seen teams really go all out to acquire exactly what they need. But just to give an example of value: last year, here were the position players around the 23rd-most valuable on June 1st:
Steven Kwan, 2.1 fWAR
Brendan Donovan, 2.0
Rafael Devers, 1.9
Ryan O’Hearn, 2.1
Remarkably, all of these players were traded at some point or, in the case of Kwan, rumored to be on the trade block. Only O’Hearn was a free agent at year’s end.
In his case, the Orioles traded him along with outfielder Ramon Laureano along with cash to the Padres in exchange for their #6, #8, and #16 prospects along with two more position player prospects and a pitching prospect. Laureano had an extra year on his deal and the Padres were in terrible need of help in their outfield, so, it’s not a true comparison to the Arraez situation.
Then there’s the factor of what teams value more: offense or defense. Only 11 of the 30 teams have positive defense and offense at second base. The rest
Plus, the teams that could use a boost at second base aren’t playoff teams for the most part, and the ones that could be are actually . Only the Rays (+0.3 fWAR, 100 wRC+), but 20 of the 30 teams have at least average defense there. So, how many of those teams would seek an upgrade at the position?
The Giants’ 113 wRC+ is 7th in MLB for the second base position, top third in the sport. Their +6.3 Defensive Runs Above Average is #2. Would Philadelphia want to improve over Bryson Stott (67 wRC+, +3.6 Def, +0.5 fWAR)? Or the Reds over Spencer Steer & Edwin Arroyo (78 wRC+, +2.4 Def, +0.3 fWAR)? Or Tampa Bay get better than Richie Palacios (100 wRC+, -5.4 Def, +0.3 fWAR)?
This is almost certainly the one big trade the Giants will be involved in this deadline and it’s a situation where they might get a big return if they are able to drum up enough interest or move him in June when the acquiring team would get to have him longer.
2. Logan Webb
From December: The “best time to trade Logan Webb is after the 2026 season, provided the Giants are still a .500 at best team.” The Giants are no longer a .500 team at best. They are back to the Bobby Evans era of 2017 in terms of their ceiling. It’s time to move Logan Webb. Problem is, he might not be the same pitcher everyone planned for him to be at the start of the season and the ABS Challenge System might’ve further eroded his value by taking away the shadow strike zone.
Still! There are plenty of comps to be made for a Webb deal. Back in December, I briefly mentioned the Padres trade for Dylan Cease before pivoting to more realistic-looking deals that fit Webb’s contract & age:
– The Orioles gave up INF Joey Ortiz (#8 prospect, #63 on Pipeline’s Top 100), LHP DL Hall, and a Competitive Balance Round A pick for one year of Corbin Burnes (then 29) two offseasons ago.
– The Rangers got the #4, #17, and #27 prospects in the Dodgers’ system at the 2017 trade deadline in exchange for Yu Darvish (age 30).
– In 2014, the Rays traded away David Price at the deadline for Willy Adames, Drew Smyly, and Nick Franklin (Seattle’s #4 prospect)
Now, here’s where things get really interesting. Ken Rosenthal wrote in The Athletic this morning that the trade deadline is about to be dominated by talk of Tarik Skubal being on the move, provided he can establish he’s healthy. I would never suggest that Logan Webb is on Skubal’s level, but he’s right there on the tier beneath and he, too, needs to demonstrate that he’s healthy, not just for the Giants, but for any team that might have interest. Such times might include those that miss out on acquiring Skubal or come to find that Skubal isn’t healthy and not worth acquiring in-season. Logan Webb could very quickly become The Best Pitcher Available, and that’s why I’m sneaking him past Luis Arraez. Not because he’s more likely to move, but because he’d be a more valuable player to move, given the probable return.
It’d be a big hit to the rotation, of course, but this season is so bad that moving Webb might be met by the season ticketholders and general fans with more of a “Well, Buster had to do something to shake things up.“ Because the possible return is lower and the pain for the Giants much greater, I can’t put Logan Webb #1. No Giants fan should want the Giants to trade away Logan Webb. But, you know, if it happens, it will be a logical decision.
1. Casey Schmitt
Now, why would the Giants move their best hitter right now? Well, because they have Matt Chapman, and chances are they won’t be able to trade Matt Chapman. Now, if they trade Luis Arraez, I’d think that would put Schmitt there or even shortstop if they want to slide Adames over to second in-season. There are certainly scenarios where a trade makes him more valuable to the Giants on the Giants, but just imagine what a player who is having his breakout season with three years of team control remaining could fetch in the trade market.
The Red Sox didn’t want to pay Alex Bregman to continue playing third base, so they let him walk and traded for Caleb Durbin (.183/.250/.280). Let Casey Schmitt aim his bat at the Green Monster and have some fun. The Red Sox have not only some interesting outfielders, but interesting arms who could really help the Giants, and with Schmitt in the lineup, Boston might be able to make a run at the AL Wild Card.
The Brewers could improve upon the 71 wRC+ they’re getting from the position and improve upon the defense, too. Cincinnati is dead last in offense from the position. The Phillies are 24th (71 wRC+).
Yes, this would be a big hit to the current Giants lineup, but with Schmitt out of position and a lot of the prospect depth being on the infield, it stands to reason that selling high on him would be a wise decision, particularly if it’s one of only a few moves they’d make around the deadline. It wouldn’t need to be a part of a total teardown, and it wouldn’t be the first time the team traded a popular third baseman to get better fast.
Sure, the Giants should make virtually their entire roster available for trade, but I didn’t include these players for the following reasons:
Adrian Houser: that extra guaranteed year. I don’t think he’s pitched well enough for a team to acquire him with that commitment. Then again, a team might be certain there won’t be a 2027 and change their mind, but I couldn’t conjure value there other than a salary dump for the Giants.
Matt Chapman: Yesterday, I wrote about how he’s not washed, cooked, or finished, but he’s still far enough along the aging curve with enough time left on his deal (plus a no trade clause!) that I don’t think he’d be one of the 10 most valuable trade pieces the Giants would have to offer at the deadline.
Willy Adames: Too much money owed, and not enough upside, especially with the bad defense this season.
Heliot Ramos: I did consider adding him to the list, but I think the Giants would want to hold on to him in the event that they do make other trades because he will be an important bat for them to have in the lineup when he comes back. If he doesn’t come back soon (and it doesn’t seem like he will), then teams won’t want him in-season.
Bryce Eldridge: Since the Giants wouldn’t be trying to acquire a player to remarkably improve their in-season chances I think he’ll stay put. But, wow, I wonder if Zack Minasian has even briefly reconsidered not moving him for CJ Abrams. Ultimately, of course, it all worked out at second base, but the situation is… interesting.
Caleb Kilian, Matt Gage, Joel Peguero, Ryan Walker: The relievers I put on the list would bring back more of a return than any of these guys.
Here’s my opinion of my own list: I’d like to see how the Giants could remake themselves for next year (or a post-lockout 2028) by trading Schmitt, Arraez, Webb, Robbie Ray, and Erik Miller. That would hurt, but it wouldn’t set them back very much going forward with the upside of bringing in prospects from the outside to pair with the ones they’ve been developing internally. The internal processes seem to be going well, so maybe now is the time to lean on the potential strength of player development and set themselves up nicely or a good, long future.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 29: The New York Mets Home Run Apple is seen after the New York Mets defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-3 in the game at Citi Field on April 29, 2025 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Fresh off back-to-back sweeps of the A’s and the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Mariners enter June in first place in their division, with a 31-29 record. Never a doubt, right?
Let’s set the scene together, shall we? Think back to the early (and then not-so-early) days of this Mariners season, when everything felt chaotic in all the worst ways. Players were dropping like flies, former stalwarts looked awful and the vibes were all around bad. Take all that, stuff it into the New York media megaphone and then add many more millions of dollars of salary and stress. Ta da! You’ve got the 2026 Mets. Carlos Mendoza is treating every day like a gift (and by gift, we mean a package left on your doorstep, shoddily wrapped and disconcertingly lumpy, with no return label or other markings). But, credit to ‘em, they’re riding a nice little win streak of their own and could be in the midst of turning things around. Regardless of how the series transpires, it seems Mets fans are overwhelmingly unbothered by us PNWers.
Player
Position
Bats
PA
K%
BB%
ISO
wRC+
Carson Benge
RF
L
217
21.2%
7.4%
0.106
97
Bo Bichette
SS
R
258
16.3%
7.4%
0.089
69
Juan Soto
LF
L
180
14.4%
13.3%
0.292
175
Jared Young
DH
L
39
20.5%
12.8%
0.152
140
A.J. Ewing
CF
L
74
32.4%
12.2%
0.079
94
Mark Vientos
1B
R
192
20.8%
3.6%
0.165
83
Brett Baty
3B
L
195
28.2%
9.2%
0.110
87
Marcus Semien
2B
R
233
19.7%
6.9%
0.108
76
Luis Torrens
C
R
103
20.4%
4.9%
0.075
66
If you’re looking at this lineup wondering “Hey, this is a weird list of players. I thought [insert names including Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, Kodai Senga and more] was on the Mets this year?” you’re absolutely correct. They’re supposed to be on the Mets, but they are instead, unfortunately, hurt. It’s been part of their whole issue. Other components to the Mets’ issues include Bo Bichette being what some physicians might diagnose as “refried ass,” Marcus Semien being old and Luis Torrens, sweetie pie that he is, being their everyday catcher. The outfield is Juan Soto and a duo of babies with promising upside, and former Doosan Bear Jared Young is having the season of his life. They’re an offense that’s been trending positively of late, but whether that’s because they set the bar so low at the start or because they’ve truly turned things around remains to be seen.
Sean Manaea enjoyed a resurgence in his first season with the Mets back in 2024, keyed by a new arm slot and a new sweeper. He struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness last year and was relegated to the bullpen to start this season. With David Peterson limping to a 5.18 ERA in 13 appearances, the Mets have opted to move Manaea back into the rotation. The team will use Austin Warren as an opener and then turn to Manaea for the bulk of the middle innings. He’s still reliant on his fastball-sweeper combo but he’s widened his arsenal by reintroducing a sinker and cutter into his repertoire. Those two pitches have helped him manage his platoon split a bit better this year.
Pitcher
IP
K%
BB%
HR/FB%
GB%
ERA
FIP
Jonah Tong (MiLB)
38
32.7%
14.3%
27.6%
42.2%
5.68
5.42
Logan Gilbert
68.1
25.0%
5.8%
13.4%
35.3%
3.69
3.97
Jonah Tong flew through the Mets’ minor league system after being drafted in the seventh round in the 2022 draft. He made his big league debut late last year after posting a 1.43 ERA across 22 minor league starts. Tong’s success rides on a plus plus fastball that has a ton of carry at the top of the zone. His secondary pitches are a little less developed; his changeup is the best of the lot but his cutter and curveball look decidedly average right now. Tong started the year in the minors but the Mets recalled him a few weeks ago when Clay Holmes went down with his leg injury. He’s worked behind an opener in his two outings and I’d expect the Mets to continue that strategy to protect Tong from over exposure.
Pitcher
IP
K%
BB%
HR/FB%
GB%
ERA
FIP
Freddy Peralta
66
23.9%
9.8%
11.9%
41.3%
3.55
3.94
George Kirby
74
19.7%
5.7%
10.0%
52.7%
3.77
3.47
Pitch
Usage vRHB
Usage vLHB
Velocity
Stuff+
Whiff+
BIP+
xwOBA
Four-seam
55.9%
52.7%
93.9
96
102
103
0.323
Changeup
20.2%
25.5%
87.3
87
87
104
0.249
Curveball
9.4%
16.2%
79.1
111
103
81
0.291
Slider
14.5%
5.6%
83.0
97
147
133
0.429
Freddy Peralta was one of the Mets’ headlining acquisitions this offseason. Acquired in a trade from the Brewers, Peralta was expected to give New York an ace to lead the starting rotation. His fastball is his best pitch; he gets a ton of extension down the mound and his short stature produces a flat approach angle that really fools hitters. He’s got a trio of above average secondary pitches, though the effectiveness of each has waned a bit this year. He can be a little wild with his command, but has enough deception to generate high chase rates out of the zone. At times, that wildness can lead to a bunch of walks, but he’s usually able to overcome those extra base runners with a ton of strikeouts.
The Big Picture:
Team
W-L
W%
Games Behind
Run Diff
Recent Form
Mariners
31-29
0.517
—
+30
W-W-W-W-W
Athletics
28-31
0.475
2.5
-34
L-L-L-W-L
Rangers
28-31
0.475
2.5
+7
L-L-W-W-W
Astros
27-34
0.443
4.5
-33
W-W-L-W-L
Angels
23-37
0.383
8.0
-51
L-W-L-W-L
The Mariners have a two and a half game lead in their division and are currently the only team above .500. If that feels fragile to you, how about this: Only five teams in the American League have a record over .500. If the playoffs began today, the 29-31 Toronto Blue Jays would have the third Wild Card spot. Everyone in the West embarks on interleague play this week, which should be varying levels of entertaining. Me personally? I’ll be tuning in to Rockies vs Angels. As the towering pile of laundry I promised myself I’d do yesterday but eschewed in favor of attending the M’s game can attest, sometimes a little mess can feel good.
De La Cruz suffered the injury in Sunday's game when he hit a booming fly ball off the outfield wall but could only limp to first base with a single.
"He feels like he caught it before it did anything worse," Reds manager Terry Francona said after the game. "Saying that, we're gonna get him scanned at nine in the morning and we'll know more. ... Let's kind of hope. He's a pretty miraculous kid. Let's wait and see what happens."
An MRI revealed a right hamstring strain and resulted in a trip to the IL.
The Reds announce that Elly De La Cruz exited today's game with right hamstring tightness.
The injury will end De La Cruz's run of 276 consecutive games played, the third-longest active streak in the majors.
To take De La Cruz's place on the active roster, the Reds are calling up top infield prospect Edwin Arroyo from Class AAA Louisville.
Arroyo, 22, was hitting .323/.383/.562 with 11 home runs and nine stolen bases in 53 games.
He had been playing multiple positions in the minors to increase his versatility when he eventually made his MLB debut. However, the Reds had hoped Arroyo would come up to play alongside De La Cruz, not in place of him.
Reds general manager Brad Meador told The Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Arroyo was most prepared to play shortstop, so the organization will at least have a chance to further evaluate him there.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 19, 2026: Steele Hall #3 of the Cincinnati Reds in the field during the sixth inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the San Francisco Giants at Scottsdale Stadium on March 19, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
The month of May is in the rearview mirror, and a handful of select Cincinnati Reds farmhands are going to look back on it fondly for quite some time.
Here are four minor leaguers who absolutely smashed the ball during the most recent month:
Carlos Jorge, OF (AA Chattanooga Lookouts)
We’ve seen decent power from Jorge before, as he swatted 9 homers in 86 games with Daytona of the Florida State League as a 19 year old, slugging .483 in a league where power goes to die. We’ve seen ample speed with him, too – he’s swiped 169 bags in 439 minor league games across his career. We’ve also seen pretty elite control of the strike zone, as he reached base at a .400 clip in that Daytona stint and owns a .361 OBP for his minor league career.
This year, we’re seeing all of that – and some very well regarded defense in CF, where he’s finally found a home after playing all over early in his career. He also escaped Dayton for the first time in years, and is showing out at the AA level down in Southern League play.
Jorge poured in a rock-solid May hitting .337/.416/.483 (.899) with 11 walks, 10 steals, and 4 homers in 23 games played. The 22 year old is doing very little to suggest he’s anything other than Cincinnati’s CF of the future right now.
Jay Allen, OF (AA Chattanooga Lookouts)
The Reds once used a 1st round pick to pluck Allen out of high school, drafting him 30th overall out of high school in Florida. But while he’s shown, at times, an ability to take walks and control the zone, he’s never really hit much (.231 average in 1694 MiLB PA) or for much power (.351 SLG in those PA). He’s still just 23, though, and is finally putting together a more complete run for AA Chattanooga.
May saw Allen hit .309/.398/.519 (.916 OPS) with 4 dingers of his own in 23 games, a blistering run of form that helped pick up the slack from Austin Hendrick’s promotion to AAA and Cam Collier’s relative struggles from the left side of the plate.
Alfredo Duno, C (A+ Dayton Dragons)
If this entire blurb reads as if I were chuckling to myself while writing it, well, that’s because I was chuckling to myself while writing it. And, as it turns out, I was chuckling to myself while writing it because I had to make sure I didn’t accidentally put too many numbers in when listing what Alfredo Duno has been up to of late.
Duno, who’s still just 20 years old, is mauling the Midwest League in even more devastating fashion than he mauled the FSL last year. He’s one of the most elite hitting prospects on the planet, plays catcher, and I can’t imagine the Reds really wanting anyone else to be their top overall prospect right now than him.
In May, he did things only Duno does. He hit .338/.475/.713 (1.188 OPS) with 8 homers and nearly as many walks (20) as Ks (22). That even includes an 0 for 4 game on the first day of the month, but it also includes a ridiculous seven game stretch in which he homered in six games (and seven times overall), spreading that damage across games against the West Michigan Whitecaps, Lake County Captains, and Fort Wayne TinCaps.
Duno’s damage plays no favorites. I think he’ll be destroying Southern League pitching staffs very, very soon.
Steele Hall, SS (Arizona Complex League)
Steele Hall’s pro career finally got going in the month of May, and he promptly went 0 for 7 across his first two games played. That said, he homered in the third game he played and hasn’t blinked since.
In 20 games in May, he hit .297/.436/.608 (1.044 OPS) with 4 homers, 9 doubles, and 9 steals already under his belt. Cincinnati’s most recent 1st round pick is doing all this still at the fresh age of 18, and his 9 doubles currently sit tied for the most in all of Arizona Complex League play.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 18: Jarred Kelenic #24 of the Chicago White Sox warms up before the game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on May 18, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Maddy Grassy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Texas Rangers have signed outfielder Jarred Kelenic to a minor league contract, per the beats. He will be joining Round Rock.
Kelenic, 26, is a lefthanded hitting corner outfielder was the sixth overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft by the New York Mets, and was traded to the Seattle Mariners as part of the Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz trade. He was a consensus top 10 prospect heading into the 2021 season, but struggled mightily that first year, and ended up being sent back down to AAA for a month. After another down year in 2022, splitting the year between AAA and the majors, but had a solid 2023 season for Seattle.
Kelenic was sent to Atlanta that offseason, along with Marco Gonzalez and Evan White, in exchange for Cole Phillips and Jackson Kowar. The deal was essentially dumping the ugly contracts that White and Gonzalez had on the Braves, while sending them Kelenic to make it worth Atlanta’s while. Gonzalez and White were shipped off within a couple of days by Atlanta, leaving them with Kelenic as their prize.
Kelenic didn’t hit well in 2024, however, and spent most of 2025 in AAA, where he didn’t hit, either. He was released at the end of 2025, and signed with the Chicago White Sox in January of this year. He started the year in AAA, but was called up in late April. After putting up a .226/.305/.321 slash line in the majors, he was designated for assignment a few days ago, cleared waivers, and became a free agent.
Kelenic was once seen as a future star with a tremendous potential at the plate. At this point, he’s AAA depth for the Rangers, though I imagine they hope to try to get him back on track offensively, at least to performing the way he was in 2023.
JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 19, 2026: Miguel Sime Jr. #55 of the Washington Nationals throws a pitch during the second inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 19, 2026 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
The Washington Nationals just promoted arguably their best healthy pitching prospect. Miguel Sime Jr. is headed from the Fred Nats to High-A Wilmington to join a stacked roster including Devin Fitz-Gerald and Ronny Cruz. The 19 year old Sime was a strikeout machine in Low-A, but will need to work on his control moving forward.
— Nationals Player Development (@Nats_PlayerDev) June 1, 2026
Sime’s stint with the Fred Nats showed the good and the bad. When Sime was in the zone, he totally overwhelmed hitters. He struck out 54 batters in 26.1 innings, more than two per frame. However, he also walked 25 batters in that time, showing that he needs to work on his strike throwing.
Sime has absolutely electric stuff. His fastball sits at 99 MPH and can get up to 102. He combines that with a high 80’s slider he just learned this offseason that is a filthy offering that has plus-plus potential. Sime often threw the slider more than his fastball because he had a better feel for that pitch. Finally, he throws a low 80’s curveball with a ton of movement. He usually throws that to finish hitters off.
Sime’s 18.5 K/9 is the highest in the entire minor leagues. Honestly, there was not much of a purpose in keeping him in Low-A, despite the walks and an era over 4. Sime will have to learn to keep the ball in the zone and get quick outs. It is tough to do that when batters can’t make any contact against you.
Rather significant promotion on the farm, and well-deserved.
Sime had 18.5 K/9, the highest mark in MiLB (min 20 innings). Nothing left to prove in Single A. https://t.co/wpkXfqCbld
High-A is going to be a serious test for the youngster, and I would expect some early hiccups. His walk rate in Low-A was over 20%, and that is not going to fly at higher levels. Sime is going to have to find a way to consistently throw strikes. High-A hitters will have better approaches and won’t be as overwhelmed by his stuff.
However, if Sime is in the zone and throwing quality strikes semi-consistently, he will be fine. The hitters are not Miguel Sime’s biggest issue. His own command is usually his worst enemy. High-A hitters may not be quite as overwhelmed, but Sime still has the stuff to dominate them.
Miguel Sime Jr.: A —> A+
In 10 starts with Fredericksburg: 26.1 IP | 45.4-K% / 21.0-BB% 4.44 ERA | 1.52 WHIP | .160 BAA
Sime was untouchable in Low A, this promotion was due. The real test will be consistent strike throwing against more patient hitters pic.twitter.com/MaBlB0IV0y
— Nats Of The Future (@NatsOfTheFuture) June 1, 2026
Outside of the walks, Sime has just about everything you want to see. He obviously gets a ton of whiffs, but when batters do make contact, it is usually on the ground. His GB% is over 60%, which is elite. I am curious to see how that translates to higher levels.
This is a very interesting and gutsy promotion by the Nats. Sime is still so young and has a very clear control problem. However, the Nats new front office clearly believes he will be able to hold his own in High-A, and the promotion is what is best for his development. I think part of the calculus is knowing Sime as a person. If you listen to Sime speak, you can tell that this is a bright young man with a good head on his shoulders. He seems like the kind of character that can handle failing and take the right lessons from it. I am very excited to see what Sime can do in High-A because his ceiling is absolutely massive.
The White Sox continue to make a splash in the AL Central. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
It may have been a short week for some with Memorial Day, but for the White Sox it was a full week without an off-day. And that busy week proved fruitful: For the first time since May 2023, the Chicago club enjoyed a winning month — a month that was capped with a 6-1 week.
For the first two months of the season, the South Siders only had to play seven games against the AL Central, all against the Kansas City Royals. That is, until this week, when a seven-game home stand saw two divisional foes come to town.
Minnesota arrived in Chicago having lost the last six games they had played against the White Sox. Monday, they would drop their seventh. Anthony Kay continued his fantastic May, giving up just a solo home run to Brooks Lee in his six innings of work. He earned the win and lowered his ERA below four. Munetaka Murakami and Drew Romo provided the three RBIs needed to win the ballgame via the home run. Given Mune is now on the 10-day injured list, please enjoy his first inning dinger that tied the game at one:
The Twins finally snapped their losing streak against the White Sox on Tuesday evening, handing Chicago a 5-3 loss. Sean Burke pitched seven strong innings of two-run baseball, striking out eight and walking two. With Rikuu Nishida on base in the bottom of the eighth inning, Murakami launched his 19th homer of the season to tie the game and take it to extras. Ultimately, Minnesota would edge out the White Sox in 11 innings. An extra-inning loss as the only loss of the week is something I will not complain about.
Wednesday was Illini night at the ballpark. Orange and blue flooded the stadium to celebrate Chicagoland University of Illinois students, alumni and fans. David Sandlin, who did not go to U of I, put on a show for the block I faithful. The second pitch of his outing was taken out of the ballpark by Byron Buxton, but the rest of his 61 pitches were spotless: The 25-year-old righty sat down 18 in a row over his six innings of work, striking out four and walking none.
It did not hurt that during this debut, Sandlin’s offense scored 15 runs. The 15-2 final is the largest victory by the White Sox since a 2020 game against the Tigers. There were a total of 18 hits and seven walks for the offense. Chase Meidroth led the effort with four RBIs, coming via his first career grand slam:
Also on Wednesday, Murakami hit his 20th home run of the season, becoming the first rookie in baseball history to hit 20 or more before June. I am very glad he reached this mark before straining his hamstring on Friday.
Davis Martin took the mound for the series finale against Minnesota and did what he has done all season. The righthander picked up his fourth quality start of the month and eighth of the season, going six innings, giving up one run, and striking out five. His season ERA is now at an even two and his WHIP is just shy of one. If you haven’t started considering that Martin might be on a Cy Young run, you might want to start thinking about it.
A special mid-weekly recap shout-out goes to Sam Antonacci, who is naturally an infielder but has been making a name for himself in left field. The diving catch he made on Thursday is just one in many of the impressive grabs supporting the pitching staff.
After the Twins were taken care of, it was time to deal with Detroit. Last season the White Sox were 5-8 against the Tigers. This season, each team is respectively having a opposite experience from 2025. The weekend sweep began with a seemingly boring game. The Tigers scored two runs in the top of the third inning and the White Sox only scored one.
The boredom stopped in the bottom of the ninth, when Nishida executed an RBI sacrifice bunt to tie the game and take it to extras. Zack Short put the Tigers in front 3-2 in the top of the 10th inning. The first two outs of the bottom of the 10th were quite quick.
In Saturday’s 7-1 rout Edgar Quero, Colson Montgomery and Andrew Benintendi all got in on the long ball. This, plus Kay and the bullpen’s effort kept the White Sox in control the entire game. Credit where credit is due to Kay: The starter had a 6.64 ERA in the month of April but has since turned it around. In his six starts in May, the southpaw went 4-0 over 32 1/3 innings of work. His ERA this month was a stunning 1.95, which helped lower his season ERA to a more respectable 3.77.
Sunday’s series finale against Detroit was another game Chicago spent mostly trailing. The Tigers scored a run in the top of the first inning and it was all zeroes until the bottom of the seventh inning. That White Sox rally started with Montgomery’s 15th home run of the season to tie the game at one apiece. The dinger was followed by three one-out singles. The second was knocked by Jacob Gonzalez, giving him his first MLB hit in his debut. Tristan Peters’ RBI single brought Meidroth around to score the winning run ,which capped off the rally and lifted the South Side to a 2-1 victory. Southpaw, the White Sox mascot, truly enjoyed the gift of a sweep on his 22nd birthday.
This month was a good month. Highlights include tying the Seattle Mariners for the MLB home run lead with 42, ranking fifth in the league in scoring with 146 runs, improving the run differential to +8, and converting eight of 10 save opportunities.
As of today, the White Sox are just one game back from the division leading Guardians and have a better record than the Chicago Cubs. It may feel surreal, but this is the reality of the baseball season so far. The month of June is shaping up to be a tough one. The divisional games continue to flow, and the month includes games against the Phillies, Braves, Dodgers and Yankees.
For now, I will be soaking in the fact that my team won 30 games before the month of June for the first time in a long while.
CINCINNATI, OHIO - MAY 31: Elly De La Cruz #44 of the Cincinnati Reds takes to the field against the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park on May 31, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Sunday afternoon in Great American Ball Park brought out the full range of emotions for the Cincinnati Reds. They picked up a win to stave off a would-be sweep by the Atlanta Braves, but watched as superstar Elly De La Cruz pulled up lame rounding 1B on a ball he hit to the wall in RF.
Our hearts sunk when Elly exited immediately. Our hearts woke up when, after the game, Elly said he felt pretty good and had hopefully avoided anything serious by pulling up when he did.
On Monday, we got the real news, though – Elly is going to hit the 10-day IL to rest this hamstring, and the Reds are going to turn to top prospect Edwin Arroyo to replace him on the active roster.
Also noted here is the promotion of LHP Brandon Liebrandt back to the big leagues and the DFA of Yunior Marte, who was only just promoted this weekend during the spate of injuries the Reds faced in their bullpen crisis.
The big news, though, is the Elly/Arroyo swap. The former has obviously established himself as one of the elite talents in the game, but what Arroyo has managed to accomplish to this point is pretty damn impressive, too. While this hammy is the first injury that has shipped Elly to the sidelines in his career, Arroyo has the experience of having to overcome a major shoulder injury, surgery, and lost year that came with it. And though he rebounded in 2025 to show he was still a competent baseball player, his 2026 (so far) has shown that he’s once again one of the better regarded shortstops on the planet for his age.
He was a consensus Top 100 prospect when the Reds acquired him in the trade that sent Luis Castillo to Seattle. He’s also a former 2nd round pick out of Puerto Rico that received a full-slot bonus to buy him out of his commitment to powerhouse Florida State University, too. Outside of the shoulder years, he’s been elite just about every step of the way – defensively, if nothing else – but his bat has woken up at AAA Louisville this year to round out his prospect status. It’s been so good that he vaulted all the way to the #23 spot on Keith Law’s mid-season Top 50 overall prospect list last week, and now he’ll get a shot to show his chops in the Cincinnati infield.
Edwin Arroyo
22.8 / 5'11" / 173 2021 2nd Round Pick (SEA) Acquired in Luis Castillo trade
It will be interesting to see how the Reds rotate their infield since Arroyo, like Matt McLain, is a shortstop by trade who’s spent plenty of time at 2B given the presence of Elly within the organization. Maybe Terry Francona will rotate the two between those two spots (with some Sal Stewart and Spencer Steer sprinkled in at 2B), or maybe, just maybe, the Reds will let the switch-hitting shortstop prospect simply go play shortstop in Elly’s absence and keep as few of the other moving parts from having to move, too.
It’s obviously a bummer that Elly will join Hunter Greene, Emilio Pagan, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Brandon Williamons, Rhett Lowder, Pierce Johnson, Graham Ashcraft, you, me, them, and those other guys on the list of injured players on the Reds roster, but having Arroyo to promote – when he’s done so much to prove he’s ready at AAA this year – is about as good an insurance policy as there could be. Now, we just have to hope he hits the ground running.
PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 29: Tristan Gray #4 of the Minnesota Twins hits a single in the second inning during the game between the Minnesota Twins and the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Friday, May 29, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Fails/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
After the good vibes from the previous week, reality hit the Twins like a semi truck, and now they are looking at a five-game losing streak. On the injury front, promising rookie Kendrys Rojas and Bailey Ober are hitting the 15-day IL. At the same time, Simeon Woods-Richardson was DFA’d earlier this week, so it remains to be seen whether he sticks with the team. The team is now 27-33, and has another full week of games, facing off against the White Sox and the Royals at home. It’s an opportunity to remain relevant in the AL Central, but with injury and personnel decisions plaguing the Twins, a turnaround seems unlikely.
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The Rays now only have a 1.5-game lead over the Yankees. The Guardians and White Sox sit third and fourth in the race, and the Mariners have taken over the AL West lead. There is quite a bit of parity though; there’s only a three-game separation between the sixth-place Blue Jays and the 12th-place Boston Red Sox.
The National League has remained the same, with Atlanta becoming the first team, this season to hit the 40-win mark. The Dodgers are 1.5 games back of Atlanta and the Brewers still lead the NL Central.
The labor battle has begun, as both the MLBPA and the owners swapped initial proposals. Evan Drellich at The Athletic breaks down the owners’ first offer and the implications of a hard salary cap.
Jorge Castillo at ESPN looks at the MLBPA’s first offer and what the union is hoping to achieve this time around.
May 29, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez (44) and shortstop J.P. Crawford (3) celebrate after Crawford hit a home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Rick Rizzs Happy Totals: 15 Dan Wilson Tough One Tonights: 13 Run Differential: +23
Beef Boy Bombs: 0 Josh Naylor SB: 8 for 8 Julio HR-SB: 10-2 Ty France Memorial HBP Counter: Randy Arozarena, 5
Luke Raley wOBA: .475 (1st in MLB) Mitch Garver hard-hit rate: 52.2% Cal Raleigh games played: 9 Cole Young wRC+: 66 J.P. Crawford HR: 7 (tied for most of his career (Sept./Oct. 2023)) Julio Rodríguez HR: 10 (most of his career) Leo Rivas PA: 32 Rob Refsnyder K%: 40.9%
Piggyback Starts: 3 Combined runs allowed across 3 piggyback starts: 6 Bryan Woo sinker%: 13.5% (lowest of his career by 7.1%) Logan Gilbert HR: 7 (second most of his career) George Kirby Whiff%: 20.6% (third lowest of his career) Emerson Hancock FIP: 2.44 (17th in MLB)
Combined games missed by Matt Brash and Gabe Speier: 38 Andrés Muñoz xwOBAcon: .439 (4th highest of his career) Jose A. Ferrer ERA/xERA: 1.64/1.93 Cooper Criswell hard-hit rate: 17.9% (3rd best in MLB, min. 10 IP)
Your favorite May stat not listed here: In the comments
Playoff position: 1st place in AL West, +2.5 games
Current overall record and run differential: 31-29, +30 On this date in 2025: 31-26, +7 2024: 32-27, -6 2023: 29-27, +24 2022: 21-28, -9
Randy Johnson: Luke Raley, +1.06 WPA Rob Johnson: Andrés Muñoz, -0.85 WPA
PHILADELPHIA — Cristopher Sánchez is friends with fellow Dominican Republic native Marcell Ozuna, so it was only natural they trash talked each other before their most recent game.
The Pirates’ designated hitter told Sánchez he would take him deep.
Sánchez instead struck him out — four times, and the Phillies’ ace struck out 13 overall in the May 16 shutout victory.
“That wasn’t a very good idea to piss him off,” Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said with a laugh.
Using an elite sinker-slider-changeup mix that has made him one of the best pitchers in baseball, Sánchez had his way with just about every batter in a sensational scoreless May.
Sánchez went 4-0 and struck out 45 — with only three walks — over 39 innings in May and broke a 115-year-old franchise record along the way. Sánchez has pitched 44 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings headed into his next start against San Diego to top the mark of 41 innings set in 1911 by Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Up ahead, a shot at the major league record held by former Los Angeles Dodgers great Orel Hershiser, who threw 59 consecutive scoreless innings for the World Series champions from Aug. 30 to Sept. 28, 1988.
“I’m pulling for anybody to have a life-changing moment,” Hershiser said. “’88 and the 59 scoreless changed my life. The only time I’m not going to root for him is when he’s pitching against the Dodgers.”
Sánchez missed the Dodgers’ series during the Phillies 4-2 road trip, and they now are 21-10 under interim manager Don Mattingly.
He hasn’t missed much else, except maybe a lot of bats.
“It’s something special,” Sánchez said through an interpreter. “Something really important. I never imagined something like this. So, I’m really happy and proud of myself.”
Sánchez has thrown at least seven shutout innings in five straight starts — he would need to reach that minimum in two more starts, plus one inning to top Hershiser — and only six other pitchers are ahead of him on the consecutive shutout innings list dating back to the start of the Live Ball Era in 1920.
Arizona pitcher Zac Gallen is the only other active pitcher who understands what Sánchez is feeling on the mound over a lengthy scoreless streak. Gallen — just passed by Sánchez — had six straight scoreless starts of six-plus innings and finished at 44 1/3 innings overall in 2022.
“When you’re on a streak like that, it’s fun,” Gallen said. “It’s kind of like walking around, I wouldn’t say on eggshells of, ‘Oh man, you never know when this thing’s going to end.’ But it’s fun when you’re out there and you’re in flow state and the zeros start to stack up. So, it’s awesome for him. I hope he can take down the record.”
Sánchez is 6-2 with an MLB-low 1.47 ERA overall headed into his start against a Padres team he just beat with seven brilliant innings. Should Sánchez start the game with three scoreless innings, he would pass Sal Maglie, Carl Hubbell, Zack Greinke, and Bob Gibson on the scoreless streak list.
Only Don Drysdale and Hershiser would be left.
“What I do watch, he’s very, very special,” Hershiser said. “His changeup, his athleticism, his ability to change speeds to both sides of the plate. I just think he’s a real special pitcher. You can’t do what he’s doing without repeating your mechanics and having some deception and making a lot of good pitches. He’s putting it all together.”
Each of Sánchez’s last 28.2 innings at Citizens Bank Park have been scoreless and he has the third-longest scoreless streak in ballpark history, trailing only Roy Halladay in 2010 (33 innings) and Cliff Lee in 2011 (29).
The 29-year-old Sánchez has inched toward greatness each of the last two seasons.
He was the NL Cy Young Award runner-up in 2025 when he went 13-5 with a 2.50 ERA and struck out 212 in 202 innings. Sánchez was rewarded in March with a guaranteed $104 million over a six-year contract through the 2032 season in a deal that contains $20 million in deferred money payable from 2035-44.
The Phillies put a lot of financial faith in Sánchez, and the early returns have been significant — he made his first opening day start and could lead to the lanky lefty earning an All Star start in July on his home mound.
Sánchez signed with the Tampa Bay Rays as an international free agent in 2013 and was traded to the Phillies six years later for infielder Curtis Mead in a few-cared winter transaction. Mead never caught on as an everyday player and is batting .242 in 45 games this season with the Washington Nationals.
Sánchez — throwing a changeup that averages 86.5 mph and holding hitters to a .153 average — and Zack Wheeler have formed a formidable 1-2 punch in the rotation and helped the Phillies play their way out of a 9-19 start to get back into wild card contention.
Sánchez largely has pitched to weak contact, and the scoreless streak has never been in any serious jeopardy since he last allowed two runs in the first inning of a 3-2 Phillies win over the Giants on April 30.
The defensive highlight of his run came in his last start when centerfielder Justin Crawford raced after Manny Machado’s deep drive and crashed into the wall to make the catch.
Sánchez stood on the mound and applauded the effort.
And if Sánchez gets to 60 scoreless, so too, will Hershiser.
“If Cristopher would break it, that would be an honor to be mentioned and I would treat him the same (respectful) way that Don Drysdale treated me,” he said.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 25: Adolis Garcia #53 of the Philadelphia Phillies bats during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on May 25, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Not the greatest week offensively, but hey, they came home from the West coast going 4-2. As I stated in the morning links, there are issues at the plate, but at least the pitching has been on point.
Three up
Cristopher Sanchez – I mean, if you’re going to break records held by players that the average fan is going to have to look up on Baseball Reference to even have a visual of, you’re going to hold a spot on this prestigious list. At some point, this streak is going to end, the one Sanchez is currently on. For now, we need to continue to bask in the greatness Sanchez has established.
Kyle Schwarber – If you had asked me to remember the home runs Schwarber hit this week, I couldn’t tell you. This week was something of an uneventful, boring exercise since they were on the West coast and sleep kept calling my name. Take a peek back and you’ll see that his home runs were rather important ones and should be constant reminders of how important Schwarber is to this lineup. Seriously, imagine this offense without his power being supplied in the middle of the lineup. Actually, maybe don’t since that would be a rather bleak portrait.
The fans’ patience – The Phillies are over .500. That’s good! The offense is pretty bad. That’s bad! The patience being given by the fans is something the team should be thankful for as their performance on the field has been quite bad of late. There are several players that might hear the impatient fans when they return home this week if their current level of production keeps up. But for the most part, the people have been pretty good about how uneven this team is. They deserve a shout out.
Three down
Adolis Garcia – I think it’s time. Garcia has quite literally done nothing in the month of May. He had eleven hits in 101 plate appearances. Three of them went for extra bases. He’s walking more often, but his offensive profile has lent nothing to the team as a whole. His defense is spectacular, this we cannot deny. Yet I’d be more than willing to give a little defense back if it meant bringing someone different aboard that could actually have an impact at the plate. It’s 226 plate appearances as a whole, so it’s not a small sample size any longer. It might be time to move on.
Andrew Painter – Painter’s season was perking up a bit of late, but his start in Los Angeles was a clunker. He’s been disappointing this year to say the least. It’s growing pains, I get that, but I didn’t expect an ERA that was closer to six for the season. No reason at all to use the term “bust” any time soon, but it’s fine to be disappointed with what he has done this year.
KANSAS CITY, MO - MAY 20: Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet as seen during a press conference before a MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals on May 20, 2026, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It’s now June, the month when we expected to see Garrett Crochet again. But while Crochet was progressing nicely in his return from shoulder inflammation and had hoped to skip a rehab assignment altogether, he has since experienced lat tightness and will hit pause on his throwing program. Moreover, he’ll get an MRI some time this week. This doesn’t sound major — yet — but it’s not what you want to hear. “Feels like a very minor setback. It [stinks] to even call it a setback. It doesn’t feel like it even deserves that title,” Crochet said. “Just trying to make sure that when I do return to play, that I’m there for the rest of the year.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Crochet isn’t the only Sox star to hit a setback (regardless of what he wants to call it). Roman Anthony once again experienced pain and discomfort in his hand when he tried to hit off of a tee. There is no timeline for his return, though he is going to try to swing again tomorrow. “It’s not Roman’s fault,” said Chad Tracy. “None of that’s anybody’s fault. It’s just that he got hurt and it’s a nagging injury on a hand when he’s trying to hit. We have to be patient with that and it’s gonna take a little longer.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
With Anthony on the shelf, the Sox can’t afford any more injuries to their few productive hitters. That might be why Chad Tracy gave some time off to Willson Contreras and Ceddanne Rafaela yesterday, both whom were a little banged up. Contreras is dealing with some arm issues, partly due to being hit by pitches, while Rafaela has a bit of a sore back. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
Let’s hope those injuries don’t linger, because between Jarren Duran’s recent resurgence, Trevor Story’s injury, and Caleb Durbin’s reduced playing time, it’s starting to feel like the Red Sox can actually hit. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
Mickey Gasper deserves a shout-out for his production in the lineup as well, especially since few people ever predicted he’d get to the big leagues. “I had a big chip on my shoulder,” said Gasper “I wanted to prove that I belonged at that level.” (Trevor Haas, Boston.com)
Is the fact that the Red Sox are now counting on Mickey Gaspar instead of a free agent bat like Kyle Schwarber a testement to Craig Breslow’s overreliance on analytical models? “Theo Epstein has been disappointed by the Sox’ intense analytical direction under Breslow,” according to this deep dive into Breslow’s front office. “Theo was an all-forms-of-information guy,’ said one evaluator who was with the Sox during the Epstein era. ‘He didn’t just live on Carmine [their internal database at the time]. He listened to people.‘ (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
