KANSAS CITY, MO - MAY 18: Sonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox walks in from the bullpen before an MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals on May 18, 2026 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Ten games under .500 just has a different feel to it, huh? Life doesn’t seem too bad at six or seven games under; it’s not hard to imagine a team ripping of seven wins out of eight and getting right back into it in those scenarios.
But ten? Ten is rough. You fall ten games under in May and you’re in serious risk of becoming one of baseball’s irrelevant teams. And while the Sox have been bad in my lifetime, they’ve never really been irrelevant.
Sonny Gray takes the hill today to get the team back to nine under. That’s not much of a goal, but it’s something.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 13: Mitch Keller #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the first inning during the game against the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park on May 13, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Pitching Matchup: Bailey Ober (6-2, 3.92 ERA) vs. Mitch Keller (5-2, 3.64 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home today against the Minnesota Twins looking to grab a win.
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May 29, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder Nick Loftin (12) attempts to tag out Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung (6) during the fifth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 29: Jackson Merrill #3 of the San Diego Padres runs the bases after hitting a two run home run during the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on May 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images) | Getty Images
San Diego Padres (32-24) at Washington Nationals (29-29), May 30, 2026, 1:05 p.m. PST
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May 29, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz (15) celebrates his solo home run wearing a welders hood in the dugout against the Minnesota Twins during the third inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
First Pitch: 3:10 pm CDT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / Audacy
YARR, and, genuinely, YAARGH and AARGH.
Pirate-themed sounds or reactions to 2026 Twins fandom? You decide. It’s not my call. The real truth of it is, it’s never been my call. Most of this is up to interpretation by you, the loyal reader. I actually have no true influence over what you do while OR after you ingest this article, and only limited influence over what you do before.
The Twins are squaring up with the Buccos again as their underwhelming final week of May continues. The suddenly-dependable-again Bailey Ober, now three starts removed from his home shutout of the Miami Marlins, has faced the Pittsburgh Pirates just once, in an 10th-inning victory in June of 2024. He’ll get the ball this afternoon, as the Twins try to wipe the slate after a crushing walk-off loss on Friday’s iPhone Channel opener.
Mitch Keller gets the ball for the Bucs, rocking his best ERA+ since his single All-Star campaign in eight seasons. That all changes today, of course, when he becomes the first pitcher in major-league history charged with 20 runs without recording an out. You won’t wanna miss this!
May 29, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) hits a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies in the third inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers will try to extend their best stretch of the season on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium.
They’ve won 13 of their last 15 games, including each of their last six for their longest winning streak of the season. That followed a stretch of nine losses in 14 games.
“It just feels like we’re showing up and playing baseball. That’s how it felt when we were playing bad, and that’s how it feels when we’re playing good,” said third baseman Max Muncy after Friday’s win. “That’s the way you want it to be. You want to go out there and do your work every single day.”
Muncy homered in the series opener, one of four Dodgers home runs in the win. After hitting just 11 home runs in their previous 14 games at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers have exploded for 13 home runs in the last three games. When the Dodgers hit at least three home runs, which they’ve done in each of the last three games, they are 11-0. When they hit at least two home runs, they are 19-1. MLB teams this season have a .706 win percentage when homering multiple times.
Couple that power and offense with a stingy pitching staff, that’s the recipe for 13 wins in 15 games. Dodgers pitchers — actual pitchers, not counting the Miguel Rojas ninth inning on Tuesday — have allowed only 26 runs in those 15 games.
The Dodgers are 10-2 when facing an opposing left-handed starting pitcher, the best such record in baseball this season. They have a tough task in Jesús Luzardo of the Phillies, who was a handful during last year’s National League Division Series. Luzardo struck out eight and walked only one in his 7 2/3 innings during the series, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits. He pitched seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers last season in Philadelphia in April, then went seven innings again in a loss at Dodger Stadium, allowing four runs, including two home runs in September.
With Luzardo starting, expect Miguel Rojas to start at second base and the now-returned Santiago Espinal at third base. The Dodgers are being cautious with Muncy, who was hit by a pitch on his right wrist on May 22 in Milwaukee. Muncy missed three full games, played defense in the ninth inning but did not hit on Tuesday. He played Wednesday and Friday, with Thursday’s scheduled off day in between.
“It still hurts a little bit right now, but we’ll play through it. The barrel is dropping a bit right now, but that’s to be expected,” Muncy said Friday. “I’m trying to make some of those adjustments, and getting that kind of result tonight feels great.”
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MAY 26: Amed Rosario #14 of the New York Yankees hits a two-run home run against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning at Kauffman Stadium on May 26, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) | Getty Images
If you asked me what the highlight of Tuesday’s 15-1 drubbing of the Royals was, I’d pick Cam Schlittler’s casual six-inning, one-run start. But a close second would be Amed Rosario’s four-hit, two-homer performance. Ok, it’s important to note that his second homer came against a position player on the mound, poor old Tyler Tolbert. However, there was nothing flukey about the rest of his performance; he was scalding balls all day, with all of his hits having exit velocities exceeding 100 mph. Seriously, just look at all this hard contact:
At first, I thought this was just another entry in the annals of “random backup infielder has great game offensively”. (You will always hold a place in my heart, Jayson Nix on April 7, 2013 against Justin Verlander.) But then I looked at Rosario’s FanGraphs page and did a double take – the man’s running a 130 wRC+!
Granted, it’s only been 31 games and 97 plate appearances, which is far from a representative sample size. Rosario has had 31-game stretches where he was even hotter in the past. If I had to choose between “Amed Rosario is a middle-of-the-order bat now” and “this is just a hot streak”, I’m choosing the latter every time.
However, there’s one crucial detail that gives me pause; the shape of his production is totally new. Rosario’s .261 ISO this year represents not only a career high for him, it’s the highest mark he’s run over any 31-game stretch in his career, ever. That seems to me like it’s a sign that something has changed with him.
There’s also the matter of his platoon splits. Rosario owns a career 121 wRC+ against southpaws and a 84 wRC+ against righties. So, surely his hot hitting so far this year is because he’s being shielded against same-handed pitching, right?
Not really, as it turns out. Of Rosario’s 97 plate appearances this year, 52 have come against lefties and 45 against righties – basically an even split. Of course, since lefties only make up less than a third of MLB pitching, having only 50% of your plate appearances come against righties means that you’re being platooned. However, the fact remains that about half of Rosario’s PAs have come against righties this year. His wRC+ against them? It’s the exact same as his line against left-handers – 130. Uh, I thought he was supposed to be a platoon bat?
This level of performance against righties is unprecedented for Rosario. Unfortunately, FanGraphs’ Player Graphs function doesn’t support L/R splits for wRC+, but for our purposes wOBA works just fine. See if you can spot the year that is unlike all the others in this graph:
So, Rosario is hitting for more power than ever, and he’s hitting righties better than ever. How is he doing it?
The first question is easier to answer: Rosario is swinging the bat harder than ever. That seems to have something to do with his power surge, doesn’t it? Case in point: StatCast’s bat tracking metrics go back to 2023. That year, Rosario’s fast swing rate – defined as the percentage of swings at 75 mph or faster – was 15.2%. In 2024, it was 16.7%. In 2025, it was 29.9%, which was already a pretty big increase.
This year, it’s 44.0%.
Over the course of four seasons, Rosario’s gone from swinging hard about as often as Luis Rengifo to Bryce Harper. I guess that’ll help you hit the ball harder. But what about his disappeared platoon splits? Does swinging faster more often automatically make you a more well-rounded batter? I, uh, have some doubts about that.
Ultimately, I can’t point to a clear-cut reason as to why Rosario is suddenly hitting righties as well as he hits lefties this year. I do, however, have a theory. After many hours of grueling research (read: I floated this topic on the PSA slack and Peter gave me this link), I happened upon this tweet from Driveline Baseball:
Don’t be fooled by the formatting of the twee. The most revealing video, at least in my mind, isn’t the big one on the left but the bottom right one, showing Rosario’s 2025 (blue) and 2026 (red) swing trajectories from various angles. In particular, pay close attention to the bird’s-eye view graphic. Notice how Rosario’s 2026 bat path starts off at a markedly lesser angle than its 2025 counterpart, and remains close to parallel to the front of home plate throughout its voyage through the strike zone? My theory is that this revamped bat path has allowed Rosario to perform well against pitches from right-handers which break away from him, alleviating his platoon splits.
It has been found by past baseball research that pitches that break away from same-handed hitters result in the largest platoon splits. It seems that righty pitchers have taken this to heart when facing Rosario; they’ve fed him more and more breaking balls in recent years, with more gloveside horizontal movement.
How do you combat this? Well, one way, it seems to me, might be to “flatten” your bat path as Rosario is doing in 2026 – trying to keep the barrel of the bat as parallel to the front of home plate as long as possible. This would increase your chances of making better contact with, say, sliders spinning away from you, especially if you’re able to catch them out in front of the plate. Lo and behold: it’s still an extremely small sample size, but Rosario’s xwOBACON against breaking pitches from right-handers is by far the highest of his career.
Can Rosario sustain this level of performance going forward? I can’t say for certain. But it’s at least very encouraging that there seems to be real, tangible changes in his approach that are fueling his early-season performance. Keep an eye out for Amed Rosario – he might be playing a bigger role in this Yankees lineup in the coming weeks.
Mar 11, 2023; Dunedin, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Hayden Juenger (76) throws a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth inning during spring training at TD Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
This is the stuff that other teams do that I make fun of, but the Jays, after deciding that Austin Voth was the guy that could be the bulk guy yesterday, and when he has a bad game, he gets DFAed. If you believed in him, you wouldn’t let one game change your mind.
Hayden Juenger has been added to the roster.
Juenger has a 3.15 ERA in 17 games, 20 innings, 22 hits, 8 walks and 23 strikeouts. Hayden was on our ‘Just Missed Out’ list on the Prospects list this year. Tom wrote:
Hayden Juenger was a sixth round pick back in ‘21. He popped onto lists by jumping all the way to AAA in his first full pro season, working as a multi-inning reliever. Things have stalled there, though. He gets some strikeouts, but walks too many and generally hasn’t found the consistency he needs to join the major league staff. He deserves a nod here because, with a nice rising fastball that sits 94, a promising cutter and a good change-up he has the repertoire to work as an MLB long reliever. So far this season he’s shelved his slider and emphasized the cutter, which has helped him avoid walks so far.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 29: Nicky Lopez #33 of the Texas Rangers bats against the Kansas City Royals at Globe Life Field on May 29, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Texas Rangers lineup for May 30, 2026 against the Kansas City Royals: starting pitchers are Kumar Rocker for the Rangers and Seth Lugo for the Royals.
Texas scored a lot of runs yesterday and won a game. They will try to do that again today.
The lineup:
Pederson — DH
Jung — 3B
Nimmo — RF
Burger — 1B
Duran — SS
Osuna — LF
Jansen — C
Lopez — 2B
Helman — CF
3:05 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -119 favorites.
Looking to bring in a fresh bullpen arm prior to Saturday afternoon's game against the Marlins, the Mets decided to option right-hander Tobias Myers down to the minors.
The decision was a tough one with Myers being such a valuable piece for this pitching staff, but having an option remaining made him the odd man out this time around.
“Not an easy decision given how important he’s been,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Opener, multi-inning guy, high-leverage, can get the last three outs -- it’s just the situation we were in pitching-wise heading into today’s game.
“He’s one of the guys with an option, the other two are available today -- we told him you’re going to be back here soon and he understood, obviously not happy about it, but it’s the situation we’re in and he’ll be back here.”
The versatile reliever has hit a bit of a rough patch on the mound of late as well, giving up runs in five of his last seven appearances to bring his ERA to 4.05 for the season.
Myers will look to turn things around in Triple-A, though, on more of a regulated program.
“It’s just going to be more scripted,” Mendoza said. “Where if you’re going to go and throw 35-45 pitches, then he’s able to get the three or four days after that, something that at this level with the competition you aren’t able to do.
“Then once his 15 days are up and we have to make that decision, he can either go and continue to get stretched out or go back into the role we’ve been using him in -- he’s very versatile and an important player for our team.”
Yesterday was an annoying baseball day. The Cubs lost to the Cardinals after hitting a three-run homer in the first inning. They were one run short of tying the game in the ninth, because the BABIP gods were apparently a little annoyed at Nico Hoerner and Phil Maton keeps throwing in relatively close games for #reasons. Shōta Imanaga decided to keep pace with Jameson Taillon on the home run front, surrendering two of his own today. Including a long fly ball to former Cub Nelson Velázquez in his first MLB at bat since 2024 and you know what? Good for Nelson [VIDEO]:
But the loss was maybe the least annoying Cubs adjacent thing Friday because we also learned that Brewers pitcher Abner Uribe would be suspended a game after a… shall we say, colorful, celebration in the direction of the Cardinals dugout:
Milwaukee Brewers reliever Abner Uribe was suspended for one game by Major League Baseball for crotch-chopping toward the St. Louis Cardinals dugout following a strikeout earlier this week. Uribe is appealing the suspension.
I really went back and forth on whether I should show that celebration. Ultimately, I decided I should not. It’s easily searchable, most of you have probably already seen it. I don’t have a huge problem with it, but I know enough people do that I am not going to thrust that onto people without warning. In fact, it’s very similar to an editorial decision I made on this very site last week when I opted not to share video of the incident between Pete Crow-Armstrong and a White Sox fan in the outfield at the recent Crosstown Classic. As I said at the time:
The video of the exchange is uncomfortable viewing and it seemed like an ill-advised engagement with a fan from my vantage point. The full picture matters here: a female White Sox fan began booing Crow-Armstrong and yelling “you suck” when he was just feet away after he missed a potential highlight-reel catch, and PCA responded with a profane and frankly crude verbal comeback that he acknowledged immediately was indefensible in terms of word choice. Crow-Armstrong apologized Monday for his language, saying he didn’t think “any of the women in my life would think I would say those kinds of words regularly” and adding that he was bothered by the idea of young kids seeing the exchange on social media. That’s a start, but honestly, it’s pretty clear he does use those words to at least some women who aren’t in his life, and that’s a double standard that is more than a little troubling.
In that piece, I noted that the line between what PCA did towards the fan wasn’t that far away from other fan interactions that have resulted in suspensions. I also shared, cautiously, that I thought MLB had probably gotten it right. What PCA did was distasteful and indefensible, but a fine rather than a suspension seemed appropriate, although reasonable people clearly may disagree. In the poll attached to that earlier article, the vote was split about 50/50 between suspension and not for PCA.
I’m just not sure how whatever governing body that made the decision to fine PCA looked at what Uribe did towards another team (not the fans) and finds that to be worthy of a suspension rather than a fine. If anything, Uribe’s gesture, while crude, seems squarely within behavior that is also actively being celebrated in the game when the Giants outfield does it.
I’m sure some fans will read this and groan internally. I’ll be honest, I wish we weren’t talking about this even anymore too. But I also think it’s important to call out decisions that seem unfair on their face, even when my favorite team got the better end of the deal.
Regardless of any explanation that might be forthcoming, the discrepancy in punishment here is honestly not a great look for a league that presumably would like the punishments they mete out to players appear to be equitable, measured and fair.
May 29, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Detroit Tigers shortstop Zack Short (15) hits a sacrifice RBI against the Chicago White Sox during the tenth inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
Detroit Tigers (22-36) vs. Chicago White Sox (30-27)
Time/Place: 2:10 p.m., Rate Field SB Nation Site: South Side Sox Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network Pitching Matchup:Game 59: LHP Framber Valdez (2-3, 4.28 ERA) vs. LHP Anthony Kay (4-1, 3.96 ERA)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 19: (Editors Note: Digital toning has been applied ) Martín Pérez #33 of the Atlanta Braves walks off the field into the dugout during the first inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on May 19, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Braves have a chance to win their series against a solid Reds team in Cincy with a win tonight and give them a chance for another Sunday sweep.
Martin Perez takes the mound for Atlanta and he is posting near-career-best numbers through 46.2 innings, with strikeout and walk rates that near his career highs and a 3.80 xFIP to pair nicely with his 3.83 FIP at the age of 35. He’s chucking a 5 pitch mix of relatively slow pitches that generally have decent movement and it’s getting the job done for that fifth starter spot. This is a dangerous ballpark for pitchers though, ranking as a top 5 offense-friendly ballpark and especially susceptible to home runs.
The Reds will start veteran Brady Singer, who is having his worst major league season so far this year, with a 6.52 FIP and 4.46 xFIP on 46.0 innings. Given his home ballpark, I would trust xFIP to be more accurately representative than FIP, but that would still be a career-worst xFIP. It’s not hard to see why, as his fastball velocity is down nearly a full MPH from last season and his strikeouts have cratered to by far a career low rate of 6.65 per 9 innings. At only 29, Singer may be hitting the cliff early or this may be a blip on an overall solid mid-rotation starter career. Let’s hope this swoon lasts at least one more game and Atlanta can take advantage. Singer relies heavily on his sinker and slider, with a sweeper, cutter, and four-seamer sprinkled in. All of his pitches have been hit varying degrees of hard this year, but he does still have good extension and historically his slider has been fairly effective. What he is doing well this season is limiting walks, so the Braves should look for all of those pitches he’s throwing in the strike zone and look to hit them hard, particularly the sinkers. If they can do that, they should find success against Singer in this small ballpark.
Game Info
Game Time: Saturday, May 30th, 7:15 pm EDT
Location: Great American Ball Park, , Cincinnati, OH
Newcomer Jacob Gonzalez, writing down the combination to his locker? | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Last night’s victory for the Sox was certainly exciting, what with tying the game in the ninth on a misplayed squeeze bunt and then winning on a walk-off homer in the 10th. But it was also pyrrhic, since Munetaka Murakami injured a hammie trying to beat out a double play throw in the third inning and wound up on the IL.
Murakami is expected to be out four to six weeks, so the Sox called up Jacob Gonzalez, who seems to have remembered how to hit and has been smashing the ball in Charlotte. With Murakami out, Gonzalez is expected to take over at short, with Colson Montgomery moving to third and last night’s hero, Miguel Vargas, shifting to first. That will wait at least a day, because Gonzalez isn’t in today’s starting lineup.
The pitching matchup is a battle of veteran lefties, with Anthony Kay going for the Sox and Framber Valdez for the Tigers. Valdez is having by far his worst season since 2019, with a 4.28 ERA and 1.33 WHIP, but he was sharp last time out, holding the Orioles to two hits and one run over six innings. He’ll face a Sox lineup that has historically hit him well, especially Edgar Quero (5-for-6 with four RBIs).
Kay faces a Detroit team with an injured list that is probably the best team in the AL Central, but an active list that is the worst, with four of today’s starters hitting worse than .200 and two more barely better. Kay has had an excellent May, giving up only six earned runs in 27 1/3 innings over five starts.
First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Central on a perfect baseball day, with partly sunny skies, temps in the mid-sixties, and wind blowing left to right with gusts to 21 mph to keep things interesting. Usual broadcast suspects.
PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 26: Esmerlyn Valdez #55 of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits a two-run home run in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on May 26, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Esmerlyn Valdez may have had a short first stint in the Major Leagues, but he showed signs of what could be to come for the Pirates outfield.
Valdez made his MLB debut on May 22 against the Toronto Blue Jays and reached base on a walk.
He didn’t record his first career hit until two days later, notching it in style.
The 22-year-old power hitter smashed his first-career home run on Sunday, a two-run shot off Chase Lee. Valdez displayed opposite field power and helped the Bucs to a 4-1 victory and salvaged one game in the three-game set.
Valdez homered again two days later against the Chicago Cubs, his first long ball at PNC Park.
That home run was even more impressive, taking Jordan Wicks deep to the Cubs’ bullpen in the first inning.
.@Valdezesmerlyn7's first homer at PNC Park with his family watching. 🥹
Valdez became the seventh Pirate in the Modern Era (since 1901) to hit two home runs in their first four career games.
The last to do so? Former first-rounder and top prospect Austin Meadows in 2018, who was dealt at the trade deadline to Tampa Bay in a package for pitcher Chris Archer.
Meadows was the first to achieve the feat since Dick Stuart in 1958. Valdez joined Meadows, Stuart, RC Stevens (1958), Dino Restelli (1949), Wally Westlake (1947), and Walter Mueller (1922), per Luke Henne of Pirates PR.
Valdez was sent back to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday. With Konnor Griffin dealing with a low-grade muscle strain in his forearm, the Pirates recalled infielder Tyler Callihan and demoted Valdez to create room on the roster.
In 16 at-bats, Valdez only hit .125. He earned two home runs and five RBIs in a small sample and displayed the immense power he has in his frame.
Valdez hit 10 doubles and 10 home runs in the minor leagues before being recalled.
The No. 9 overall prospect in the Pirates system also has pro experience playing at first base.
This is likely not the last we hear of Valdez this season, and his rapid rise through the minors.
Pittsburgh continues to fight through a tough NL Central race, with all five teams over .500 on Saturday.
