Category: Baseball

Between the White Sox losing and the Guardians winning yesterday, the division rivals sit atop the AL Central, with the Guardians just one game back in second place. The White Sox did win their first road series since May 3, but they will also need to win at least three of the four games in this series, not only to remain in first place, but also to convince me they’re improving on the road.

Davis Martin (9-3) will be on the mound tonight. Martin has been consistent, bringing his ERA back down to 3.00 entering this series in Cleveland. Kyle Teel will be behind the plate, and Andrew Benintendi will serve as the designated hitter. The rest of the lineup is what we’re used to seeing.

Slade Cecconi will be the starter for Cleveland. Cecconi, who is 4-6 with a 4.08 ERA, has only given up 12 earned runs on 35 hits in his last seven games. He doesn’t issue many walks and features a fastball-heavy approach. As for the lineup, Sports Info Solutions just named Brayan Rocchio Defensive Player of the Month, so perhaps it would be wise not to hit the ball to him. Chase DeLauter is also having a good season with a respectable .462/.500/.615 slash line over his past seven games.

First pitch will be at 5:40 p.m. CT. You can watch the game on CHSN or listen on ESPN Chicago 1000.

For the third day in a row, the Dodgers have called up a new pitcher from Triple-A Oklahoma City. On Thursday, Paul Gervase joins the Dodgers in Los Angeles before the start of a four-game weekend series against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium.

Charlie Barnes was the fresh arm on Wednesday, covering the final seven innings in a loss to the A’s in West Sacramento. Barnes, who has been starting in Oklahoma City, followed an opener on Wednesday and allowed seven runs, a classic “take one for the team” outing in which a pitcher soaks up innings to rest most of the bullpen. Wednesday was the sixth game of a 13-day stretch for the Dodgers, and a rotation shuffle moved Shohei Ohtani from Wednesday to start on the mound Friday against the Padres.

Gervase had a classic “take one for the team” outing on May 9, pitching the final three innings of a loss to the Atlanta Braves, a major league career high in innings for the 6’10 right-hander, and one out shy of his professional career high. He was optioned the next day.

Gervase with Oklahoma City this season has a 3.60 ERA and two saves in 19 appearances, with 35 strikeouts and 18 walks in 25 innings. In two games with the Dodgers, Gervase allowed one run in five innings with five strikeouts.

The Texas Rangers have purchased the contract of righthanded relief pitcher Ben Peoples from AAA Round Rock, the team announced today. To make room for Peoples on the active roster, the Rangers have optioned righthanded pitcher Winston Santos to AAA Round Rock. With Peoples being added, the Rangers’ 40 man roster now stands at 39.

Peoples was acquired from the Chicago White Sox earlier this week in exchange for A ball catcher Ben Hartl. Peoples, 25, was a 22nd round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019. The Rays traded him to the White Sox last summer as part of the package for Adrian Houser.

Peoples was a starter until last season, when he started working exclusively out of the bullpen. In 37 innings over 29 appearances in AAA this year, he has a 2.39 ERA with 45 Ks against 21 walks. He will presumably be part of the middle relief mix for the Rangers.

Box Score

Jacob Misiorowski versus Chase Burns was rightfully billed as one of the season’s top pitching matchups. And we did get to see a bunch of really good pitching from both pitchers. But one ill-timed and uncharacteristic mistake from Misiorowski cost the Brewers, while the bottom of the Reds’ order did a whole bunch of damage today and gave Burns more than enough of an early cushion to lead Cincinnati to a comfortable win.

Surprisingly, it was the Reds who jumped out to an early advantage. After Misiorowski started the game with a three-pitch strikeout of Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart pounced on a 102-mph, 1-2 fastball that didn’t quite get high enough in the zone and hit it out to right-center. Credit to Stewart — players just haven’t been able to barrel up Misiorowski’s fastball this year, and Stewart caught one. Misiorowski proceeded to strike out both of the next two hitters to end the inning, but Cincinnati handed Burns an early lead.

Burns didn’t get off to an ideal start either, as his afternoon began with a four-pitch walk to the scuffling Christian Yelich. Burns recovered and got Jackson Chourio to pop out to first base, and Brice Turang struck out, though Yelich stole second base on the last pitch to Turang. William Contreras had a chance with a runner in scoring position and two outs, but he struck out on three pitches, and the inning ended.

Misiorowski started the second with his fourth strikeout, and then finally decided to mix it up by getting Noelvi Marte to ground out. A strikeout of Edwin Arroyo ended the inning and gave Misiorowski five Ks through two innings.

Jake Bauers crushed a line drive to start the bottom of the second, but he hit it right at the first baseman, Nathaniel Lowe, for a tough-luck out. Garrett Mitchell had a nice at-bat too, and drew a seven-pitch walk, but then had a brain fart; Sal Frelick hit a ball to fairly deep right-center, but it was pretty clearly catchable, and Mitchell forgot how many outs there were. Frelick’s fly ball was just the second, but Mitchell was at third base when the catch was made, and he was casually doubled off.

Jose Trevino started the Reds’ third with a single just past a diving David Hamilton at third. TJ Friedl followed with a bunt that might’ve gone for a hit, but Hamilton made a nice bare-handed play, and then Bauers made a great pick on the throw over to first to secure the first out. De La Cruz hit a fly ball to medium left that became the second out, and with Trevino still at second base, Stewart struck out on an unsuccessfully checked swing on a 3-2 curveball in the dirt.

Cooper Pratt started the bottom of the third with a solid drive to right field, but Marte was able to make the catch on the warning track. Hamilton was next and hit a ground ball up the middle that Burns knocked down with his glove, which gave Hamilton an infield single. Yelich, up next, jumped on the first pitch and hit a drive deep to left, but JJ Bleday made a jumping catch against the wall (and briefly got his foot stuck in the padding at the base of the wall). With Chourio batting, Hamilton stole second base, but Chourio struck out to end the inning.

Bleday started the fourth with a perfect bunt toward third. Hamilton very nearly made a great play to get him, but Bauers couldn’t hold onto the throw — it wasn’t a difficult play for Bauers, so it was a weird E3. Misiorowski’s tough luck continued when Euguenio Suárez hit a jam-shot pop-up single to shallow right that put runners on the corners with nobody out. Miz took a step toward getting out of it when Lowe, on the first pitch, hit a pop-up to Pratt, but Marte, also swinging at the first pitch, lined a single up the middle for an RBI single. Arroyo struck out, too, but Misiorowski left a 3-2 cutter over the plate, and Trevino hit it just over the wall in the left-field corner for his first home run of the season, a three-run shot that made it 5-0. Given Trevino’s marginal ability with the bat, it was fair — as Brian Anderson did on the broadcast — to question why Misiorowski didn’t just use his fastball on 3-2, but hindsight is 20/20, as they say.

Turang reached on an error by De La Cruz to start the bottom of the fourth, but Contreras flew out, Turang was caught stealing, and Bauers hit one to the warning track in the wrong part of the ballpark in deep center. Through four innings, the Brewers had three of the top five and eight of the top 12 hardest-hit balls in the game, but they had nothing to show for it — almost literally, as only Turang’s error and Hamilton’s infield single were the only of those eight batted balls in which any Brewer reached base.

Miz came back in the fifth with a quick three-up, three-down, two-strikeout inning, but the Brewers needed runs. Mitchell was happy to oblige. He jumped on Burns’ second pitch of the bottom of the fifth and sliced it out to nearly the same place that Trevino hit his, down the left-field line, for a solo home run; that made Mitchell 5-for-5 with four extra-base hits and a walk in his last six plate appearances.

Milwaukee unfortunately couldn’t build on the momentum of Mitchell’s homer. Frelick grounded out to second, Pratt flew out to right, and Hamilton struck out. The Brewers were on the board, but still had a long way to go.

Misiorowski was pulled after five innings, perhaps a strategic move to manage his long-term workload, given he had thrown only 82 pitches (there was no sign of any injury). Miz made a couple of mistakes, but his defense didn’t help him, and he still showcased what makes him so unhittable. In five innings, Misiorowski allowed five runs (though only one was earned), didn’t walk anyone, and struck out 10.

He was replaced by Grant Anderson, who did a nice job. He struck out Suárez and Lowe, then got Marte to ground out to second for a quick inning. Milwaukee’s offense then kept pecking away in the bottom of the inning. Yelich, after not challenging a 3-0 pitch that appeared to be ball four, flew out to left. But Chourio hit a one-out single on a ground ball up the middle, and Turang followed by slapping a ball down the left-field line for a double, which Bleday misplayed, allowing Chourio to score from first. Contreras was next, and he hit a ground ball back to Burns, who made a heads-up play and, instead of throwing to first, caught Turang too far off the bag at second. After the ensuing pickle, the Brewers had Contreras on first with two out instead of Turang at second, but it didn’t matter anyway as Bauers grounded out. The Reds led 5-2 after six.

Anderson was out for his second inning in the seventh. He got the first two quickly, but the Reds’ nine-hole hitter, TJ Friedl, got a 1-0 fastball right down the middle at 92.7 mph and managed to hit it out to right-center. It was a nice day for five batters for Anderson, but the sixth left a sour taste, and Anderson was pulled in favor of Jared Koenig. De La Cruz, Koenig’s first batter, lined a single into left, and his second batter, Stewart, walked. Koenig got ahead of Bleday 0-2, but followed with four straight balls to load the bases. It wasn’t easy, but Koenig managed to get Suárez to fly out to right to end the inning and strand the bases loaded.

Burns gave way to Sam Moll in the seventh. He finally retired Mitchell, but it took a nice play on a swinging bunt up the first-base line. Frelick was next, and he was hit by a pitch to give the Brewers a baserunner. Pratt, who needs a hit, made good contact, but his line drive was snagged by Stewart — brutal, as Pratt would’ve had extra bases. Instead, the Brewers had two outs and sent Joey Ortiz to the plate to pinch-hit for Hamilton, and he flew out to right.

The Reds added another in the eighth. Joel Kuhnel replaced Koenig and gave up a leadoff single to Lowe. After a couple of fielder’s choice groundouts (including an incredible play by Ortiz), Trevino and Friedl hit back-to-back two-out singles to score the Reds’ seventh run. It could’ve been worse, too, but Frelick made a fantastic diving catch to rob De La Cruz of another run-scoring hit.

Yelich appeared to draw a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the eighth, but an ABS challenge from Trevino reversed the 3-2 pitch by the slimmest of margins. Moll then gave way to Tejay Antone, who got Chourio to ground out and struck out Turang.

For a feel-good moment at the end of a lousy day of baseball, the Brewers handed the almost-29-year-old Garrett Stallings his major league debut in the top of the ninth. Stallings, who was drafted by the Angels way back in 2017 and has been pitching for Triple-A Nashville since midway through the 2024 season, needed just one pitch to get his first major league out when Stewart flew out to left. The next hitter, Bleday, picked up a cheap single off the end of the bat, and Suárez worked a walk. But Spencer Steer flew out to center, Marte struck out, and Stallings had a scoreless first outing.

Brock Burke was the Cincinnati pitcher in the ninth, and the game ended anticlimactically. Contreras grounded out on the first pitch, Bauers struck out looking, and Mitchell lined out to second base to end the game.

It was a dud of a game and a disappointing use of what could’ve been another good Misiorowski start — he really only made the one bad pitch, to Trevino — but it was still a good series for the Brewers, who took three of four and still hold a five-game lead in the NL Central despite the Cubs’ recent hot streak. The Brewers only managed four hits in this game, with the highlights being Mitchell’s home run and Turang’s double.

Flush it and move on to the next one! That next one comes tomorrow night in Arizona, with an 8:45 p.m. CT start.

Well, I’m back. No more balmy 70 degree days and pleasing trips to look for bison and gaze at geysers. Wyoming was very pleasant, and I thoroughly enjoyed the disconnect for a few days. Many thanks to James and Justin for keeping things ticking over in my absence! Normal service is now being resumed…

June results

When we checked in at the start of June, things were going pretty well in Diamondbacks land. They had posted a winning record for the month of May, and the +32 run differential was their best for a calendar month since July 2024. The battle for the wild-card was a tight one, with only 2.5 games covering fourth and eleventh in the National League standings. But Arizona were in a tie for the third spot, and it was the pitching staff who they had to thank for that, posting the third best ERA in the majors at 2.98. It was the first time since August of 2018 the D-backs had a collective ERA for the month below three – and that included Zac Gallen’s 7.04 figure.

Everything was looking good, and that definitely had an impact on fan confidence…

In particular, the bottom of the poll looks a lot better. At the beginning of May, almost half of the votes (47%) came in at four or below. This month, that has largely evaporated, with only fourteen percent now falling into those categories. Instead, both six and seven basically doubled, going from 19% to 37%, and 9% to 23% respectively. The overall result was a bounceback month, improving by almost a full point, the average rating going from 4.78 to 5.71. It was the highest figure at this point since 2023, reflecting an overall record for the D-backs four games better than last year, and 5.5 games above the end of May 2024.

Below, you can see the breakdown for the past 12 polls’ results, followed by the line graph showing the trends over this and previous seasons.

July poll

The month of June, however…? The exact opposite run differential for Arizona, at -32, as the team ERA plummeted to 25th in the majors, at 4.90. The only pitcher with an ERA below two? Ildemaro Vargas. It was confirmed that Corbin Burnes will not be back as soon as hoped, and the same goes for A.J. Puk. The team continues to do well against weak opponents, an MLB-best 30-13 record against sides below .500. But against those at or above .500, they are the exact opposite there too: 13-30 is ahead only of the Rockies. It feels like the 2026 D-backs are defined largely by who they play.

How do you feel? That’s what the poll below is for. And, of course, tell us in the comments why you feel that way, especially if your opinion has changed from last month.

The Atlanta Braves had the worst offense in MLB in the month of June after having one of the best in the previous months. Some of that had to do with injuries, and regression to the mean of some players overperforming their underlying metrics, but a lot of it had to do with key players just not hitting.

The shortstop position has been bad for the Braves for years, but it looked like they would have a stop gap in place with Ha-Seong Kim, but that clearly has not worked out. Jorge Mateo has had his moments but he has also been struggling over the past month. On the other hand, Jim Jarvis is slashing .313/.406/.461 in AAA, and the call was finally made to bring him back up after his earlier season cup of coffee call up.

The Cardinals will have Dustin May on the mound tonight. May had an incredible start two starts ago where he had a one hit complete game shutout with no walks and nine strikeouts. However, he followed that up with his last start where he gave up two HRs and six earned runs in only 2.0 innings.

Mike Yastrzemski spent time on the Giants and May was on the Dodgers for years so it make sense that he would lead the team with fourteen at-bats against May. He has been successful with a .500 average and 1.206 OPS against May. Austin Riley only has five at-bats against May but has made the most of them with two HRs, and Dominic Smith has a HR in three at-bats against May. Outside of these mentioned players though the rest of the team has struggled. No other starter has an OPS better than .400. However, it should be noted that none of those players have more than eight at-bats against him either.

The Braves are bringing Hurston Waldrep to the mound and with his limited MLB experience it should come as no shock that none of the Cardinals players have faced him before. Waldrep was hitting ninety-nine MPH before his injury. If he shows a strong outing against this lineup it would go a long way in giving the Braves some hope of the future.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT.

The temperature was hot. The Phillies’ bats were not. Throw in some more shaky work by the Phillies’ bullpen and you have a 6-1 loss to the Pirates that most in attendance probably wish they had skipped.

A day after pummeling Pirates ace Paul Skenes, the Phillies were facing Jared Jones who entered the game with a 5.76 ERA. When he struck out the side in the first inning, that gave us a good indication as to how the day was going to go.

The Phillies broke through for a run in the third when they got a couple of runners on board thanks to walks and Bryce Harper doubled one of them home.

Alan Rangel got the start for the Phillies, and despite having plenty of baserunners aboard during his four innings, he somehow stranded them all. The Phillies’ bullpen couldn’t say the same. Tim Mayza took over in the fifth, and gave up three hits to allow the Pirates to tie it up.

After a scoreless frame by Jonathan Bowlan, Jose Alvarado pitched the seventh and immediately ran into trouble. A single by Brandon Lowe followed by a triple by Esmerlyn Valdez (Alvarado certainly wasn’t helped by Justin Crawford’s defense) put the Pirates up 2-1.

A single by Nick Gonzales then made it 3-1, and then the rest of the game consisted of the Pirates slowly extending their lead and the Phillies’ bats doing absolutely nothing to counter it. After Jones left the game, the Phillies managed just two hits in five innings against the Pittsburgh bullpen.

The Phillies gave an inning each to Lou Trivino and Kyle Backhus, and both men showed why they are limited to low leverage situations. After Trivino walked his second batter of the inning, I questioned why any fans not sitting in an air-conditioned suite would choose to remain in their seats.

The Phillies will have a full day to stew in the loss – and hopefully avoid the heat – before they travel to Kansas City for an ultra-rare Saturday through Monday series.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Earlier this week, I asked you: If the Cubs can’t trade for Tarik Skubal (for whatever reason), who would you want as your next choice for a starting pitcher trade?

Your answer was close, but Joe Ryan of the Twins is your guy:

The advantage to Ryan – beyond his obvious talent – is that he’s under team control for one more year after 2026. So this would be more than a rental, as Freddy Peralta would be. (BTW, I still like that pic of Ryan, so I decided to use it again.)

One other guy on that list who is intriguing is Reid Detmers, who’s having a solid year for a bad team and is three years younger than Ryan (Detmers turns 27 next week). He comes with two years of team control after 2026 and is making only $2.625 million this year. If Ryan can’t be acquired (for whatever reason) I think the Cubs should seriously look into Detmers.

Here are the responses to the national questions asked in the SB Nation Reacts survey this week.

Mets owner Steve Cohen has said he’s not firing David Stearns, which could be the dreaded “vote of confidence.” But I suspect Stearns finishes out this year, at least.

Both Buster Posey and Craig Breslow could be out of jobs after 2026, though the Red Sox have righted the ship, to some extent. The Giants are a hot mess and clearly, Posey, as great a player as he was, is way over his head in this job.

That’s about a 50/50 split, and the question didn’t go into exactly how the Draft should be revamped. What sorts of ideas would you have?

Yeah, that’s a definite “no one.” The Giants have been awful. The Red Sox got a really good starting pitcher in that deal, Kyle Harrison… oh, wait, he was traded to the Brewers for Caleb Durbin (and others). What a disastrously bad deal for Breslow, as Harrison has been one of the best pitchers in the league this year.

This edition of SB Nation Reacts is brought to you by FanDuel.

Following the hiring of Corey Dickerson this offseason — who has received significant buy-in from the Rays outfielders this season — and by having Kevin Kiermaier in camp during Spring Training, the Rays outfield has quietly become one of the better defensive groups in baseball. They have taken an unconventional approach to doing so as well, as they consistently post the fastest reactions off the bat, emphasizing initial speed rather than running perfect routes.

In other words, the Rays outfielders appear to prioritize getting to full speed immediately and trusting their athleticism to make up the difference. Here’s how Rays outfielders stack up in several key defensive metrics:

• 3rd best rate converting fly balls and line drives into outs
• 5th most outs above average
• 5th best fielding run value
• 9th most outfield assists
• 10th most defensive runs saved

The Rays were bottom 10 in the league in every one of these statistics last season.

Personnel changes have helped this to an extent (for example, swapping Christopher Morel for Ryan Vilade, Cedric Mullins instead of Kameron Misner, and returning Jonny DeLuca from injury), but one player remains the same. Instead, another big reason though is the defensive growth we’ve seen from Chandler Simpson. His jumps (how many feet an outfielder covers in the first three seconds in the correct direction towards a batted ball) have gone from roughly average to plus-plus territory. Statcast measures an outfielder’s jump using three components:

• Reaction: How many feet are covered in any direction from 0 to 1.5 seconds of a ball being put in play
• Burst: How many feet are covered in any direction from 1.6 to 3 seconds
• Route: Feet covered against direct route to the ball from 0 to 3 seconds

Here’s how the outfield defenses around the league have compared so far based on jump and its components:

You might notice that big blue label for the Rays outfielder’s routes. The Rays take the worst routes in baseball on average, yet still cover the third-most ground above average. This appears to be by design; take a look at their reactions and you’ll find they’re the best in the league by a large margin.

Intuitively this makes some sense, even if you weren’t raised on watching B.J. Upton lead the Rays outfield to the World Series with a similar approach.

Once an outfielder hesitates, that lost acceleration is almost impossible to recover. An imperfect route taken at full speed can often beat a perfect route taken after a delayed first step. The Rays appear to be optimizing for the one thing that can’t be made up later: immediate acceleration.

To be clear, Simpson’s new defensive strategy of “get to top speed first, figure out the route later” is actually something the entire Rays outfield group has bought into. All four of the Rays primary outfielders (Simpson, Mullins, Vilade, and DeLuca) included in the data rank in the top 20 in reactions in the league with Simpson ranking 2nd and Mullins ranking 4th. If fifth outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. had enough opportunities to be included, he would rank 3rd just behind Simpson. If the injured Jake Fraley had enough opportunities to qualify, he would be tied with Michael Harris II of the Braves at 14th — just behind Vilade at 13th and ahead of DeLuca at 17th.

The resurgence of Mullins as a quality defender really helps drive this home. Take a look at his reactions in each season as a professional:

Mullins is having his quickest reactions ever and his best jumps since 2021 despite being the slowest and oldest he has ever been (sorry Cedric, no offense). His sprint speed in 2021 was in the 86th percentile at 28.5 feet per second, clearly plus and one of the faster players in the game. In 2026, he’s still above average as he’s in the 63rd percentile with 27.8 feet per second, but it’s clear he has lost a step from elite.

While Mullins hasn’t fully regained his reputation as one of the best defenders in the league like he was during his prime, he has transformed from a roughly average defender across the last couple of seasons into a plus one once again, and the player credits Corey Dickerson for the improvement, as noted in Adam Berry’s article linked above:

Mullins told a similar story. He wasn’t happy with his defensive performance last season, but admitted he didn’t fully grasp what needed to change or how to go about doing it. After one conversation with Dickerson, he did. “I know that’s not me as a defensive player. I wanted to definitely improve upon that as quickly as I could,” Mullins said. “He came in with a true plan for us, and it’s been working really well.”

[How Dickerson and the Rays revamped their outfield defense this year — mlb.com]

It seems clear this is indeed an organizational emphasis rather than a coincidence, and that the Rays may once again be ahead of the curve. It wouldn’t be surprising if outfield defense is simply the next frontier in what is frequently written about as The Rays Way.

Overall, these improvements become both intuitive and intriguing when you consider who’s teaching it. Dickerson and Kiermaier posted below-average route efficiency during their playing careers while consistently excelling in jump metrics by getting to top speed immediately and trusting their athleticism. Now young coaches, Dickerson the team’s first base and outfield coach and Kiermaier an organizational consultant, it’s fascinating to see those same tendencies emerge throughout Tampa Bay’s current outfield.

Four games for the San Francisco Giants Minor League Baseball affiliates on Wednesday, as all the A-ball teams were in action, while the trio of rookie ball squads had the day off. Let’s dive in!

Link to the 2026 McCovey Chronicles Community Prospect List (CPL)

All listed positions in the roundup are the position played in that particular game.

News

Just a little news. AAA RHP Wilkin Ramos cleared waivers and was outrighted back to Sacramento. AA Richmond RHP Brad Deppermann was placed on the 7-Day IL.

AAA Sacramento (44-36)

Sacramento River Cats lost to the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres) 6-3
Box score

It seems likely that the Giants will have some holes in their rotation to fill by the end of this month, as Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle will presumably be traded. While Adrian Houser could slide back into the rotation, that’s not an exciting option, especially with Landen Roupp seemingly forgetting how to pitch. So they’ll almost surely dip into their reserve in AAA.

Unfortunately, Wednesday was not a good audition for Sacramento’s top pitcher, LHP Carson Whisenhunt (No. 8 CPL). Whisenhunt couldn’t miss bats against the Chihuahuas, as he gave up 7 hits in 5 innings (which included 2 home runs and 2 doubles), and only struck out 1 of the 24 batters he faced. The southpaw also walked 3, en route to allowing 6 earned runs and picking up the loss.

It was a continuation of a few concerning trends with Whisenhunt. Perhaps most notably given what the Giants desperately want and need out of starters, is that Whisenhunt has greatly struggled with efficiency this year. He needed 94 pitches (just 56 of which were strikes) to get through 5 innings, and has only recorded an out in the 6th inning in 4 of his 17 appearances this year. After a hot stretch a little while ago, Whisenhunt has also seen his strikeouts and walks get flipped on their heads: over his last 4 starts (3 with Sacramento, and 1 with San Francisco), Whisenhunt has more walks (13) than strikeouts (12) in 18.1 innings. That’s brought his ERA up to 4.42, and his FIP to 4.09.

His fellow Carson was quite a bit better, as RHP Carson Seymour came out of the pen to throw 2 no-hit innings with a walk and 3 strikeouts. It’s been an odd year for Seymour, who has a nice 3.63 ERA, but hasn’t been particularly impressive (4.46 FIP, and just 8.0 strikeouts per 9 innings). With LHP Matt Wilkinson set to rejoin Sacramento’s rotation, it seems that maybe Seymour is shifting full-time to relief for now. We’ll see.

Rounding out the pitching was RHP Trent Harris (No. 29 CPL), who gave up a walk with a strikeout in a no-hit inning. After a very rough start to the year, the 27-year old has had 14 scoreless outings in his last 15 appearances. If he keeps this up, you can expect him to make an MLB debut later in the year.

It was a boring but well-balanced game on offense for the River Cats, as all 9 of their position players picked up a hit … but only 1 of those 9 had multiple hits. That player was right fielder Will Brennan, who hit 3-5 with a double and a strikeout. Getting designated for assignment appears to have motivated Brennan, who has gone 14-41 with 4 doubles, 2 walks, and just 2 strikeouts since being outrighted.

AA Richmond (49-27)

Richmond Flying Squirrels lost to the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 7-2
Box score

Great news: it doesn’t appear that June was the secret to success for center fielder Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL). It instead appears that he has just turned a corner. If you read this space with any regularity, you know that the lefty UDFA had a phenomenal June, in which he slashed .309/.391/.681 with 11 home runs.

And July? Off to the same start! Davidson was the star in this game, leading off and hitting 1-3 with a solo home run, a walk, a hit by pitch, a stolen base, and a strikeout. Hell of a game!

It was his organization-leading 18th home run of the season, and brought him up to an .868 OPS and a 122 wRC+ on the year, despite his slow start. And he has 12 home runs in his last 26 games! Fans will surely be clamoring for a AAA promotion for Davidson, though there’s still work to be done on contact and chase, but still. There’s so much talent for the soon-to-turn 24-year old, and it wouldn’t be shocking if he’s in Sacramento by the end of the month … and rostered as a Rule 5 protection come November.

Otherwise a quiet offensive day, as the rest of the team combined for just 5 hits (all singles) and 5 walks. Second baseman Diego Velasquez (No. 31 CPL) and catcher Adrián Sugastey continued to quietly hit decently, as both went 1-3 with a walk. Velasquez, a 22-year old switch-hitter in his 3rd AA season, has a .743 OPS and a 104 wRC+; Sugastey, a 23-year old righty, has a .721 OPS and a 92 wRC+. Both have very low strikeout rates.

RHP Yunior Marte (No. 25 CPL) made his 6th start since getting promoted. The electric 22-year old from the DR, who was the return in the Mike Yastrzemski trade last year, had a good if not overpowering start, allowing 5 hits (including a home run), 1 walk, and 2 runs in 5 innings of work, but only striking out 3 batters. Despite the low punchout total in this game, Marte has a blissful 11.1 per 9 innings in AA, with just 3.3 walks. Home runs have done him in, however, as he’s allowed 5 in just 27.2 innings (and 32 hits total), which has led to a 4.55 ERA and a 4.56 FIP.

A great relief appearance from another recently-promoted pitcher, RHP Ryan Vanderhei. The just-turned 25-year old, who was a 10th-round selection in 2023, tossed 2 no-hit innings with a walk and 3 strikeouts. Vanderhei has officially adjusted to life in AA: after giving up 7 hits, 9 runs, and 6 earned runs in his first 4 games at the level (spanning just 3.1 innings), Vanderhei has now gone 4 straight outings without allowing a hit or a run (and has 8 strikeouts against just 2 walks in those 5.2 innings).

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for LHP Jack Choate (No. 37 CPL) who had a very difficult outing, giving up 3 hits, 2 hit batters, and 5 runs, while recording just 1 out. Choate has really been struggling with free passes and strikeouts lately: over his last 12 games, the 2022 9th-rounder has pitched 15.1 innings and issued 13 walks and 4 hit batsmen, while striking out just 15. He has a 3.34 ERA and a 4.16 FIP on the season.

High-A Eugene (47-30)

Eugene Emeralds beat the Vancouver Canadians (Blue Jays) 12-9
Box score

Richmond’s Bo Davidson (No. 4 CPL) may be the farm’s clear leader in the home run race, but Eugene center fielder Dakota Jordan (No. 5 CPL) is making himself the clear runner-up. The ultra-powerful Jordan, who I’d argue easily has the most raw power in the system, smashed yet another glorious home run in this game, as part of a 2-4 outing that also featured a walk and 4 runs batted in.

With that, Jordan is up to 13 home runs on the year, and has some separation between the trio of 3rd-place homer hitters. He’s also firmly put a slump behind him: over his last 6 games, he’s hit 9-22 with 4 home runs, 2 doubles, and, most excitedly, just 2 strikeouts. After dipping to near league-average, Jordan is back to an .814 OPS and a 114 wRC+, albeit there’s still a lot of work to do on the strikeouts.

One of those players who is tied for 3rd in the organization with 11 home runs is Jordan’s newish teammate, second baseman Jhonny Level (No. 3 CPL). And while Level only has 1 of those 11 home runs in High-A, he did put on a show on Wednesday, going 2-4 with 2 doubles and a walk, though he also committed 2 errors (admittedly he’s a shortstop by trade, just sharing the position with Gavin Kilen).

Level’s numbers have fallen off a little bit since moving up from Low-A a month ago, but that’s to be expected. And ultimately, the numbers are still quite good, as the switch-hitter has a .781 OPS and a 110 wRC+ … and a reminder that, at a young 19 years old, he’s still more than 3.5 years younger than his peers in the Northwest League. Perhaps most encouraging is that Level’s contact skills have remained strong while moving up a level: his strikeout rate his risen by less than a percentage point, to just 17.5%, while his batting average is at .299. The walks and power are lagging a little bit, but I’d say that’s better than the other way around.

Another painful day for catcher Jancel Villarroel (No. 42 CPL), who hit 2-4 with a hit by pitch and a strikeout. It was the 2nd straight game being plunked for Villarroel, who has been hit 11 times on the year. That’s tied for most in the system with Drew Cavanaugh (No. 19 CPL) … what is it about catchers that makes pitchers want to throw at them whether they’re catching or hitting?

Regardless, Villarroel has had a delightful season, as the 21-year old righty is sporting an .820 OPS and a 121 wRC+. That’s made it a little easier to overlook the fact that Kai-Wei Teng (whom the Giants traded for Villarroel) has had a decent year for the Astros (though he’s been struggling lately).

Not a very good pitching performance for Eugene. LHP Luis De La Torre (No. 14 CPL) had some struggles once again, allowing 6 hits, 3 walks, and 5 runs in 5 innings, while striking out 5. After his breakout 2025 campaign, De La Torre has continually flashed things things season, but just has not been able to put it all together. He’s been especially poor lately, as his last 3 starts have resulted in 13 walks and 15 earned runs in just 13.1 innings. While he remains a great strikeout artist, with 11.8 punchouts per 9 innings, his other stats have cratered compared to last year, which he split between the Complex League and Low-A. His walks per 9 have more than doubled (3.3 to 7.0), his home runs per 9 have more than tripled (0.24 to 0.75), and his groundball rate has dropped by more than 10 percentage points (48.4% to 37.9%). The result is a fairly ugly 5.22 ERA and 4.70 FIP for the 22-year old. Still too early to be worried, but a little concern is mounting.

RHP Ryan Slater continued his run of dominance, pitching 1.1 perfect innings with a strikeout. Since returning to Eugene following an injury and a rehab stint, Slater has made 6 appearances and thrown 6.2 scoreless innings, giving up just 1 hit and 2 walks, while striking out 11. He has a delightful 3.18 ERA and a 2.42 FIP.

Low-A San Jose (45-32)

San Jose Giants beat the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Angels) 5-4
Box score

A nice day for the strikeouts. LHP Jordan Gottesman, last year’s 5th-round selection (and the 1st pitcher the Giants took in the draft), showed off the strikeout stuff, K’ing 8 batters in 5 innings while walking 0 (though he hit a batter). That’s elite stuff!

As you would expect from an 8-to-0 strikeout-to-walk ratio, Gottesman lived in the zone, throwing 63 of 83 pitches for strikes. That came with a severe tradeoff, unfortunately, as he did give up 8 hits, including a home run. And as a result, he got hit for 4 earned runs. That’s been the debut season for the 23-year old Northeastern product: he has 9.7 strikeouts to just 2.9 walks per 9 innings … but is giving up nearly a hit per inning, and has already ceded 9 dingers in just 62 innings, giving him a 4.35 ERA and a 5.44 FIP. There’s a solid foundation there, but a lot to work on.

RHP Ubert Mejias struck out 3 batters in 3 shutout innings, giving up just 2 hits and 0 walks. That was a much-needed nice showing for Mejias, as he allowed runs in all 5 of his June appearances (13 total runs, in just 11.1 innings). Through both the good and bad performances, Mejias has maintained an elite strikeout-to-walk ratio: he has 55 strikeouts against just 7 walks in 51.2 innings. Like Gottesman, however, Mejias is allowing too many hits and way too many dingers: in those 51.2 innings he’s allowed 58 hits and 10 home runs, giving him a 4.70 ERA and a 5.26 FIP across 2 levels (Low and High-A).

Really not much at all on offense. Just a solid, well-balanced day, with no standout performances. Left fielder Lisbel Diaz (No. 32 CPL) hit 2-3 with a walk, though he had a strikeout and an error. Diaz is staying sharp with San Jose while High-A Eugene is playing in Canada, where he can’t travel due to visa issues. Third baseman Dario Reynoso, who has cooled after a brilliant stretch, went 1-3 with a double and a walk, but struck out twice. The 21-year old has a .924 OPS and a 130 wRC+, but a 30.6% strikeout rate.

Home run tracker

18 — Bo Davidson — [AA]
13 — Dakota Jordan — [High-A]

Thursday schedule

Sacramento: 5:35 p.m. PT at El Paso (SP: TBD)
Richmond: 3:30 p.m. PT at Harrisburg (SP: Cesar Perdomo)
Eugene: 7:05 p.m. PT at Vancouver (SP: Hunter Dryden)
San Jose: 6:30 p.m. PT vs. Rancho Cucamonga (SP: Ben Bybee)

Reminder that almost all MiLB games can be watched on MLB TV

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Tonight’s MLB player props slate is loaded with heavy hitters in strong matchups. Can guys like Yandy Diaz or Shohei Ohtani cash in and send one out of the yard for us tonight?

My best home run props for Thursday, July 2 certainly hope so.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Liam Hicks	+546
Yandy Diaz	+542
Shohei Ohtani	+208
💲Today's HR parlay	+12161

Home run pick: Liam Hicks (+546)

Rockies right-hander Michael Lorenzen has his hands full this evening against a lineup featuring five elite-rated bats. One stands out above the rest in my eyes, and that's Liam Hicks.

Hicks has been seeing the ball extremely well and, with the momentum of the offense behind him, should be in a prime spot all afternoon to do damage.

Hicks covers over 83% of Lorenzen’s pitch mix while carrying an elite rating in Batters-Box’s current season grades. In his last 60 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, he owns a .346 AVG, .538 SLG, and .955 OPS.

Rockies pitching has been tormented by lefties at Coors Field, as opponents are hitting over .350 with a .519 SLG, .409 wOBA, and a 45.7% hard-hit rate. Over Lorenzen’s last 30 left-handed hitters faced, they are producing a 66.7% hard-hit rate and a 55% elevation rate, along with a .375 expected batting average, .514 xSLG, and .337 xwOBA.

For the price, I think it is worth dabbling on Hicks to go yard in Coors.

• Time: 3:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: COLR, MIAM

Home run pick: Yandy Diaz (+542)

It is Yandy Diaz over Junior Caminero in this spot tonight.

Diaz owns an arsenal coverage greater than 80% against Royals right hander Stephen Kolek, whose arsenal grades more than 50% below league average. The only two above average pitches in his mix are the fastball and sinker. Diaz is hitting .414 against sinkers this season with a 1.066 OPS and a .479 wOBA.

Against fastballs, his expected batting average is still above .300.

The Rays veteran has also been generating an alarming amount of hard contact. In his last 30 plate appearances against right handed pitching, he owns a 71.4% hard-hit rate while batting .320 with an .840 OPS and a .369 wOBA.

At the current price tag, this feels like a better option than trying to bank on Caminero hitting a home run seven games in a row.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: ROYL, RAYS

Home run pick: Shohei Ohtani (+208)

There is an argument to be made that every day is a Shohei Ohtani day. Today is certainly one of them, as he enters Thursday with an elite rating covering 82.7% of Randy Vasquez’s entire pitch mix on Batters-Box.

Tonight will mark Ohtani’s 314th elite rating over the last three seasons. In the previous 313, he has recorded a home run 29.71% of the time.

Over his last 30 plate appearances against right handed pitching, he owns a .346 AVG, .462 SLG, and .862 OPS. The Dodgers slugger is also generating a 50% hard-hit rate and a 9.1% barrel rate during that stretch.

For Vásquez, the last 30 lefties he has faced have produced a 57.7% hard-hit rate, 19.2% barrel rate, and 65.4% elevation rate. Those lefties own a .764 xSLG and .596 xwOBA in that span.

I am fully expecting the superstar to have a ball fly off the bat this evening, hopefully out of the ballpark.

• Time: 9:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MLBN

Today’s HR parlay

Liam Hicks	Bet Now +12161
Yandy Diaz
Shohei Ohtani

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

While the Dodgers have had a dud to close out their series in West Sacramento, there are three important things to take away from the experience:

1. The Dodgers will likely never play at Sutter Health Park again, barring something extremely unexpected this October, something unexpected happening with labor negotiations, or the Athletics fumbling their new planned stadium in Las Vegas, which would probably require even more baseball adjacent to River City. Honestly, I am not sure which scenario the Commissioner would hate more;
2. The Dodgers will be homebodies until the All-Star Break. The Dodgers don’t hit the road again until after the All-Star Break, when they will live in New York and Philadelphia for the better part of two weeks; and
3. The Dodgers have led MLB in road attendance every season since 2021. If you thought the past two series in San Diego and Sacramento felt more like home games than usual, you’re not alone.

Last call to Dodger Stadium South in 2026

Barring something unexpected this season, the Dodgers have made their final visit to San Diego in 2026. Unlike Ferris, Walker Buehler and the Padres had a day to forget against the Chicago Cubs as the death knell for their season continues to chime, before coming to Los Angeles for One Piece Night.

Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune broke the story on the Dodgers’ impact at Petco Park after the Dodgers left San Diego:

…[Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove] is a season-ticket holder now, too, so he understands why the crowds this weekend at Petco Park felt a bit more like the pre-2020 era of this rivalry than a team ranking second in average attendance this season and last season.

“I think it’s our season-ticket holders selling the tickets,” Musgrove said Sunday morning. “I’m not going to tell somebody that can make a lot of money or get some of their money back by selling tickets not to, but I think that’s the main reason. It seems like all of our fans that show up for every other series of the year and fill it out seem to sell their tickets when these series come around.”

Musgrove said Saturday night “was out of control. It was like the most I’ve ever seen Dodger fans in our stadium — 90% Dodgers fans.”

Petco Park averaged 42,434 fans per game last year and was sitting at 41,439 per game coming into Sunday. Both figures rank behind only Dodger Stadium (49,536 and 50,872 in 2025 and 2026, respectively) for most in the majors.

Crowds of 43,153 and 45,159 on Friday and Saturday easily trumped attendance for the Dodgers series here in mid-May, when neither crowd topped 42,000 and one (39,788) didn’t even register as a sellout.

[Emphasis added.]

Dodgers fans travel well, from Japan to Toronto and all points in between. It’s not exactly newsworthy, but further confirmation is always welcome. Once again, Mr. Sanders:

“If I lived in L.A., I would want to come down to San Diego too,” Padres reliever Jason Adam said.

Added Musgrove: “It’s just how it is, man. They’re so close. They got a lot of Dodger fans down here in San Diego already, and I know they’re always looking to fill out our stadium. I think partially because the atmosphere is awesome. It’s a great ballpark, good food, a fun place to watch a game, but also it’s close enough to (L.A.) to try to trump the Padre fans and fill it out with their fans.”

A larger population that’s nearish to a smaller population? It’s basic geography, people. Folks in Milwaukee get used to Cubs’ fans showing up all the time. Although reporter Jeff Passan seemed not to get that memo.

One trick to keep larger fanbases from swarming smaller locales (think Los Angeles to San Diego, New York to Philadelphia, Chicago to Milwaukee, etc.) is to use geolocking to slow ticket sales from the club. When I purchased my seats for the upcoming Dodgers/Phillies series months ago, I had to do the added step of calling the Phillies ticket office. It was a bit annoying, but I understood the logic. The Padres have employed such tactics before and are likely to do so again when they eventually return to the postseason. For a final time, Mr. Sanders:

Former Dodgers ace Walker Buehler had become accustomed to seeing Dodgers fans take over places like Petco Park, Angel Stadium and Chase Field in Phoenix over the years, but even he noted the drastic difference in the composition of the crowd on Friday and Saturday compared with even just the May series here.

“I think here and Anaheim; Arizona always big,” Buehler said of Dodgers fans in visiting parks, “but this weekend was freaking crazy.”

It won’t be that way should the two teams meet in October, as the Padres have taken to limiting postseason ticket purchasers to those in certain ZIP codes to maintain a home-field advantage.

This issue at Petco Park is likely moot for the rest of 2026, but stranger things have happened.

Making (Good) Trouble in River City

Why one would report in a narrow aisle is beyond me, but as you can see above, Sacramento showed up when the Dodgers came to the Sacramento area. As we covered in “Trouble in River City,” John Fisher was likely salivating at the start of the series.

I did try to warn everyone. As I figured, Sacramentans and others showed up, as writer Molly Knight and other journalists reported. Ohtani being in town as opposed to the other side of the state or 1-2 hours away has gravity that is hard to resist. I understand the impulse quite well; I just wish everyone did not have to pay out the nose to experience it.

Unless someone was actively ignoring the last three games or was trapped in a well, the Dodgers effectively had three extra de facto home games this week. Whether MLB will also use this fact to cudgel the Dodgers in the ongoing labor negotiation is an open tongue-in-cheek question for another day.

Reeti Malhotra and Evelyn Ronan of the Sacramento Bee noted the outpouring of Dodgers fans in Sacramento:

Downtown Sacramento was awash in Dodger blue as thousands of fans poured into the capital city for a three-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the A’s that concludes Wednesday. The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the series against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Monday, winning the sold-out opener at the minor league stadium as Dodgers fans packed the stands. By Tuesday afternoon, the Dodgers’ effect continued, as downtown and Old Sacramento more closely resembled Chavez Ravine, with fans clad in green and gold standing out amid a sea of Dodger blue baseball caps and L.A.-emblazoned jerseys…

…Ben Cove, a Los Angeles resident and Dodgers fan who flew in for the series, said his trip had been “really all about baseball” and that between games, visiting a sports bar and seeing a local sight or two, he had been hanging out in the Kimpton lobby to see players pass. “We were so fired up to see them in a minor league park, to see Shohei in a minor league park,” Cove added.

[Emphasis added.]

It is nice to know that the article confirmed my hypothesis about where the team was staying while staying in the region. Ms. Malhotra and Ms. Ronan also documented the impact the Dodgers had on local businesses during their stint in River City:

Local business owners welcomed the boost in business as Dodgers fans filled restaurants, hotels and entertainment districts throughout Sacramento and West Sacramento. “You can see it downtown, the restaurants are full, the hotels are busy, and you know, the businesses are busier during those times,” said David Eadie, chief sports and entertainment officer of Visit Sacramento. “With the Giants and the Dodgers being California-based as well, we get a lot of folks traveling in from Southern California and from the Bay Area for those games.”

Bear & Crown owner Jesse Ledin said his British pub-style restaurant in Old Sacramento was “slammed” Monday with Dodgers and A’s fans alike, with levels of foot traffic he usually sees only when the Giants or Dodgers come to town. He said he expected the crowds to continue through Wednesday, when the series concludes.

If patterns hold, one would expect Las Vegas to have similar circumstances and energy once that new venue opens in 2028. As things stand under the current system, the A’s would visit Dodger Stadium next year.

Kyle Manzardo has a runners in scoring position problem. How significant it is and how likely it is to last is up for debate.

For his career, the 25 year-old has a 107 wRC+, overall. At 959 plate appearances, he’s at a bit of an inflection point for the rest of this season; if he can raise that wRC+ for this season from its current 102 to something more like 115, I think we should feel pretty good about him being in the Guardians’ lineup for the future, given his youth. He has admirably worked on his atrocious defense to become a non-negative at first base, which is a point in his favor as we consider if he can work and grow on areas of deficiency.

Speaking of those trouble spots, Manzardo has a troubling split you have probably noticed at this point. For his career, with empty bases, Manzardo is a career 119 wRC+ hitter. I can’t seem to sort on FanGraphs or Savant for just runners on first, but he has a 93 wRC+ with runners on, which, given the next stat I’m about to give, has to mean he hits very well with just a runner on first. Because, with runners in scoring position, Manzardo has a career 74 wRC+ in 259 plate appearances.

Now, I think it is, first of all, fair to note that 259 plate appearances is still not even half a season’s worth of opportunities. Perhaps this is only an article I should write three years down the line when Manzardo has 600 plate appearances with RISP. But, I don’t think either he or the Guardins have that long to wait, given Ralphy Velazquez’s near advent. Manzardo and the Guardians need to consider the possibility that he has some kind of block once a runner reaches second base.

In looking under the hood, a couple things stand out right away. With no runners on or just a runner on first, Manzardo has a 26% chase rate on pitches out of the zone. With runners in scoring position, that chase rate rises to 34%. With no runners on or just a runner on first, he swings at the first pitch 27% of the time. With runners in scoring position, he swings 33% of the time. I think these numbers show he is getting antsy when there are RBI opportunities, perhaps feeling the pressure of performing as a middle of the order hitter. Now, overall, Manzardo has a 105 wRC+ in high leverage situations. He’s not afraid of pressure, he can handle to a reasonable level the elite relief pitching he sees late in games, and he even displays a cool demeanor. I just think he literally needs to tell himself “No one is on base, and I’m going to approach this at-bat as if it was any other.”

You may be laughing at this simplistic conclusion, but Manzardo has the ability to recognize when most pitches are out of the zone. He has the ability to be selective when deciding which pitches to damage. But, a noticeable portion of these abilities are unaccountably deserting him when a runner reaches second base. Since there’s no logical reason for that, I would argue that it indicates a mental block that needs a mental solution.

Finally, there’s one other stat that stands out about Manzardo, overall. While in the upper levels of the minors, Manzardo ran opposite-field hit rates steadily over 30%. In the majors, he’s at closer to 25%. Manzardo needs the pulled-ball ability to get to his power, but I do think it is reasonable for him to begin thinking in terms of “If all I’m gonna get is pitches on the outside of the plate, I am going to need to serve a few into left field to earn myself pitches to hit on the inside part of the plate.” This is easy for me to type, and hard to do, but I think it’s, again, a slight mindset shift. Yes, you need to get pitches over the middle and inside and pull them in the air. BUT, to get those pitches, you need to make people realize they can get hurt by your good eye and decent contact ability if they insist on going outside, outside, outside. He has flashed a 75% contact rate and a swinging strike rate as low as 11% last season. Those kind of metrics should enable him to discover a few more opposite field hits and make pitchers respect his ability to do harm to stuff thrown on the outside part of the plate.

I love Kyle Manzardo and I still believe he can be a middle of the order hitter for the Guardians. The time for him to put the pieces together and make it happen is now.

Hey, look at that… it’s the most important series of 2026 so far.

The White Sox are 45-40 with a +25 run differential, seventh in MLB in wRC+ at 106, 23rd in baserunning runs above average at -2.4, 14th in Defense at -9.9, 15th in starting pitcher ERA at 4.34 (4.26 FIP) and 16th in bullpen ERA at 4.13 (4.31 FIP).

The Guardians are 45-42 with a -8 run differential, 25th in MLB in wRC+ at 91, 9th in baserunning runs above average at +3.1, ninth in Defense at -4.8, sixth in starting pitcher ERA at 3.66 (4.01 FIP) and 13th in bullpen ERA at 3.95 (3.87 FIP).

MATCHUPS:
Game one, Thursday, 6:40PM ET Cecconi RHP 4.18 ERA vs. Martin RHP 3.00 ERA (2.81 FIP)
Game two, Friday, 7:10PM ET Williams RHP 3.81 ERA vs. Kay LHP 4.56 ERA (4.86 FIP)
Game three, Saturday, 7:10PM ET Messick LHP 2.85 ERA vs. Burke RHP 4.39 ERA (4.07 FIP)
Game four, Sunday, 2PM ET Bibee RHP 3.69 ERA vs. Fedde RHP 4.47 ERA (6.06 FIP)

If Travis Bazzana and Kyle Manzardo have a good series, the Guardians should win this series. If they don’t, they won’t.

Watch out for freakin’ Randal Grichuk who is putting up a 167 wRC+ somehow right now, Sam Antonacci at 135 wRC+, Miguel Vargas at 135 wRC+, Tristan Peters at 118 wRC+ and Colson Montgomery at 117 wRC+. And, don’t excuse the Guardians’ this series because Jose Ramirez is hurt, as the White Sox’ best hitter, Munetaka Murakami, has yet to face Cleveland pitching this season. Chase DeLauter at 116 wRC+, Travis Bazzana at 111 wRC+, Brayan Rocchio at 106 wRC+, Kahlil Watson at 103 wRC+, Kyle Manzardo at 102 wRC+, Austin Hedges (STILL!!!) at 102 wRC+ and David Fry at 101 wRC+ lead the Guardians.

Hopefully, Cade Smith, Carl Willis and them boys can iron out things at the back end of games and make this series a lot more paltable for Guardians’ fans than the recent three-game stretch in Chicago was. That late inning Pope Leo magic is something to watch for.

Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the end of the month upon us, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.

Note: Records and stats are for games played as of Tuesday night.

First Place: Milwaukee Brewers (52-31)

Top Position Player: Brice Turang (2.9 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Jacob Misiorowski (4.3 fWAR)

In our initial check-in at the end of April, the Brewers sat in third place, 3.5 games out of first. After yet another winning month in June, Milwaukee has gone 36-17, opened up a 5.5-game lead in the Central, and trail only the Dodgers for the best record in all of MLB.

You don’t do that without having a good team top to bottom, but the headliner of this Brewers’ squad has been pitcher Jacob Misiorowski. Pretty much every start, he manages to set some new stat for fastest pitches thrown by a starting pitcher, and topped 105 MPH recently.

He also has the overall stats to match, with a 1.45 ERA and a 1.84 FIP.

While “The Miz” gets the headlines, they’ve gotten good efforts from all over the field. One notable one has come from former Yankee Jake Bauers, who has a 144 wRC+ in his 74 games.

Second Place: Chicago Cubs (48-38, 5.5 GB)

Top Position Player: Pete Crow-Armstrong (5.1 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Ben Brown (2.0 fWAR)

Despite the Brewers remaining on fire, the Cubs have only lost a game’s worth of ground since the end of May. They were pretty good themselves in June, going 16-10.

That being said, this could be a bit of a danger zone for the Cubs. At time of writing, they have 10 different pitchers on the injured list, including their ace from last year Cade Horton. Of the starters they still have healthy, Shota Imanaga is probably the best, but even he’s been below average for the season.

Throughout all those injuries, the Cubs have been kept going by a good offense. Pete Crow-Armstrong has been excellent in all areas of the game. Of their most used players are every position, only one dips below a 90 OPS+ on the season.

Third Place: St. Louis Cardinals (44-38, 7.5 GB)

Top Position Player: JJ Weatherholt (3.3 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Dustin May (1.8 fWAR)

The Cardinals remain pesky and as of now, they’re currently tied for the final NL Wild Card spot.

On offense, a decent chunk of their lineup has below average numbers for the season, it’s just the ones that don’t have generally been very good. Jordan Walker, Iván Herrera, Alec Burleson, and Lars Nootbaar all have an OPS+ over 120. JJ Weatherholt is at 117 and has defense that also grades out very well. Nelson Velázquez has been around the league without much success, but he’s been a revelation in St. Louis so far, with a 180 OPS+ is his 16 games so far.

One interesting thing to watch will be their pitching, though. Michael McGreevy had put up a good ERA so far, but has a FIP that suggests that might not be sustainable. On the other hand, Dustin May has a FIP that suggests he might be a bit better than his ERA. Andre Pallante is slightly above average according to both, and the rest of their rotation has been below average.

Fourth Place: Pittsburgh Pirates (43-43, 10.5 GB)

Top Position Player: Bryan Reynolds (2.5 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Paul Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft (2.8 fWAR)

The Pirates aren’t too far out of the last NL Wild Card, just a game in the win column behind the aforementioned Cardinals. They also have the raw talent that could go on a run, but they’ll need some things to go their way.

On the mound, Paul Skenes has been perfectly good, just not the Paul Skenes we saw win the NL Cy Young last year. His 3.10 ERA and 2.75 FIP is strong, and he and Braxton Ashcraft have provided a nice little duo at the top of the rotation, just not quite enough for the Pirates to take a clear step forward.

On offense, they’ve gotten good performances from all over the roster, although two of their more talented hitters — Spencer Horwitz and Oneil Cruz — are currently on the IL. If young prospect Konnor Griffin can take a step forward over the rest of the year and there’s not much regression elsewhere, it wouldn’t be that crazy if the Pirates stole the last NL playoff spot.

Fifth Place: Cincinnati Reds (39-45, 13.5 GB)

Top Position Player: Elly De La Cruz (2.4 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Chase Burns (2.8 fWAR)

The Reds record isn’t terrible considering that they’re a last-place team, but if you’ve only seen them take two out of three over the Yankees, you might not realize that they’ve been pretty bad for a while now. At the end of April, they led the division, and were 3.5 games up on the Brewers. Since then, they’ve gone 19-34, losing 17 games worth of ground in the process.

In June, their offense sputtered, averaging just 3.81 runs per game. The top end of their lineup — aka the likes of Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart — has been perfectly good, it just falls off a cliff. While he’s on the IL at the moment, Ke’Bryan Hayes has posted a 16 OPS+. I repeat: 16. Their pitching outside Chase Burns, Andrew Abbott, and a couple bullpen arms has also been a bit of a mess.