MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JUNE 27: Hunter Goodman #15 of the Colorado Rockies bats and hits his third home run against the Minnesota Twins on June 27, 2026 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Rockies fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Yesterday, I made the All-Star case for Hunter Goodman. And while it’s unlikely he’ll start the game, he still has another opportunity to show off: He can participate in the Home Run Derby.
The Rockies have had 12 participants in the Home Run Derby in their history: Trevor Story (2021), Charlie Blackmon (2017), Carlos González (2016, 2012), Troy Tulowitzki (2014), Matt Holliday (2007), Todd Helton (2001), Larry Walker (1999, 1997), Vinny Castilla (1998), Ellis Burks (1996), Dante Bichette (1994). The last Rockie to participate in the Derby was Story in 2021, when he made it to the second round but was edged by Trey Mancini 13-12 (he hit 32 total between the two rounds).
Goodman told the media he’d be interested in participating if asked:
Should he?
Bonus Question: How many home runs do you think he’ll hit by the end of the year?
Jun 25, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Freddy Peralta (51) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the third inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images
It was an ugly couple of weeks for the New York Mets’ starting pitchers, while the bullpen continued to come through. New York starters got shelled repeatedly, and the longest-tenured Met, David Peterson, was shipped out to greener pastures before he could have another clunker performance in the Orange and Blue. Freddy Peralta had a start so bad it might have cost him money in his upcoming free agency while also hurting his trade value, and Nolan McLean looked awesome and then not so awesome.
The usual disclaimer: this meter does not reflect Monday’s game and only covers the period from June 15-June 28.
Player
Last week
This week
Huascar Brazobán, RHP
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
A.J. Minter, LHP
Tobias Myers, RHP
Freddy Peralta, RHP
Cionel Pérez, LHP
Jonathan Pintaro, RHP
Brooks Raley, LHP
Christian Scott, RHP
Kodai Senga, RHP
Austin Warren, RHP
Luke Weaver, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP
Let’s start with the worst start of Freddy Peralta‘s career, where he gave up 10 runs on 10 hits. Of course, it came against the Philadelphia Phillies, who spectacularly padded their stats in a 15-3 loss for the Mets. Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs in one inning off Peralta, both nearly identical upper deck bombs. Bryce Harper hit for the cycle that night, getting his home run, double, and single against Peralta. Brandon Sproat, the young pitcher shipped out by New York when acquiring Peralta in the off-season, posted six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts for the Milwaukee Brewers just three nights after Peralta’s meltdown. Talk about adding insult to injury. Fortunately for Peralta, he looked more like himself in his next start, pitching 5.2 innings with zero earned runs against the Cubs. Unfortunately for Peralta, the defense let him down repeatedly as the Cubs plated three unearned runs with the right-hander on the mound.
Sean Manaea knows a little about the defense letting him down in his late June starts. Manaea recently worked his way back into getting solo starts without an opener, with mixed results. In both starts, errors haunted Manaea in losses to the Cubs and the Phillies. Manaea gave up two earned runs to Chicago and three to Philadelphia, but errors led to an unearned run in each of his starts. Those errors forced Manaea to work harder than he otherwise would have. Getting the veteran arm a start with clean defensive play behind him would be nice.
When you think Nolan McLean is back to being the staff ace of the present and future, he comes out and gets smacked around. He was brilliant against the Cincinnati Reds in seven innings with zero earned runs and nine strikeouts. His next time out, the Cubs teed off with home runs from Michael Busch and Dansby Swanson as McLean gave up six earned runs in a 10-3 loss. McLean wasn’t the only pitcher who got crushed by the Cubs that night. Later on, Jonathan Pintaro gave up a grand slam to Swanson before eventually being sent down to Triple-A.
Kodai Senga returned from the IL and looked a lot like he did before he left, not that great. Senga gave up four runs in four innings in a loss to the Reds, then gave up seven more runs in his next time out against the Cubs. The performance against Chicago drove Senga’s ERA briefly above 10.00. He came out of the bullpen against the Phillies and looked better, giving up two runs across five innings with four strikeouts. The problem was that those two runs came on a go-ahead home run from Schwarber that put the Phillies up for good. Cionel Pérez was the opener in that loss to Philadelphia, where he pitched a scoreless inning. Perez has rattled off three straight scoreless outings across his last 5.1 innings, but he gave up four runs in the two games previous to his scoreless streak. Tobias Myers, who was used in tandem with Senga multiple times, continued his disappointing season, giving up 14 earned runs across his last 8.2 innings pitched.
Christian Scott came off the IL and gave up two earned runs over 4.2 innings and struck out six against the Phillies. Scott was relieved by A.J. Minter, who pitched one and a third scoreless innings in the 6-2 victory. Minter has continued to raise his trade value with five scoreless outings in relief in the last two weeks. He has yet to give up an earned run in 12.1 innings pitched this season. That’s nothing compared to what Luke Weaver has been up to. Weaver extended his scoreless inning streak to 23 innings, the longest active streak in MLB. Five of those scoreless innings came in the last two weeks, including three outings where he struck out the side.
Devin Williams registered a save and four outings without an earned run. Still, four unearned runs came home thanks to the Mets’ defense letting him down. Huascar Brazobán continued his strong season, giving up one run across six innings of work. Unfortunately, that run put the Philadelphia Phillies up for good in a 2-1 loss. Still, his ERA (1.94) remains spectacular.
Austin Warren rebounded from a subpar start to June, posting four scoreless outings in five tries. The lone run he gave up came on a solo home run to Harper—no shame in that. Brooks Raley‘s season took an unfortunate downturn after he was responsible for back-to-back losses in his last two outings. He gave multiple extra-base hits, including a triple to Swanson in a loss to the Cubs. The next night against Chicago, Raley was asked to hold a 3-3 tie in the 10th inning, but Pete Crow-Armstrong doubled in the ghost runner Matt Shaw in a 4-3 loss.
On this day 111 years ago, Cy Young pitched his last game against the White Sox — and was knocked around pretty badly. | (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
1911 In his 22nd and final years in the majors, Cy Young pitched his final game against the White Sox, an 8-1 loss. The 44-year-old came into the game with a 506-307 career record, but was jumped on for three runs in the first and knocked out of the box in the fifth, during a four-run rally that put Chicago up, 7-1.
In his career, Young was “only” 27-22 against the White Sox, a .551 winning percentage that was far worse than his .619 career mark; only two American League franchises did better against the all-time wins leader.
1922 After a broken finger in a car accident delayed the start of his season, Ted Blankenship finally joined the White Sox to start his rookie season. The phenom had allowed just 44 runs over 140 innings for the Class D Bonham Bingers in 1921, at age 20, prompting the White Sox to purchase him that offseason. Blankenship made his MLB debut on July 2 and got his first start in the bigs five days later.
The righty’s crowning season was 1925, when he went 17.8 with a 3.03 ERA as a swingman (40 games, 23 starts) and a 5.2 WAR. He again broke his finger in 1926 and his career was never the same. In a nine-year, 241-game career with the White Sox, Blankenship went 77-79 with 12.2 WAR.
1957 The White Sox fell out of first place, ceding to the Yankees in heartbreaking fashion.
Entering a doubleheader Sunday, both clubs won openers in stirring fashion:
New York took out visiting K.C., 2-1, with two runs in the bottom of the eighth
The White Sox scored four in the top of the ninth to win, 7-6, at Washington, with the GWRBI coming on a Larry Doby triple
But the nightcaps turned downright tragic:
The Yankees swept the A’s in decisive fashion, 5-1
The White Sox fell behind early, 9-3, rallied late to tie, then lost on a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th from future White Sox slugger Roy Sievers
Up to June 30, the White Sox had only been out of first place a handful of days, and never more than a half-game out in all that time. From here, however, the White Sox would never get closer than the one game out they were after these doubleheaders. The South Siders never ceded second place, finishing 90-64, but could not catch the 98-56 Yankees.
1978 Twenty-one years after clobbering the triple that kept the White Sox in first place for one more game, Larry Doby was named manager of the White Sox, replacing Bob Lemon.
This marked the second time Bill Veeck and Doby had collaborated to break ground. In 1947, Veeck signed Doby to play for Cleveland, as the second Black major leaguer post-color line (after Jackie Robinson), and first American Leaguer. With his hiring, Doby became the second Black manager in MLB history, after Frank Robinson. Doby took over a disappointing, 34-40 team and went 37-50 to finish 1978, in his sole stint as a major league skipper.
The combination of Lemon and Doby piled up 1.1 managerial WAR in 1978, indicating at least a slightly positive season from the bench, and one Doby could likely claim a significant part of. But Veeck opted not to re-hire his former player for 1979, replacing him with player-manager Don Kessinger.
Doby was elected to the Hall of Fame as a player in 1998, and his statue stands outside of Progressive Field in Cleveland.
1988 After years of saying that the original Comiskey Park was outdated, White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn came very close to moving the team to St. Petersburg, Fla.
At the stroke of midnight, the Illinois General Assembly passed a bill allowing the construction of a new stadium, thus saving the Sox. Truthfully it was past midnight, but Governor Jim Thompson actually had stopped the clock to get the funding accomplished, because no bills could be passed after that time period.
But it was a close call. Minutes before House and Senate members walked into their chambers late that Thursday, leaders from both parties predicted that the $150 million Sox stadium bill would fail, leaving the Sox “no choice” but to leave the South Side for St. Petersburg. House Republicans left their caucuses, saying they had only five votes for the package. Their Democratic counterparts said only 50 votes could be mustered. And Senate Democrats said they had only 10 votes in favor of the deal. But a few minutes before midnight, Senate Democrats ratified the measure by gathering 30 votes. The House then passed the measure by a 60-55 vote.
Meanwhile, Florida baseball fans were stunned as they realized they had been used as a pawn to get a new facility by the power brokers and politicians of Chicago. The new stadium built with taxpayer money, initially dubbed New Comiskey or Comiskey Park II, would open its doors on April 18, 1991.
1993 Three years after being denied the chance to be a six-decade major-leaguer when White Sox players objected, 70-year-old Minnie Miñoso suited up as designated hitter for the St. Paul Saints (owned, not coincidentally, by Mike Veeck). The Saints were playing a Northern League game against the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks.
Miñoso grounded back to pitcher Yoshi Seo in his first and only at-bat.
2008 White Sox outfielder Nick Swisher became the first player in franchise history to homer from both sides of the plate twice in the same season, when he hit two in a 9-7 win over Cleveland. Swisher accomplished the feat for the first time a few weeks earlier, in a game against the Twins. This also was the eighth incidence of a White Sox player switching-hitting homers in the same game. One of Swisher’shome runs was a grand slam, as he drove in five runs on the night. It was also Swisher’s second grand slam in four days.
2015 When Chris Sale struck out Jhonny Peralta of the Cardinals in the sixth inning of a game the White Sox would eventually win, 2-1, in 11 innings at St. Louis, it marked the eighth consecutive start in which he fanned 10 or more hitters. That tied Sale with Pedro Martinez for the longest streak in baseball history.
At the plate, Sale also collected his first career major league hit.
The strikeout stretch for Sale had started on May 23 against the Twins. Even though Salewas overpowering, the White Sox offense was so weak that his record in those eight starts was 3-3, with two no-decisions.
The Cubs left hander has been allowing a ton of elevation and hard contact to opposing right handed hitters. Over the last 30 he has faced, they are generating a 52.5% hard-hit rate, 13% barrel rate, and 74% elevation rate.
Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is.
France has torched left-handed pitching. To give you a delectable sample size, over his last 90 at-bats against lefties, he is hitting .300 with a .520 SLG and .877 OPS, while producing a 57% hard-hit rate and a 10.8% barrel rate.
With this already being a juicy-heavy prop, I would not play it any higher. If you cannot find a good number, I would pivot to his total bases instead.
Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
Where to watch: MARQ, SDPA
Hunter Goodman Over 1.5 total bases (-122)
Time to back one of the hottest hitters in baseball as he takes on the worst rated pitcher on the slate, per Batters-Box.
My pride and joy, Colorado Rockies star catcher Hunter Goodman, is two home runs away from cashing his preseason home run total, and I want to ride his hot streak. Of course, I am playing it safe by taking the Over on his bases prop tonight against Miami Marlins right hander Eury Perez.
Goodman has been tearing the cover off the ball, generating a 33.33% barrel rate and 66.67% hard-hit rate over his last five games. On top of that, he has nearly 64% arsenal coverage against all of Perez's pitches, with every expected batting average checking in at .290 or better.
On the other side, Perez brings an arsenal where half his pitches grade below league average. His fastball, which he throws 47% of the time, is his only above-average offering. Against fastballs this season, Goodman owns a .351 xBA, .750 OPS, .321 wOBA, and 58% hard contact.
I would not pay much more than the current price for this prop. If you are looking for a little more value, I would rather sprinkle his double or home run props.
Time: 8:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: COLR, MIAM
Kyle Schwarber Over 0.5 doubles (+495) | Over 0.5 home runs (+167)
Someone I am almost never looking to back on a total bases prop, because there is rarely any value, is Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber. We know his game — he is a true three outcome player.
I am a firm believer there are only two ways to attack him when he is in a great spot but the prices are awful:
If you can get him below -170 for a hit.
What we will be doing tonight, which is targeting his double and home run markets.
Schwarber enters Tuesday with the fifth-highest arsenal coverage among elite rated hitters on Batters-Box, covering 81.5% of Bubba Chandler's arsenal. Across 104 elite rated home matchups, the Phillies slugger has homered 34.62% of the time while recording a double just 14.2% of the time.
Sure, that is not the sexiest trend for the double, but that's why it's priced at nearly +500.
He is also recording two hits only 24% of the time. For those looking to lay the juice on his hit, he records at least one hit 63.46% of the time.
Schwarber owns an 80% hard-hit rate and a 13.3% barrel rate over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching. Meanwhile, Chandler has allowed a 14.3% barrel rate and a 71.4% elevation rate over his last 30 plate appearances against left-handed hitters.
If Schwarber gets a hold of one tonight, it is going to be elevated, and it has a great chance of leaving the yard.
Do not pay juice unless it is for the 1+ hit!
Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: NBCSP, SNP
Colby Marchio's 2026 Transparency Record
Prop picks: 247-472, +19.7 units
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
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Early is also eyeing statistical correction with his 3.59 ERA well below his 4.72 FIP, in addition to his unsustainably high 85.7% strand rate.
The Boston offense doesn’t move the needle with a 27th-ranked xwOBA in June and sixth-lowest barrel percentage for the season, either.
Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
How to watch: NESN, Nationals.TV
Joe Osborne's expert pick: Marlins vs Rockies - Over 11.5
Price: 48¢ (+108) at Polymarket
The Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies could be in for another offensive explosion after combining for 17 runs on Monday at Coors Field.
Both lineups enter Tuesday red hot, ranking third and fifth in OPS over the past two weeks. Colorado turns to Tanner Gordon, who comes off the DL.
He owns a 6.37 ERA this season and an atrocious 9.92 ERA in 16 1/3 innings at home, while Miami counters with Eury Perez, who's posted a 6.04 ERA across six road starts.
With the Rockies' bullpen ranking 29th in home ERA and a 10.3 mph wind blowing out, there's a lot to like about the Over in Denver.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 21: Yovanny Cruz #96 of the New York Yankees looks on during the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on May 21, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Losers of five consecutive games and eight of their last 10, the Yankees are desperate to turn things around. Ryan Weathers and some suspect defensive play are mostly to blame for Monday’s loss against the Tigers, one in which the bullpen had to throw 7.1 innings.
With the unit needing a fresh arm for the next few days, the Bombers have recalled right-hander Yovanny Cruz from Triple-A Scranton ahead of Tuesday night’s matchup with Detroit. Yerry De los Santos, who tossed two frames on Monday and allowed two unearned runs in the process, was sent down to the RailRiders following the game.
Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees recalled RHP Yovanny Cruz (#96) from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The 26-year-old Cruz has racked up 2.1 innings in the majors this year, allowing no runs or walks and striking out three. He has mostly pitched in Scranton, where he has a solid 3.18 ERA and a 3.88 FIP in 28.1 innings of work. Cruz has struggled a bit in June, surrendering four earned runs in 8.2 innings, but was able to string together a couple of scoreless appearances last week, putting himself in a position to help the Yankees and getting the call.
Cruz’s control is not the best, as he walked 4.1 hitters per nine in Triple-A, but he is armed with a couple of impressive pitches in his triple-digit fastball and his slider. The latter is the real swing-and-miss weapon, and he’s not afraid of using it against both lefties and righties.
If he can keep his fastball in the strike zone but away from the middle-middle part of it, Cruz could be an interesting relief pitching piece for the Yankees in the upcoming weeks. He just needs a shot and some consistency.
De los Santos, who was called up last week, returns to Triple-A with a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 MLB innings this season,, albeit mostly mop-up work. He is likely to get another shot eventually whenever the Yankees are in another roster crunch.
Being an all-glove, no-hit player pretty much bars you from superstardom, but even then, some manage to earn a place among baseball legend by doing the right thing at the right time. Bucky Dent’s seasonal OPS never climbed above .700 during his Yankees tenure, yet his name is rightfully etched into club history because his three-run home run basically won the 1978 AL pennant and sent the Red Sox packing. However, players like Dent are the exception. Most of them fade into obscurity — and that’s far from the worst outcome. Some are seen as emblematic of their team’s incompetence, their names becoming shorthand for a fallow era. Unfortunately, that was the fate that met Jerry Kenney.
Born in St. Louis, Jerry Kenney was raised in Beloit, Wisconsin, and excelled at basketball as a high schooler, earning All-State honors in his senior year. However, Kenney chose to focus on baseball as a profession, and in the 1963-64 offseason he was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent. He rose through the minor league ranks quickly, earning a promotion to the bigs in 1967, and proceeded to hit .310/.412/.397 over 74 plate appearances.
Kenney’s budding career was interrupted with a mandatory stint in the Navy, as the Vietnam War was ongoing. Fortunately, what was originally a two-year stint was shortened, and it was reported in November of 1968 that Kenney would be able to return for the 1969 season. As fate would have it, one Mickey Mantle announced his retirement on March 1, 1969. The narrative-hungry media were quick to name Kenney, who had split his time between center field and shortstop in the minors, as the heir to Mantle. Talk about setting reasonable expectations.
Suffice it to say that Kenney could not quite live up to Mantle’s standards. In his four seasons with the Yankees after he returned from military service, Kenney never hit more than four homers, and his batting average never reached the .270 mark. However, with the benefit of modern metrics, we can now see that Kenney was far more talented than the back of his baseball card would suggest. While his offensive metrics are generally mediocre, Kenney did manage to post a 103 wRC+ over 120 games in 1971, on the strength of a 14.2-percent walk rate and a .368 OBP. On the other side of the ball, the numbers paint a picture of a truly elite defender. From 1969-72, Kenney recorded 42 Fielding Runs Above Average — this despite only playing in 440 of 642 team games. On the strength of his glove, he was able to post 6.8 WAR over that period despite some terrible years with the stick. He wasn’t a star by any means, but he was a solid role player, and far from a scrub.
However, the Yankees, presumably not fully appreciative of Kenney’s defensive contributions, decided after 1972 that they had had enough of him. That offseason, Kenney was dealt to Cleveland as part of a four-player package for Graig Nettles.
OK, I know this article should be reserved for giving Kenney his deserved flowers, but this trade is so absurd that I feel compelled to spill some digital ink on it. So the Yankees dealt four players — Kenney, Charlie Spikes, John Ellis, and Rusty Torres — to Cleveland, getting back Nettles and Jerry Moses. What in the world was Cleveland thinking? Nettles had already established himself as one of the best players in the league, posting a whopping 16.2 WAR from 1970-72. And yes, I realize that WAR only meant Cold or Vietnam back in those days, but even when you account for his relatively low batting averages, Nettles still socked 71 homers over that period while playing Hall-of-Fame-caliber defense at the hot corner. It truly boggles the mind. I mean, imagine Cleveland trading Jose Ramirez to the Yankees in the 2020-21 offseason for a package of Tyler Wade, Kyle Higashioka, Mike Tauchman, and Estevan Florial. The resulting riot would have surpassed the Cuyahoga River Fire of 1969 as the most notable Cleveland disaster.
Phew. Okay, back to celebrating Kenney.
Kenney’s MLB career ended unceremoniously with just five games played with Cleveland in 1973. After his retirement, his name, along with Horace Clarke’s, became synonymous with the Yankees’ postseason drought that stretched from 1965 to 1975.
However, Kenney (and Clarke) deserve to be remembered as much more. Though it may be true that the Yankees never sniffed the playoffs during Kenney’s tenure, it’s not like he alone was the reason; far from it. As shown above, Kenney himself was a solid, if a bit one-dimensional, piece — had he found himself on more talented Yankees squads, he might have carved a name for himself with some postseason heroics, like Bucky Dent. It just so happened that his tenure coincided with a dip in the Yankees’ fortunes, and the retirement of a franchise legend in Mantle coinciding with the start of his career only served to inflate the hype around him — intensifying the scorn of fans when he inevitably failed to live up to it.
So, on this day, rather than disparaging Kenney for who he wasn’t, let’s celebrate Kenney for who he was — an elite defender, a solid role player, and a Yankee. Happy Birthday, Jerry!
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 29: AJ Smith-Shawver #32 of the Atlanta Braves throws a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies during game one of a doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park on May 29, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Braves 5-4. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The AJ Smith-Shawver news that Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos shared last week in an interview with BravesVision is coming exactly to fruition.
The right-handed pitcher is set to officially begin his rehab assignment Tuesday night with Single-A Augusta, the Braves announced Tuesday morning.
Smith-Shawver’s first rehab start is slated for a 7:05 p.m. EDT game time with Augusta hosting the Salem RidgeYaks. You can watch the livestream if you have an MLB.TV subscription.
RHP AJ Smith-Shawver tonight begins a rehabilitation assignment with Single-A Augusta. LHP Danny Young’s rehab assignment has been transferred to Triple-A Gwinnett.
It’s approaching 13 months since Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery last June. His last appearance was May 29 and the injury derailed what seemed to be a potential breakout season as he had a 3.86 ERA in nine appearances with 42 strikeouts, 21 walks and four home runs allowed in 44 1/3 innings.
The early returns from Smith-Shawver’s build-up work ahead of the rehab assignment officially beginning have been promising, Anthopoulos said.
“He was throwing the ball really well in Florida. He looked good,” Anthopoulos said. ” … Obviously it’s a max 30-day rehab assignment. We don’t necessarily always go all that way. We’ll see how he looks and he’ll build up.”
Braves President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Alex Anthopoulos shares an update on AJ Smith-Shawver and his first rehab start: pic.twitter.com/TtrE3SFC2l
With Spencer Strider still sidelined for the foreseeable future and Bryce Elder coming hurtling back down to earth, more rotation options would be a big help for a Braves team which is all of a sudden clinging to a 3.5-game division lead.
Hurston Waldrep’s return over the weekend was Step 1. It seems Smith-Shawver will be Step 2. And with Spencer Schwellenbach heading to Florida soon for a potential return in August or September, per MLB.com, it would seem he will be Step 3.
Now to see if the Braves bridge that further over the next month with a trade acquisition ahead of the deadline.
“Look, it’s going to be one of those things where we’ll take the five best guys, the guys that are hot,” Anthopoulos said.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - JUNE 26: Zak Kent #57 of the Washington Nationals pitches against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 26, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Nats are in a seemingly endless search for quality MLB relievers, so every time I see an interesting one, I will write about it. After the disaster against the Phillies, the Nats decided to recall Zak Kent. He has fired two scoreless innings since coming back, and has a unique arsenal I want to talk about.
Kent is one of Paul Toboni’s many waiver claims since taking the job. As we know by now, these claims are dart throws and most of these guys are on waivers for a reason. With Kent, he has been on the waiver wire multiple times. He was DFA’d by the Twins in late April, and then picked up by the Nats. Kent made a few outings for the Nats in May before being sent down.
Zak Kent pitched for the Twins earlier this season now he is going to face them. Kent is a Virginia native with a solid cutter/slider mix https://t.co/CoHa7cxR7E
As mentioned here, Kent is a Virginia native, and he went to school at VMI. This is a bit of a homecoming for him, so that may add motivation for him. However, staying in the big leagues should be enough motivation. To stay in the big leagues, you need to perform, and that is what Kent has done since coming back.
Zak Kent has a very unique arsenal that could make him a sneaky piece. The biggest thing that stands out with Kent is how much he can spin the baseball. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 100 pitches, Kent has the third highest spin rate on his fastball. He also gets a ton of spin on his slider and curveball.
In my opinion, Kent’s 4-seam fastball is actually more of a hard cutter. If you look at the pitch plot, his heater has a ton of cut and not a lot of ride. Even when you watch the pitch, you can see the ball cutting away from hitters.
His fastball/cutter is not very hard, averaging 92.4 MPH on the season. However, since joining the Nats, his average fastball velocity is up to 93.4. Kent’s slider is over a tick harder as well, and his curveball is almost 3 MPH faster. It is not an arsenal that will overpower hitters, but a 93 MPH cutter is nothing to yawn at.
In my opinion, Kent’s two breaking balls are his best pitches. This season, he has a whiff rate over 35% on both his curve and his slider. Kent is a natural supinator, meaning he gets a lot of natural cut on the ball. That means he can access a lot of different breaking ball shapes. I wonder if the Nats try to add a sweeper here. This year he has one pitch that was listed as a sweeper and had three last year, so it seems like they are trying it out.
Since coming back, Kent has been leaning into those breaking balls. It is only two outings, but he is throwing both his curve and slider over 30% of the time. We have seen Andrew Alvarez have success throwing his fastball, slider and curve in about equal doses, and I think Kent can follow that formula.
I actually found a piece from early 2025 where Kent dove into his arsenal. Interestingly, he did call his fastball a cutter, despite the fact Baseball Savant classifies it as a 4-seamer. There are some cool details about his mix in this piece.
In Kent’s 6 outings with the Nats, his ERA of 4.70 is unremarkable. However, he has a FIP of 3.49 and an xERA of 2.11. Stuff models do not really like Kent’s cut fastball, but they do grade out his breaking balls as above average. His command is nothing special, so those breaking balls are really the key for him.
I do not think Kent will be a dominant closer or even some great high leverage guy. However, I do think he has some interesting traits that could make him a solid big league reliever. Right now, the Nats need as many solid big league relievers as possible. If Kent can provide them with that, he would be a godsend.
He has only made two outings since coming back, but he has put up two zeroes and has not allowed any hits. In this bullpen, it does not take much to rise up the trust ladder. If Zak Kent has a couple more of these types of outings, he will be tasked with closing games before too long. I am not sure how well that would go, but it is great to see a reliever throwing the ball well and doing actually interesting things.
CHICAGO - 1988: Tony Fernandez of the Toronto Blue Jays fields during an MLB game against the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois during the 1988 season. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | Getty Images
Tony Fernandez, widely regarded as the greatest shortstop in Blue Jays history, would have celebrated his 64th birthday today.
Fernandez still leads the franchise in games played (1,450) and hits (1,583), among other records. He also set single-season marks for singles (161) and triples (17), and is second among position players in bWAR with 37.5, narrowly behind Jose Bautista (38.4). This changes every time there is a tweak to the formula of bWAR. He was first a couple of years ago.
Fernandez had four separate stints in Toronto. He debuted at age 21 in 1983 and played shortstop until 1990, when he and Fred McGriff were dealt to San Diego for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter—a franchise-altering trade.
In 1993, after Dick Schofield’s early-May injury, the Jays tried Alfredo Griffin and Domingo Cedeno at shortstop, but neither stuck. Toronto traded with the Mets to bring Tony back, and he delivered: hitting .306/.361/.442 in 94 games and helping the Jays win another World Series.
After the season, Fernandez signed with the Reds as a free agent. He also played for the Yankees and Cleveland before rejoining the Blue Jays before 1998 as a utility infielder. In 1998, he played extensively at second and third base. By 1999, he was the starting third baseman and posted a terrific .328/.427/.449 slash line, though his defense drew some criticism.
In 2000, he played in Japan, then signed with the Brewers for 2001. After two months, Milwaukee released him, and Toronto brought him back once more; he finished his career as a Blue Jay, mostly as a pinch hitter and DH.
Tony won four Gold Gloves and was an exceptionally athletic shortstop—always one of my favorites. His leaping jump-spin throws and sidearm deliveries to first base were iconic, and I tried to copy them as a kid. He was usually smiling on the bench, though he didn’t say much to the media. Maybe it was a language thing, or perhaps Dominican players found the press unapproachable—or vice versa.
He was the smoothest shortstop I’ve ever watched play.
Fernandez is in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. In a fairer world, he’d be in Cooperstown too.
Tony passed away in February 2020, and his loss hit me harder than I expected.
Bud Black turns 69 today.
The Blue Jays traded for Black on September 16, 1990, when they were one game behind the Red Sox in the AL East.
He debuted in relief on September 18 and got the win, pulling the Jays into a tie for first. Black’s first start was a loss, but he started the second-to-last game, earned another win, and kept Toronto in the race. However, a loss on the final day (while Boston won) left Toronto two games back.
After the season, Black signed with the Giants as a free agent.
Across 15 MLB seasons, Black posted a 121-116 record and a 3.84 ERA over 398 games (296 starts).
After his playing days, Black became a pitching coach, then managed the Padresin 2007. He managed the Rockies to start 2025 but was let go after 40 games (7-33 start). He’s now an advisor with the Padres.
Pat Venditte turns 41 today.
Venditte pitched eight games for the Blue Jays in 2016.
He’s famous for pitching with both hands—earning the headline “amphibious pitcher,” which is even rarer than ambidextrous.
Venditte appeared in 61 big-league games over five seasons with six teams.
I had an oh-duh moment while watching this one play out. I have to go back down the rabbit hole, because I don’t see anyone keeping the full total. I know this is 10 walk-offs. I’m pretty certain the number is three for road wins in their last at bat. But I don’t recall if there were any home wins with an eighth-inning winning run. That is technically the other way to win while scoring in your last team at-bat. 10 walk-offs already is amazing. 13 last chance wins is amazing. This team finds new ways to amaze me all the time.
I’ll probably change my opinion once or twice more, but I think I’ve decided that if the Cubs decide to only bring back one corner outfielder, it is Seiya. I love the loyalty, the longevity, the season over season consistency of Ian Happ. I love that he moved all over the field until they settled on a position for him. I love that he then won several gold gloves at that spot. Seiya is significantly improved in the field now too. He’s grown so much as a fielder and he’s quietly having a very good season there. The relationship between Seiya and Pete Crow-Armstrong feels special. I think when all of my internal ballots are counted, I’m about 53 percent in favor of Seiya. Well within the margin of error.
But yeah, the story of the game and these last three days and really this whole season is this team just finding a way to win. Just like that, they are essentially back on a 90-win pace (89.6). Will all the injuries, all of the slumps, this team somehow gets it done. Four Cub pitchers were used in this game. None of them were particularly impressive. The Cubs allowed 11 hits and two walks. It definitely felt like they were in trouble all night long. And yet, they yielded just two runs.
The Cubs couldn’t really get to Griffin Canning, finally chasing him with two runs allowed over 4.1 innings. But he’s fared so much worse lately than that. The Cubs put up 10 hits, four walks and had a batter hit. They managed three runs. Often not enough, but just enough on this night. To be fair, I’m pretty sure at least one more run would have scored had the game not ended there. I really thought that was a walk-off homer off of Seiya’s bat. It felt like he hit it pretty close to the spot where Javier Baez once reached the basket against Johnny Cueto to win a game 1-0 in the playoffs.
I said the Cubs needed to get at least one win in this series to make sure they at least split the season series with the Padres. That mission is accomplished. Now they get two shots to win this series and also the season series. Given that the two teams figure to compete for a Wild Card spot, that could matter.
This team is bonkers to cover, but I wouldn’t miss it. These three straight wins are absolutely wild. They’ve faced some really elite pitchers on good teams and countered with a bunch of scrap heap arms. And won. I’m watching potentially the ultimate collision of social media and real life. If this team wins 90 games (or more), social media will have been tap dancing all season long on Craig Counsell’s grave while he wins the NL Manager of the Year award. The Dodgers and Brewers are exactly who we thought they were. The Braves are more or less who we thought they were and the Cubs are running more of a MASH unit than a pitching staff. And every time the dust settles again, they are still standing. Still in the rear view mirror of the Brewers. Stalking like some campy 80’s horror-slasher movie villain.
This team has been so odd, winning more than half of their games either by scoring in the last inning or blowing out their opponent, that we basically haven’t nitpicked any decisions. Not at the micro level anyway. While I’m often a big fan of the aggressive fan and making the other team make a play, I hated the send of Dansby Swanson on the fly out double play in the ninth. I would have rather continued to have the bases loaded there, even though it also put PCA on third. It didn’t end up mattering, but I just wouldn’t have made that send.
What a time to be alive! Go Cubs.
Three Positives:
Pete Crow-Armstrong, the walking man? Two more singles, two more walks. That up to the minute on-base percentage is .370. In his age 24 season, he’s going to be a two-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove (first time platinum?), and will best his ninth place MVP finish of last year.
Shōta Imanaga. 6.1 innings, nine hits, no walks, two runs. Four strikeouts. Not his best outing, but a terrific one at that.
Seiya Suzuki. Two hits, one a double. Two runs driven in, one run scored. He was part of all three runs that scored. That will be one of the most well struck balls off of Mason Miller this year.
Game 85, June 29: Cubs 3, Padres 2 (47-38)
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
Sidekick: Trent Thornton (.134). IP, 3 BF, H, K (W 3-2)
THREE GOATS:
Billy Goat: Michael Busch (-.330). 0-4, BB
Goat: Miguel Amaya (-.183). 0-4
Kid: Ian Happ (-.144). 0-4
WPA Play of the Game: Seiya Suzuki’s walk-off “single” off the top of the wall. (.367)
Brewers Play of the Game: Michael Busch one play earlier, the fly out/thrown out at home double play. (.303)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Game 84 Winner: Bryse Wilson received 123 of 235 votes.
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
Pete Crow-Armstrong +17
Michael Busch +15
Ben Brown +13.5
Trent Thornton +12.5
Carson Kelly +11.5
Edward Cabrera -9.5
Phil Maton -10
Dansby Swanson -12
Caleb Thielbar -13
Seiya Suzuki -14.5
Up Next: Game two of this three-game set. Matthew Boyd (2-1, 5.02) starts for the Cubs. JP Sears (1-0, 3.18) makes his second start of the season for the Padres. The 30-year-old veteran lefty made 27 starts last year for the A’s and Padres with a 5.04 ERA.
There are some weeks where identifying a hitter of the week is a chore, and the best of the best still feels like scraping the bottom of the barrel. Other times, there are a dearth of options and it sucks to pass over someone who had one hell of a week because someone else had an even better one. This week was the latter. Nick Lorusso hit .300/.391/.750 with three doubles and two homers. John Bay hit .333/.455/.778 with two doubles and two homers. Nick Morabito hit .364/.417/.455 with two doubles and four stolen bases. Yonatan Henriquez hit .417/.417/.542 with three doubles and three stolen bases. Yonny Hernandez hit .571/.591/.762 with four doubles and two stolen bases.
Of those players, JT Benson really turned it up a notch. Benson has been on a tear since getting signed out of the indies earlier this year, but this week was especially impressive. I normally don’t like selecting players who didn’t play a “full week” (five or six games), but it’s hard to deny what he did this week; he had a 301 wRC+!
Offense is only about half of the equation of a player, and looking at Benson’s defense, he’s solid. The 24-year-old outfielder has average-to-above average speed and not only knows how to use it on the basepaths- where he has successfully stolen 13 total bases in 19 attempts this year and 33 in 38 attempts last season in the indies- but taps into it in the outfield as well. He is smooth out there, able to read the ball off the bat well, has a quick catch and release, and a strong arm. He has the combination of defensive skills that allow him to play all three outfield positions well enough, but he profiles best at this point in either left or right field for now due to a lack of reps and experience in center.
Daviel Hurtado
Week: 1 G (1 GS), 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (Single-A)
Daviel Hurtado had a solid week. Against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, he had a solid quality start, allowing one run in six innings pitched, scattering a pair of hits, walking one batter, and striking out six. I wouldn’t necessarily classify that kind of start as exceptional, but given the rest of the pickings for this week among the Mets minor league pitchers, that was the best individual performance. Jonah Tong is the only other starting pitcher who had a quality start, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in six innings. Everyone else? Not so much.
The 18-year-old Hurtado was signed by the Mets on January 15, 2023 after the young left-hander left Cuba. A native of Havana, he had been involved in baseball in the city for years, playing on the U-12 and U-15 Cuban National Baseball Teams. In 2022, he and his parents took up residency in the Dominican Republic and the left-hander began the vetting process by Major League Baseball to establish his eligibility to sign with an MLB club. The process went smoothly and quickly and he was granted his eligibility to sign that year, but given that most clubs had spent the majority of their international bonus pool monies, Hurtado and his representatives elected to wait to sign until 2023, giving him a better opportunity to sell his talent and maximize his signing bonus. Having agreed to an informal agreement in the months prior, Hurtado signed with the Mets and the two sides came to official terms, agreeing to a $640,000 signing bonus.
The left-hander was assigned to the Dominican Summer League for the 2023 season, but did not actually pitch, as Tommy John surgery kept him off the mound all season. He finally made his professional debut in 2024 with the FCL Mets and posted a 6.32 ERA in 15.2 innings, allowing 15 hits, walking 10, and striking out 23. He remained in the Florida Complex League to begin the 2025 season, but was promoted to Single-A St. Lucie after roughly a month, allowing a single earned run with the FCL Mets in 19.0 innings over 5 starts, scattering 8 hits, walking 5, and striking out 25. He remained with the St. Lucie Mets for the rest of the season and posted a 2.70 ERA in 46.2 innings over 13 appearances, 7 of which were starts. He allowed 45 hits, walked 19, and struck out 50.
The Mets had the 21-year-old begin the season with St. Lucie, and after posting a 5.00 ERA in 9.0 innings over 4 appearances, promoted him to High-A Brooklyn. The southpaw shrugged off the malaise he was showing in St. Lucie and has pitched well with the Cyclones. In 6 starts, Hurtado has a 1.91 ERA in 28.1 innings, allowing 13 hits, walking 4, and striking out 24.
Hurtado is listed at 6’1”, 165-pounds and is well-proportioned and lean. He stands on the far first base side of the rubber and throws from a high-three-quarters arm slot with a high leg kick and a long arm action through the back. His mechanics flow and are loose and smooth, leaving him in excellent fielding position in his follow-through.
Hurtado’s four-seam fastball sits in the mid-90s, ranging 90-96 MPH; he added a little velocity to it this season, and it is up roughly 2 MPH as compared to last season. The pitch has a low spin rate for a four-seam fastball, 2,190 RPM, giving it less ride and more sink. Overall, the pitch has been very hittable, which lowers his overall ceiling and is why he was never given serious consideration on the 2026 Top Prospect list despite posting sterling surface-level numbers- that and the fact that he bears a striking resemblance to Oliver Perez. He has been throwing the pitch a bit less this season, in favor of his breaking balls a bit more, which can only help him right now. Hurtado’s two-seam fastball is almost identical to his four-seam fastball in every way, from velocity to spin rate to induced vertical break, except it generally gets a few more inches of arm-side horizontal movement, about ten inches to his four-seam fastball’s five.
The southpaw’s curveball sits in the mid-70s-to-low-80s, featuring 55 inches of vertical drop and 5-10 inches of horizontal movement, making it a loopy, slurvy 11-5 bender. His slider sits in the mid-to-high-80s, featuring 35 inches of vertical drop and 3-5 inches of horizontal movement, giving the pitch hop. The two breaking balls tunnel well with each other, the slower curveball featuring more overall movement and the faster slider featuring less.
Hurtado was throwing a budding changeup infrequently in 2025, but he has since scrapped it, barely throwing the pitch during in-game situations this season. Despite the lack of a changeup, he has generally been slightly better against left-handed hitters over the course of his career, but has not ever exhibited extreme platoon splits one way or the other, dominating lefties or struggling against righties.
Hurtado is not only able to command all of his pitches, but the left-hander has pinpoint control. He can throw in the zone and outside of it with confidence, though gets beaten with regularity when he lives inside of it for too long. The southpaw is at his best when he is able to nip the zone with his fastball and then expand the zone with his breaking balls, getting batters to get themselves out either by inducing weak contact or swinging-and-missing. Between the sink from his fastball and weak contact from his breaking pitches, the left-hander has maintained extremely favorable batted ball splits over the course of his young career. This year, Hurtado has maintained a 22.6% line drive rate, 57.0% groundball rate, and 20.4% flyball rate in his 37.1 innings with St. Lucie and Brooklyn combined.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 19, 2026: Xavier Neyens #9 of the Houston Astros scores on a single hit by Chase Call during the seventh inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Miami Marlins at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on March 19, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
Check out some prospects who have been hot in the system!
HITTERS:
Xavier Neyens – Neyens, the Astros first round pick last year, has put together a strong season so far. This week the 19-year-old hit .400 with 3 home runs and 9 walks in just 5 games. Overall this season, Neyens has a .900 OPS with 12 home runs for the Woodpeckers.
Albert Fermin – Fermin got the biggest international bonus the Astros issued out this year and is off to a really strong start in the Dominican Summer League. This week the 17-year-old hit .333 with a double, 2 home runs, 8 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases. He is hitting .368 this season.
Lucas Spence – Spence, who got off to a slow start, has really turned it on and earned a promotion to Triple-A. This week the outfielder hit .421 with 3 doubles, a home run, 7 runs batted in and a stolen bases. He’s hitting .370 over 22 games in the month of June.
Arturo Flores – Flores is a young catcher down in Fayetteville but has been doing some damage with the bat this year. After earning a spot on the list last week, he repeats here with another big week. The 20-year-old hit .438 with 2 home runs and 5 runs batted in. He has 11 home runs and a .851 OPS overall.
PITCHERS:
Ethan Pecko – After a slower start to the year, Pecko has been one of the best pitchers in minor league baseball in the month of June. This week the right-hander tossed 6 innings allowing 1 run while striking out 4. In June he has a 0.75 ERA allowing just 2 runs on 13 hits over 24 innings for Sugar Land.
Brett Gillis – Gillis has had some strong starts this season and after having his best start last week, he bested that outing this week. In his start for the Hooks, the right-hander tossed 7 scoreless innings allowing 3 hits while striking out 7. He has a 3.45 ERA this season in Double-A.
Bryce Mayer – Mayer has been solid this year and this week he turned in his longest outing of the season tossing 5.2 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts in his start for the Hooks. Mayer has a 3.89 ERA with 62 strikeouts over 44 innings this season in Double-A.
Jackson Nezuh– Nezuh has done well racking up the strikeouts this season, though the ERA has been a little higher. This week he was great allowing just 1 hit and 1 run over 5 innings while striking out 9. Overall this season, the right-hander has 64 strikeouts over 53.1 innings.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 06: Griffin Canning #17 of the San Diego Padres looks on during the third inning against the New York Mets at Petco Park on June 06, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
Griffin Canning returned to the mound for the San Diego Padres in their series opener against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night and there is no doubt that most of the Friar Faithful, if not all, were wondering how long he would last and how many runs he would allow before being removed from the game. To his credit, Canning lasted 4.1 innings and allowed two runs, which was enough to put the Padres in position to win, but the offense failed to produce, and the end result was a 3-2 walk-off win for the Cubs.
Canning has struggled throughout his time in San Diego and holds a 1-5 record with an atrocious 7.09 ERA. That is definitely not what any team wants to see from a member of its starting rotation. The fact that he remains in the rotation and continues to get starts is evidence of just how bad the Padres rotation is at this time. Walker Buehler has been arguably the most reliable starter of the group with Michael King lacking consistency and Randy Vasquez floundering with his recent performances. Lucas Giolito, German Marquez and Matt Waldron all joined Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove on the injured list and Yu Darvish was lost for the season before it ever began.
The hope is that Pivetta and Musgrove can return some time after the All-Star break, but how long after is unknown. Whether it is their returns or a trade deadline acquisition, Canning is squarely on the chopping block based on his numbers this season. His best start came on May 25 against the Philadelphia Phillies when he threw 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on three hits with two of those hits being home runs. Canning followed that performance with three consecutive five-inning outings but has not gone longer than 4.1 innings in the three outings since.
According to the results of this week’s Padres Reacts Survey on Gaslamp Ball, the Friar Faithful who participated in the poll have seen enough from Canning and are ready to let him go. Giolito’s recent addition to the injured list may have spared him for now, but if the Padres get any rotation help, Canning will be the first to pack his bags if the fans get their way.
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Jun 7, 2026; Tuscaloosa, AL, USA; Alabama shortstop Justin Lebron (1) fields and throws to first for an out in Game 2 of the Super Regional between Alabama and St. John's at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. | Gary Cosby Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
This is my least likely preview. Before the season Baseball America projected Lebron in the top 5 and even mentioned his potential to be #1 overall. Lebron responded to this lofty praise with easily his worst season yet. This included an eye popping 18 errors (that would be a roughly 50 error pace in MLB) and a batting average 55 points lower than either of his first 2 College seasons. Will he fall all the way to 36? Probably not because there’s Gold Glove potential and easy power, but I also wouldn’t rule it out as there are equal questions about the bat and there’s those 18 errors.
Lebron is a 21 year old, 6’2″ 190lbs right handed hitter from the University of Alabama with a pretty flashy tool set: Plus speed and arm, above average to plus power and above average to plus fielding and a somewhat questionable hit tool with plus bat speed and an approach to swinging Austin Powers would be overwhelmed by. As a defender Lebron brings great range and a cannon arm. The errors are a combo of the range getting him into the occasional error, but also that great arm’s accuracy can go a bit haywire at times. His tools should allow him to stay at Short, he’ll just need to clean up the throws and focus if he can clean up those items he could end up being a plus or better defender. His speed has also made him a big threat on the basepaths and he loves stealing bases. He’s been caught stealing TWICE in 3 years. Yeah, that’ll play.
Now onto his hitting and swing. Honestly, I love the swing. A small leg kick, he maintains his eye level pretty quiet setup and that plus bat speed. No changes needed in my opinion. The pitch recognition though is another story. Lebron loves to swing and he will expand the zone. He also struggles with breaking/off speed pitches. He doesn’t miss often on Fastballs, but he misses almost half of everything else. His raw power is probably double-plus, but game power gets held back a bit by the pitch recognition and contact issues. This feels like a guy the late 2000’s front office would kill for, it also seems like the type of hitter this team has had no luck developing. In the video below you get a great mix of game action showing a little of all the good thing Lebron can do.
I have very strong doubts Lebron gets anywhere vaguely close to 36. The tools are just too exciting and someone in the top 20 is probably going to roll the dice. Some Player Development Director will be convinced he can fix the issues. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Lebron dominates in A ball. His tools are probably going to be enough to overwhelm some talent there and, as you can see in the video, he feasts on high Fastballs, which he’ll see plenty of along with breaking pitches still a bit raw and similar to College. Double-A will be where he may first get exposed. But, man, that power in Reading’s homer prone park would be blast to watch, even if he only hits the Mendoza line with a 40% K rate.
Ty France
Hunter Goodman
Kyle Schwarber
