Category: Baseball

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The St. Louis Cardinals head into the desert to visit the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Chase Field.

The game projects to be close to a pick'em, with the Cardinals at -106 on the moneyline. Below, I explain why I like the visitors on the moneyline in my Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks predictions.

We've got a high-scoring game in tap in our MLB picks for Friday, July 17.

Who will win Cardinals vs Diamondbacks today: Cardinals (-106)

Fade Merrill Kelly.

The veteran Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander can still generate some chase, but that's about the only nice thing you can say about his 2026 season. His ERA is an ugly 5.38, and his expected ERA is even worse at 7.44. 

Lest this turn into a rundown of every statistical deficiency as seen on his Baseball Savant page, the crux of the matter is he doesn't miss bats, and he's getting barreled when opponents make contact. Which they do. All of the time. 

The St. Louis Cardinals offense has been up and down, but I like this matchup. Jordan Walker, fresh off his exhilarating Home Run Derby win, is a nightmare matchup for Kelly. He has 100th-percentile bat speed and ranks among baseball's elite in hard contact, barrel rate, and average exit velocity.

Kelly's inability to generate whiffs will help neutralize Walker's propensity to strike out, though he's made strides in that department as well, going from 31.8% in 2025 to 24.8% this year. He's getting to the ball and doing damage when he does.

The Cardinals will stack the lineup with lefty hitters, too, with Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar, and JJ Wetherholt, all of whom boast a wRC+ north of 115 vs. right-handers on the season.

COVERS INTEL: Walker's blast contact rate of 23.2% ranks fifth in MLB. The explosiveness of his bat will not be held in check, as Kelly has the worst BlastCon% among D-Backs hurlers at 18.9%.

Cardinals vs Diamondbacks Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (+105)

Having outlined why the Cardinals will run up the score against Kelly, we're well on our way toward the game total Over. And while I prefer St. Louis starter Michael McGreevy, he's not without his own issues.

Like Kelly, McGreevy is not a power pitcher. Where they differ, however, is that McGreevy does an elite job of limiting free passes (5.7% walk rate). He lives in the zone, forcing opponents to swing.

And while the results have been good (a 3.01 ERA!), a lot of that has been lucky. His 5.34 expected ERA is more than two full runs higher, and all of his contact metrics are alarming.

He keeps the ball on the ground, which is helpful when you have Wetherholt and Masyn Winn up the middle, but he's playing with fire.

Still, as we're expecting a bad night from Kelly, McGreevy surrendering two or three runs before handing things off to a middling Cardinals bullpen (4.22 ERA) should be enough.

Cardinals vs Diamondbacks weather

While Chase Field has a retractable roof, it will be closed for the duration of this series with the Cardinals. Weather will not play a role.

Cardinals vs Diamondbacks odds

• Moneyline: Cardinals +100 | Diamondbacks -104
• Run line: Cardinals -1.5 (+156) | Diamondbacks +1.5 (-163)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (+117) | Under 9.5 (-122)

Cardinals vs Diamondbacks trend

The St. Louis Cardinals have hit the Team Total Over in 16 of their last 23 away games (+8.30 Units / 31% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Cardinals vs. Diamondbacks.

How to watch Cardinals vs Diamondbacks and game info

Cardinals vs Diamondbacks latest injuries

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Go Rays!

Ron Hunt, the Mets' first-ever All-Star Game starter, has died at the age of 85.

Hunt, an infielder for New York from his rookie season in 1963 (when he finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting) through 1966, started the All-Star Game in 1964 during a season when he hit .303 with a .357 on-base percentage.

Hunt was also an All-Star for the Mets in 1966.

During his time with the Mets, Hunt hit .282 with a .344 OBP in 459 games.

After leaving the Mets, Hunt spent time with the Dodgers, Giants, Expos, and Cardinals before retiring following the 1974 season. 

In 1971 for the Expos, Hunt was hit by a pitch 50 times, setting a modern day record that still stands.

Hunt was a career .273/.368/.347 hitter in 1,483 games across 12 seasons. 

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

Earlier this week, we asked how you felt about the Royals’ 2026 amateur draft

The plurality, 41%, of you felt indifferent about the draft. I wonder how much of that is because it’s just really difficult to tell how good an MLB draft is less than a week later and how much is because of some other reasons, of which there are many. I’m encouraged that 29% of respondents felt the Royals did pretty well, but amused that 27% felt the Royals did poorly. That close difference seems to highlight the “win” of the Indifferent voters. Only 3% of you felt the Royals had an excellent draft, and I think that’s fair because I’m not convinced that there was such a thing to be had as an excellent draft in 2026.

When the Royals took Bobby Witt Jr. second overall in the 2019 draft, it was a franchise-altering move. It was also only available to them because they had a top-two pick in a draft that was distinguished by its two best prospects. It would have been an excellent draft for the team even if no other picks worked out. Now, obviously, the Royals got a bunch of other players in that draft who reached the bigs, including Vinnie Pasquantino, Tyler Tolbert, and Michael Massey. Honestly, that’s almost a stratospherically good draft. But we couldn’t have known so many of those guys would work out as well as they have at the time.

Zion Rose is a guy who could be very good; I know I mentioned Keith Law being high on him when I posted the original question, but he expanded since then and insisted that Rose was a top-10 pick offensive talent held back by poor defense. But he’s not a generational talent in the sense that Witt was. So it’s hard to immediately feel amazing about this draft. Hopefully, by this time next year, we will see not just Rose making huge strides, but also, hopefully, at least a handful of the other guys moving through the system. Maybe if we held the poll again, then, that 3% could rise a bit.

These survey results are sponsored by FanDuel.

The thing about technology is that when one entity sees something work well, then everyone wants it.

For a few years Major League Baseball has been experimenting with Automated Balls and Strikes — some call them Robo-umps — to try and figure out a way to create consistency throughout a sport where subjectivity can creep in and an Umpire has the ability to make a point depending on how they feel on a particular day. This experiment started at the Minor League level, where ballparks were equipped to be able to track where exactly the baseball crossed home plate and if it was within the strike zone.

How to implement the system was always a big question. Do you have the system essentially call every ball and strike, or do you still have the human error approach with the occasional challenge by someone? They tried both in the minors and eventually settled on a challenge system. It went well, and this past year it was implemented in the major leagues to nearly universal praise.

Now with fans seeing it successful in both the minor and major leagues, there was a quick call to bring it to the college level. Some schools already have some form of the equipment set up as part of their way to help train their hitters on how to spot a strike. Some reporters have access to this equipment and will be able to tell you in real time if a call was right or wrong according to it. It appears that was enough for the NCAA.

This, of course, opens up a whole can of worms, as baseball was the one sport in which the little guy still had a bit of a fighting chance for a while. See this year’s NCAA Tournament that saw multiple big programs fall by the wayside while schools people didn’t even know existed went into these stadiums and won. Now, it’s likely there’ll be another thing they’ll feel like they have to add to their stadiums in order to compete.

This move is really important for the College World Series. The home of the CWS has Trackman, which ESPN tapped into during the event to provide analytics, meaning that during the sport’s championship there’ll be a way for pitchers and catchers to appeal calls. It won’t completely end situations where coaches and umpires get into it about a call behind the plate because if there’s a limit to the challenges like in the pros, there will be situations where that limit will be hit. Still, in situations where an umpire is wrong, teams will have a chance to fix the error.

This has the chance of deflating the ego of umpires just a little bit when they are proven wrong in real time, as well reinforce good behaviors. It may also decrease the art of “yanking” by catchers where they grab a ball out of the zone and try to pull it in. It’ll become less necessary if a batter feels the call was inaccurate.

We’ll see what the rules will be over its use when the Oversight Committee reviews the proposal, but it looks like there will be another element to watch at Boshamer and other stadiums across the country. Quite frankly, it’s also another opportunity for schools to seek sponsorship for an aspect of the game.

The St. Louis Cardinals arguably have the most momentum of any team that did not have a game in the past week as the second half of the season begins today. With Jordan Walker stealing national headlines after putting on a show at the Home Run Derby, more eyes could be on the Cardinals than expected for a rebuilding team.

The start of the final 77 games will be at Chase Field in Arizona as the Diamondbacks will host the Cardinals for a three-game series that, to Paul Sewald’s pleasure, will have little to no chance of being delayed at the covered desert stadium. With two weeks until the trade deadline, the Cardinals have the opportunity to make conversations around the roster more interesting, but we could be nearing the end of a few St. Louis tenures.

The Diamondbacks host the Cardinals as the MLB second half begins

Even with Jordan Walker winning the Home Run Derby in dramatic fashion, there will be plenty watching his second half waiting for his demise so they can pass the blame to the exhibition event. However, preseason expectations for the team sat around .500 or below, so the Cardinals are playing with house money sitting at five games over and a solid chance to move past their win total from each of the previous two seasons. The season has already been a major win overall, but there is plenty of baseball left to make headlines one way or another.

One of the teams looking to jump the Cardinals is the Diamondbacks, who enter the series 1.5 games behind St. Louis and 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot. The pitching plans for the Cardinals line up for Michael McGreevy to kick things off, followed by Dustin May and Andre Pallante.

Game one (8:40pm): Michael McGreevy vs. Merrill Kelly

Game two (3:10pm): Dustin May vs. Brandon Pfaadt

Game three (3:10pm): Andre Pallante vs. Eduardo Rodriguez

The two teams begin the second half outside of where they set their preseason expectations, but for the Cardinals, that is a good thing. On the Arizona side of things, they have struggled in a difficult division and are 12 games under (19-31) against teams with a .500 or better record. The pitching matchups may cause some frustrations for hitters, especially on Sunday as each team brings their de facto ace to the bump.

Michael McGreevy will look to get his win-loss record back on track to go along with his 3.01 ERA and will face off against Merrill Kelly, who has been inconsistent all year. In game two, Dustin May looks to continue bolstering his trade value and help the Cardinals out with a win before potentially getting shipped out in a couple weeks. Brandon Pfaadt will take the mound for the D’Backs as he tries to stay hot since returning to the Arizona rotation. In the final game, 10-game winner Andre Pallante will take on southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez, who has had a great bounceback season after back-to-back down years.

It is great to have baseball back and the second half promises to be newsworthy, no matter where the Cardinals finish in the standings. In case you missed it, I put together a little second half primer with Daniel Shoptaw and Ethan Hannaford to keep the good vibes going!

Thanks as always!

With a few days to rest and reevaluate after a disappointing end to the first half of the season, the Mariners are hoping to start fresh after the All-Star break. Julio Rodriguez and Brendan Donovan should be returning from their injuries sooner rather than later, and the team will kick off the stretch run with a six-game homestand against a pair of weaker National League teams. That’s a pretty soft landing to begin the second half of the season, hopefully providing the team a spark ahead of a huge matchup against Texas next weekend.

It’s been a rough season for the Giants, both on and off the field. This team was supposed to be good enough to challenge for a NL Wild Card spot, but they’re looking like they’ll need to reset their roster for next year at the trade deadline. The uninspired play on the field is one thing, but the off-field issues are overshadowing everything. There was the Pride Night controversy, the mismanagement from new manager Tony Vitello, tone deaf comments from players and president of baseball operations Buster Posey. It’s been a circus, and it’s hard not to believe that all those distractions are taking a toll on the team’s play on the field.

There are a few bright spots to point to in the lineup. Luis Arraez earned a spot on the NL All-Star team thanks to a career-best season. His power output is the highest it’s ever been thanks to the expansive gaps in Oracle Park, helping him earn 21 doubles and seven triples. What’s more impressive is that he’s turned himself into an excellent defender at second base thanks to the tutelage of infield guru Ron Washington. Rafael Devers got off to a slow start but he’s posted a 147 wRC+ and 12 home runs since the beginning of June. The other two stars in the lineup, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman, haven’t found much consistency this year; both are in the midst of career-worst seasons. With those two stars unable to produce in the middle of the lineup, San Francisco has had to turn to breakout utility infielder Casey Schmitt and rookie Bryce Eldridge to carry a lot of the load.

Probable Pitchers 

Updated Stuff+ Explainer 

• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

Landen Roupp has taken a big step forward on the mound this year. His strikeout rate is nearly four points higher than it was last year, leading to a 3.29 FIP that ranks 12th in the majors. Unfortunately, he was also one of the pitchers at the center of the Giants’ Pride Night controversy a month ago, which has overshadowed the progress he’s made on the field. As our own Ryan Blake pointed out on FanGraphs back in April, Roupp’s improvement this year seems to stem from his position on the mound. That’s helped him disguise his two best pitches, his sinker and curveball, a bit better. His spotty command is still holding him back from joining the game’s elite, and he’s been a bit unlucky to run such a high ERA despite his solid peripherals.

Few pitchers have been as consistent and durable as Logan Webb has been over the past five years. He’s accumulated at least 4.1 fWAR in every season since 2021, though that streak might be broken this year. After enjoying a huge jump in strikeouts last year, his K% has fallen to the lowest it’s been since 2020. Both his walk rate and groundball rate are approaching career worsts as well. He spent three weeks on the IL in May with a knee injury — the first time he’s dealt with any kind of injury since 2022 — which could be affecting his performance on the field. He’s also throwing his four-seamer and cutter a lot more often this year at the expense of his sweeper; that pitch mix change could explain some, but not all, of the issues he’s facing.

After recovering from Tommy John surgery in 2024, Robbie Ray put together a full, healthy season last year. He’s not the same pitcher that won the AL Cy Young in 2021, nor the pitcher we saw for a single season in Seattle. His 7.4% walk rate during those two years looks like an aberration; he’s back up above 10% in his three seasons in San Francisco. More importantly, his strikeout rate has fallen in consecutive seasons, and it now sits at just 20.3%, the lowest it’s been since his rookie cup of coffee back in 2014. He’s also diversified his pitch mix, adding a changeup and a sinker to give him a deeper five-pitch repertoire to keep batters off his signature four-seamer and slider.

The Big Picture:

The Rangers eeked out a series win over the Astros last weekend to maintain a 1.5 game lead in the division. Texas travels to Atlanta this weekend while Houston hosts Baltimore. In the Wild Card race, the Mariners are tied with the surprising Twins and the surging Red Sox, riding a nine-game win streak, are just a half game back. Minnesota travels to Chicago to face the Cubs while the Red Sox host the Rays.

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

In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked fans to grade the Brewers at the unofficial midpoint. The results were about what you’d expect:

The Brewers, who currently sit at 59-37 with a five-game lead in the NL Central and the second-best record in baseball, overwhelmingly received positive grades in the poll, with 86% of votes coming at A- or higher. The “A” grade finished at the top with 41% because, after all, there’s always room for improvement.

Rather than rehashing how well the Brewers have done this season, I decided to take a look at the grades and expectations of others around the league at this point.

To begin, you can take a look at our staff midseason awards and grades, where you’ll see that five of our six contributors gave Milwaukee an A (with only Jackson putting them at an A-).

The Athletic also released their latest poll results this morning, as 21/22 voters picked Milwaukee to win the NL Central (the lone other vote went to Chicago), all 22 voters said Milwaukee will make the postseason, 3/22 picked Milwaukee to win the NL pennant, and 2/22 picked the Brewers to win the World Series. Also of note: 3/22 voters picked the Brewers to finish the season with the most wins, 4/22 picked the Brewers to win at least 100 games (a threshold the franchise has never achieved), and 13/22 picked Milwaukee as their “dark horse” World Series contender. Lastly, 15/22 picked Jacob Misiorowski to win NL Cy Young, with Cristopher Sánchez picking up six votes and Shohei Ohtani receiving one vote.

ESPN’s second-half preview includes the Brewers as one of “The Big Four,” alongside the Dodgers, Rays, and Braves. They give Milwaukee a projected final record of 98-64, with 16.5% odds to win the World Series, second to only the Dodgers’ 27.5%.

Bleacher Report released a list of bold predictions for each team, and they picked Jacob Misiorowski to set the franchise strikeout record, which currently sits at 264 by Ben Sheets back in 2004.

Lastly, I’ll just mention that FanDuel Sportsbook currently gives the Brewers -600 odds to win the NL Central (bet $600 to win $100), +270 odds to win 100-plus games (bet $100 to win $270), and +1100 odds to win the World Series (bet $100 to win $1100), tied with the Mariners for the fourth-best odds in baseball, behind only the Dodgers, Yankees, and Braves.

Brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

The real test begins. This is the true start of the second half of the season and this is where the Red Sox either prove they’re worth their mettle or show us they are who we thought they were. Let’s get it.

Game 1

⚾️Time: 1:35pm – Fenway Park, Boston, MA

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEI

Pitching Matchup: Jake Bennett vs. Griffin Jax

Game 2

⚾️Time: 7:10pm – Fenway Park, Boston, MA

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEI

Pitching Matchup: Eduardo Rivera vs. TBD

MLB’s Texas Rangers announced Wednesday that the team would be switching its direct-to-consumer streaming partner, moving midseason from Victory+ to Bzzr effective immediately. According to the team’s past trademark request filings, it has been preparing to work with Bzzr for more than a year. 

“It is unfortunate that this switch in direct-to-consumer distributors was necessary, but the decision was made in the best interest of both the Rangers and our fans,” Rangers Sports Media and Entertainment Company chairman Neil Leibman said in the team’s statement, adding that Rangers Sports Network “is committed to continued delivery of the highest-quality game broadcast possible, and we feel Bzzr is well-positioned to manage a seamless transition.”

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The press release does not mention that Leibman, who is also a minority investor in the MLB team, is a director of Bzzr, as was reported by The Dallas Morning News. The paper also reported that the Rangers “had grown increasingly concerned about (Victory+’s) ability to meet financial and delivery obligations.”

A Rangers representative declined to comment on Leibman’s connection to Bzzr. 

In June and July of last year, months after Bzzr’s incorporation, the Rangers filed three Bzzr-related trademarks—Bzzr Sidecar, Bzzr Sideshow and Bzzr Sidecast—all related to the creation of an “on-line community for sports fans.” In March, the U.S. Patent and Trade Office issued a “notice of allowance” on Bzzr Sidecast, essentially informing the Rangers that in one of the final steps before being awarded the trademark, the team had six months to show that it was using the marks for commercial purposes. That deadline, which can be extended, is currently Sept. 10.

The other two trademarks, Bzzr Sidecar and Bzzr Sideshow, have both been refused due to the “likelihood of confusion” with existing trademarks. In each case, the potentially conflicting trademarks were ones held by Buzzer Technologies, the sports streaming app that raised more than $40 million from a number of prominent backers before ultimately shuttering in May 2023. The final notice from both of those rulings were issued earlier this month; a rep for the Rangers declined to comment on whether the team would appeal. Rangers Sports Network has posts on Bzzr dating back to late 2025.

Those connections help explain why Texas chose a lesser known streaming partner that had not previously claimed significant live game rights, and—if the Rangers had felt a need to pivot quickly—how Bzzr could theoretically have presented a preferred online home on short notice. Other potential new partners might have needed longer to set up a subscription offering or adjust their business plans. It’s unclear how long the Rangers were preparing to make the move, or for how long Bzzr will stream the team’s games beyond this season. Financial terms were not announced.

Victory+ said in a statement it will continue to air Dallas Stars games as well as “a growing portfolio of professional and amateur sports.” The Stars hold equity in the streaming business, which also has distribution deals with the NWSL, League One Volleyball and the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and Minnesota Lynx. The Anaheim Ducks are reportedly ending their relationship with Victory+, which has missed rights payments to partners, according to Sports Business Journal. 

Fans who bought a season pass for Rangers games on Victory+ are able to transfer their membership to the new platform. On X, the Rangers said they “have requested that V+ make refunds to subscribers as requested and appropriate.” Texas games will also continue to air on Rangers Sports Network across TV distributors. 

The live chat forum on RSN’s Bzzr page turned into a venting session for some Texas fans Wednesday as an admin account responded to certain user issues.

“Can we just get a refund?” a commenter named Tex Ranger wrote. 

“Do the Rangers not want fans any more?” Joy Pierce asked. 

By Thursday afternoon, live chat functionality was turned off on the Rangers Sports Network’s Bzzr stream. 

MLB teams have taken myriad approaches to maximizing their local media rights in recent years, particularly following FanDuel Sports Networks’ demise. Numerous franchises, such as the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees, have helped launch new services or partnered with digital distributors while maintaining a presence on traditional TV. Others have turned to the league for support, and MLB now produces and distributes half of its clubs’ games online.

Bzzr officially launched in April, promising to bring together live games, creator-generated videos and fan conversations touching on the biggest U.S. leagues. In June, Bzzr announced former X executive Brett Weitz as its CEO as it looks to build a multipurpose destination for sports fans. It recently launched apps for Amazon, Apple, and Google-owned TV platforms, in addition to pre-existing mobile and web touchpoints. A company spokesperson said Bzzr is planning to launch on Samsung, LG and Roku TVs by September. 

Texas’ second half—and its Bzzr era—begins Friday evening with a game against the Braves. 

—Additional reporting by Michael McCann

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The Dodgers finally enjoy some good scheduling on the East Coast. Last season Dodger fans will remember that the team was in New York on back-to-back weekends but flying home for a series in between. This time, the All-Star Game was in Philly, with the team then starting a nine-game stretch of New York, Philly, and New York.

The Dodgers are starting their second half in the Bronx, where they will start with a three-game set against the Yankees. The team has not been back to Yankee Stadium since they closed out their 2024 World Series there, winning Game 5 to take the championship.

The Bronx Bombers started out hot to start the season, but now find themselves second in their division, sitting at 54-42, 3.0 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays.

The two teams went into the All-Star break in different fashions. The Dodgers lost five of their final seven games, and the Yankees pulled themselves out of a June swoon to win their final four games.

Roki Sasaki finds himself kicking off the second half on the mound, looking to get back to his form at the beginning of the season. Sasaki has been worse on the road this season, with his strikeout rate falling and his walk rate increasing along with his ERA. The Yankees have a very lefty heavy lineup that will not include Aaron Judge.

The Yankees will counter with Garrit Cole who is 3-4 on the season with a 4.04 ERA. Cole was also involved in the last games these two teams played in Yankee Stadium, so he will be looking to prove something – revenge against the Dodgers, showing he’s better than this season has shown thus far. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman have seen him relatively well, but not so much for the rest of the team.

Old friend Cody Bellinger was the starting centerfielder for the AL squad, as was first baseman Ben Rice who was hot to end the first half.

The biggest thing to watch for perhaps is the air quality at the time of these games. Wildfire smoke from Canada has worked its way into the U.S. and is causing issues all through the Midwest and East Coast. It could affect how long pitchers are able to last on the mound in addition to other issues with players.

Friday game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Yankees
• Ballpark: Yankee Stadium, New York
• Start time: 4:05 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

I sincerely believe the Braves seriously want to win. I think they know how to win. I think they have the institutional knowledge as a franchise to be successful at winning division titles. I know they don’t have a lackadaisical or careless approach toward putting together a successful team and winning games. You won’t see them disinterested in the results as long as people keep buying tickets. You know they won’t think “what are they going to do, drive to Baltimore for baseball? And even if they do, who cares?” Even in the mini-rebuild of the mid-2010s (and to the frustration of some observers), the Braves were interested in presenting some form of a non-comatose ballclub.

However, since the red-hot-for-two-months Braves reached 45-21 in early June, the Braves have preferred to kick it into low gear in regards to the bullpen. It’s perplexing to see them make some of the near-end-of-game decisions in the last month. Specifically:

• June 9, 2026 – Allowing Carlos Carrasco to pitch the sixth and some of the seventh in a one-run game. Carrasco and company allowed the White Sox to tie the game. The Braves were avoiding pitching the winning side of the bullpen options such as Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias. They used both anyway in a loss.
• June 23, 2026 – Allowing Carlos Carrasco to pitch the sixth and some of the seventh in a one-run game. Carrasco allowed the Padres to tie the game. The Braves were avoiding pitching the winning side of the bullpen options such as Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias. They used Iglesias anyway in a loss.
• July 5, 2026 – Allowing Carlos Carrasco to pitch the eighth and the ninth in a two-run game. The Mets’ lead swelled to seven, before the Braves scored six in the bottom of the ninth.
• July 10, 2026– Allowing Danny Young to pitch the eighth in a tie game, with higher-leverage options available (or at least rested). The Cardinals took the lead with a home run off Young, and rode BABIP luck to the win.

It’s a departure from April 29, when a ninth-inning Matt Olson home run pulled a win away from the Detroit Tigers. When Walt Weiss talked after the game, he dropped this nugget to the media.

Down one, you gotta be careful doing this too often, especially down one… been chasing those games with our bullpen, you know trying to keep it there. Because I feel like our offense is in a really good place. And I feel like if we keep it to one, we got a really good chance of winning those games late.

And the reaction from Braves Country was one of appreciation and relief. It was a fan base that had tired of the inning-and-lead tiered and structured approach of years past. But that’s a much different approach than the last five weeks or so. Victories stopped being appreciated in the standings and were more defined by the absence of the higher-leverage options. But let’s examine that walkoff win a little closer. Was it that much different than the last five weeks? Do you know who pitched the ninth inning while down one run on April 29th? Raisel Iglesias? Robert Suarez? No, Reynaldo Lopez. And not somewhat/fully recovered Lopez from July. It was the Lopez that was recently removed from the rotation, and hadn’t pitched in eight days. That night, Reynaldo’s four-seam topped out at 93 mph. Seven days ago, he hit 97 mph with it.

Regardless, they pushed a recently called-up JR Ritchie to the sixth. Then Dylan Lee threw 28 pitches and picked up four strikeouts. Then they handed to the seventh or eighth guy in the bullpen for two innings. So, it was a mix of asking the higher-leverage option to push for five outs, and whatever you would consider Reynaldo Lopez at that point (last or next-to-last guy?) for two innings. They were giving themselves a chance, but still they were relying (or maybe forced to rely) on a poor option.

The Braves’ bullpen overall has been excellent this season. They’re second in ERA, first in FIP, and fourth in xFIP. They’re first in fWAR too, even though I’m not crazy about WAR for relievers for reasons I will probably lay out later this season. But very good overall, clearly. But are they, though? When you remove Dylan Lee, Didier Fuentes, Raisel Iglesias, and Robert Suarez, the remainder has collected 0.0 WAR. Now, some of that total has been pushed down by players that are no longer on the roster: Aaron Bummer, Carlos Carrasco, Osvaldo Bido and Joel Payamps. But still the remainder is merely okayish and very league-replacement-like.

Here are the Braves’ run differential totals for this season. These are 1-run, 2-run, etc. games thrown into buckets. 55 of the Braves 95 games have been decided by 3 runs or less. So if these numbers hold, they will play 39 more over the next ten weeks. When you factor in Average Leverage Index for relievers, the Braves are solidly middle of the pack at 18th. Average Leverage Index for relievers is again square in the middle at 15th. So on paper, these are pretty normal bullpen usage numbers. However, the Braves are delivering a first place performance in reliever WPA, and doing it with 4 pitchers doing the heavy lifting. So it’s like many workplaces, it’s average workload with the vast majority of work throughput being produced by four people.

But does 35-45 games in conflict sound about right going forward? And will each of those 35-45 games require one to four higher-leverage options to pitch? If the answer to those questions is both yes, then you have more questions to answer. How do you make up the gap in the sixth through ninth innings with four good options? Do you add another starting pitcher that you are willing to allow to pitch 3 times through the order? Do you add more relievers? Stands to the side for Ivan and Omar to scream RELIEVEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRSSSS!!! In any case, the Braves will likely need to add something. They just don’t have the requisite personnel to service four plus innings a night. And Dylan Dodd can only chip in so much.

Oh well, moar pitching plz. Or home runs, lots of home runs.

Your 2026 New York Mets: 暑い真夏の空 アスファルト溶かし The hot midsummer sky melts the asphalt [Song: Daydream by Judy and Mary]

“I’m not gonna lie: Towards the end, it got a little thick. It felt like breathing in some metal. … A little spoonful of adversity never hurt anybody.” -Christian Scott [New York Post]

しゃがみこんだあたしは

“We’re well aware we’re staring down one of the hardest schedules in baseball for the second half. We should relish that, like that and rise up and meet that. I don’t think there’s another attitude to take.” -Andy Green [New York Post]

白く 消えていく

“I didn’t think it was bad till the last couple innings. My eyes were burning and itching a little bit. [Carson] Benge said it felt like you were sitting by a campfire. … It was fun … but it didn’t feel great playing ball with it.” -Brett Baty [New York Post]

しんきろうの 真ん中で

いつか汗ばむ体を包んで

暑い風が 1人きりの あたしをおいてく

清らかなままで いられない都会に

夢のように さけびは届かないままで

しんきろうの 真ん中で

いつか汗ばむ体を包んで

暑い風が 1人きりの あたしをおいてく

背中の汗 かわきはじめて

暗闇に 灯がともる頃は

暑い風が 1人きりの あたしをおいてく

“Ya Gotta Believe” -Tug McGraw [Wikipedia]