Category: Baseball

Days before its opening day of its second full season, Athletes Unlimited Softball League is getting a new influx of cash.

AUSL announced a new group of strategic investors on Thursday, June 4 that includes Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio and MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. Ryan’s partners with Ryan Sanders Baseball – Reid Ryan and Don Sanders – are also investing in the league. 

The Brewers become the first MLB club to invest directly in the AUSL. Folks who were already invested in AUSL include NBA superstar Kevin Durant and his longtime business partner Rich Kleiman.

"The momentum just continues to build. It's building for softball as a whole and the AUSL is seeing that momentum on every level, and so we couldn't be more excited to be bringing in the Brewers and Ryan Sanders. I think it's a testament to their belief in the opportunity and the future ahead," Jon Patricof, the CEO and co-founder of Athletes Unlimited, told USA TODAY Sports. "For us, not only their capital, but their expertise are going to be hugely valuable."

These investments deepen the relationships that AUSL already has with MLB and Ryan Sanders Baseball. MLB invested in the AUSL last year and has broadcast games on its network as part of their partnership. 

Ryan Sanders Baseball operates two minor league teams, the Round Rock Express and the Corpus Christi Hooks. They are the AUSL’s operating partner of the Texas Volts, who drafted Texas Tech superstar pitcher NiJaree Canady with the No. 2 overall pick this season. The Volts will play at the Ryan Sanders-operated Dell Diamond ballpark in Round Rock, Texas.

"I think people look at the track record that Athletes Unlimited has in the sport now and understand that we're here to stay, that we're big believers in building a sustainable long-term softball league, and I think that that's resonated," Patricof said. "You're seeing more and more organizations recognize that this sport is a national phenomenon."

The announcement comes as the AUSL prepares to launch its second season, with games beginning on June 9.

Led by Commissioner Kim Ng – the former general manager of the Miami Marlins – the AUSL enters its second full season following an inaugural campaign that included 24 sellouts and more than $1 million in merchandise sales. Last year, the AUSL was a barnstorming organization of sorts, with four teams playing games in 10 different cities. This season, they’ll have six teams playing in permanent home markets.

In addition to the Volts in Round Rock, teams will also be based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Durham, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Chicago and Salt Lake City. The team in Durham – the Carolina Blaze – had the No. 1 overall draft pick and selected Tennessee pitcher Karlyn Pickens. The Volts landed Canady with the second pick.

"I think what the ratings show, what the interest we saw last summer in our tour, is that this sport is resonating with fans across the country," Patricof said. "That momentum from the College World Series – we're very confident is going to spill over into the AUSL. And obviously, as we head into 2028 with the Olympics, there's a tremendous amount of momentum broadly. I think for any pro league to survive, you need to be part of a healthy ecosystem, and I think we're very much big believers of that."

Indeed, viewership in women’s college softball is on the rise. ESPN said it averaged 1.5 million viewers through 14 games for the Women’s College World Series games preceding the final series between Texas and Texas Tech, making it the most-watched pre-finals on record for the WCWS. ESPN said overall viewership is up 33% year over year.

The AUSL this season will have more than 90 games distributed across ESPN platforms, CBS Sports Network and MLB Network. The league also added partners like Sephora and Adidas, the latter of which is their official uniform outfitter. Rawlings this season will hand out its iconic Gold Glove award to the top defender in AUSL.

"Having the games accessible are a big deal, but it's really also getting their promotional, marketing support and editorial support, and we're starting to see that in ways that we really have never seen before for pro softball," Patricof said. "I think that's a huge shift and a huge new development that I think we're excited to benefit from."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB legend Nolan Ryan among new investors in pro softball league AUSL

Good morning friends! Happy Mariners off-day to you.

The M’s saw their winning streak snapped yesterday in a 7-1 loss to the Mets. The M’s hit the road now for a stretch, going to Detroit, Baltimore, and Washington.

Importantly, it’s All-Star voting season. In my youth, I held steadfast to only voting for players who deserve it rather than just voting for my favorite players. But in recent years I’ve decided that I don’t care about voting for the “logical” choice. Life is too short to vote for someone else’s guy. Go vote Mariners!

In Mariners news…

• Former Mariners Ken Griffey, Jr. and Harold Reynolds will join former Yankees ace CC Sabathia to host Play Ball Live on the MLB YouTube channel this Friday in advance of the MLB Breakthrough Series in an interactive stream designed to “engage, excite and inspire youth baseball and softball players all over the world.”
• Baseball America released its monthly update of the top 100 prospects in baseball, with M’s right-hander Ryan Sloan officially being crowned the top pitching prospect in the sport.

Around the league…

• Diamondbacks right-hander Corbin Burnes is likely out until September after suffering a teres major strain.
• Nick Castellanos’ tenure in San Diego did not last long, as the Padres DFA’d the struggling outfielder.
• Rob Manfred made his first public comments about the economic proposals made by both sides, emphasizing the need to adjust the financial rules of the game for the sake of competitive balance.
• Young Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki is finally starting to reach his potential, writes Jay Jaffe at Fangraphs.
• Matthew Trueblood at Baseball Prospectus wonders what happened to the sidearm four-seam fastball. ($)
• Lukas Vlahos at Amazin’ Avenue has seen enough of Mets first baseman Mark Vientos.
• Kiri Oller at Fangraphs had some fun mapping real-life baseball personalities to the fake world of Pokémon Pokopia.
• Bradley Woodrum at Baseball Prospectus tried to figure out if there is a secret to winning one-run ballgames. ($)

When the White Sox signed Munetaka Murakami, there was hope.

There was optimism.

There was even a healthy amount of “what if?”

What there probably wasn’t was “first rookie since 1901 to hit 20 home runs before June.”

Yet here we are.

The American League announced Wednesday that Murakami has been named AL Rookie of the Month for May, a recognition that feels less like an award and more like an acknowledgment of the baseball fever dream he authored over the season’s first two months.

Before a right hamstring strain landed him on the injured list on May 30, Murakami spent the month terrorizing opposing pitchers. In 26 May games, the White Sox first baseman slashed .244/.382/.556 with eight home runs, 18 RBIs, 21 runs scored, and 19 walks. Among all major-league rookies, he led the way in homers, runs scored, and walks while tying for the lead in RBIs.

The power has been obvious from the moment he arrived. The patience has been nearly as impressive. Even during stretches when the batting average dipped, Murakami kept reaching base and kept hitting the ball with authority. That’s how a player can post a .937 OPS during a month where he hit “only” .244.

And the season totals remain downright ridiculous.

In 57 games, Murakami is slashing .240/.378/.560 with 20 home runs, 41 RBIs, 43 runs scored, and 44 walks. At the time of his injury, he was tied for the American League lead in both home runs and RBIs while ranking near the top of the league in runs scored, slugging percentage, OPS, and walks.

The pace was cartoonish: 58 home runs, 119 RBIs, 124 runs scored, and 127 walks over a full season.

For a franchise that has spent much of the last decade searching for impact hitters, Murakami immediately became one.

His 20 home runs before June didn’t just put him atop the rookie leaderboard. The feat had never been accomplished by a rookie in the modern era. In White Sox history, only Frank Thomas in 1994 and Jim Thome in 2006 had previously reached the 20-homer mark before the calendar flipped to June.

That’s elite company. That’s Hall of Fame company.

It’s also the latest reminder that Murakami’s transition from Nippon Professional Baseball to the major leagues has been far smoother than even the most optimistic projections could have imagined.

The White Sox will gladly trade individual awards for a healthy hamstring and a quick return to the lineup. Still, after two months spent rewriting record books and carrying the offense, Murakami has earned every bit of recognition coming his way.

The American League Rookie of the Month award is simply the latest piece of evidence.

And if his first two months in Chicago are any indication, it probably won’t be the last. Fingers crossed.

Happy Thursday all!

The A’s have taken the first two of three versus the Chicago Cubs after winning Tuesday, coming back in last night’s game and giving themselves a chance at a series sweep. They sit at 30-31, in second place in the AL West by two games and currently occupying the third and final Wild Card spot with a half-game lead over the Texas Rangers. The American League is weirdly bunched together two months into the season. For example, the Boston Red Sox are eight games under .500 but still within three and a half games of a playoff spot (but with five teams ahead of them). The Wild Card race is looking more and more likely it’ll be a year-long affair involving a majority of the teams in the Junior Circuit.

For tonight’s finale in The Windy City, it’ll be J.T. Ginn getting the ball hoping to propel the A’s to a series win. He’s coming off a fantastic performance last time out when he shut down the New York Yankees’ potent offense for six scoreless innings last weekend. The A’s would gladly take more of the same from their young right-hander this evening. The A’s have set themselves up for the sweep and have their best pitcher on the mound. Getting out of Chicago with three wins is very doable.

Off the field, shortstop Jacob Wilson continues to progress from his dislocated shoulder. He was seen taking batting practice at Wrigley Field yesterday afternoon before the game, and from the video it seems like his shoulder is in good shape:

Jacob Wilson taking BP here at Wrigley. Saturday is the target for him to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/2JV7gXQf6T

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) June 3, 2026

It seems that the team really did avoid a worst-case scenario with Wilson’s shoulder. Many times shoulder dislocations require surgery, or at a minimum any absence is measured in months not weeks. Since he’s been out for a good chunk of time it’s almost certain he’ll be going on a rehab assignment down in the minors, but he’s such a good hitter that he may not need more than a few at bats against lower-level pitching to be ready for an activation.

The A’s defense can not wait until Wilson returns. The shortstop has been out now for three-plus weeks and it’ll certainly be a full month before the team gets him back. Darell Hernaiz has handled shortstop duties in Wilson’s absence and has gone 17-for-58 (good for a .293 average) since taking over regular duties. He hasn’t been a huge liability in the field either, but the team is clearly better with Wilson in the everyday role. It’s good to know that Hernaiz can hold his own in a pinch moving forward.

Next up will be the Houston Astros. We will have a surprise starter on the mound tomorrow, not one of the arms that was just called up earlier in the week:

Jack Perkins is moving back into the A’s rotation and will start Friday’s series opener against the Astros.

— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) June 3, 2026

The promotion of Perkins to the starting rotation will make plenty of A’s fans happy. There was a belief that Friday’s series opener would feature either Kade Morris or Mason Barnett getting the ball for the start but it’ll instead be the right-hander who has been in the Athletics’ bullpen all season long.

The former 5th-round pick came up as a starting pitcher and turned heads on his way to the big leagues but has been used almost exclusively as a relief pitcher over the past two seasons. So far in 17 games for the A’s this year Perkins has a 5.46 ERA across 28 frames. He’s been hit especially hard in recent outings; the right-hander posted a 7.98 ERA in the month of May in just nine appearances out of the ‘pen. They’re not exactly promoting him to the starting five when he’s rolling.

He did make four starts in September to wrap up the year and held his own. There has been a belief that the bullpen is his likely long-term home but it seems the club is finally ready to give him a look here in 2026. With the state of the rotation right now there’s every chance that Perkins can parlay a strong start into another and hopefully follow a similar track as Ginn. High hopes but why not?

Morris and Barnett are as of this posting available for a Saturday afternoon start in the second game of the Houston series but nothing outside of Perkins getting the ball for the series opener in Houston has been confirmed. Neither of them pitched in the first two Cubs games so if one of them makes it into today’s finale, we’ll know Saturday’s starter is likely the other guy. Who would you guys rather start on Saturday in Houston?

Have a great day A’s fans.

A’s Coverage:

• Wednesday Potpourri: What’s Up With Butler, Closer, June Plan?
• Jump Dominant As Athletics Beat Cubs 2-1
• Three Things To Watch For The Athletics In June
• The A’s Inability To Play Well At Home Is Embarrassing
• A’s Unravel in Series and Homestand Finale
• A’s call up pitching prospect Kade Morris
• Road, sweet road? A’s ready for reset after rough homestand
• Ginn’s glow-up: A’s hurler coming into his own at right time
• Three Dark Horse Trade Candidates for Athletics This Summer
• June update: 2026 top 10 prospect rankings for all 30 MLB teams
• Athletics Early MLB Draft Preview
• The A’s may have finally found their new leadoff hitter
• A’s drop the game and Series to the Mariners, fall into second place
• Wilson takes swings in next step toward return from IL

MLB News and Interest:

• Corbin Burnes Suffers Teres Major Strain, Likely Out Until September
• Blue Jays To Acquire Simeon Woods Richardson From Twins
• Breaking down the All-Star Ballot position by position
• Altuve takes live BP, could return as early as weekend series vs. A’s
• Commissioner Manfred discusses exchange of initial proposals to begin CBA talks
• Padres designate Nick Castellanos for assignment; Taylor called up
• The Trade Deadline is 2 months away, but rumors are already swirling around Skubal
• Mets option Tong to Triple-A, recall Gerber to refresh bullpen
• Reds Option TJ Friedl, Recall Noelvi Marté
• Angels Re-Sign Joey Lucchesi On Minor League Deal
• Giants reliever Matt Gage goes on IL with knee inflammation
• The Pirates Finally Have an Offense
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Kurtz is your May AL Player of the Month!

Your AL and NL Players of the Month for May:

Nick Kurtz: .333 AVG, 1.025 OPS, 5 HR, 26 RBI
JJ Bleday: .301 AVG, 1.018 OPS, 8 HR, 25 RBI pic.twitter.com/hWVNVHUcKU

— MLB (@MLB) June 3, 2026

It was always meant to be:

The best hitting advice Nick Kurtz ever received growing up was to “be athletic”.

The @Athletics slugger joined #MLBTonight to discuss his development at the plate and hitting leadoff, after being named the AL Player of the Month for May. pic.twitter.com/KqlUybkHbX

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 4, 2026

…..oh…. (this was before last night’s game, too):

Runs allowed by A's pitching over the past 18 innings:
0
0
13
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

— BWH (@BWH85) June 3, 2026

Even though it’ll be Perkins on Friday, it seems Morris and Barnett are still in the running for a start on Saturday:

#Athletics skipper Mark Kotsay said pregame here at Wrigley Field that Kade Morris ans Mason Barnett are each available in relief again today against the Cubs.

"We're gonna keep them in the bullpen, and we'll make a decision… Saturday is a TBD, and how we get there and who we…

— Chris Correa (@ChrisCorrea15) June 3, 2026

The San Diego Padres have truly been stuck in a rut lately. The club has been unable to score enough runs to back their starting pitchers. The Friars struggled through the first six innings before scoring a run against Philadelphia Phillies’ ace Cristopher Sánchez on an RBI-single from Jackson Merrill. The lone run ended the lefty’s historic 50 2/3 scoreless innings streak.

Unfortunately, reliever Jason Adam would immediately give up the game on two mistakes, resulting in home runs to J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber in the bottom of the seventh. Despite the Friars tacking on a run in the eighth against reliever Brad Keller, it wasn’t enough to back starter Walker Buehler’s one-run outing.

The Padres need a win. Badly. They need it any way they can get it. Hopefully that win will come today, and San Diego can salvage the series finale against Philly.

Taking the mound

Zack Wheeler (PHI) v. Lucas Giolito (SD)

The former ace returned from his season-ending surgery in 2025 and picked up right where he left off. Wheeler has pitched to a 2.27 ERA across 43 2/3 innings with a ridiculously low 0.85 WHIP. He’s been a large part of Philadelphia’s recent turnaround.

The righty got rocked by the rival Los Angeles Dodgers in his last start, allowing four runs (each on a solo home run) across six innings of work. San Diego will need to punish his mistakes in order to stave off the sweep.

Giolito had a similar poor outing recently, giving up four runs in just 2 2/3 innings pitched against the Washington Nationals this weekend. After two solid starts to the year, it was a tough watch. Giolito has struggled with command and will need to fix that when facing the Phillies’ sluggers.

His 4.97 ERA is a little misleading. He’s pitched much better than that stat line would suggest, but Giolito has also not done a lot as of late to prove that he deserves better consideration. Hopefully he’ll be able to do that this afternoon.

Batter up!

Ty France has continued to prove his usefulness, going 2-for-4 with a double in yesterday’s game. Fernando Tatis Jr. has also continued to heat up, going 1-for-4 and scoring a run for the Friars.

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
2. Gavin Sheets, LF
3. Miguel Andujar, DH
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Ty France, 1B
6. Jackson Merrill, CF
7. Xander Bogaerts, SS
8. Jase Bowen, RF
9. Freddy Fermin, C

Most of the Padres have yet to face Wheeler but, of the ones who have, Xander Bogaerts and Merrill have had the most success. They boast a respective .300 and .286 career batting average alongside a 1.064 and 1.429 OPS against the righty.

Relief corps

With Buehler going six innings, San Diego only used two pitchers to finish out the game, with Adam and Wandy Peralta covering the final two innings. That leaves the ‘pen fresh for today should Giolito falter early again.

Jeremiah Estrada, Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui, Mason Miller, Adrian Morejon and Bradgley Rodriguez will all be readily available to pitch. With the Padres on a losing streak, Miller hasn’t pitched since last Friday. Hopefully he’ll get the chance to come out in the series finale today.

There were lots and lots of hits in Binghamton. There were not many at all down in St. Lucie. The Phillies prospects played a quartet of games against the Mets’ affiliates, and won three of them. Gotta get that rivalry started early.

Rochester 5, Lehigh Valley 3

The IronPigs held their foes scoreless for eight of nine innings. Unfortunately, the one inning they didn’t— a five-run second— was enough to sink them. Starter Tucker Davidson had a rough night, taking the loss. Ryan Cusick pitched four scoreless in relief, and Felix Reyes hit a two-run homer to put Lehigh Valley back in striking distance, but the Red Wings ended up flying to victory over the IronPigs.

Binghamton 16, Reading 11

They were not lacking for runs in New York. The Fightin Phils had a good night at the plate, with Dante Nori going three for six, and Aroon Escobar adding a hit and a pair of free passes. But starter Jean Cabrera struggled, allowing nine hits and nine runs, all earned. His night ended after just 1.1 innings of work. A trio of relievers steadied the ship, but Colin Peluse allowed a quintet of runs in the seventh (four earned), and the Fightins couldn’t recover.

Jersey Shore 5, Brooklyn 4 (1o)

The BlueClaws were kept quiet on offense, at first. They had only one run through six. But they scored a trio in the seventh, then held their Brooklynite foes scoreless in the eighth and ninth to force extras. The Cyclones couldn’t muster a run in the tenth, and that made things simple for the BlueClaws. Tyler Pettorini gamely sacrificed himself via a bunt to put the ghost runner on third, and Luis Caicuto ended it with a single to right. Center fielder Pedro León was three for four on the night, and starter Sam Highfill made the Cyclones dizzy, with 8 strikeouts through five IP.

Clearwater 2, St. Lucie 0

After being rained out yesterday, Clearwater had a doubleheader against the St. Lucie Mets today. And they started it in grand fashion. A trio of Threshers hurlers took to the mound, and not one of them allowed a hit. Tanner Gresham K’d 8 Mets through five innings, Marty Gair continued the no-no in the sixth, and Gabe Craig struck out the side to complete it. The game only ran seven innings due to the Single-A doubleheader rules. Nevertheless, a no-hitter is always to be celebrated, even more so when it comes against the next generation of Mets. The Threshers were themselves held scoreless through five, but plated two runs in the sixth in scrappy fashion, with Griffin Burkholder and Robert Phelps making it to base on a walk and error, respectively, Nathan Humphreys showing that the sacrifice bunt is not a lost art, and Alirio Ferrebus singling to send the first two home.

Clearwater 5, St. Lucie 3

The Threshers continued their no-hitter through nine, in a sense: they held the Mets hitless through the first two innings of the second game. Jaeden Calderon hit a homer in the third to give Clearwater a lead, which they surrendered in the bottom fifth. But the Threshers were not content to settle for a split, even if their half of it was a no-hitter. Instead, they chose late-inning heroics, scoring four in the seventh (and final) inning via a pair of singles, a walk, and a pair of errors. Cody Bowker had 6 strikeouts through four as the Threshers concluded a very successful day in St. Lucie.

Daylen Lile is one of my favorite players on the Washington Nationals, but he is really struggling right now. The 23 year old is 4 for his last 27, and has scuffled badly since his amazing series against the Reds. When you watch Lile hit, it is easy to diagnose his problem, he is swinging at everything.

Lile has been chasing more than he did last year all season long. However, this problem has really caused him trouble lately. Last season, Lile’s chase rate was 26.7%, which is slightly better than the league average. This year that chase rate is up 10 points to 36.7%, and it is causing him to struggle. 

Daylen Lile's chase rate is up 10% this year from 26.7% to 36.7% and it is really taking away a big part of his offensive game. Just seems like he is swinging at everything

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) June 3, 2026

One of the secrets of Daylen Lile’s success last year was that his swing decisions were very sharp. He was chasing less than the average hitter while swinging at pitches in the zone at a 75% clip, which is very high. Lile was using his premium hit tool to make contact on pitches in the zone while laying off the junk. Being aggressive in the zone and patient out of it is part of what makes guys like Freddie Freeman and Corey Seager such special hitters.

It is also one of the reasons I loved Lile so much entering the season. His rookie season was so impressive offensively. Lile hit .299 with an .845 OPS as a 22 year old. I love comparing him to Michael Brantley, and I still think he has that ability offensively. However, he needs to get back to making good swing decisions, or else that comparison will not stick.

I am being harsh on Lile right now, but he has not been awful either. Despite a heavy slump, his OPS is still above .700 and he is close to a league average hitter. Once he gets on one of his signature heaters, that OPS will be right back up towards .750. Lile has also been much better defensively this season, which helps his profile massively.

Lile’s batted ball data is pretty similar to last year as well. He is whiffing more, but part of that is due to the chase issues. Fundamentally, he is still the same guy other than the chase problem. We still see the flashes of excellence from him as well. That series in Cincinnati in front of his family was absolute fireworks. I thought that would kickstart his campaign, but instead, he has gone into a tailspin since then.

Daylen Lile is the coldest player in the sport🧊 pic.twitter.com/lQtJGOBQpU

— Paul Cubbage (@PaulCubbage23) May 14, 2026

All of those home runs in that Reds series may have given Lile some of the wrong ideas as well. There are times at the plate where he is trying to do too much. You see that a lot with runners in scoring position, where Lile is a dreadful 9 for 64. When you talk to Lile and people in the building, you get the sense that he is a guy who has very high standards and can be hard on himself. Right now, that is leading to a lot of pressing and trying to break out of his slump with one swing.

Having high standards is a positive quality, but it can be a curse as well. In a 162 game season, you do not want to get too high or too low. Lately, it feels like Lile is chasing that magic from last September, both figuratively and literally. He just seems like a player who needs a day off right now.

Love Daylen Lile and he means a ton to this team but boy does he need an off day right now

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) May 31, 2026

Long term, I am still very bullish on Lile, especially with his defensive improvements. His fielding run value has gone from -10 to +3 in just one season. Lile’s elite speed always gave him the ability to be a good defender, but this year he has a much better idea of what he is doing in the outfield.

If he can combine this year’s defense with last year’s hitting, Lile can be a borderline star player. I truly believe that player is in there as well. He is just 23 years old and in his first full season as a big leaguer. Daylen Lile has a sweet swing, but right now he is just using it too much. 

With this coaching staff, I have faith that they can get Lile back to his best. That would make this lineup even more dangerous. Sophomore slumps are a real thing, and Daylen Lile is going through one right now. However, he will come out the other side of this better than ever once he recalibrates his swing decisions.

Tulsa, Great Lakes,, and Ontario all won, with a highlight for the Drillers’ 16-hit effort in a commanding win over the Sod Poodles.

Player of the day

Now batting .333, Chase Harlan was at the forefront of a winning effort for the Tower Buzzers, managing to hit his eighth home run of the season, anchoring that lineup and helping Ontario move above .500 ball, now sitting at 27-26.

HARLAN HAMMER.💣 pic.twitter.com/PoStD1cpvd

— Ontario Tower Buzzers (@towerbuzzers) June 4, 2026

Selected in the third round of the 2024 Draft, Harlan is a month away from turning 20, and a call-up to a higher level might be in the cards for him if he keeps up this kind of production.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Despite having eight of its nine hitters who started the game reach safely at least once and out-homering their opponent two-to-zero, the Comets dropped this one at home by a score of nine to five. Jackson Ferris had a choppy start, allowing three runs in as many innings, and reliever Ryder Ryan was ambushed for another five runs.

Offensively, the standout name for the Comets was shortstop Noah Miller, who homered and tripled, raising his OPS to .811. The other home run for Oklahoma City came from the former Diamondback Alek Thomas, who was making his debut for the Comets, batting eighth and playing center field.

Double-A Tulsa

It was a good day for hitters at the bottom of the lineup, with Chris Newell responsible for half of the Drillers’ RBI in an 8-3 win over the Sod Poodles—this included a two-run shot in the sixth that gave Tulsa the lead for the first time in this game.

Chris Newell blasts his 6th home run of the season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/S7RfvMR63p

— Tulsa Drillers (@TulsaDrillers) June 4, 2026

Other than standout prospect Zyhir Hope, who went 0 for 5, everyone else chipped in—shortstop Elijah Hainline didn’t record an out across five of his plate appearances with three hits and two walks, while Josue De Paula has now reached base safely in 20 straight games.

Starter Adam Serwinowski overcame his struggles in 2026 to earn his fourth win by allowing just one run in six innings of work. The walks were a bit of a problem, conceding four of them and only two hits, but nothing that would spoil his start. Recently activated reliever Lucas Wepf allowed back-to-back solo shots in the ninth and still didn’t risk this win for the Drillers.

High-A Great Lakes

After squandering an early 3-0 lead, the Loons took advantage of poor defensive work from the Lugnuts by scoring two of their final three runs on a wild pitch and a throwing error, winning the game 6-4. Responsible for blowing the lead and ultimately the winning pitcher of record, Jakob Wright was the bulk man out of the bullpen, covering 4.2 innings and allowing four runs in the process.

One of the more stable performers for the Loons this season, center fielder Charles Davalan had the go-ahead RBI in the seventh, his 29th of the year. Number two hitter Emil Morales had three of the Loons’ eight hits on this one, including a mammoth blast.

Emil Morales pummels a 441-foot homer for the High-A @greatlakesloons ⚡️

MLB's No. 56 prospect (@Dodgers) is up to 51 RBIs in 47 games this year across two levels: pic.twitter.com/Vm1FJ6rWNB

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 3, 2026

Single-A Ontario

There aren’t too many hitters outperforming Chase Harlan across the board in the Dodgers minor league system, and the young third baseman was yet again responsible for a Tower Buzzers win, securing two RBI in a 4-2 effort over the Ports.

Highlighting Harlan’s performance buries the lede, as this game also saw the rare four-inning save for Ontario. Tyler Gough covered the game’s first five innings, allowing just one run, and the Tower Buzzers gave the final four to Jesus Tillero for the final four. Tillero dealt with traffic all the way through, but held onto the lead.

Transactions

The Tulsa Drillers activated right-handed pitcher Lucas Wepf from the injured list.

Wednesday’s scores

• Oklahoma City 5, Round Rock 9
• Amarillo 3, Tulsa 8
• Great Lakes 6, Lansing 4
• Ontario 4, Stockton 2

Thursday’s schedule

• 4:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Christian Zazueta) vs. Lansing (Zane Taylor)
• 5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (River Ryan) vs. Round Rock (TBD)
• 5:05 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Payton Martin) at Amarillo (Daniel Eagen)
• 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Stockton (Shotaro Morii)

The game of baseball requires many player archetypes to compete for positions on major league (and professional) rosters. Sluggers, contact hitters, and defensive wizards all have their place within the game. But there’s another group of players (albeit a smaller genre) who are still around and have made their way onto World Series-winning rosters: the utility players.

This group usually has a higher floor and lower ceiling than the others, but if you can find an excellent one, the goal is to keep him around as long as possible. And while a player like Phil Linz wasn’t a star utility man, he still carved out a seven-year career in the major leagues, while also being the key cog in one of the most famous stories in Yankees history.

Philip Francis Linz

Born: June 4, 1939 (Baltimore, MD)
Died: December 9, 2020 (Leesburg, VA)
Yankees Tenure: 1962-1965

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Linz grew up playing baseball. He wasn’t the biggest kid, but he was good enough to be signed by the Yankees straight out of Calvert Hall College High School in 1957. His hometown squad in the Baltimore Orioles didn’t sign him because one of their scouts, Walter Youse, was also Linz’s head coach at Calvert Hall, and he knew that Linz’s vision was terrible. He couldn’t see and, most importantly, he refused to wear glasses. But after signing, he began wearing them in the minor leagues.

In 1957 and 1958, Linz, at 18 and 19 years old, played Class-D ball for the Kearney Yankees in Kearney, Nebraska, and the Auburn Yankees in Auburn, New York. He batted .230 with Kearney and then, following that first season in the minors, saw his average jump up to .283. In 1959, he got promoted to the Class-C Modesto Reds, where he hit .298 in 141 games played, and he saw another jump to Class-B with the Greensboro Yankees in 1960 at the age of 21. He hit for over .300 for the first time in his career (.321 to be exact) in 126 games, excelling in the contact area of the game as he hit only four homers out of his 505 at-bats and 162 hits. He also won the Carolina League batting title that season by .0002 points as well.

Linz’s performance year-over-year earned him the call-up to the Double-A Amarillo Gold Sox, where he played 105 of his 119 minor league games that season (the other 15 were when he was called up to Triple-A Richmond). He hit .349 in Double-A with an .851 OPS. He won his second straight minor league batting title that season, earning a trip to the major leagues and the opportunity to wear the pinstripes for the first time.

While he did receive that chance in 1962 under manager Ralph Houk, it wasn’t in a full-time role. Instead, Linz battled for the starting shortstop position in spring training, lost to Tom Tresh (who ended up playing 157 games that season), and was used as a utility player, playing all around the infield and even a few games in the outfield, mostly as a pinch-hitter or pinch-runner. In total, he played 71 games that season, slashing .287/.316/.372. And despite not playing a game in the postseason, he still received a World Series ring after a 4-3 series defeat of the San Francisco Giants. It was more of the same in 1963, playing where his manager needed him and as a pinch-hitter or runner in 72 games. He did go back to the World Series that year, but the Yankees were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, this time he did manage to make three separate appearances, all of which were of pinch-hit variety. Linz’s biggest feat was singling off Sandy Koufax in Game 4.

The 1964 season was the best for Linz in a variety of areas, including games played, on-base percentage, OPS, and OPS+. But that wasn’t the biggest story of the season for Linz. Instead, the biggest story came because of a hobby. On a road trip to Chicago to play the White Sox, Linz ended up purchasing a harmonica for fun. But following the wrong end of a four-game sweep in a tight pennant race, the harmonica was the last thing that Yogi Berra, a first-year manager unhappy with his team’s performance before going to play the Boston Red Sox, wanted to hear from the back of the team bus.

Linz decided to practice the instrument to take his mind off not playing during the series, and began playing the only song he knew: Mary Had a Little Lamb. And, of course, it sounded as good as a first-time harmonica player could make it sound. The rest of the story is told best by Yankees player and former teammate of Linz, Jim Bouton, in his book “Ball Four:”

“Yogi, who was in the front of the bus, stood up and said, “Knock it off.”

Legend has it that Linz wasn’t sure what Berra said, so he turned to Mickey Mantle and asked, “What’d he say?”

“He said play it louder,” Mantle explained.

Linz didn’t believe that. On the other hand he didn’t stop. In a minute Yogi was in the back of the bus, breathing heavily and demanding that Linz shove that thing up his ass.

“You do it,” Linz said, flipping the harmonica at him. Yogi swatted at it with his hand and it hit Pepitone in the knee. Immediately he was up doing his act called, “Ooooooh, you hurt my little knee.” Pretty soon everybody was laughing, even if you’re not supposed to laugh after losing, especially a doubleheader.”

The story went around like wildfire, as team journalists who were on that bus couldn’t wait to write it and turn it in to their editors for publication. Linz was inevitably fined $200 (approximately $2,148.52 today) for the incident, even though it blew over and he wasn’t suspended. However, while earning $14,000 on his contract that year, he also received a $5,000 endorsement deal from harmonica maker Hohner, making the $200 not even a dent in his earnings. He also received $200 from Houk for music lessons.

But the story got even better when it was viewed as the turning point for the Yankees’ season. They lost the first two games in Boston but went on a 23-6 run, finishing 30-13 the rest of the season to finish ahead of the White Sox for the American League pennant by one game. From then on, Linz became a legend.

Linz ended up becoming the starting shortstop following an injury to Tony Kubek’s wrist, and he batted leadoff against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. He was given the leadoff hitter position and hit .226 with two solo home runs off Barney Schultz and Bob Gibson, but the Yankees ultimately lost the title in seven games and then Berra was fired after the season.

Linz was with the Yankees for one more season under a new coach (playing 99 games and batting .207) before being traded to the Phillies for utility player Ruben Amaro in a one-for-one deal. He appeared in only 63 games over a season and a half before he was traded in July of 1967 to the New York Mets for second baseman Chuck Hiller. In 102 total games for the Mets, he hit .209 with a 46 OPS+. Linz played his final season of major league baseball at age 29 in 1968 after rejoining the Mets because he still wanted to play. But his best days were behind him, and he moved on to the restaurant business, where he created and owned a sports bar, Mr. Laffs, for 23 years, along with a couple of other restaurants. Linz passed away at the age of 81.

One of the most famous Yankees to play the game came not from his ability to crush the baseball over the outfield fences, but instead from a measly harmonica. The legend of him will live forever through books, articles, and oral stories from Yankees legends who passed it down through generations. Happy birthday, Phil.

The San Diego Padres continued their freefall toward mediocrity with their fifth straight loss to the Philadelphia Phillies this time by the score of 3-2 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Wednesday night. The Padres were finding ways to win despite their inconsistent offense through the first 50 games of the season but have not had that same luck over their last 10 games. San Diego is 2-8 over that span and is in danger of being swept by Philadelphia for the second time as they enter the final game of the series today at 10:05 a.m.

The Padres had their chances, yet again, to win a game against the Phillies, who had Christopher Sanchez on the mound, but like the day before, they failed to come up with a clutch hit with one out and runners on the corners in the top of the eighth inning. Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on a one-out single and was followed by Miguel Anduja, who singled to put runners on the corners. Manny Machado struck out for the second out of the inning, but then Gavin Sheets walked to load the bases and Xander Bogaerts was hit by a pitch to force in a run to make the score 3-2. With the bases loaded Ty France hit a ground ball to Philadelphia second baseman Bryson Stott who forced out Bogaerts at second base to end the threat and the inning.

Phillies closer Jhoan Duran got his second save of the series facing just three Padres in the ninth inning. He got Jackson Merrill to lineout and then struck out Bryce Johnson and Samad Taylor to close out the contest. Merrill provided the lone highlight for San Diego with an RBI-single off Sanchez in the top of the seventh inning. He followed France who hit a two-out double and came into score with Merrill’s hit. It was the first run allowed by Sanchez in 50.2 innings.

Walker Buehler started for the Padres and pitched six innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Jason Adam, who has not been the same dominant reliever since returning from his ruptured quadriceps tendon, allowed home runs to J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber in the bottom of the seventh inning, which proved to be the difference in the game. San Diego will try to salvage the series with a win today.

Padres News:

• The moved seemed inevitable based on his struggles at the plate and his limited defense in the outfield, but Nick Castellanos was officially released by the Padres on Wednesday. The move allowed San Diego to callup Samad Taylor from Triple-A El Paso and he made his first appearance with the Padres in the eighth inning last night. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball provided details about Taylor and how he played his way onto the big-league roster.

• German Marquez may rejoin the San Diego rotation soon. He started his rehab assignment with the El Paso Chihuahuas with 2.1 innings pitched without allowing a run and striking out three batters.

Baseball News:

• Shohei Ohtani continued to dominate both sides of the baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers with a six-inning scoreless performance on the mound and a day at the plate that saw him reach base five times in their 7-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

• MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred provided his thoughts on the initial proposals from the owners and MLBPA.

• The Atlanta Braves continued their run of success with a 7-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Truist Park.

• The Cleveland Guardians won their second game in as many days with a 5-4 win over the New York Yankees, which allowed them to clinch the series victory.

• The Boston Red Sox rolled to an 8-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park.

• Fromer Padres closer and current Houston Astros closer, Josh Hader made his season debut and got his first save with Hoston’s 11-9 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

• Logan Webb led the San Francisco Giants to a win by making a no-hit bid and not allowing a run in their 1-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

• The Los Angeles Angels recorded 16 hits and scored 11 runs to beat the Colorado Rockies.

The 2026 Red Sox continue to find themselves in an excessively bizarre situation. On one hand, they’ve looked like a trainwreck on the field; particularly their home field, where they still haven’t won a game at Fenway Park with Chad Tracy at the helm in which the opponent has scored more than one run. Every day, they reach a new depth of futility and do something that hasn’t been done by a Red Sox team since before the television was invented. In short, there’s a large contingent of fans who (probably rightfully) believe the club needs a giant enema.

But I don’t think they’re going to get it, because even after all the toxic waves that have battered the ship, the Red Sox still find themselves a mere 3.5 games out of a playoff spot thanks to the combination of that ridiculous third Wild Card spot, and a historically ghastly American League, where just five teams currently reside over .500. Even crazier, Fangraphs expects that number to drop between now and the end of September, with only four teams (the Yankees, Rays, Guardians and Mariners) projected to finish north of 81 wins.

Combine this landscape with the current temperature inside the walls of Fenway, and some have concluded that Craig Breslow is going to make the Red Sox buyers over the next eight weeks to save his own skin, particularly after John Henry sided with him and dumped Alex Cora at the end of April.

Those thoughts were only further amplified yesterday afternoon when Buster Olney reported on The Just Baseball podcast that the Red Sox were aggressively looking to add a right handed bat. Here’s Tyler Milliken with the quote and the clip:

From @Buster_ESPN on the Red Sox being desperate to add a right-handed bat, via @JustBB_Media:

“What I’ve heard today is… they are aggressively looking for a right-handed hitter and signaling to the industry, look we’re willing to take on money” pic.twitter.com/NLl3YgmwAh

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) June 3, 2026

If it were just Craig Breslow making this push, that would be one thing, but when I hear that the Red Sox are “aggressively” pursuing a right handed hitter and they’re “willing to take on money” to get it done, that has John Henry’s fingerprints all over it. Craig Breslow can mortgage the farm system in a quest to save his own job, but he can’t loosen the purse strings. Only the top dog can change the budget.

So the obvious question is “Why now?”

Well, if I had to guess, I’d say it has everything to do with the enormous Fenway Corners Real Estate project that’s about to get underway in the neighborhood(s) surrounding Fenway Park. (They’ve already started moving the Citgo sign.)

Directly from that link, this project is going to include:

• 2 million square feet of commercial, residential, retail uses
• 200+ new residences
• 40+ new retail doors
• 2 acres of new/improved public open space
• 1 acre of public open space at the front door to Fenway park through the pedestrianization of Jersey Street

The health of this project is going to be at or near the top of John Henry’s priority list for the foreseeable future, and one of the single biggest things he can do to bolster its success and raise the value of every square foot that’s being developed is to aggressively ensure Red Sox are putting a competitive product on the field.

Think about it: Henry can’t afford to have the Red Sox be the laughing stock they’ve become for most of the post Mookie Betts era if he wants people to pay top dollar for Fenway Corners. The project is categorically more lucrative if the Red Sox are playing good baseball and there are postseason games being played at Fenway Park.

And on that note, there hasn’t been a postseason game at Fenway Park since October of 2021. Couple that with the looming lockout this winter, and there’s a chance that if the Red Sox don’t find a way to get postseason baseball back to Fenway this October, we might not see it again until at least 2028. That is way, way too long to fit into the Fenway Corners timeline, which is supposed to be nearing completion in the fall of that year.

In other words, based on the shots publicly fired in recent days between the MLBPA and the owners, Henry might need the 2026 Red Sox to make a serious run at October. If they do, you can sell it as “we made the playoffs in 2025, then we came back and did it again after a rough start in 2026, and in general were on the up and up.” If the current disaster continues though, then 2025 becomes the anomaly, and the Red Sox could be headed for their longest stretch without a playoff baseball game played at Fenway Park in decades.

Knowing this, it’s also a good time to review John Henry’s history, because when he puts his focus on something, he generally gets results. He did it with soybean futures to make his fortune, he did it in his early days in Boston winning multiple World Series titles, he’s done it with Liverpool in recent years (including a UEFA Champions League title and two Premier League titles since the Red Sox last won it all in 2018), and, most recently, he successfully backed the PGA tour in their war with LIV Golf, which they won.

That last one is important, because not only was it something that had Henry flying all around the world in 2024 to establish a foothold, but it also marks the last time he gave a really informative public quote about where Fenway Sports Group (FSG) is going. And so far, it appears he was telling the truth. Here’s what I consider to be the money passage from a story in the Boston Globe about Henry’s PGA investments from 2024:

Asked how FSG’s investment in the PGA Tour, its first in a sports league, fits within FSG’s growth strategy, Henry initially indicated it could mark the final asset addition.

“It means that we’re not looking to grow at this point,” Henry said. “I hate to say that on the record, but we’ve got our hands full with Boston, Liverpool, this, Pittsburgh [Penguins], NASCAR, real estate.”

Not only has that proven accurate over the last two years (most notably, FSG didn’t pursue the Celtics or another NBA franchise), but they’re also selling the Pittsburgh Penguins for about double the value from when they acquired them in 2021. (That transition of ownership is expected to occur later this month.)

Not only does that give John Henry more cash to play with in the shot-term, but it also means that for the first time in a long time, his primary focus appears to be in Boston. The physical signs are also there: He’s been at just about every Red Sox home game this season, he’s been signing autographs for fans, and he even logged back on to Twitter in the spring to troll Dan Shaughnessy.

In the macro, this is a positive, because one of the worst things to happen to the Red Sox in recent years was them becoming just another line item in John Henry’s portfolio. The pattern is pretty clear: When you’re John Henry’s primary focus, you get his full attention, and you’re usually successful. When you’re just part of John Henry’s empire, you blend into the background and wilt into decay.

Based on recent evidence, it seems the Red Sox are moving back into the foreground due to their obvious role in Fenway Corners, and if you view Buster Olney’s comments through that lens, it’s hard to envision the Red Sox being sellers at this deadline.

You can argue Henry won’t be successful this time, but it’s becoming harder to argue he’s not going to at least try to save the 2026 season.

The Red Sox have to make a decision on Tommy Kahnle today. He opted out of his minor league deal with the Red Sox on Tuesday, and we’re approaching the end of 48-hour window where the team needs to call him up to prevent him from becoming a free agent. Since he would both provide a veteran presence in the clubhouse and has been great in Worcester (to the tune of a 1.40 ERA), it seems like the prudent move to clear a roster spot for him.

The spot that seems to make the most sense is Ryan Watson, who is a Rule 5 guy and needs to be offered back to the Giants if he doesn’t stay on the Red Sox 26-man roster all season. The fact the Red Sox let Ryan Watson go three innings to close out Payton Tolle’s gem last night also makes me think it could be him. This essentially burns all his bullets and rests the rest of the bullpen before you make the switch. We’ll know more in a few hours though.

Talk about this and whatever else you’d like in this thread, and as always, be good to one another.

For Hickory, Owen Proksch had just his second bad outing of the season allowing four runs in 1.2 IP, walking one, striking out one and giving up a homer. Aneudis Mejia struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings.

Josh Springer was 3 for 4 with a double. Yolfran Castillo was 2 for 4 with a stolen base. Hector Osorio had a hit and a walk. Paulino Santana had a hit and a golden sombrero.

Hickory box score

Hub City starter J’Briell Easley struck out four and walked two in three shutout, no hit innings. Brock Porter walked four and struck out four in five shutout, one hit innings. Joey Danielson walked two and allowed a walkoff two run double — just the second hit the Crawdads gave up in the game.

Paxton Kling, Gleider Figuereo and Chandler Pollard all had a hit and a stolen base apiece. Malcolm Moore and Yeison Morrobel each had a hit.

Hub City box score

For Frisco, Josh Trentadue struck out three and walked two in two innings, allowing two runs. Wilian Bormie walked one and struck out one in a shutout inning.

Rehabbing Corey Seager went 0 for 3 and played shortstop. Rehabbing Wyatt Langford went 1 for 3 with a homer and a walk as the DH.

Dylan Dreiling was 2 for 5 with a double. Rafe Perich homered and walked. Keith Jones II had a hit. Ian Moller had a hit.

Frisco box score

Round Rock starter Josh Stephan allowed three runs in five innings, walking three, striking out three and giving up a homer. Gavin Collyer struck out one in a scoreless inning. Michel Otanez allowed a two run homer in an inning of work, striking out three.

Newly signed Jarred Kelenic hit the ground running, going 3 for 4 with a double and a walk. Cam Cauley was 2 for 4 with a walk. Blaine Crim had a hit and two walks.

Round Rock box score

Major League Baseball star Lars Nootbaar thought it was just a normal interview — until a familiar face appeared on the screen.

The St. Louis Cardinals outfielder was in mid-discussion with ESPN’s Eduardo Perez before Sunday Night Baseball at Fenway Park when the conversation turned to one of the most important people in his life.

“She’s my everything. She’s my best friend,” Lars said of his mother.

Seconds later, Lars realized she was watching the interview live and had been brought into the conversation as a surprise guest.

Watch the video below to see Lars' reaction when he realizes his mom is live with them!

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB player Lars Nootbaar surprised by mom during live interview