Category: Baseball

Great news: Gavin Sheets is not (any longer) on the White Sox. He can’t hurt you anymore. 

Bad news: If you’re reading this, you’re probably going to be watching some more Mariners baseball.

If you told me in January that the Mariners would be one game out of the Wild Card and just two games back of the division in mid-May, I would have been a little disappointed but still feeling pretty decent. It has, instead, been a remarkable case of horrific process and exceptionally weird results. There has been very little pleasure in this season and the most consistent thing they have to offer is their baffling inconsistency. Fresh off a truly brutal sweep at the hands of their most fearsome rivals, Seattle welcomes the plucky White Sox into T-Mobile Park. The chance to rise to .500 will have to wait, but as we’ve learned over these past 50 years, there is always the possibility of new horrors. 

These are not your 2025 White Sox. Nor your 2024 White Sox. Nor your 2023 White Sox. Would you call them “good”? Well, that’s entirely up to you. But they do have higher upside and much more interest than they have for the vast majority of this decade. You saw that when they wriggled their way into a series win against the M’s barely a week and a half ago. They’re coming off of a walk-off win against the Cubs to secure the Windy Winsome Cup or whatever they pitched the Chicago rivalry to be called (it’s the Crosstown Classic), are one game back in their division and would be leading in the West. Something, something, no religion. 

There’s Munetaka Murakami, of course. Transcendent Surf’s Up penguin that he is. Their 2021 first rounder, Colson Montgomery has been playing like how you’d hope a first rounder would. Miguel Vargas has found his stride and may be the platonic ideal of the White Sox aesthetic. Sam Antonacci is running with that Team Italy energy and is on base constantamente. Tristan Peters is having a career year (it’s all relative), Andrew Benintendi is there for a millennial jump scare, and I will not address Chase Meidroth, because it’s important to have a for-no-good-reason nemesis. 

As you’ll see below, it’s the offense that continues to be a primary driver, and drive they will. I’m just hoping they don’t run over Seattle’s bedraggled pitching corps. 

Probable Pitchers

Updated Stuff+ Explainer 

• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

Noah Schultz entered the season as the White Sox top pitching prospect. The organization had handled him pretty carefully after drafting him out of high school in the first round of the 2022 draft. He’s also dealt with shoulder, forearm, and knee injuries over the last few years that have stunted his development a bit. The scouting report is impressive, however. He throws from a low slot and gets a ton of horizontal movement on all of his pitches. That doesn’t help his fastball, which grades out merely average, but his sweeper has flashed plus plus potential. All those injuries have taken a toll on his ability to command his repertoire, but the raw stuff looks promising and he’s got a very high ceiling if he can put everything together.

From a previous series preview:

After a few years of riding the Triple-A shuttle for the Blue Jays, Anthony Kay signed a two-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of NBP. He excelled in Japan and returned to the US this offseason, signing a two-year deal with Chicago. He developed a sinker and a sweeper overseas, giving him a much deeper repertoire to keep batters off balance. Unfortunately, that revamped arsenal hasn’t helped him find much success against batters this year. The stuff models really like his sinker and a few of his secondary pitches, but he’s throwing a thoroughly mediocre four-seam fastball 30% of the time right now. That pitch is getting absolutely crushed. He simply isn’t working deep enough into counts to properly utilize his secondary pitches, his strike out rate has cratered to just 14.0%, and his ERA and FIP are both approaching six.

The Mariners haven’t officially announced their starter for Tuesday’s game, but it’s expected that Luis Castillo and Bryce Miller will combine to pitch the majority of the game in piggyback fashion. I suspect Castillo will be given the “start” and work through the lineup once before handing things off to Miller.

From a previous series preview:

Sean Burke showed some flashes of promise in his first full season in the big leagues last year. His 4.22 ERA was perfectly acceptable for a rebuilding Chicago club, though his 4.92 FIP wasn’t nearly as encouraging. Still, there was a stretch in May and June where he ran a 3.33 ERA and a 4.06 FIP across nine starts. Things are looking up for Burke this year. He’s dramatically improved his command and cut his walk rate by more than half, down to 5.1%. He doesn’t strike out that many guys, but simply reducing the amount of traffic on the bases has helped him dramatically improve his topline results.

The Big Picture:

The Mariners didn’t fall too far behind the A’s and the Rangers because those two teams lost their rivalry weekend series too. Nothing really changed in the AL West standings beyond Texas gaining a single game to jump over the Mariners into second place. The Athletics will head to Anaheim to face the miserable Angels this week while the Rangers head to Colorado to face the Rockies. The Astros will look to build off their series win against their cross-state rival in a series against the Twins in Minnesota this week.

After winning the first 2 games of the series against the Orioles, the Nationals squandered their opportunity to push above the .500 mark in a 7-3 loss in the series finale. They now have another chance to accomplish that, as they’re set to square off against the New York Mets in a 4-game series.

The Nats took the last 2 games of their 3-game series against New York to end April, and will now look to replicate that result this week. Facing a Mets team that still sits 6 games below .500, Washington undoubtedly enters as the premier squad. The Mets have, however, won 5 of their last 6 games, and there’s more than enough talent on their roster to make for an intriguing mid-week matchup in the Nation’s capital.

Game 1 – Monday 6:45 PM EST

WSH: RHP Jake Irvin (1-4, 5.91 ERA)

NYM: RHP Christian Scott (0-0, 3.45 ERA)

Irvin’s subpar month of May continued in his last start, surrendering 5 earned runs over 3.0 innings against the Cincinnati Reds. His ERA has crept back up close to 6.00, and well-timed offensive explosions have been the only thing keeping him from having a worse record than 1-4. It’s odd to call this a “get-right game” when looking at the Mets’ lineup on paper, but their struggles could give him a chance to get him going in a good direction.

The young Scott hasn’t worked deep into games, with just one start eclipsing 5.0 innings so far in 2026. Run prevention has been a strength so far, however, with the most runs he’s allowed in a start being just 2 against the Tigers and Angels. He’s found a solid blend of missing bats and working around hitters’ sweet spot, with his 93rd percentile Barrel% and 84th percentile K% two pillars the Nats will have to overcome.

Game 2 – Tuesday 6:45 PM EST

WSH: LHP Foster Griffin (4-2, 3.53 ERA)

NYM: RHP Nolan McLean (2-2, 2.92 ERA)

Griffin now faces the first bounce-back chance of his MLB return after getting shelled by the Reds, in his first outing where he failed to reach 5.0 innings and gave up 9 runs. The advanced metrics certainly don’t support the southpaw, but the results have been there outside of his last start. Overall inconsistency with the Washington rotation makes his return to form even more important, making this a must-see appearance for the 30-year-old.

One of MLB’s top prospects has lived up to the hype and then some, replicating the success he showed after his call-up in late 2025. He’s racked up strikeouts, has only allowed 3 runs 3 times, and maintains an ERA below the 3.00 mark. He’s emerged as one of the best starters in baseball with a disgustingly good arsenal, and the Nats’ lineup will need to get to him early if they want a legitimate chance of winning.

Game 3 – Wednesday 6:45 PM EST

WSH: RHP Zack Littell (2-4, 6.10 ERA)

NYM: TBD

Littell was stellar against Baltimore, delivering a much-needed scoreless outing for the first time in his 2026 campaign. He let just 4 batters reach base, cruising to 5.0 shutout innings en route to his second win of May. He’s now coming off 3 consecutive starts where he’s been at least serviceable, and extending that streak to 4 would be a phenomenal sign for the rotation.

An unfortunate injury to starter Clay Holmes has the Mets’ standard rotation fully off-schedule, and they currently have no projected starter for either of the last 2 games of this series. Whether they call someone up, utilize an opener, or go to a full-on bullpen game remains to be seen, but it will be a patchwork solution for New York no matter how they approach it.

Game 4 – Thursday 4:05 PM EST

WSH: RHP Cade Cavalli (2-2, 4.05 ERA)

NYM: TBD

Cavalli’s frustrating season continued with a mixed bag against Baltimore, where he continued to flash swing-and-miss stuff but dealt with some ill-timed hits that saw his line finish with 3 earned runs in 6.0 innings. Searching for consistency has been the theme of his season, and it’s not something he has found on a regular basis. Finding results no matter how he goes about it should be the goal for Cavalli and the Nats’ coaching staff, and Thursday will be another test of his mettle.

At the start of the 1929 season, the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians innovated baseball, starting the season with numbers on the back of their players jerseys for easy identification. While numbers had been experimented with prior to the season, they were mostly smaller and located on the arms, meant primarily for umpires and the official scorers. The numbers on the back of the jersey were for fans in the stands to clearly tell who each player was, a move that scorecard salesmen had been pushing for years.

Some current baseball traditions remain from that era. The Yankees famously assigned numbers based on the lineup, with the backup catchers taking 9-10 respectively. Pitchers and bench players wore higher numbers, which is why pitchers generally don’t take single digit numbers. Blake Snell (no.4) became the first pitcher to play in the All-Star game and win a Cy Young award while wearing a single digit number in MLB history in 2018. Higher numbers were long assigned to fringe invitees to Spring Training or marginal players, although that tradition has declined sharply over the last twenty years.

0 and 00 is the least assigned player number below 50 in the history of the MLB. To date, no team has ever retired 0 or 00. The reasons are relatively simple. Youth baseball is loathe to give out 0 or 00 because it is easy to apply a derogatory connotation to it, and many MLB players chose their number based on earlier team numbers from their youth. However, that seems to be changing recently. In 2026, 10 players wore 0 or 00 at the major league level, down from 13 in 2025. In fact, more players have worn 0 or 00 since 2020 than in other 91 seasons combined.

Who is the most successful player to wear 0 or 00 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays?

WWIB: Andrés Giménez 2025-2026 (1.3 bWAR)

Giménez was a former Mets top prospect who was traded to Cleveland as part of a package for Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco in 2021. He had a breakout season in 2022, hitting .297/.371/.466 while earning a Gold Glove at second. It prompted the Guardians to sign him to a backloaded 7 yr/$106.5M contract in the offseason. He won two more Gold Gloves, but his offense significantly declined. The Jays acquired him and Nick Sandlin in December 2024 for Spencer Horwitz and Nick Mitchell. The move was highly questioned at the time, especially considering that the main issue the 2024 last place Jays suffered from was a lack of offense. Giménez’ offensive woes continued in 2025 but his defense was as good as advertised. When Bo Bichette was injured following a collision at home plate against the Yankees on Sept 6, Giménez became the primary shortstop for the remainder of the regular season and the post-season. Many Jays commentators saw the Giménez trade as a harbinger that the club was ready to move on from Bichette, and with the emergence of Ernie Clement as an elite defender and everyday starter, the Jays were able to deploy elite defense up the middle. Giménez has three more years and a club option remaining on his contract.   

Other notable Jays to wear 0 or 00 were Taijuan Walker in 2020 (1.0 bWAR), Al Oliver in 1985 (-0.6 bWAR) and Cliff Johnson also in 1985 (-0.1 bWAR).

Sal Stewart was drafted by the wrong team. He was taken by the Cincinnati Reds with the 32nd overall pick of the 2022 draft and has now graduated to become their starting first baseman

But this guy would have been an instant fan favorite in Philadelphia. First off, I have a feeling Phillies fan would love to root for a guy named Sal, even if he is of Cuban descent, and not Italian. If you recall, former backup catcher Sal Fasano had his own fan club and that was based on nothing more than his name and mustache:

And look at this guy:

There’s a face a lot of Phillies fans could get behind.

Prior to this season, he was rated as the 26th best prospect in baseball and got off to a strong start, with a .373 on-base percentage and nine home runs in April, earning him NL Rookie of the Month honors.

But May has been a different story. He’s batting .175 with just one home run so far this month. He seemed to break out of the slump a bit on Sunday with two hits, except he also helped kill a Reds rally by getting picked off second base.

Player development in baseball is rarely linear, but the Reds have to be hoping that Stewart’s line starts pointing upward again soon.

Pennant year song battle

It’s a Mistake by Men at Work wins yet another week, taking down You and I.

To celebrate the Phillies getting back to the right side of the .500 mark, this week’s contender is Right Round by Flo Rida from 2009.

Vote for the winner:

Additional thought about the series

The Reds are two games above .500, but that’s due to a blistering month of April in which they went 17-9. Since then, they’ve cooled off considerably and appear to be playing down to the level of talent on the roster.

Elly De La Cruz might have the easiest path to the All-Star Game of any player in baseball because he seems to be much better than every other offensive player on the team. JJ Bleday is hitting well after starting the season in the minor leagues, but on the other hand, it’s JJ Bleday. Maybe the former top prospect is finally putting it together, but two organizations have already given up on him.

Some Phillies fans wanted the team to sign Eugenio Suarez in the offseason, but he was underwhelming (.663 OPS) even before he went on the IL in late April.

The pitching staff has been a weakness, and the team ERA is second highest in baseball behind only the Rockies. Every starter save rookie Chase Burns has disappointed to some degree, and the bullpen has been bad. They had optimism about the relief corps headed into the season, but it’s been a complete disaster since closer Emilio Pagan went on the IL with a hamstring injury.

The Phillies took advantage of a bad Pirates bullpen in their last series, and if they find themselves down again, they should have an opportunity to make another comeback. (Although it would be preferable that they do not find themselves trailing by multiple runs to begin with.)

The latest news on the Houston Astros and from around MLB:

Jeremy Pena is looking forward to re-joining the Astros:

Jake Meyers said he is ready to get back:

Meanwhile, Jose Altuve is IL bound:

While no two players or two injuries are identical, Brian McTaggart did give a reasonable case for how long Altuve may be out:

The Astros don’t expect Hunter Brown back until mid-June:

Braden Shewmake, who stands to be the primary replacement for Jose Altuve, had a solid week last week vs. Mariners & Rangers:

What’s wrong with Cam Smith? Astros hitting coach Vic Rodriguez thinks he knows (maybe with an assist from Jose Altuve):

Brice Matthews flashed some leather yesterday:

It has only taken the Phillies 23 days to get from 10 games under to a winning record. Here’s how it happened:

The Padres just swept the Mariners and are neck and neck with the Dodgers in the NL West:

Bo Bichette signed a massive deal this offseason. He’s had a tough start, but wants to live up to his deal:

The Twins had a 3-3 week (stop me if you’ve heard this before), taking a 2-1 series against the Marlins, which included an incredible Bailey Ober “Maddux”, and then dropping two games to the Brewers during “Rivalry Weekend” in the MLB. We might have seen the last of Matt Wallner in a Twins uniform after he was sent down to Triple-A, and Simeon Woods-Richardson’s scheduled start today is getting skipped in favor of a bullpen game, so things are slowly changing in the Twins dugout. With Byron Buxton’s absence in the last few games due to an injury, Austin Martin has batted leadoff for the last four games with mixed results. A three-game series against the equally hapless Houston Astros and a weekend series in Fenway await the Twins this week.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• Game threads and recaps are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we experience the season together.
• Zach Koenig evaluates Ryan Jeffers’ place among catchers in Twins history.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Dan Hayes at The Athletic provides his thoughts on what the Twins should do with Royce Lewis.
• Betsy Helfand at the Pioneer Press looks at how Austin Martin’s role is growing this season.
• Theo Tollefson at Zone Coverage checks in on Aaron Sabato’s development in St. Paul this year.

In the World of Baseball:

• The Rays have increased their lead to 3.0 games over the Yankees. The Guardians and White Sox are a game apart in the AL Central competition, while the A’s have a one-game lead in the AL West over the Rangers.
• Atlanta has also increased their gap over the Cubs and Dodgers to 3.0 games.
• The Mets broke a 96-game losing streak in games where they trailed after eight innings after rookie Carson Benge hit a walk-off single in the 10th to lead the Mets over the Yankees.
• In one of the more interesting baseball plays this week, Double-A Biloxi gave up an inside-the-park home run after right fielder Damon Keith landed on top of the ball and got it stuck in the outfield grass.

The Jays start a four-game series with the Yankees at Yankee Stadium tonight.

Tonight it is Patrick Corbin (1-1, 3,93) vs. Ryan Weathers (2-2, 3.00).

Tuesday: Dylan Cease (3-1, 2.41) vs. Will Warren (5-1, 3.42).

Wednesday: Trey Yesavage (1-1, 1.40) vs. Cam Schlittler (6-1, 1.35)

Thursday: Bullpen Day, likely with Spencer Myles (1-0, 2.55) doing the bulk of the work vs. Carlos Rodón (0-1, 5.63).

As much as it has been all doom and gloom around the Jays, they are only one game back from the last Wild Card spot. On May 18th last year they were 22-24, three games out of the Wild Card spot. So there is hope, but they better start hitting soon. I’ve been in New York when the Jays were swept in a four-game series, it isn’t much fun.

Kazuma Okamoto, after a really hot stretch, has two hits in his last five games (.111/.227/.167) and is .225/.319/.375 in his last 11. I said, yesterday, that maybe he should move up in the batter’s box again.

Vladimir Guerrero is .136/.231/.273 in his last six games and .143/.229/.214 in his last 12. As much as the home run was great to see, we really need him to start hitting.

Ernie Clement is .158/.200/.158 in his last 6 and .256/.267/.326 in his last 12. And he seems to be taking his hitting issues out to second base. Fangraphs has him at a -5 Outs Above Average (last year he was a +5 at second base) and he’s made 4 errors.

Davis Schneider is .182/.308/.182 over his last six games. His playing time has dropped with his batting average below a buck fifty this year.

George Springer is .100/.182/.100 in his last five. I’d say it was his toe but he wasn’t hitting all that much better before that. His bat speed is still good, but he seems to be popping everything up.

And, even with the two home run game Andrés Giménez isn’t hitting a lot, .200/.238/.550 (slugging is good because of the homers) in his last six and .179/.195/.359 in his last 12.

Myles Straw is .143/.250/.143 in his last five, but that’s limited playing time.

Brandon Valenzuela is .167/.333/.167 in his last six games.

On the good side:

Daulton Varsho is one of the few who is hitting, .310/.383/.476 over his last 12 games.

Jesús Sánchez is also hitting .429/.400/.500 in his last 6 and .290/.324/.419 in his last 12.

Yohendrick Pinango is hitting .227/.292/.409 in his last six and .286/.324/.429 in his last 10. Not quite what he was doing when he first came up, but not bad.

Shi Davidi has a nice profile on Pinango on the Sportsnet page. Yohendrick’s father was killed when he was a young boy and he has a tattoo on his arm of his father with fu en cielo, yo en la tierra, un solo comazon written underneath. You are in heaven, I’m on earth, one heart.

His father played profession basketball.

Pinango also said:

“I had in my mind that this year I was going to be in the big-leagues – I wasn’t expecting to be here this soon,” said Pinango. “But my goal was to be here at some point this year.”

The lips on his neck? “When you are young, you do things”. I’d imagine alcohol was involved.

Dan Bellino had a bad day yesterday, but the teams didn’t do any better on the challenges:

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The Chicago White Sox visit the Seattle Mariners for a midweek series with momentum on their side.

After winning two out of three over the first-place Cubs, the Sox have won their last three series and five of the last six. Meanwhile, the Mariners have lost three in a row and six of the last nine.

That’s why my White Sox vs. Mariners predictions and MLB picks call for a Chicago road win.

Who will win White Sox vs Mariners today: White Sox (+150)

The Chicago White Sox have won seven of eight and are three games better than the Seattle Mariners. While they’re on the road and starting a less experienced pitcher, this is still a lopsided underdog price.

Chicago has scored 5+ runs in the last six games and eight of the last nine, averaging 6.2 runs per game over that stretch, which includes scoring 16 in three games against Seattle.

Seattle starter Bryan Woo’s fastball hasn’t been as effective as it was last season, while Chicago rookie Noah Schultz has better hit and homer per nine rates this season.

COVERS INTEL: Bryan Woo has lost about 40 revolutions of spin on both his four-seamer and sinker, and batters have noticed. They’re hitting more than 50 points higher against each pitch, while swinging and missing far less often.

White Sox vs Mariners Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (-106)

The Mariners have plated four or fewer in seven of the last nine, and J.P. Crawford left Sunday’s game after getting hit by a pitch. Seattle called up top prospect Colt Emerson, who had an .816 OPS in Triple-A and should add power to the left side of the infield.

Seattle scored 12 runs against Chicago earlier this month and could put up some runs against Schultz, who struggles with control. He’s walking more than six batters per nine, which could be trouble against a Mariners lineup that ranks third in the AL in walks drawn.  

White Sox vs Mariners odds

• Moneyline: White Sox +150 | Mariners -165
• Run line: White Sox +1.5 (-160) | Mariners -1.5 (+135)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-106) | Under 7.5 (-118)

White Sox vs Mariners trend

The White Sox have cashed the moneyline in 17 of their last 25 games for +10.75 units and a 41% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for White Sox vs. Mariners.

How to watch White Sox vs Mariners and game info

White Sox vs Mariners latest injuries

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Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor hasn't played since injuring his calf on April 22 and hasn't yet resumed baseball activities, but it's possible he will be able to return in June.

Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported on Monday that there's "hope" that Lindor "may be back in about a month," adding that the Mets aren't putting a timetable on things.

Lindor underwent a follow-up MRI last week that showed healing. 

"Now we’re moving to the phase of the strength part, moving to the weight room before he starts his running progression," manager Carlos Mendoza said about Lindor last Thursday. "Positive sign, we’ve just gotta let it heal."

There has been a bit of mystery surrounding Lindor's injury, with the team not disclosing the grade of the calf strain and not giving an estimate regarding his timeline.

By all indications, though, there is nothing going on beyond a calf injury that is simply more serious than the kind of strain Juan Soto was able to return from in roughly three weeks. 

After starting the season in an offensive funk, Lindor was heating up at the plate before getting hurt, hitting .286 in 14 games between April 7 and 22.

The injury to Lindor is the most important one the Mets are dealing with, but their lineup is also without three other regulars -- Francisco Alvarez, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr.

Alvarez is recovering from meniscus surgery, while Robert's back is not improving. As far as Polanco, he was been running and hitting as he works his way back from an Achilles issue that he will likely have to play through.

Well, maybe it wasn’t a phantom IL stint after all? The Red Sox have reported that Trevor Story, rather than battling a minor “groin issue,” has a sports hernia that could require surgery, keeping him out for up to ten weeks. Though for what it’s worth, Story himself sounds a little hesitant: “We’re still unsure, but [surgery is possible.] Still trying to diagnose it, the severity of it, because we’ve got a couple of different opinions.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

So with the news that Story could be on the shelf until the second half of the season, we have a little more clarity on what’s going to happen at shortstop. Marcelo Mayer will start working out there in anticipation of moving across the bag if Story goes under the knife. Of course, he doesn’t sound like he needs much prep time: “Obviously, that’s home to me. That’s where I’ve played my whole life. And we’ve had some discussions, going to get some reps there in practice whenever I can. But wherever Trace [tells] you to play, that’s what it’s going to be, whether it’s short, third, second. I’m just here to help the team.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

Marcelo Mayer sure looks like he handle shortstop with the glove. But can he hit enough to be an everyday plaer in the big leagues? Here’s a look at the new Red Sox hitting coach who is going to try to turn Mayer’s offensive season around, John Soteropulos, the former Driveline coach and Red Sox minor league hitting coordinator. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)

Of course Soteropulos has a lot of work to do with the entire lineup, not just Mayer. The Red Sox offense continues to be shockingly bad. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)

Brayan Bello isn’t hurt like Story; he’s just been mostly terrible to start the season. And with Garrett Crochet hoping for a May 1 return, his time in the starting rotation may be coming to an end. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

Bello’s battery mate in yesterday’s game may find himself with some time off, too, though not because of poor performance. Carlos Narvaez left yesterday’s game after experiencing some pain in his middle finger. X-rays were negative, though, and he is considered day-to-day:

The pitching’s a mess and the lineup is a disappointment. Which team am I talking about?

Arizona has just 3 more home runs as a team than the Giants (40 to 37) and a sub-average offensive production (95 wRC+). That’s with Corbin Carroll having an MVP-caliber start to the season, a resurgent Nolan Arenado, a surprise in journeyman Ildemaro Vargas, and the always reliable Ketel Marte in the lineup. The Giants thought they had their best lineup since 2021, if not the championship era, and it’s cruising around 10% worse than league average.

Arizona’s pitching has been about as valuable as the Giants’ (2.2 fWAR to 2.0), but when you split it into starters and relievers, the Giants have managed to get solid performances out of three starters (Robbie Ray, Landen Roupp, and Trevor McDonald) compared to Arizona’s two (Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka). Meanwhile, Arizona’s relievers are better at avoiding walks (by 1.75 BB/9) and striking out batters a bit better than the Giants’ pen, giving them a slight edge in value there, by around a win above replacement.

On the other hand, Arizona’s been great on defense: +5.5 Defensive Runs Above Average — 6th in MLB, and a full 10 runs (or 1 win) better than the Giants (-5.5 Def).

But let’s circle back to that disastrous rotation the Diamondbacks are sporting. Here’s what it looks like:

Eduardo Rodriguez, 2.53 ERA
Ryne Nelson, 5.40 ERA
Michael Soroka, 3.49 ERA
Zac Gallen, 5.02 ERA
Merrill Kelly, 5.91 ERA

Rodriguez was a hot commodity around the 2023 trade deadline until he made it clear that he didn’t want to be traded. The Diamondbacks signed him that offseason and in the first two years of the deal, he posted a 5+ ERA. They’re finally seeing some strong positive value in year 3, but it’s worth noting that the 2.53 ERA is betrayed by a 3.85 ERA and the Giants won’t see him in this series! Meanwhile, Michael Soroka was once a promising arm for Atlanta whose career was derailed by injuries. He’s back with Arizona and have a great reclamation project season. The Giants will miss him, too.

But the rest?

Even after all the drama that followed Zac Gallen’s first foray into free agency, he has come back looking like the wornout arm we saw last year. Ryne Nelson has managed to frustrate the Giants before (2-0, 3.05 ERA in 44.1 IP), but he’s allowed 9 home runs in 9 starts. Merrill Kelly was traded to the Rangers last deadline and then re-signed with Arizona, but the 37-year old has been bad — though, it must be noted, his last start was a complete game in Colorado where he gave up a solo home run. The start before that was 7 innings of 1-run ball at home against the Mets.

Are the Giants bats heated up enough to do some damage against a vulnerable staff? How Devers, Adames, and Chapman do against a “Please Hit Me” trio of starters could be very telling about how all three will do this season.

In terms of their fearsome lineup, it’s Corbin Carroll, Ildemaro Vargas, and Nolan Arenado who’ve been consistently threatening. Ketel Marte is still 20% below the league average, Gabriel Moreno is around 25% worse. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo is backing up his 7-WAR 2025 with a very slow start in 2026 (sub-100 wRC+ and -100 points of slug). Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was close to league average last season (95 wRC+) but has been really bad this season (61 wRC+) — though, it must be noted he’s 6-for-his-last-17 with 2 doubles and a homer.

It’s a scary lineup if everyone’s clicking and it’s possible that a bat or two beyond Carroll, Vargas, and Arenado are close enough to create real problems for the Giants. It’ll be an interesting test to see if the Giants’ ability to frustrate their NL West opponents is only possible against the Dodgers and Padres and not the two other teams in their division, because on paper, the Diamondbacks look like they could really frustrate the Giants.

Series overview

Who: San Francisco Giants (20-27) at Arizona Diamondbacks (22-23)
Where: Chase Field | Phoenix, Arizona
When: Monday & Tuesday at 6:40pm PT, Wednesday at 12:40pm PT
National broadcasts: None.

Projected starters
Monday: Robbie Ray (LHP 3-5, 3.04 ERA) vs. Zac Gallen (RHP 1-4, 5.02 ERA)
Tuesday: Landen Roupp (RHP 5-4, 3.49 ERA) vs. Ryne Nelson (RHP 1-3, 5.40 ERA)
Wednesday: Tyler Mahle (RHP 1-5, 5.59 ERA) vs. Merrill Kelly (RHP 3-3, 5.91 ERA)

Players to watch

Diamondbacks (besides Corbin Carroll)

Ildemaro Vargas: The infielder is having the best season of his career at age 34 and it comes on his third stint with the Diamondbacks. This is a wacky transaction log!

In 2026, he went to Arizona’s Spring Training as an NRI and earned his way onto the major league roster from there. He has a .903 OPS so far this season and has hit about as well as Munetaka Murakami, Bryce Harper, and Nick Kurtz. He’s always done fine against the Giants (career .720 OPS), so we’ll see if his hot streak is just a streak or if he goes off on our favorite team in such a way that we know that he’s simply having one of those years.

Nolan Arenado: The Cardinals tried very hard to trade him the past two offseasons and finally found a taker in the Diamondbacks, who will pay him just $11 million of the $42 million owed to him over this season and next. In 2022, he was worth 7.2 fWAR, but in the three seasons that followed, just 6.8 total. Here in his age-35 season, he’s hitting 25% better than league average (125 wRC+) thanks to a .798 OPS. Time has taken away enough of his physicality that he’s no longer the demigod defender at the hot corner of days gone by — we have seen him make some unbelievable defense plays against the Giants over the years, that’s for sure — but he’s still adequate. Coupled with a resurgent bat, it’s plausible that we’ll be cursing his name before the end of the series just like old times.

Paul Sewald: He’s sort of like their Ryan Walker in that he backed into the closer role by accident. Arizona traded for him in 2023 as part of their World Series run. He was on the team in 2024 but sort of fell apart as their closer and left as a free agent. He played for two teams last season and then this past offseason the Diamondbacks re-signed him and he’s back to being their closer. He has just 1 blown save on record, but 4 losses already. Could his vulnerability give the Giants an opening late in one of these games?

Giants

Daniel Susac: Maybe it’s me, but I can’t shake the feeling that Buster Posey shoved aside Patrick Bailey for Daniel Susac because of batting average. I’d like to believe that the front office hasn’t bought into the equivalent of magic beans in the form of a small sample size heater in a position that had basically been a black hole of production in the lineup. The Diamondbacks-Giants matchup used to feature two of the best defense catchers in the sport — Bailey vs. Gabriel Moreno — but the focus has become “will Daniel Susac hit a single?”

Jung Hoo Lee: He ended April slashing .297/.344/.441 but has fallen off here in May. His pinch-hit RBI single in yesterday’s win raised his May line to just .215/.250/.292. He has a career .607 OPS at Chase Field, suggesting that his slump will be prolonged for at least a few more days. Then again, Arizona’s rotation has been Athletics/Rockies/Nationals bad, so it’s as good a time as any for that bat to get going again.

Robbie Ray: In 5+ seasons for the Diamondbacks, he made 147 starts and one All-Star appearance. He has a 3-0, 3.15 ERA in 3 starts (21 IP) against his former team, including a 102-pitch complete game last July. It’s not too early to start putting him on lists for “players who will be traded this season,” which means each start will be watched not just by scouts, but by fans salivating at the prospect of the team acquiring, um, err, a prospect for him near the deadline. Regrettably, he’s likely to net something in the range of what Tyler Rogers brought back for the Giants: 2-3 prospects near the bottom of the trading team’s top 10 or outside of it altogether.

Bryce Eldridge: Throwing him in here because either as a pinch hitter or a starter, Arizona’s righties would seem to have a lot to offer a masher looking to get his bat going. The rotation gives up a lot of home runs!

Tony Vitello Watch

There was a moment before the Vitello hire that Torey Lovullo’s job was maybe not so secure despite a World Series appearance just two years prior. In that brief bit of time I wondered if maybe the Giants might try to poach Lovullo a la Bruce Bochy from San Diego. His modest success in Arizona aside (686-715 a month and a half into his 10th season with two postseason appearances), he seems like the kind of player-centric and stats-second manager Buster Posey would want. He does a regular radio hit on MLB Network Radio and sounds like a good guy and the type of energy the Giants’ manager position needed in a post-Bochy/Kapler/Melvin period. It didn’t work out that way and instead the Giants signed a guy whose name sort of sounds like Torey Lovullo.

Tony Vitello, Torey Lovullo. Torey Lovullo, Tony Vitello.

Lovullo. Vitello. Lovullo. Vitello.

Torey. Tony. Torey. Tony.

Prediction time

Those are some rough numbers from Arizona’s starters. It stands to reason that the Giants should win a game in this series for that fact alone.

Reggie Jackson arrived at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 1977 with a chip on his shoulder. In part, it was because that was his natural state. But he had something in particular to prove that day. Despite winning a trio of championships — and the 1973 World Series MVP — in Oakland, he had yet to show what he could do in New York. After Jackson went 3-for-22 through the first seven games of the Yankees’ postseason run in ‘77, team captain Thurman Munson sarcastically dubbed him “Mr. October,” a snarky reminder of how his larger-than-life persona was not yet lining up with his results on the field.

Reggie responded, going 5-for-11 with two long balls in the next three games as the Yankees took a 3-2 series lead over the Dodgers. But it was on this day that he’d metamorphose from superstar into legend, transforming a snide moniker into an earnest superlative.

Reginald Martinez “Reggie” Jackson
Born: May 18, 1946 (Abington, PA)
Yankees Tenure: 1977-81

Reggie grew up in a working class family within a more affluent suburb of Philadelphia, where he was often among the only people of color in his classes at school. He was an extraordinary athlete, excelling in several sports in high school before narrowing his interests to baseball and football at Arizona State University. After his sophomore year there, the Kansas City Athletics took him second overall in the 1966 MLB Draft. With the first pick that year, the Mets selected Steve Chilcott, a catcher who never made it to the big leagues. Jackson would later claim the Mets passed him over because he had a white girlfriend.

In 1967, Jackson played for the Double-A Birmingham A’s. This relocation led to culture shock for the 21-year-old, who was forced to deal with the tail end of the Jim Crow era in the South. Upon his return to that team’s home ballpark, Rickwood Field, nearly 60 years later, he eloquently and emotionally recounted his experience dealing with segregation that threatened both his career and his life. Instead of pulling quotes from the below clip, I’d encourage you to watch it in full so you can hear from Reggie in his own voice.

Despite facing the adversity with which most of his teammates and opponents did not have to contend, Jackson’s talent shone through. In 114 games that season, he slashed .293/.372/.562 and earned a call to The Show. For the first time in his career, he struggled, hitting just .178 for Kansas City before getting sent back down. After helping Birmingham to a first-place finish back at Double-A, Reggie closed the chapter on minor-league baseball.

Jackson earned the starting right field job with the nascent Oakland Athletics before the 1968 season and was an instant star. He hit 29 home runs in 553 at-bats while striking out 171 times, the first of four straight years in which he’d lead the league in that category. He’d follow up that breakout campaign with the best year of his career. By early July in ‘69 the phenom already had 34 home runs, ahead of Roger Maris’ record-breaking 61-homer pace. That brought Jackson national media attention. “Microphones were shoved in my face for the first time,” he would later say. “Fans grabbed and screeched for autographs.” By his own account, this onslaught got to him, limiting him to one homer in September. He finished the season with a career-high 47 dingers, a league-leading 1.018 OPS, and valuable experience about handling pressure.

Reggie would play six more years in Oakland, helping the team ascend from afterthought to perennial contender while winning AL MVP honors in 1973. That run culminated in five AL West titles and the only three-peat in MLB history by a franchise other than the Yankees, from 1972-74. A nasty leg injury sustained in the 1972 ALCS victory over Detroit prevented him from participating in the first of those A’s World Series, but he absolutely made his presence felt in the latter two against the Mets and Dodgers. Jackson hit .302 with a .400 on-base percentage in those Fall Classics, establishing himself as a playoff MVP and seasoned postseason performer while still in his 20s.

Before the 1976 season, with his franchise disassembling and amidst contentious contract talks with his homegrown superstar—and the new concept of free agency on the horizon—A’s owner Charlie Finley traded Jackson to the Orioles. Despite the glory to come, he would later say that “the eight years I spent in Oakland were the best baseball years of my life.”

After a single successful year in Baltimore, Jackson hit free agency at 30 years old. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner pounced, signing him to a five-year, $2.96 million compact that made him the team’s highest-paid player. It’s hard to believe now, but the Yankees were actually outbid by the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres. Steinbrenner won Jackson over with the allure of being a star in New York City. The expectations that came with that contract, paired with Jackson’s bravado and the existing tensions within the “Bronx Zoo” clubhouse of the era, led to a tumultuous first season in pinstripes.

In a June article that would become the stuff of legend, Reggie was quoted as saying, “This team, it all flows from me. I’m the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad.” Jackson continues to deny having made the comments, though the damage was done. When told Reggie had claimed he was misquoted, Munson supposedly retorted, “For 12 fucking pages?”

An even more contentious relationship developed between Jackson and his manager, Billy Martin. “He lied to people,” Jackson later wrote of his skipper. “That was his history. He lied to the general manager; he lied to the owner. He lied to players all the time, which was a big reason why he wore out his welcome.”

The drama bubbled over in public view on June 18th. During a nationally televised game, Martin pulled his star right fielder mid-inning, accusing him of not hustling. The two got into a shouting match in the dugout and likely would have come to blows if not for coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard separating them.

As was a trend throughout his career, this rancor did not prevent Jackson from performing, as he posted a .925 OPS with 32 homers and 110 RBI as the Yankees won 100 games and the AL East title. And, after getting swept by the Reds in the World Series the year prior, the newly christened “Mr. October” helped the Yankees to their first title since 1962, hitting three home runs to punctuate the decisive Game Six victory.

The distinctive title by which he remains best known became something of a double-edged sword. “I’ve got to live with it both ways,” Mr. October said in 1980. “It’s tough to have a big name like this when you’re not hitting, but I don’t mind the name. I just don’t want to be ridiculed.”

There would be nothing to ridicule in 1978, when Reggie hit .417 with four homers in the postseason as the Yankees repeated against Los Angeles — now managed by Bob Lemon instead of Martin, who had resigned shortly after insulting Jackson and Steinbrenner to the media in July. While he posted a typically excellent season in 1979, the loss of Munson in a mid-season plane crash was a crushing blow which dulled the Yankees’ momentum as they missed the playoffs altogether.

Although Martin had briefly returned in the latter part of the ’79 season, there would be less manager/star tension heading into the new decade. An offseason brawl with a marshmallow salesman led to Martin’s second dismissal, and he was replaced by the level-headed Dick Howser. Jackson felt more supported by the level-headed Howser, who had previously been a longtime Yankees coach. Reggie would have perhaps his best regular season in pinstripes in 1980 under Howser, hitting .300 with 41 homers while finishing runner-up to George Brett for AL MVP, but the Yankees got swept by Brett’s Royals in the ALCS.

1981 would be Jackson’s last year as a Yankee, now teamed up with a new superstar outfielder who joined the team in free agency, Dave Winfield. At the age of 35, Jackson looked somewhat diminished, playing in 94 games and hitting just .237. He was back for the playoffs, performing well in another pennant run as the Yankees fell to the Dodgers .

With Winfield effectively replacing him in the middle of the order, Jackson exited, signing a five-year deal with the California Angels. In total, he’d hit 144 home runs while batting .328/.417/.672 with 12 homers and a 1.090 OPS in 34 playoff games, netting two rings during his five years in New York. That cemented a legacy which would later earn him a spot in Monument Park.

Jackson’s five years with the Angels were a mixed bag, punctuated by an MLB-leading 39 home runs for a division-winning team in 1982, slugging No. 500 in 1984, and a memorable appearance in The Naked Gun. He played one more season, his 21st in the MLB, at the age of 41 in 1987, returning to Oakland to round out his career while playing with ascendant stars José Canseco and Mark McGwire. Reggie’s 563 home runs and big game pedigree earned him first-ballot induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.

Reggie went in with a Yankees cap despite spending twice as many years with the A’s, a sign of how much he personally valued his time in the Bronx. The Yankees retired his No. 44 the same year and followed with a Monument Park plaque in 2002. He was a fixture at the club’s Old-Timers’ Days and the spring training facility for many years, a tradition that concluded when he became a special advisor to the Astros in 2021 but could one day resume after he departed that role in the fall of 2024.

Reggie Jackson remains a true icon of the game, the type who commands attention whenever he speaks and whose exploits on the field are intrinsic to the story of Major League Baseball. Join us in wishing a very happy 80th birthday to Mr. October.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.