Category: Baseball

Two outstanding starts and two blowups. There was no middle ground for starters in the Dodgers minor league system, with only the Loons earning a win.

Player of the day

Sometimes your best isn’t enough, and that was the case for Isaac Ayon, who could only cover five scoreless innings in the matchup between the Tower Buzzers and Giants. As impressive as keeping the Giants off the board was, the manner in which Ayon accomplished that stood out even more, earning two-thirds of his outs via strikeout.

Ayon now has 35 strikeouts in 27.1 innings with a terrific 1.02 WHIP. The 10 strikeouts and only one hit allowed both represented his best marks on the season.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

As much as a couple of errors didn’t help, Cole Irvin’s six-run blowup in the second inning of an eventual 8-2 loss goes beyond that. It could’ve been even worse for Irvin, but reliever Carlos Duran managed back-to-back strikeouts with the bases loaded to keep the damage there.

Recently sent down to make room for the return of Mookie Betts, Alex Freeland combined with Kiké Hernández to go 0 for 7 as the only extra-base hit by a Comets player came from eighth-hole hitter Zach Ehrhard. The center fielder left the yard with a solo shot in the fifth. James Tibbs III wasn’t in the lineup for this one.

Double-A Tulsa

It wasn’t a good day for starting pitchers in the upper levels of the Dodgers minor league systems, as Patrick Copen also fell victim to a blowup inning, with the Cardinals beating them 9-5. Considering just how vulnerable he looked, allowing eight hits and five walks, Copen might’ve even gotten away with one, conceding just six earned runs across 4.1 innings.

Despite the damage the pitching staff allowed, the Comets had an opportunity to make this a game, particularly given their success on the basepaths, successful on all four of their steal attempts—the issue was a terrible 3 for 18 with runners in scoring position. Eljah Hainline reached a team-high three times safely and stole two bases.

High-A Great Lakes

A lousy first inning defensively from the Whitecaps allowed the Loons to score two of their runs on a wild pitch and a throwing error to take an early 3-0 lead. That would be it for the Loons until the ninth inning, when, with a tied game, catcher Jesus Gallz walked things off with an RBI single.

The reliever who coughed up the lead in the eighth, Davis Chastain, had his first blown save of the season, but since he finished that and the following inning, he was also the winning pitcher. Chastain now moves to a 4-0 record on the year, largely helped by starter Sterling Patrick, who was superb with six scoreless frames.

Class-A Ontario

Ayon deserved better than the zero he received from his offense, and quite literally, anything else would’ve been enough to at the very least stave off defeat, as the Tower Buzzers were beaten 1-0 by the Giants. Ontario’s starter needed just 76 pitches to earn those 10 strikeouts and deliver his best performance of the season.

Struggling offensively, the Giants manufactured a run against reliever Jholbran Herder in the sixth. Andy Polanco reached safely and stole back-to-back bases to later score on a simple groundout. Weirdly, a team with no doubles and no home runs, the Tower Buzzers managed three triples and stranded them all. It’s not every day you see something like that.

Transactions

The Great Lakes Loons activated catcher Gio Cueto from the injured list.

Wednesday’s scores

• Albuquerque 8, Oklahoma City 2
• Tulsa 5, Springfield 9
• Great Lakes 4, West Michigan 3
• Ontario 0, San Jose 1

Thursday’s schedule

• 10:05 a.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Christian Romero) at Albuquerque (TBD)
• 3:05 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Zach Root) vs. West Michigan (Lucas Elissalt)
• 5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Wyatt Crowell) vs. Springfield (TBD)
• 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (Brady Smith) vs. San Jose (TBD)

Series Preview

#24 Nebraska Cornhuskers (38-14, 20-7 B1G) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (30-20, 11-16 B1G)

Location: Siebert Field, Minneapolis, MN

Dates: May 14th-16th

Times (all CDT): Thursday **time change**@ 2pm, Friday @ 5pm, Saturday @ 1pm

Coaches: Will Bolt (7th season, 208-140-1) & Ty McDevitt (2nd season, 54-48)

TV/Stream: Thursday and Friday on BTN, All games on B1G+

Radio: All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers App

It’s the final weekend of the regular season, so time to think about the Big Ten Tournament. The Huskers are currently residing 2nd in the standings behind 26-1 UCLA who is locked into the top spot. With USC and Oregon being in 3rd and 4th and playing each other, it would be nearly impossible for Nebraska to fall out of the 4 teams that make the 2nd half of the tournament. But there is still something to play for, as the top 2 seeds will play teams that come out of the losers bracket and with that, those team will have played an extra game, and used more pitchers.

In case you were wondering, Purdue sits tied for 4th with Oregon and one game behind 3rd place USC. If Oregon wins 2 of 3 against USC this weekend, and Purdue beats Iowa 2 to 1, there would be a 3 way ties for 3rd, with Oregon owning both tiebreakers, and USC owning the tiebreaker against Purdue. A Purdue sweep of Iowa could potentially vault them into the 3rd spot. And being the final week of the season, chaos due to the tarp is always in play. #NeverForget

Minnesota on the other hand is battling to not get left out of the 12 team tournament. They are currently in a 4 way tie for 10th place in the Big Ten, with Rutgers, Washington, and Michigan State. Odds are that one of those 4 teams will join Penn State, Maryland, Indiana, and Northwestern watching at home. (Boy, who had those first three missing Omaha at the beginning of the season??) Also, Wisconsin is still too scared and un-American to field a team.

Pitching Preview

Game 1: RHP Carson Jasa (9-2, 3.31 ERA) vs. RHP Isaac Morton (4-2, 3.43 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Ty Horn (2-2, 3.97 ERA) vs. RHP Marcus Kruzan (4-3, 3.24 ERA)

Game 3: RHP Gavin Blachowicz (4-2, 3.18 ERA) vs. RHP Cole Selvig (5-4, 5.40 ERA)

FINALLY, Carson Jasa is your reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. He has locked down the Nebraska Friday night starting slot that has been a glaring issue for a majority of the season. Jasa was dominant in Nebraska’s run rule victory, striking out 9 Hawkeyes in 7 shutout innings. He only allowed 2 hits, both singles, and 2 walks to a team that was leading the conference in batting average coming into the series.

Ty Horn had a very solid return to the starting rotation. He put in a quality start, allowing 2 earned runs over 6 innings, an striking out 6. As has been the case most of the season on his starts, the bullpen gave up the lead and despite the team getting a win, he did not qualify for one. That being said, his fastball looked a lot more alive and he was much better at hitting the bottom of the zone and piling up strikes, despite a notoriously challenging umpire.

For only the second time all season, Gavin Blachowicz has given up multiple earned runs in back to back outings. He didn’t quite have the location of his pitches on point in the Iowa series finale, and with the series already locked up, Nebraska wanted to get some innings in for some pitchers they hadn’t seen in a while too. Blachowicz seems to turn it up a notch on the road since conference play started, so look for a rebound this weekend.

After spending the first two seasons at Texas A&M and doing very well in limited innings, Isaac Morton returned to his home state to pitch for the Gophers. He’s pitched at different slots on the weekend, but has done well enough to be moved up to the top spot. Morton is tied for the team lead with 56 batters struck out in 57.2 innings, but also leads the team with 24 walks. He doesn’t go super deep into games for a Friday guy, having pitched under 85 pitches for the last 7 outings.

Saturday starter Marcus Kruzan is a transfer from St Thomas who has started most of the season. He has struck out 49 batters in 50 innings. He is another guy that generally goes only 3-5 innings and gets out before things go haywire. Former Friday starter Cole Selvig is pitching the Saturday game this week. He has also stuck out 56 batters and has pitched a team leading 63.1 innings. The Wisconsin native was a Texas Longhorn his freshman year before he returned to the north. He’s given up at least 3 runs in 6 of his last 8 outings, the only exceptions being the bottom feeding Northwestern and Penn State teams, hence the slight demotion.

Scouting Report

Minnesota has an aggressive offense. They have a couple assistants in charge of hitting that Husker fans should be familiar with. Connor Gandossy was the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator for Creighton for 7 seasons, and Sean Moore was the hitting coach at Iowa for 2024, and a volunteer assistant for Iowa in 2017-18, the Jake Adams era.

Minnesota leads the conference in steals with 102 on the year, next most being 89 by Iowa. They also have guys with a lot of power. Three gophers have over 10 home runsCatcher Weber Neels is the leader of the team. He has 196 career games and 182 career starts under his belt, so he’s seen everything. He’s batting a career and team best .337. He has 13 home runs and 53 RBIs. Add 23 walks and 16 hit-by-pitches, and he is on the basepaths a lot.

Another bug power bat is center fielder Easton Richter. After starting his career at Saint Louis, he really discovered his power in Minnesota. He had 12 home runs last year and has 14 this season, to go along with 16 doubles, 32 extra base hits in all. Add his 18 steals and he can be a real nightmare for opposing pitchers. Right fielder Charlie Sutherland is the other power bat, batting .322 with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs.

The Gophers have a good bullpen, and aren’t afraid to use them relatively early in games. Joe Sperry is the guy who will come in to put out the fires. He leads the team in appearances with 22, and leads the pen with both innings pitched and strikeouts with 41.2 and 49 respectively. He has a 2.81 ERA ion the year, best of the regulars.

.Grad transfer senior Brandon Jaenke is filling the closer role for the Gophers. He leads the team with 4 saves on the season. He has a 3.08 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 26.1 innings of work. Another late inning guy that will for sure take the mound is sophomore Adam Urban. He might have the best stuff on the team. He has thrown 28.2 innings in 19 appearances on the year. He has a 3.77 ERA and 40 strikeouts. While having that high of strikeout number, he has a .248 batting average against. So he has a tendency to lose his stuff over the middl of the plate.

Minnesota has an elite defense, right behind Iowa and Nebraska for 3rd in the Big Ten with a 98.2% fielding percentage.

Series History

Nebraska leads the all time series 41-34-1 over Minnesota. Nebraska took the series in Lincoln last season. Minnesota won in 10 innings on Friday night on Husker closer Luke Broderick. But Nebraska came back and won in game 2 thanks to a big performance, including a walk off single from Robby Bolin, before running away with game 3.

On Deck

• Carson Jasa is 4 strikeouts from tying Phil Harrison for the 10th most in a season in program history with 98. He is 7 behind Brett Sears for 9th.
• Dylan Carey is 3 hits from tying Scott Schreiber for 5th in Husker history, and 5 hits from reaching Darin Erstad in 4th.
• Jett Buck has 7 sacrifice flys on the season, which puts him tied for the 6th best season in program history. One more and he will be tied for 2nd.
• Last weekends 22,815 fans in attendance for a series were most in the Big Ten era for Nebraska, and third most in a conference series all time at Haymarket Park.

You know you can’t get enough of watching Iowa lose, so enjoy the cinematic recap!

Good morning everyone! I hope you’re all having a great week so far.

The Mariners couldn’t hang on during a tough game against the Astros last night, falling 4-3. Though Cal Raleigh may have been injured during the contest (we’ll likely learn more today), it was a very encouraging return for Bryce Miller. What did you think of the right-hander’s first start of the season?

In Mariners news…

• In case you missed it, Logan Gilbert apparently talked Cal Raleigh into showering in his jersey before the game on Tuesday to break his hitting slump — and it worked!
• Max Ellingsen started his preview of the Mariners 2026 MLB Draft strategy, with many player profiles and nuggets to come as we get closer. Join the comments of the linked article to tell Max which potential fits you want him to cover!

Around the league…

• The MLB and MLBPA officially met on Tuesday to open up talks on the upcoming collective bargaining agreement.
• Max Fried exited yesterday’s start against the Orioles with a sore elbow.
• Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez will undergo surgery to repair a meniscus tear. The team is hopeful he will be back within 6-8 weeks.
• The Reds placed right-handed starter Rhett Lowder on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort.
• Relatedly, Cincinnati agreed to a big league deal with righty Chris Paddack.
• The Dodgers hired former star outfielder Jason Heyward as a special assistant to the front office.
• A White Sox fan was hospitalized yesterday after falling into the visiting bullpen.
• The MLB Pipeline team named the hottest pitching prospect in each organization right now.
• Kiley McDaniel at ESPN unveiled his first mock draft of the season.
• Over at Fangraphs, our very own Ryan Blake wrote about Ceddanne Rafaela’s arm strength and what it really means to have a good arm in baseball.
• David Laruila at Fangraphs spoke to Yandy Díaz, who continues to be one of the sport’s most underrated hitters.
• Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker provided a full review of A.M. Gittlitz’s new book Metropolitans: New York Baseball, Class Struggle, and the People’s Team.

Wednesday can comfortably be filed away in the “bad” drawer for the Yankees. They mustered just a single hit in a shutout loss to the Orioles, a game in which Max Fried departed early with ever-troubling elbow soreness. The loss keeps them in the hole in the American League East, as they eagerly look to return to the form they took in the first month of the season.

But alas, the world goes on elsewhere, so here is a look around some exciting AL action on Wednesday.

Toronto Blue Jays (19-24) 5, Tampa Bay Rays (28-14) 3 (10 innings)

After a dramatic extra inning affair on Tuesday, which the Rays won, the Blue Jays got their revenge in similar fashion on Wednesday.

Both Griffin Jax for Tampa Bay and Dylan Cease for Toronto had the good stuff in this one. Through six innings of baseball in Toronto, neither the Jays nor the Rays had mustered much of anything, as this one remained scoreless into the later innings. Griffin Jax tossed five innings of shutout ball, while Cease got through seven strong, eventually allowing just a single run while striking out nine batters.

In the seventh, the Rays scored their lone run against Cease with an RBI single from Richie Palacios in the seventh. An inning later, the Jays tied it back up thanks to Kazuma Okamoto’s sacrifice fly. Both bullpens were able to keep things in check after that pair of runs, before the real fun started after the ninth.

In extras, Ben Williamson immediately got things moving for Tampa Bay, as his single plated the bonus runner in the tenth to give the Rays the lead. Williamson immediately stole second base, and was promptly scored thanks to another knock from Yandy Díaz for the all-important insurance run. Now, with a two run lead in hand, the Rays turned to Aaron Crooks to shut it down in the tenth.

The Jays would have none of it, however, as walks to Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Okamoto had the bases juiced after a quick first out in the inning. With the winning run now on base, Daulton Varsho decided to put an end to the game the easy way: by depositing a walk-off grand slam over the wall in left field.

The dramatic victory was about as fun as it gets for the Jays, and the Rays’ loss helps the Yankees keep within striking distance as well, as they remain two games back in the East.

Other Games:

New York Mets (17-25) 3, Detroit Tigers (19-24) 2 (10 innings): Speaking of extra innings, the Tigers took a tough loss at the hands of the Mets on Wednesday. After Framber Valdez held things in check, allowing just two runs in 6.2 innings, the offense was unable to put much together despite two quick runs in the first inning for Detroit. A Bo Bichette single tied the game up at two for the Mets, before Carson Benge’s clutch single in the 10th walked it off for New York.

Boston Red Sox (18-24) 3, Philadelphia Phillies (20-23) 1: Sonny Gray was excellent for the Red Sox at home as he tossed six innings, allowing just one run on two hits while racking up six strikeouts. After Boston and Philly matched each other with solo homers early on, it was Ceddanne Rafaela’s two-run bomb in the sixth that decided this one, as Boston hopes to continue climbing out of their early season hole.

Cleveland Guardians (24-21) 4, Los Angeles Angels (16-28) 2: The Guardians took an early lead in the first inning, thanks in part to Angel Martínez’s solo homer, and never looked back. Although the Angels threatened at times, Cleveland was able to stay in the driver’s seat from wire-to-wire, as starter Parker Messick worked 6.2 quality innings, giving up a pair of runs and tallying seven Ks.

Houston Astros (17-27) 4, Seattle Mariners (21-23) 3 (10 innings): More extra innings on Wednesday, as Houston pulled out a late win over the M’s in ten innings. Solo homers did much of the heavy lifting, as round-trippers from J.P. Crawford, Luke Raley, and Christian Walker helped push this game through nine innings all tied up. It was a timely single from Zach Cole that sent Astros fans home happy.

Texas Rangers (21-22) 6, Arizona Diamondbacks (20-22) 5: If all of the late dramatics were not enough, the Rangers put on a performance of their own against Arizona. Down 3-2 in the ninth, the D-Backs rallied to go up 5-3 thanks to huge hits from Nolan Arenado and Ildemaro Vargas. The Rangers battled back in their half of the ninth, as hits from Ezequiel Duran and Jake Burger helped to tie things up, and Danny Jansen’s single walked things off for the Rangers.

The breakout man of the 2026 season had another outstanding day for Rome, providing more with his glove this time than his bat. His early double did contribute an RBI for the Emperors, but it was him soaring to rob a three-run home run that ultimately led to the Emperors prevailing in a close matchup. Elsewhere Alex Lodise had a home run while Derek Vartanian continues to impress in his professional debut.

(25-16) Gwinnett Stripers 2, (16-25) Durham Bulls 7

Box Score

Statcast

• Jim Jarvis, SS: 2-5, .314/.420/.445
• Nacho Alvarez Jr., 3B: 2-5, .240/.329/.339
• Victor Mederos, SP: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 2.53 ERA
• Daysbel Hernandez, RP: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 3.72 ERA

It wasn’t a particularly good day for the Gwinnett Stripers, though a few flashes of good things came their way in an underwhelming loss. Victor Mederos pitched relatively well for the first time through the Durham order, but the second trip around combined with a dip in his velocity in late innings led to a poor ending. Running Mederos out for the fifth inning led to him getting hit extremely hard with two home runs, four three total runs, and three 100+ mph batted balls getting recorded against him. He was shuffled out of the game and the bullpen continued to struggle with four runs allowed over the next 2 1/3 innings, a deficit that would ultimately sink the Stripers in the game. For Daysbel Hernandez his inning of work was a nice milestone for his season as he averaged his highest fastball velocity in any outing of 2026 and pitched his fourth consecutive scoreless outing. Since a rough start to the season with diminished velocity he has turned back into more a semblance of his old self with one run allowed and nine strikeouts over his past 6 2/3 innings, though his velocity is still a tick down from where it’s been the past two seasons.

Offense was hard to come by for the Stripers in this game, as with no extra base hits and an 0-10 team performance with runners in scoring position it was no surprise that they struggled to score any runs. The two biggest contributions came from the two you would most want to hear good news from as both Nacho Alvarez and Jim Jarvis had solid performances. Alvarez’s two hits were both hard contact off of fastballs that he shot the other way, and Alvarez has thus far looked significantly more comfortable at the plate in May. He hasn’t been able to feed off of the two home runs he hit earlier in the month with no extra base hits since then, but his .395 OBP is more in line with what we’ve become used to seeing out of him and he’s hitting the ball hard more often. Jarvis also had a couple of hits and three total batted balls over 100 mph, though two of those contributed to his outs in the game. Jarvis smoked his hardest batted ball of the day in the third inning but sprayed it right at the first baseman for a lineout, and in the ninth inning sent a fly ball out to the wall in dead center field but just came up short of clearing the yard.

Swing and Misses

Victor Mederos – 6

Tayler Scott – 3

Daysbel Hernandez – 2

(17-17) Columbus Clingstones 9, (19-16) Knoxville Smokies 5

Box Score

• Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-4, 3B, .284/.405/.559
• Patrick Clohisy, RF: 1-3, 3B, 2 BB, .231/.300/.374
• Jordan Groshans, 3B: 4-4, 2B, HR, BB, 5 RBI, .237/.302/.517
• Jack Dashwood, SP: 3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 8.84 ERA
• Luis Vargas, RP: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 4.57 ERA

Jordan Groshans had a monster day at the plate, his four hits and five RBIs leading the offensive charge in a high-powered win over the Smokies. Groshans got off to a hot start with a double in the first inning that one-hopped the center field wall, capping off a three-run inning for Columbus that gave them their first lead of the game. While Knoxville did answer with a couple of runs to tie the game up, the Clingstones kept coming and were fortunate to have three triples in this game. One of those came from Drew Compton in the fourth inning after a deep fly ball to right center field took a wild hop off of the tiptop of the wall and skittered away from both defenders. Compton would then score on a sacrifice fly and Groshans padded the lead the next inning to ensure the Clingstones would never trail again. This time Groshans got every bit of the ball and crushed a two run home run into the bullpen, ballooning the lead from one to three in the blink of an eye and giving Columbus all of the runs they would need to withstand the Knoxville offensive push. Groshans capped his day off with a bases-loaded, check swing single that scored two runs, a funky way to end Groshans’s best day as a Clingstone. More on those triples, Lizandro Espinoza kept up his hot hitting in the first inning of this game and got Columbus on the board first. He laces a liner into the left field gap, and an ill-advised dive allowed the ball to roll to the fence and bring home Patrick Clohisy while also letting Espinoza motor in to third easily. Six of Espinoza’s eleven hits this month have gone for extra bases, and he is currently in the midst of an eight game on base streak.

Starting pitching was a struggle in this one for Columbus thanks to another poor start from Jack Dashwood, who has had a hard time of it over his past four appearances. In these four games he has allowed 14 earned runs while only covering 10 1/3 innings, and he was only able to give the Clingstones three innings this game. After his departure Samuel Strickland had some success, but got ran out for a third inning and allowed two runs to shrink a comfortable Columbus lead to just one run. With the tying run on second and two outs in the sixth inning Columbus turned to Luis Vargas, and that decision was one that was critical in lifting the team to a win. Vargas quickly got out of the sixth inning and then pitched two dominate innings on his own, striking out four batters and not allowing a single ball to leave the infield. This was a great bounceback for Vargas after his worst outing of the year, and though his command has been spotty his stuff looks sharp and he has allowed a contact rate of just 66.5% this season.

Swing and Misses

Jack Dashwood – 11

Luis Vargas – 8

(20-15) Rome Emperors 4, (8-26) Brooklyn Cyclones 3

Box Score

• Isaiah Drake, DH: 1-3, BB, .294/.373/.507
• John Gil, SS: 0-4, .288/.388/.480
• Eric Hartman, LF: 1-4, 2B, RBI, .326/.408/.689
• Colin Daniel, SP: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, 5.34 ERA

The Rome Emperors went off in the first inning for four runs, and that was enough to seal the victory even with the offense in cruise control for the final seven innings. Who else but Eric Hartman got the game off to a quick start by hooking a liner into right field for an RBI double to score Isaiah Drake, and with two outs the runs started to pile up quickly. A Will Verdung double made it 3-0 in favor of Rome, and after chasing the starter from the game the Emperors got another on an RBI single from Mac Guscette. The bottom of the order did a great job of getting on base for the remainder of the game, but a combination of the top three not having their best day, lack of extra base hits, and unfortunate sequences led to the Emperors getting no more runs. Between Verdung, Keshawn Ogans, Guscette, and Jake Steels the bottom four produced six hits and three walk, but no extra base hits after the first inning and only one other runner even getting to third base. The Emperors were clearly the better team this game, but it would come down to a test of whether the Rome pitching staff could shut down Brooklyn for the rest of the game.

That last part isn’t exactly the toughest thing in the world to do. Brooklyn has the lowest team OPS in the South Atlantic League and no hitters in the lineup above an .800 OPS, so Colin Daniel and friends had their easiest matchup of the season facing them. Daniel has had a few games where his command has gotten inconsistent this season and that’s where trouble has arose for him, and today was a case where walks and poor location were something of a problem for him. His struggles were at their worst in the third inning when he allowed two walks, two hard hit singles, and a couple of runs, but Eric Hartman showed up with the glove and saved Daniel from disaster. Leadoff man Mitch Voit smoked a ball to left field with two runners on, and as the ball carried towards the wall Hartman chased it in a dead sprint. Hartman timed his jump and leaped at the wall and made a spectacular robbery, preserving the lead with the best defensive play of the prospect season thus far. Voit would bite Daniel with a tape measure shot two innings later, but this time with no runners on base Rome retained the lead by a single run. Daniel would likely have faced more trouble in this game if he wasn’t missing bats like crazy, racking up 10 strikeouts and 20 swing and misses, both season highs. The bullpen kept the energy high and retired every batter they faced, striking out six of those to close out the win.

Swing and Misses 

Colin Daniel – 20

Riley Frey – 6

Isaac Gallegos – 3

(19-16) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (16-17) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1

Box Score

• Tate Southisene, 2B: 1-4, BB, .273/.430/.508
• Alex Lodise, SS: 2-5, HR, .252/.323/.4
• Luis Guanipa, DH: 1-4, .302/.345/.527
• Derek Vartanian, SP: 5.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 3.66 ERA
• Carter Lovasz, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 1.02 ERA

You can always count on Augusta to give you something to get excited over. The trio once again all had hits and made an impact in a winning effort, and this time Alex Lodise is the one who stepped up with the biggest play of the game. Lodise hit an opposite field home run late in this game for his second hit of the evening, and there have been some good aspects to this mostly disappointing month of May. His strikeouts are still hovering in concerning territory, though his contact rates thus far give some indication he may improve by simple regression. His contact rate is still below the league average which is a major red flag for a major D1 player at Single-A, but his strikeout rate is hovering at about 4 percentage points higher than should be expected. The biggest recent switch is his power as he has three home runs in his past six games. Lodise’s power numbers are by far the best part of his profile thus far, and he is hitting the ball hard enough to deserve the performance he has put up. He has a .163 ISO despite not having a non-HR extra base hit since April 22nd, and with a few more doubles mixed in his should see his numbers tick up a bit more even from here. After spending basically the entire Augusta recap yesterday ranting over Tate Southisene he responded with a poor game especially by his recent standards, striking out a couple of times and only getting in the hit column on an infield tapper in the ninth inning. He was also caught stealing and had an error in the field to round out what was unfortunately a tough day for him. To round out the recap of the group Luis Guanipa had a decent day at the plate with a line drive single in the first inning and a sharp line out in the second inning. Outside of the three strikeout performance last night Guanipa has just looked so consistently comfortable and explosive at the plate over the past couple of weeks, and his contact rate is quickly catching up to the norms of past seasons.

Derek Vartanian is steadily putting up impressive outings down in A ball, and though this wasn’t his best outing in regards to his command he was still able to hold the game together and put out one run over 5 2/3 innings. He had times where he struggled in this one to dial it in and keep his secondary pitches down in the strike zone, but he has shown consistently that his splitter is a pitch that hitters at this level aren’t equipped to handle. The pitch carries about a 15 mph gap to his fastball (arguably too much for higher level hitters) and he has made lefties at this level look foolish. Left handed hitters have no home runs, a strikeout rate of 32%, and an OPS of .599 against Vartanian and it comes down to his ability to get whiffs on that splitter. His fastball is good enough when his command is on, but the real question moving forward is how he and the Braves choose to develop his slider. Right now it’s a hard, short pitch that doesn’t have quite enough power or movement to get a ton of whiffs, and while that’s sufficient against A-ball competition he’ll really need a more effective breaking ball to crack into real prospect conversations. He’s had struggles against right handed batters and has had to rely on a fringe fastball to get outs against them. Still this is a guy who, despite being 22 and in Single-A, does not have a ton of high-level experience with only 43 innings between Campbell and Augusta after transferring from two years at the JuCo level. He’s going to need a bit of refinement and development but has loads of talent for a guy the Braves were able to land as an undrafted free agent. He has been in control of basically every start he has made so far and is scratching at getting some top 30 consideration.

Swing and Misses

Derek Vartanian – 13

Carter Lovasz – 7

Last night, the Washington Nationals showed just how exciting they can be. They erased a 5-0 first inning deficit, and came back to win 8-7 in extra innings. It was a crazy and emotional game where the boys rose to the occasion. They also wore their hearts on their sleeves, which I love to see, especially for a young team.

There were two instances of just raw emotion that I loved last night. The first one came in the 7th inning, when Richard Lovelady got out of a jam. Lovelady allowed a leadoff double to Elly De La Cruz and then Sal Stewart advanced him over to third on a ground out. The southpaw was in a tight spot, with the go ahead run 90 feet away with 1 out.

He walked the red hot JJ Bleday, and then induced a massive double play with Spencer Steer at the plate. Lovelady is always an expressive guy on the mound, but he went absolutely nuts after he got out of the inning. He was just yelling and screaming as he came off the mound. The only other time Lovelady was this fired up was after he got his first save against the Brewers.

Lovelady’s emotion on the mound is fun to watch, especially when you know his story. The lefty with the funny name has been the butt of jokes for a while, especially among Mets fans. He was the guy that David Stearns kept calling up and then DFA’ing. Lovelady was also not that great with the Mets. However, it is hard to perform when you keep bouncing around like that. Lovelady is just a 30 year old journeyman who is playing for his young son.

With that in mind, it is so awesome to see Lovelady go absolutely ballistic when he gets big outs. Since joining the Nats, Lovelady has a 0.84 ERA in 10 outings. He does not make it easy for himself most of the time, but so far, Lovelady is able to walk the tight rope and get out of the jams. When he does that, we get to see that primal emotion.

Richard Lovelady is always emotional, but Daylen Lile is not really someone I would have tabbed as a super expressive guy. Lile is not James Wood levels of stoic, but he usually is not the guy to flip the bat and make signals into the dugout.

Last night was different though, and a big part of why is due to family. Lile is from Louisville, Kentucky, which is close to Cincinnati. That means his family and friends are able to watch this series. With his loved ones watching on, Lile has been putting on a show. He already has 3 homers this series, including a massive go-ahead shot in the 10th inning last night.

After that homer, Lile pointed to the dugout and put his hand to his neck to signal the game was over. As the kids would say, Lile showed a lot of swag. With the Nats bullpen, the game over signal was a gamble from Lile, but he turned out to be right, his homer was the difference in the game.

I have never seen Lile that fired up before. We are seeing a different side of him in this series. Lile’s dad was also very fired up in the crowd, running down the stairs in pride when his boy hit that home run. Honestly, I would do the same thing if my hypothetical kid played in the big leagues and hit a homer in front of me.

Overall, this Nats team has been much more expressive on the field this year. Maybe there are times where it can go overboard, but for a young team, the emotion suits them well. Every time they win, this group is gaining more confidence. You can see the swagger building, whether it is Lile hitting a homer in extra innings, or CJ Abrams watching a grand slam fly.

I think Blake Butera’s culture allows for more emotion to be shown on the field. Davey Martinez did not prohibit celebrating, but he always preferred those celebrations to be in the dugout, and not on the field. He came from a different generation than Butera. I am not saying that one approach is better, it is just different.

For a veteran team, Martinez’s more old school approach may be a better fit. However, for a young team, I want them to feel free out there on the field. Maybe they are getting too loose sometimes on defense, but the emotion and excitement makes this team fun to watch.

This is the most fun I have had watching the Nats since that Kyle Schwarber led run in June of 2021. It just feels like this team is connected and having a ton of fun. In late 2023 and early 2024, we saw some of this, but it did not last in the end. Last season, it just did not look like the group was having fun.

That has changed this year. Of course the winning helps, but I think Blake Butera also has a part to play in this. Whether it is Richard Lovelady roaring after he gets a big zero, or Daylen Lile celebrating after hitting a huge homer in front of his family, the Nationals are expressing themselves. This team is having fun, and they are not afraid to show it.

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The four-game series between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers comes to a close on Thursday night in Chavez Ravine.

Landen Roupp aims to continue his strong season on the mound as he duels with Emmet Sheehan.

My Giants vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks for May 14 see Roupp leading San Francisco to a victory.

Who will win Giants vs Dodgers tonight: Giants moneyline (+150)

Landen Roupp has performed at the level of a Top-10 starting pitcher, sporting a 2.52 xERA and 2.51 FIP. He’s suppressed hard contact expertly, allowing zero barrels and ranking in the 98th percentile in hard-hit rate. 

He gives the San Francisco Giants a starting pitching edge over Emmet Sheehan, who has lost a full tick on his fastball en route to a career-low 93 Stuff+.

The gap in hitting has narrowed lately. The Los Angeles Dodgers have plated three or fewer runs in 10 of their last 14 games, whereas the Giants have scored 5+ in five of their last eight. 

COVERS INTEL: The Dodgers haven't been making quality contact lately, ranking 26th in hard-hit rate over the last 10 days.

Giants vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-115)

Both starting pitchers have a strong track record against their rival. Roupp has limited L.A.’s projected starting lineup to a .167 AVG and .593 OPS in 48 at-bats, while Sheehan has held SF’s bats to a .088 AVG and .250 OPS across 34 at-bats.

Dave Roberts can turn to a bullpen that leads the majors in FIP (3.12). That’s a valuable card to play in a series where six of the last seven meetings have resulted in an Under.

San Francisco has hit the Under in 10 of its last 15 games and will rely on Roupp limiting a slumping Dodgers lineup in this series finale.

Giants vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Giants +146 | Dodgers -174
• Run line: Giants +1.5 | Dodgers -1.5
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Giants vs Dodgers trend

The Dodgers are 1-3 in Emmet Sheehan’s last four starts. Find more MLB betting trends for Giants vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Giants vs Dodgers and game info

Giants vs Dodgers latest injuries

Giants vs Dodgers weather

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It was a pitcher’s duel until the end. In what has become a regular occurrence for the San Diego Padres, they won it on Gavin Sheets’ two-out, three-run homer. It was a great way to make up for the fact that the Friars hadn’t done a thing to back up starter Michael King’s gem.

The San Diego pitching staff only gave up one run (mostly due to some batted-ball luck) while Milwaukee Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski went seven scoreless innings. He came out to pitch the eighth but exited because of an apparent injury sustained while warming up.

It was a win the Padres needed — which seems to be an oft-used saying lately — and it was one they got. They forced the rubber match and could take the series this afternoon if Griffin Canning can rebound from his last start.

Taking the mound

Kyle Harrison (MIL) v. Griffin Canning (SD)

Harrison has had a great start to the season, pitching to a 2.41 ERA across 33 2/3 innings. The young lefty has impressed after being traded from the Boston Red Sox for Caleb Durbin. He’s racked up 41 strikeouts in that time but has a high 1.22 WHIP.

The southpaw had two of his rougher outings lately against the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees, giving up one run and two runs respectively. Those were still great outings, but Harrison showed some issues with command in his most recent start, walking four Yankees batters across as many innings.

Canning’s last start was tough. He surrendered six runs to the St. Louis Cardinals in 4 1/3 innings on May 8. But that was all due to a tough-luck fifth inning that forced Canning out of the game. But he had a great debut, pitching five innings of one-run ball.

That recent outing is hurting his stats a bit, raising his ERA to 6.75 and his WHIP to 1.61 across 9 1/3 innings. If he can rebound against Milwaukee today, it would be a move in the right direction for Canning’s San Diego tenure.

Batter up!

Skipper Craig Stammen has spent this series in Milwaukee prioritizing offense in his lineup. He’s started Nick Castellanos in right field, meaning Fernando Tatis Jr. plays second base. Miguel Andujar and Gavin Sheets have been in the lineup consistently as well. That is likely to continue.

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

Bogaerts has been solid lately, and owns a .286 career average against Harrison. The same goes for Tatis whose career average is .444 with a 1.333 OPS.

But the real story is Castellanos, who owns a .600 average and 2.000 OPS against the southpaw. His bat could be a major addition to today’s series finale, but he may be out of the lineup instead given how much time he’s spent in right field lately.

Relief corps

Behind King’s great outing, Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Mason Miller locked down the final three-plus innings. They each pitched scoreless appearances, with Miller pitching his 13th save of the season, regaining the major-league lead.

That saved the majority of the ‘pen for today’s series finale, with Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez available. Morejon and Rodriguez are the highest leverage options of the bunch. Should it be a close game when Canning departs, they’ll be the first two out.

Gavin Sheets may soon have a warrant issued for his arrest for stealing a game from the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Wednesday. Sheets stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with the San Diego Padres trailing, 1-0. There were two on and two out and Sheets was in an 0-1 hole when Brewers reliever Abner Uribe left an 88-mph slider over the plate. Sheets turned on the pitch and hit it just beyond the outfield wall in right-center field to put the Padres in front, 3-1. Mason Miller was called on in the bottom of the ninth inning and worked around a leadoff single to secure the two-run win for San Diego.

The Padres faced Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski who was dealing for Milwaukee. He completed seven innings without allowing a run. He only allowed four hits and recorded 10 strikeouts over the seven innings. San Diego sent its ace to the mound as well in Michael King. While not as dominant as his Milwaukee counterpart, King delivered another solid start, but he failed to get run support from his offense. If not for the heroic home run by Sheets, King would be looking at another loss with his offense spinning its wheels.

San Diego was outhit by Milwaukee 9-6, but the Padres needed just two of those hits in the ninth inning to get the win. Miguel Andujar hit a two out single into center field and Xander Bogaerts followed with a walk. That set the stage for Sheets to play her0 and as we have seen before this season, Sheets came through when his team needed it most.

The win by the Padres sets up the rubber match with the Brewers on Thursday. The game is set to start at 10:40 a.m.

Padres News:

• Padres first-year manager Craig Stammen has shown throughout the season he is not afraid to mix up the lineup or ride the hot hand. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball believes Stammen is still just experimenting with his lineup on a daily basis.

• Ethan Salas continues to perform at a high level in the San Diego minor league system. He homered again and seems to be fully recovered from the back issue that caused him to miss all but 10 games in the 2025 season.

• A roster crunch is coming for San Diego and the biggest question around the team so far is who is leaving when Lucas Giolito makes his Padres debut. The expectation is Walker Buehler, German Marquex (IL) or Matt Waldron are released.

Baseball News:

• Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the San Francisco Giants helped the Dodgers finally solve their rival to the north with a 4-0 win.

• Nick Kurtz hit a grand slam and helped the Athletics beat the St. Louis Cardinals.

• Carson Benge hit a walk off home run to lift the New York Mets over the Detroit Tigers. Mets superstar Juan Soto is listed as day-to-day after fouling a ball off his ankle.

• New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried is scheduled to get imaging on his sore elbow. The Yankees were also shutout by Kyle Bradish and the Baltimore Orioles.

• Caddane Rafaela hit a pinch-hit two-run home run to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies.

• Atlanta Braves spoil solid start from Shota Imanaga and beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-1. It is reported the Cubs are adding closer Liam Hendriks on a minor league deal.

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It's a getaway Thursday for some, but for us here, betting the MLB player prop markets and digging for dingers, and it's moving day as I'm looking to get into the black on the season once again.

Today's the day Fernando Tatis Jr. gets that home run monkey off his back, and the Athletics can turn Michael McGreevy's luck into a dinger today at Sutter Health Park. 

And adding Bobby Witt Jr. to any home run card right now just makes sense, as he might be the AL MVP betting favorite by June.

These are my favorite home run props for Thursday, May 14.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Fernando Tatis Jr.	+525
Shea Langeliers	+350
Bobby Witt Jr.	+450
💲Today's HR parlay	+12891

Home run pick: Fernando Tatis Jr (+525)

The drought ends today for Fernando Tatis Jr., who somehow has yet to go deep this year.

He’s been one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball to this point. His xwOBA ranks second on the team despite slugging just .294. He also owns the fastest bat speed on the roster, ranks inside the Top 50 in baseball in that metric, and sits 25th in BlastContact%. Even his attack angle is in a great spot.

It’s a real head-scratcher, and it ends today against lefty Kyle Harrison, whom he’s taken deep over nine career at-bats while hitting .444.

Harrison is a fly-ball pitcher who might be pitching above expectations this season and profiles as a strong target today for a homerless Tatis, who feels more than due with the underlying metrics backing it up.

• Time: 1:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Brewers.TV, Padres.TV

Home run pick: Shea Langeliers (+350)

There aren’t a lot of +EV home run props popping up in the projections today, but Shea Langeliers is one of them with a fair price around +300 against Michael McGreevy at the homer-friendly confines of Sutter Health Park, where temperatures are expected around 80 degrees with slight winds blowing out.

THE BAT ranks Langeliers as the 15th-best home run hitter in baseball, and he’s launched four longballs over his last 28 at-bats.

McGreevy owns a .200 BABIP that simply isn’t sustainable, and his xERA sits nearly three full runs higher than his actual ERA.

He’s not a strikeout pitcher and will have to pitch to contact in a difficult environment. It’s a great home run hitter in a great home run park on a slate without many strong options.

• Time: 3:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSCA, Cardinals.TV

Home run pick: Bobby Witt Jr. (+450)

It’s tough to go wrong with Bobby Witt Jr. on the home run card.

The guy can do it the conventional way or the Little League way, and +450 is a great price on a tough board against lefty Anthony Kay, whom Witt has already seen this season. He’s also hitting lefties at the best rate of his career in 2026. 

Witt owns a 191 wRC+ over the last two weeks, along with the seventh-best slugging percentage in baseball. He’s gone deep five times during that stretch, entering today on a two-game home run streak.

He’s one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now and continues to climb the AL MVP odds board. I’d play Witt down to +400 in this matchup.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Royals.TV, CHSN

Today’s HR parlay

Fernando Tatis Jr.	Bet Now +12891
Shea Langeliers
Bobby Witt Jr.

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Rangers 6, D-Backs 5

• This game shall henceforth be known as The Jake Burger Game.
• I really should use “henceforth” more often. That’s a good word.
• And Paul Sewald coughing up a lead at the Shed brings back good memories, doesn’t it?
• If I were a D-Backs fan, I’d want to vomit.
• The Rangers had no business winning that game. Kumar Rocker was not good, the offense was largely stifled, the relievers offered little relief.
• When the ninth inning started, my thought was that the Rangers were in position to steal one here. Then, when Jacob Latz blew the save, my thought was that, well, this was a game the Rangers didn’t deserve to win in the first place.
• And then…
• And then…
• The unexpected happened.
• Crazy, huh?
• How Kumar Rocker managed to get through five innings without allowing any runs is beyond me. He threw 97 pitches, and the D-backs hitters swung and missed at just 5 of them. He couldn’t put batters away, with his 97 pitches spanning just 21 batters. Rocker walked four batters and struck out just three. Somehow, he gave up just three hits.
• Arizona starter Ryne Nelson, meanwhile, carved up the Rangers through four, with the only Ranger baserunner coming on a softly hit Evan Carter single.
• The Rangers’ fifth inning started with an infield single by Carter. After Ezequiel Duran struck out, Alejandro Osuna was hit by a pitch.
• Jake Burger swung at a first pitch fastball from Nelson and lofted the ball the opposite way…and it kept carrying, and carrying, and carrying until it reached the bleachers. Home run, 3-0 lead, Kumar Rocker is in line for the win.
• Then the Diamondbacks scored on Cole Winn in the sixth, and got a run home in the seventh, putting them in position to make that ninth inning comeback, while the Rangers had 11 of 12 batters retired after the Burger homer, with the one baserunner being due to a Josh Jung double, because apparently Josh Jung has to have a double every game.
• Come the ninth inning, Corey Seager struck out. Josh Jung singled. Evan Carter had a routine F-7.
• The Rangers, per B-R, had a 4% chance of winning the game after the Carter fly out. That win probability is based on a generic model, though. It doesn’t take into account the run-dampening qualities of the Shed, or the fact that the Rangers had Duran, Osuna, Burger and Danny Jansen — not exactly a Murderer’s Row (Murderers’ Row?) — due up.
• You know what happened. Duran doubled, bringing home Jung. Osuna drew a walk. Burger singled home Duran to tie the game. D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo pulled Paul Sewald for Juan Morillo, who apparently is taking a break from fronting Rage Against The Machine.
• And then Danny Jansen did this…

• Walk ‘em off, Danny Boy.
• Again, think how much this game must have stung for Diamondbacks fans.
• Arizona had 19 baserunners — 10 hits, 8 walks, and an E6. They left 13 runners on base. 13!
• The Rangers had 8 hits in the game — half of which came in the ninth inning. They had just one walk — the Osuna 9th inning walk. 10 baserunners, half of them coming in the ninth inning, six of them scoring.
• Texas was 3 for 4 with runners in scoring position in the game. You aren’t going to give up five runs, have just four at bats with runners in scoring position, and win many games.
• It reminds me of the old Buddy Hackett joke:
• “Ask me what the secret to comedy is.”
• “Okay, what’s the secret to co-”
• “TIMING!!!”
• Kumar Rocker’s sinker maxed out at 96.5 mph, averaging 94.7 mph. Cole Winn reached 95.7 mph with his fastball. Jalen Beeks’ fastball touched 95.2 mph. Peyton Gray’s one fastball was 92.6 mph. Tyler Alexander’s one sinker was 90.5 mph. Jacob Latz reached 97.3 mph with his fastball. Cal Quantrill’s sinker topped out at 95.7 mph.
• Evan Carter had a 103.9 mph ground out. Josh Jung had a 103.0 mph double. Ezequiel Duran had a 102.5 mph double. Joc Pederson had a 102.2 mph line out.
• Heading into an off day on a win — and a series win. Feels good.

I’m not going to argue one way or another, I’m just throwing the question out there.

The Braves got Mauricio Dubon in a salary dump. The Honduran utility man had a standout defensive year in 2025, accumulating 2.2 fWAR in just under 400 PAs, but that wasn’t enough for the Astros to be interested in retaining him for about $6 million in salary. He’d put up about 1 fWAR in 400 PAs the year before, and about 2 fWAR in 500 PAs in 2023. As he had never hit all that well, it was a defense-and-hope-the-bat-won’t-kill you profile.

Fast forward to, well, now, and Dubon has 1.0 fWAR in 165 PAs. He’s not playing defense at the same breakneck pace as last year, but it’s still good. His 108 wRC+ is a product of substantially outhitting his xwOBA (.328 wOBA, .309 xwOBA), but the xwOBA is his highest in a season since 2020, and decent in and of itself.

The Braves have benefited hugely from his versatility, as he served as the de facto starter at shortstop to help weather Ha-Seong Kim’s injury, only to shift around to the outfield to cover concerns with Michael Harris II’s quad and the seemingly-inevitable Ronald Acuña Jr. lower body injury. More to the point, unlike many “utility guys” (hi, Emilio Bonifacio, my longest-tenured enemy), Dubon has already accrued at least a run above average per Statcast’s measures at both shortstop and left field, and hasn’t been negative anywhere.

The bat continues to be a work in progress, but it really does feel like the emphasis is on the “progress” part of that idiom, after a fairly stagnant time in San Francisco and Houston. He has definitely oriented his approach to try and hit the ball harder, with the biggest change being more selective in terms of the strikes he offers at. It hasn’t been a profound shift as he still isn’t exactly clobbering the ball (.335 xwOBACON is well above his league-worst-ish marks the last two years, but still well below league average), but he’s done a good job shifting the boons available to him from his hand-eye coordination from “will make sure I make contact with everything” to “will make sure I hit everything at a productive angle, even if I don’t hit it all that hard.”

There have also been some interesting changes for him beyond that, as he’s completely remade his stance. He’s now standing further back in the box but also falling over the plate, which is letting him essentially fight the ball off to center and right, especially when he’s pitched outside. But, his stance is also much more open than before, which might help him turn on inside pitches (like he did last night), though I’m honestly not sure the exact mechanics of how an open stance helps when he’s geared a lot of his approach towards poking liners over the infield.

In any case, Dubon has been a huge part of the Braves being where they are right now — he’s filled multiple holes as they’ve arisen and come through quite a lot (11 games with 0.06 WPA or more), despite nothing particularly special in his overall WPA (it’s negative for the season) or clutch score (a very generic 0.20). (He also has 11 games with -0.06 WPA or worse. He’s been in the thick of it all year, but he’s come through as often as he hasn’t, basically.) Alex Anthopoulos has already made public statements about how depth has been huge this year while previously being a thing he ignored as somewhat of a counter-current to his former colleagues with the Dodgers/in the Andrew Friedman management tree.

So, will the Braves extend him? Or, will they let him hit free agency and re-sign him? An injury or performance decline could upend all of this, of course. But, the rest of the roster likely isn’t getting any younger or less injury prone, which means Dubon will have a clear role going forward should the Braves choose to retain him. His offensive track record suggests he won’t be in for a huge payday, but if he continues to polish himself at the plate, that might change.

Right now, I could see the Braves offering him about $15 million to hang around for next year. Dubon might try to angle for a bit more, but his camp might be better served and waiting to see how much of his current 4 fWAR-per-season pace he can sustain. The more he is able to, the larger a chance of a two-year-ish deal at league-average-regular ($20 million annually or so) that gets him to his mid-30s. But, if he really wants to stay and the keep the vibes near-immaculate, then yeah, I can see him signing something short to cover 2027.

What do you think?

The day is finally upon us. Many resigned themselves to the fact that when Ranger Suárez left in free agency over the winter, there would come a day in which he would be facing the Phillies. Suárez signing with the American League Boston Red Sox lessened that possibility, but the day has come, nevertheless. Suárez has had a good first month in Boston, as he owns a 2-2 record with a 2.77 ERA through seven starts. However, he left his last start on May 3rd after just four innings due to tightness in his right hamstring.

But we’re not here to discuss what Suárez has done with the Red Sox. Instead, let’s take some time to reminisce about Suárez’ Phillies career. Signed out of his native Venezuela when he was just 16-years old, Suárez grew to be a fan favorite in Philadelphia and pitched in almost every kind of role or situation you could imagine. He appeared in 187 games as a Phillie including 119 starts and went 53-37 with a 3.38 ERA. His trademark calm, cool, collected demeanor as well as his impeccable, nonchalant fielding became hallmarks of a very successful Phillies tenure.

However, the postseason is where Suárez really shined. His 1.48 career postseason ERA is seventh best all-time among pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched. That includes two scoreless appearances in the 2022 World Series. But of course, the Phillies wouldn’t have made it to that World Series if it weren’t for Suárez entering in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the NLCS with two on and one out in a one-run game with the Phillies clinging to the lead after Bedlam at the Bank. In true Ranger Suárez fashion, it took him only two pitches to record the final two outs and seal the pennant for Philadelphia.

It’s hard to top that when it comes to memorable moments for Ranger Suárez with the Phillies, but your opinion for your favorite may vary. So, what’s your favorite memory of Ranger Suárez with the Phillies?

Shōta Imanaga is pitching like the ace everyone hoped he would be.

Imanaga threw seven outstanding innings (and one batter into the eighth, and that inning led to the Cubs’ undoing), the third time this year he’s thrown seven. But Phil Maton could not hold a 1-1 tie together and the Cubs lost to the Braves for the second straight night, 4-1.

It wasn’t just Maton’s failure, either. The Cubs again didn’t generate much offense, just four hits and a single run. From BCB’s JohnW53:

The Cubs have made a total of 13 hits in their four straight losses: five, three, one and four.

Since 1901, they have made fewer in four consecutive games only once: 12, April 4-7, 2021: three, five, one and three. They won the first two games of that span, 4-3 over the Pirates and 5-3 over the Brewers, then lost to the Brewers, 4-0 and 4-2, the last game in 10 innings.

This is just the fourth time the Cubs managed only 13 hits in four games. The earlier three all were more than a century ago:  Sept. 3-4, 1905 (back-to-back doubleheaders); Sept. 28-Oct. 1, 1912; and Aug. 4-6, 1920 (doubleheader last day). The Cubs won one of the games in 1905 and lost all four in 1912 and 1920. 

Let’s go back to the beginning of this frustrating loss.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Drake Baldwin homered off Imanaga. That shouldn’t be a game-killer; a solo home run that early isn’t the worst thing in the world. And in 54.1 innings this season, Imanaga has allowed only five home runs, four of them solo.

The Cubs managed to tie the game up in the top of the fifth. Carson Kelly led off with a single and advanced to second on a ground out. Dansby Swanson walked and the Braves replaced starter JR Ritchie with reliever Tyler Kinley.

Nico Hoerner singled off Kinley to make it 1-1 [VIDEO].

A note on Nico’s RBI hit:

That’s where the game stayed through seven innings. Imanaga was allowed to start the eighth because left-handed hitter Michael Harris II was the leadoff hitter. Imanaga ran the count to 3-1 on Harris, who then broke his bat on a weak contact grounder to Nico.

Oh, no, Nico! [VIDEO]

That’s a play Hoerner makes 999 times out of 1,000. Unfortunately, that was the 1,000th time. (Also, how is that not an error on Nico?)

Maton replaced Imanaga and allowed a single to Ha-Seong Kim, then struck out Dominic Smith. Mike Yastrzemski batted for José Azocar and doubled in Harris, but Kim was thrown out at the plate by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Swanson [VIDEO].

At 2-1, this game might still have been within reach, but Maton then served up a home-run ball to Mauricio Dubón to make it 4-1 and the way the Cubs bats have been going, it might as well have been 40-1. The Cubs did get a leadoff walk from Michael Busch in the ninth off Raisel Iglesias, but Iglesias then got Michael Conforto to hit into a double play, and PCA popped up to end the game.

Holding the Braves, who lead MLB in runs, to five runs Tuesday and four runs Wednesday isn’t too bad. But the Cubs offense has simply gone missing on this road trip and, well, they’re going to have to find it pretty soon. The other teams in the NL Central all lost Wednesday, so the Cubs still lead the division by 2.5 games over the Brewers and Cardinals.

A couple of notes on Imanaga’s outing from John:

Imanaga’s seven innings plus one batter is the longest start by a Cub this season.

He had pitched 7.0 twice; Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon, once.

Imanaga gave up no runs and one run in his previous two, with four and three hits. He struck out five and one. In this one: five hits, no walks, six strikeouts.

Imanaga now has six quality starts. Cabrera has four; Taillon, three; and Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton and Colin Rea, one each, for a total 15 in 43 games.

Here’s a bit more on Shōta’s pitch selection [VIDEO].

Imanaga struck out six [VIDEO].

Imanaga’s 59 strikeouts are third in the National League behind Jacob Misiorowski (80) and Cristopher Sánchez (67).

Here are some postgame comments from Craig Counsell [VIDEO].

The series finale, on paper, is the toughest pitching matchup. Ben Brown will make his second start of 2026 for the Cubs. Last time out, against the Rangers last Friday, he was really good (four no-hit innings). Hopefully that continues. The Cubs will have to try to get the offense rolling against Chris Sale. Game time is again 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage wil be via Marquee Sports Network (and streaming on Peacock, the Braves broadcast, outside the Cubs and Braves market territories).

As I write this, late at night on an irksomely chilly May 13, in a year where (like every year now) spring seems reluctant to arrive, the Chicago White Sox are a .500 ballclub. The cold, sun-shy temps can make a person think we’re just at the start of a season, where they might be sitting at 3-3 in a still-formless barely-born year, but the calendar gives lie to that. 

We’re 42 games in. A bit more than a quarter-way through the 2026 season, and the Sox are officially mediocre. And that’s a cause for minor joy, which might be slightly sardonic but is neither muted nor insincere. 

It’s been a long time coming. Last season, the high-point was 2-2. In 2023, they were as good as 3-3 before the wheels came off. In 2024 the White Sox started strong, at 0-0, but quickly went downhill. 

In fact, the last time the Sox had a .500 record this late in the season was 2022. If you remember that year, we were perpetually .500. They hovered a game or two on either side of middling for most of the year. In a nice piece of tuneless harmony, they were never more than five games under or over .500, and even the eight-game losing streak that wrecked any hope at returning to the playoffs was balanced by going 5-2 to finish a pointless 81-81. 

It is that part — the chance of returning to the playoffs, in a weak AL Central just there for the taking — that made 2022 so brutal, and so emotionally different than this by-standings unremarkable year. Despite getting trounced by Houston in the 2021 playoffs, the defending division champ White Sox were hot preseason picks to win the World Series. Injuries, bad management, regression and terrible roster construction led to a season that never got started, until it came to a thudding finish. It’s weird and unsettling to think how not very long ago there was optimism, before the bottom fell completely out. 

It’s also strange to think that there have only been three years completely in the wilderness — and you might even say that we began to leave the wilderness last year. So the years of wandering weren’t that long, it is just that the wilderness was so thorny and snake-filled and parched and really not very pleasant to look at. Not a photogenic wilderness. More of a superfund site than a wilderness, really. 

There’s a chance that metaphor got away from me, just like the excitement we have over a .500 club could be seen as our emotions getting away from us. After all, there are a lot of negative signs, including a run differential of -12, which leads to an x-W/L of … 20-22. So only one game. But even that minor blip can be chalked up to an early-season bout of looking really bad in losses and like a normal baseball team in the wins. 

And that’s what the Sox are right now: a normal team. Not a good one, but not a bad one. Certainly not a historically bad one, as we’ve been. Not a World Series contender, but in a terrible year for the AL in general and the AL Central in particular, a goofily fringe playoff hopeful. 

Being normal when you’ve been intensely abnormal is a good feeling. It’s qualitatively different from being frustrating and mediocre when you expect more. There isn’t the agony of expectation, just the silly joy of thinking that you might, one day, have those agonized expectations again. 

If the season ended today, the Sox would be in the playoffs. It doesn’t end today, of course. But at the very least, it feels like something else might just be beginning. And no matter what the temperature is outside, no matter how unnatural our seasons might be, that feeling of a new bloom is proof that you can never hold back spring.