Category: Baseball

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

In this week’s Reacts survey, we asked fans which Brewer you’d most like to see join ace Jacob Misiorowski in the All-Star Game in Philadelphia come July. The results were pretty split:

Among the five options — Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Jake Bauers, William Contreras, and Kyle Harrison — only Contreras has an All-Star selection to his name. Turang and Chourio, perhaps unsurprisingly, combined to garner more than half the vote, with Turang coming in at 36% and Chourio at 27%.

Turang, 26, is hitting .262/.378/.465 with 11 homers, 44 RBIs, 54 runs, and 12 steals this season, while Chourio is hitting .307/.360/.558 with 10 homers, 28 RBIs, 28 runs, and five steals (in just 38 games).

Bauers, 30, is having the best year of his veteran career, while Harrison’s stuff seems to be clicking this season. Lastly, Contreras remains a veteran presence on a young Brewer squad as a reliable everyday backstop, which has been especially valuable with Milwaukee’s very young rotation.

Do you agree with the results? Who did you vote for? Weigh in in the comments, and be sure to use FanDuel Sportsbook for all of your sports betting needs.

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

If only the first half-inning counted, Thursday night’s game would have gone well for the St. Louis Cardinals. Unfortunately, the other 8 1/2 innings were terrible as Matthew Liberatore had one of his worst starts of the year and the Kansas City Royals took advantage of that easily beating the Cardinals in the first game of this weekend’s awkwardly-scheduled I-70 series renewal.

If you’re a St. Louis Cardinals fan, Thursday night’s game wasn’t without his highlights, but they are far outnumbered by the disappointments. Let’s start with the very limited positives. In the top of the 1st inning, St. Louis got off to a fast start. JJ Wetherholt led off the game with a single to left followed Iván Herrera being walked (don’t worry, he’d predictably be hit by a pitch later). Jordan Walker then grounded a ball under Bobby Witt Jr’s glove allowing JJ Wetherholt to score giving the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead.

Jordan Walker would advance to second on a wild pitch by Royals starter Matt Cameron and then former Royal Nelson Velázquez walked loading the bases for Alec Burleson. He would muscle a sacrifice fly to center scoring Herrera upping the St. Louis lead to 2-0. That’s it for most of the happy thoughts.

Matthew Liberatore’s bottom of the 1st inning wasn’t awful with the exception of a 419 foot home run from Bobby Witt Jr. St. Louis still maintained a 2-1 lead with one inning complete. The same can’t be said about the 2nd inning.

It’s hard to fully explain how bad the bottom of the 2nd inning was for Matthew Liberatore and the St. Louis Cardinals. He would not finish it which gives you some idea of how fast this game went downhill. The Royals would hit 5 doubles in the bottom of the 2nd inning alone. FIVE DOUBLES. Here’s the chronological order of events. Salvador Perez doubled. Carter Jensen doubled scoring Perez tying the game 2-2 which would be the last time the Cardinals weren’t losing Thursday night. The next batter, Loftin, flied out to center advancing Jensen to third. Isaac Collins would join the doubles party scoring Jensen and giving the Royals a 3-2 lead they wouldn’t lose. Massey would reach on an error by Nelson Velázquez scoring Collins upping the Royals lead to 4-2, but they weren’t even close to done. Lane Thomas would double scoring Massey followed by a single by Bobby Witt Jr. scoring Thomas. After a groundout by Caglianone, Starling Marte would (you guessed it) double scoring Witt Jr. By the time the 2nd inning was done, Matthew Liberatore would be removed from the game by manager Oli Marmol and replaced by Gordon Graceffo and the Royals would lead 7-2. Matthew Liberatore’s stat line was not pretty. 1 2/3 innings allowing 7 runs (5 of them earned) on 7 hits with 2 strikeouts and no walks.

To the Cardinals credit, they didn’t give up. St. Louis would rally in the top of the 4th inning. Blaze Jordan reached on an infield single followed by a single by Jose Fermin. Pedro Pages struck out and JJ Wetherholt lined out, but Ivan Herrera would get hit by a pitch again to load the bases. Jordan Walker then grounded deep to short, but Bobby Witt Jr. landed awkwardly and was unable to throw to any base allowing Blaze Jordan to score cutting the Royals lead down to 7-3. Bobby Witt Jr. would end up leaving the game with right knee discomfort, but no word on the extend of any injury yet.

The Royals would put the game out of reach in the bottom of the 4th inning when Gordon Graceffo walked Tolbert before Caglianone crushed an opposite field home run nearly hitting a camera in left field increasing the Royals lead to 9-4. Kansas City wasn’t done. Marte singled to left and then two batters later, Jensen doubled to right as Marte was held at third. This would lead to the Major League debut for Maxwel Rajcic who would give up a double to Loftin scoring Jensen and Marte giving Kansas City an 11-4 lead. Rajcic would get the final two outs of the bottom of the 4th, though.

In the top of the 5th inning, St. Louis would nick away at the huge Kansas City lead as Masyn Winn doubled and later scored when Jose Fermin singled making it 11-4 Royals. Maxwel Rajcic would impress in the bottom of the 5th inning setting the Royals down in order 1-2-3 which is the only inning that would happen tonight. Rajcic would pitch into the bottom of the 6th inning with the only other blemish being a 385 foot home run by Salvador Perez giving Kansas City a dozen runs. Congrats to Salvador as his dinger set the home run record for Kauffman Stadium. Well done, sir.

The Cardinals would threaten to make it an interesting game in the top of the 7th inning as Masyn Winn reached on an infield single and Blaze Jordan would double. Masyn Winn would score on a ground out by Fermin giving St. Louis its 5th run. Pedro Pagés managed a sacrifice fly to right scoring Blaze Jordan from third making it 12-6 Royals.

I wish I could say that the Cardinals bullpen kept the Royals from scoring anymore, but that wouldn’t be accurate. In the bottom of the 7th inning, Justin Bruihl would give up a single to Collins would steal second and then score on a single by Lane Thomas piling on the Kansas City lead to 13-6.

It’s been said often in the game discussion comments that the St. Louis Cardinals are fun to watch even when they lose and that can be said about Thursday night’s game, too. The Cardinals would load the bases in the top of the 8th inning again threatening to make it a competitive baseball game, but would get no runs after right fielder Marte would make a nice sliding catch.

Kansas City would add a somewhat humiliating 14th run in the bottom of the 8th inning as Marte and Perez both singled. Marte would eventually score on a passed ball charged against catcher Jimmy Crooks as Oli Marmol put a load of replacements into the game. 14-6 Royals win. Stuff happens.

There were several positives to take out of Thursday’s game. JJ Wetherholt and Masyn Winn each had 3 hits. JJ reached base 5 times which is a high in his still-young career. Blaze Jordan, Jordan Walker and Jose Fermin had a couple hits apiece. Maxwel Rajcic made his Major League debut. The Cardinals offense did its job by scoring 6 runs and hammering 13 hits. We won’t talk about the runners-in-scoring position, though.

The St. Louis Cardinals will try to pretend Thursday’s game against the Kansas City Royals never happened as they’ll send Michael McGreevy to the mound for a hopefully different result Friday night. The Royals have Seth Lugo ready to go for Friday night’s game which will be watchable only on Apple TV+. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm central time.

Twins outfielder Byron Buxton is giving no time to any trade speculation.

“I’m a Twin,” Buxton reiterated when asked by reporters Thursday about the possibility of being traded ahead of the trade deadline on Aug. 3.

Buxton, who has put up a slash line of .275/.336/.601 with 23 home runs this year, has been a name floated around in trade rumors given the Twins’ middling 36-40 record as of Thursday.

It should also be noted that Buxton, 32, has a full no-trade clause, meaning he could block any deal Minnesota makes.

“I don’t give a f–k,” Buxton told The Athletic about hearing his name in trade rumors. “End of the day, nobody’s in my shoes. Nobody can say anything about what I’m going to do. I know what I’m doing.

“The only way I’m getting out of here — they’re going to have to come talk to me and tell me something else. Simple as that. … I ain’t said nothing about leaving, nor will I. I’m a Twin.”

With the Twins sitting just 1½ games out of an American League wild-card spot, Buxton told The Athletic he believes his team is headed in the right direction.

Buxton, who was drafted by the Twins with the No. 2 pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, expressed similar feelings at the 2025 All-Star Game, saying that he plans to remain in Minnesota for the rest of his career.

“I’m going to be a Minnesota Twin for the rest of my life,” Buxton told reporters then. “It’s the best feeling in the world, knowing I can walk into a clubhouse that says ‘Minnesota Twins’ for the rest of my life.”

The Twins traded 10 players last trade deadline before finishing with a 70-92 record. They also cut payroll by $38 million ahead of this season.

Buxton, who signed a seven-year, $100 million extension in December 2021, is currently the second-highest-paid player on the Twins’ 2026 payroll behind pitcher Pablo Lopez.

Buxton has had shining moments during his time with the Twins, but has had trouble staying on the field, playing over 120 games just twice across his 11-year MLB career.

He enjoyed a career year last season, posting a .264/.327/.551 slash line with 35 home runs in 126 games.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. left Thursday night's game with right knee discomfort, the latest scare for a team that least afford to lose a franchise player.

Witt appeared to tweak the knee fielding an infield single in the fourth inning on July 18, landing awkwardly on his right leg. He stayed in for a few outs before exiting. It is the same knee that forced Witt out of a June 7 win over the Minnesota Twins with soreness, though he returned two days later and manager Matt Quatraro said there was nothing structurally hurt.

Depth behind Witt is thin

Maikel Garcia slid to shortstop when Witt exited in early June, but he left Tuesday night's game and is now on the IL with lumbrical muscle strain on the top of his left hand. Utility man Tyler Tolbert is the only other Royal to play the spot with any regularity, though Josh Rojas has recently joined the Royals roster and can cover short. Neither approaches Witt's production.

Witt is the Royals leader

Witt is the engine of the Royals' lineup and an American League MVP candidate. The 25-year-old is a two-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove winner and the 2024 batting champion. He again leads the AL in stolen bases this season with 28 while hitting .294 with 10 home runs. Witt is signed long term on a deal that can keep him in Kansas City into the next decade.

More: MLB power rankings: Brewers and The Miz rise after conquering Philly

NEW YORK (AP) — Andrew Benintendi launched a pinch-hit grand slam off Camilo Doval in the eighth inning Thursday night and the Chicago White Sox ended a nine-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium with a 5-1 victory over New York.

Benintendi batted for Randal Grichuk and was Chicago’s third pinch hitter of the inning. He snapped a 1-all tie by driving Doval’s first pitch, a 100 mph sinker, into the right-center seats.

It was the fourth career slam for Benintendi, who played 33 games for the Yankees in 2022, and his second pinch-hit homer.

Benintendi went deep after pinch-hitter Sam Antonacci doubled off Fernando Cruz (4-2). Tim Hill plunked pinch-hitter Jacob Gonzalez and Tristan Peters with pitches before getting an out.

The White Sox won in the Bronx for the first time since June 8, 2023. Chicago was outscored 22-7 in the first two games of the three-game series and 58-18 during its skid in the Bronx.

Colson Montgomery also homered and made a key defensive play in the seventh before Chicago went ahead.

Montgomery tagged out Anthony Volpe trying to stretch a double. Volpe hit a ball over the head of left fielder Junior Perez, but he recovered to make a strong one-hop throw to Montgomery at third base and Volpe was out by several feet.

Ryan McMahon hit a tying homer in the third off bulk reliever Sean Burke (4-4), but the Yankees had their four-game winning streak snapped and fell to 9-5 since losing captain Aaron Judge to a fractured right rib.

New York also lost Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the fourth when the second baseman fouled a pitch off the area near his groin.

Yankees starter Ryan Weathers allowed one run and three hits in 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out eight and walked one.

Burke followed Chicago opener Bryan Hudson and permitted one run and five hits while striking out eight over the final 7 1/3 innings.

The White Sox won for the fifth time in their last 17 road games and finished 6-5 in an 11-game stretch against the Phillies, Braves, Dodgers and Yankees.

Up next

White Sox: RHP Erick Fedde (2-5, 4.50 ERA) opposes LHP Tarik Skubal (3-3, 2.81) in the opener of a three-game series Friday at Detroit.

Yankees: RHP Cam Schlittler (7-3, 1.82 ERA) faces RHP Rhett Lowder (3-3, 4.60) in the opener of a three-game series against visiting Cincinnati on Friday.

PHILADELPHIA — Bo Bichette’s streak of multihit games ended Thursday night, but the guy batting behind him, as well as the rest of the Mets lineup, kept marching.

Juan Soto blasted two homers in the first three innings before the Mets broke out in the seventh for a 6-4 victory over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

“I have had some ups and downs so far, but it feels great,” Soto said of a season in which he’s posted a .980 OPS with 17 home runs. “I definitely would love to be in a different spot as a team, but I want to help as much as I can to bring them back up.”

It was a second straight win for the Mets spurred by the lineup (they scored nine runs in beating the Reds on Wednesday), and Francisco Lindor’s return looms; the shortstop is scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment Friday and could rejoin the Mets within days.

“His defense and his bat, he’s elite,” Soto said. “He’s one of the best defensive players in the game and I think he’s going to help a lot.”

Bichette, who had recorded six straight multiple-hit games, finished 0-for-5 on a night the Mets totaled 11 hits.

Sean Manaea gave the Mets a chance by limiting the Phillies to three runs, two earned, on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts over 5 ¹/₃ innings. The lefty’s ERA, which peaked at 6.85 on May 6, fell to 4.64.

Soto’s two-out homer in the first against Aaron Nola accounted for the Mets’ initial run. Soto crushed a 1-2 cutter into the seats in right field before Nola’s fielding error on Jared Young’s grounder gave the Mets another base runner. A.J. Ewing followed with an RBI double that widened the lead to 2-0.

But Manaea gave back one run in the bottom of the inning on Alec Bohm’s RBI single. Manaea drilled Trea Turner and allowed a single to Kyle Schwarber to begin the inning. Bryce Harper, on base on a fielder’s choice, was thrown out attempting to steal third base to conclude the inning.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

Soto’s second blast of the night gave the Mets a 3-1 lead in the third. It was the 30th multihomer game of Soto’s career and second this season.

“This is a guy that is more than capable of carrying a team, but he’s not trying to do too much,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s going to continue to take his walks, he’s going to hit the ball hard, he’s a really good player.”

Sloppy defense by Francisco Alvarez cost the Mets a run in the third. Alvarez was charged with a passed ball and error on strike 3 to Schwarber when he threw errantly to first base on a pitch he mishandled as Schwarber swung and missed.

Bohm’s RBI double sliced the Mets lead to 3-2.

Bryson Stott singled and stole second in the fourth before Derek Hill stroked an RBI single that tied it 3-3. Hill took second on Ewing’s throwing error on the play, but Manaea retired Justin Crawford for the third out.

Manaea walked Harper in the fifth before getting Bohm to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Pinch hitter Eric Wagaman delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh. Carson Benge singled leading off against Phillies reliever José Alvarado, stole second and reached third on a wild pitch.

After pinch hitter Mark Vientos drew a two-out walk, Wagaman’s single gave the Mets a 4-3 lead.

Marcus Semien’s ensuing triple — his first of the season — brought in two runs to put the Phillies in a 6-3 hole. Semien appeared struck out to end the inning, but as the Phillies attempted to leave the field, plate umpire Brian Walsh ruled his foul tip hit the dirt. Semien capitalized on his extended at-bat.

Huascar Brazobán, A.J. Minter and Luke Weaver combined for 2 ²/₃ innings of scoreless relief.

Weaver struck out the side in the eighth. Devin Williams allowed one run in the ninth on a Justin Crawford RBI single before retiring Schwarber on a line drive to right for the final out with the tying runs on base.

As part of the current collective bargaining agreement talks, Major League Baseball has proposed a radical overhaul of the MLB Draft. The changes include not only the introduction of an international draft (which MLB has been advocating for a while) but the end of draft eligibility for high school players and the ability to trade picks. The proposal would also reduce the number of rounds in the draft from 20 to 12 and come with major restrictions on the amount of money teams could give out in amateur bonuses.

J.J. Cooper at Baseball America has an excellent overview of the changes and the effects that it would have. Unfortunately, much of that article is behind a paywall. Bob Nightengale at USA Today has a piece on the proposed draft changes as does Mike Axisa at CBS Sports for those of you who don’t have a BA subscription. Evan Drellich also has a piece on the changes at The Athletic for those of you with a subscription to that.

Let’s go through the changes one by one to see what MLB is proposing.

Reducing the number of rounds in the draft

MLB has been slowly chipping away at the number of rounds in the draft for years. Up until 1986, there were two separate drafts, one in June and one in January. Then for years the draft in June would continue as long as teams still wanted to make picks. Then it became a 50-round draft, which was reduced to a 40-round draft that was once again reduced to the current 20 rounds in 2021.

MLB is now proposing that the draft be reduced to 12 rounds. They are also proposing that any undrafted player be limited to a $10,000 signing bonus. Currently, MLB teams are allowed to give up to $125,000 to any undrafted amateur without it counting against their bonus pool. They can even give a player more if they have leftover bonus pool money.

The obvious impact of this is that it would disincentivize marginal prospects from starting a professional career. While most baseball players don’t get the kinds of NIL money in college that football and basketball players get and sometimes they don’t even get full scholarships, ten thousand dollars is not much of an incentive to give up the chance to play in college.

I think it’s a fair question as to how many rounds the draft should last, but the hard cap of $10,000 on amateur free agents is clearly punitive. You can argue that players not taken in the first 12 rounds don’t have much of a chance at making the majors anyway, but Cubs catching prospect Owen Ayers was a 19th-round pick in 2024 and signed for $50,000. He’s now listed on several Top 100 prospect lists. Would Ayers have signed if he hadn’t been drafted and only offered 10k? Who knows? But this system would certainly save the owners a lot of money, even if it might cost MLB some talented players.

International Draft

This one is the least surprising because MLB has been proposing it for a long time. The last CBA had an agreement that the owners and the players would discuss adopting an international draft, but they were unable to come to an agreement. To be fair, everyone agrees that the current system of talent acquisition in (mostly) Latin America is broken. Teams are coming to “handshake” agreements for millions of dollars with 12- and 13-year-old kids from the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. No one thinks that’s a good thing. The question has always been whether an international draft is a cure worse than the disease.

So MLB is proposing two 12-round drafts, one for players from the US and Canada and one for international players. There would be an equal bonus pool for both the international and domestic draft.

The argument in favor of the international draft is that everyone realizes that it’s insane to offer 12-year-olds a million dollars (to be paid, maybe, in four years) under the table. The argument against it is that under the current system, the buscones who identify and train Latin American players and the teams that offer them money under the table have a real incentive to develop those players into the best players they can be. Those incentives would go away (or at least greatly lessen) under a draft, where any team could scoop up another team’s hard work with an earlier pick.

Bonus pool money

With this draft, the owners are proposing a massive reduction in the amount of money that could be offered in amateur bonuses. Currently, the 30 MLB teams spend around a collective $600 million a year on player signing bonuses. Under this proposal, there would be $200 million (split 30 ways) for domestic bonuses and $200 million (again split) for international bonuses. This money would also count against any salary cap that would be agreed to in the collective bargaining talks.

Hard draft slot

No longer would teams negotiate with players over what their signing bonus would be. Players would be required to accept the MLB mandates slot bonus for their pick. This would end some players holding out for more money and teams drafting several players who agree to sign for cheap in the later rounds to even things out. Since most players who want overslot bonuses are high school players, this might not have a big impact because of the next proposal.

Age restrictions

Here’s the big one. Currently, there are several points where players become eligible to sign with a major league team. International players become eligible at 16. An American player becomes eligible when they graduate from high school, which is usually at age 18 but sometimes as young as 17. If they don’t sign out of high school and enroll in a four-year college, they they have to wait until after their junior year until they are eligible to be drafted again. Which is usually at age 21. There are a few draft-eligible sophomores, which we don’t need to go into here.

However, if they sign with a junior college out of high school, they become eligible for the draft after every season. So a player can be eligible to be signed at 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21 years old, depending on their circumstances.

What MLB is proposing is that international players become eligible for the draft at 18 and US/Canada players become eligible at 20. So high school players would no longer be eligible to be drafted and almost all college players could be drafted after their sophomore seasons.

This move would be a major boon for college baseball. Instead of Pete Crow-Armstrong being drafted by the Mets in the first round, he would have gone to Vanderbilt for two years. Current Cubs top prospect Josiah Hartshorn would have just finished up his freshman season at Texas A&M.

For MLB, this would push a lot of the costs of development onto the NCAA. It would also mean an end to elite players making their major-league debut at 19 and 20 and then becoming free agents at 26 or 27, when they get the massive contracts. The Pirates’ Konnor Griffith, rather than being a Rookie-of-the-Year candidate, would have just finished up his sophomore year at LSU and would be a likely candidate for the first pick in the draft this July.

But the goal of NCAA programs isn’t to develop players. It’s to win ballgames. As one unnamed scouting director was quoted as saying in Nightengale’s article, most college freshmen don’t even play. Sure, they get training and coaching outside of games, but for all but the most elite prospects, such a proposal would mean players missing at least a year of development. MLB probably doesn’t have a problem with the elite players being drafted at 20, the solid prospects drafted at 21 and the rest at 22. The union likely does.

It’s also been noted that it seems unfair that international players can sign at 18 and US/Canada players have to wait until they’re 20. International players could still make the majors at 20 and 21 while American players could not.

Trading draft picks

Currently, only competitive balance picks are eligible to be traded. MLB is proposing that all draft picks are eligible to be dealt with some limitations.

• A pick could not be traded more than a year in advance. So a team could not trade a 2027 draft pick until after the 2026 draft was concluded.
• Teams could “trade up” or “down” during the first round, and first round only, of the draft as it is underway. It wouldn’t have to be only first-round picks involved in deals, but the ability to trade picks would end after the first round ended.
• No team could trade away their first-round pick two years in a row, and no team could acquire more than three extra picks in the first three rounds of any draft.
• Competitive balance picks would be eliminated.
• The draft lottery, established in the last CBA, would be reduced from the first six picks to the first four picks.
• No team could get a lottery (top four) pick three years in a row. Other current restrictions would be eliminated.
• Medical evaluations at the MLB Draft combines would go from optional to mandatory for all draft-eligible players. Currently a player can opt out of a physical, but then the team that drafts him is not required to make them a minimum bonus offer.

There’s also a weird rule designed to increased the watchability of the MLB Draft on television. Ten players designated by MLB would be required to attend the draft in person. They would be paid $50,000 for their troubles.

These rules aren’t really pro or anti-player. They seem mostly designed to increase interest in the draft. Should interest in college baseball increase because of MLB’s new age limits, that could have a positive impact on public interest in the draft as well.

The Minor Leagues?

With the draft dropping back to 12 rounds and severe restrictions on the non-drafted players that often fill out every minor league roster, there is some suspicion that MLB would like to eliminate yet another level of minor league baseball in this provision. They insist that they will keep the number of teams in affiliated baseball at 120, at least through 2040. MLB feels confident that they can fill out their 165 minor league roster spots under this new system.

There’s a lot to digest here. Pretty much all of it is, other than trading draft picks, beneficial to the owners and against the players’ interests. There is no way the union accepts this proposal as offered and the owners likely know that. It’s an opening bid. But it is a sign that the owners want to radically restructure the way baseball talent is identified, signed and developed in the years to come.

PHILADELPHIA – Mets slugger Juan Soto muttered and looked away in disgust when he hit a fly ball to right field in the third inning of Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He had just missed Aaron Nola’s middle-middle sinker, or so he thought. When a hearty wind nudged the ball over the right field fence, he could not help but smile. Somehow, he had hit it just enough.

As lucky as that gust might have been, Soto does not leave much to chance when it comes to his swings. He is as attuned with his swing as he is with the strike zone, which is why, when he wanted to feel a little quicker to the ball with two strikes in late May, he started experimenting with a small change to his bat.

Against the Marlins in Miami last month, Soto tested a bat with a thicker, more prominent nob that pushed his bottom hand up from the bottom more than a traditional one. The result is a more evenly weighted bat with the mass spread more from top to bottom, as opposed to the end-weighted one Soto used early in the season.

“I feel like I can be quicker, especially on two strikes,” Soto said, punching his left hand in the air to an imagined inside pitch, pitch up the middle, then pitch away.

Even though he feels he can swing it more quickly, Soto said this new bat is actually “a tick heavier” than his previous model; though somewhat counterintuitive, players sometimes find end-weighted bats actually drag more than more evenly weighted bats, in which more of the mass is closer to their hands.

When he first started using the bat regularly on May 22, Soto was hitting .301 with a .965 OPS. At the end of Thursday’s two-homer night, he is hitting .300 with a .980 OPS and has seven home runs in those 22 games after hitting 10 in his first 36. 

Who knows whether an end-weighted bat would have given Soto’s windswept homer a few more feet of wiggle room Thursday. With the fourth-highest OPS in baseball, after his two-homer performance, Soto seems to be calibrated just fine.

IT'S GONE!

A 2-homer game for Juan Soto! pic.twitter.com/VC3022KU88

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 18, 2026

Given that the Mets are in last place in the National League East and their roster is brutalized with injuries, the biggest story of this series will be about Bo Bichette’s free agent decision from January. The Phillies offered Bo Bichette a seven year deal, worth $200 million but the New York Mets swooped in at the last hour with a three-year deal at over $40 million a season and two opt-outs.

As Bichette stepped into the right-handed batter’s box at Citizens Bank Park, the fans rained boos for each of his five hitless at-bats.

For the Mets offense, who entered Thursday night’s game ranked third worst in wRC+ at 89 and have the third worst on-base percentage in the sport at .298. Like the Phillies, they have not been able to score consistent runs but haven’t had the pitching health and results to go on a run.

None of that mattered when Juan Soto took a down-the-middle cutter to the right-field seats to give the Mets an early lead.

Two out damage followed when Jared Young hit a dribbler that Nola could not handle. AJ Ewing, one of the Mets best prospects heading into the season, then followed by taking a fastball to the right-center field gap to them a two-nothing lead.

In the bottom of the first, more shenanigans began as Trea Turner got hit by a backfoot sweeper that hit his well… backfoot. Turner had to exit the game with a right calf contusion.

Kyle Schwarber singled then Bryce Harper grounded into a forceout that put runners on first and third with one out. Alec Bohm then lined a sharp single into center field to cut the Mets lead in half.

In the third, Nola had to face Soto again and threw another fastball down the middle. And once again, the same result happened, a solo home run to give the Mets a three-one lead.

In the bottom of the third, every fan was reminded that this is a Phillies-Mets series and the weirdest was yet to come. Schwarber struck out on a sweeper but landed on first because Francisco Alvarez couldn’t handle the pitch. He threw the ball right through Jared Young at first base that went into foul territory in right field, allowing Schwarber to take second base.

Bohm then crushed a line-drive down the right field line that Carson Benge could not handle, once again cutting the Mets lead down to one.

In the fourth, the Phillies once again got to Manaea with a Bryson Stott single and stole second base before a JT Realmuto lineout. Derek Hill then slapped a single into center field and Ewing’s throw hit the mound and the game was tied.

Fast forward to the seventh inning, José Alvarado entered to face the top of the Mets order. Carson Benge, another one of the Mets top outfield prospects, lined a sinker into center field for a leadoff single. After a Bichette lineout and Soto pop out, Carlos Mendoza went to his bench to bring out Mark Vientos. After a Vientos walk, Mendoza then hit for Ewing with Eric Wagaman, who smacked a hard single into right field to drive in a run and give the Mets the lead.

Marcus Semien stepped in with two outs and two runners on against the hard-throwing Alvarado. He initially looked overmatched on Alvarado’s fastball but then finally got one he liked on the eighth pitch of the at bat, crushing a ball to Monty’s Angle that brought two more runs home to give the Mets a three-run lead.

The Phillies and Mets offenses slogged into Devin Williams entered for New York. The shaky closer was in to protect a three run ninth inning lead but nearly blew it.

After an Edmundo Sosa strikeout, Stott worked a walk and then Realmuto hit into a forceout. Gabriel Rincones jr stepped up to the plate and looked overmatched on the first two Williams fastballs but was able to poke an infield hit to put the tying run on base.

Justin Crawford had looked overmatched all night against tough left-handed pitching but against a right hander, was able to poke a changeup into center field that he probably shouldn’t be swinging at consistently.

Kyle Schwarber then stepped into the left-handed batters box with the game on the line. Williams got ahead nothing-and-two on fastball but couldn’t put him away. Schwarber didn’t offer at the down-and-away changeup and Williams threw an uncompetitive fastball for ball two.

Not looking to make the count full, Williams gives Schwarber a fastball he’s looking for and Schwarber crushed it, 104.6 mph off the bat but the line drive ended in the glove of Carson Benge in right field and the game was over.

There is an off-day Friday because of some little thing called the World Cup and apparently there is a game in Philadelphia. No one said anything until now!

So, Cristopher Sánchez will get the ball Saturday night against Freddy Peralta when the two teams resume their three-game series. Weird to have an off-day on Friday. Really weird.

If the Yankees were looking for any more clarity about the weak parts on a roster that’s looked mostly dominant even without Aaron Judge, they got it Thursday in The Bronx.

What had been a tight game against a White Sox team they’d hammered the previous two games turned on its head with one pitch from Camilo Doval, the right-hander who’s been unreliable since he was acquired from the Giants nearly a year ago.

Faced with the unenviable task of entering with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the eighth of a tie game after Tim Hill drilled back-to-back hitters, Doval faced pinch hitter Andrew Benintendi and gave up a grand slam on his first pitch in a 5-1 loss.

“It’s not the result you want there,’’ Doval said through an interpreter. “With the bases loaded, you try to throw strikes and get ahead. It was a good sinker with movement, but he was able to hit it very well.”

Doval was far from the only reason the Yankees had their four-game winning streak snapped, losing for just the second time in 10 games.

A lineup that had piled up 30 runs in its previous three games couldn’t get anything going against lefty opener Bryan Hudson or right-hander Sean Burke, who had been knocked around by the Dodgers and Phillies in his previous two appearances but limited the Yankees to one run in 7 ¹/₃ innings to finish the game.

The Yankees brought a season-high 3½-game lead in the AL East over the idle Rays, who were just swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Despite a solid start by lefty Ryan Weathers, who gave up just one run in 6¹/₃ innings, the Yankees were unable to finish off a sweep of Chicago.

Weathers had allowed at least five runs in each of his previous three starts — and four of his last five — but struck out the side in order in the top of the first, an indication of how powerful his stuff was on Thursday.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

He began the second by giving up a leadoff homer to Colson Montgomery after allowing seven homers in those three previous starts. It was Montgomery’s third homer in two games.

That would be all Weathers would give up to the White Sox on this night.

He responded to the Montgomery homer by facing one batter over the minimum until he walked Montgomery with one out in the seventh to end Weathers’ outing.

Ryan McMahon got to Burke to open the bottom of the third with an opposite-field homer to left-center that tied the game at 1-1.

José Caballero gave the Yankees a brief scoring chance against Burke in the fifth, as he reached second on a single and an error by center fielder Tristan Peters.

But Caballero was picked off second and McMahon whiffed.

With one out in the seventh, Anthony Volpe — in the game after Jazz Chisholm Jr. was forced out when he fouled a ball off near his groin — hit a liner off the left field wall.

As Junior Pérez chased down the ricochet, Volpe tried to get to third and was thrown out — an aggressive play of which Boone said he approved.

In the eighth, Fernando Cruz gave up a leadoff double to pinch-hitter Luisangel Acuña before Hill entered and hit pinch-hitter Sam Antonacci, as well as Tristan Peters — Peters on an 0-2 pitch — to load the bases with no one out.

Hill struck out Chase Meidroth before Doval entered to face Benintendi, who tagged Doval with a shot out to right on a 99 mph sinker that wasn’t low enough.

Doval has been ineffective against lefties this season and bad in high-leverage spots since getting to the Yankees, but Boone said he remained confident Doval could pitch under the bright lights of New York.

“I don’t think it’s a situation where he’s overwhelmed by a bigger situation,” Boone said. “It comes down to execution.”

There have been too many times, though, when the execution hasn’t been there.

“I’m not getting the results I expect from myself at this moment,” Doval said. “But I know they’re coming.”

Earlier this week, we asked you to vote on one of four position players to keep and build a team around: OF Jordan Beck, OF Brenton Doyle, C Hunter Goodman and SS Ezequiel Tovar. And the results were not very surprising.

The overwhelming majority of folks voted that Goodman should be the one retained to build a team around:

Ezequiel Tovar received the second-highest vote total — likely because he is at a premium position like Goodman — while Doyle and Beck split the remaining 6% of votes.

Do you agree with the results? Do you still agree with your vote? Let us know in the comments!

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

It’s never fun when a former Yankee comes back and punishes you in the Bronx, even if there wasn’t bad blood or anything that would cause a sort of “revenge game”.

Andrew Benintendi opened this series with a solo shot with a homer off Gerrit Cole on Tuesday, but started tonight’s game on the bench against the lefty Ryan Weathers. Unfortunately, he got a lane to pinch-hit with the bases loaded in the eighth and absolutely punished a ball for a go-ahead grand slam, lifting the White Sox to a 5-1 win over the Yankees on Thursday to deny them the series sweep.

Much earlier on, Ryan Weathers got the ball to start and went right to work, striking out the top of the White Sox’s lineup in order. Chicago’s opener, Bryan Hudson, put up a sharp 1-2-3 inning of his own in the bottom half.

That strong first inning for Weathers was quickly erased on his first pitch of the second, as Colson Montgomery clobbered a sinker at the bottom of the zone for a long home run into the Yankees’ bullpen for his third home run of the series and 20th of the season to make it 1-0 White Sox.

Hudson got two quick outs in the bottom half before being chased by a bloop double to Spencer Jones. Sean Burke, the bulk reliever, struck out José Caballero to end the inning.

Weathers pitched around a two-out single in the third and would be quickly picked up by his offense, as Ryan McMahon led off the third with a booming, 430-foot opposite-field shot into the White Sox bullpen to tie the game at one. Not often you’ll see a lefty at Yankee Stadium hit more bombs to the opposite field, but that’s what we’re getting in McMahon, I guess.

Chicago went down in order in the fourth on a bunch of soft contact. With two outs and two strikes in the bottom half, Jazz Chisholm Jr. fouled a ball off his… groin. While we’re used to these just temporarily taking the wind out of players, this one actually resulted in the second baseman leaving the game. Anthony Volpe took the remainder of the at-bat and walked before being thrown out trying to steal second by Edgar Quero.

Luisangel Acuña beat out a lackadaisical effort from Caballero at second base for an infield single with one out in the fifth, but he was quickly erased on a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play to end the inning. Caballero atoned for his sins with a single in the bottom half, but then got picked off. Not the best inning for the fundies.

It was more of the same in the sixth for both Weathers and Burke, with the latter only giving up a one-out single to Ben Rice. Two batters into the seventh, one of them finally blinked, as Weathers was removed after walking Colson Montgomery. Fernando Cruz came on and did what he does best, getting out of the inning to preserve a 1-1 tie.

That concluded a terrific outing for Weathers after three consecutive poor ones, going 6.1 innings of efficient one-run ball. Aaron Boone elected to be rather aggressive with the hook, pulling him on just 88 pitches with a relatively rested bullpen off two blowouts, which might not be a bad idea with how Weathers has struggled third time through of late. It’s a no-decision, but a step in the right direction.

Burke stayed out there after the seventh-inning stretch and gave up a laced one-out double to Volpe, but got an assist from some overaggressive baserunning and the first major league outfield assist by Junior Perez as Volpe was gunned out at third base. Jones struck out to end the inning.

The bullpen’s recent effectiveness came to a sudden end in the eighth. Cruz allowed a leadoff double to Sam Antonacci, prompting Boone to utilize Tim Hill with two soft-hitting lefties due up. Naturally, the team’s best lefty neutralizer plunked both of them to load the bases. After he struck out Chase Meidroth, Boone inserted Camilo Doval to force Will Venable to his bench, successfully deploying the former Yankee Benintendi. The lefty promptly blasted Doval’s first pitch deep in the right-field seats.

That was a certifiable no-win scenario for Boone and the Yankees. With one out and the bases loaded, your options were Hill vs. Randal Grichuk, which is possibly the worst platoon matchup possible in this game, or hoping that Doval’s propensity to groove pitches didn’t show up. The latter was chosen, and it was immediately punished.

Doval mopped up the ninth, but on the other side, Burke chugged all the way through 7.2 very strong innings, finishing the game without needing to deploy another reliever. He was two ticks up on his fastball all night long and put together one of the best starts of his young career against a team that, while hitting a lot in the last few days, finished the day without four Opening Day starters due to injury.

The Yankees will welcome the Cincinnati Reds to town tomorrow night for just the team’s third interleague series of the year, with the opener kicking off at 7:05 pm. It’ll be Cam Schlittler up against Rhett Lowder.

Box Score

Juan Soto launched two home runs and the Mets used a three-run seventh to hold on and defeat the Phillies, 6-4, on Thursday night in Philadelphia. 

Here are the takeaways...

-New York got off to a fast start against Aaron Nola with Soto launching a solo shot with two outs in the opening frame. Jared Young reached on a fielding error by Nolan and A.J. Ewing made the Phillies starter pay with an RBI double.

Soto would launch his second homer of the game to lead off the third. The Mets slugger thought he flew out, but the wind carried it over the wall. 

-Sean Manaea, making his second start this season, had a tough start, allowing one run on two hits and a hit batter, but got out of it, allowing just the one run, thanks to a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play when Francisco Alvarez caught Bryce Harper trying to steal third base. After allowing a leadoff triple in the second, the southpaw escaped without allowing that run to score thanks to a groundout from Bryson Stott, a pop-up by J.T. Realmuto, and a groundout by Derek Hill -- pinch-hitting for Trea Turner after the shortstop was hit in the calf by a Manaea pitch in the first. 

In the third, Manaea was betrayed by his defense. Kyle Schwarber struck out, but a passed ball allowed him to reach first and an Alvarez throwing error allowed the slugger to reach second. Then, after a tremendous sliding catch by Soto to rob Harper of a double, Carson Benge tried to do the same to Alec Bohm's flyball in right field, but the ball hit the heel of his glove as he slid toward the foul line, allowing Schwarber to score on the double. 

Manaea allowed a run on a two-out single from Hill in the fourth but otherwise gutted through five innings for the Mets. He's get one out into the sixth before being pulled. The final line for the lefty saw him toss 95 pitches (63 balls), allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and one walk while striking out five batters.

-The Mets would get to the Phillies bullpen. In the seventh, Eric Wagaman broke the 3-3 tie with a pinch-hit single, scoring Benge before Marcus Semien tripled to drive in two more. 

The Mets bullpen did its job, allowing just one base runner (one walk) in their 2.2 innings pitched. Here's how the bullpen broke down:

• Huascar Brazoban: 1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
• AJ Minter: 0.2 IP
• Luke Weaver: 1.0 IP, 3 K

But it got interesting in the ninth. Devin Williams allowed a one-out walk, but picked up two outs when the pinch-hitting Gabriel Rincones Jr. hit a chopper to Bo Bichette at third. Bichette threw the ball offline to allow the infield hit. Justin Crawford looped a single to push across the Phillies' fourth run and bringing up Kyle Schwarber as the winning run.

Schwarber hit a missile to right, but right at Brett Baty as Williams got the save. 

-Bichette, who was booed in every at-bat he took after choosing the Mets over the Phillies this offseason, finished 0-for-5.

Game MVP: Marcus Semien

Semien's two-run triple proved to be the difference in this one.

Highlights

JUAN SOTO LIFTOFF IN PHILLY! pic.twitter.com/f4lax4KjCP

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 18, 2026

An RBI double for A.J. Ewing makes it 2-0 Mets in the first! pic.twitter.com/092420Dp7F

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 18, 2026

A strike 'em out-throw 'em out double play at third base!

Francisco Alvarez gets Bryce Harper trying to steal third as Brandon Marsh strikes out! pic.twitter.com/X1rvgjgjcK

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 18, 2026

IT'S GONE!

A 2-homer game for Juan Soto! pic.twitter.com/VC3022KU88

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 18, 2026

A pinch-hit single for Eric Wagaman off of Jose Alvarado to give the Mets the lead! pic.twitter.com/oP3Sdad7Je

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 19, 2026

2-RUN TRIPLE MARCUS SEMIEN!

The Mets lead 6-3! pic.twitter.com/eoGwlkQqiW

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 19, 2026

What's next

The Mets have an off day on Friday before resuming their three-game set with the Phillies on Saturday evening. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.

Freddy Peralta (5-5, 3.90 ERA) will take the mound against Cristopher Sanchez (8-3, 1.82 ERA). 

The Phillies will be without one of their major offseason acquisitions for the rest of the year.

Outfielder Adolis Garcia will undergo right latissimus dorsi repair surgery on June 24, which comes with a six-to-eight-month recovery, the team announced Thursday.

Garcia, 33, initially suffered the injury on a throw from right field in a game versus the Blue Jays in Toronto on June 10.

After third baseman Kazuma Okamoto lifted a fly ball toward Garcia, the right fielder unleashed a strong throw in an attempt to nab George Springer at home plate, hurting his shoulder in the process.

He was immediately removed from the game and later placed on the 60-day injured list with a torn right lat, but the team did not immediately rule him out for the season.

“We have not finalized his plans moving forward,” Phillies interim skipper Don Mattingly told reporters last week. “It’s an important one for him and his career, so everybody wants to get it right.”

The procedure marks the end of a disappointing 2026 for Garcia, who was brought on a one-year, $10 million deal in an attempt to recapture his prior All-Star form after the team moved on from the mercurial Nick Castellanos.

While Garcia provided solid defense, his offense left much to be desired as he posted a .195/.270/.329 slash line with seven home runs in 21 RBIs across 67 games.

Three of those homers had come in the week before the injury, but Garcia nonetheless registered a -0.8 WAR on the season.

Garcia spent time in Japan and with the Cardinals during his career before enjoying a breakout season with the Rangers in 2021.

The Cuban slugger hit 31 homers and made his first All-Star team that season, solidifying himself in the middle of Texas’ lineup.

He enjoyed an even better 2023 with the Rangers, making his second All-Star team, winning a Gold Glove and playing a pivotal role in the organization’s first World Series championship.

The Rangers non-tendered Garcia after a pair of subpar offensive campaigns from 2024-25.

After Garcia’s injury, the Phillies acquired speedster Derek Hill from the White Sox to add outfield depth.