MIAMI, FL - MAY 20: Dominic Smith #8 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a home run in the sixth inning during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on Wednesday, May 20, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Owen Gupta/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Ha, this isn’t really even a question, except in the rhetorical sense. I just wanted to have an appreciation post for Dominic Smith, so this is it.
It would’ve been enough for Smith to have those two big April hits and then fade into obsolescence. Two huge game-swinging mashes for a guy signed to a split deal with a $1.25 million salary in the majors would’ve been plenty. As I did in an earlier post about him, that would’ve been reminiscent of Pablo Sandoval, and it would’ve been fine. We still remember Pablo Sandoval.
But that’s not what Smith has done at all. He’s kept raking. His rolling 100-PA xwOBA hasn’t been below league average since the start of April, and it hasn’t even been below .350 since April 14. Nor is he egregiously outhitting it: a .370 wOBA and .378 xwOBA is both really good and nothing to sideeye for any reason.
It’s easy to say that Smith has never had a season quite like this one, except in 2020. He was crazy-good that year, and he’s still got a ways to go this year before matching his PA total from that shortened season (106 so far, 199 in 2020). But in every other year, he really didn’t do much: in his other eight seasons, he had an xwOBA in the .320s four times, and something lower the other four times. In other words, in a non-shortened season, his career-high xwOBA was .325.
Since I lured you in here with a question that presumably has an answer, I’ll give you a brief, non-nuanced version.
Smith is swinging at everything. While it’s not the highest z-swing rate of his career, it’s the highest in quite a few years. His chase rate is egregiously high, not just for him, but for anyone. He’s swinging at nearly half of first pitches he sees; previously he was much closer to a quarter, while the league is about one-in-three. He’s not walking, but he’s also not striking out, because he’s up there to hit the ball.
He’s hunting and destroying four-seamers. There’s nothing special about Smith and non-fastballs, he’s still struggling against them. He’s not even hitting sinkers all that well. But, he has a .560 xwOBA (el-oh-el) against four-seamers thus far.
He’s not hitting it on the ground. It’s important to know, I guess, that Smith isn’t swinging any harder, nor did he adopt any Braves-esque approach of trading contact for power and trying to hit a dinger on every swing. He’s actually moved back in the box, and his swing is slightly shorter, with no emphasis on swinging harder or anything like that. He’s hunting fastballs, but giving himself a chance to survive the other stuff.
Put these things together, and, well, I think it’s safe to say that part of the reason he’s doing it is because pitchers haven’t adjusted. He’s getting a lot of pitches in the zone, probably too many for anyone that can do what he does. He’s still getting a bunch of four-seamers, which doesn’t have to be the case. Lastly, a lot of his xwOBA is driven by flares; though he’s dropped both ground- and air-based not-useful contact, a lot of the corresponding increase has been in bloops or hard choppers, rather than in good contact and/or barrels. All that said, though, we’re more than halfway through May, and he’s still doing the same stuff he’s been doing in terms of beating up on opposing pitching, so maybe he’ll continue to fly under the radar and rack up awesomeness for a while yet.
Remember yesterday, when I brought out the old line: “No team is as bad as it looks when it’s on a long losing streak”?
I dunno. Maybe I’m wrong about that. The Cubs sure looked that bad in losing to the Brewers 5-0 Wednesday evening at Wrigley Field, being swept by their division rivals and now on a five-game losing streak.
The Brewers both dominated the Cubs pitching-wise and schooled them in several aspects of the game.
Edward Cabrera got out of the first inning scoreless despite allowing two hits. Nico Hoerner then led off the bottom of the first with a double.
I mean, I really could just stop this recap right there because the rest of the game was all Brewers and not Cubs. The thing about Nico’s double is — he took a really wide turn around second, thinking “triple,” but then had to quickly scoot back to first. I guess he really wanted third base because then he tried to advance on a medium-deep fly ball to left-center.
I dunno. (I think I’ve said that before.) I’m obviously not in Pete Crow-Armstrong’s head and have no idea what’s on his mind or what he was thinking there, but something is clearly off with him. If it’s still the incident with the Sox fan, well, that’s in the past and gotta move on from it. PCA always wears his heart on his sleeve and his intensity level is something we don’t see from too many players. Often, that intensity serves him well. Recently, it has not. Honestly, given everything that’s happened to him this year, maybe Craig Counsell should have given him Wednesday off, which would have given him two full days (with today’s off day) for a reset.
If Joe Maddon were managing this team, I think he’d tell PCA to take the off day and not think about baseball at all.
Anyway, that play made it 3-0 Brewers, and you’re thinking this is 20/20 hindsight but honestly my first thought after that play was, “This game is over.”
And it was. The Cubs had just three more baserunners the entire game — walks to Seiya Suzuki in the second and Michael Busch in the eighth, and a single by Alex Bregman in the seventh. Busch was erased on a double play, and that along with the DP on Nico in the first meant that Brewers pitchers faced just two over the minimum. Starter Kyle Harrison struck out 11 Cubs and reliever DL Hall added two K’s. It’s like the Cubs were just going through the motions after that Little League home run in the second. I’d like to hope I’m wrong about that.
Obviously, the last thing the Cubs need is another starting pitcher injury. Fortunately, blisters aren’t serious and perhaps he won’t even miss a start. Cabrera threw reasonably well; the error on PCA made all three of the runs that scored on that play unearned.
Cubs relievers, with one notable exception, threw well. Trent Thornton, Hoby Milner, Ryan Rolison and Daniel Palencia combined for 5.1 shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks, with six strikeouts.
And then there was Phil Maton, who allowed Milwaukee’s fifth run in the seventh, giving up two hits and a walk and wild-pitching in the run [VIDEO].
At this point, I’ve got to think maybe there’s some other injury to Maton that can put him on the IL again and get someone in the pen who can actually get outs. Who would that be? Here’s the Cubs’ 40-man roster, maybe you can figure it out. And I know this has become a meme but… maybe the Cubs really should stop signing former Astros relievers.
A “sad note,” as he called it when he sent it to me, about this game from BCB’s JohnW53:
This was the 305th regular-season game since 1901 in which the Cubs made two or fewer hits — one of every 64 played.
It was the 49th since July 31, 2012, the last time the Cubs made no more than two hits and committed three errors. They made one hit and three errors that day, in a 5-0 loss at home to the Pirates.
They made one hit and two errors in a 5-0 loss at home to the Dodgers on May 31, 2016.
They made two hits and two errors in losses at Washington by 4-1 and 6-1, on June 13, 2016, and June 27, 2017.
They also made two and two in a 9-0 loss to the Reds at home on May 6, 2023.
Back to that line I quoted at the top of this recap… No, of course no team is as bad as it looks during a long losing streak. We know this Cubs team is better than that. Hopefully they begin looking that way starting Friday.
Even with this losing streak and being swept, the Cubs are just 1.5 games behind the Brewers, in a virtual tie with the Cardinals for second place in the NL Central (three percentage points behind). The team will certainly enjoy this off day, their first after playing nine days in a row, and then will begin a three-game series against the Astros Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field. Jameson Taillon is the Cubs’ listed starter for Friday. At this time the Astros don’t have a starter listed. Game time Friday is 1:20 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be on Apple TV (how to watch).
Who will win Pirates vs Cardinals today: Pirates moneyline (-122)
The Pittsburgh Pirates shut down the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday, winning 7-0 behind a four-hit game from rookie Konnor Griffin. The Bucs' pitching staff allowed just five hits, containing a Cards offense that has struggled with consistency. Braxton Ashcraft takes the mound today for the visitors, and he's been impressive.
The right-hander owns a 3.09 ERA, and that lowers to 2.16 on the road across four outings. Coincidentally enough, all six earned runs he's allowed away from PNC Park were to the Cards last month in a tough start. But Ashcraft has improved immensely since that outing, compiling a 2.11 ERA across three May appearances. His last road start was a seven-inning, one-run outing against the San Francisco Giants.
As for the Cards, they hand Dustin May the ball. He owns a 4.50 ERA at home this season, and Pittsburgh's lineup has hit him around. They're batting .400 across 40 at-bats, and the Pirates are one of the top offensive ball clubs in the big leagues, averaging 4.9 runs per game. The visitors will keep it rolling here.
COVERS INTEL: May owns a BABIP of .338 so far this season, compared to .298 in 2025.
Pirates vs Cardinals Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 runs (-108)
Four of the last five meetings between the Pirates and Cardinals have cashed the Over, and Wednesday's matchup finished just below today's total. While I do expect Ashcraft to have a solid outing, the Cards have hit him around before, and they could do some damage.
As for May, he's had minimal luck against Pittsburgh's lineup, with several key players swinging it well against him. The right-hander also has a career-worst 52% hard-hit rate, and the Bucs have scored 13 runs across their last two contests.
The St. Louis bullpen has also been poor, compiling a 4.53 ERA, and it surrendered four earned runs on Wednesday.
Quinn Allen's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 14-11, +3.90 units
Over/Under bets: 14-11, +1.16 units
Pirates vs Cardinals odds
Moneyline: Pirates -122 | Cardinals +117
Run line: Pirates -1.5 (+138) | Cardinals +1.5 (-144)
Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-108) | Under 7.5 (+104)
Pirates vs Cardinals trend
The Pittsburgh Pirates have covered the Run Line in 28 of their last 45 away games (+8.20 Units / 13% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Pirates vs. Cardinals.
How to watch Pirates vs Cardinals and game info
Location
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
Date
Thursday, May 21, 2026
First pitch
1:15 p.m. ET
TV
SportsNet Pittsburgh, Cardinals.TV
Pirates starting pitcher
Braxton Ashcraft (2-2, 3.09 ERA)
Cardinals starting pitcher
Dustin May (3-4, 4.81 ERA)
Pirates vs Cardinals latest injuries
Pirates vs Cardinals weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 07: Starting pitcher Jake Bennett #64 of the Boston Red Sox throws in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park on May 07, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images) | Getty Images
This game fell apart in extras, namely the eleventh, and to be honest, the WooSox should have had it won earlier than that. The pitching was solid throughout the night, starting with Jake Bennett striking out eleven Red Wings (Nationals AAA) and allowing one run. Bennett’s pitch count was only at 73 so he could have conceivably gone longer, but the bullpen was fine throughout the night and recorded 8 more Ks.
Worcester lacked an extra base hit besides Matt Lloyd’s solo shot and also went hitless in eight chances with runners in scoring position. But they played with their food for too long and, by virtue of Wyatt Olds allowing five runs (four earned) in the eleventh, the food got all over them. Bennett is suffering from being a young minor league option… or should I say young with options (ba dum tiss) behind one of the best rotations in baseball. It’s good to know he’s mowing them down consistently in Triple-A.
Catastrophic news as Franklin Arias’ OPS is about to dip under 1.000 with another hitless night (he did, though get on base with a walk). The horror! To be honest, though, behind the rest of the lineup and a good five innings out of Hayden Mullins, a guy who’s becoming the dependable workhorse of Portland’s rotation, the Sea Dogs didn’t need Arias to put away the Fightin Phils’ (Phillies AA). Johanfran Garcia got his sixth home run of the season in the fifth inning and Nelly Taylor had two doubles. This was a feel good win where everyone contributed: even though every single batter struck out at least once on the night, everyone aside from the nine-hole hitter got on base once, as well. The result was a 7-0 lead after two and a game that the Sea Dogs could coast through.
After losing most of the month, the Drive won two consecutive games for the first time since late April Sunday and Tuesday. That did not continue on Wednesday against Frederick (Orioles High-A). This was more like a defensive death by a thousand cuts, as the Keys got the Drive for 17 hits but just six runs, and the Drive couldn’t match that output by a long shot, gathering just five. Yoelin Cespedes got the game within striking distance with a two-run shot, his eighth of the year, in the ninth inning, but it was too little, too late.
After getting taken for sixteen runs by the Howlers (Guardians A) on Tuesday, the RidgeYaks came back and allowed just three hits, and just one extra-base hit. Salem had another productive lineup as eight of their nine hitters got a knock and even the one that didn’t got a walk. They also got a home run to clinch the game (albeit all the way back in the fourth inning) out of Andrews Opata. Opata also swiped his twentieth bag of the season. This game was really never within losing distance for Salem.
May 20, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Nasim Nuñez (26) steals second base as New York Mets second baseman Marcus Semien (10) attempts to catch a throw during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Meet the Mets
Zach Thornton’s major league debut didn’t go as well as hoped when he put the Mets in a hole early. The team did attempt to come back, led by two Juan Soto home runs, but the bullpen put the game out of reach and the Mets dropped their second straight to Washington.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 19: Camilo Doval #75 of the New York Yankees celebrates after pitching during the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on May 19, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The New York Yankees won 5-4. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The last three games have been an adventure with the Yankees bullpen, and not a particularly fun one either. Yes, they secured the win in two out of three, but boy have David Bednar and Camilo Doval put Yankees fans through the wringer in the ninth inning against the Mets and the first two against Toronto. Doval’s final out to secure the save against on Tuesday night is the moment we’ll look at this time on Sequence of the Week.
We join Doval with two outs in the ninth. The back of the Yankees bullpen is short following Bednar and Fernando Cruz’s exertions in the previous two games, leaving Doval as the lone remaining option to close out this game. It’s been far from smooth sailing for the flame throwing righty, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. cutting the Yankees’ lead to one with a sac fly after Doval gave up an Andrés Giménez walk and Ernie Clement single to open the frame. After the Vlad Jr. sac fly, Daulton Varsho reached on an infield single when Doval forgot to cover first base on the grounder to the right side, putting runners on the corners and bringing the Blue Jays’ team leader in home runs Kazuma Okamoto to the plate.
Renowned during his San Francisco days for his triple digits cutter, Doval instead starts Okamoto off with a sinker — a pitch he has been working on behind the scenes with Matt Blake and the rest of the Yankees pitching coaches.
This is pretty close to a perfect pitch — a 100-mph sinker right on the bottom shelf of the strike zone. It’s a called strike if Okamoto doesn’t swing, but commanded to a location where it’s almost impossible to do damage. It’s honestly impressive that Okamoto recognizes it as a strike — given it started off the plate away before tailing back into the zone — and is able to catch a piece and tap it foul.
Following the excellent execution of the first pitch sinker, Doval tries to keep the muscle memory of that release point by targeting the same location with the same pitch.
He manages to achieve the same lateral release point, but this sinker is elevated relative to the previous one. This makes it a more hittable pitch, but it appears that Okamoto is in fight-off mode, perhaps hunting a pitch inside, and he fires a late, off-balance swing and fouls it off to the right.
Doval is now just one strike away from locking down the save. Just one more decent execution of a pitch away from sending all those of a Yankees persuasion home happy. After showing Okamoto a pair of in-breaking sinkers, Doval looks to put him away with a cutter that moves away from the hitter, Austin Wells setting a target low and away.
The key to throwing a good cutter is staying behind and through the ball, something which Doval fails to do here. He almost slings this pitch rather than finishing out in front, causing the pitch to sail wildly inside as it backs up rather than cuts, and Okamoto has to spin out of the way to avoid getting hit.
After mis-executing that cutter so poorly, Doval immediately scraps the pitch and goes back to the sinker. He still has the feeling of having executed two good ones to open the AB, he just has to find that release point again and it should be game over.
Instead, Doval makes a mistake releasing this pitch a hair too early, and it ends up middle-middle. Fortunately for him and his teammates, Okamoto has never quite figured out the correct swing path to match up against Doval’s sinker, and though he is right on time and clubs this ball at 103 mph, he impacts the top of the baseball sending a routine grounder to Anthony Volpe for the game-ending ground out. That is the margin of error that being able to throw over 100 mph affords the pitcher, allowing Doval to get a ground out on a mistake pitch.
There is a lot to like from this sequence from Doval. For starters, he managed to find the zone with all three of the sinkers he threw — no small feat considering how much walks have tended to hurt him in his career. They surprisingly haven’t been as big of an issue this year, but his general wildness this campaign has seen him fall behind in counts and then cough up a home run as he is forced into the middle of the zone. I was also impressed by Doval’s ability to immediately flush the previous play when he forgot to cover first. It would be easy to let that moment linger and impact his concentration against Okamoto, but he turned the page quickly and focused fully on this AB.
Finally, I am intrigued by Doval’s progress with this new sinker — a pitch that went from a 12.2-percent usage rate in 2025 to his most used pitch so far in 2026 at a 41.7-percent usage rate. Doval is perennially among the league leaders in ground ball rate and this gives him another weapon to maintain those levels. It’s a pitch I’m excited to analyze more deeply in my new series about the Yankees bringing the sinker back into vogue, so stay tuned! While I’m certainly not ready to say that I trust Doval in spots as high leverage at this, it’s a positive first step toward re-earning the trust to pitch in late-game situations.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 19: Tommy Edman of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on before the game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on May 19, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Dodgers utility man Tommy Edman is a step closer to being a step closer to returning from the injured list after offseason ankle surgery, thanks to a few more steps closer to full speed in the last week.
Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Wednesday at Petco Park in San Diego that Edman could face hitters at Camelback Ranch in Arizona in the next week, then potentially start a minor league rehab assignment after that.
Next steps for Tommy Edman, who has been running arcs at what looks like close to max effort this week: First, he'll go to Arizona to take live at-bats. After that, Dave Roberts said he could begin a rehab assignment, potentially next week.
After the surgery, Edman’s offseason work was limited, with his right leg in a walking boot up until mid January. He was slow-played during spring training, gradually working up, and explained the methodology at Dodgers Fan Fest during the offseason.
“I’m really hopeful I’ll be able to put the ankle injuries of the last couple of years behind me. It’s something I kind of dealt with throughout ’24 and ’25, and I feel like it affected the way to play the game I normally would be able to,” Edman said in January. “The timetable is more of as I progress, so it’s kind of hard to say when I’ll be able to hop back into a major league game again. … I want to make sure I’m a full go, and don’t have to worry about [the ankle] again the rest of the year.”
At the beginning of the regular season, Roberts guestimated Edman would return some time in late May, though that has since been pushed back. Edman has been working out off and on at Dodger Stadium at various times this season, but hadn’t really progressed much until recently. He was moved to the 60-day injured list on May 9, though that does not affect Edman’s timeline at all, as those 60 days will have already expired by the time he is ready to return.
For a comparison of how long Edman’s rehab assignment might take, look no further than Kiké Hernández, who is in his third week of games with Triple-A Oklahoma City and is eligible to be activated off the injured list as early as this Sunday. Hernández is coming off left elbow surgery in November and was initially thought to be out until around midseason but made strides in April to essentially leapfrog Edman in the return timeline pecking order.
From left, Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch, talk to team owner Chris Ilitch, president of baseball operations Scott Harris, and general manager Jeff Greenberg at practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
So many things have gone wrong with the Detroit Tigers already this season that it’s hard to know where to even start unpacking it all. After a third straight loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, they hold a 20-30 record, 10 games under .500. In all of baseball history, only one team in the modern era has been that deep underwater in mid-June and still made the postseason, and that sets the parameters here. They are out of time to pick themselves up off the mat and start closing the gap or the season is over. If they lose a few more series in late May and early June, it’s already time to hang a for sale sign out front. Some might argue we’re already there.
The only team to pull off such a comeback outside of the dead ball era was the 2022 Seattle Mariners. They were 10 games under .500 on June 19 of that year and pulled it together enough to win a Wild Card berth. That’s it. Of course, the Wild Card is still a relatively new invention, but still only one team has taken advantage of it from that far behind in mid-June. So the Tigers have to be a lot closer to .500 by mid-June to even maintain the faintest shred of hope.
Certainly the incredible amount of injuries have been a factor, but it’s also important to remember that the team was quite healthy until late April and they weren’t exactly piling up the wins then either. Part of the reason they’re in this shape is that they didn’t build themselves any cushion by playing .500 ball when they had their roster almost exactly as planned on Opening Day. The bullpen cost them several games when the offense was stronger, and the pitching staff has actually held up decently through this 2-8 losing stretch while the offense and defense have been atrocious. Despite some good news on the injury front, and the host of players the Tigers should get back over the next few weeks, they’re already uncomfortably close to losing any realistic chance of even a wild card run. It’s strange to say in mid-May, but the season is already hanging by a thread.
The pitching is no longer the problem. Troy Melton looks good and is due to return soon. Tarik Skubal’s rehab is proceeding at breakneck speed. The problem is that the team has only a couple of good hitters with Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter basically non-factors this season. And, instead of the group of roughly average platoon players that filled out the lineup last year, half the lineup is shot full of holes leaving opponents with only a couple of hitters to even concern themselves with. Add to that a defensive group that has been downright atrocious without Parker Meadows, Javier Báez, or even their primary utility option in Toledo, CF/SS Trei Cruz, to shore up the middle of the field, and there are just way too many weak points in the position player group right now to turn things around signficantly.
There’s no one coming to rescue the Tigers the offense for at least another week or two. Unfortunately this leaves the responsibility for turning things around on a lot of guys the Tigers shouldn’t be depending on too much in the first place.
Wenceel Pérez is supposed to be the Tigers first depth outfielder in the minor leagues. He’s posted league average run production number for two straight seasons, though he remains too mistake prone to love him in the outfield on a regular basis. But more to the point, he isn’t doing anything at the plate hitting left-handed. Inexplicably, his contact has just fallen apart, and so despite the lowest strikeout rate on the team, he’s not hitting enough line drives and hard fly balls and grounders to stay above the Mendoza line, let alone showing off the average home run power we saw from him last season.
Zach McKinstry is now 31 years old and a career utility player. Hopefully few bought into his outstanding 2025 season at this point in his career, but the Tigers could really use just mediocre production from him to help lengthen their extremely short lineup. Instead he’s approaching 100 plate appearances this season and holds a 32 wRC+ this year. He’s also dealt with tearing a muscle off his pelvic bone, which he probably returned from as soon as possible.
Matt Vierling will be 30 in a few months, and like McKinstry is a journeyman utility outfielder who is probably just past his already modest prime. After a brief run as a quality platoon player in 2024, he tore up his shoulder and missed most of 2025. His defense in center field has been acceptable, and he does hold an 88 wRC+ so he hasn’t been atrocious, but he’s not making much impact anywhere either.
Finally, Jake Rogers has been a terrible hitter for years now. You can get away with having a good defensive catcher who doesn’t hit, but that requires that the rest of the roster be pretty solid. The Tigers have also had opportunities to upgrade and decided to keep the status quo, perhaps because Rogers is the closest thing to a clubhouse leader the team seems to have beyond Tarik Skubal. Now you have Dillon Dingler catching most days, and DH-ing on a lot of his off days, which is only going to hurt his long-term effectiveness this season.
Of course, McKinstry, Vierling, Jahmai Jones, Rogers, these are all pretty fungible role players in the first place. There is just too much being asked of them right now, and it isn’t their fault the Tigers are in this shape.
If there’s one player who was supposed to be capable of helping carry the offense, it’s Spencer Torkelson. Below average offensive production from a first baseman is just unacceptable. A year after putting together his first fairly consistent season of getting on base and hitting for power, Torkelson is doing little of either on pace for 23 home runs with a .309 on-base and a strikeout rate of 33.5 percent.
Beyond that you have Lee, Gage Workman, Zack Short…these aren’t guys who are capable of giving you anything like average production. I like Hao-Yu Lee, but he just needs more time to work on his game. You see the flashes of what he can do and it’s well worth sticking with him for a year or two to see if he can take the next step. Workman is a perfectly fine Triple-A utility player with strong enough secondary tools to help in a pinch, but he’s not expected to work out playing regularly. Finally, Zack Short brings something close to an average glove at shortstop, but has never hit at the major league level. These guys get zero blame in my book.
So, we know what is happening, and generally why, but who gets the blame will be the question for much of the rest of the season. The obvious, and accurate answer is the injuries, as the Tigers have had more than anyone, and that will be the case president of baseball operations Scott Harris, and GM Jeff Greenberg are pleading with ownership should no miraculous recovery of the season come to pass. But growing criticism of Harris’ inability to add talent other than potentially through the draft is entirely justified. It’s hard to have any confidence in his ability to sell off the Tigers assets for young talent with his track record if it comes to that point.
Of course, baseball is also just a weird game. Just as current Tigers’ examples, Rlley Greene is on pace for a 6 WAR season and somehow has only four home runs on May 21. Wenceel Pérez has a 13.9 percent strikeout rate and a .168 batting average. That’s almost impressively weird. Hopefully you know that ERA means squat for relievers, particularly prior to the All-Star break, but Kyle Finnegan has walked more batters than he’s struck out and has a 1.66 ERA.
There are a lot of teams woefully underperforming in the American League alone, and they don’t have the Tigers’ injury excuses. Many good national analysts thought very highly of the 22-27 Boston Red Sox. The Seattle Mariners were arguably the best team in baseball in the second half of last year and made a pretty good run at the ALCS last year and they’re 23-27 with Cal Raleigh hitting .161/.243/.317 with seven home runs after hitting 60 last year. The Royals were a popular choice to push the Tigers and Guardians atop of the AL Central this season, and they’re 20-30 as well, sitting with the Tigers in the cellar despite no particular injury trouble other than their ace Cole Ragans missing two starts and woefully underperforming.
Still the facts are the facts. You can already make a case that the Tigers should be shopping a pitcher like Casey Mize for young pitching talent. If they happen to fall a few more games below .500? It’s time to sell anyone who isn’t tied down long-term and is performing well immediately, and keep that attitude all season long. Frankly, I will be very surprised if either Scott Harris or AJ Hinch are fired.
Even more frankly, the best thing for this franchise is probably to fall a few more games back into June and really have no choice but to sell. That’s the nature of the spot they’ve put themselves in so far this season. It will already take a heck of a run to get that back into serious contention by mid-July. There are 97 games total games this season until the All-Star break. They’ve played 50 already. Can the Tigers go from 20-30 now to 54-43 and get a game over .500 by that point?
Because injuries have been a signficant problem, and just by the weird nature of baseball, it wouldn’t be that surprising if the Tigers played much better baseball from June through September. It just isn’t going to help them if they slip much further back over the next 2-3 weeks, and it may not help them anyway. Even so, should the Tigers sell a few pieces and admit defeat, and then get healthier in a few spots and play decent baseball the rest of the year? The case that this is really just a cursed year with injuries and there is nothing to be done about it is going to be a pretty easy one to make for the front office and for AJ Hinch and his coaching staff.
So not to be melodramatic, but the Tigers season is right on the brink of disaster here. Troy Melton, Gleyber Torres, Javy Báez, Kerry Carpenter, Tarik Skubal…getting those players back will certainly change the equation, but until that happens in full, they’re going to remain under siege and on the brink of collapse. And there’s a good argument that would be the best thing for the franchise. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but there it is. Get swept by the Guardians today? Lose two of three series in Baltimore, versus the Angels at home, or on the south side against the plucky young White Sox? The math surrenders to faith as justification alone.
Let’s say they split their next 12 games. The Tigers will be 26-36. Can they go 60-40 the rest of the way to get to 86 wins and have a quality shot at a wild card? Winning 60 percent of 100 games isn’t out of the question if healthy perhaps, but it’s certainly a longshot as things stand. Right now, just playing .500 ball for a few weeks might earn them some time to find out if getting some players back turns things around. But iff they can’t at least split these next 12 games? Forget about it. No one is coming to the rescue. The guys on this roster right now have to get off the mat for a few weeks and earn the right to find out if getting healhier will make a difference.
CHICAGO, IL - MAY 17: Edgar Quero #26 of the Chicago White Sox is given a gatorade shower after hitting a walk off home run against the Chicago Cubs during the game between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on Sunday, May 17, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Regardless of whether they end up keeping up this pace for the full season or not, this is an incredible turnaround from one of the worst ever teams.
Are there any lessons the Rockies, coming off their own historically bad season, can take from how this White Sox roster was built?
Finding undervalued markets
This offseason, the market for players coming to MLB from NPB and KBO was more tepid than it had been in recent years. The White Sox, having just seen success in that market when signing Erick Fedde prior to 2024, were ready and willing to pounce on what they perceived as undervalued players.
In early December, they made a modest two year $12 million commitment to left handed starting pitcher Anthony Kay but he was not the only import from NPB that the White Sox brought in this offseason.
After hitting 246 home runs in NPB before he turned 26 years old, Munetaka Murakami was one of the most polarizing free agents this year. The power in his bat was hardly questionable, however, concerns about strikeouts and his ability to hit high velocity was enough to make most teams pass on him. While MLB Trade Rumors predicted an eight year deal worth $180 million when the offseason began, the market for a long-term deal never materialized.
That’s where the White Sox swooped in and offered a short two-year $34 million deal that would allow Murakami a chance to prove his doubters wrong and retest free agency before his age 28 season. For that amount of money the White Sox saw little risk. The reward, however, appears to be immense.
Murakami has already hit 17 home runs and sports a .240/.382/.557 line that would make him a middle of the order hitter in any MLB lineup. It’s still early, we’ll need to see if opposing hitters can adjust to him, but so far the signing looks incredible. The White Sox have two years of a young star and then will either look to extend him or trade him for a haul as a rental.
For the Rockies, the lesson is not simply to throw money at the next risky-profile potential star out of NPB (though they shouldn’t rule that out), it’s to be willing to zig when other teams are zagging. This is not a new concept but it is one where the applications are constantly changing and it would behoove the Rockies to try and be the first to find the next one.
Patience with growing pains
Some of the contributors to this early season surge were also there in Chicago contributing to the past few years of losing. Now, however, the teams patience with these formerly struggling players appears to be paying off.
On the mound, Davis Martin spent his first 250 big league innings with an ERA and FIP both in the mid-fours while walking over three per nine innings. He was the definition of a bottom of the rotation starter who did not have the prospect pedigree to give much hope he’d ever be more than that.
Some of that run prevention is likely to regress as his sequencing luck has been abnormally good (he’s stranded 89.2% of runners), but his component skills do appear to have meaningfully improved. He’s striking out 9.48 per nine and walking only 1.61, both of which are significantly better than his career averages.
On the hitting side, there’s the curious case of Miguel Vargas. The headlining piece in the return from the much maligned Erik Fedde deal at the deadline in 2024, Vargas looked entirely lost in his first calendar year in Chicago to the tune of a 17 wRC+ in his 42 games following the trade.
Other than those mentioned above, the majority of players fueling this currently competitive White Sox team were either drafted by them or traded for while they were still prospects.
On the pitching side that includes Sean Burke, Noah Schultz, and Grant Taylor. Each of these arms was entirely home grown and now are being leaned on by White Sox manager Will Venable. While Burke and Schultz are holding their own in the rotation, it’s Taylor who has been a revelation in the bullpen.
So far in 2026 the White Sox rank 23rd in ERA from relief pitchers at 4.57. This comes after the front office had tried to bolster the bullpen this offseason with free agent pickup Seranthony Domínguez but have instead seen him walk 13.3% of the batters he’s faced as the teams closer.
Grant Taylor, the White Sox second round pick in 2023, has been working out of the bullpen this year in order to build his innings up before a planned conversion to the rotation next year. That conversion, however, may not happen given how integral he has become to the bullpen unit with his 1.78 ERA and 13.5 k/9 in 25.1 innings of work. Taylor picked up his first save of the season on Tuesday night and looks poised to be the first name up in high leverage situations moving forward.
Montgomery, the White Sox first round pick in 2021, has blossomed into arguably their best player. The 24 year old has a very three true outcomes style slash line of .228/.327/.503 with 13 home runs while also recording seven outs above average at shortstop. The White Sox developmental staff has been able to help him access his power at the major league level despite consistently running a strikeout rate hovering around 30%, and to improve his defense enough that he will stick at short for the foreseeable future.
For the Rockies there isn’t much that is directly transferrable other than the obvious: It’s good to draft and develop well.
It does seem noteworthy, however, just how much of this White Sox roster is already homegrown just two seasons after they hit rock bottom in 2024. They do not appear to have clogged up their roster with tons of veteran one year trade-bait style contracts. Instead, they are letting their former prospects play at the big league level and it seems like it may be paying off sooner than expected. This is something the Rockies could look to mimic possibly as soon as the trade deadline passes later this season.
This was essentially two games: The first eight innings and then the final one.
In the first eight, the Isotopes failed to string any hits together instead scattering a handful of isolated singles and doubles in different frames. Carson Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP) and Blake Adams combined to pitch seven innings between them and allowed four runs on eight hits. It looked like the Isotopes would go down quietly… then came the top of the ninth.
Singles from Adael Amador and Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP), along with walks from Brian Serven and Vimael Machín, were all cashed in by a Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) double and a Nic Kent home run. Suddenly the Isotopes were leading and it was the bottom of the ninth. Joey Meneses walked with two outs and Cade Marlowe slapped a line drive into right center field that was intercepted by a diving Nic Kent to end the game.
Aside from one blemish, in the form of Sam Weatherly allowing seven runs while recording only a single out, the Yard Goats trounced the Fisher Cats. Eiberson Castellano got the start and completed seven innings on only 84 pitches while collecting eight strikeouts.
At the plate Zach Kokoska had three hits including a double, and both Bryant Betancourt and GJ Hill launched home runs, but the real star was Benny Montgomery. After a difficult start to the season, Montgomery would be hard-pressed to have a better game than this one in which he scored two runs, walked, stole a base, and hit two home runs.
A relatively listless game from Spokane until the seventh inning. Jordy Vargas (No. 21 PuRP) got the start and managed four and two thirds innings wherein the only runs scored were as a result of a homer from Alexis Hernandez. Vargas, however, wasn’t efficient enough with his pitch count to go any deeper and the lineup had not provided him with any run support.
Once the Candians’ starting pitcher Nolan Perry was no longer on the mound the Indians attempted a late comeback. They scored three runs in the seventh before Jacob Humphrey hit an absolute rocket into right center field in the eighth. It was, however, too little too late for Spokane.
While no one stood out on the mound (the closest being Dylan Crooks with a scoreless ninth to close out the game), the lineup brought enough firepower for the Grizzlies to earn a convincing win.
As a whole, Grizzlies batters collected fourteen hits, seven of which were for extra bases. Cameron Nelson earned three walks and a stole a base from the leadoff spot, Tanner Thach continued his torrid start to the season with three hits including a home run, and Roldy Brito (No. 11 PuRP) matched him with three hits and a homer of his own. As a group they struck out a whopping thirteen times but that certainly did not stop the Grizzlies from scoring runs.
Matt Eddy details what has changed in Baseball America’s assessment of the Rockies farm system since their pre-season rankings. There are a handful of prospects that have broken into their top 30, highlighted by Andy Perez who they now rank 12th in the system. The biggest riser is 18 year-old outfielder Cristian Arguelles, who the Rockies signed out of Venezuela in 2024. Arguelles has rocketed up from the 20th spot all the way to 8th in Baseball America’s estimation.
Thomas Harding talks to Troy Johnston about what has led to his success to begin the season. Johnston goes into how his time at Gonzaga led to him getting more looks at breaking balls than folks in other environments would have at that age. According to Johnston, his ability to sit breaking ball first has started to pay dividends in a league where pitchers become less fastball reliant each year.
Drew Creasman and Mark Knudson sit down for their weekly podcast where they recap all the recent news from the Rockies. This week they focus on both a breakdown of potential trade candidates that they think the front office should consider shopping ahead of the august deadline (including Kyle Freeland) as well as a check-in on how the Rockies top prospects are performing down on the farm.
Since I had gotten into the habit of actually listening (and enjoying) the play-by-play for a few days, I’m back to turning the audio down. The story below by Michael Cerami is a great article.
I think MLB has the same feelings (if it has feelings) that I do by the PCA drama at this point: What PCA did was horrible; hopefully he has learned the importance of professionalism; let’s move on. I’m tired of seeing the same story over and over take up half of my feed four days later. I think the fine is adequate — it acknowledges that something did occur, and that MLB is watching.
The stories below about Cabrera were before his blister issue Wednesday night.
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Cory Sparks (North Side Baseball): What’s Behind Edward Cabrera’s Struggles? “Why is Edward Cabrera struggling to keep the ball in the park—and can he get it fixed soon enough for a struggling Cubs rotation?”
Trade talk — Patience is wearing thin in some corners of Cubdom:
LOBby numbers by the Cubs’ hitters are getting out of hand:
Tommy Erbe (OnTapSportsNet): By The Numbers: Chicago Cubs “Woes” With Runners On Base. “The Chicago Cubs lead the league in runners left on base by a wide margin. How detrimental is it, and how much stock should be put in it?”
An excellent article — that doesn’t need to name names:
Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): A Request for Marquee: Have Some Feel for the Moment … Please. “But (at Marquee), there are still some flaws – well, one main flaw today – I want to discuss. And that’s the occasional lack of feel for the moment.”
Tyler Courtney (LastWordOnSports): The Cubs Have a Major Bullpen Issue. “In addition to the injuries, the Cubs’ bullpen has seen a lot of inconsistent performances.”
Bradford Doolittle (ESPN): MLB 2026: What we’ve learned so far about ABS. “While it’ll take years to truly assess the effects of ABS on the game, we can at least dive into the early results and see what stands out.”
Jordan Bastian (MLB.com): Cubs’ home winning streak snapped by Brewers in NLDS rematch. “The North Siders have been trying to overtake their rivals to the north for three years running and understand that the finish line matters more than how the division race looks in mid-May.”
Food For Thought:
The Black Circles are no more but Sam Bratley is working on new music. The Black Circles have a big and energetic sound that is packed with attitude. Guitarist & Vocalist Sam Bratley has been compared to the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Albert & Freddie King. The Blues is the blues whether you come from the deep-south or from Warrington in the North West of the UK.
Police in France are warning drivers to beware of drunk deer and other inebriated wildlife wandering into roadways after eating fermented fruits. The Saône-et-Loire Gendarmerie posted a video to social media showing a deer frolicking erratically and running in circles after apparently consuming intoxicants.
“Not all road users are sober,” the post said.
The Gendarmerie wrote deer and other creatures can become inebriated after eating buds, fermented fruits or decaying plants, leading them to “totally unpredictable behavior.” Drivers were warned to keep a lookout for “sudden crossing, inconsistent trajectory, immobilization on the road [and] disorderly escape. If Bambi overindulges on the forest aperitif, it might not be the time to drive like you own the road,” the post said.
Top 20 Destinations in the World
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.
The Guardians took Game 3 from the Tigers in extras. Tanner Bibee was still refused run support from his team, despite going into the 8th inning. At least he didn’t get the loss. Nick has the recap here.
Tanner Bibee should sue the entire guardians lineup for defamation and emotional distress because of how little run support they give him
All eyes have been on Ralphy Velazquez as his explosive start in AA Akron seems to already be translating to success in AAA Columbus. His first hit for the Clippers was a double in the fourth inning of yesterday’s game.
May 20, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder Jac Caglianone (14) hits a single during the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
The Royals were swept at home by the Red Sox, they’ve lost 9 of their last 10 games now, writes Jaylon Thompson.
“People are frustrated, sure,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, we don’t come out here and lose games and walk away feeling good about it. “I mean, there’s no chance of that. So yeah, that’s being a big-leaguer, is being able to go turn the page and go compete the next time.”
The Royals are running into a lot of outs on the bases, why is that?
Garcia seemed to shoulder the blame, mainly for not running hard out of the box, which could have made the play at second much closer.
“Honestly, it was a mistake,” Garcia said through interpreter Luis Perez. “I didn’t come out of the box hard. Once the throw was high, [first base coach Damon Hollins] said, ‘Go,’ but obviously, he didn’t see me coming out of the box. So it was my mistake.”
After a leadoff single in the sixth inning, Lane Thomas was picked off attempting to steal third following Starling Marte’s one-out single that put runners on first and second. But Vinnie Pasquantino flew out to end the inning, following a passed ball that allowed Marte to go to second base.
Lefty Justin Lamkin was selected as the Royals most pleasantly surprising prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Last year’s 71st overall pick, Lamkin was the talk of the backfields in Surprise this spring, with director of player development Mitch Maier saying, “I’m really excited because, wow, this is what it looks like.” But even given that, the former Texas A&M hurler is moving quicker than expected, having already reached Double-A after posting a 1.27 ERA and 0.92 WHIP with 38 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings for High-A Quad Cities. Lamkin works with a fastball-slider-changeup-curveball mix, and while he’s shown a little bit of a velo bump in the pros, it’s the slider in particular that has gotten a ton of whiffs early in 2026.
Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep talked about how bleak it is for the Royals
Matt Crossland dove into why the Royals are so bad on the road
Caleb Moody of Kings of Kauffman talked about how the Royals should follow the Twins footsteps on demoting underperforming players
Shohei Ohtani had an impressive outing and performance at the plate in San Diego
The Brewers just swept the Cubs in Chicago, behind Kyle Harrison’s impressive performance
People are taking their shirts off at baseball games, why? (KU did it at a football game against Utah this past fall, among other schools FWIW)
Pete Crow-Armstrong is having a tough couple days defensively, his latest gaffe allowed a little league homer last night
SARASOTA, FL - MARCH 20: Ethan Anderson #57 of the Baltimore Orioles bats during the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium on Friday, March 20, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Scott Audette/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Norfolk second baseman Payton Eeles had himself a big game, going 2-for-2 with three stolen bases, two walks, and a run scored. The rest of the lineup when 1-for-27 with five walks and 14 strikeouts. The only other hitter with a hit was Bryan Ramos. The team went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Trey Gibson started on the mound, but went just three innings, allowing a run on three hits, three walks, and two strikeouts. Gerald Ogando was the standout for the Tides, tossing 1.1 scoreless innings and recording all four outs via strikeout. Nick Raquet had a tough afternoon. He allowed two runs in 1.1 innings and made two fielding errors. Josh Walker coughed up a run in his 1.1 innings or work. And Alex Pham worked a scoreless eighth inning to close the book on the pitching staff for the game.
Chesapeake were actually outhit by visiting Somerset 12-9, but they also walked 12 times and hit four home runs as part of the onslaught. Ethan Anderson got the scoring going with a solo homer un the first inning as part of his 1-for-2 game with three walks and three runs scored. Aron Estrada added two hits, a double and a home run, plus three runs scored and four RBI. Carter Young hit his fourth home run of the season while Tavian Josenberger went deep for the second time. Thomas Sosa had a 2-for-2 game with a double, three walks, and two runs scored.
Seven different Baysox pitchers took the mound in the winning effort. The first four hurlers allowed eight runs over 4.1 innings. That included starter Juaron Watts-Brown, who recorded just two outs and allowed three runs. The final three pitchers combined for 4.2 shutout frames. Cohen Achen earned the win, striking out two over 1.2 innings. Ben Vespi also had a nice outing, striking out three in his 1.2 shutdown frames.
High-A: Frederick Keys 6, Greenville Drive (Red Sox) 4
Eight of the Keys nine hitters collected hits. Many of them had multiple as the team collected 17 base knocks altogether, though only one went for extra bases. Leandro Arias led the way with his 4-for-5 game that included an RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base. Wehiwa Aloy had two hits and a stolen base. Victor Figueroa had two hits of his own to go with a walk and two runs scored. Colin Yeaman had a three-hit game plus a stolen base. Ike Irish was out of the lineup again with a wrist bruise he suffered on a hit by pitch over the weekend.
Boston Bateman delivered 5.2 shutout innings in this one, striking out six and walking two in the process. The lefty is in the midst of an impressive run that has seen him allow just one earned run over his last four starts. His ERA is down to 3.62 on the year. The three relievers that came behind him had more trouble. Jacob Cravey allowed one run over 1.1 innings. Braeden Sloan followed with a run allowed on no hits but four walks in his lone inning. And Chandler Marsh coughed up two runs in the ninth inning before closing out the win.
Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 12, Wilson Warbirds (Brewers) 6
The Shorebirds absolutely loaded up the box score in this win. The team had 13 hits, nine walks, four stolen bases, and three errors. So, not perfect, but still an impressive showing. They were led by the two Amparos. Félix Amparo went 3-for-3 with a triple and four RBI. Edwin Amparo hit his second home run of the season and drove in two. Andrés Nolaya collected three hits, scored twice, and stole two bases. Juan Ortega added a pair of hits, a pair of runs, and a pair of RBI.
Christian Rodriguez put in a solid effort on the mound. The starter worked 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, three walks, and five strikeouts. Brendan Parks was credited with the win despite giving up two runs in his 2.1 innings of work. Jason Shockley allowed two runs but neither were earned as he recorded the final three outs of the game.
Oct 3, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (28) hits a two-RBI single against the San Diego Padres during the third inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
The Brewers do not hit many home runs. When play starts on Friday, they’ll be last in the majors. While I’d be surprised if the Brewers finish the season in last — remember, Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, and Andrew Vaughn have all missed significant time, and they’ve closed the gap somewhat in the last week — it does seem like power isn’t going to be a major strength for this team.
But even if I don’t believe the Brewers are going to finish last in the league in homers, it got my twisted baseball-history brain working. I wanted to know: has a team that finished last in homers ever won the World Series?
The answer is yes, but it’s only happened five times, and two of those occurred more than 100 years ago. But surprisingly, the most recent occurrence isn’t from all that long ago. Let’s look back.
Ancient history: 1906 White Sox
I’d argue that the first two instances shouldn’t really count. The first is the 1906 Chicago White Sox, in what was just the third World Series ever played.
If you aren’t familiar with how baseball was played in 1906, get ready for some numbers.
The White Sox hit seven home runs in 1906.
The league leaders that season, the Philadelphia Athletics, hit 32. The A’s played in Columbia Park, where it was 340 feet down the left field line and — wait for it — 280 feet down the right field line.
Teams just didn’t hit homers in 1906, or, really, in any season prior to 1920. So even though the White Sox finished 16th out of 16 in home runs, they were an above-average offense, at least from a run-scoring aspect — they were sixth in the league in runs scored (and fifth in stolen bases).
Chicago was led by one of baseball history’s most underrated players, the Hall-of-Fame shortstop George Davis; he was 35 in 1906 but led the team with a 120 OPS+ and still had a sterling defensive reputation. The pitching staff had a couple of stalwarts, as well: Big Ed Walsh was on the younger side of his career but was one of four White Sox starters to throw over 200 innings with an ERA+ of at least 109. But Walsh was not Chicago’s best starter that year: that would be Guy “Doc” White, who went 18-6 with a league-leading 1.52 ERA.
So, Chicago didn’t hit homers, but they played good defense, ran the bases well, and pitched well.
Not-quite-as-ancient history: 1924 Nationals
This team also maybe shouldn’t count. The 1924 season is technically outside of the Deadball Era, but barely: no team in baseball hit 100 homers, and only three had more than 72. The Yankees led the league with 98, but 46 of those were hit by one guy.
So, while the Nationals did have the fewest homers in the league — just 22 — they were not a bad offensive team. Their leader that season was the Hall of Famer Leon “Goose” Goslin. He put up a .344/.421/.516 batting line (143 OPS+) and did lead the team with 12 home runs, but he also hit 30 doubles and 17 triples and led the American League with 129 RBIs. Another Hall-of-Fame outfielder, Sam Rice, also played for that team; he hit only one homer (of his 2,987 career hits, just 34 were home runs), but had 39 doubles and 14 triples.
But the player who was really carrying the team, along with Goslin, was arguably the greatest pitcher of all time, who, at age 36, was having a last hurrah: Walter Johnson.
In 1924, the Big Train led the AL in almost everything. He won the pitching Triple Crown with 23 wins, a 2.72 ERA (149 ERA+), and 158 strikeouts, and also led the league in FIP, WHIP, hits per nine, strikeouts per nine, strikeout-to-walk ratio, and shutouts.
A couple other starting pitchers played well for the Nationals, particularly Tom Zachary, but they also boasted a unique weapon for the time: an elite bullpen piece. Firpo Marberry threw 195 innings in 50 games (14 of which were starts) and technically led the league in saves (though that stat wasn’t kept track of for several more decades) with a 132 ERA+.
It was the pitching that really stood out for Washington: they led the majors with a 122 ERA+, way ahead of the next-best AL team. But that wasn’t all they did for run prevention: while it’s hard to know for sure, basic fielding metrics suggest they were the best defensive team in the league. Their shortstop, Roger Peckinpaugh, was not only the subject of a good Joey Votto bit but is credited as the 1924 league leader in dWAR by Baseball Reference.
Modern-ish times: 1965 Dodgers
The next team isn’t from the Deadball Era, but it’s from the closest thing this side of the 1920s.
There’s not a ton of mystery here: the 1965 Dodgers had peak Sandy Koufax. They also got good seasons from two other starters, Claude Osteen and another Hall-of-Famer, Don Drysdale. Out of the bullpen, the Dodgers had a major weapon, Ron Perranoski, in a fireman role.
Offensively that Dodger team was dreadful, but they found a way. They had just an 89 OPS+ and no player on the team had more than 12 home runs, but they were by FAR the league leaders in stolen bases: 172 of them, with second place at just 110. The reason for that was the shortstop, Maury Wills. Wills had already won an MVP in 1962, and he finished third in 1965 on the strength of his league-leading 94 steals (more than all but four other teams). Wills was also a good fielder, as were center fielder Willie Davis, second baseman Jim Lefebvre, and catcher John Roseboro.
The Dodgers really didn’t have anyone who could hit, though. Second baseman Jim Gilliam, who stands out among players of his time for having a high walk rate, led the team with a 121 OPS+; he played only 111 games and hit just .280 with only 27 extra-base hits in total, but he had a .374 OBP, and it was a bad offensive era and a bad offensive ballpark.
This is a clear example of a team that was led by its pitching staff. They led in team ERA by a fairly significant margin; that was partially boosted by Dodger Stadium, but they were just behind the league-leading Pirates in ERA+. They were also first in FIP, and that, combined with one of the best defenses in the league, is what put the Dodgers in the World Series. Koufax did the rest.
A painful memory: 1982 Cardinals
I swear I was not expecting this when I started researching this project, but one of the three teams in the last 100 years to win the World Series with the fewest homers is also the only team to ever beat the Brewers in the World Series.
It was a matchup of extremes. The Cards were dead last in homers with just 67, while the Brewers were the most powerful team in baseball and hit 216 homers, 30 more than anyone else. The Brewers had a 121 OPS+, best in the league by a lot, while the Cardinals were at 95.
That 95 OPS+ mark, though, was far from worst in the league — it was tied for 15th, just below the middle of the pack (remember there were 26 teams then). While the Cardinals didn’t hit homers, they did several other things well: they were second in the league in stolen bases, tied for second in triples, and seventh in walks.
They also played excellent defense, something that’s becoming a trend here. This was Ozzie Smith’s first season in St. Louis. He won a Gold Glove, and Baseball Reference has him as the league’s best defensive player that season. Keith Hernandez also won a Gold Glove at first base, second baseman Tom Herr probably should have, and third baseman Ken Oberkfell could also flash some leather.
Those Cardinals were interesting as far as this exercise goes because unlike the teams we’ve already looked at, they had a good-but-not-great pitching staff. They were third in the league in ERA, but several other teams were close behind; their FIP was a solid but not spectacular 10th in the league. Among their starting pitchers, only Joaquín Andújar stood out: he really did have a fantastic year and went 15-10 with a 2.47 ERA (148 ERA+) and was seventh in Cy Young voting.
But no one else in the rotation stands out, and while Bruce Sutter did lead the majors in saves (36), he had a middling 2.90 ERA (126 ERA+) and significantly worse FIP (3.63). In those bonkers times, though, when awards voters were fetishizing saves, Sutter finished third — ahead of Andújar! — in CYA voting.
Modern times: 2012 Giants
This is the one that’s kind of hard to believe. The first thought that came to my mind was that this must’ve been one of those Giants teams with a fantastic pitching staff, but that’s not the case — Tim Lincecum, the back-to-back Cy Young winner in 2008 and 2009, had already fallen off a cliff, and the 22-year-old Madison Bumgarner wasn’t yet much of a contributor (at least until the Giants were actually in the World Series). Matt Cain was the team’s best starter, but he’d had other better years.
Sergio Romo had an excellent season out of the bullpen, but the Giants’ closer situation was in flux all year; the team leader in saves was Santiago Casilla, who had a 4.14 FIP and 125 ERA+ while picking up 25 suspenseful saves. (The Giants did make Romo the closer before the postseason, and he was nails in October: he finished his 10-game postseason run with a 0.84 ERA, and he saved three of four games in the Giants’ sweep of Detroit.)
It’s still a little difficult to understand this team’s success, but the most compelling reason is that Buster Posey was 100% deserving of the MVP award he won in 2012. Posey won a batting title and led the majors in OPS+ (171), he hit 39 doubles and 24 homers, and he led the NL with 7.6 WAR via Baseball Reference. But FanGraphs’ framing-influenced numbers think he was even better than that and have him with 9.8 WAR in 2012, the best season ever by a catcher via fWAR.
San Francisco also got a big partial season from Melky Cabrera, who hit .346/.390/.516 in 113 games and would’ve won the batting title had he qualified, but he was suspended for steroid use in August of that season and missed the playoffs. Center fielder Ángel Pagán had the best full offensive season of his career. Pablo Sandoval played pretty well (in only 108 games). Brandon Belt had a 123 OPS+ and 27 doubles but homered only seven times. Marco Scutaro only played 61 games but hit an astronomical .362.
It was a lot of decent offensive players who just didn’t hit homers. San Francisco hit only 103 home runs (the Yankees led the way with 245), but they were 10th in doubles, first in triples, 10th in stolen bases, and fifth in batting average. They had several part-time players who performed quite well, so when starters were missing time, the gap between them and their backups was small. They also play in a tough ballpark.
Put all of that together, and despite being last in homers, the Giants were fourth in OPS+. They were a good offensive team; they just didn’t do it the way we’ve gotten used to. Honestly, they were good in a way that should look familiar to fans of the 2025-26 Brewers.
The bad news
So, there are the reasons to be optimistic that even if the Brewers don’t get out of the home run basement, they can still compete.
Now the reason to be pessimistic: recent trends suggest that this might not be possible anymore.
Since 2020, all six World Series winners have finished in the top four in baseball in homers:
This unsurprisingly aligns with the trends that some fans bemoan in modern times: that players have stopped putting the ball in play to sell out for the home run.
In the past — not that long ago — teams that struggled with the long ball could adapt and find a different approach. But in modern times, when parades of anonymous pitchers with unhittable stuff arrive in waves, we could be reaching a point where that alternative approach is difficult to find, particularly in the postseason as pitcher usage gets more extreme. In those low-scoring playoff environments, when stringing hits together becomes tougher, it helps immensely to have guys who can run into one.
It doesn’t mean it’s impossible, though. The 2025 Brewers were 22nd in home runs but third in runs scored. The 2026 version of the team is, as of Wednesday, last in homers but seventh in runs scored. But there’s likely to be some difficulty in maintaining that disparity long term, and the postseason question will linger until it doesn’t anymore.
These past examples prove that winning with a low-power team can be done if other aspects of the game are in place. Those other aspects — speed, defense, pitching — are all present in this iteration of the Brewers. They were last year, too. It might just be a matter of things clicking into place at the right time.
KANSAS CITY, KS - MAY 06: Savannah Banana Malachi Mitchell (2) flips in the air as the team cheers before the start of a banana ball game against the Kansas City Monarchs at Legends Field on Friday, May 6, 2022 in Kansas City, KS. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Good morning, baseball fans!
It’s an off day for the San Francisco Giants today, so I wanted to touch on a topic that I’ve been thinking about for a while.
At this point, I can only assume that most people familiar with baseball are also at least somewhat familiar with the Savannah Bananas, and the league that was created around them called Banana Ball. If not, it’s a fast-paced version of baseball with an emphasis on entertainment value and fan engagement.
The rules are a bit different, but not so much that a fan of traditional baseball cannot follow the game. There’s an emphasis on trick plays and entertaining the crowds (both at the parks and those watching online). But that doesn’t take away from the on-field product at all, it just adds to it.
I recently had the chance to have a brief conversation with the founder of Banana Ball, Jesse Cole. You may know Cole as the dude that’s always in the yellow tux and top hat, featured in a lot of promotional materials for the league.
During the conversation, I told Cole that I think MLB should absolutely be taking notes from Banana Ball in terms of growing the game. What they are doing to engage new audiences is some of the best work I’ve seen from any league.
What works about it, in my opinion, is that it’s not intended to be gatekept. And what I mean by that is something that I think a lot of women who are sports fans can relate to. You have to prove you belong there, you don’t just get to be a fan because you like the team. I’ve had many experiences where I tell a male acquaintance that I was a Giants fan and I would get presented with a pop quiz to prove it.
And I feel like MLB in general kind of leans into that gatekeeping, whether they realize/intend it or not. Women are grudgingly allowed in the fandom, but not really catered to as a legitimate part of the audience.
Meanwhile, Banana Ball is not only catering to their female fans, they’re making the league as accessible and inviting as possible. And the game play is electric, there is never a dull moment for fans. If you go to a Banana Ball game, you know with absolute certainty that you’re going to have a great time, regardless of how the game plays out.
The same cannot necessarily be said for MLB games. Before the game I went to last month, the last five games I had attended in person were complete shut out losses by the Giants. And I had to pay about $300-400 and travel several hours for the pleasure of sitting through those games with dull, lifeless eyes watching a dull, lifeless team.
The Giants’ past offensive woes aside, with the cost of everything skyrocketing these days, entertainment value is assuredly going to become much more of a factor in terms of people planning to spend money on sports outings.
And listen, I’m not here to say that MLB should have dancing umpires and outfielders doing backflips. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with traditional baseball existing as it is, and having the more exhibition style league exist as a separate thing.
But MLB would be doing themselves a massive disservice to not take notes from how Banana Ball markets to all audiences, and focuses on appealing to a wide demographic of people by creating a fun environment for everyone. It’s a massively successful league that is only growing in popularity and talent.
Just this week, former MLB player Jackie Bradley, Jr. announced that he would be joining the Indianapolis Clowns, a team in the Banana Ball league. They also have the biggest stars of the upcoming Women’s Professional Baseball League, a former Broadway actor, and are so popular that they will have a player on the upcoming season of Dancing with the Stars.
The kind of astronomical growth that Banana Ball has seen over the last few years should absolutely be studied by MLB. They’d be silly not to. Given the game’s decline in popularity, sticking to the traditional route of “playing the game the right way” and policing anything that could remotely be considered fun or an individual’s personality is not going to cut it.
COVERS INTEL: May owns a 
