Category: Baseball

The Phillies’ previous opponent was expected to be a contender but is mired in last place. Now, they’ll head south to take on a Nationals team that many expected to finish in last place but instead finds itself in the mix for a playoff spot.

It seems unlikely that the Nationals will remain in that mix as the pitching staff is a weakness and their league-leading offense is being fueled by some players with a history of falling off in the second half of the season. But for now, this four-game series is shaping up to be much tougher than most would have expected when the season began.

Opposition research: C.J. Abrams

There’s a strong argument that C.J. Abrams has been the best shortstop in the National League this season. Yet if you believe the scuttlebutt around baseball, it seems like there’s still a non-zero chance that he gets traded within the next year.

Abrams, pitcher MacKenzie Gore and outfielder James Wood were the centerpieces of the Juan Soto trade a few years ago. But this past offseason brought in a regime change in Washington, and the new president of baseball operations was not as invested in those players as his predecessor. Gore was traded, and there were plenty of rumors that the other two could be moved for the right price as well.

Abrams has had his moments in the big leagues, but there have also been maturity concerns, as well as questions if his defense will eventually force him to a different position. He has also performed dramatically worse in the second halves of the season. His career second half OPS is .150 points lower than in the first half, and the split was even more pronounced in 2025 (.836 vs. .633).

With Abrams likely headed to the All-Star Game, and the Nats currently sitting above .500, it seems unlikely that Abrams will be traded this season. But if the Nats’ weak pitching catches up with them, and Abrams has another poor second half, it’s quite possible that Abrams’ name will once again be a hot one in trade rumors come October.

Either way, Abrams comes into this series hot, having hit a home run in each of his last three games.

Remembering a guy who played for both teams

For some reason, I was very high on outfielder Roger Bernadina during his brief tenure with the Phillies. The speedy outfielder spent his first five and a half years with the Nationals, never establishing himself as much more than a passable backup. In August of 2013, the Nats released him, and the Phillies gave him a look.

In hindsight, I’m not sure what enamored me of Bernadina. He batted .187 with two home runs and played solid, if unspectacular defense in centerfield. He was a free agent at season’s end, and the Phillies didn’t make much of an effort to retain him. He caught on with the Reds the following season but did little to justify my belief that the Phillies should have kept him.

Hating on the Nationals

There’s another reason that Abrams is still being mentioned in trade rumors: People don’t think the Nationals will pay him enough to stick around once he reaches free agency.

After the Nationals fluked their way to a World Series win, they decided that their success was fueled by the head of their starting rotation: Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin. Strasburg had an opt-out in his deal which he exercised, and the Nats responded by giving him a seven-year extension.

Strasburg was considered a long-term injury risk, and sure enough, he got injured almost as soon as the ink had dried on that new deal. He made just eight more appearances for the team, and combined with Corbin turning into a pumpkin, the Nats were paying an extraordinary amount of money for two guys who provided a combined negative value.

It’s strange that they chose to pay Corbin and Strasburg, while deciding that offensive stars like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon (to be fair, they dodged a bullet on this one), and Juan Soto were not worth paying market value for. Sure, in many of those cases, they offered contract extension, but the offers almost always included a large amount of deferred money.

Deferred money can be used as a weapon for some teams (The Dodgers in particular), but for the Nationals, it just seems like a way to save some money.

Also, the Nationals’ stadium is boring, their announcers are lame, they’ve never been able to figure out a good uniform combination, and the fans still boo Bryce Harper. Get over it, guys.

With the series during the week and the Nationals doing better than expected, we probably won’t get a full Phillies takeover this time around. But with nice weather expected (aside from possible Monday rain) and schools out of session, I imagine there will still be a decent representation by Phillies fans over the next few days.

Additional thought about the season

With Andrew Painter demoted, the Phillies have yet to announce a starter for Monday’s game. It seems likely that Alan Rangel will be called up to work multiple innings, if not given the start. It would be nice if the Phillies had a promising prospect or two waiting in AAA for this situation, but unfortunately, a 28-year-old minor league journeyman is probably their best option at this point.

Rangel has made six major league appearances over the past two seasons and has a 2.57 ERA despite allowing 19 baserunners in 14 innings. Maybe he’s just got a knack for stranding runners? (We can hope, right?)

It seems like the Phillies’ offense will need to continue to hit like they have over the past two games. On Monday, they’ll face lefthander Foster Griffin who is having a successful season after spending three years in Japan. The Phillies actually hit well against a lefty start on Sunday night. Do we dare dream that they can do it two nights in a row?

It’s been a bit since Buster Posey last made public comments. He was practically front and center during the last road trip when he traveled with the team, but since then, the team has gotten worse, some unpleasantness has taken place, and whatever’s going on in the clubhouseseems to have bubbled over into the field of play. So, last week’s SB Nation Reacts survey was well timed.

Poll respondents were asked, “How has Buster Posey done as President of Baseball Operations?”

This seems like a pretty straightforward question designed to solicit a straightforward response. For whatever we think about Buster Posey the Hall of Fame bound catcher, none of that could possibly apply to his cannonball into the deep end of the executive suite.

While I’m of the belief that the captain of a ship is responsible for the behavior of his crew, I understand why fans would want to saddle the poor play and the worse behavior onto the players themselves. We would have to ignore that Buster Posey put together the clubhouse that’s populated with these weirdos, bozos, and abject losers, but being a fan means that ignoring aspects of a team is one of our superpowers. So, let’s look beyond all that, even.

• There’s no pitching. Not really. They’re lucky to have the previous front office’s development success in Logan Webb, but after that, it’s Backend Starter Theater.
• The Rafael Devers deal, which already wasn’t going to work out for the team in the long-run looks like a dead weight in the short-run, too.
• Willy Adames is probably on a 30-homer pace again and plausibly a season similar to last season (108 wRC+), but he’s hardly the captain he seemed like he was going to be when the year started and it seems pretty clear, too, that his best days are behind even him already.

With those two big deals on the books, the Giants had to go out and solicit more investment in the offseason just to boost their Baseball Operations budget enough to support this year’s team. Were the fringe additions of Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser sensible dollars? Or the pennies thrown at the bullpen? Most fans would say no. And I don’t think it’s reasonable to hold subpar players to a higher standard. It’s not as though their track records were unknown to us during the offseason.

And it’s not just the Devers and Adames deals (on top of the previous front office’s commitments to Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman, Robbie Ray, and Logan Webb), it’s the way Posey has spent at the manager’s position. Thanks to picking up Bob Melvin’s option only to fire him — Posey’s decision! Not the behavior of the players — the Giants are spending $10.5 million on the manager’s position in 2026. An outrageous sum of money indicative of someone in charge who doesn’t have a handle on their responsibilities.

Now, it was only a month ago that I joked about how Buster Posey needs to sign himself to a 2-year extension so that he’s forced to stick with the Giants for 5 seasons and really make a go of this whole President of Baseball Operations thing, but the hiring of Tony Vitello has been such an error in judgment and his silence about the ongoing anti-Pride Night protest very surprising to see, that there’s no real value in him continuing on past 2027 — if there’s even a 2027 season.

Yes, his “legacy” as an executive might be a bit more positive in the long run should the team’s player development system become a real strength of the organization, but we’ve said that about the last couple of executives running the show. By the way, on that note, Buster’s off to the second worst start of the Giants’ top baseball executive in franchise history (or, at least, since Baseball Reference started keeping tabs on who a team’s chief baseball executive was). Here’s how he stacks up through his first 239 regular season games:

1. Bob Quinn, 1993 & 1994: 136-103 (.569)
2. Brian Sabean, 1997 & 1998: 135-104 (.565)
3. Horace Stoneham, 1970 & 1971: 135-104 (.565)
4. Bobby Evans, 2015 & 2016: 133-106 (.556)
5. Chub Feeney, 1950 & 1951: 128-103 (.554)
6. Tom Haller, 1981 & 1982 & 1983 (25 games) : 126-113 (.527)
7. Al Rosen, 1986 & 1987: 121-118 (.506)
8. Farhan Zaidi, 2019 & 2020 & 2021 (17 games): (.490)
9. Buster Posey, 2025 & 2026: 112-127 (.469)
10. H.B. Richardson, 1976 & 1977: 109-130 (.456)

Now, this used to be a somewhat anonymous position, but that’s no longer the case. With the hijacking of the sport by the Moneyball crowd, the GM/POBO has become one of the most famous figures on any team. That Buster Posey finds himself down near the bottom of performance in the franchise’s history — trailing one of the most divisive figures in team history but also one of his current advisors whose poor stewardship left the player development so barren that we’re still feelings its ramifications — should be enough for a lot of fans to grade his time in the position rather harshly. The Giants are also on a 65-win pace. That can’t all be on the manager and players.

But, he’s Buster Posey, and it’s going to take fans a long time to accept that he’s doing a bad job or that he did a bad job last season, too, as this season didn’t come out of nowhere. Maybe I’m misremembering, but his last public comments might’ve been around the time of his pouty KNBR interview with Brian Murphy (no relation and that’s not me on the radio!). It wasn’t quite the equivalent of the time that Farhan Zaidi ragequit a live interview while he and Jon Miller watched the Giants mess up on defense several times in a row, but it was demonstrative enough as to be suggestive about his leadership style and how he handles pressure in a role where he can’t hit or field his way out of the situation. This is where his strategy to disappear when the going gets tough might actually pay off. He’s added no new data to the collective memory. He extends fans’ magical thinking just a little longer — “Just wait until Buster cleans house!” —

Anyway, here’s the response to that survey:

Just 20% are firmly behind Buster Posey’s cosplay of a baseball exec. More than half are hedging or giving him the grace they’d hope to be afforded if they woke up one morning in charge of a baseball team.

And that’s another part of this worth considering. Most fans know they could never have been or will never been a professional athlete, but the vast majority think they could be an exec or a scout or an agent or an owner. It’s what’s driving the online thirst for a lockout and salary cap for these latest Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations. I wonder how much of this result has anything to do with what’s happening on the field. Do respondents think there’s still a chance the team turns around its fortunes in 2026? Are they just waiting for the draft and trade deadline? The time element is probably the answer, but I find that to be the least compelling reason to hold out on rendering a judgment.

Buster has rolled up his sleeves and come down from the pedestal of being a Hall of Fame bound baseball player and that alone has earned him a lot of credit. How much, though?

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We've got a 13-game slate for MLB action tonight, and our MLB experts are focusing on star power.

Find out what MLB picks you need to add to your card for Monday, June 22.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Neil Parker: Yankees moneyline	-116
Joe Osborne: Dodgers vs. Twins - Over 9.5	-104

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Neil Parker's expert pick: Yankees moneyline

Price: 54¢ (-116) at Polymarket

The New York Yankees have found a groove without star Aaron Judge (ribs) and won nine of their past 13 while averaging 5.5 runs per game and ranking ninth in wOBA and sixth in xwOBA.

They’re also second in wOBA for the season against lefties, and Detroit Tigers southpaw Framber Valdez’s 4.47 xERA ranks in the 35th percentile.

Additionally, New York righty Gerrit Cole has allowed two runs or fewer in four of five starts while holding opposing hitters to a pedestrian 30.7% squared-up contact rate and 10.2% blast contact rate.

So, with the Tigers ranking 22nd in xwOBA with the 10th-highest strikeout rate across the past 30 days, I’m confident Cole can hold the Detroit lineup in check enough for a road win at Comerica tonight.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• How to watch: YES, Detroit SportsNet

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Dodgers vs. Twins Over 9.5

Price: 51¢ (-104) at Polymarket

The Over has been cashing at a high clip for both of these squads lately. The Minnesota Twins surprisingly lead MLB in OPS over the last two weeks, resulting in 10 of their last 13 games clearing the total. The Los Angeles Dodgers aren't far behind, going Over in 10 of their last 14.

Minnesota hitters have also enjoyed plenty of success against Dodgers starter Eric Lauer, combining for a 1.094 OPS in 62 at-bats, while Zebby Matthews is prone to getting lit up — having allowed seven earned runs twice in his last four starts. 

Add in Los Angeles leading MLB in runs per game on the road and a Twins bullpen carrying a 7.36 ERA over the past two weeks, and this one has all the makings of a slugfest.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• How to watch: TBS

More MLB best bets for today

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

It’s getting late early for the Cleveland Guardians.

June 13th was a terrible day for the Cleveland baseball team. You have to expect some major injuries in a baseball season, but you hope (1) they don’t take out three of your top five hitters when your offense is not especially good in the first place, (2) they are spread out over the whole season and not all at once, and (3) it doesn’t effect your future Hall of Famer. Instead, the Guardians lost Jose Ramirez, Angel Martinez and Chase DeLauter all to broken bones in one game. Bummer. That stinks.

But, the Guardians ten days later are still in first place in a weak AL Central in a weak AL West. This grip on the division is, obviously, very tenuous. The Guardians just lost their most interesting starting pitching prospect in the “Near the Big Leagues” category when Khal Stephen underwent Tommy John surgery. If they sustain one starting pitcher injury… this train will absolutely plummet off the tracks. Should they lose – God forbid – one of Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis or Collin Holderman – I don’t think the train can avoid derailment either. But, if we can assume unsually good pitching health to hold – and assume the Guardians are going to give Franco Aleman a chance to provide more than what Matt Festa can provide AT SOME POINT – it’s the Guardians’ offense that is the panic point when we are evaluating their chances at hanging around until some of the Ramirez/Martinez/DeLauter group can make their return.

Since June 13th, the Guardians offense has a 70 wRC+ in six games. Clearly, this is a small sample size. No argument. However, the six starting pitchers the Guardians faced in that time period had a combined 4.83 ERA. Not managing to get at least 3 of those 6 games should raise some alarm bells, especially when they scored only 1 run twice and 2 runs once during that stretch.

In the Guardians’ defense, they did the right thing in calling up Kahlil Watson and giving him a shot. It isn’t terribly surprising that Watson has struggled. He had clear contact red flags in Columbus that have been exposed. He deserves a chance to see if he can work through some of those issues and reduce his whiff and chase enough to get to his power. So, buckle down and brace yourself for a rough stretch while this young player works on making adjustments. That make sense.

I am here to tell you that the Guardians need to make the same move they made with Watson with some other players. Take a look at some of these eye-watering hitting stats for players that are infesting Cleveland’s lineup, currently:

Petey Halpin – 15 wRC+, .265 xwOBA, 27.9/2.3 K/BB%.
Steven Kwan – 67 wRC+, .300 xwOBA, 10.4/12.8 K/BB%
Patrick Bailey – 71 wRC+, .293 xwOBA, 26.9/6 K/BB%
Gabriel Arias – 71 wRC+, .266 xwOBA, 40.8/4.1 K/BB%
Daniel Schneemann – 79 wRC+, .290 xwOBA, 30.4/9.2 K/BB%
Rhys Hoskins – 91 wRC+, .288 xwOBA, 30.6/16 K/BB% (61 wRC+, .243 xwOBA over the past months’ worth of games).

Wow, ok, where to begin. Halpin, Arias and Hoskins appear to just be bad. Not really surprising in any of these cases. Hoskins may just be going through a prolonged slump and need a chance to get back to his career norms. But, Halpin and Arias are here to provide defense. That’s it. And, that’s simply not enough. Daniel Schneemann has not been good… but he has been better than Arias has been. I think the team should install Schneemann as their everyday third baseman against RHP’s and mix Arias in against LHP’s (if they MUST).

Kwan is an interesting problem because his .300 xwOBA is not good, but would be enough to help this lineup if he was able to get close to it (around an 85 wRC+). However, it feels like defenses have simply adjusted to playing exactly where Kwan will ALWAYS hit the ball and so his insanely low .220 batting average on balls in play feels entirely justified instead of unlucky. If Cooper Ingle is capable of playing left field (certainly a legitimate question), it would make complete sense to bring him up, move Kwan to Halpin’s bench role and demote Halpin. CJ Kayfus has struggled to find his footing in Columbus, but he might also make sense as a temporary promotion in the future Ingle spot while Ingle continues to get reps in the outfield.

Kody Huff has a 141 wRC+ with a 17.1/15 K/BB% in what looks like a legitimate breakout as a catcher. His OPS is .979 at Columbus which is clearly inflated, but it’s still .875 in road games. He’s going to force the team into a very uncomfortable decision at some point should this breakout continue. As a right-handed hitter with a 1.012 OPS against LHP this yeaar, he makes a perfect pairing with Patrick Bailey, who appears to be the team’s choice for someone they want as part of their catching tandem in the future. But, they simply are not going to cut Hedges (who, as seen below, is having a decent hitting season!). Will they be willing to run with Huff getting some DH at-bats and either cut Hoskins or demote Fry? I am here to tell you that it is probably the right decision, given where they are currently with the disastrous injury runs, they should probably DFA Hoskins and see if he’ll accept a Columbus assignment for a bit if not claimed and run a Bailey/Huff platoon with Hedges providing third catcher help and his clubhouse magic. Will they do that? Probably not. But, I don’t see how they can continue to deny what Huff is doing and how he could potentially help.

Before looking at Ingle a bit more, let’s briefly discuss Austin Hedges and David Fry. Hedges is actually a remarkable story this year. He has a 91 wRC+ and a 16.7/8.9 K/BB% with a .303 xwOBA that makes something like that seem kind of sustainable??!! But, we cannot forget that Hedges has a career 52 wRC+. Chances are, given too many more plate appearances, that’s more the kind of hitter he will averae out to be. Meanwhile, Fry has a 104 wRC+. Above average, nice. But, that comes with outperforming his xwOBA of .268 by .060. He’s striking out a third of the time, has displayed very little power, and is propping this up with an elevated walk rate that seems remarkably unsustainable given that good pitchers are going to realize they simply don’t need to worry about throwing him pitches in the zone at some point (perhaps that point has begun since Fry has a 45 wRC+ in June). So, Hedges and Fry are fine for now and I’d be cool with both getting more opportunities (especially if they aren’t going to promote Huff); I would also not be at all surprised if both see their current solid numbers absolutely collapse if given those additional chances.

All right, now, for Cooper Ingle has a 155 wRC+ with a 22.7/18.5 K/BB%, a .333 BABIP, a .380 xwOBA, and a .274 ISO. He has a 1.112 OPS in Columbus, but still a great .892 OPS on the road. He has a little more whiff in him than you might want, but I see no reason to doubt that Ingle is, right now, a top five hitter in the Guardians organization. I would postulate that he is only not currently in Cleveland because the organization has yet to solidify his defensive footing in the outfield. Understandably, they are not ready to pause his potential development as a catcher and so he is still going between catcher and left field.

I am here to say that it is time to bite the bullet and pause the Ingle Catcher Project and make him the left fielder every night until he has enough reps under his belt to not embarrass himself. Once that happens, he needs to be in Cleveland to replace Petey Halpin and move Kwan to the bench. Ingle has some pretty pronounced splits so he isn’t going to help much vs LHP – who cares? This lineup just needs someone who can actually hit the ball. As many someones as they can find, in fact.

George Valera is back, having got through waivers. See if he can get himself on track and pop him in for Watson in a week or so if Kahlil continues to struggle. Ralphy Velazquez seems to be finding his footing in Columbus with a 125 wRC+ in his past seven games. If he can maintain some sort of breakout, it will be officially time to move on from either Hoskins or Fry and give the team’s one potential middle of the order bat a chance to take his lumps.

As a brief aside, I know many fans are hopeful help will come via the August 3rd trade deadline. The issue is that the vast majority of trades are simply not going to happen until the last week of July as teams wait for all buyers and sellers to line up. Finally, the team might be able to land a coveted right-handed hitter (every team in MLB needs one), but their bigger needs are still likely a starting pitcher (because an injury is very likely to arise there) and a left-handed reliever because they don’t have any potential help for those positions immediately available in their system. With hitters like Ingle, Huff and Velazquez nearing the bigs and Ramirez, Martinez and DeLauter due to return, don’t be surprised to see the team focus on pitching. I’m just warning you. I support adding a right-handed bopper! Absolutely. Just want to make sure we are aware of the likely moves ahead.

I don’t know if the Guardians will survive June 13’s massacre. They could even end up some sort of sellers by the trade deadline. However, I hope the front office will continue to be aggressive in trying to give them all the chances in the world to survive by promoting Cooper Ingle and Kody Huff as soon as possible, and Ralphy Velazquez should the opportunity become clear.

Welcome back to Monday Stat Party, a weekly series showcasing some of the most curious and nostalgia-inducing statistical developments from the past week of Mets baseball. What unites each entry is the sense of intrigue which they aim to spark, and the unbridled love of the game’s anomalies from which they arise. Without further ado, let the stat party begin.

MONDAY

Eugenio Suárez became the first Reds player with a two-homer game against the Mets at Great American Ball Park since Adam Dunn on Opening Day of 2005.

The Mets found themselves down nine runs after the second inning. It’s only the 12th time in franchise history that’s happened, and the first since May 25, 2022 in San Francisco.

The Mets allowed at least three runs in three separate innings for the first time since an 11-6 loss on July 29, 2023, against the Nationals at Citi Field.

From the fourth inning to the seventh inning, the Mets had 11 baserunners but did not score. It’s the first time in franchise history they’ve had 11 baserunners in a four-inning span without scoring. (source: SNY broadcast)

The 12-0 final score marked the Mets’ largest shutout loss since a 15-0 loss on August 26, 2018, against the Nationals at Citi Field. The first and second Nats runs in that game came home on a groundout and a walk from 19-year-old Juan Soto.

The Mets suffered their eighth shutout loss of the season, tied for the most in MLB with the Giants and Padres.

TUESDAY

The Mets went with the exact same lineup a game after being shut out. It’s the first time they’ve done that (not including the starting pitcher) since April 19, 2014. Jared Young, Chris Young, and Eric Young Jr. were all involved in helping bring you this strange stat. (credit: SNY broadcast)

The Mets allowed three runs in the first inning in back-to-back games for the first time since July 18-19, 2021. The Mets won both of those games, with the first in Pittsburgh and the second in — where else — Cincinnati. (credit: SNY broadcast)

The Mets left 10+ runners on base for a third consecutive game, marking just the second time they’ve done that since 2017. The Mets’ 33 runners left on base over those games is their most in a three-game span since July 5-7, 2023 (a span in which they went 3-0).

WEDNESDAY

Bo Bichette recorded his sixth consecutive multi-hit game, becoming only the 19th Met with a streak of at least six multi-hit games. Steve Henderson has the Mets’ longest such streak with eight straight multi-hit games from July 12-21, 1979, while David Wright has the second-longest with seven straight multi-hit games from July 24-30, 2011.

Bichette became the first Met with 14+ hits and 8+ runs scored in a six-game span since Wright from July 24-29, 2011.

Francisco Alvarez recorded three batted balls with an exit velocity of at least 107 mph, becoming just the eighth Met to do that in the Statcast era (since 2015). The only Mets to do that in more than one game are Yoenis Céspedes (two times), Brandon Nimmo (two times), and Pete Alonso (eight times, including two games where he had four batted balls at 107+ mph).

Alvarez’s 112.6-mph single off Nick Lodolo in the top of the fifth inning marked his hardest-hit base hit since a homer off Ranger Suarez on September 21, 2024.

At 24 years and 328 days old, Nolan McLean became the youngest Mets pitcher to strike out nine or more batters and allow zero earned runs since Noah Syndergaard on May 22, 2016 against the Brewers at Citi Field.

Juan Soto, Alvarez, and Bichette all recorded three hits. It’s the first time three Mets recorded three or more hits in a game since September 2, 2025, when Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, and Brett Baty did it in Detroit.

THURSDAY

Juan Soto recorded his 30th career multi-homer game. At 27 years and 236 days old, Soto became the 3rd-youngest player to record their 30th career multi-homer game, behind only Alex Rodriguez and Mel Ott. Since 2018, his 30 multi-homer games are tied with Manny Machado for the 3rd-most in MLB behind Aaron Judge (40) and Kyle Schwarber (36).

Carson Benge recorded his seventh three-hit game, tied with JJ Wetherholt for the most by an MLB rookie so far this season.

SATURDAY

The Mets lost by 12+ runs for the second time in six days. The last time they lost multiple games by that many runs in that short a span was September 13, 2017 (a 17-5 loss at Wrigley Field) and September 18, 2017 (a 13-1 loss at Marlins Park).

The Mets allowed 15+ runs for the first time since August 12, 2023, when they lost 21-3 to the Braves at Citi Field.

Freddy Peralta allowed 10 earned runs. It’s only the eighth outing in franchise history where a Met pitcher allowed double-digit earned runs, with the most recent being Jerad Eickhoff’s final Mets start on July 27, 2021, against the Braves. Three of those eight outings have come at Citizens Bank Park. Here’s the full list of Met pitchers to accomplish the unfortunate feat, if you’re curious: Calvin Schiraldi, Pat Mahomes, Steve Trachsel, Al Leiter, Orlando Hernandez, Johan Santana, Eickhoff, and now Peralta.

Bryce Harper became the fifth player to hit for the cycle against the Mets, joining: Wes Parker (May 7, 1970), Ray Lankford (September 15, 1991), Vladimir Guerrero (September 14, 2003), and Jared Walsh (June 11, 2022).

Kyle Schwarber became just the second player to record two three-homer games against the Mets in their career, as he previously hit three homers against the Mets on June 20, 2021, with the Nationals. The other player is Willie McCovey, who did it on September 22, 1963, and September 17, 1966, both at Candlestick Park.

Harper and Schwarber became the second teammates to record a cycle and a three-homer performance in the same game, after Tony Lazzeri hit a cycle and Lou Gehrig hit four homers for the Yankees on June 3, 1932, against the A’s – also in Philadelphia. (source: Sarah Langs / MLB)

Prior to Saturday night, no player had recorded two homers at 440+ feet in the same game against the Mets. Schwarber did it in one inning, with the first homer projected at 456 feet and the second at 457 feet.

The Phillies recorded seven hits with an exit velocity of 106+ mph, tying the record for the most the Mets have allowed in a single game (June 8, 2023, in Atlanta — also known as the Ozzie Albies/Tommy Hunter game) in the Statcast era.

Prior to Saturday night, only 11 players had recorded three hits at 105+ mph in the same game against the Mets in the Statcast era. Harper and Schwarber both joined that list in the span of three innings (yes, each of them got three hits at 105+ mph between the third and fifth innings).

SUNDAY

Carson Benge homered in back-to-back games for the first time in his career. Benge became the youngest Met to homer in back-to-back games at Citizens Bank Park since David Wright did it in three straight from June 13-15, 2006.

The loss snapped the Mets’ streak of seven straight wins in series finales, dating back to May 27 vs. the Reds at Citi Field.

Miscellaneous Mets stat of the week:

On August 16, 2018, the Mets beat the Phillies 24-4 in the first game of a doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park. The game marked both the largest margin of victory (20 runs) and most runs scored (24 runs) by the Mets in franchise history.

Good things can, in fact, happen in Philadelphia.

Tacoma Rainiers

The Rainiers managed a three-three split on the week, pushing with a very solid Salt Lake team that has given many teams fits throughout the season. The Rainiers are understandably thin right now, and despite one of the better bullpen crews in recent years, the big league roster’s lack of health has decimated this Tacoma team’s chances of stringing together wins. Whether they can bounce back or not is yet to be seen, but it seems unlikely much will be changing for at least a few more weeks.

It’s been tough sledding for Ryan Bliss this season, but he had a fantastic series at the dish this week. Collecting 11 hits against Salt Lake hurlers, Bliss managed six extra base hits in the series including his first homer of the month and a triple over the centerfielder’s head. Bliss got a brief call up with the flurry of roster moves that have occurred the past few weeks, but now with an uphill battle for a major league spot, Bliss will need to continue this hot hitting in order to carve out his career with the Mariners. Hopefully his week in Utah is a sign of more to come.

Arkansas Travelers

It was an uncharacteristically poor showing for the Travs this week, dropping five of seven (this included a makeup of a game previously rescheduled for weather) on the series. Frisco is a tough opponent and currently leads the Texas League South, but the Travs absolutely had to have a better showing than they did this week and are now on the outside looking in for a playoff spot. Arkansas will likely have to aim for the second half if they hope to lock down their ticket to the postseason.

Kade Anderson remains the biggest story in minor league baseball. Working another scoreless outing against a very solid lineup, Anderson lowered his ERA down to 1.02 on the year and looks entirely too good for the Double-A level. His 90 punchouts across 61.2 IP are remarkable in their own right, but put next to his season-long walk count of eight (!) takes his dominance into another stratosphere. How they plan to utilize Anderson at the big league level this season is unclear, but it’s becoming more and more obvious they’ll have to give him a shot at some point.

Potential injury note: Michael Arroyo was absent from this weekend’s slate of games, seemingly shut down after Thursday’s contest. Arroyo has missed some time this year with some minor injuries and hopefully can avoid the IL; since his return at the end of May, Arroyo had really started to put things together at the plate and looked much like his old self. There’s been no official move yet, but it’s something to monitor in the coming days.

Everett AquaSox

The Frogs dropped four of six to Hillsborough this week, unable to build on some really solid play across the previous handful of series. Unfortunately for the AquaSox, this one wasn’t much of a contest; Everett stole a pair of tight one-run wins, but the Hops were consistently posting double-digit run totals and really thwarted the Frogs offensively. Tough one this week, but an easy one to flush.

Jonny Farmelo popped yet another homer this week, raising his monthly total up to six and pushing him into double-digits for the year. The young centerfielder is slashing .313/.432/.701 in the month of June and has pushed his season-long K% down to 26.5%, a more than reasonable figure given his excellent walk rate and burgeoning power. Farmelo has one of the loftiest ceilings in this entire system, and if he’s able to hold this kind of output over the next month or so, it seems likely he’ll get a crack at the Texas League before the year ends.

Inland Empire 66ers

The 66ers couldn’t eek out a draw this week and dropped Sunday’s contest to lose the series by a score of four to two. The 66ers have really struggled to get any momentum built this season, and despite some of the bats putting together solid 2026 campaigns up to this point, with little pitching to speak of, it’s been tough for this team to consistently find themselves in the win column.

Estevan Moreno absolutely torched Fresno’s arms this week and has sneakily been one of the better hitters in this Inland Empire lineup. Popping four homers on the week amongst 12 total knocks, Moreno raised his season OPS to .904 on the back of his prodigious power and is proving his draft consensus wrong in the best way possible. Last year’s 20th round pick out of Notre Dame, Moreno has primarily played third base and was formerly a shortstop for the Fighting Irish, though he’s also logged time at first and figures to be more of a true corner-infielder long term. Looking like something of a late-round steal, hopefully Moreno is able to continue his hot hitting and fuel this 66ers lineup toward a successful second half.

Mason Peters’ start was skipped this week, hopefully a scheduled pass through the rotation in order to limit the young starter’s innings in his first go around of professional ball. Additionally, outfielder Korbyn Dickerson didn’t appear in Saturday or Sunday’s contests after missing a pair of games early this week, potentially getting some days off while nursing a minor injury. Both seem to have a very reasonable path to returning shortly, but given the unknown nature of their absence, it’s worth following in the coming days. Both players have been integral to this team thus far and are amongst the best prospects in this entire system.

ACL Mariners

Both Nick Becker and Yorger Bautista had outstanding weeks at the plate for the Baby M’s, building on strong months of June that have marked serious improvements to their games. Becker reached the 20 SB mark and hit his third homer of the year, raising his season OPS to .903 while consistently manning shortstop. Becker is still whiffing too much, but his strikeout rate has been declining in recent weeks, and his gaudy walk rate helps to buoy his numbers to the excellent level he’s currently sitting at. On the month, he holds an OPS of .980 with a K% below 30%. Bautista, who logged 11 hits in five games, owns an OPS of .813 on the month and is showing off a healthy amount of slug. Both prospects possess immense ceiling and figure to be top prospects for the foreseeable future.

DSL Mariners

Gregory Pio and Juan Rijo have garnered the bulk of our coverage for this DSL squad, but this lineup is far from a two-man show. Maikol Rodriguez, Jarvis Gomez, and Fabian Gonzalez all have OPS marks north of 1.000 and are crushing the baseball right now. They join Pio and Rijo as elite offensive producers and are giving this DSL roster the best lineup they’ve had in several years.

The Atlanta Braves minor league system is rapidly improving and this year the fastest-rising position player in all of baseball may be Atlanta’s 20th round pick from 2025, recently-turned 20-year-old Canadian outfield prospect Eric Hartman, who is currently dominating the competition at High-A Rome.

He’s not the only highly-ranked position player in the Braves system to be plying his trade in northwest Georgia. Infielder John Gil, the 20-year-old international signee who made his pro debut in the Braves system in 2023, is also showcasing his skill there.

Not to be outdone, 2025 first round pick Tate Southisene, the 19-year-old shortstop prospect recently joined Rome from Low-A Augusta and outfielder Isaiah Drake – the organization’s fifth round pick in 2023 – is beginning to put his tools together, offensively.

With so much talent on one team, I decided to take a trip to Rome to put eyes on this collection of talent. A caveat here, I am not a prospect evaluator, so below are my observations from one game – Saturday, June 20 – against Hudson Valley. Our prospect team does an excellent job covering the system (the link to the Battery Power prospects section is above) if you want their take on the talent.

Rome lost 3-2 and the team’s offense was largely held in check, mustering only six hits. Rome pitching staff was leaky, but kept the Emperors in the game with the only real damage coming on two Hudson Valley home runs.

Despite Rome’s tepid offensive output, two players stood out for the Emperors, with three others flashing during the game. Again, for the record, let me reiterate that this is based on one game in the season – so just because Owen Carey or others aren’t in this write-up, it is only because of one Saturday night in June.

Eric Hartman

I think any fan going to see a minor league game is hoping to leave with at least one memorable moment. And when there is one player who you hope to say, “I saw him hit a home run when he was still a minor leaguer!” one feels privileged when that works out.

Why Eric Hartman is still in Rome is beyond me. With his home run last night, embedded above, he now has 18 home runs and 26 stolen bases on the season … and that was only through June 20. He added two more stolen bases, yesterday. Beyond his Saturday home run, two other things about his play jumped out last night.

In his next at bat after his home run, he connected with a ball that he drove to the left field side of center field that only made it to the warning track, but was easily 385 feet. The sound off his bat was better than his home run that he pulled over the right field fence. Was it a barrelled ball? Yes, yes it was.

His most impressive at bat, to me, was actually is final one in the bottom of the eighth inning. Rome was trailing by a run and had two outs with no runners on base. Hartman hit a hard grounder to the right side of second base. Hudson Valley was playing the shortstop almost on second base so the fielder only had to take a couple of steps to his left to field-and-throw and Hartman almost beat the throw for an infielder hit. Sitting behind home plate, it was tough to see exactly how close it was, but it was a half-step at most.

That sprint-speed and hustle out of the box was impressive.

It isn’t hyperbole to think he will be a big leaguer by no later than the end of 2027, either in Atlanta or as the key piece for a high-caliber MLB-player return this season. A high-ranking, notable front office member just happened to have a front-row seat to the action last night.

John Gil

Last night, John Gil played second base and was easily the second-most impressive position player performer on the night. He singled and scored ahead of Hartman’s home run, but his two most electric at-bats were both outs.

Without knowing what the actually EV was off the bat, the hardest ball hit by either team last night was likely Gil’s line-out to third. Two feet in either direction and it would have been a double, as he barrelled it. He also drilled a ball for a fly-out, but it was hit on a line to the left fielder and was likely another registered barrel.

The sound off his bat – and I know this is more of an old school way of positioning it – but the sound off his bat was THAT sound. The one you know is squared-up and hard and was the best sound of leather-to-wood in the ballpark by either team.

Gil has added muscle to his frame, and he’s stout. Through the 20th, he’d hit 10 home runs and stole 32 bases, and then added another home run on the 21st. There weren’t any stand-out chances defensively for him, but he might be an option for Atlanta by 2028, somewhere on the infield.

Tate Southisene

Recently promoted shortstop Tate Southisene batted lead-off and collected two walks in four plate appearance. What was obvious in all of his at bat is his patience at the plate. He didn’t chase and other than one out-of-control swing at a high fast ball in his third at bat, he was posed and unwilling to offer at anything outside of the zone.

Unfortunately, that was all there was to glean from him in this game.

Isaiah Drake

Isaiah Drake showed off his speed on the bases and in the field, stealing a base after and awful dropped fly ball by Hudson Valley’s right fielder – it was overcast, there was no wind, and this was a can of corn that he flat-out dropped – and making several nice running catches in right field.

Drake’s most impressive defensive play was running down a ball in the right-center field gap that looked like a double off-the-bat but ended up being an easy catch. He also made a solid running catch coming in on a dying liner his toward the foul line behind first base.

Will Drake make it to the big leagues? Maybe, the speed and defense plays, but he might end up being like former Braves minor leaguer Justin Dean, who finally got his first MLB hit on Friday night after more than a decade of pro ball. If Drake can add to the power he is showing this season, he could carve out a role as a fourth outfielder-type.

Colby Jones

Admittedly, I didn’t know anything about outfielder Colby Jones coming into this game – but like Drake, Gil, Hartman and Southisene – he can fly with more than 20 stolen bases. He got a hit a stole second easily and his movements were quick and fast. He struck out twice – although one was on what appeared to be an awful call by the home plate umpire (although not as bad as the ump ringing up Dixon Williams on a check-swing the at bat prior) who was ready to go home in the bottom of the ninth.

The speed Jones has can’t be ignored, and like Drake, he could be a fringe big league player but at the least, he’s excellent minor league depth with a real tool.

Pitchers

Zach Royce, the team’s seventh round pick last year, was the starter after getting promoted from Augusta. He struggled and looked over matched early on in the game. Also making his Rome debut was Jerrett Whorff, the 27-year-old just signed from the Rangers organization who tossed a clean inning a pick-up a strikeout. He’s an organizational depth piece.

Rome’s most impressive pitcher was David Rodriguez, who pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three batters. He’s 24 and was a 2023 draftee and another organizational arm.

Hudson Valley

Hudson Valley is a Yankees affiliate, and honestly, I didn’t pay as close of attention to the Renegades as the Emperors as this was not a “work” trip.

First baseman Kyle West annihilated a Royce pitcher for a home run in the fourth. Third baseman Core Jackson also homered. Catcher Eric Genter went 5-for-5 at the plate with two doubles about also made two weak throws – both well to the shortstop side of second – while trying to throw out Drake and Jones steal. Starting pitcher Rory Fox pitched well and closer Wilmy Sanchez struck out three in the ninth, allowing only a two-out single to Emperors first baseman Mason Guerra, who did have two hits in the game.

It has been a while since I had been to a minor league game, and it was a reminder as to how enjoyable those games can be. And, lucky me, I got to see Hartman do what he’s done this season. I think it is about time he starts trying to do that in Columbus with the Clingstones and maybe Gil should go with him.

Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is on a tremendous batting run. Since May 14, when facing left-hander Chris Sale in Atlanta, PCA made an adjustment in his batting stance and since then, in 34 games he’s batting .346/.426/.699 (46-for-133) with seven doubles, two triples, 12 home runs, 23 RBI, 23 runs scored, 15 walks and eight stolen bases.

The answer might be this simple (Bluesky link):

I noticed this about PCA when I was in San Francisco last week — check out the photo at the top of this post to see just how close he’s standing to the plate. It does, apparently, make a difference. Incidentally, I took that Sunday, June 14 in the first inning, when PCA was facing Logan Webb, who is definitely not a left-hander. So he’s standing there not necessarily exclusively against LHP. Here, though, is a screenshot from the game against the Dodgers April 26 in Los Angeles, showing PCA standing in against left-hander Jack Dreyer. You can see how much farther he’s standing from the plate:

There’s more from PCA in this article by Jordan Bastian, and this quote seems informative:

“It was just to give them less room to go,” Crow-Armstrong said. “The visual of seeing somebody standing right on top of the plate may change things. In turn, it’s helped me know where I need [pitches] to start. It’s helped me lay off stuff inside and cover the outer half of the plate.”

As the article notes, PCA’s walk rate is also up, and this new stance might be helping that. He’s just one walk short of matching his total for all of 2025, and in 22 games batting in the leadoff spot he’s posted a .462 OBP, which is just outstanding.

We are watching Pete Crow-Armstrong become a superstar right in front of us. As I noted earlier this morning, he very well might win a second consecutive NL Player of the Week award, he’s a strong candidate for NL Player of the Month, and he’ll almost certainly make a second straight NL All-Star team.

And if he continues to produce like this, the trade that brought PCA to the Cubs from the Mets for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams might go down as one of the best in franchise history.

One of the consensus best baseball movies to ever hit the silver screen is Field of Dreams. And while the story isn’t solely focused on him, one of the most appealing characters through a key part of it is Archie “Moonlight” Graham, whose entire dream was to take one major league at-bat. I won’t spoil anything about the film in this article, and it’s important to remember that, yes, he’s just a character in a movie (albeit one based on a real person), but there are tons of real ballplayers out there whose dreams look similar to Graham’s. Some achieve it, and some don’t. However, there are stories surrounding players who took the field only a handful of times and eventually returned to the minor leagues, never to grace that dirt again.

Jack Zalusky—like Graham, another fellow with ties to Minnesota—was one of those players, who got to realize a dream, but just for a short while.

John Francis Zalusky
Born: June 22, 1879 (Minneapolis, MN)
Died: August 11, 1935 (Minneapolis, MN)
Yankees Tenure: 1903

Born to Frank and Barbara Zalusky, John, who was called “Jack” all his life, grew up in Twin Cities area. He began playing semi-pro baseball at the age of 20 and bounced around in the early stages of his career simply due to the nature of the sport at the time. A right-handed hitter and thrower, he initially played for the amateur Pabst Brewing Company team in 1898. He received the position on the team because he also worked for Pabst as a packer.

The next year he continued to play in the semi-pro leagues. The team he played for, though, required him to travel a bit to Rock Rapids, Iowa, in 1899. And in 1900, he played for Minneapolis Brewing Company while also playing in a few college games. The University of Minnesota said they needed someone to catch a few games, and Zalusky was up to the task. 

After 1900, Zalusky was able to make his way into the pro baseball season. He was signed by Louisville Colonels, which eventually turned into the Grand Rapids Furniture Makers (how could you not love minor-league team names?). He played 129 games for them through the season and finished with a batting average of .198 on the way to a minor league, Western Association pennant.

In 1902, Zalusky was signed by the Chicago Orphans (the team that would eventually turn into the Cubs) and played in spring training for them. However, not only did the team have three other veteran catchers, but Jack also sustained an injury before the season began, stacking the odds very much against him to make the cut.

So following 36 games with the Tacoma Tigers where he hit just .165, he was released and sent back to his hometown of Minneapolis to play for the Millers in the American Association, an independent league. He played 56 games with them that season and hit .185 with a slugging percentage of .233. However, he was released from his club in Minneapolis and moved on to Sioux Falls, where he was on the roster of a semipro squad in South Dakota.

Zalusky would find his luck buried in the year 1903, though. At the age of 24, he was traded by Tacoma to Spokane in Washington state with the Pacific National League. And in 89 games at Class-A, he was excellent. He hit .296, which, to that point was a career-high, and it drew some attention from other clubs that had an important mark on his tenure playing professional and semipro baseball.

Despite his impeccable batting average, Zalusky was cut from the team, but that gave the New York Highlanders (now the Yankees) of the recently-established American League a chance to pick him up. Player/manager Clark Griffith thought that there might be something there with the 24-year-old from Minnesota. And after signing with the team, Zalusky joined New York for the rest of the big-league season — the first in the great history of the team that would soon be the Yankees.

The rest of the season at that point was only seven games, but he made the most of it. Zalusky made his debut on September 2nd against the Washington Senators, and not only did he debut, but he also caught a complete game, hurled by the spitballing right-handed Hall-of-Fame pitcher Jack Chesbro, who was in his first season with the Yankees following a move from the Pittsburgh Pirates. It is worth mentioning that complete games were far more common in that day-and-age, as Chesbro finished the season with 33 to his name and in the next season tossed 48, but for a kid making his MLB debut, it’s still something to write home about.

In 17 plate appearances, Zalusky tallied five hits (all of which were singles) and two runs scored. He walked once and tallied a singular RBI as well while also striking out five times. He finished those seven games with a slashline of .313/.353/.313. His best single-game performance came when he went 3-for-4 in a 7-6 win against the Detroit Tigers, which ended up being his penultimate game in Major League Baseball. In Zalusky’s final game, he went 1-for-4, but he scored one of the two runs in his career and the only RBI he ever tallied at the highest level. The Highlanders won, 10-4.

Following his short seven-game stint in the major leagues that finished off in exciting fashion, Zalusky was returned to the minors and would stay there to live out the rest of his playing days. He was first with the Altoona Mountaineers in the Tri-State League in 1904 before going back to the American Association and playing 73 games between the St. Paul (before he was let go due to the team signing another catcher) and Indianapolis. Then, in 1906, his contract was purchased by the Denver Grizzlies in the Western League, where he would play out the next four seasons. He played 295 total games there over four seasons, the most coming in his debut year for the club. He played 114 games that season and batted .308, the highest of his minor league career.

In 1907, Zalusky played only 57 games due to blood poisoning from an accident that he sustained, and as a result, he only hit .222 in the games he did play. However, he returned to the field for the Grizzlies the next season and bounced back, playing 112 games and hitting .255. The 1909 season came around, and Zalusky had dealt with another issue — a knee injury — that took him out of comission for most of the season. He played only 12 games and still hit above .250, but he wasn’t the same player, and his time playing baseball would soon come to and end. Not only that, but he and a teammate were suspended from the Grizzles club until they were healthy to play again, but both believed they were on the wrong end of the injuries due to playing in harsh conditions. They wound up in a court of law and sued the team and won, recieving a settlement of $250 each, which is equivalent to just over $9,000 today.

The final year of baseball for Zalusky came in 1910 with La Crosse Outcasts in the Minnesota-Wisconsin League. There are conflicting reports with how many games he played, with Baseball Reference saying he appeared in 87 games and the Society for American Baseball Research saying he played in 110. Regardless, he hit .265, and eventually hung up his spikes in an official manner.

Zalusky reportedly still played baseball through the 1910s (and was even considered for managing jobs) before last being seen in catcher’s gear in 1920. From then on, he worked a security guard for a bank in his hometown of Minneapolis, where he passed away at the age of 56 due to a heart ailment.

A baseball traditionalist in every sense of the word, Zalusky spent most of his time in the minor leagues. But for just a moment, he held the title of a Major League Baseball player, one that not many can say they held at any point in their lives. His career ended where it started, but a single RBI and an impactful showing in his brief time is worth all the work to get there. Happy birthday, Jack!

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

Logan Gilbert is probably two starts away from recording his 1,000th career strikeout. After adding another eight in yesterday’s win over the Red Sox, he now sits at 984 since he made his debut. Yesterday’s outing, in which he walked just two and allowed only a smattering of good contact, marked the sixth solid start in a row for Gilbert, a streak that might just mark a turning point for the skyscraping Stetson.

Gilbert has been a good pitcher since his very first strikeout, a three-pitch manhandling of Cleveland’s César Hernández on May 13, 2021. But he’s never been satisfied with being good and so has been constantly tinkering and tailoring throughout his five-plus years in the show. The most remarked upon change has probably been that he has drastically cut down on his fastball usage.

In his first MLB season, he threw his fastball 60.8% of the time, 10th most in the league. Historically, it was his best pitch, appearing even faster than its actual velocity thanks to how close his hand is to home plate by the time he releases it. But after refining his slider and developing a nasty splitter, that number plummeted to 41.8% in 2023 and has held steady in the low thirties over the past few seasons. That may be changing again.

Over the past six starts, Gilbert has bumped up his four-seamer use to 45.2%, including a whopping 68% yesterday, his high-water mark in a game since his rookie season. It’s not the best velo he’s ever had, but he’s back up to 96.0 mph on it. The velo spike was particularly dramatic yesterday, when he averaged a season-high 96.8, bested 98 nine times, and even hit 99.9 mph. (In an exceedingly rare joke, Dan Wilson noted, “I’m sure we’ll be hearing about that all week.”)

The increased presence of his heater has corresponded with a bounceback in his effectiveness. Over that six-game stretch, his K%-BB% has spiked to 24.1% from 19.5% in his first ten starts. And he’s picking up whiffs on an elite 16.2% of his pitches. His 18 yesterday were somehow just the third most this month; he had 21 on June 2nd and June 16th.

Where are those extra fastballs coming from? Mostly, they’re replacing his terrible cutter, a pitch that couldn’t elicit either whiffs or weak contact. It’s a pitch he’s tried before, to try to make his arsenal a little more east-west than the strictly north-south profile on his other pitches. But he’d abandoned it halfway through last year for a reason. Hitters were not fooled by it and the in-between velocity and movement just ended up making all his pitches blend together a little too much. Now, after bringing it back to start the year, he’s abandoning it again, down from 11.5% of his pitches through his first ten starts to just 4.5% over his last six. Not only is he throwing more fastballs, he’s using them to replace his worst pitch.

Gilbert’s curveball is also down, but he used it a bunch yesterday with two strikes. And I’m expecting him to continue that trend. As Gilbert said after the game, “[Cal Raleigh] went to curveball a few times with two strikes. I think that was smart, looking back afterwards. Like if guys are kind of in-between bat speed you don’t really want to give them a gift, something at 90 or whatever. So the curveball at 81, if you’re keeping the same hand speed and everything. I think it does a good job fooling them.”

Importantly for a team that’s running with a seven-man bullpen, this stretch has also seen Gilbert work deeper into games. After being one of the game’s true workhorses, leading the league in innings pitched in 2024, he averaged just 5.1 innings per start in 2025. In his first ten starts of this season, he increased that by an additional out per game (no small thing), and now, over this six-game span, he’s averaging more than six innings per game, which is the kind of pace we want to see him on.

To recap all that: Since May 22, Logan Gilbert has averaged an extra half a tick on his fastball, he’s using it more, and pitching deeper into games.

To be sure, not all indicators are pointing in the same direction. Gilbert’s been inducing more foul balls, and not coincidentally, needing about 0.23 more pitches per plate appearance (which doesn’t sound like a lot, but is). That wouldn’t prevent him from pitching deeper into games as long as he wasn’t allowing too much traffic. But the quality of contact he’s allowing, long his greatest weakness, has deteriorated a little too. It’s possible he’s just been a little lucky lately. His BABIP is down and his strand rate is up as well.

I don’t think it’s that simple, though. The logic behind his change in approach is too sound. Throw the fastball more and guys will get fewer looks at the slider, splitter, and curveball. So Gilbert can use those to actually put guys away. All those extra strikeouts will leave runners stranded too. And his BABIP is only down within the margin of error, with “error” being the operative word for the Mariners defense—nobody should be making too much of BABIP changes one way or the other in front of this defense.

Dan also credits Gilbert’s recent success to the fastball: “It’s the velo, but it’s also the combination of that with being in the zone. You’ve got to get the hitter in swing mode, and it makes the splitter and the slider work so much better. That was the key [yesterday], getting ahead of a lot of guys. I think the first nine out of 10 he was ahead in the count with the heater, and when you’re throwing 98 to 100, getting ahead, that’s going to speed the bat up and leave them susceptible to the off-speed stuff.”

Gilbert tried a lot of different ideas to get out of the funk he’d been in for the past year and a half. He tried new pitches, he changed the shape of others. But the one thing he’d had yet to try was reversion. I get why. If you moved away from something and started improving, it can be scary to try to go back to it. But it might be just what the doctor ordered. That very first strikeout of Hernández was set up by a first-pitch fastball on the top rail. Then he went after him with a curveball on the bottom rail. And finally, he threw an ankle-high slider that Hernández swung right over the top of. How poetic would it be to set up his 1,000th strikeout with a fastball too?

Charlotte Knights
Record 4-2 (last week), 42-33 (first half), 42-33 (overall)

Knights Players of the Week
Kyle Teel .500/.529/.750, 16 at-bats (finished rehab assignment, called back to Chicago on June 22)

Andy Weber .391/.440/.652, 23 at-bats
Ryan Galanie .381/.409/.667, 21 at-bats
Dustin Harris .348/.423/.609, 3-for-4 stolen bases, 23 at-bats
Rikuu Nishida .286/.333/.321, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 28 at-bats
William Bergolla Jr. Did not play (7-day IL from shin bruise)

Shane Murphy 8 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Jonathan Cannon 6 IP, 3 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 K
Mason Adams 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 6 K
David Sandlin 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Noah Schultz 4 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 8 K

The Knights kept their strong season going with a winning series against the Bisons (35-40) in Buffalo. This was the only winning week for any team within the White Sox organization.

Catcher Kyle Teel, 24, wanted to return to the majors as soon as possible, and his performance proved it. Currently working hard to fully recover from a right knee LCL sprain, went 8-for-16 with a homer, a double, a walk, and four RBIs. Teel’s MLB career got off to a nice start in 2025, as he posted 1.9 fWAR in 78 games. Meanwhile, with Teel out due to injury, the catcher position has been a weak area for the South Siders in 2026. Teel’s return will go a long way in terms of patching up a thin area.

2026 Charlotte Knights Players of the Week
Korey Lee (March 27-April 5)
Oliver Dunn (April 6-12)
Shane Smith (April 13-19)
Jarred Kelenic (April 20-26)
Oliver Dunn (April 27-May 3)
LaMonte Wade Jr.(May 4-10)
Jacob Gonzalez(May 11-17)
LaMonte Wade Jr.(May 18-24)
Jacob Gonzalez(May 25-31)
Braden Montgomery(June 1-7)
Ryan Galanie(June 8-14)
Kyle Teel(June 15-21)

Birmingham Barons
Record 2-4 (last week), 26-43 (first half), 26-43 (overall)

Barons Player of the Week
Grant Magill .500/.545/.800, 10 at-bats

Brenden Dixon .364/.364/.818, 11 at-bats
Caleb Bonemer .316/.480/.316, 19 at-bats
Alec Briley .261/.320/.522, 23 at-bats
Anthony DePino .211/.375/.421, 19 at-bats
Colby Shelton .211/.250/.368, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 19 at-bats

Dylan Cumming 5 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 K
Connor McCullough 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Lucas Gordon 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 6 K
Jake Palisch 4 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 1 K
Morris Austin 3 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K
Gabe Davis 3 1/3 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 5 K

Birmingham lost another series, but for the second straight week, at least they made it competitive. The Barons won two of the first three games, but they dropped the last three to the Blue Wahoos (36-33).

Catcher Grant Magill, 25, only played in three games, but he made his playing time count. The talented catcher went 5-for-10 with a homer, a walk, and five RBIs. During Thursday’s game, which was one of the wildest of the season, Magill played a big role in Birmingham’s 16-13 victory., going 3-for-5 with a homer. Magill also drove in four to lead all players and help the Barons recover from allowing 10 runs in an inning. Magill got promoted on from High-A on June 10, and he is already dominating Double-A pitching.

2026 Birmingham Barons Players of the Week
Samuel Zavala (April 6-12)
Braden Montgomery (April 13-19)
Alec Makarewicz (April 20-26)
Wilfred Veras (April 27-May 3)
Jake Palisch(May 4-10)
Wilfred Veras(May 11-17)
Alec Makarewicz(May 18-24)
Drake Logan(May 25-31)
Dylan Cumming(June 1-7)
Anthony DePino(June 8-14)
Grant Magill(June 15-21)

Winston-Salem Dash
Record 3-3 (last week), 39-30 (first half), 39-30 (overall)

Dash Player of the Week
Kyle Lodise .368/.429/.895, 19 at-bats

Boston Smith .214/.421/.857, 14 at-bats
Ely Brown .263/.417/.263, 19 at-bats
Kaleb Freeman .263/.333/.474, 19 at-bats
Alex Ungar .250/.357/.500, 12 at-bats

Riley Eikhoff 7 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 7 K
Grant Umberger 5 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Drew McDaniel 4 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Liam Paddack 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Max Banks 4 IP, 5 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K

For the third consecutive week, the Dash went .500 to remain nine games better than .500. Winston-Salem is still in second place in the South Atlantic League South.

Shortstop Kyle Lodise, 22, was fantastic across the board for the Dash. Overall, Lodise’s excellent performance was a major factor for Winston-Salem being able to salvage a series split. Lodise went 7-for-19 with three homers, a double, a walk, and a team-leading six RBIs. That monstrous week resulted in a 1.324 OPS that increased Lodise’s season OPS to .775. On top of his bat and defensive value, Lodise is 24-for-30 in stolen bases.

2026 Winston-Salem Dash Players of the Week
Caleb Bonemer (April 6-12)
Colby Shelton (April 13-19)
Colby Shelton (April 20-26)
Caleb Bonemer(April 27-May 3)
Colby Shelton(May 4-10)
Boston Smith(May 11-17)
George Wolkow (May 18-24)
Morris Austin(May 25-31)
Caleb Bonemer(June 1-7)
James Taussig(June 8-14)
Kyle Lodise(June 15-21)

Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
Record 3-3 (last week), 35-34 (first half), 35-34 (overall)

Cannon Ballers Player of the Week
Matthew Boughton .519/.567/.741, 3-for-4 stolen bases, 27 at-bats

Efren Teran .313/.522/.313, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 16 at-bats
Jaden Fauske .304/.407/.565, 4-for-4 stolen bases, 23 at-bats
Derek Cerda .231/.333/.385, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 26 at-bats
Adrian Gil .143/.500/.571, 14 at-bats

Truman Pauley 5 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Anthony Patterson 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Gabriel Rodriguez 4 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Gabe Tanner 4 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Caedmon Parker 7 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 6 BB, 8 K

The Cannon Ballers dropped three of the first four games, but they rallied with two dominant victories to even the series against the Woodpeckers (33-35).

Infielder Matthew Boughton, 20, who plays second base, shortstop, and third base, was an enormous problem for Fayetteville pitching. The infielder, who the South Siders selected in the 11th round last year, posted massive numbers. Incredibly, Boughton went 14-for-27 with a homer, three doubles, two walks, three steals in four attempts, and a team-leading seven RBIs. Boughton reached base safely at least twice in every game this week. Boughton got off to a slow start to the season, and he entered this week with a .182/.244/.266 slash line. However, this week boosted his numbers up to .232/.292/.337.

2026 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers Players of the Week
Stiven Flores (April 6-12)
Abraham Núñez (April 13-19)
Javier Mogollón(April 20-26)
Arxy Hernández(April 27-May 3)
Javier Mogollón(May 4-10)
Max Banks(May 11-17)
Riley Eikhoff(May 18-24)
James Taussig(May 25-31)
James Taussig(June 1-7)
Derek Cerda(June 8-14)
Matthew Boughton(June 15-21)

ACL White Sox
Record 1-4 (last week), 11-25 (first half), 11-25 (overall)

Complex Sox Player of the Week
Tommy Vail 3 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 2 BB, 7 K (on a rehab assignment)

D’Angelo Tejada .273/.429/.273, 2-for-2 stolen bases, 11 at-bats
Jefrank Silva .250/.357/.250, 12 at-bats
Alan Escobar .250/.333/.500, eight at-bats
Yordani Soto .200/.368/.200, 15 at-bats
Alejandro Cruz .133/.133/.133, 1-for-2 stolen bases, 15 at-bats

Justin Fuson 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Reudis Diaz 3 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K
Wikelman González 3 IP, 4 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 K
Orlando Suarez 2 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 4 K

The Complex Sox only picked up one victory in five games this week, dropping to 14 below .500 overall. The offense had serious problems, only managing to score 14 runs (2.8 per game).

Pitcher Tommy Vail, 27, is on a rehab assignment and is expected to join the Barons when ready. Double-A is where Vail spent the majority of his 2025 season, and during those 51 innings, Vail posted a 3.00 ERA and a 4.11 FIP. This week, Vail showed he is about ready to return to normal baseball activity, as he delivered 3 1/3 shutout innings and did not even allow a hit.

2026 Complex Sox Players of the Week
Alexander Albertus(May 4-10)
Eduardo Herrera(May 11-17)
Yordani Soto (May 18-24)
José M. Mendoza(May 25-31)
Yordani Soto(June 1-7)
Landon Hodge(June 8-14)
Tommy Vail(June 15-21)

DSL White Sox
Record 2-3 (last week), 5-10 (first half), 5-10 (overall)

DSL White Sox Player of the Week
Sebastian Romero .333/.400/.611, 1-for-1 stolen bases, 18 at-bats

Carlos Vielma .429/.579/.429, 14 at-bats
Ronald Cardozo .250/.308/.250, 12 at-bats
Samuel Luis .143/.250/.143, 3-for-3 stolen bases, 14 at-bats
Hector Hernández .571/.625/.714, 2-for-2 stolen bases, seven at-bats

Roderic Ramirez 4 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Jhoriel De La Rosa 3 IP, 2 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, 4 K
Alexander De Los Santos 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Ronald Kelly 3 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K
David Colmenares 2 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 K

The DSL White Sox had another rough week, only winning two of their five games. As a result, they are already five games worse than .500.

Once again, outfielder Sebastian Romero, 17, was on top of his game, and he is off to a great start to the season. This week, Romero went 6-for-18 with two triples, a double, a stolen base in his only attempt, and he comfortably led the team with seven RBIs. That resulted in a 1.011 weekly OPS, and overall, he is slashing .367/.448/.796 (166 wRC+).

2026 DSL White Sox Players of the Week
Carlos Vielma(June 1-7)
Sebastian Romero(June 8-14)
Sebastian Romero(June 15-21)