Category: Baseball

Today marks Ernie Whitt’s 74th birthday. Actually, it was yesterday, but I got busy and didn’t get this posted. But, since he was a favourite of mine I wanted to

The Red Sox selected Whitt in the 15th round of the 1972 amateur draft, just one pick ahead of Jason Thompson, who became a standout first baseman for the Tigers and Dodgers. Blocked by Carlton Fisk, Whitt never got a chance with the Red Sox and was left unprotected in the 1976 expansion draft, where the Blue Jays picked him up.

Whitt had 41 at-bats in the Blue Jays’ inaugural season and appeared in a few games in 1978. He spent all of 1979 in the minors, but at age 28, he finally secured a regular role in the majors as the left-handed half of a catching platoon with Rob Davis. He struggled offensively, hitting .237/.288/.353.

In the strike-shortened 1981 season, the Jays acquired Buck Martinez, who would become Whitt’s platoon partner for several years. Whitt continued to struggle at the plate, hitting just .236/.307/.297 with one home run.

In 1982, Bobby Cox took over as manager and Cito Gaston became the hitting coach. That year, Ernie rediscovered his swing, raising his averages to .261/.307/.440 and hitting 11 home runs in just 284 at-bats, thanks in large part to Cito’s all-out pull philosophy. In 1983, Whitt continued to improve, batting .256/.346/.459 with 17 home runs in 344 at-bats. Together with Buck Martinez, the Jays’ catchers produced 27 home runs and 89 RBI. Under Cito’s guidance, Whitt’s home run totals jumped from 1 to 11 to 17 over two seasons.

In 1984, Ernie maintained his power, hitting 15 home runs in 315 at-bats. The following year, during the Blue Jays’ first playoff appearance, Whitt set a career high with 19 home runs, batting .245/.323/.444 in 412 at-bats and earning an All-Star selection. However, he struggled offensively in the seven-game ALCS loss to the Royals, hitting just .190. Whitt started every game of the series, as Buck Martinez was injured—fans likely recall the memorable play where Martinez broke his leg, dislocated his ankle, and still tagged out the runner at home—with Jeff Hearron serving as backup catcher.

Whitt remained remarkably consistent. In 1986, he hit 16 home runs. After Buck Martinez retired before the 1987 season, Charlie Moore became Whitt’s catching partner. That year, Whitt matched his career best with 19 home runs, set new personal highs with 75 RBI, 24 doubles, and 120 hits, and batted .269/.334/.455. Unfortunately, the Blue Jays faltered down the stretch in 1987 and lost the division to the Tigers, with Whitt missing the end of the season due to a rib injury—a factor that might have changed the outcome.

Whitt’s steady production continued in 1988, when he hit .251/.348/.410 with 16 home runs in 398 at-bats. In 1989, as the Jays made their second playoff appearance, he batted .262/.349/.416 with 11 home runs in 385 at-bats. However, his postseason struggles persisted, as he managed just a .125 average with one home run in 16 at-bats during the five-game ALCS loss to the Oakland A’s.

After the 1989 season, Whitt was traded to Atlanta with Kevin Batiste for Rick Trlicek, making way for Pat Borders and Greg Myers behind the plate. He spent a year with the Braves and finished his career with a short stint in Baltimore in 1991. Despite playing just 33 games before his 28th birthday and only reaching 300 at-bats in a season at age 31, Whitt crafted an impressive and consistent career. From 1983 to 1989, he posted OPS+ numbers between 104 and 121, with on-base percentages from .323 to .349 and slugging averages from .410 to .459.

Whitt appeared in 1,328 games over 15 seasons, hitting 134 home runs and posting a career line of .248/.324/.410 with 534 RBI. He was known as a strong defensive catcher with a reliable arm. Despite early doubts from first manager Roy Hartsfield, Whitt proved himself and enjoyed the longest career with the Jays among players from their inaugural season.

Whitt was always one of my favorites. His all-out pull swing, encouraged by Gaston, was the most entertaining to watch. He’d finish his swing down on his left knee, sometimes nearly coming out of his shoes. Watching him, you’d wonder how he ever connected, with his back knee dropping and dragging, seemingly risking swinging under the ball. But his open stance gave him a great look at the pitch, and he was a smart, instinctive hitter. As a catcher, he excelled at anticipating pitches, making him tough to fool at the plate.

He wrote a biography called ‘Catch: A Major League Life,’ which I still have somewhere at home. The book stirred controversy when he labeled umpire Joe Brinkman ‘incompetent.’ Whitt also argued he shouldn’t have been limited to a platoon role, but the stats suggest otherwise: he hit just .223/.303/.311 against left-handed pitchers, and resting against them likely kept him fresh.

Rob Neyer, in his “Big Book of Baseball Lineups,” names Whitt as the Blue Jays’ all-time best catcher—a ranking I still support—and credits him with being the franchise’s top defensive backstop. Bill James ranked Whitt 72nd among all-time catchers in his “New Historical Baseball Abstract.” Whitt will have moved down a few spots since then. He was arguably the most popular Jay during his playing days, known for his relentless effort and extensive charity work off the field.

Ernie later served as the Jays’ bench coach and then first base coach beginning in 2005, before being let go alongside John Gibbons and much of the staff in June 2008. Whitt didn’t hold back afterward, criticizing JP Ricciardi and dubbing himself ‘the best manager the Jays never had.’ Maybe he was right.

Since 2004, Whitt has managed the Canadian National Baseball Team, including leading them during Olympic qualifiers.He is also a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

When Buck Martinez left the broadcast booth this year, I thought Whitt would have been a fitting replacement, though I’m not sure how he’d fare in that role.

Whitt is married with three children.

He remains near the top of my list of favourite Blue Jays. As a fellow lefty hitter, I often tried to mimic his unique swing—dropping down to my knee—but could never quite master it.

Happy Birthday, Ernie. Hope it’s a great one.

Miami Marlins vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, June 14, 2026, 12:15 p.m. ET

The Pittsburgh Pirates are closing things out in their three-game weekend series against the Miami Marlins with an earlier start for the nationally-televised contest.

The Pirates will put their ace on the mound in Paul Skenes, hoping that he can rebound from his struggles over his last five games. The Pirates have not won a start from Skenes since May 12 against the Colorado Rockies and have dropped their last five, including the most recent one against the Dodgers on June 9. Skenes pitched six innings and gave up just two runs, but the bullpen could not support him enough.

The Pirates surrendered 10 runs in the seventh inning, which led to the 12-3 defeat. The Pirates cannot let another Skenes start go to waste again, especially with the Marlins countering with one of the top underrated starting pitchers in the league.

The Marlins are starting Max Meyer, who was the number three overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft. Meyer is enjoying the best season of his career so far with a 6-0 mark, which matches his win total from his first four seasons combined. Meyer has gone at least five innings in all but one of his starts this season, so his consistency should challenge the Pirates in the matchup.

Location: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Peacock

Pitching Matchup: Max Meyer (6-0, 2.85 ERA) vs. Paul Skenes (6-5, 2.84 ERA)

BD community, chime off in the comments section below.

As expected, Vinnie Pasquantino has been placed on the 10-day IL following a pop-up that appeared to injure his right hand during last night’s game. The injury is being described as a right hamate fracture, which is quite bad for the Royals’ first baseman and another brutal injury blow for a team that wasn’t playing well enough before everyone started getting hurt.

Vinnie was not having the season he or anyone else wanted, but he’d been doing better lately. He was slashing .224/.309/.350/.660 for the year, but .289/.372/.408/.780 over his last 20 games and .316/.381/.474/.855 over his last 10. The Royals will miss his bat in the middle of the order.

To replace Vinnie on the roster, the Royals have recalled John Rave. Rave is a 28-year-old, left-handed outfielder who debuted for Kansas City last year. He slashed .196/.283/.307/.590 in 72 games for the big league club. He has been slashing .278/.395/.475/.880 for the Omaha Stormchasers this season. He’s also been walking more and striking out less than he did in the minors last season, so perhaps he can offer more than he did last year.

Rave’s biggest problem would seem to be that he’s too passive at the plate, but he also doesn’t hit the ball hard consistently despite a more than respectable .197 ISO for the year. He’s been known for his speed and defense at the minor league level, though that didn’t always show up in the big leagues last year.

Hamate injuries are notoriously difficult for hitters to overcome. If you want to read more, MLB.com has a detailed article on the subject, thanks to hamate injuries affecting stars like Corbin Carroll, Francisco Lindor, and Jackson Holliday earlier this year. The recovery timeline is 4-8 weeks, but not everyone is at full strength upon their return.

Blake Mitchell suffered a hamate bone injury last year and basically lost his ability to hit for power, even once he returned, hitting far fewer extra-base hits in 2025 than he did in 2024 or has in 2026. There has been a wide range of outcomes even among the people who have had the surgery this year. Carroll didn’t miss a beat, Holliday is hitting for more power than ever (though still struggling as a hitter overall), but Lindor is having by far the worst season of his Hall of Fame career.

Even if Vinnie returns in a month, the Royals were floundering with him in the lineup. Thanks to Buddy Bell, no Royals fan would ever say things can’t get worse, but it’s hard to imagine the Royals being even as close as they currently are to competing whenever Vinnie returns.

Ho hum. This was how this stretch was supposed to go. Three days in a row, the Cubs have looked a full step above their competition. In fairness, that can be hard to do on the road, even against bad teams. But for as many times as I’ve written the words “in fairness” through the years, there have been just too many this year. I try to give a lot of benefit of the doubt. Baseball is hard. Hard for teams, hard for players. The edges aren’t massive. Even a year when a team wins or loses more than 110 games, a rare occurrence in either direction, the differences between top and bottom are ultimately not that much.

Fans tend to be unfair. The see a lousy team on the schedule or a pitcher with a high ERA and they just assume victory by a lopsided score is more or less automatic. There are 162 games. Even those rare super dominant (or super awful) teams occur, they still win 50-60 games. Most of the bad teams still win 70 games. That’s a whole lot of David beating Goliath. That’s because in the MLB, it isn’t really David beating Goliath. We tell those stories because so many people love a good underdog success story. But the reason so many games are won by bad teams or lost by good teams, is because the margins just aren’t that big.

Trust me, if you elevated a Triple-A team to the big leagues, they wouldn’t be winning 70 games. Unless it’s a well stocked system, they probably wouldn’t win 60 either. Elevate a Double-A team, and they’d win even less. You keep going down and have a low minor league team playing against major league teams, you’d see the big league teams, even the bad ones, winning over 90 percent of the time. It isn’t the nature of baseball that just any two teams of any skill level will play to close to even. It is the nature of major league baseball that just about any two teams would play to near even.

All of that is fine. But this Cub team is built to win 90 plus games. This team should be able to grind out wins over time. And they should be able to look a cut above for three straight games. But they also should have been able to do a good bit more than that over the seven games prior to that. And they should have been able to go toe to toe and play near even for the three weeks before that. The best Cub team of any of our lifetime went through an extended lull. It happens. I get it. But more than a month is crazy stuff.

I just don’t know what to do or what to think with this team anymore. They had one of the best stretches of baseball I’ve ever seen and one of the teams they beat up on in that stretch is looking like a bonafide contender in the National League. That stretch largely wasn’t against the worst teams in the league. But then this recent bad stretch did include some of the worst teams. We saw some of that last year too. Surging even against strong competition and fading even against lesser competition.

Yesterday, one commenter wondered if the elimination of most of the big league scouting has a part in all of that. I’m not savvy enough to know that. The Cubs certainly aren’t going to tell us that. Even their beat writers rely too much on access to the team and its players to spill any secrets they might hear around the team. I don’t know what the deal is, but this has been a frustrating team to follow.

It’s going to take more than three wins to lure me back onto the bandwagon. But that doesn’t preclude me hat tipping the team for taking care of business now for three straight games and making it look fairly easy doing so. More of that please. Let’s go 10 straight again. Or something like 15 of 20. Let’s make this team even more confusing to understand.

Or let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Yet. Let’s enjoy this win and move on to Sunday. This team has done an exceptional amount of sweeping this season. Let’s get greedy again and pick up another sweep on Sunday. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Positives:

• Pete Crow-Armstrong stayed blisteringly hot, picking up three more hits. Included were a homer on the first pitch of the game and a double. Have I mentioned that he’s going to pick up a cycle one of these days?
• Pedro Ramirez had a pair of hits including his first career homer. That led to me expanding my positives past three, because this game deserves a hat tip.
• Ben Brown was less dominant than he’s been as a starter. And still, he allows one run over five. He allowed seven hits, due to an unsightly .412 BABIP. That’s an unusually rough occurrence with a defense as good as the Cubs have.
• Caleb Thielbar retired all five batters he faced. He’s had some recent struggles and so this was nice to see. Hat tip to Phil Maton, another guy working through a rough year, retiring four of the five batters he faced.
• Matt Shaw got his most significant playing time since returning from the IL (let’s hope Seiya Suzuki is okay) and had a single and a walk. His bat helps balance the left/right splits on this team and his versatility is a plus.

Game 71, June 13: Cubs 6, Giants 1 (37-34)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Michael Busch (. 231). 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, RBI, R, SB
• Hero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.176). 3-5, HR, 2B, RBI, 2 R
• Sidekick: Ben Brown (.139). 5 IP, 23 BF, 7 H, 3 BB, 1 ER, 3 K (3-2)

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Ian Happ (-.079). 1-5, HR, RBI, R, SB, DP
• Goat: Nico Hoerner (.053). 0-5
• Kid: Miguel Amaya (.045). 1-4, 2B, HBP

WPA Play of the Game: Luis Arraez had an RBI triple with one out in the third to cut the Cub lead to two. (.140)

Cubs Play of the Game: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s leadoff homer on the first pitch of the game. (.101)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 70 Winner: Javier Assad received 170 of 189 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Michael Busch +26
• Ben Brown +12.5
• Pete Crow-Armstrong +12
• Michael Conforto +10
• Trent Thornton/Carson Kelly +7.5
• Caleb Thielbar/Phil Maton/Jameson Taillon -8
• Matt Shaw -10
• Dansby Swanson -12
• Seiya Suzuki -23.5

Win Pace: 84.4

Up Next: The final game of the series in San Francisco and the last game of the year between the two teams. The Cubs have won three of five. Ryan Rolison (5-1, 2.25) will work as the opener ahead of Colin Rea (5-4, 5.19). Rolison worked as an opener just over a year ago against the Mets as a member of the Rockies. He allowed one hit in an inning of work. Rea threw six innings of three run ball in a follower role earlier this year against the Phillies. Rea is just 1-3 with a 5.89 ERA over his last seven, so this is worth a shot to shake things up a little.

The Giants start their ace, 29-year-old Logan Webb (3-4, 3.88). Webb has struggled at home this year (0-3, 4.94). But he’s still very good. This is going to be a tough one. I’d think Michael Conforto would get a start in right field to give Seiya Suzuki a day off after leaving early last night. Webb is a little more susceptible to left handed hitters, so it would make sense anyway to load up that way.

This team has found so many ways to surprise us. Maybe they surprise us in this one and ride their recent momentum to a win?

So, I was going to open this up with a play on the song You Gotta Have Heart, from the classic musical Damn Yankees. But I did that for an article before. And I’m fresh out of heart puns. Something about those chalky candy hearts that nobody ever eats? Something about cardiology? Maybe a bit about how Brandon Marsh is playing so thrillingly that you might need a cardiologist to handle watching him? I’m going to sleep on it, and if you’re reading this, that means I didn’t think of anything clever overnight.

Anyway, Brandon Marsh is doing something interesting with the heart region this year. All pitches thrown end up in one of four Attack Regions:

Purple is Heart, Red is Shadow, Yellow is Chase, and Grey is Waste. I was gonna do a Captain Planet bit here (by your powers combined, I’m Captain Strike Zone!), but then I remembered that was created by Ted Turner, who owned the Braves, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to write about a Braves-affiliated cartoon on a Phillies site. Anyhow, every pitch thrown ends up in one of those four regions, and a batter’s performance on every pitch he receives either adds or subtracts from his team’s run expectancy, and so we can calculate the run value he contributes or detracts by region. That’s what we see here. This isn’t some random player’s chart, by the way. It’s Brandon Marsh’s, from this season.

And this is Marsh’s from last season.

Last season, Marsh’s performance on the pitches he got in the Heart region graded out as exactly neutral. The run expectancy he added with decisions to swing were canceled out by the run expectancy he lost with decisions to take. This season, though, he’s been a decided positive on pitches in the Heart region, adding 8 runs there. Only 10 players league-wide have added more, and their number includes familiar names like Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt, Jr., and Kyle Schwarber. That’s good company.

Here’s Marsh’s performance in the Heart region since 2022. Overall performance is the sum of the runs generated by swings and the runs generated by takes.

Since this is a cumulative statistic, and you can lose run value with bad decisions, there’s a possibility that his number for 2026 could drop before season’s end. Still, it’s notable that his 8 runs added in the Heart region would be by far the most of his career. If it holds (or goes up), it’ll be just the second time in his career he’s posted a positive run value in the heart region. So, how’s he doing it? Well, you want to swing at pitches in the Heart region. And he’s generating more runs with his swing decisions than he did last year, and losing fewer with his take decisions than he did last year. So he’s probably swinging at more of the pitches he receives there as compared to last year, right?

Last season, Marsh swung at 72% of pitches he received in the Heart region. And this season he’s swinging at… 72% of pitches he receives in the Heart region. He hasn’t changed his swing rate there at all. (As a side note: Marsh’s swing rates in 2025 were exactly identical to the MLB average in three of the four attack regions, and just 1% off of the average in the other. That’s not really relevant to this piece, but it was odd enough that I felt I had to mention it somewhere).

So if Marsh isn’t swinging at more pitches in the heart zone, how is he generating more run value there this year?

Well, one way to do it would be to just do more damage on his swings there. A double on a pitch in the Heart region is going to add more run value than a single. And that’s the case: in 2025 he posted a wOBA of .386 on pitches in the Heart region, and in 2026 that number is .516. Marsh is just better at the plate this year, and so of course that’s going to show up on his performance on pitches in the heart of the zone. But there’s gotta be something more specific we can say. Something a little more precise than, “I dunno, Marsh hit ball good” (which is true, but not exactly the sort of analysis that you come to TGP to read).

So, what is it? Well, we know that his overall swing rate on pitches in the Heart region hasn’t changed. But that doesn’t mean that his swing decisions there haven’t changed. Let’s take a look under the hood.

Marsh’s overall swing rate in the Heart region hasn’t changed one bit, but his swing decisions sure have. He’s a lot more likely to swing at fastballs there, and a lot less likely to swing at breaking balls there (as well as a little less likely to swing at offspeed pitches). The fact that his overall swing rate in the Heart region hasn’t changed is hiding the fact that he’s started to hunt fastballs. Actually, he’s swinging at fastballs more in the Shadow and Chase regions too; it’s not an approach limited to the Heart region. He’s getting fewer fastballs overall, and he’s clearly making a decision to maximize what he can do with the ones he does get. His decreased willingness to swing at breaking balls is Heart-region specific, though: he’s swinging at a greater percentage of them in all other regions. At any rate, when it comes to the Heart he’s clearly swinging at more of the pitches he can do the most damage on and at fewer of the ones he can do less damage on.

“Wait for a fastball over the meaty part of the plate” isn’t exactly an iconoclastic idea. But there’s no rule that says your strategy needs to be novel. It just needs to work. And for Brandon Marsh, it’s working quite well. He’s taken that approach, old to many, new to him, to heart.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers put an end to the Chicago White Sox’s eight-game home win streak yesterday and will look for a series win as they chase down the league's best record.

My Dodgers vs. White Sox predictions and free MLB picks have L.A.’s top-ranked offense eventually cracking Chicago’s bullpen to pull away for the victory.

Who will win Dodgers vs White Sox today: Dodgers -1.5 (-125)

Bryan Hudson's 0.00 ERA is misleading because he's worked just 3 1/3 innings in three starts and is unlikely to face this Los Angeles Dodgers order more than once.

That leaves the Chicago White Sox's vulnerable middle relief exposed for 7-8 innings against baseball's best road offense, averaging 6.03 runs per game and leading MLB in average, OBP, slugging, and OPS.

The White Sox bullpen has struggled to suppress power, allowing the seventh-most homers, which is a dangerous profile against L.A.'s lineup depth.

The Dodgers have won 13 of their last 15 road games as favorites by multiple runs, and I'd play the spread to -2.5 if interested. 

COVERS INTEL:This Dodgers offense has been successful because their batters aren’t chasing pitches. They are currently tied for the fifth-fewest team strikeouts per game at 7.80.

Dodgers vs White Sox Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (+101)

We’ve already discussed L.A.’s offensive prowess, and they’ll be starting righty Emmett Sheehan, who might be a help in pushing this score Over the total.

He was pulled after just 1 1/3 innings in his last start against the Angels after allowing three hits, two earned runs, and two walks in a 13-5 drubbing.

That’s the third time in the last seven Sheehan starts that’s ended with more than nine runs scored between opponents, and the sixth time overall. That should help a White Sox offense that already scores the eighth-most runs in the league at 4.83 per game. 

Tally that up with the Dodgers cashing the Over in six of the last seven, and you’ve got another Over hitting Sunday.

Dodgers vs White Sox odds

• Moneyline: Dodgers -186 | White Sox +178
• Run line: Dodgers -1.5 (-117) | White Sox +1.5 (+113)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 (+108) | Under 8.5 (-113)

Dodgers vs White Sox trend

The White Sox have lost by multiple runs in 12 of their last 13 losses, including eight straight. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. White Sox.

How to watch Dodgers vs White Sox and game info

Dodgers vs White Sox latest injuries

Dodgers vs White Sox weather

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.

Team News

D-backs squander another one of Soroka’s walk-free quality starts

“When you feel like the hitter might not know what’s coming, I feel a little bit more comfortable throwing balls completely over the plate,” Soroka said. “Last year, I think I ran into struggles, because I didn’t have those extra pitches. And second, third time around, these guys were seeing the same two [pitches], four-seam, curveball, over and over again.”
https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/michael-soroka-quality-start-d-backs-lose-to-reds

Michael Soroka’s strong outing not enough as D-backs’ hitting woes continue in loss vs. Reds

The D-backs finished the game going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position despite outhitting the Reds 7-3. https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/d-backs-loss-vs-reds

Abysmal Offense Cripples Diamondbacks Once Againhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/abysmal-offense-cripples-diamondbacks-once-again-reds

Young Diamondbacks Pitcher Suffers Surprise Shoulder Injuryhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/young-diamondbacks-pitcher-surprise-shoulder-injury-hoffmann-bratt

A Zac Gallen Turnaround Simply Can’t Wait Any Longerhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/zac-gallen-turnaround-cant-wait-longer

Other Baseball

Jose Ramirez To Be Placed On IL With Hamate Fracturehttps://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/06/jose-ramirez-to-be-placed-on-il-with-hamate-fracture.html

Cole Ragans Headed For Testing On Arm

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/06/cole-ragans-headed-for-testing-on-arm.html

Red Sox’s Aroldis Chapman reportedly says if Yankees trade for him, GM Brian Cashman should apologize first; Aaron Boone disagrees

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/red-soxs-aroldis-chapman-reportedly-says-if-yankees-trade-for-him-gm-brian-cashman-should-apologize-first-aaron-boone-disagrees-213535648.html

Yamamoto carries no-hit bid into ninth inning as Dodgers winhttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/49054315/yamamoto-carries-no-hit-bid-ninth-inning-dodgers-win

Will Skubal get traded? Here are 7 possible destinations

https://www.mlb.com/news/teams-that-could-trade-for-tarik-skubal

Dollander placed on 60-day IL, trending toward UCL surgery https://www.mlb.com/rockies/news/chase-dollander-elbow-injury-2026

Anything Goes

This day in history:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-14

This day in baseball:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/June_14

You can’t see the Great Wall of China from space.

You may have seen fact sites claiming that the Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space, but this is actually not the case. According to the Apollo astronauts, the Great Wall cannot be seen from space. However, city lights at night, roads, and the Pyramids of Giza are said to be visible.

The oldest piece of chewing gum is more than 9,000 years old.

The oldest chewing gum ever found was a lump of birch bark tar that dates back to the Stone Age.

Asking for salt in an Egytian household is bad.

If you are invited over for dinner at an Egyptian household, remember that it is traditionally rude to ask for salt. It’s also considered offensive for the host if you refill your own glass.

Good morning, folks…

The Texas Rangers fell to the Boston Red Sox by a score of 6-3.

Shawn MacFarland laments that the Rangers once again failed to capitalize in key bases loaded situations.

The Rangers were without Corey Seager, who is day-to-day after a home plate collision on Thursday.

Before the game, Evan Carter landed on the injured list with a strained oblique.

Also before the game, the Rangers added veteran pitcher Joe Ross to the bullpen.

The Rangers will be making another roster move before today’s game due to Michael Helman suffering fractures in his right hand after being hit by a pitch.

Also suffering a broken hand on Saturday was Cleveland superstar Jose Ramirez, who broke a bone in his left hand on a swing.

On the other hand, Tarik Skubal returned from the injured list on Saturday.

Evan Grant says Jacob Latz should be an All Star.

David Laurila has his Sunday Notes column up at Fangraphs, which feature Jake Burger talking about his Tottenham fandom.

While Dylan Crews only went 1 for 4 with a single yesterday, it still felt like he was in the middle of everything for the Nats. His impact in the field and on the bases was very loud in the Nationals 8-3 win over the Mariners. Crews pretty much sealed the win with his mad dash from first to home on a single up the middle.

Seeing Crews fly around the bases like that and watching him pop up when he slid in safely was so much fun to watch. Plays like that are part of the reason fans want the Dylan Crews thing to work out so badly. He is just one of those players that is consistently making winning plays out there.

However, it is tough to be a winning player when you are hitting .192 with a .562 OPS. Crews was seen as one of the safest and most polished hitting prospects in a long time when he came out of LSU. That offensive profile has not translated to the big leagues so far, especially not the 70 grade hit tool that was talked about out of the draft. 

At this point, I think we have a large enough sample size to say that a 70 hit tool is never coming. Crews has a .208 career average and .623 OPS in nearly 500 at bats now. He is never going to be the hitter he was supposed to be out of college. That does not mean he cannot improve and become a productive big leaguer. 

Crews still has some intriguing offensive tools, and I think he can become an average hitter with a couple adjustments. While Crews has struggled at the plate, fans have often pointed to his underlying data to suggest improvement could be on the horizon. After a while, it gets annoying because he has underperformed his expected stats for years now.

However, when you look at the data, there is no way he should be this bad. His xwOBA is .333, which is over 80 points higher than his wOBA of .252. For his career, Crews has underperformed his xwOBA by 40 points, so there must be something in his profile some of the expected stats don’t see. Part of it is likely the fact he hits a lot of ground balls and does not pull balls in the air.

When Crews does get a hold of a ball, it can be pretty to watch. He is not some massive guy like James Wood, but he can generate a ton of force and power. Crews has always hit baseballs hard, but they are usually ground balls or low liners. The other night, he elevated and then celebrated in the dugout.

There are some encouraging signs that Crews could be lifting the ball with more regularity. His average launch angle is up from 8.5 degrees to 12.1 degrees. Crews’ ground ball rate has also gone from over 50% to 42.6%, which is a major improvement.

I think Crews is due for a hot streak at the plate, but there are still plenty of holes in his profile. He has been chasing pitches more than ever, and his 37.2% chase rate is higher than Keibert Ruiz. For Crews to have more offensive success, he needs to keep the ball in the air and find the right pitches to swing at. He also needs to find a way to get into count leverage because it feels like he gets down 0-2 in about half his at bats.

There are still a lot of big picture offensive things Crews needs to work on, but his heart and hustle will never be in doubt. I think Crews is one of the best base runners in the sport. He is not afraid to swipe bags and is always trying to take the extra base. Crews is a man possessed out on the bases and we saw that yesterday.

I think base running is the best part of Crews’ game right now. However, he is also a good defensive outfielder. When you look at the metrics, Crews is a good but not elite defensive outfielder. After all, there is a reason Jacob Young is the center fielder when the two are playing together. If Crews was a Young level defender, there would be less pressure on the bat.

While Crews is not elite on defense, he is very good. He showed that yesterday when he got a chance out in center field. The 24 year old made a really nice catch at the wall to rob Victor Robles of extra bases. Like when he is running the bases, Crews has a reckless abandon in the field that I love to watch.

At this point, we know Crews can do the little things. He is constantly looking to take the extra base or run into a wall to make a catch. The secondary tools are fantastic for the former LSU star. However, there is still one big question that looms over his future. That question is can Dylan Crews hit? So far the answer has been no, but Crews still has time to figure it out, though that time will not last forever.

It has been an up-and-down week for the Milwaukee Brewers. It feels as though they’ve continued playing their best baseball, but it’s been a sequence of close losses. But through it all, the offense has been looking stellar, and that’s promising enough as the Crew heads into another tough slate of games ahead of them this week.

This afternoon’s rubber match is one for the ages as two of the best southpaws in baseball are handed the rock. For the Brewers, it’s Kyle Harrison who is in desperate need of a bounce-back game after last Monday. Against the Athletics, he gave up eight runs on eight hits, including three home runs. It was not only an outlier performance on the season but also his career, as eight runs were the most he had given up.

The reigning National League Pitcher of the Month, Cristopher Sánchez, will face the Brewers for the first time since 2024. In all of his outings against the Crew, he has allowed only one run, enough for him to have a 2.03 ERA through 13.1 innings. After not allowing a run throughout May, Sánchez has come back down to Earth a little, as he has allowed three runs in his first two starts in June. With that, he has pitched seven innings in both starts this month and has accumulated 18 strikeouts during that span with just two walks.

For the Brewers, this lineup has seen Sánchez a handful of times. The lone hitters that will be seeing him for the first time will be Jake Bauers, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, Brice Turang, and Andrew Vaughn. Outside of our core hitters, Blake Perkins has hit the best against Sánchez, as he’s gone 4-for-4 with two RBIs. Christian Yelich has faced him seven times and is batting .286, while William Contreras has faced him six times and is batting .167.

First pitch is slated for 1:10 p.m., and you can catch the game on Brewers.TV and WTMJ 620.

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out the previous day’s recap here.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (30-38) won 5-1 (BOX SCORE)

McPherson started for Sugar Land and pitched well striking out 5 over 5 innings allowing just 1 run. The offense got on the board in the 5th on a Brooks RBI double. In the 6th, the offense blew it open scoring 4 runs on a Ferreras 2 run double, Salazar sac fly and run scoring on a fielder’s choice. The bullpen was solid tossing 4 scoreless innings as they closed out the 5-1 win.

Note: Ferreras is hitting .457 in Triple-A.

• Trenton Brooks, DH: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB
• CJ Alexander, 1B: 1-for-4, R
• Zach Dezenzo, RF: 2-for-3, R, BB
• Pascanel Ferreras, 2B: 3-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI
• Cesar Salazar, C: 0-for-1, R, RBI, 2 BB
• Tommy Sacco, 3B: 1-for-4, RBI

• Brandon McPherson, RHP: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
• Sam Carlson, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (WIN)
• J.P. France, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• Tom Cosgrove, LHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Miguel Ullola, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (28-34) won 12-3 (BOX SCORE)

The Hooks got on the board in the first inning on a Brutcher RBI double. They scored 3 more runs in the 2nd inning on a Whitaker solo home run, Spence RBI triple and a run on an error. Gillis got the start and was solid allowing 2 unearned runs over 4.2 innings while striking out 5. The offense picked up 2 runs in the 6th on a Williams RBI double and Austin RBI single. The Hooks blew it open in the 7th scoring 5 runs on a Brutcher solo home run, Sullivan RBI single and Spence 3 run double. The Hooks picked up another run in the 9th on a wild pitch.

Note: Brutcher is hitting .327 in Double-A.

• Lucas Spence, CF: 3-for-6, R, 2 2B, 3B, 4 RBI
• Trevor Austin, 2B: 1-for-6, RBI
• Jason Schiavone, DH: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB, SB
• Drew Brutcher, 1B: 3-for-4, R, 2B, 3B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• Yamal Encarnacion, 2B: 1-for-5, R
• Tyler Whitaker, RF: 2-for-4, 4 R, HR, RBI, BB, SB
• Jeron Williams, LF: 3-for-3, R, 2 2B, RBI
  • Joseph Sullivan, LF: 1-for-2, 2 R, RBI
• Jax Biggers, SS: 0-for-3, R, BB

• Brett Gillis, RHP: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
• Jose Guedez, RHP: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (WIN)
• Jack Dashwood, LHP: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Julio Rodriguez, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

A+: Asheville Tourists (16-45) lost 6-2 (BOX SCORE)

DeVos got the start for Asheville and went 5.1 innings allowing 4 runs, with all 4 runs coming on a grand slam in the 2nd inning. Asheville got on the board in the 4th inning on a Nunez solo home run. They got another run in the 8th on a Call RBI single, but the Spartanburgers responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the inning to extend their lead. The offense was shutout in the 9th as Asheville fell 6-2.

Note: Nunez is hitting .372 in June.

• Caden Powell, CF: 0-for-3, R, 2 BB
• Chase Call, LF: 1-for-4, RBI
• Alejandro Nunez, 3B: 2-for-4, R, HR, RBI
• Jack Moss, 1B: 1-for-3, BB

• Nolan DeVos, RHP: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
• Jordan Carr, LHP: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (29-32) won 4-3 (BOX SCORE)

The Woodpeckers got on the board in the 2nd inning on a Diaz steal of home. Perez got the start and tossed 4 scoreless innings with 2 strikeouts, throwing just 38 pitches. They got another run in the 5th on a Vasquez RBI double. Weber relieved Perez and went 3 innings allowing 3 runs, 2 earned. The Woodpeckers took the lead in the 8th on a Huezo solo home run and a run on a groundout.

Note: Huezo is hitting .381 with 4 home runs over his last 11 games.

• Anthony Huezo, LF: 1-for-5, R, HR, RBI
• Xavier Neyens, SS: 0-for-2, R, 2 BB
• Kevin Alvarez, CF: 1-for-4
• Camilo Diaz, 2B: 1-for-3, R, BB, SB
• Carlos Cauro, 1B: 2-for-4, R, 2B, SB
• Yosweld Vasquez, C: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB, SB

• Javier Perez, RHP: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Charlie Weber, RHP: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (WIN)
• Jesus Carrera, RHP: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (SAVE)

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: TBD – 6:35 CT

CC: Trey Dombroski – 1:00 CT

AV: Dylan Howard – 3:35 CT

FV: TBD – 3:05 CT

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Cristopher Sanchez has slid to second in the NL Cy Young race after a marvelous Jacob Misiorowski start earlier this series.

My Phillies vs. Brewers predictions and MLB picks are backing Sanchez to respond with an exceptional outing of his own, leading Philadelphia to a series win this afternoon. 

Who will win Phillies vs Brewers today: Phillies moneyline (-120)

Cristopher Sanchez has given up just three runs and one homer over seven starts since the beginning of May.

The Milwaukee Brewers have hit grounders against lefties at the league’s highest rate while sitting 25th in ISO during that span. It’ll be difficult to muster up offense.

As well as Kyle Harrison has pitched, the Philadelphia Phillies will be tough to slow down. They’ve hit lefties well, slotting fourth in ISO and third in wOBA since May 1.

Harrison has allowed four homers over his last two starts, and he doesn’t have the margin for error going against Sanchez. Back the Phillies to -135.

COVERS INTEL:Cristopher Sanchez ranks in the 100th percentile in Pitcher Run Value this season.

Phillies vs Brewers Over/Under pick: Under 6.5 (+100)

Excluding Top-10 offenses in OBP vs. left-handed pitching, Sanchez has allowed three runs over seven starts while pitching an average of 7 2/3 innings. His ERA sits at 0.53 in such matchups.

The story is nearly identical for Kyle Harrison. Take out Top-10 opponents in OPS vs. lefties, and he's conceded just five runs over eight starts, sporting an ERA of 1.05.

I think it’ll be difficult for either team to score four runs, making the Under look appealing at a plus-money price. I’d play Under 6.5 down to -110.

Phillies vs Brewers odds

• Moneyline: Phillies -120 | Brewers +100
• Run line: Phillies -1.5 (+150) | Brewers +1.5 (-175)
• Over/Under: Over 6.5 (-120) | Under 6.5 (+100)

Phillies vs Brewers trend

The Phillies have stayed Under the total in 15 of their last 22 road games for +8.5 units and a 35% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Phillies vs. Brewers.

How to watch Phillies vs Brewers and game info

Phillies vs Brewers latest injuries

Phillies vs Brewers weather

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On The Greg Hill Show on June 11, I believe that my favorite truth-twister, Sam Kennedy, actually treated us to more truth than lies. I’ll supply the quotes in question, then let’s render a verdict.

Quote #1

“I think it’s important here at the outset, Greg, just to acknowledge…how embarrassing and unacceptable, maddening, frustrating, whatever words you want to use, the past two and a half months have been. There’s no way to sugarcoat it.”

Verdict: TRUTH

Of course it’s the truth! We know this deep in our bones. He went on to describe the season to date as “awful” and “incredibly frustrating” and there’s not much else to add.  

Quote #2

“But look, let’s be honest, unless things change dramatically, we may have to pivot here from what our initial planning was [regarding plans to buy at the trade deadline].”

Verdict: TRUTH

The Sox are performing far too poorly not to at least introduce this option as a possibility. It might be rephrased as “Positioning the organization for the future,” “Stating the obvious,” or even “Not throwing good money after bad.”

Personal note to the front office: unlike past years, choose one lane and stay in it. No more simultaneous Buying and Selling so we can call it a wash. Go all in.

Quote #3

“[Craig Breslow] is working as hard as anybody in terms of getting things back on track.”

Verdict: TRUTH

No one ever accused Breslow of not being a hard worker. I have no doubt that he’s working overtime to prove that his method of team building works, that his approach deserved to win out over Cora’s—and to save his job.

Quote #4

“Look, I fully understand and appreciate questions regarding Craig Breslow and his job security and all that, but the issue of a change there, just to be clear, that’s not even on the table.”

Verdict: LIE

Maybe Sam Kennedy had his fingers crossed behind his back where no one could see them as he said this. Maybe in his head, he silently added “today” or “not this week, anyway” at the end of the sentence.

There’s a lot of chatter lately about Breslow’s job security, which is why Kennedy has been forced to make statements like these. Most of what I’m seeing and hearing says that FSG won’t fire Craig Breslow because the organization doesn’t want to be seen as “unstable” after so recently firing Alex Cora and six coaches. The argument goes like this: they hoped that firing the coaches might work, but it didn’t, so they want to give Breslow time to do things on his terms. Not honoring this gentleman’s agreement would make them look like an even bigger dumpster fire, the story goes.

I don’t think Breslow is safe, and I don’t think Kennedy thinks he’s safe. That’s not how FSG operates in a crisis. The organization likes to lean into data, process, and finances, rather than individual loyalty.

I’m not going to look in John Henry’s wallet and discuss finances today, but as far as the rest, that’s not what I see when I look at FSG through the years. The organization has ruthlessly made changes at or near the top, no matter the optics.

• Firing Brendan Rodgers as manager of Liverpool F.C. in October 2015, a little over year after Liverpool finished in second and Rodgers received a four-year contract.
• Firing Dave Dombrowski in September 2019, less than a year after Dombrowski created the team that brought home a World Series trophy and landed in the record books.
• Firing Chaim Bloom in 2023, though it wasn’t exactly shocking after consecutive last-place finishes.
• Firing Alex Cora and six of his coaching staff in April 2026. No need to rehash that again right now, but in terms of optics it was spectacularly messy. The season was still young, the terminations happened after a blowout victory, and Red Sox legend Jason Varitek was part of the purge.

That doesn’t look like an ownership that’s particularly mindful of stability or optics.

Speaking of optics, John Henry has earned a reputation as not caring about the fans. Despite not engaging much with the media, or having a steady presence around the team, as some owners do, I tend to disagree. I think he does care what fans think, desperately, even if it’s not in ways that we can always appreciate. Just for fun, my pop psychologizing is torn between turning the lens on Henry (even though he’s been at the pinnacle of success for years, he still brings that try-hard energy in ways that can be kind of cringey) and turning it on ourselves (the cold father figure can be super distant and has a hard time showing affection, but he often comes through in the end when he realizes what a shit he’s been). It’s clear he’s aware of what fans think, and I do think that will influence some of the decision making when it comes to Breslow’s eventual exit.

Remember that widely shared Instagram story from February 2025, of good ol’ John Henry smoking a congratulatory cigar all by himself?

It was actually his wife’s story, but don’t tell me that he didn’t okay it. It was right after the Sox signed Alex Bregman. This is the weird kind of way he occasionally engages with fans, but it proves he cares.

In the interview he gave to Sports Business Journal in May, he spoke extensively about fans. He recalled a plane that flew over a Liverpool match, trailing a banner that called for FSG to sell the team. “Fans get frustrated…It doesn’t mean you ignore them, it means you work harder – you don’t settle for mediocrity. You have to win.”

Looking back at Bloom’s firing, our old friend checked too many boxes: he provoked very negative fan reactions (I personally wanted him gone, and said so) – but he also didn’t win.

The SBJ article notes that Henry was at Fenway on April 6 when the hometown fans started chanting for FSG to sell the team. (For the record, I don’t want FSG to sell the Sox.) It was clear Henry got the message; he was caught on video repeating the phrase, as though to clarify what was being said. I don’t think it was entirely a coincidence that the big purge happened not long after, on April 25.

Buster Olney at ESPN tweeted that someone from the ownership group—so, not Craig Breslow, who’s not part of ownership—has been personally reaching out to other front offices, to try to get a trade done. If that doesn’t show how much Henry cares right now, I’m not sure what does. If true, it also shows that Henry doesn’t have faith in Breslow to do his own job. That alone makes this arrangement unsustainable.

Verdict: Breslow’s Gone

Fan reaction and team performance are aligning against Breslow. For me, the main questions are:

• When? Will Breslow handle the upcoming trade deadline? If he’s a dead man walking, as I suspect (note that I’m not advocating for it, simply reading the writing on the wall) why keep him in place to run the table one more time? Despite the occasional rout this season when the bats wake up, the Sox performance certainly isn’t buying Breslow any time.
• Who would the successor be? The Red Sox famously had a hard time even gathering a respectable slate of interviewees the last time the position was open. Too soon to talk about this, but FSG had better be ready to pay—and pay well—and to have a heart-to-heart about what they want to do differently moving forward, and why they’re not as “unstable” as things might appear right now.

One Yankee rival lost early on Saturday as the Yanks took down the Blue Jays 3-1, with Paul Goldschmidt providing a clutch game-winning, two-run bomb in the ninth. Goldy’s heroics meant that Cam Schlittler’s start, wherein he held the Jays down outside of a Kazuma Okamoto solo home run, didn’t go to waste.

All told, Saturday was a good day for New Yorkers. The Knickerbockers capped a magical run to win their first NBA championship in 53 years. And José Soriano and the Los Angeles Angels had the good sense to hang an L on the Tampa Bay Rays, giving the Yanks a full game lead in the American League East.

Tampa Bay Rays (40-27) 0, Los Angeles Angels (29-42) 8

Griffin Jax was really good for Tampa Saturday. He gave up a run in the first, unearned thanks to a Taylor Walls error. Other than that, however, the Angels could not touch Jax. Alas, he couldn’t throw all nine frames for the Rays and they went to their bullpen in the sixth.

And once that happened, the Angels went to work. They scored three runs in the sixth, including putting one on Craig Kimbrel who, in his 17th season is pitching for this 11th club. In the seventh, more of the same. Four more runs, led by a Jose Siri two-run shot, doubled the Angels’ lead.

An eight-run lead is generally pretty insurmountable. It is even more so when you’re facing José Soriano. The Angels’ ace has scuffled of late, but on Saturday night he was nails, throwing five shutout innings before giving way to the bullpen. Unlike Tampa’s pen, LA’s relievers were up to the task, continuing the shutout and providing four innings with just two hits.

Other Games

Seattle Mariners (37-35) 3, Washington Nationals (36-35) 8: Luis Castillo has had a rough 2026 season. Saturday was more of the same, except his defense did him absolutely zero favors committing three errors in the first five innings. Of the five Nationals runs on Castillo’s ledger, only one was earned thanks to the shoddy glovework behind him.

Seattle fought back from an early 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the top of the fifth. Unfortunately for the M’s, Castillo couldn’t deliver a shutdown inning. A two-run Luis García Jr. home run broke the tie and gave Washington a lead they never surrendered. The Nats put the game out of reach in the home seventh when they plated three more runs. The win nudges them back above .500, something I doubt many fans thought they’d see from the Nationals this year, fresh off a 66-96 record last season.

Cleveland Guardians (39-33) 3, Detroit Tigers (29-42) 1: Tarik Skubal underwent surgery on his throwing elbow to remove loose bodies on May 6th. On June 13th, he took the mound for the Tigers — an absolutely wild recovery timeline. Understandably, he was not at his best in his return, but it’s still incredible how quickly he made it back to the big leagues. He threw 80 pitches Saturday, giving up three runs (two earned) in 4.2 innings. Skubal hit 99.9-mph on the radar run with the heater, so apparently the arm is fine.

It’s not all good news for Cleveland, however. Rookie Chase DeLauter crashed into outfield wall in the top of the first inning and departed the game in the bottom half after a single. Hopefully he’s okay. His replacement, Daniel Schneemann, provided the big blast off Skubal though, with a two-run home run in the third that broke a 1-1 tie.

Good morning and happy Sunday everybody! Nick links are back which means injury news is back too. I want to think it’s not my fault but the evidence is getting overwhelming at this point. I’m heading out of town for a week and I’m hoping that that can help stem the tide. I suppose time will tell.

The Mariners lost a bruiser to the Nationals yesterday 8-3, and need a win this morning to avoid dropping back-to-back series. They go in just a few hours at 10:35 PST.

In Mariners news…

• The emergence of Colt Emerson’s power has been one of the very best parts of the 2026 season so far.
• The Mariners are bringing back Michael Plassmeyer, who was originally drafted by the Mariners in the 4th round of the 2018 Amateur Draft.

Around the league…

• The year of the hamate continues, it’s most recent victim being Guardians super star José Ramírez, who broke the bone during an at-bat in the fifth inning of yesterday’s win over Detroit.
• The losing pitcher in the Guardians win yesterday was one Tarik Skubal, just 38 days after elbow surgery, back on the mound throwing 99 mph.
• Spencer Strider has been placed on the 15-day IL by the Atlanta Braves after only making it through three full innings on Friday. Strider started the season on the IL and has only pitched in eight games, and his right elbow continues to be a massive concern.
• Reporting on Garrett Crochet earlier this week resulted in mixed messaging surrounding his rehab, so it fell to Crochet himself to clear the air and announce that he likely won’t be back until after the All-Star break.
• Colorado Rockies pitcher Chase Dollander, who has been on the 15-day IL for a month, is expected to get surgery on his right elbow and will miss the rest of the 2026 season.
• New York Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham exited Friday’s game early and was placed on the IL yesterday morning with a right hamstring strain. Jasson Domínguez was reinstated from his rehab assignment in the corresponding move.
• Speaking of the Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton was expected to return to the team during their next homestand, but may instead may need to go for imaging on his calf after tweaking it while running the bases this week.
• While some pitchers on the Giants choose to embarrass themselves and their organization, I think it’s important to ignore them and instead remember the life of a man who devoted a significant part of his life to bettering his community. Meet Rod Beck.

Nick’s pick…

• The New York Knicks once again staged a big comeback, albeit smaller then Wednesday’s, to beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 and win their first NBA Finals in 53 years!
• Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals is tonight at 5:00 PST in Las Vegas. Vegas needs to win to force a game 7, and Carolina wants to secure their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. and their first in 20 years.