Category: Baseball

Diamondbacks News

(Burn City Sports) Diamondbacks’ Paul Sewald calls out Cardinals after rainout costs Arizona an off day

The Diamondbacks and Cardinals were scheduled to conclude their four-game series Thursday, but with rain in the forecast, St. Louis announced on its X account that the game would be rescheduled for July 23. According to Sewald’s post on X, Arizona had asked the home club to move the game earlier in the day to avoid the postponement.

“No you’re right thank you @Cardinals for not moving our game up to this afternoon when we politely asked given the whole world knew it was going to rain tonight. I actually was really hoping we could lose an off day and turn it into a 4 city road trip.”

(Arizona Sports) Diamondbacks-Cardinals series finale at Busch Stadium postponed due to weather

The Arizona Diamondbacks’ road game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday has been postponed due to inclement weather, the Cardinals announced.

The game was scheduled to start at 4:45 p.m. MST, but the forecast provided doubt that baseball would be played.

(ESPN) Diamondbacks activate Max Kepler after 80-game suspension

The Arizona Diamondbacks activated outfielder Max Kepler from the restricted list Thursday following his completion of an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

Kepler, who signed a free agent deal with the Diamondbacks on June 7, hit .333 with two home runs in 10 minor league games. He was fifth in the batting order and set to play left field for the Diamondbacks against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night, but the game was postponed by rain.

MLB News

(Bleacher Report) MLBPA Reportedly Proposes Ban on Prop Bets on Individual Players in CBA Talks

With the rise of legalized sports betting in recent years, several MLB players have spoken about the criticism that they’ve received from people blaming them for failed bets.

As part of Thursday’s proposal, the MLBPA also asked MLB to clarify that players are permitted to engage in endorsements and sponsorships from legal betting operators and prediction markets (via Purdum and Passan).

(Yahoo! Sports) MLB makes big push for salary cap, floor with public statement outlining labor negotiations with MLBPA

That changed Thursday, when MLB put out a league-approved campaign making a hard push for a salary cap and salary floor. The campaign, which is titled “Leveling the Playing Field,” makes the argument that the spending gap between teams has reached a breaking point and that a salary cap and salary floor are necessary to fix the game.

In an effort to spread the word about the campaign, MLB launched a website dedicated to the cause, which features five tabs explaining why the league believes the sport needs a salary cap.

(CBS Sports) How Jacob Misiorowski got this good: Inside the Brewers ace’s transcendence into one of MLB’s best pitchers

If young Milwaukee Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski were part of the Greek or Roman pantheon, then he’d probably be pulling double duty right about now. Among the elemental gods, Misiorowski was already in charge of fire — this, after all, is a pitcher whose first three pitches in the majors were in excess of 100 mph. Now, though, Misiorowski has expanded his jurisdiction to include earth — mound dirt, to be more specific. Indeed, the 24-year-old primal force known informally as “The Miz” is throwing harder than ever (and harder than any starting pitcher ever), and he’s also harnessed that fiery stuff to go from occasionally dominant but flawed to just plainly overwhelming. The best pitcher in the world is right now equal parts thrower and pitcher, equal parts fire and earth.

Good morning folks and happy Friday!

The Mariners had another stinker of a performance last night, dropping the series finale to the Pirates 5-1 which brings them back to .500 on the season. The M’s will try to get back in the win column with the first of three games in Cleveland starting this afternoon.

The good news is that Bryce Miller seems to have taken a serious step forward. Where would you slot him into your personal ranking of the Mariners’ starting pitchers at this moment?

In Mariners news…

• Ryan Divish at The Seattle Times caught up with closer Andrés Muñoz to uncover the changes he’s made to regain his former glory.
• Mariners utilityman Miles Mastrobuoni cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma.
• Max Ellingsen continued his run through the most plausible Mariners draft picks this year, profiling UCLA right-hander Logan Reddemann.
• Mariners infield prospect Felnin Celesten continued his hot month by hitting for the cycle in last night’s game.

Around the league…

• Major League Baseball announced the finalists for the 2026 All-Star Game starters. The Mariners were blanked from the selection with Julio Rodríguez narrowly missing the cut in the outfield.
• Major League Baseball countered with another CBA proposal, with sweeping changes headlined by a maximum for years and dollars for free agent contracts.
• The MLBPA proposed a ban on prop bets on individual players in an effort to cut down on the harassment players experience from bettors.
• Rangers shortstop Corey Seager was activated off the injured list. He’s been on and off the IL all season (as usual) with various ailments.
• Rays pitchers took a combined no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Royals last night before having it broken up on a homer from former Ray Danny Jansen.
• The Athletic staff published their Big Board for the MLB trade deadline, listing the top 50 players likely to be traded this summer.
• In case you’ve missed it, Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler is putting together a season for the ages. Ben Clemens at Fangraphs has the latest.
• Wow, shout out to the Oakland Ballers.

The Orioles return to Baltimore this weekend as frustrating and confounding as ever, with the team returning home after their West Coast road trip. When the O’s left for their three-series West Coast swing against the Mariners, Dodgers and Angels, they were five games under .500 and two games out of a Wild Card spot. They now return to Baltimore six games under .500 and still two games out of the final AL playoff spot.

The O’s next chance at trying (and likely failing) to build some positive momentum comes against their local rivals, the Nationals. The DC ball club comes into this series in a similar position as the Orioles. Sure, they’re actually at .500, but a stacked National League currently has the Nats 3 games outside the NL playoff picture.

This will be the second Battle of the Beltways this season, with the Orioles dropping two out of three in DC back in the middle of May. That series served as a concise example of the frustrating reality of the 2026 Orioles.

In Game 1, the O’s lost 3-2 in a game that saw them fail to take advantage of a starting pitcher with a 6.00+ ERA and where they didn’t score until the 9th inning. Game 2 was a different type of embarrassing loss, where a seven-run 7th inning turned a 4-3 close game into a 13-3 blowout. Game 3 was a completely different story, as the offense came alive from the first inning, raced out to an early 6-2 lead, and coasted to a 7-3 win behind a strong performance from Brandon Young and the bullpen.

Since that game, both teams have hovered around .500, struggling to get a foothold in either league’s playoff race. The O’s are 17-18 in the month-plus since their last meeting with the Nats, and have never gotten closer to .500 than two games under. The Nationals are18-17 in their 35 games since facing the O’s, at one point getting to four games above .500, but have lost [five/six] of their last eight.

The good news for Birdland is that the Orioles have typically found success against the Nationals in Camden Yards. Prior to last season, the O’s were 9-5 against the Nats at Camden Yards in the Mike Elias era. However, the Nationals did sweep the Orioles in Camden Yards last May, with the first game of that series being the last game of Brandon Hyde’s tenure in Baltimore. The O’s will need to return the favor this year if they want to finish the season with a winning record against their National League neighbors.

Game 1, Friday, June 26th, 7:05pm ET

Probable pitchers: LHP Trevor Rogers (4-7, 5.30 ERA, 54 K) vs. TBD

Where to watch: MASN/MASN+

Trevor Rogers is the starting pitcher whose best epitomised the maddening lack of consistency from the Orioles, but glimpses of 2025 Trevor Rogers have started to peek through the cracks in June. After posting a 10.31 ERA in 18.1 innings across four starts in May, Rogers is rounding back into ace form this month. Across his last four outings, he has an ERA of 2.22, is averaging just over six innings per start and is holding opposing hitters to a .195 average. His most recent outing, in Dodger Stadium, was the best of his 2026 campaign, as he held the two-time defending champions to one hit and two walks over seven scoreless innings.

Rogers only has one career appearance against the Nationals as a member of the Orioles, back in 2024. In his third start after coming over from the Marlins, the Nats battered Rogers to the tune of 5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB and 2 K.

In 10 career starts against Washington as a member of the Marlins, Rogers was typically good, putting up a 3.35 ERA with a .234 BAA. That past success may not matter this season, though, as the Nationals have also crushed left-handed pitching this season. Washington leads the MLB with a .274 average and .793 OPS vs. southpaws, though that OPS drops to .752 against left-handed starters.

While the Nationals hadn’t announced their starters yet at the time of writing, left-hander Andrew Alvarez should make his first career start vs. Baltimore. The 27-year-old lefty out of Cal Poly relies heavily on his two breaking balls, throwing his curveball and slider a combined 47% of the time. Any time a lefty is on the mound, it presents a good matchup for 3B Coby Mayo. The 24-year-old has a 1.111 OPS vs. LHPs and is one of the best hitters in baseball against southpaws.

Game 2, Saturday, June 27th, 7:05pm ET

Probable pitchers: RHP Brandong Young (6-2, 3.07 ERA, 49 K) vs. TBD

Where to watch: MASN/MASN+

This season, Brandon Young has held a similar role to 2025 Trevor Roger: the pitcher that seemingly comes out of nowhere to become the most consistent pitcher in the Orioles rotation. After making an abbreviated start against the Nats back in May, Young has been the model of consistency for Baltimore. In six outings since, the 27-year-old Texan has five quality starts, a 2.15 ERA, a .219 BAA and is averaging 6.1 IP per start.

And like Rogers last year, a Brandon Young start has usually meant a guaranteed win for the O’s. Baltimore is 10-2 in games started by BY this season, 5-1 at Camden Yards and is on a four-game win streak when Young takes the mound at home.

It will be a matchup of strength vs. strength in Young vs. the Nats upstart offense. The Orioles starter’s four-seam fastball has been one of the best heaters in all of baseball this season, as it ranks ninth in Run Value and 16th in BAA among 212 qualified pitchers. However, Nationals stars CJ Abrams and James Wood have both crushed fastballs this year, ranking third and 14th, respectively, in Run Value produced against four-seamers.

The Nats should counter Young with journeyman right-hander Foster Griffin. The 30-year-old spent the last three years in Japan and is now enjoying the first extended run of his Major League career. Prior to going to Japan, Griffin had a 6.75 ERA in eight career MLB innings. This season with Washington, Griffin has a 3.15 ERA in 91.1 innings and leads all Nats pitchers with a 2.3 bWAR. The soft-tossing lefty has led with his cutter most of the year, but features a true seven-pitch mix.

Game 3, Sunday, June 28th, 1:35pm ET

Probable pitchers: RHP Kyle Bradish (5-7, 3.64 ERA, 94 K) vs. TBD

Where to watch: MASN/MASN+

While Kyle Bradish hasn’t been as consistent as Rogers or Young in June, the Orioles’ former ace comes into Sunday’s start off the best back-to-back starts of his career. Nine days ago in Seattle, Bradish delivered his best start of the season (up until then), posting a line of 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 12 Ks–with the 12 strikeouts setting a new career-high for the 29-year-old.

He then went out and one-upped himself in his start against the Dodgers, pitching eight shutout innings with nine Ks against the defending champs. The past two starts marked the first time in Bradish’s career that he’s pitched into the 8th inning in back-to-back outings.

Sunday will mark the first time Bradish has faced off against the Nationals since before his elbow injury in 2024. In his second start of the 2024 season, he held the Nats to one run on four hits over five innings with nine Ks. It was the first time he’d allowed a run against Washington, as he previously combined for 14 innings of shutout baseball across two starts vs. the Nationals in 2023.

To oppose Bradish, the Nats could turn to former Ray Zack Littell or turn Sunday into a bullpen game. Littell pitched well against the Orioles back in May, holding the O’s scoreless over five innings while only allowing two hits. Washington has used Littell four times this season as the follower to an opener, including his most recent appearances against the Phillies–when he allowed two runs over four innings in a 14-9 loss.

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Let us know in the comments whether the O’s can even the score against the Nationals or whether it’ll be another disappointing series of Orioles’ baseball this weekend.

Happy Friday A’s Fans!

Today, the Athletics begin a three-game series against their American League West rival, the Los Angeles Angels. These two teams have matched up often over the past few weeks. Towards the end of May, the A’s won three of four in Los Angeles, capturing two victories in dramatic extra-inning games. Last weekend, the “Green and Gold” and the “Halos” split four games in West Sacramento, with the Angels winning the final two games of that series.

Yesterday, the A’s scored seven unanswered runs to rally past the San Francisco Giants, salvaging the final game of that three-game interleague series. Now, the team must carry that momentum into this weekend. They cannot afford to drop this series against the last-place Angels, especially with Mike Trout still on the injured list.

Right-handers J.T. Ginn, Jack Perkins and Aaron Civale will start for the A’s in their penultimate series against the Angels this season. In Ginn’s most recent outing at Angel Stadium, he came three outs shy of his first career no-hitter. Can he record another quality performance tonight in his second consecutive start against this team or will he take a step back?

From the other dugout, A’s hitters will face the Angels’ promising young right-hander Walbert Ureña and left-hander Reid Detmers in the first two games of the series. Los Angeles has not yet announced its starter for Sunday’s finale.

Backup catcher Jonah Heim has arguably been the A’s most clutch hitter over these past few weeks. Whenever he has batted in the ninth inning, he has delivered, recording huge hits to either tie the game or give the A’s the lead.

The organization’s savvy move to trade for him and then retain him instead of fellow backstop Austin Wynns has paid dividends. Look for Heim to continue receiving opportunities in big late-game situations, as he has come through more often than not.

Additionally, center fielder Henry Bolte appears to have emerged as the solution to the A’s center field and leadoff spot concerns. While his defense in center field is not too much of a drop off from Denzel Clarke’s, his combination of speed and power gives him greater offensive upside and makes him a natural fit atop the lineup in front of Shea Langeliers and Nick Kurtz.

Will Bolte and Heim continue to contribute this weekend, or will another unexpected A’s player rise to the occasion?

A’s Coverage:

• A’s Avoid Sweep With Late Comeback Versus Giants
• It’s Harder To Win When You Don’t Understand Your Own Personnel
• A’s Suffer Heartbreaking Defeat Against Giants
• Fun Parallels To 2012 Emerging
• Robbie Ray Stymies A’s as Giants Take Game No. 1
• A’s roster moves: Gelof to IL, Williams recalled
• A’s Squander Chances, Fall to Pirates in Series Equalizer
• As a ballpark rises in Las Vegas, owner John Fisher is pitching his A’s — and himself
• What’s next for the Oakland Coliseum? The future is ‘not bright’
• Alvarado’s return so dominant, he’s inviting a lofty comparison
• Why Front Office And Manager Should Be Embarrassed By Today’s Game
• Some Easy Fixes Rocket Science Aren’t
• Athletics’ Devin Taylor Emerges As All-Around Talent
• From celebratory pool dip to the A’s, Meneses’ journey back to Majors a memorable one
• Athletics Could Deal Hottest Triple-A Bat This Summer
• Status Report: Uncertainty Persists In 5 Places On The Diamond

MLB News and Interest:

• Phase 1 results are in! Here are the finalists to start All-Star Game
• Clement earns most votes in AL, to start at 2B in first All-Star Game
• MLB’s latest CBA proposal includes minimum salary increase, free agency revisions
• MLB owners’ proposal to reshape path to pros runs counter to growing the game
• More than 100 MLB players ranked the best and worst organizations: Inside our anonymous poll
• Cubs rotation takes 2 more blows as Cabrera, Brown hit IL
• 3 key reasons Peterson should improve after trade to Cubs
• Yanks to put McMahon on IL, but Oswaldo set for return (report)
• The team that invented openers very nearly got a no-hitter out of one
• Diamondbacks Designate Carlos Santana For Assignment
• Marlins improve to MLB-best 16-5 in June in Eury’s return
• Twins GM says club has ‘no plans’ to trade OF Byron Buxton
• Mets move scuffling Kodai Senga to bullpen after loss
• Cardinals elevate Bill DeWitt to chief executive officer
• Braves Designate Carlos Carrasco For Assignment, Select Ian Hamilton
• Cy Young poll: New leader in loaded NL race; AL favorite solidifies standing
• Cubs’ Craig Counsell perplexed by rainout, irked by ‘bad rule’
• Stearns says there’s still time for Mets to contend this season
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

This situation appears unlikely to end anytime soon. Unless Major League Baseball and the players’ union reach a compromise, the league seems headed toward a lockout on December 1st.

The biggest issue baseball fans want solved to strengthen the game is fixing the payroll disparity that leaves too many fans without hope of their team competing for a World Series title. Every other major U.S. sport has tackled this problem, and every year more small market… pic.twitter.com/kbt2vTIGMS

— MLB (@MLB) June 25, 2026

Somehow, the A’s bullpen is not the worst in the majors.

The Washington Nationals have blown 23 saves as a team this season.

No other team in MLB has blown more than 16. pic.twitter.com/W6T7rDGmPe

— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) June 25, 2026

Unfortunate injury news for one of the A’s top minor-league prospects.

LHP Wei-En Lin has now seen a couple of doctors. We'd heard earlier that'd he'd been diagnosed with a shoulder strain. But I'm hearing today that he may also possibly have a tear of the UCL. Still waiting to find out more, but hoping for the best.

— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) June 25, 2026

Congrats to A’s trainer Jeff Collins on being selected to work the All-Star Game. This is an incredible opportunity and a well-deserved honor.

Congratulations Jeff!!

Jeff Collins will serve as one of the AL’s trainers for the 2026 All-Star Game! pic.twitter.com/kHQGiuzdNv

— Athletics (@Athletics) June 25, 2026

The New York Mets have fired manager Carlos Mendoza, per multiple reports.

This move seemed inevitable. Despite having the highest payroll in MLB, since starting the season with a 7-4 record, the team has gone 27-43, and has lost their last six in a row. They just got swept in a four game series at home by the Chicago Cubs, including an embarrassing 10-5 loss in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday that saw the Mets make six errors.

The Mets have, for the last year, been pretty terrible. On June 12, 2025, they were in first place in the National League East with a 45-24 record. They went 38-54 the rest of the way, finishing in second place in the N.L. East, 13 games out, and missed the playoffs. They are 72-101 in their last 173 games.

Mendoza was a coach in the New York Yankees’ minor league system from 2009 through 2017, then was on the major league coaching staff for the Yankees from 2018 through 2023. He was hired by the Mets after the 2023 season to replace Buck Showalter, who had gone 75-87 in his second season as the Mets’ manager.

Mendoza’s 2024 Mets squad finished third in the National League East with an 89-73 record, but claimed a Wild Card spot and advanced to the NLCS, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Andy Green has been named as the interim replacement for Mendoza.

1916
In a game in Cleveland, the White Sox became the first team to ever have names sewn on to the backs of the uniforms. Knowing who was playing didn’t help them, though; they were shut out, 2-0, on the afternoon. (The White Sox returned to the idea of names on the back of road uniforms in 1960 — and this time the practice stuck.) 

In the same game, Cleveland players wore numbers pinned to their sleeves, becoming the first players in the 20th century to do so. Each player’s number connoted their position on the diamond.

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1956
Jack Harshman gave up a run by his fifth batter of a game hosting Boston — and then shut the Red Sox down scoreless on just one more hit the rest of the way, gaining his fifth win of the season and giving the White Sox their ninth straight victory. A two-run double by Luis Aparicio in the bottom of the second put the South Siders on top for good, 3-1, in a game they’d win, 4-1.

The victory pushed the White Sox to 37-22, in second place in the AL and 1 1/2 games out of first.

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1960
Boston played a football game at Comiskey Park in Chicago to cap off a doubleheader — but lost to the White Sox, 21-7. The two-touchdown win completed a sweep for the White Sox, who won the opener, 4-3. The Pale Hose scored in every inning but the fifth — understandable, given that they exhausted themselves with an 11-run fourth inning. Leading the 22-hit barrage was Sherm Lollar (4-for-5, double, three RBIs, got on base a fifth time with a HBP), while Jim Landis, Gene Freese and Al Smith each chipped in two. Every White Sox starter had at least one hit, including starting pitcher Early Wynn, who went 1-for-5 and benefited from 21 runs of support in his complete game victory!

Despite the onslaught, the defending pennant-winners were still scuffling, at 36-30 and in fourth place in the AL. However, this sweep came at the start of an 18-7 run that pushed the White Sox back into first place.

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1964
In a doubleheader opener, White Sox right fielder Mike Hershberger spoiled Minnesota starter Gerry Arrigo’s no-hit bit with a leadoff single in the ninth inning. The White Sox lose, 2-0, but take the nightcap, 9-4

Arrigo would finish his major league career with five games on the South Side, in 1970.

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1977
Rod Carew went 4-for-5 with a double, homer and six RBIs in a 19-12 mauling of the White Sox on Jersey Day in front of 46,463 at Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis, raising his batting average from .396 to .403.

The future Hall-of-Famer would push his batting average to as high as .411 (on July 1) and remain better than .400 until July 10, but ultimately fell short of the .300 mark, settling at .388 on the season. It was the sixth AL batting title of seven in Carew’s career, and his best-ever batting average, helping him earn a majors-high 9.7 WAR and the 1977 AL MVP.

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1983
White Sox slugger Greg “The Bull” Luzinski belted the first of his three rooftop home runs at Comiskey Park, becoming the first player to ever hit that many in a single season. Luzinski powered a pitch from Minnesota’s Brian Oelkers over the roof in left-center field, scoring Tom Paciorek. The shot came in the third inning of a game the Sox won, 9-7.

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1986
It was the best trade in the short career of GM Ken Harrelson, sending catcher Scott Bradley to the Mariners for a player to be named later — and on July 1, that player was revealed as outfielder Iván Calderon. 

Calderon hit 28 home runs in 1987, and would be a key for the Sox in their spectacular 1990 campaign both at bat and in the field — leading the team that year with 74 RBIs, as the Sox stunned baseball by winning 94 games.

Calderon was traded to the Expos as part of the Tim Raines deal in December 1990, before coming back for nine games late in the 1993 season. To make room for Calderon’s second stint on the South Side, the Sox traded away reliever Donn Pall.

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2010
The White Sox beat the Cubs, 3-2, to run their winning streak to 11 games in a row.

The streak started on June 15, and saw the Sox blitz National League clubs during the interleague portion of the schedule. They took three from Pittsburgh, three from Washington, three from Atlanta and two from the Cubs. During the streak they outscored opponents, 51-24, with three shutouts. The 11 straight wins remain tied for the sixth-longest streak in White Sox history, and capped off a 15-of-16 run for the clus.

It was the 15th time in franchise history the Sox had a double-digit win streak, and the first since they won 10 at the end of 1981 and into 1982.

In an odd coincidence, the only other 15-1 homestand in franchise history (1961) saw its final win one day earlier than this, on June 25.

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2015
In yanking the fourth pitch of the game deep and out to right field, Adam Eaton became just the second White Sox hitter to club leadoff home runs in consecutive games. It was Eaton’s only hit in an eventual 5-4 win over the Tigers. The White Sox had won Eaton’s first leadoff homer game, 8-7 in 10 innings, also against Detroit.

Thirteen years earlier, Kenny Lofton became the first White Sox hitter to accomplish this feat, clubbing leadoff dingers on July 18-19, 2002. The homers were Lofton’s only two hits in the game, both losses for the White Sox, to Kansas City and Baltimore. Just nine days later, Lofton was dealt to San Francisco.

The Detroit Tigers officially reached the halfway mark of the 2026 regular-season schedule on Thursday night after dropping the opener of a four-game home series with the Houston Astros, 2-1. Troy Melton looked sharp, recording a career high six strikeouts, but the offense went AWOL until a solo homer in the ninth by Dillon Dingler.

AJ Hinch’s squad looks to even things up on Friday night behind right-hander Keider Montero, who continues to be a steady presence in the rotation for the Olde English D. The 25-year-old’s last outing against the Chicago White Sox was no exception, allowing three runs on six hits (one home run) while issuing zero walks for the second straight game and striking out three over seven innings in what eventually resulted in a 5-4 win in extras.

Montero saw the Astros a couple of outings ago in his only relief appearance of the season. It did not go well, though, as he surrendered a pair of runs (one earned) on two hits and no walks while striking out two over 1 1/3 innings to earn his fifth loss of the 2026 campaign.

Up against him for Houston is fellow righty Spencer Arrighetti, who has also been an important presence on the Astros’ pitching staff this year. However, the 26-year-old has struggled in June to the tune of a 6.95 ERA but a less offensive 4.42 FIP stretching across his last four games and 22 innings of work. He missed the Tigers when they were in town last week, so this will be his first appearance against them this year.

Here is how those two righties match up on Friday night at Comerica Park.

Detroit Tigers (34-47) vs. Houston Astros (40-43)

Time (ET): 6:40 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:The Crawfish Boxes
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 82: RHP Keider Montero (3-5, 3.68 ERA) vs. RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-3, 3.13 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Montero	15	80.2	16.5	5.3	35.5	3.95	1.5
Arrighetti	12	69.0	23.2	10.9	39.4	4.13	1.0

MONTERO

ARRIGHETTI

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Rodney Myers, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1960 – At Forbes Field, Cubs rookie Ron Santo, making his major league debut, leads Chicago to a sweep of the first-place Pirates. Santo is 3 for 7 and drives in five runs as the Cubs win, 7-5 and 7-6, and other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1938 – Carl Hubbell wins his 200th game, as the Giants beat the visiting Cubs, 5-1, and stretch their lead over the second-place Reds to two games.
• 1961 – At Los Angeles’s Wrigley Field, Yogi Berra collects his 2,000th career hit, all as a Bronx Bomber. To celebrate the achievement a huge cake is rolled out.
• 1966 – Ron Santo singles in the first and his next time up is struck in the face by a Jack Fisher pitch that fractures his cheek. Before Santo’s at bat, the Mets’ Ron Hunt and the Cubs’ Adolfo Phillips had both been hit by pitches. Santo will be operated on the following day but will return to action in a week. The injury ends his consecutive game streak at 390, but his hitting streak continues.
• 1970 – Frank Robinson belts two successive grand slams during a 12-2 Oriole romp over the Senators, just the seventh major leaguer to ever accomplish the feat. They will be Robby’s only grand slams for the O’s.
• 1977 – On Jersey Day in Minnesota, every fan receives a jersey with #29 on it, Rod Carew‘s number. Carew responds by going 4 for 5, scoring four runs, and raising his average to .403. One of the hits is a grand slam and he will hit another slam on July 4th. 
• 1987 – You gotta give him credit for trying. Paul Noce of the Cubs ties a major-league record (tied 11 days ago) in the third inning by twice being thrown out trying to steal. A dropped ball leaves him safe at second base after he is caught, then he is thrown out trying to steal third. Pittsburgh beats Greg Maddux and the Cubs, 5-2. Maddux will finish 6-14, his last losing season until 2005.
• 1994 Kirby Puckett passes Rod Carew with his 2,088 hit as the Twins’ top hit leader.
• 2003 – Edgar Martinez, who already holds the Mariners’ all-time records for games played, at-bats, hits, doubles, total bases, extra-base hits, walks and runs scored, passes Ken Griffey Jr.‘s mark for team career RBIs. His two-run homer in the Mariners’ 10-6 victory over the Angels gives the All-Star designated hitter 1,153 RBIs – one more than Junior.

Cubs Birthdays:Jason Kendall, Rodney Myers*, Mike Griffin, Manny Seoane, Dave Rosello, Howie Pollet, Elmer Singleton, Babe Herman, George Milstead, Elmer Yoter, Elmer Ponder, Topsy Hartsel. Also notable: Derek Jeter HOF. Willard Brown HOF.

Today in history:

• 1894 – Karl Benz of Germany receives US patent for gasoline-driven auto.
• 1927 – The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.
• 1959 – Ingemar Johansson of Sweden floors Floyd Patterson seven times in the third round in NYC to win the world heavyweight boxing title.
• 1963 – US President John F. Kennedy gives his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” (intended to mean “I am a Berliner”, but may actually mean “I am a doughnut”) speech in West Berlin.
• 1974 – The Universal Product Code (UPC) is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
• 1977 – Elvis Presley appears in concert at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana; unknowingly the last performance of his career.
• 2018 – Hello Kitty bullet train unveiled by the West Japan Railway.
• 2024 – European Space Agency creates Lego ‘space bricks’ by 3D printing Lego out of meteorite dust, part of a project to learn how to build a base on the Moon.

*pictured.

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The Brewers dropped their first two games in Atlanta over the weekend, but they bounced back nicely to win the series finale before sweeping the Reds in Cincinnati to extend their division lead. After a well-deserved off day yesterday, they’re now set to begin an 18-game gauntlet over the next 17 days leading into the All-Star break, including series against all four of their division rivals. This could very well be the most important stretch of the season when we look back in late September.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

The Phillies are heading to Queens for the first time this season. There, they will find a reeling Mets squad that would surely love to rattle off a few victories over their hated foe as a mood-lifter. They will also find some really, really good Chinese food. I had a plate of rice rolls there that I’m still thinking about. Anyway, onto the links.

Phillies news

The All-Star Game finalists have been announced, and there’s some familiar names present…

The Phillies’ skipper will be on the coaching staff for the National League’s All-Star team. ($)

Justin Crawford has a new approach at the plate.

Cristopher Sánchez’ peers are a historic, accomplished bunch.

MLB news

MLB has presented another proposal for the next CBA, with a 5-year cap on free agent deals (6 if the player is sticking with their current club)

Mock draft season is well underway.

The top vote-getter in each league is automatically given a spot in the All-Star starting nine. Who earned that honor for the AL? Not Judge, not Trout… think north.

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (38-37/2-1)

LEHIGH VALLEY 7, SYRACUSE 3 (BOX)

Just nothing very interesting or exciting to talk about here. Ryan Clifford still isn’t really hitting. Ryan Lambert is still struggling. Oh well.

• RF Ji Hwan Bae: 0-4, 2 K
• SS Vidal Bruján: 0-4
• CF Nick Morabito: 2-3, 2B, BB
• 1B Ryan Clifford: 1-4, R, 2 K
• 3B Yonny Hernández: 0-4, R
• 2B Grae Kessinger: 1-4, R, 2B, RBI, SB (1)
• C Ben Rortvedt: 1-4, RBI, K
• LF Cristian Pache: 2-4, RBI, K, SB (13)
• DH Kevin Parada: 0-3, BB, 2 K
• RHP Adbert Alzolay: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• RHP Ryan Lambert: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, L (2-1)
• RHP Dan Hammer: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• RHP Tanner Witt: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
• RHP Guillo Zuñiga: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• LHP Nate Lavender: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• RHP Dylan Ross: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (27-42/1-2)

BINGHAMTON 10, ERIE 7 (BOX)

Big offensive day for the Rumble Ponies. Homers for Jose Ramos and Nick Lorusso carried the day, and a four-hit day from the aptly named Nick Lucky at the bottom of the lineup helped out. The pitching was poor, but take the wins you can get.

• DH Jose Ramos: 3-6, 2 R, 2B, HR (12), 2 RBI, 2 K
• 3B Nick Lorusso: 2-5, R, 2B, HR (13), RBI, BB, E (6)
• 1B JT Schwartz: 2-6, 2 2B, K
• C Vincent Perozo: 1-4, R, RBI, 2 K
• CF Matt Rudick: 0-3, R, 2 BB, 2 K
• LF Jaylen Palmer: 2-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K
• SS Kevin Villavicencio: 1-5, R, RBI
• RF Nick Lucky: 4-5, R, RBI, K, CS (1)
• 2B Nick Roselli: 0-4, R, BB
• RHP Brendan Girton: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
• RHP Douglas Orellana: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, W (6-1)
• RHP Jordan Geber: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, H (2)
• RHP Zach Peek: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, H (2)
• RHP Saul Garcia: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, S (1)

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (25-40/2-4)

JERSEY SHORE 7, BROOKLYN 5 (BOX)

Homers from Mitch Voit and Davierson Gutierrez weren’t enough to overcome a disastrous pitching performance from Noah Hall. Brooklyn is off to a second half start unfortunately reminiscent of the first half.

• SS Mitch Voit: 1-4, R, HR (8), RBI, BB, K, E (5)
• 3B Yonatan Henriquez: 3-5, 2 R, K, 2 SB (12)
• DH JT Benson: 0-4, BB, 2 K
• 1B Corey Collins: 1-4, K, SB (1)
• C Daiverson Gutierrez: 1-5, R, HR (4), 2 RBI, K
• LF Trace Willhoite: 0-4, K
• 2B Jamari Baylor: 2-4, R, HR (2), RBI, BB, K, SB (1)
• CF Sam Biller: 0-2, BB, K
• RF Yohairo Cuevas: 0-3, BB, K
• RHP Noah Hall: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, L (1-6), E (1)
• RHP Bryce Jenkins: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• RHP Ryan Dollar: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• RHP Cristofer Gomez: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
• RHP Hunter Hodges: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (33-33/2-3)

FORT MYERS 7, ST. LUCIE 6 (BOX)

St. Lucie staged a late comeback, scoring one in the eighth and two in the ninth to tie the game at six. Branny De Oleo had the game tying hit, driving in two with a single. Unfortunately, Miguel Mejias served up a home run to Quentin Young in the bottom half, and St. Lucie lost in walkoff fashion.

• SS-3B Branny De Oleo: 3-5, R, 2 RBI, 2 SB (7), E (9)
• 2B Jeremy Rodriguez: 1-4, 3 K
• CF Trey Snyder: 0-4, RBI, 2 K
• C Julio Zayas: 1-4, R, RBI, K
• RF Simon Juan: 2-4, 2 R, RBI, K, SB (5), E (7)
• DH Chase Meggers: 2-4, R, 2B, RBI, K, SB (3)
• 3B-LF Taylor Darden: 0-4, 2 K
• LF-1B Jackson Hauge: 0-4
• 1B Jack Scanlon: 1-2, R, BB
• PH-SS Elian Peña: 0-0, BB
• REHAB ALERT: RHP Dedniel Núñez: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• RHP Tyler McLoughlin: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• RHP Joel Lara: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
• RHP Christian Rodriguez: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• RHP Miguel Mejias: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, L (3-1)

Rookie: FCL Mets (15-22)

FCL ASTROS 14, FCL METS 5 / 7 (BOX)

• CF Bohan Adderley: 1-3, R, BB, K
• SS Anthony Frobose: 0-4, 2 K
• C Yovanny Rodriguez: 0-3, R, BB, 2 K, E (5)
• DH Josmir Reyes: 1-1, R, BB
• 2B Yorber Semprun: 0-0
• 3B Roybert Herrera: 1-2, R, RBI, BB, 2 E (4)
• 2B-RF Diover De Aza: 0-3, K
• LF Vladi Gomez: 1-3, R, 2B, 2 RBI, E (6)
• 1B Yeider Mindiola: 1-3, 2B, RBI, K, 2 E (8)
• RF-P Adolfo Miranda: 1-3, 2B, K
• RHP Camden Lohman: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, L (1-2)
• RHP Yoralbert Cadiz: 0.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 K
• RHP John Valle: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
• RHP Omar Victorino: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• RHP Adolfo Miranda: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Jose Ramos

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Noah Hell

Hello, friends.

The grind resumes. The Orioles are back at it tonight. Anything could happen. That’s the frustrating thing about these guys. They are really, genuinely capable of playing some good baseball. They have won quite a few games that could be real, signature wins, if only they had won a few more non-signature wins too. Just ordinary, relatively uninteresting wins, like Wednesday’s series finale could have been, if not for, you know, everything that happened late in the game.

Instead, just past the halfway point of the season, just about a month and a week until the trade deadline, they find themselves towards the back end of the muddled pack of AL Wild Card contenders. The third wild card spot is still held by a below-.500 team this deep into the season. The Orioles are not out of it, no matter how much games like the ones they played against the Angels can make it feel that way. It’s just that changing their fortunes is going to require doing something we haven’t seen them do: Playing sustained good baseball. For a whole lot of reasons, they have proven incapable of this.

I think that for a number of those reasons, the cake was baked over the offseason with the decisions that Mike Elias made in constructing the roster. He thought this group of relievers would be good enough to get by. He thought that the defense would be good enough to get by. Each of these things is proving to not be the case and there’s not much he can do about them now. That spray can of potpourri can only affect so much square footage at a time.

Should Elias lose his job for these errors? If this thing doesn’t improve by season’s end, I think that he should. He has not been able to sustain a good baseball team. After the 2024 season ended with another postseason disappointment, there were obvious problems to address. The team didn’t address them sufficiently heading into 2025, and it hasn’t sufficiently addressed 2025’s problems heading into 2026 either.

Although the baseball way is “three strikes and you’re out,” I don’t think that applies to general managers or presidents of baseball operations. Two strikes and you’re out is good enough by my reckoning there. We are looking at Elias’s second strike. If I was the billionaire with authority to make the decisions, I wouldn’t give him another chance, if he doesn’t pull off the mid-season pivot here.

One thing I would be quite interested to know about the Orioles is how they spent their off day yesterday. There’s stuff it sure seems like they could use some work on! We’ve probably all at some point in our lives encountered something spiritually similar to a punitive “one person on the team screwed up, so the whole team runs laps.” I don’t need the Orioles to run laps or wind sprints as punishment. I just want to know if they’re doing useful drills to reinforce the correct response to situations that they have recently screwed up.

If they are doing this, we sure aren’t seeing the results yet. I don’t think that’s totally because of guys playing out of position. Some of it is. But stuff like “cover first base on a ground ball” ought to be basic for pitchers and first basemen and Keegan Akin and Pete Alonso between the two of them couldn’t manage it during one of Wednesday’s crucial plays. Alonso took more firm post-game ownership of his mistake there than Akin did. I don’t know what they should do about that. I guess they don’t know either.

The Nationals await for three games starting tonight. Hopefully the version of Trevor Rogers who most recently pitched seven shutout innings against the Dodgers is the one who takes the field tonight. It’s a 7:05 start for the Friday night game.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Orioles players reflect on the first half and gear up for what’s next (The Baltimore Banner)
One thing that comes across is that Orioles players don’t feel beaten and lost to the degree that many fans seem to.

Orioles shut out in first round of All-Star voting (School of Roch)
This was the obvious outcome before voting began and only became more obvious with how the team played during the voting period.

Pete Alonso discusses changes coming to Home Run Derby (Orioles.com)
The two-time Home Run Derby champion is a fan of the adjustments made to the format for this year.

Magic in the booth: Kevin Brown makes mark with Orioles (Press Box Online)
An excellent feature profile on Kevin Brown, my honorary cousin, who is genuinely one of the game’s great broadcasters. He is a delight every night he is on the call.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 1970, Frank Robinson hit two grand slams during a 12-2 win over the then-Senators. He was just the seventh major league player to ever accomplish this in the same game. These turned out to be his only grand slams for the team.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2022-23 pitcher Austin Voth, 2007-08 infielder Luis Hernández, 1987 pitcher Mike Griffin, and 1960 outfielder Gene Green.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: Civil War general and probably-not-inventor of baseball Abner Doubleday (1819), WW2 Marine Corps legend Chesty Puller (1898), pro football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe (1968), actors Chris O’Donnell and Nick Offerman (1970), actress Aubrey Plaza (1984), and singer-songwriter Ariana Grande (1993).

On this day in history…

In 1917, the first American soldiers arrived in France to join the conflict we now know as World War I. They would see combat within two weeks.

In 1945, the 50 Allied nations signed the charter for the United Nations in San Francisco.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy delivered the famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. The remarks, made shortly after East Germany had put up the Berlin Wall, reinforced American support for the democratic West Germany.

In 1974, the first barcode was scanned at a grocery store in Ohio. This first use of a Universal Product Code sold a package of Wrigley gum.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on June 26. Have a safe Friday. Go O’s!

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:W, 6-4 at Indianapolis Indians

2B Marco Luciano 0-5, 2 K
RF Yanquiel Fernández 1-4, 1 R, 1 K
DH Garrett Martin 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Tyler Hardman 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 R — 100 career home runs, 18 this year
1B Ernesto Martinez Jr. 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R
C Payton Henry 0-3, 1 K
LF Kenedy Corona 0-4, 2 K
CF Duke Ellis 2-4, 1 R, 1 SB
SS Jonathan Ornelas 1-4, 1 RBI, throwing error

Dom Hamel 5 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 5 BB, 4 K (win)
Danny Watson 1 IP, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K (hold)
Angel Chivilli 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H (hold)
Will Brian 0.2 IP, 1 R, 3 BB, 2 K (hold)
Carlos Lagrange 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K (save) — first career save as his transition to the bullpen continues to go well

Hardman Homer x2 🔁🔥#RepBXpic.twitter.com/9l8NDwsSK9

— SWB RailRiders (@swbrailriders) June 26, 2026

Double-A Somerset Patriots:L, 1-2 at New Hampshire Fisher Cats

DH Jackson Castillo 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB
CF Jace Avina 0-4, 3 K
RF DJ Gladney 0-4, 4 K
1B Nicholas Torres 1-4, 1 K
3B Coby Morales 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K
C Manuel Palencia 1-2, 1 BB
LF Josh Moylan 0-3, 2 K
SS Kevin Verde 0-3, 3 K
2B Connor McGinnis 0-2, 1 K

Jack Cebert 5.2 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 6 K (loss)
Kelly Austin 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 K
Ben Grable 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H

Jack Cebert (@Yankees No. 25 Prospect) retired the final 12 batters he faced in his eighth Double-A start! 🤩

5.2 IP | 4 H | 2 R | 0 BB | 6 K pic.twitter.com/9HQSgIFpp2

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) June 25, 2026

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades:L, 5-6 (11) at Bowling Green Hot Rods

SS Kaeden Kent 2-6, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 K
DH Core Jackson 1-6, 1 K
RF Wilson Rodriguez 2-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 K — two-run homer in the 10th briefly gave the ‘Gades the lead
1B Kyle West 1-5, 1 K
3B Roderick Arias 2-5, 2 K
2B Enmanuel Tejeda 1-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R
C Josue Gonzalez 2-5, 2 K, 1 SB, throwing error
CF Camden Troyer 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 BB
LF Luis Durango 1-3
PH Eric Genther 1-1
PR-LF Robbie Burnett 0-0, 1 BB

Allen Facundo 5.2 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 10 K — third double-digit strikeout outing of his season
Thomas Balboni Jr. 1.1 IP, 1 R, 1 H
Luis Velasquez 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K
Wilmy Sanchez 1 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 K
Jack Sokol 1 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K (loss, blown save)

Make it 10 punch outs tonight for Allen Facundo🤙 pic.twitter.com/QwmZcYBPNX

— Hudson Valley Renegades (@HVRenegades) June 26, 2026

Low-A Tampa Tarpons:L, 6-12 at Dunedin Blue Jays

SS Jackson Lovich 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, throwing error
CF Brando Mayea 0-5, 1 R, 2 K
C Luis Puello 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
3B Hans Montero 1-4, 2 K, 1 SB
RF Willy Montero 3-3, 1 HR, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 CS
LF JoJo Jackson 0-2
LF Gabriel Lara 0-2, 1 K
DH Engelth Urena 1-3, 1 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
2B Luis Escudero 1-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R
1B David McMann 1-4, throwing error

Wyatt Parliament 4.1 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 K
J.T. Etheridge 2 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 4 K, interference (loss)
Parker Seay 1.1 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Jordarlin Mendoza 0.1 IP, 0 R, 1 BB

Florida Complex League Yankees:L, 4-18 at FCL Phillies

3B Richard Matic 2-4, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, fielding error
RF Wilberson De Pena 1-4, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SB
C Queni Pineda 1-4, 2 K, throwing error
2B Leni Done 0-3, 1 BB, 1 CS
DH Jose Castro 0-3, 1 BB
CF Francisco Vilorio 1-4, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 K
SS Dexters Peralta 0-4, 1 K, throwing and fielding error
LF Estivenzon Montero 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
1B Christofer Reyes 0-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Danny Flatt 2.1 IP, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Manuel Cruz 3.2 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 H, 5 BB, 2 K, throwing error (loss)
Stanly Alcantara 0.2 IP, 7 R, 2 H, 4 BB, 1 K
Jorge Luna 1.1 IP, 0 R, 1 K

Dominican Summer League Yankees: Cancelled due to rain at DSL Marlins

Dominican Summer League Bombers:Suspended, 2-0 (T4) vs. DSL Mets Blue

SS Mani Cedeno 1-2, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K
DH Carlos Bello 0-1, 1 RBI
C Alessandro Rodriguez 1-2
RF David Carrera 0-2
3B Germayhoni Beltre 0-1
CF Alfiery Matos 0-0, 1 R, 1 BB
1B Stalen Ramirez 1-1, 1 SB
LF Sebastian Pinto 0-1, 1 K
2B Adrian Feliz 0-0, 1 RBI

Cesar Acosta 3.2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 8 K

Hodad’s is a third-generation small business, a San Diego treasure that makes a damn good burger. I dropped by one of their two restaurants last winter, but I didn’t see what I wanted on the menu.

The burger I get at Petco Park, I explained to the server. She knew exactly what I meant.

“The F— the Dodgers burger,” she said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

In San Diego, it had been an impish inside joke for years. If you didn’t know what FTD meant on the menu at the Hodad’s stands at Petco Park, the burger — with cheese, onion rings, pickles, mayonnaise and barbecue sauce — still was a good time.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani takes control of Dodgers' win after miscommunication with Dalton Rushing

When the Dodgers played here last month, a fan posted a picture of the menu board and explained what FTD stood for. The next day, Jomboy Media did the same, in a post with 1.6 million views.

“When I first saw that,” Hodad’s co-owner Shane Hardin told me, “I thought, ‘Oh, sweet, Jomboy, cool. We’ll get a little bump.’ ”

Then Hardin got a call from Delaware North, the company that handles the San Diego Padres’ concessions. People are talking, Hardin was told.

“And I’m like, ‘Cool, great, let ‘em talk, there’s no profanity anywhere,’ ” Hardin said.

The Padres and Delaware North did not see it that way. “FTD” was stripped from the menu boards at the four Hodad’s stands, initially replaced by the lame quartet of “Foul to Dinger,” “For the Division,” “For the Dugout” and “For the Diegans” and currently replaced by the strained quartet of “For the Dads,” “For the Dub,” “Faithful til Death” and (gulp) “Flyball to Deep.”

The Padres declined comment for this column.

Hardin is more amused than annoyed, particularly given the origin of the FTD Burger. It’s been on Hodad’s Petco Park menu since …

“Was it the 2022 playoffs that the Padres beat the Dodgers?” he asked.

This is how a San Diegan tells time, but yes.

“The Padres hit us up and said, ‘We want a special menu item for the playoffs,’” Hardin said. “We go, ‘OK, without us ever saying what it meant, can we call it the FTD Burger?’ They said, ‘Oh, yeah, ha ha, that’s funny, go for it.’ And so we did.”

The burger has been sold at Petco Park ever since, with the same recipe, despite the online conspiracy theory that its three onion rings represented the Dodgers’ three World Series championship rings this decade.

“Dude, I don’t keep track of what the Dodgers have,” Hardin said. “I really don’t care.”

It is in that spirit that I am stunned the Padres made the change.

The Padres, the team that sells “Beat L.A.” shirts in the team store. The Padres, the team that put up a meme of Clayton Kershaw crying on the video board. The Padres, the team that begged its fans not to sell their tickets to fans of “a team from a little ways up north” and also refused to sell tickets to that 2022 playoff series to anyone in Los Angeles County.

The Padres deserve a ton of credit for breathing life into what now is a feisty rivalry with the Dodgers. It is odd that, all of a sudden, they’re worried about decorum.

“I was under the impression that FTD was just kind of a fun ‘if you know, you know’ sort of thing,” Hardin said. “People will hold up signs saying ‘FTD’ and they’ll get on the JumboTron.

“At the end of the day, Hodad’s is a little rough around the edges. But we’re still a family place.”

Hardin isn’t upset with the Padres. It’s their ballpark, after all, and he enjoys being part of it.

“I love being there,” he said. “The relationship is great, honestly.”

Read more:Shaikin: How 'Beat L.A.' became entrenched in the Dodgers-Padres rivalry lexicon

And he had one other thing to say about the demise of the FTD label: “That first homestand after that news broke, we sold 50% more of that burger each game. I’ll take that.”

The Padres might want to reconsider. In baseball, curses are no joking matter, and the Curse of the FTD Burger might now have befallen the team.

When the Dodgers left Petco Park five weeks ago, the Padres were 1½ games behind them. Before the Padres’ next game, the Jomboy post went viral and the “FTD” name vanished.

As the Dodgers return here Friday, the Padres are nine games behind the Dodgers.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Cardinals are in the midst of a fascinating rebuild. Unlike most rebuilds, this one does not involve tanking. Quite the opposite, the 2026 Cardinals find themselves in the #1 wild card slot at the time of writing. Some of you might rightfully argue that the rebuild really began at the trading deadline late in the 2023 season, had a brief lull when they tried to compete on the “pitching, pitching, pitching” premise of 2024 and then restarted the rebuild in 2025 when it had become painfully obvious that the now dismantled 2022 offensive juggernaut was no more.

So here we are in mid-2026 and one of the most vexing challenges in major league baseball continues to … vex. When is the right time and what is the right approach to incorporate a young prospect onto the major league roster?

First, I want to discriminate between a “prospect” and a depth (or role) player. The depth player promotion decisions, while also not easy, involves some attributes not found in the prospect player promotion decision.

• Depth/role players often don’t come with service time calculation concerns. They are often a bit on the older side (see: Velazquez, Torres) and many have a non-zero clock already. For prospects, whom teams can see the possibility of significant future value, when to start their service clock in a not uncommon consideration. I’m not suggesting the Cardinal’s practice service time manipulation (they do not appear to, ever), but they are not blind to such situations like waiting until Aug 15 to promote Baez would preserve the potential of a PPI pick in future years if he emerges as hoped for. I think of this similarly to how they handled Masyn Winn’s original promotion in late 2023.
• While all players need a 40-man spot to get promoted, teams can be more sensitive about pushing aside talent to add a depth/role player. On the flip side, when ready, prospects pretty easily push aside someone at the tail end of the 40-man.
• Depth/role players who get promoted are just that … role players. They will fit in certain role and with that will not come a team commitment to a minimum amount of playing time. Prospects, on the other hand, often don’t get promoted until the team is certain (and willing) they can allocate a significant amount of playing to said prospect. Generally, teams view it as preferable that a “prospect” play every day at AAA and not sit on the bench in MLB, unlike the role players such as Fermin, Saggese, Velazques, Torres.
• While everyone goes through an adjustment period when promoted, depth/role players don’t get a lot of luxury in this regard. There won’t be a lot of tolerance for the ups-and-downs that come with adjusting to MLB competition. If you are a RH hitter, you will be expected to hit the lefties and the opportunities may not come in bunches, so take advantage of them when you get them. If you are prospect, the team will be prepared to adopt a “develop at the MLB level” approach and will live with the ups-and-downs, ala. Walker, Gorman. To a point.
• Exposure is a key issue. Every player has strengths and flaws and how they will get exposed and leveraged at the MLB level is somewhat projectable, but this is not an exact science and sometimes teams just have to jump in the pool and hope it’s not too cold. Depth/role players have an advantage here, because their exposure will be tuned to leverage their strengths and avoid their weaknesses. Prospects are anticipated to emerge as everyday contributors, so they will not get such protection. Are they ready to handle this and the struggles that may come with it?

This is not an exhaustive list, but I felt the need to draw the distinctions. I will address Joshua Baez’s case as a prospect, and I won’t be comparing him to a Nelson Velazquez or Bryan Torres who are role players. Baez, when brought up, will not be brought up to replace their role. He may displace one of them on the 26-man roster, but he will also displace at least one other player who gets significantly more playing time now than they will when Baez arrives.

This is crucial to embrace, because it is easy for fans to look at a player like Velazquez and wonder why they don’t bring up Baez. Baez is probably already the superior player, both offensively and defensively, so why not bring him up? Why? Because of the considerations listed above. Baez vs. Velazques is a red herring, or perhaps more appropriately, an apples-to-oranges discussion that misses the key considerations management thinks about and tries to balance as they seek to introduce a prospect into the major leagues.

The Cardinals want Baez to succeed. He brings a mix of talents that begin to approach the coveted 5-tool player label. 4-tool players aint bad, either. The potential and value are obvious to all. But the success is not guaranteed and so the risk is equally obvious. For every supporter that sees a future star, there is a detracter that sees a future less than Joey Gallo. Will he hit? What about the K-rate and BB-rate? How do they translate?

A Cardinal executive recently described Baez’ promotion as inevitable and after that, time will tell on the strikeouts and the walks and the power output he will bring. I do think there are a couple of key questions to answer before the “inevitable” promotion occurs, though.

Where would he play?

Some will say let him play all 3 outfield positions rotationally, and DH some. Mathematically, it is possible to envision such a rotation providing enough PAs to allow him to adjust, grow, develop. Practically, the burdens of adjusting defensively to three positions simultaneously is not a strategy conducive to facilitating his success. Throw in the DH penalty and the adjustments of that role, and they’d be essentially putting challenges in his way on top of the one main one he will encounter – can he hit MLB pitching like his does MiLB pitching? Why put obstacles out in front of him? Won’t he have enough?

So, where? Some will say LF, displacing Nootbaar, who is nearing the end of his time in the Lou anyways, with his own service time and contract status. Fair point. Quite possible that is the decision that getsmade, either that the trade deadline or the off-season. But take a look at Baez’ story and see how many times he has played LF. Not many. While he is unlikely to struggle the way Jordan Walker struggled with the third-to-outfield position change, there would still be a new hurdle to cross for him. Are you ready to introduce that into a pennant race?

Well, then how about CF? He has played there a lot recently but does not have a long history there. Defensively, it is a position where instincts, reads, routes and jumps are crucial. Is he ready for that? His offensive profile could be fascinating in that position and tolerance for ups-and-downs would be higher, since that position hasn’t really been a fountain of offensive production since …. Bader? Offensively, the bar is lower, ostensibly facilitating an easier pathway to success. But can he it handle defensively? I have no clue. My experience is that the defensive features players bring to MLB are often significantly different than what is described in scouting reports. Bader himself was such an example – a guy with question marks about his D turned out to be Gold Glove caliber (or near it, anyway). We are also watching Blaze Jordan make plays at third base that seem to surprise everyone. So who knows until we see it? But are they willing to commit Baez to CF? This would push Church to a 4th OF role, which may be best suited for him (or may not).

How about RF? Oh, there is another guy there. Someone named Jordan Walker.

Another key question…

How will his profile influence the overall line-up construction?

To-date, the strength of the Cardinals has been their somewhat tenacious offense. It is not a juggernaut, but strong enough that they are top ten in MLB in several key categories (not power) and that is without Nootbaar for much of the season. Strong enough to overcome some poor pitching. Key attributes of that offense are low K-rate and pretty good OBP. So, they get on base, and they have more productive at bats than most other teams. They have good hitters but could use some more HR pop.

But where does he hit? To start with, if he displaces either Church or Nootbaar he will upset the L-R-L algorithm and make this a more right leaning line-up. Seems likely he would get the 6th spot behind Nootbaar. We know from his history that he tends to K a lot as he adjusts to a new level, so expect that to continue into MLB. He isn’t terribly selective, running O-swing % in the same neighborhood as Alec Burleson but without the plate coverage Burly gets, running an O-contacts% about half of Burleson. He doesn’t walk a ton, but he doesn’t refuse the walk with a BB% of ~8%. His likely contribution to the line-up will be to increase the K-rate of the line-up, lower the OBP but raise the S part of OPS. The HR park factor for Busch III for RH hitters could bite him, as it runs a 78 (100 is average). In other words Busch suppresses RH power by 22%. That is a stiff premium. How does that affect the recipe as a whole? Will this offense remain tenacious and benefit from extra pop, or will there now be too many guys that strike out with runners in scoring position?

Introducing a new hitter to the everyday line-up changes the nature of said line-up. I am curious the impact Baez will have on the overall output of the group. If I had to guess, this is a mystery enough that they’d prefer to see the answer come later in the season when the playoff position is more clear.