Category: Baseball

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The New York Yankees are -133 home favorites against the Detroit Tigers on Monday night, but my Tigers vs. Yankeespredictions are taking the better starter at a plus-money price.

Read on for my free MLB picks for June 29.

Who will win Tigers vs Yankees today: Tigers moneyline (+119)

Despite nearly pulling off a dramatic late comeback last night, it's hard to back the New York Yankees right now.

Their offense is anemic, and the pitching hasn’t been great. I'm backing the Detroit Tigers tonight and would play them to -110.

Casey Mize gives Detroit the pitching edge over Ryan Weathers. Mize’s 3.16 xERA, .225 xBA allowed, and 36.1% hard-hit rate match up well against a Yankees lineup hitting .190 over its last 11 games.

Weathers may generate more swings-and-misses, but his 4.50 xERA, .459 xSLG allowed, and 11.7% barrel rateincrease damage risk.

Tigers vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Under 8 (-115)

I’m playing the Under because the Yankees’ season-long run production is not matching their current form.

The Bronx Bombers nearly got no-hit last night in the midst of a sweep by the Red Sox, scoring just nine runs in four games while consistently leaving runners stranded.

Detroit has not been much cleaner, going 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position over its past two games.

Weathers is the risk because he gives up barrels, but Mize can suppress the better offense long enough to keep this game inside 8. My model makes this closer to 7.4 runs.

Tigers vs Yankees weather

The warm, 81-degree weather makes hitting conditions somewhat favorable, but there's little wind to speak of, and it's blowing right-to-left.

Tigers vs Yankees odds

• Moneyline: Tigers +120 | Yankees -133
• Run line: Tigers +1.5 | Yankees -15
• Over/Under: Over 8 | Under 8

Tigers vs Yankees trend

The Tigers have hit the F5 moneyline in 17 of their last 30 games (+8.40 Units / 22% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Tigers vs. Yankees.

How to watch Tigers vs Yankees and game info

Tigers vs Yankees latest injuries

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After Luis Garcia Jr. had what seemed like a breakout season in 2024, where he posted a 110 wRC+ and played above average defense at second base for the first time in his career, resulting in a 3.0 fWAR year, his numbers came crashing back down to Earth in 2025, posting a 91 wRC+ and playing subpar defense at second base, resulting in 0.7 fWAR over the full season. Entering 2026, his 7th season in the big leagues, many fans hoped he could at least come close to recreating the magic he had in 2024, or else his future with the Nats was in question with a new front office in town.

Things didn’t click for Garcia Jr. right away this season, as he posted a 76 wRC+ through March and April while struggling at his new home defensively, first base. Some frustrated fans, including myself, called for him to either be benched or DFA’ed, believing there were options in Triple-A for the Nats who could provide more value than Garcia Jr. was. Things started to click, however, in May for him, posting a strong 123 wRC+ and hitting 4 home runs, and he has gone ballistic in June, with a staggering 207 wRC+ and 11 home runs for the month.

Luis García Jr. has reached 15 HRs

Season Stats:
16 HR
55 RBI
.279 AVG | .307 OBP | .850 OPS

Pace: 32 HR / 109 RBI#Natitudepic.twitter.com/acEf6GJMpP

— PaceBall (@paceball__) June 29, 2026

So here we are in late June, and Luis Garcia Jr. has a 131 wRC+, the 33rd highest in all of baseball, 10th highest amongst first basemen, and 3rd highest on the Nats, behind only James Wood (143) and CJ Abrams (138), whom he has become within range of passing soon. How has Luis Garcia Jr. found another gear offensively in his 7th season in the major leagues? By not centering his game around hiding his weaknesses, but around exemplifying his strengths.

Luis Garcia Jr. has, and likely will always be, a chase hitter, running a below-average chase rate his entire career, often in the bottom 10th percentile among all big league hitters. Counter to what you may expect, however, some of the best seasons of Garcia Jr’s career have come when his chase rate is at its highest, with a 9th percentile chase rate during his breakout 2024 campaign and a 6th percentile chase rate this season.

Garcia Jr’s chase rate has risen 3% from 2025 to 2026, and his walk rate is a 4th percentile 4.1%, but what he is doing is swinging the bat harder, with his average bat speed rising 1 MPH, hitting the ball harder, with a 91st percentile average exit velocity of 92.4 MPH, and lifting the ball more than ever, with his average launch angle rising from 9.2 to 11.6. Rather than trying to plug one of the holes in his game, and hurting his skillset as a result, Garcia Jr. has made swinging hard and doing damage to the pull side his focus in 2026, and it is paying off in the form of a career year.

So what is the next step for Luis Garcia Jr.? Offensively, if there is a way for him to draw more walks while still providing the same power output he is currently, that would be ideal, but I wouldn’t dare mess with what he has going on right now. Defensively, Garcia Jr. has work to do at first base, as his -4 OAA ranks in the 13th percentile among all first basemen, and getting to even league average would help out both the Nats and Garcia Jr. himself tremendously.

With just a year and a half of service time remaining, Garcia Jr. may be a trade piece for Paul Toboni and the front office if they decide selling is best for the future this trade deadline. If we’re nearing the end of his tenure as a Nat, it has been a pleasure to see him develop and grow, from when he was a fresh-faced 20-year-old debuting in front of zero fans in 2020, to a slugging first baseman on the best Nationals club of his big league career. Whether he’s a Nat or not moving forward, he will be a player I look back on fondly when I look back on the 2020s as a decade for the Washington Nationals.

When you read about old baseball players, doesn’t it seem like they led more interesting lives than their current-day brethren? It seems so to me. Consider the life of Gus Zernial.

Zernial was born in Beaumont, Texas in 1923, one of ten children. He was a multi-sport star at Beaumont High and, after graduation, played one season with the Waycroft Bears, an unaffiliated team in the Class D Georgia-Florida League.

At the end of the season, Zernial joined the United States Navy, where he served three years as a radio technician.

The time in the Navy was good for Zernial. He went in at 6 ft. and 180 pounds and came out at 6’2″ and 220 pounds.

In 1946, he played for the Class C Burlington Bees and led the Carolina League in home runs (41) and slugging percentage. He also hit .333, drove in 111, and scored 114 times.

Cleveland selected him in that year’s Rule 5 draft and stashed him in AAA Baltimore. In late April 1947, they sold his rights to the Chicago White Sox. The Sox assigned him to their AAA affiliate, the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League.

Zernial was a star with the Stars, during which he picked up the nickname Ozark Ike. Ozark Ike was a popular comic strip that ran from the mid-1940s until 1958. Ozark Ike was the creation of Ray Gotto, who later in life designed the New York Mets logo.

While playing in Hollywood, Zernial was anointed with the title of being the next Joe DiMaggio. The handsome Zernial was chosen to pose with a young actress named Marilyn Monroe for a movie publicity shoot. Joe D later asked Zernial to introduce him to the blonde bombshell. The rest, as they say, is history. Once you’ve made commercials with peak Marilyn Monroe, what do you do for an encore?

Zernial made his major league debut on April 19th, 1949, against the Tigers. He hit his first major league home run a few days later off the St. Louis Browns’ Red Embree.

He established himself as one of the game’s best young power hitters during the 1950 and 1951 seasons with combined totals of 62 home runs and 222 RBI.

In April of 1951, the Sox engineered a three-team trade with Cleveland and the Philadelphia Athletics in which Philly received Dave Philley, Ray Murray, Sam Zoldak, and Zernial. The Sox received Minnie Miñoso in return.

Zernial played four seasons in Philadelphia, blossoming into one of the game’s most feared sluggers. During that four-year span, Zernial averaged 30 home runs and 100 RBI, while hitting .268. He picked up MVP votes in two seasons and made his only All-Star team in 1953.

Like most players, Zernial could get blisteringly hot. Over a four-game stretch in May of 1951, he scorched the Yankees and Browns, going 8-for-15 with seven home runs and 29 total bases. He had several huge games in his 11-year career, with the best coming on June 22nd, 1952, when he blistered Detroit pitching, going 5 for 6 with two home runs and 11 total bases, leading the Athletics to a 10-0 win.

Zernial moved west with the Athletics to Kansas City, where he continued to be a formidable power hitter. He played three seasons in KC, averaging 24 home runs and 66 RBI per season. Age was beginning to catch up to him, as well as nagging injuries. His best year in Kansas City would have been his first, 1955, when he banged 30 home runs and drove in 84.

In November of 1957, the Athletics put together a massive 13-player trade with the Detroit Tigers in which they sent Zernial, Billy Martin, Mickey McDermott, Tom Morgan, Lou Skizas, and Tim Thompson to Detroit. The Athletics got back seven players, the best being outfielder Bill Tuttle and catcher Frank House. In those days, the Athletics were always making massive off-season trades, desperately trying to remake their roster. Between 1955 and 1965, they made twelve separate trades of at least five players. Eight of those trades involved at least seven players.

Zernial played two more seasons in Detroit, but by this time he was already 35 and his once prodigious power was gone. He hit just 12 more home runs in the final 126 games of his career, the final one coming off Herb Score of the Indians on August 15th, 1959.

Zernial’s career numbers were solid: a career .265 batting average with 237 home runs and 776 RBI over an 11-year career. He led the American League in home runs in 1951 and led all of baseball in RBI that magical summer. He was always near the top of the league in outfield assists.

In retirement, Zernial did television commercials and was a sportscaster in Fresno. He did play-by-play for most of Fresno State’s sports teams for years and was instrumental in helping Fresno secure a minor league team.

He had a serious bout with cancer in 1992, being so close to death that he received last rites. He miraculously beat it and lived until January 20th, 2011, when he died of congestive heart failure at the age of 87.

What a life. Baseball prodigy. U.S. Navy veteran. All-Star baseball player. Worked with Marilyn Monroe. What more could a young man from Texas ask for?

After a rather underwhelming June in which it felt at times that the Rays were in free fall destined to repeat the 2025 season spiral, they rebounded and rattled off five consecutive wins. Now, 81 games down and eight sweeps later, they again sit atop the AL East with sole possession of the division lead for the first time since June 6th.

Junior Caminero has been leading the charge at the plate and Sunday was no exception. He got the party started in the first with a RBI-single and then launched a towering 463-foot bomb to the party deck in left-center field in the fifth inning to extend the Rays lead to 4-0. The blast was his seventh in six games.

The Rays added on in the second inning via the longball. Cedric Mullins hit his eighth of the year to right center. The solo shot gave the Rays a 2-0 lead. Then, Walls scored on a Yandy Diaz sac fly to give the Rays a 3-0 advantage.

Ben Williamson got in on the fun in the sixth with a solo shot of his own. His second homer of the year extended the lead to 5-0.

Rasmussen was again stellar, tossing six shutout innings and collecting his seventh win of the season. He punched out five, walked one, and allowed just three hits. His ERA now sits at 2.45.

Kimbrel, Cleavinger, and Martin wrapped things up on the mound for the Rays. Cleavinger allowed the only run of the day on a solo homer off the bat Ketel Marte. The score of 5-1 would hold as the Rays finished off the series sweep.

AL East sweeps appeared to be a popular weekend activity as the Red Sox completed a 4-game sweep of the Yankees, allowing the Rays to leapfrog the Bronx Bombers and retake first place in the East. The Rays will have Monday off before heading to Kansas City to face off against the Royals. Jax will get the start Tuesday as the team looks to keep the good times rolling.

Robbie Ray has been pitching in the Major Leagues since 2014. He’s appeared in 282 games, started 277 of those, and across all that time spent on the mound, his approach has always been straightforward. Throw the ball straight. Throw the ball hard.

We’re talking about the 4-seamer. The ol’ tried-and-true hardball.

Over his career Ray has rode the Pony Express to a pretty successful 10+ year Major League career. With some seasonal variety, his usage of the 4-seam fastball has hovered around 50%. When he earned his first All-Star nod in 2017, Ray threw the 4-seam 56% of the time. In 2025, his second All-Star honors and nearly a decade later, Ray threw it 52% of the time. When he won the AL Cy Young Award, the 4-seam usage peaked at 59% on the year. The lowest his 4-seam percentage has ever been across a whole season was 39% in 2022…until now. 

Ray’s 4-seam usage has officially dropped below 2022’s low to 38.7%. Tenths of a percentage point but still significant as it might be a signpost of what lies ahead. Sunday’s masterpiece against the Braves has a lot to do with this. Over 8 innings in a game in which he threw 95 pitches, Ray reached back and hurled his signature fastball just six times. 6.3% of his mix which is his lowest single-game usage of the 4-seam fastball over his entire 13 year career. And it worked! He got outs, just not in the way Ray, as a three-outcome pitcher, is typically used to getting outs. 24 outs were recorded by Ray, and just two of those 24 went down by way of the K. He didn’t throw a 4-seam fastball until the 6th inning — an inning he rarely sees considering the rear-back-and-huck, command-be-damned style he’s developed over the years. 

Let’s look at those years. Ray has completed 6 innings in 49% of his starts. He’s completed 8 innings in 5 (three of them with the Giants), and has now pitched at least 6 innings with 2 or fewer strikeouts just three times in his career. Everything about Sunday’s outing was an anomaly for Ray. He stuffed his 4-seamer in his back pocket and essentially forgot it there. In its stead, he relied on a trio of sinker (39%) – slider (23%) – change-up (26%). A Logan Webb type spread that got Logan Webb results: 4 hits, a walk and an unearned run over 8 innings and 95 pitches, with more groundouts than flyouts (10 – 9).

The reasoning behind the sinker shift is pretty straightforward. Ray had a rough May. He posted a 6.44 ERA over six starts and just 29.1 innings pitched with a string of four games in which he didn’t get through the 5th inning.

This rough patch coincided with a pretty rough patch for a headless rotation with Webb on the injured list. Ray didn’t fill the lead role when the team needed him to; rather, he kinda devolved like the rest of them. Starters couldn’t find their way deep into games which taxed an already ragtag and unreliable bullpen. It wasn’t pretty. Things needed to change.

The sure-fire way to pitch deep into a ballgame is to get quick outs. The quickest way to get quick outs is to induce contact. A strikeout requires a minimum of three pitches. An out by way of a ball in play, just one. As Logan Webb acolytes, this logic and philosophy is felt on a spiritual level. Ray is not Webb, and that has frustrated me, as I’m sure it has many of you. Ray’s whole approach to pitching is verticality. The 4-seamer is designed to ride up. He doesn’t rely on velocity (his average velo is about league average), it’s about perceived vertical movement. It’s supposed to invite swings and miss swings — but this can be a laborious way to retire a hitter. Borderline pitches at the top of the zone can be taken for balls, they can be fouled away. In this fastball acclimated league, ticking a piece off a straight pitch isn’t hard to do, and often, we’d see hitters drag Ray into these prolonged frustrating battles of 3-ball counts and countless foul tips and spoiled pitches. The longer an at-bat takes, the more it favors the hitter, and whole outings would be undermined by a couple of batters that matched Ray’s stubbornness. 

The sinker has a different look than the 4-seam. We know this. It’s heavier with more movement, an arm-side lilt with less rise than the 4-seamer. If a hitter takes a hack that would foul off a 4-seamer, or lift it dangerously into the air, that same swing would probably put a sinker in play but drive it into the ground. The sinker has just a 5% K-percentage, and its hard-hit percentage is much higher than Ray’s 4-seam (61% to 42%), but opponent’s average launch angle has been cut in half (24 degrees to 12). As scary as it is for someone like Ray who prefers whiffs and strikeouts, embracing contact can be positive. The sinker doesn’t have to be as fine, it doesn’t need to be painted as much as 4-seamer to be effective. It’s another way to get outs, to get them fast and keep Ray in the game — this was the thinking behind the sinker’s return. 

Ray’s sinker didn’t just come out of nowhere. It lingered around the periphery of Ray’s repertoire for his entire career. He used it as much as a quarter of the time in 2015 and 2016 before it dropped out of favor and went almost the way of the dodo in 2021. It had a resurgence in 2022, throwing it 20% of the time during his first year in Seattle, but as Ray struggled with coming back from Tommy John the following seasons, the pitch went dormant again. 

Of the 3,069 pitches Ray threw in 2025, a sinker accounted for two of them. According to Baseball Savant, he threw the sinker once over his first 9 starts of the 2026 season — that sinker was bunted for a single by Washington’s Nassim Nunez on April 19th. He didn’t throw another for a month, until May 18th when Ray’s sinker usage jumped to 13% and the 4-seam usage fell to 17% against Arizona. He got shelled for 9 earned runs. But that didn’t discourage him at all, because pitching isn’t solely about pitch usage. It’s about when you use a pitch, and how it’s paired with others. According to Fangraphs pitch value measurement, Ray’s sinker was actually the bright spot in that dismal outing against the D-Backs (1.08 Runs above average per 100 pitches compared to the 4-seam’s -19.05). While it hasn’t been perfect, the pitch’s run value has been positive as its usage has increased over Ray’s return to form in June. In his first start against Atlanta, in Atlanta, Ray used it 31% of the time on his way to allowing just 2 hits over 6.1 scoreless innings. His success in that start wasn’t based on the dominance of this new fastball type, but how the sinker complimented the 4-seam or set-up his change-up.

Maybe that’s the key here: the change-up. On Sunday, 10 of the 22 outs on balls in play were off Ray’s change-up, and it should’ve been 11 if not for Matt Chapman’s 8th inning error. Sinker and change are a classic and sophisticated pairing. The wine-and-cheese of a pitcher’s mix, and the recent sinker renaissance for Ray was probably facilitated by his ongoing success and comfort throwing the offspeed.  

For all the buzz Ray’s Tarik Skubal offspeed got in the offseason before 2025, it wasn’t particularly effective throughout the year. Spotty is a good descriptor. Ray used it 13% of the time, it accrued a -1 Run Value, or -0.2 RV/100.

Things are different now. So far this season, it’s statistically been his best pitch with a 2.6 RV/100 and accruing a Run Value of 7, putting it in the 99th percentile for offspeed offerings (as of Monday, 6/29). Ray throws the pitch exclusively to right-handers and they aren’t hitting it for average, nor are they slugging it for power. In 90 plate-appearances finished with the change-up this year, only three have resulted in an extra base hit. The last-one, a Corbin Carroll triple, dates back to that rough Arizona outing in mid-May.

A noticeable difference with the change-up is it’s been coming out of Ray’s hand a little harder, and because of that, it doesn’t fall away from righties as much as a change-up typically would. The offering is flatter than normal — like everything Ray throws. Mapping out its movement the pitch inhabits the same zone as the sinker, it just comes at the plate 6 beats slower on average. That’s a headache for a hitter, another thing to think about, another pitch-type and movement and speed to discern and deal with when facing Ray. The two offerings tunnel well off each other. They protect each other: the change-up providing back-up to the sinker, and vice-versa. Having them as known entities also helps to muddy the waters. Ray might never fully shake the hard fastball-slider reputation, but in 2026, he’s just not that guy anymore, which makes him harder to prep for, harder to sit back on and ambush, harder to frustrate and spoil, harder to chase off the mound.  

And just in time for the trade deadline!

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Tonight’s MLB player props slate is loaded with premium bats in strong matchups across the board, setting the stage for plenty of power upside.

The big question is whether elite sluggers like Yordan Alvarez or Pete Alonso can cash in and send one out of the yard for us tonight.

My best home run props for Monday, June 29 are banking on them to do just that.

Plus, I'll tell you why Brandon Lowe will jump the yard vs. the struggling Aaron Nola.

Best MLB home run props today

Home run pick: Yordan Alvarez (+215)

Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez enters Monday’s slate with arguably the best matchup of the day, drawing Minnesota Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews, against whom Alvarez has nearly 100% arsenal coverage.

The Minnesota right-hander has struggled mightily against left-handed hitters, allowing nearly a 70% elevation rate, a 40% hard-hit rate, and an 11.5% barrel rate over his last 60 left-handed batters faced. Those hitters have posted a .663 xSLG and a .476 xwOBA during that span.

Despite Alvarez’s .200 average over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, he is still generating a 43% hard-hit rate and a 14.3% barrel rate, while posting a .403 wOBA.

The price is not ideal, but given the overall matchup, it is justified.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SCH, MNNT

Home run pick: Pete Alonso (+279)

For those who read how much I loved Baltimore Orioles slugger Pete Alonso to go Over 1.5 total bases against Sean Burke, in my MLB player props for tonight, how could I pass up his home run prop? Especially when the Chicago White Sox right-hander has allowed over a 76% elevation rate to the last 60 right handed hitters he has faced.

To add to that, Alonso has been seeing the ball extremely well of late, posting a 20% barrel rate, .792 SLG, and .523 wOBA over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching.

This matchup has extra base hits written all over it. Hopefully one of them leaves the yard.

• Time: 6:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CHSN, MASN

Home run pick: Brandon Lowe (+286)

Are the trends our friend? I like to think so, and Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Brandon Lowe has some of the strongest elite rating trends on the slate.

According to Batters-Box, in 95 elite ratings, he has homered 29.47% of the time. On the road, that number climbs to 32.5% across 55 samples.

Lowe has also been generating plenty of loud contact lately, posting a 56.5% hard-hit rate and an 8.75% barrel rate over his last 30 plate appearances against right handed pitching.

Lowe draws Philadelphia Phillies veteran Aaron Nola, who has also been allowing plenty of hard contact. Left-handed hitters have been elevating the ball nearly 80% of the time, while he has allowed a .580 xSLG over his last 30 faced.

Will one of the most consistently elite-rated hitters come through here? Fingers crossed.

Bonus: Bryan Reynolds has been even louder in that same split, with a 76% hard-hit rate and an 11.8% barrel rate over his last 30 against righties. He is worth a small sprinkle in this spot as well.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSP, SNP

Today’s HR parlay

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Two division leaders square off in Cleveland tonight as the Rangers and Guardians meet. Now, they are by far the worst divisions in baseball, but that’s besides the point.

The Rangers are 42-42 with a -8 run differential, 15th in team wRC+ at 101, 17th in baserunning runs above average at -1.3, 15th in defense at -11, 11th in starting pitcher ERA at 4.09 (3.99 FIP), and 11th in bullpen ERA at 3.82 (4.23 FIP).

The Guardians are 44-40 with a -8 run differential, 26th in team wRC+ at 91, 14th in baserunning runs above average at +1.6, tenth in Defense at -4.7, fifth in starting pitcher ERA at 3.66 (4.09 FIP), and 14th in bullpen ERA at 3.94 (3.85 FIP).

On paper, these teams look very evenly matched. The Guardians are going to need to do better than the 1-0/2-1 run-scoring strategy to win this series.

MATCHUPS:
Game One, Monday, 7:10PM – Parker Messick, LHP 2.67 ERA (3.15 FIP) vs. Tyler Alexander, LHP 2.62 ERA (3.33 FIP)/Winston Santos, RHP (5.66 FIP in the minors this year).
Game Two, Tuesday, 6:40PM – Tanner Bibee, RHP 3.78 ERA (4.56 FIP) vs. Jacob deGrom, RHP 3.55 ERA (3.58 FIP)
Game Three, Wednesday, 1:10PM ET – Joey Cantillo, LHP 3.87 ERA (4.33 FIP) vs. MacKenzie Gore, LHP 4.05 ERA (3.33 FIP)

The Rangers are led by Justin Foscue 132 wRC+, Joc Pederson 124 wRC+, Josh Jung 123 wRC+, Nicky Lopez 115 wRC+, Jake Burger 114 wRC+, Brandon Nimmo 111 wRC+, and Ezequiel Duran 109 wRC+. The Guardians are led by Travis Bazzana 119 wRC+, Chase DeLauter 111 wRC+, Brayan Rocchio 107 wRC+ and Kyle Manzardo 101 wRC+. Small sample size, but Kahlil Watson has a 112 wRC+ this year so far.

This would be the ideal time for the bats to come alive for Cleveland. How do you see the series going? Let us know in the comments below

The Cubs went 6-1 on their road trip to New York and Milwaukee, so this weekly review winds up heavy on the “Three up” side.

Hopefully, that continues on the upcoming homestand against the Padres and Cardinals.

Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs on the road trip.

Three up

Dansby Swanson was a hitting machine in New York

Swanson hit .438/.412/1.188 (7-for-16) in the four-game series against the Mets. (The OBP is lower than the BA because he had a sacrifice fly and no walks.)

Among the seven hits were three home runs, including a grand slam, and he had 15 RBI in the series, which is a record for any team in a four-game set vs. the Mets – and he did it all in the first three games!

That accomplished this:

Today the @Cubs' Dansby Swanson:

hit a grand slam
hit a 3-run HR
hit a triple
stole a base
drove in 10+ runs

Since RBI became official in 1920, no other MLB player has accomplished more than 3 of those 5 feats on the same day. pic.twitter.com/1LqUAJX85S

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 25, 2026

Here’s the grand slam, hit in the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader [VIDEO].

Bryse Wilson stepped up

Here’s a guy who had an absolutely awful year for a 102-loss team last year (the White Sox). The Phillies used him in one game this year and put him on waivers. The Cubs picked him up and used him as the “bulk guy” Sunday basically because they didn’t have anyone else.

He came through with 4.1 shutout innings. Which matched a Hall of Famer’s performance for the Cubs:

From @sportradar: Bryse Wilson and Fergie Jenkins are the only #Cubs in the modern era to have 4+ IP in relief with 0 runs allowed and 0 walks in their team debut. @WatchMarquee

— Chris Antonacci (@chrisantonacci) June 28, 2026

Amazing. Well done, Bryse. Hopefully he can continue to contribute to the Cubs this year.

David Peterson’s Cubs debut was a success

… although his first Cubs pitch wasn’t. It was hit for a home run by Jackson Chourio.

After that, though, Peterson was lock-down. 5.2 innings, only four other hits and one more run, no walks. He’ll definitely benefit from the Cubs infield defense. I’d expect him to go Friday or Saturday against the Cardinals.

Three down

Dansby Swanson was an out machine in Milwaukee

It looked like Swanson was finally coming out of his slump with the big series in New York.

Then he went 0-for-12 with four strikeouts against the Brewers. Granted, he was facing much better pitching in Milwaukee. Still, I hope he can recover his NY form at Wrigley this week.

This is the first time anyone has made both “Three up” and “Three down” in the time I’ve been doing this series.

Alex Bregman: Still cold as ice

While his teammates were having an excellent trip, Bregman batted .091/.250/.136 (2-for-22) in the seven games, with six strikeouts. This month he’s hitting .181/.324/.253 (15-for-83) with four extra-base hits (three doubles and a home run) and 15 strikeouts. The walks at least make the OBP somewhat useful, and he’s still playing excellent defense.

One of his doubles drove in an important run on Thursday [VIDEO].

Ethan Roberts needs a reset

Roberts was very good for most of this season, but on the trip: two innings, four hits, five runs (four earned), three walks, no strikeouts. He nearly blew Sunday’s game before Jordan Wicks (!) locked it down.

Roberts might benefit from a trip to Iowa. For now, at least.

Tacoma Rainiers

Serving as a fantastic precursor to the Fourth of July this upcoming weekend, there were plenty of fireworks in an otherwise uninspiring 4-2 series loss for the Rainiers. Featuring one of the more animated brawls we’ve seen in recent years and plenty of homers, Tacoma, despite their losing effort, provided the fans in Salt Lake quite a show.

Here’s a video of the fight from Friday night. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth a watch.

Suspensions coming. pic.twitter.com/XL65vB5f4B

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) June 27, 2026

Patrick Wisdom put his money where his mouth was on Friday night and served up Salt Lake pitching with a three-homer game on Saturday afternoon, launching absolute moonshots deep over the outfield fence and taking his sweet time to trot around the bases. Wisdom has utterly destroyed Triple-A pitching this season, and though his time in the majors is far more checkered, he remains a valuable piece to have available for an otherwise lefty-heavy lineup. Hopefully the M’s aren’t forced into a position where they need to call up him up on short notice, but should they need a righthanded masher, he’ll be waiting in the wings.

Arkansas Travelers

Arkansas started the second half off strong with a 5-1 series win over a poor San Antonio squad, crushing their inferior opponent with clean work from their rotation and tons of offensive production up and down the lineup. Comfortably the most prospect-heavy squad in this system, should the M’s choose to keep this roster in tact for the bulk of the second half, it seems likely they’ll be in the thick of contention for a playoff spot.

Michael Arroyo has really rounded into form the past month. After a slower start to the season with good-not-great results offensively, Arroyo has kicked it up a notch in the month of June and looks much like his old self once again. With just one game left to play in the month of June, Arroyo struck out just nine times on the month and is hitting .321, carrying a strong OPS of .952. Despite his suppressed number earlier this season, there wasn’t a whole lot under the hood that was cause for concern with Arroyo, and given his superior polish offensively, to see Arroyo producing at his usual level is far closer to a formality than a surprise. Look for this hot hitting to continue; Arroyo, still just 21 years old, is the most advanced hitting prospect in the entire system and has a shot to crack the big leagues late this season.

💪Michael Arroyo con su octavo cuadrangular en Doble A.

El prospecto de @mariners sigue encendido en el mes de junio con 23 hits, 7 extra bases, 12 impulsadas para un promedio de .324 y OPS de .785.pic.twitter.com/Jdqw0SkM1Q

— Peloteros de Colombia ⚾️🇨🇴 (@PeloterosCol) June 27, 2026

With talks of a potential “super ‘pen” officially entering the zeitgeist, both Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan made compelling arguments for a big league audition this past weekend. Anderson, who worked Friday’s game, was again phenomenal, striking out nine in five innings of two run ball. His scoreless streak of over 28 innings did come to an end, but he moved into second place on the minor league strikeout rankings (one behind Seth Hernandez) and is currently leading minor league baseball in K-BB percentage. Sloan, who allowed only one run, also struck out nine batters and has now posted back-to-back months with an ERA in the mid three’s. He’s also got premium command of the zone, walking just two batters all month. Frankly, there isn’t a tandem of arms in minor league baseball that can rival these two, and should they get a chance at the big leagues this season, they’ll be more than ready to put their best foot forward and help get this team to the postseason.

Everett AquaSox

The Frogs split their weekly series yet again, drawing 3-3 against the always tough Eugene squad on the road. With promotions expected at some point in the next few weeks (post-draft feels like the absolute longest they’ll wait), there’s a few potential reinforcements that could really help this team in the second half. Hopefully they’re able to hang on until that point and make a run in the second half.

It’s been a major bounce back season for Josh Caron in 2026. After a disappointing first year in 2025, Caron repeated in Everett and has looked much more comfortable at the plate, getting to his tremendous power regularly and improving his OBP skills. He’s even tacked on 15 stolen bases on the year, a rather surprising total for a backstop that’s not necessarily known for his footspeed. Caron whiffs a lot (31% K%) and will need to continue producing major power numbers in order to make the profile tenable, but given his premium defensive positioning, the bat doesn’t have to be quite as good as it otherwise would elsewhere on the diamond. A trial run at Arkansas seems like a worthwhile endeavor for the 22 year old that’s spent the last year and a half in the PNW with Everett.

Picking up where they left off last night as Josh Caron crushes a hanging breaking ball for a 2-run HR. Game tied at 7. pic.twitter.com/hgylia5u5m

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) June 27, 2026

In a similar vein as Caron, outfielder Carlos Jimenez has put together a really nice year after a solid, yet unspectacular 2025 season. Featuring a smooth lefty swing, Jimenez raised his OPS up to .884 this week, ultimately capping a monstrous month of June that saw him fueling a considerable part of this team’s offensive output. Logging an OPS of 1.026 on the month, Jimenez is both platoon and ballpark neutral in his splits (Everett’s stadium is very hitter friendly, but he actually hits better on the road), a sign that bodes incredibly well for his future chances as he ascends up the ladder. He doesn’t possess an overwhelming amount of pop in his bat, but as a steady producer for a few years now, Jimenez should get a shot to prove himself against Double-A competition.

Inland Empire 66ers

The 66ers split the series against San Jose this week, losing the potential series clincher on Sunday in extras. Inland Empire should be getting a handful of new players for the second half (Nick Becker would likely headline that group) and could ultimately turn things around with that injection of talent, but until that happens, they’ll have to find a way to string some wins together.

Now unfortunately on injury watch, star lefthander Mason Peters has now been skipped over in the rotation two weeks in a row. Peters had not missed a start prior to this and has already surpassed his inning total from last season at DBU, but it seems unlikely the M’s would opt to simply sit him for a two week period if nothing was wrong with him physically. Hopefully this is just a scheduled rest period (he’s not been put on the IL) and not something that sidelines him long term.

Scott Rouse was very good today. Final line: 4IP, 4H, 1R, 3BB, 6K, 74 pitches, 51 strikes. ERA at 0.27 in 33 innings. pic.twitter.com/r9iukn0UZp

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) June 28, 2026

Righthander Scott Rouse, who joined the team in mid-May, surrendered his first run this past week, breaking what was a scoreless streak of 30 innings to start his professional career. The low-slot righty has a low 90’s fastball with good sink and run as well as an interesting changeup, and he’s used that arsenal to retire hitters at an unreal clip. He’s a bit older for the level (currently 24) and should probably be testing out the waters in High-A, but he’s had an undeniably fantastic start to his time in the Mariners organization.

ACL Mariners

Stud shortstop Nick Becker continues to rake in the ACL and is looking more and more like a game-changing talent on the dirt. Showing off his blazing speed on the basepaths with regularity, the 6’4 Becker is getting to more power in game action and has raised his season OPS to .962. The key for Becker, as is for most prep draftees, is the hit tool; if he’s able to make enough contact as he ascends up the minor league ranks, there’s not a lot he can’t do on the diamond. Still an unfinished product, Becker’s development should be one of the more interesting progressions to monitor as the second half of the season continues.

DSL Mariners

Gregory Pio continues to look like the best talent on this team. Still holding his season OPS north of 1.000, Pio has been manning centerfield and continues to dominate opposing pitchers at the plate. With as many walks as strikeouts, the young Pio already has 10 stolen bases on the year and is batting a cool .342 through his first 19 games. Reading into such a small sample size (particularly at the DSL level) is often a futile exercise, but Pio, who comes with considerable prospect pedigree, has done little to suggest he’s not the real deal. Look for him to ascend up prospect rankings come midseason.

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

TUESDAY

Kodai Senga completed a five-game span in which he allowed 27 earned runs. He’s just the ninth pitcher in Mets history to allow 27+ runs in a five-game span, joining: Jack Fisher, Bobby Jones, Al Leiter, Pedro Astacio, Bobby Parnell, Johan Santana, Jason Vargas, and David Peterson.

WEDNESDAY (GAME ONE)

Nolan McLean generated a career-high 19 whiffs across his six innings of work. That’s the most whiffs for a Mets right-hander since Kodai Senga racked up 22 in Colorado on June 6, 2025. McLean’s 12 whiffs via fastball were the most for a Mets right-hander since Tylor Megill’s 12 on April 9, 2025 against the Marlins.

WEDNESDAY (GAME TWO)

The Mets allowed nine runs in three consecutive games for just the second time since 2007 (when they had two such streaks in September).

The Mets lost despite hitting four home runs for the seventh time since 2023. No other team in MLB has that many such losses in that span.

The Mets committed six errors, tied for second-most in a game in Mets history. It’s the most errors committed by the Mets since September 1, 2014 in Miami, and the most errors committed by any MLB team since — in a karmic twist — the Cubs, on April 1, 2019 in Atlanta. Since 2000, the Mets have now committed six errors in a game on five separate occasions; no other team has done so more than twice.

Francisco Alvarez became the first Met to homer in both games of a doubleheader since Francisco Lindor hit three on September 27, 2023 against the Marlins at Citi Field.

Alvarez has hit eight home runs this season. Four of those eight have been home runs hit within two batters of another Mets player’s homer, including both which he hit in Wednesday’s doubleheader (one batter after Young’s homer in Game 1, two batters before Ewing’s homer in Game 2).

The Mets allowed ten runs in both games of a doubleheader for the sixth time in franchise history, and the first since July 23, 1996 at Coors Field.

Nico Hoerner became the fourth Cubs player to record three doubles against the Mets in the same game, joining: Billy Williams (June 5, 1968), Scot Thompson (October 1, 1978), and Mark Grace (June 9, 1993). The Phillies are the only other franchise to have four players accomplish that feat against the Mets.

The Mets allowed 50 runs in a five-game span for just the third time in franchise history. The first time was May 25-30, 1962, amid the team’s 17-game losing streak. The second time was September 9-15, 2017, when the Mets technically did it twice across six games.

THURSDAY

The 2026 Cubs became the first team to sweep the Mets in a four-game set at Citi Field since…the 2018 Cubs. Since 2015, the Mets have now been swept by the Cubs in nine of twenty-two series against them.

FRIDAY

The Mets’ 10-game winning streak against the Phillies at Citi Field (incl. postseason), dating back to September 21, 2024,came to an end.

By notching his fifth strikeout on Friday night, Zack Wheeler tied Noah Syndergaard for third place on the ballpark’s all-time leaderboard with 420 strikeouts at Citi Field. Jon Niese is in second place with 430, while Jacob deGrom is in first place with 901.

A.J. Ewing became just the second baserunner to record two caught stealings in a game at Citi Field, joining Jonathan Villar (May 25, 2021) on that short list.

SATURDAY

Bryce Harper hit his 15th career home run at Citi Field, breaking a tie with Chase Utley and Anthony Rendon for second place on the ballpark’s all-time leaderboard as a visiting player. Now the only player above Harper on that list is Giancarlo Stanton, who has a whopping 24 home runs against the Mets at Citi Field.

Christian Scott generated 17 whiffs, his most since racking up 18 in his MLB debut on May 4, 2024 in Tampa.

With a clean eighth inning, Luke Weaver recorded his 21st consecutive scoreless outing, tied for the sixth-longest streak by a pitcher in franchise history.

Juan Soto, Bo Bichette, and Francisco Lindor all drove in at least one run for the first time this season. The bottom of the sixth also marked the second inning this season in which each member of the trio got a hit, with the first coming in the top of the first in San Francisco on April 3.

Soto and Lindor each hit a triple, marking the first time two different Mets hit a triple in the same game since Mark Vientos and Jeff McNeil did it in Kansas City on July 13, 2025.

SUNDAY

Juan Soto reached base four times for the 100th time in his career.

Soto became just the fifth player to reach that milestone before turning 28, joining: Mickey Mantle (121), Jimmie Foxx (112), Ted Williams (102), and Mike Trout (100).

Since Soto’s rookie season in 2018, his 100 games with four times on base lead baseball, with Aaron Judge (84) and Freddie Freeman (83) being the only other players with more than 75 such games.

Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing became the first pair of Mets outfielders age 23 or younger to hit multiple RBIs in the same game since Lenny Dykstra and Darryl Strawberry on July 20, 1985 against the Braves at Shea Stadium.

Ewing delivered the first pinch-hit homer by a Mets rookie since Travis Blankenhorn’s first big league home run on July 18, 2021 in Pittsburgh. (source: SNY broadcast)

Kyle Schwarber hit his 25th career home run against the Mets in just his 90th game against them. Schwarber is one of 40 players with 25+ homers against the Mets, and one of only two from that group currently with fewer than 100 games played against them (along with Lee May).

Schwarber recorded three batted balls with an exit velocity of 106 mph or higher in a single game for the third time in his career against the Mets. Schwarber is the only player with three such games against the Mets in the Statcast era (since 2015), with Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge being the only other players to have two.

Miscellaneous Mets stat of the week:

Only two players have hit three home runs in a game against the Mets, yet been on the losing end of the contest. Both players were Cubs:

Dave Kingman, in a 6-4 Mets win at Shea Stadium on July 28, 1979

Karl Rhodes, in a 12-8 Mets win at Wrigley Field on April 4, 1994 (This game was Opening Day, making Rhodes the first player in Major League history to homer in his first three at-bats of a season, according to the broadcast)