Category: Baseball

The Giants have played 81 games, marking the official halfway point of their 2026 schedule. Before I highlight some of the truly lowlights of this what’s-shaping-up-to-be historically awful season, let’s first contextualize their 33-48 record and then do that fun thing where we double all the current stats to “project” end of season results.

To start, this is a top 10 worst first half of a season in the history of the Giants. Not just the San Francisco era, but New York, too.

That’s very impressive. Buster Posey is on his way to the Hall of Fame and is one of the most famous Giants in living memory, and yet he will go down as having grounded the franchise into one of the most destructive shoals ever encountered. So, let’s give Buster credit for doing something that most would’ve assumed only a total amateur with zero experience could’ve done. That he’s done it a whole year into the job, too, shouldn’t be dismissed. Whatever he learned last year led him to the decisions that have begat a total disaster this year.

That the Giants are still off the pace of the franchise’s sole 100-loss team doesn’t appear to be a fluke of luck (double their wins and they might go 66-96!). This is (probably) where senior advisor Bobby Evans comes in. He was running the team during their 98-loss season, so we can be sure he’s providing the input that keeps the team clear of triple digit losses. Hold on to him, Buster!

But it’s not all mockingly great news. The Giants do, as anticipated, have one of their best lineups in the 21st century.

Kinda.

Sorta.

The team’s 102 wRC+ through the first half of the season (.255/.309/.418) is ranked 8th just looking at Giants offenses since 2000. This is a fun list, too:

I don’t know what it means that the 8th worst record aligns with the 8th-best offense of the century, so I have to assume it’s just a coincidence. Remarkably, it looks as though that Buster has managed to recreate the lineup of the Giants team that is of a kind with at least two teams from his era:

2026: .255/.309/.418, 6.5 BB%, 20.7 K%, 321 runs scored (642 “projected”)

2009: .257/.309/.389, 6.5 BB%, 19.1 K%, 657 runs scored
2014: .255/.311/.388, 7.0 BB%, 20.5 K%, 665 runs scored

There are obviously some notable differences between these teams (way better defense in 2009 & 2014) and the hitting and pitching environments have changed quite a lot (for example, the 2014 team’s 3.50 ERA was 10th-best but with all the advanced metrics just 9.4 fWAR in value — 26th!) but it seems pretty clear that the objective is to literally take the franchise back to the championship era. Most nostalgia lovers can be criticized for falling in love with a misremembered past, but credit to Buster Posey for sticking to actual facts.

If you just double some of the counting stats, though, these Giants, while projected to have one of the higher team home run totals of the century (172 — 11th out of 27). Their projected runs scored (642) would be 21st, though. But 1,422 hits? Humm baby, that’d be good enough for 12th! Then again, they’re also on pace for 396 walks (25th) and just 52 stolen bases (24th). Hmm, but their on-pace-for 316 doubles? That’d be the most by a Giants team this century.

Actually, that’d be the most doubles by a Giants team in the history of the franchise. I’m serious! I can’t believe it, either. The 314 doubles hit by the 2004 team is currently #1 in the entire history of the Giants. The 2026 Giants have already hit 158, so they’re on pace to set a new mark. And if that feels a little off to you, that’s because the Giants used to hit way more triples back in the 1800s and early 1900s. That franchise leaderboard is replete with teams from that pre-war era. The 1911 team leads the franchise with 103 triples (just 41 home runs). The 1893 team is second (101 triples — 61 home runs).

If we round up Jung Hoo Lee’s 297 plate appearances a bit, then the team is also on pace to have six hitters with at least 600 plate appearances. That’s NEVER happened in the entire history of the Giants franchise. And even if Luis Arraez were to be traded, let’s say, five times is still rare (2000, 1973, 1962, 1954, 1951, 1935 — and multiple times it has happened four times). Some other positives and curios.

Casey Schmitt

He’s on pace for 30 doubles and 32 home runs in 618 plate appearances. Just 167 Giants have hit that mark in the history of the franchise and, yeah, there’s a lot of Bonds (Bobby & Barry), Willie Mays, Will Clark, etc. on there, but if you limit it to the 21st century (the Oracle Park era), just 45 Giants make the cut.

Schmitt is on pace to match 2003 Marquis Grissom in plate appearances, but with those “projected” power numbers, he ascends to some rarified air (for the Giants, anyway). He’d eclipse Willy Adames’s 30 home run mark from last season to rank 8th on the season home run total list in the Oracle Park era.

He has 85 hits through 81 games and if that pace holds (no reason to believe it will — but just in case…) a 170-hit season would tie Buster Posey’s 2014 total. Now, here’s the kicker. Buster Posey was 27 in 2014. Schmitt would be just the fourth Giant under 30 to record that many hits. Just for fun:

5. Casey Schmitt (27), 2026 — 170 (projected)
4. Buster Posey (27), 2014 — 170
3. Buster Posey (28), 2015 — 177
2. Buster Posey (25), 2012 — 178
1. Pablo Sandoval (22), 2009 — 189

Matt Duffy just missed the cut with 169 hits in 2015 at the age of 24, but that’s it. There have been 95 seasons of Giants Baseball where a player under 30 had at least 170 hits and most of them occurred before 1930. But even since 1930, the Giants’ offensive strengths coming from young players is confined to the pre-Will Clark era, with just 11 players under 30 to record at least that many hits since 1989.

So, if it happens, it will be very cool, and historically significant. But no matter the final result, 2026 being Schmitt’s breakout season is already the story.

Jung Hoo Lee

He’s on pace for 182 hits which would put him into the same company as the group I mentioned for Casey Schmitt. The story of his 2026 is also that it’s his breakout season. If his 38-doubles pace holds, he’d match 1993 Barry Bonds, 1989 Willy Clark, 1958 Orlando Cepeda, and 1941 Johnny Rucker

He’s also on pace for just 54 strikeouts, which only 90 Giants who were under 30 with 600 plate appearances have done in franchise history. Drop the age filter and we’re still talking just 144 Giants, none of whom played in the 1980s and 1990s. In the Oracle Park era, it’s happened just four times:

4. Buster Posey, 2015 — 52 K
3. Omar Vizquel, 2006 — 51 K
2. Barry Bonds, 2002 — 47 K
1. Barry Bonds, 2004 — 41 K

I deem this absurd! And hope it happens.

Luis Arraez

It’s a shame he’s likely to be traded, because he’s on pace to have a lot of hits in his age-29 season which puts him in the same group I placed JHL and Schmitt in, but with just 13 strikeouts through the first half, his “on pace for” total of 26 would put him on a list of Giants that hasn’t welcomed anyone new in over 70 years: have fewer than 30 strikeouts in a season. The last time was 1955 when Don Mueller struck out just 12 times in 640 plate appearances. Again, a shame he won’t end the season on the Giants.

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Let’s talk pitching

• Their “on pace for” mark of 700 earned runs allowed would land the 2026 team into the top 10 most runs allowed in franchise history, pushing the 1995 squad (699 runs) down one notch. They’d slot in just behind 2008 (701). If they wind up with a team ERA of 4.40 ERA (where it stands now), that’d be 12th-worst in franchise history, ahead of teams like 1997, 1984, 2018, 2008, and 2005, but behind 1947, 2017, 1970, 1895, 1896, 1930, 2006, 2020, 1999, 1996, and 1995.
• The Giants are on pace for 870 innings from their starting rotation. Now, not to be misleading, they got just 837 innings from the starting staff last season.
• They’re on pace for just 30 saves, which hasn’t happened since 1992.
• On pace for 1,274 strikeouts, though, which would be the 11th-best in franchise history.
• On the other hand, 616 walks, which would be the 8th-worst in franchise history. They walked 652 in 2007 and 623 in 2000, so it would be the 3rd-worst result of the Oracle Park era.

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This was a simple doubling exercise just to see if there was much fun in taking the team as is and imagining the future. If you want to be more scientific, you can always go to players’ FanGraphs pages and see the rest of the season projections to get perhaps a more realistic look at where they’ll land. For example, just doubling Logan Webb’s numbers gives him 26 starts, 166.2 IP, and a 3.36 ERA with a 3.8 fWAR, but if you look at, say, ZiPS, he’s projected to make 15 more starts (28), wind up with 178.1 IP, a 3.14 ERA, and 4.3 fWAR. Half a win better, and something proved by the eye test as he’s looked simply dominant and like his old self since coming off the IL.

So, the Giants could do better overall the rest of the way. They’ve been slightly better here in June, after all… then again, with the trade deadline looming and the dog days of summer on the horizon, is it reasonable to expect improvement on what has been a bad team for three months? Eh, why not? If you’ve read this far, it means you’re a fan who never stops hoping.

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

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (35-43) lost 8-1 (BOX SCORE)

McPherson started for Sugar Land and allowed 2 runs in the first inning only retiring two batters before being pulled. The offense got on the board in the third inning on a Brooks sac fly. The Sugar Land pen struggled allowing another 6 runs as El Paso extended their lead. The offense had their troubles too as they were unable to score again and fell 8-1.

Note: Biggio has a .859 OPS this season.

• Cavan Biggio, 1B: 1-for-3, 2 BB
• Trenton Brooks, LF: 0-for-3, RBI
• Tommy Sacco, SS: 2-for-3, 2B
• Riley Unroe, 2B: 1-for-4, R

• Brandon McPherson, RHP: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
• Trey McLoughlin, RHP: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• Michael Knorr, RHP: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Sam Carlson, RHP: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Tom Cosgrove, LHP: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• Roddery Munoz, RHP: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• J.P. France, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Jose Fleury, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

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AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (33-40) lost 3-0 (BOX SCORE)

Hicks started for the Hooks and went 4.1 innings allowing 2 runs with 3 strikeouts. The bullpen allowed one run but the Hooks’ offense had a rough night collecting just 2 hits as they were shutout in the 3-0 loss.

Note: Encarnacion has 33 stolen bases this season.

• Max Holy, SS: 1-for-3
• Yamal Encarnacion, 2B: 1-for-3, SB

• James Hicks, RHP: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• Railin Perez, RHP: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Jack Dashwood, LHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
• Ramsey David, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Jose Guedez, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

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A+: Asheville Tourists (20-52) won 7-4 (BOX SCORE)

Smith started for Asheville and was solid allowing 2 runs over 4.2 innings while striking out 6 batters. Asheville got on the board in the 5th inning on a Daudet RBI single. The Drive took a 4-1 lead in the 6th but Asheville got one run back in the 8th on a Powell solo home run. In the 9th, Asheville got a run on a bases loaded hit by pitch to Garcia and with 2 outs and the bases loaded, Thomas connected on a 3 run double to give Asheville the lead. Powell added an RBI single to extend the lead. Frias was solid in relief tossing 3 scoreless innings as he closed out the 7-4 win.

Note: Powell is hitting .309 this season.

• Justin Thomas, CF: 2-for-5, R, 2B, 3 RBI
• Caden Powell, RF: 3-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
• Marcus Brown, SS: 1-for-4, R
• Alejandro Nunez, 2B: 2-for-4, R, SB
• Cesar Hernandez, LF: 1-for-3, R, 2B, SB
• Zach Daudet, 3B: 1-for-3, R, RBI, BB
• John Garcia, C: 0-for-3, R, RBI

• Parker Smith, RHP: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
• Garrett Apker, RHP: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Francisco Frias, RHP: 3.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (WIN)

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A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (37-35) won 2-1 (BOX SCORE)

The Woodpeckers got on the board in the first inning thanks to a Flores 2 run home run, his 11th home run of the season and second game in a row with a home run. Perez started for the Woodpeckers and pitched well allowing 1 run over 5 innings while striking out 7. The game went into a rain delay before the start of the 6th and was ultimately called, ending in a Perez complete game and Woodpeckers 2-1 win.

Note: Perez ha 10 BB/77 K in 67.2 innings this season.

• Xavier Neyens, SS: 0-for-1, 2 BB
• Arturo Flores, 1B: 2-for-2, R, HR, 2 RBI
• Kenni Gomez, RF: 1-for-2

• Javier Perez, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (WIN)

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Today’s minor league starters:

SL: TBD – 7:05 CT

CC: Trey Dombroski – 7:00 CT

AV: Nolan DeVos – 5:45 CT

FV: TBD – 6:05 CT

Earlier today, the Mets re-instated Christian Scott from the 15-day injured list to make the start against the Phillies later this afternoon. In a corresponding move, the club options Zach Thornton to Triple-A.

Scott made his last start exactly 15 days ago, when he allowed four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings against the Cardinals at Citi Field. He surrendered three homers in the outing and did not factor in the decision, with the Mets eventually winning the contest to avoid a sweep. Scott, who missed all of 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in September 2024, returned earlier this year and has been one of the team’s best pitchers. He currently owns a 3.10 ERA and a 3.84 FIP, with 47 strikeouts across 40 2/3 innings.

Thornton pitched last night for the Mets and had significantly more success than he did in his major league debut. After allowing three consecutive hits and one run to begin the game, he buckled down and limited Philadelphia to just the one run and five hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked just one batter, but did not factor in the decision. With the team needing starting pitching following Kodai Senga’s demotion and the David Peterson trade, it’s very likely we will see more of Thornton in the coming months.

Jorge Polanco appears ready to take the next step in his road back to the Mets.

The infielder will jump into Syracuse's lineup on Saturday as he begins a rehab assignment. 

It's been a long journey to recovery for Polanco, as he's faced many stops and starts along the way. 

The veteran hasn't appeared in a big-league game since April 14. 

He did get into six rehab games previously, but ended up having to shut things down and returned to New York after experiencing left ankle soreness. 

Polanco was able to resume baseball activities, but took things slow to avoid another setback. 

Now it appears he's ready to take that leap into game action as he progresses closer towards getting back into the middle of what continues to be an up-and-down Mets offense. 

Texas Rangers @ Toronto Blue Jays

Saturday, June 27, 2026, 2:07 PM CDT (105.3 The Fan / Rangers Sports Network)

Rogers Centre

RHP Cal Quantrill vs. RHP Dylan Cease

Go Rangers!

It has been a long time coming, but Dylan Crews is finally heating up. He has a .986 OPS in his last seven games and a .795 mark in his last 15. Plenty of people have talked at length about how Crews’ process should be leading to better results, and now those results are finally coming.

Even with the Nats offense ice cold and looking demoralized last night, Crews was at least trying to make things happen. He only went 1 for 4, but he got a really nice double down the line. On a night where most of the team seemed dead, Crews was still hustling and flying around as always.

Dylan Crews smacks a double

He’s been fun to watch folks pic.twitter.com/Zk4SeVIK2h

— Kev (@klwoodjr) June 27, 2026

That hustle is part of what really endears Crews to the fanbase, besides the yearning for their massively hyped top prospect to turn it around. When he is on the field, Crews really looks like he wants it, which is nice to see. 

Despite that desire for success, there has not been a ton of it in Crews’ big league career so far. Even after this hot streak, Crews is hitting just .230 with a .654 OPS. This June things have looked a lot better, but his OPS for the month is still only .694. Some of this is bad luck, but as we will get into, there is still one massive flaw that Crews needs to fix.

Starting with the bad luck though, Crews’ xwOBA is 40 points higher than his wOBA. However, he has finally caught some lucky breaks this past week. He had a 3 hit day against the Phillies where at least two of those hits did not leave the infield. It was a lucky 3 hit day, but he has most certainly earned that luck. 

Crews has flaws as a hitter, but he is not a sub .600 OPS guy. With how hard he hits the ball, combined with not striking out too much this year, that was never going to last. On pure ability, I would say Crews is a low .700’s caliber OPS guy. 

One thing that has been fun lately is to see him lean into some tape measure homers. When I saw Crews in person, I was surprised with how small he is. Whether it was how hard he hit the ball, or his aura, something about Crews made me think he is bigger than he is. He is listed at 5’11 203, but he looks a bit leaner than that. However, he has crazy power and bat speed for his size. He hit monster home runs in Tampa and Arizona that were 440 foot shots.

dylan. crews. 442 ft. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JFxZzF3rvY

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 20, 2026

The idea of a Dylan Crews that can be a consistent hitter is such a cool concept. That would be such a fun and exciting player because of everything else he does. Crews has 4 outs above average in the field this year and grades out as a positive base runner. He also is such a spark plus with his energy.

My favorite Dylan Crews play of the season was not a big home run or a diving catch. Rather, it was his mad dash on the bases against the Mariners. Jose Tena was at the plate, and Crews stole second. However, Tena roped a liner up the middle for a base hit. The vast majority of players would pull up at third base there, but Crews sprinted home, sliding in safely thanks to a swim move.

DYLAN CREWS WENT FIRST TO HOME AND HIT THEM WITH THE SWIM MOVE 😱🏊

The offense looks ALIVE again and Crews is starting to heat up. Nats lead 8-3! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OG2qcI32KA

— natsfanatics (@natsfanatics_) June 13, 2026

That play is what Dylan Crews is all about. Those kinds of bursts are why he is so easy to love despite not having great results at the plate. If Crews can get on base more, he can make those sorts of plays with greater regularity.

However, getting on base has been a challenge for him, especially via the walk. In 33 games, Crews just has two walks all season. That is honestly pretty impressively bad. He is walking just 1.5% of the time. For context, the free swinging Luis Garcia Jr. walks nearly three times as often at 4.2%. 

For Crews to become a productive offensive player, he needs to walk more. There are a couple things Crews has to do to accomplish that goal. The first one is simple, he needs to chase less. Dylan Crews is chasing pitches at a 36.8% clip, easily a career high. Last year he chased at a 29.5% clip and in 2024, that number was 26.5%. He has shown he can be more selective, but right now that is not happening.

At LSU, Crews’ approach was seen as one of his strengths. However, that has not translated to pro ball, and he is unlikely to ever be a big walk guy. Getting that chase rate back under 30% would go a long way for him though. In his first two seasons, his walk rate was around 8%, so this seems like a bit of an outlier.

I actually think this recent hot streak could help him get more walks moving forward. This season, pitchers have not been scared of Crews at all. They always seem to attack the zone early in counts against him. On the other hand, James Wood gets pitched around a lot, which leads to walks. 

With Crews swinging the bat well and punishing mistakes, he could start to be pitched differently. Hopefully that will lead to more walks because when Crews is on base, he is a major threat.

Despite the hot streak, I am still in wait and see mode on Crews. I figured he would come to life at some point because all the underlying numbers suggested he was not as bad as his numbers. The question now is whether this hot streak will continue and see his OPS climb into the .700’s or if he will plateau again. The answer to this will go a long way in determining his future with the club.

The Rangers are moving another of their young bottom-six pieces. 

Adam Edstrom has been dealt to the Nashville Predators for Massimo Rizzo and the No. 148 pick. 

Edstrom was expected to be a regular piece on New York's fourth line last season, but he battled injuries and never quite found his groove upon returning, losing his spot in the lineup. 

The towering center was a healthy scratch more often than not, appearing in just 35 games. 

He finishes his time with the Blueshirts with 10 goals, six assists, and 189 hits. 

Rizzo is a 25-year-old AHLer whom the Preds acquired from the Bruins earlier this offseason. 

He is reportedly not expected to receive a qualifying offer from New York, making him a free agent this week. 

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona had seemingly settled on centerfielder Blake Dunn as his everyday leadoff man a couple of weeks back. Despite the team’s overall inability to score runs on a regular basis, that wasn’t necessarily Dunn’s fault – he’s been pretty cromulent atop the order ever since.

But with Dunn exiting Friday night’s series opening victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates early due to soreness in his right elbow, Tito was going to need to find a different solution to the top of his lineup come Saturday.

Turns out, that’ll come in the form of batting one of the most electric players in the sport there.

Elly De La Cruz returns to the leadoff spot for Saturday afternoon’s game against the Bucs, while Dane Myers will get the start in center in Dunn’s stead.

Chase Burns will toe the rubber for the Reds as they look to claim the series victory after downing ace Paul Skenes in Friday night’s 6-4 victory.

First pitch is set for 2:05 PM ET. Here’s how the Reds will line up to start:

Leadoff Elly.

Powered by @PNCBankpic.twitter.com/INkiXb76Rc

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 27, 2026

Detroit Tigers (35-46) vs. Houston Astros (40-44)

Time/Place: 1:10 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: The Crawfish Boxes
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Framber Valdez (4-5, 3.91 ERA) vs. RHP Kai-Wei Teng (4-6, 4.03 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Valdez	16	89.2	19.2	8.7	51.8	4.14	1.0
Teng	22	60.1	24.0	10.5	43.2	4.63	0.3

Main Tom is in the middle of the MS ride right now, and emergency backup Tom (me) is in the process of driving to B.C., so there may or may not be lineups in this post. Apologies for that. The starters are Dylan Cease and Cal Quantrill, though. The Jays can stull escape wirh a split against a wildcard competitor, so today and tomorrow are big games.

Sean Keys makes his Blue Jays debut today. He was 17 on our preseason top 40, but would rank significantly higher after torching AA and AAA. It’ll he exciting to see how he does with his first MLB opportunity.

[edit:] Well, we are five hours and counting late to leave, something I’m not stressed about at all, so here are the lineups after all:

Rangers:

• Joc Pederson, DH
• Wyatt Langford, CF
• Corey Seager, SS
• Brandon Nimmo, RF
• Josh Jung, 3B
• Jake Burger, 1B
• Jared Kelenic, LF
• Elias Diaz, C
• Nicky Lopez, 2B

Blue Jays:

• Nathan Lukes, RF
• Vladimir Guerrero jr., DH
• Daulton Varsho, CF
• Kazuma Okamoto, 3B
• Alejandro Kirk, C
• Sean Keys, 1B
• Ernie Clement, 2B
• Yohendrick Pinango, LF
• Andres Gimenez, SS

Go Jays Go!

Baseball is a long season filled of 162 games but believe it or not we are already at the halfway point of the season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After a 5-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners this past Thursday, the Pirates played their 81st game of the season, and they were 41-40. They dropped to .500 after Friay’s loss, but at the halfway point, the Bucs are a .500 team, which is a start they haven’t had since over  a decade. 

The Pirates have faced plenty of injury trouble, from missing starter Jared Jones for the first two months to losing key offensive weapons Konnor Griffin, Oneil Cruz and now Spencer Horwitz. Yet Pittsburgh has managed to stay afloat as it enters a pivotal second half, increasing its win total by 9 from last season at this point and accomplishing its best first half since 2015, the last time it reached the postseason.

In 2025, the Pirates ranked dead last in home runs and finished last in the NL Central with just 71 wins. They made some serious changes in the offseason to fix the offense by trading for Brandon Lowe, who leads the team with 19 home runs. The team also brought in Marcell Ozuna and Ryan O’Hearn who have helped offensively as well. 

Lowe said he and O’Hearn talked about the prospect of Pittsburgh’s lineup at full strength after Wednesday night’s 11-run barrage with no home runs. Lowe described the team as “scary” once weapons like Griffin and Cruz return. 

We already saw the impact Griffin has on this lineup after his leadoff home run in the 6-4 loss the Pirates had to the Cincinnati Reds. 

Reynolds is the longest-tenured position player on the Pirates. He said this season is different from past first halves, but there’s still plenty of baseball left.

“Do I think that we’re better than a .500 baseball team through 81 games? Yeah, absolutely,” said Jake Mangum, who filled into the leadoff spot for Horwitz on Thursday. “But at the same time, we’re still learning how to win, and we haven’t played our best baseball yet. If I could pick a time to play your best baseball, it’s the second half.”

The start that team has been on has been fun to watch, but they have struggled in the month of June with a record of 9-13. The team feels very optimistic about the start and what they can do in the second half of season but if they want to snap their playoff drought the bullpen needs to play better and they have to make some moves during the trade deadline. 

1) Yordan Alvarez, Astros (.318, 25 HRs, 56 RBIs, 1.055 OPS)

By the time Judge returns from a stress fracture in his rib, he will have missed three-plus months. That means that for the first time since 2020, the AL MVP will be a player other than Judge or Ohtani. The favorite now is Alvarez, an all-around hitter who leads the major leagues in OPS.

2) Bobby Witt Jr., Royals (.294, 10 HRs, 32 RBIs, .833)

Witt returned to the Royals’ lineup on Friday after missing six consecutive games with a sprained knee. Even with the missed time, Witt remains the major league leader in wins above replacement, according to Baseball Reference and FanGraphs. Witt leads the AL with 28 stolen bases.

3) Nick Kurtz, Athletics (.278, 19 HRs, 62 RBIs, .959 OPS)

Ben Rice of the Yankees and Dillon Dingler of the Tigers deserve to be considered for this spot, but the pick here is Kurtz, who leads the majors in RBIs and walks (73). Kurtz’s firepower has the A’s in the running for a wild-card spot.

After stumbling to a series-opening loss to the Red Sox on Thursday, the Yankees found themselves completely shut down by Payton Tolle as the Red Sox jumped on a struggling Will Warren to clinch a breezy 6-1 victory. They’ve guaranteed themselves at least a series split; now it’s up to the Bombers to claw back the final two decisions. The effort will begin with Gerrit Cole on the bump.

Like the Yankee lineup, Cole is looking for a mulligan. He struggled through 4,1 innings as a meek Tiger offense awoke for five runs on nine hits against him. While there were flashes of the usual Cole between the loud noises, he was not able to execute big pitches in key spots. The Red Sox offense has been doing their homework–they have not looked overawed by the task of facing Yankee pitching in this series.

Cole hasn’t pitched at Fenway Park in nearly four years; you have to go back to September 13, 2022, in which he struck out 10 batters but allowed four runs in a no-decision. He has not had success in Boston in his career; his career ERA there is 5.52, and that’s before you include his two postseason losses there. But every start is a blank slate.

Jake Bennett is another of the Red Sox’ seemingly limitless supply of talented young left-handers: the third New York will face in this series. Bennett took the rotation spot of the struggling Brayan Bello, and has turned in a solid 3.71 ERA in his first five turns. Last time out he dazzled with six scoreless innings against the Rockies, but Boston got walked off in the ninth inning on a triple by Jake McCarthy. Bennett features a pair of fastballs and a changeup in addition to three other pitches he sprinkles in every so often. He attacks same-siders with the sinker but favors a more balanced three-pitch approach against righties.

Ben Rice draws back into the starting lineup today; he’ll bat second after Paul Goldschmidt. Amed Rosario hits third and returns to third base. Jazz Chisholm Jr. will hit the bench today–José Caballero will man the keystone. Max Schuemann will play in center field with Cody Bellinger and Jasson Domínguez in the outfield corners. Austin Wells will catch for Cole.

How to watch

Location: Fenway Park – Boston, MA

First pitch: 1:10 pm ET

TV broadcast: ABC

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WEEI 93.7, WESX 1230 AM, WCCM 1490 AM (BOS)

Streaming: ESPN+

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Saturday Matinee. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/TQsn19pT9R

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 27, 2026

A Saturday matinee. pic.twitter.com/dYEnRqfmqf

— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 27, 2026

Zach Thornton is headed back to the minors...for now.

The Mets optioned the young southpaw back to Triple-A on Saturday to open a roster spot for Christian Scott to be activated from the injured list. 

Thornton certainly figures to have earned himself another turn in the rotation, though. 

The youngster did just about everything he could to try to help the struggling Mets snap their long losing streak, keeping the high-powered Phillies lineup in check in just his second big league outing. 

He settled in nicely after being knocked around by the first four batters, holding the division rivals to just one run on five hits and a walk while striking out seven across six innings of work. 

It was Thornton's first career quality start, and just the 18th from a Mets starter all season. 

"It just gives me confidence that I can compete with the best out there and get anyone out," the rookie said. "I want to pitch in the big leagues for a long time, and I think I can do that."

Though he's heading back to Syracuse for now, Thornton certainly figures to be back. 

As far as Scott, he'll take the ball on Saturday after being sidelined for two weeks due to a right hip impingement. 

Scott was settling in as one of New York's most reliable arms prior to the injury, pitching to a 2.97 ERA with 46 strikeouts across his previous eight starts. 

Texas Rangers lineup for June 27, 2026 against the Toronto Blue Jays: starting pitchers are Cal Quantrill for the Rangers and Dylan Cease for the Blue Jays.

The Rangers clinched at least a series split in Toronto yesterday, and are trying to clinch a winning series in Toronto today. They have their most challenging matchup of the series today, with Cy Young contender Dylan Cease going for Toronto. Corey Seager is back in the lineup, while Ezequiel Duran gets a day off.

The lineup:

Pederson — DH

Langford — CF

Seager — SS

Nimmo — RF

Jung — 3B

Burger — 1B

Kelenic — LF

Diaz — C

Lopez — 2B

2:07 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +155 underdogs.