Category: Baseball

Oh well. You win some, you lose some. Or, in the Giants’ case, you mostly lose. It has been a year since the Giants traded for Rafael Devers, and like most of their big swings since allowing Buster Posey to take the reins of the front office, the team has come up empty and looked bad in the attempt. It turns out that the critics of the deal were spot on. Devers’ contract was underwater from the moment the Red Sox signed him to it and the collapse of his skillset came even faster than the projection. Do the Giants inspire failure or does everything they touch turn to garbage by sheer coincidence? In any case, there’s nothing that can be done to improve Devers’ hitting.

He’s hitting .235/.293/.413 on the season while playing every game. He has 9 homers and is tied for the lead league in doubles with 21; so, you know, it’s not all bad. But the underlying metrics affirm what we’ve seen throughout the year: a hitter who’s a mess at the plate. At the end of May, I looked at Matt Chapman’s hitting metrics and came away with the thought that he’s not in an age-related decline but instead a focus or talent disruption. I see a vaguely similar situation for Devers, too.

He still hits the ball hard. That counts for something. His 49.5% Hard Hit rate is 88th percentile and average exit velocity of 91.9 mph is 87th. His 9.5% Barrel rate is the only other category where he measures as above average (61st percentile); but, these are all still big declines from last year, and especially his heyday of 2021-2024 (.279/.354/.519 — 126 HR 384 RBI — +17.0 fWAR).

He’s also whiffing on pitches at the same rate over the past several years. It’s 31.6% this year (10th percentile), but compare that back to 2021:

2021: 27.7% (29th)
2022: 28.2% (25th)
2023: 26.1% (45th)
2024: 30.9% (14th)
2025: 31.6% (10th)
2026: 30.8% (17th)

The big line of demarcation in his career was going from 2023 to 2024 when the big problem cited for why the contract was already underwater first asserted itself: that’s his contact rate in the strike zone. From 21-23 it was 79.2% on average. In 2024, it dropped to 74.9% and last year it fell to 73.9%. This year, it’s at 74.2%. The league average in this stat is between 76-77% every year. Just to give you some more context, going back to 2021, here are the 10 worst zone contact rate guys who got enough at bats to qualify for the batter leaderboards:

10. Luke Raley, 76.8%
9. Patrick Wisdom, 76.8%
8. Zack Gelof, 76.0%
7. Chris Taylor, 75.1%
6. Christopher Morel, 74.7%
5. J.D. Davis, 74.3%
4. Gabriel Arias, 74.0%
3. Matt Wallner, 73.2%
2. Jose Siri, 72.6%
1. Joey Gallo, 72.3%

Because of his outstanding 21-23, Devers winds up ranking just the 13th-lowest; however, if we adjust the years to 2024-present, Devers experiences a dramatic reranking.

10. Kyle Schwarber, 80.3%
9. Ryan McMahon, 80.3%
8. Adolis Garcia, 80.2%
7. Teoscar Hernanez, 79.9%
6. Mark Vientos, 79.9%
5. Jazz Chisholm, 79.1%
4. Randy Arozarena, 78.4%
3. Oneil Cruz, 77.9%
2. Nolan Gorman, 76.6%
1. Rafael Devers, 74.6%

All this to say that Devers’ continued inability to make consistent contact in the strike zone is now crashing into his other declined skill: pitch recognition. From 21-23 he had a called strike percentage of 10.7%. In 2024 it rose to 12.3% and last year it was 13.2%. This year, it’s 15%. Now, this rate has maybe a lot to do with ABS. Called balls have been turned to strikes against Rafael Devers 7 out of 9 times. He’s won just 1 challenge out of 6.

But the increased called strike rate parallels with a trend of him simply swinging less. Prior to 2024, he was swinging at around 53.5% of pitches thrown. That rate has dropped to 50% the past few seasons. His 30.3% strikeout rate is the highest of his career by far — 22% for his career, 25.5% for 2024-2025. So, what’s happening? He’s swinging less often but getting more called strikes (ABS is a partial culprit, of course) and still swinging and missing a lot when he does pull the trigger.

That bat speed doesn’t look good.

Statcast only tracks bat speed back to 2023, but take a look at this decline:

2023: 73.4 mph (68th percentile)
2024: 72.5 mph (61st)
2025: 71.6 mph (42nd)
2026: 71.7 mph (44th)

This is getting down to around LaMonte Wade Jr.’s at the start of last season, when he looked so bad I wondered if it was a portent of doom (it was!). LWJ’s wound up falling all the way down to 70 mph last year, but in a very small sample with the Astros this season (13 PA, where he has a 1.135 OPS) it’s up to 73.2 mph.

So, it’s not impossible that Devers makes some adjustments and optimizes his skills, some of which are working for him this season. But it’s hard to envision him making that turnaround… at least this season.

Luis Arraez was a free agent who set out to prove himself as a second baseman. Yes, Ron Washington has been there to give him some very relevant support, but it started with his tenacity. Jung Hoo Lee’s hitting seems to have improved because he’s been studying Luis Arraez. So, whatever turnaround to his career that might happen will have to come from Rafael Devers himself. Hitting coaches rarely get credit for fixing hitters and the Giants’ current coaching staff seems a lot more hands off or outright bad as any in recent memory.

But before you go thinking that I’m calling Devers’s character into question, let me put it this way: I think he’s taken to first base just fine, and that doesn’t happen if he doesn’t put in the work. When I watch him play the field, I see a goofy guy with a baseball-only body doing his best to field… and he’s okay. Definitely closer to terrible than great, but I wouldn’t characterize the play as outright bad. He’s also playing every day, which I think is a credit to him for having a degree of focus that would keep him interested in doing exactly that.

So, the focus is there, which only leaves buy in. Does he think he needs to make some changes to his swing or approach?

The Giants probably don’t feel like they know him well enough to have that conversation either. The coaching staff turnover being part of that and the green-ness of the current staff the other part. But also, as much as we’d like to think that the data revolution brought Apple Store-level service to every player, where a quant with an iPad just scoots up next to a player and is able to help them with a few graphics and optimized phrasing, I think it still comes down to the player seeking out what they need and doing the important work of actually incorporating changes into their approach. That’s why the headline reads as it does. Athletes aren’t often able to remake themselves on the fly in part because it’s hard to accept that the usual way of doing things has stopped working.

So, I guess in a way, this post is a lot like that Matt Chapman post. Unlike Chapman, though, Devers is definitely experiencing a physical decline of some sort (he’s not hitting the ball as hard), but the decline from a good player to a practically useless one appears to be entirely self-engineered. It’s unlikely that a 29-year old goes out like this based on aging alone. But, as Buster Posey is fond of saying, baseball is hard.

The situation isn’t hopeless, especially since Devers wound up having a good year after a rough time following the trade last year. It’s just that nothing the Giants have done this year and most of the last decade should give anyone hope for a better future.

The Mets are dealing with yet another injury, with right-hander Christian Scott hitting the IL.

The club announced that Scott has been placed on the 15-day IL, retroactive to June 12, with right hip impingement. Right-handers Tobias Myers and Jonathan Pintaro have been called up, and righty releiver Daniel Duarte has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Additionally, the Mets claimed infielder Zack Short off waivers from the Detroit Tigers and transferred infielder Jorge Polanco to the 60-day IL.

Scott pitched 4.2 innings against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday in his most recent outing. 

Overall, Scott has made nine starts this season, pitching to a 3.10 ERA over 40.2 innings. 

The Mets already have Kodai Senga on the IL, and with Sean Manaea and David Peterson pitching out of hybrid starter/bulk reliever roles, Scott, Freddy Peralta, and Nolan McLean were the only three definitive starters. 

While Scott’s next start likely would have fallen on Tuesday, the Mets have left things vague with their rotation plans for the upcoming series in Cincinnati. 

Myers will start on Monday night, but the team did not announce starters for the following two games.

There would seem to be a strong possibility that Jonah Tong will eventually get recalled to take Scott’s place in the rotation. Tong made three appearances for the Mets earlier this season, posting a 3.60 ERA. Since being optioned back to Triple-A, Tong has allowed eight earned runs in 9.0 innings over two starts.

Left-hander Zach Thornton is also on the 40-man roster, making him a possibility as well. 

Meanwhile, moving Polanco to the 60-day IL doesn't seem to be any reason for concern, as he hasn't played since April 14, making this more of a paper move than anything else. 

The 31-year-old Short played 10 games with Mets in 2024 and spent this year's spring training with the Yankees. He played 23 games with the Tigers this season, hitting .167.

When putting together a team, general managers should have an eye on today, of course, but also on the long-term outlook of the franchise. Some players will be considered key cornerstones several years. Sometimes, teams can get a decade-plus of quality performance from a major leaguer if they are extremely lucky. In the specific case of Andy Pettitte and the Yankees, we are talking about 15 campaigns of steady, reliable play.

Not only did Pettitte post some really solid regular-season numbers over the course of his long career, but he also became a postseason hero who is at or near the top of multiple October leaderboards. A big part of the late-90s dynasty, the left-hander won five World Series with the Yankees, made three All-Star teams, and has a plaque in Monument Park..

For his invaluable contributions in numerous title-winning squads and his incredible consistency over the years, we ranked Pettitte tenth in our Top 100 Yankees list.

Born: June 15, 1972 (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
Yankees Tenure: 1995-2003, 2007-13

Pettitte was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 54 years ago, to parents Tommy and JoAnn Pettitte. His family moved to Texas when he was eight-years-old, which probably played a role in his decision many years later to leave the Yankees for the Houston Astros after the 2003 campaign. He grew up in the Lone Star State, attending Deer Park High School in Deer Park, Texas, where he started showing off his talent on the mound. Like many baseball players who made it to the bigs, he also showed promise in other sports. In Pettitte’s case, football, where he was an offensive and defensive lineman.

With the help and support of his father, Pettitte developed a love for baseball at a young age. He looked up to Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens as a young fan, and the latter would become a teammate and friend of his in the majors.

After graduating from high school, Pettitte went to San Jacinto College North in Houston, instead of a traditional four-year program. He lasted until the 22nd round of the 1990 MLB Draft, where the Yankees scooped him up, in part because everybody thought he would go to college. The left-hander never had top velocity and was considered “chunky,” “lumpy,” and “pudgy” at the time, per the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR).

Before joining the Yankees, he had an excellent year at San Jacinto College and, under the guidance of coach Wayne Graham, became more disciplined, gained strength, lost weight, and developed a sharp focus on the mound.

Pettitte signed with the Yankees a year later, in 1991, and started his journey as a minor league pitcher, throwing a knuckleball that his new battery mate, Jorge Posada, couldn’t consistently catch. He developed in the Yankees’ minor league system until 1995, when he made his MLB debut. That year, he would unofficially become part of the Yankees’ emerging crew of talented homegrown players that would eventually be known as the “Core Four”: himself, Posada, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera. Those four players would be the backbone of New York’s upcoming dynasty.

Between April 29 and May 13, 1995, Pettitte was used as a reliever with mixed results. Then, he got a chance to start in late May and never looked back, finishing third in the AL Rookie of the Year race. Little did he know that he was about to make history.

The following season, 1996, would probably be the most memorable of his career. He led the league in wins with 21, posted a 3.87 ERA, finished second in the AL Cy Young race, and helped the Yankees win the World Series for the first time since 1978, beating John Smoltz in Game Five.

The 1997 campaign was Pettitte’s best in pinstripes from a statistical angle. He posted a 2.88 ERA in the burgeoning steroids era, racked up 7.2 fWAR, and finished fifth in the AL Cy Young voting. The Yankees would exit the postseason against Cleveland, though.

In 1998, however, the Yankees would start a three-year run of winning every World Series with Pettitte as one of their aces. That year, he won the last game of the Fall Classic with 7.1 scoreless frames against the Padres.

In those three years from 1998 to 2000 that resulted in three straight championships, Pettitte posted a rather underwhelming 4.42 ERA, but was always available and raised the team’s floor. He saved his best for October, when the lights shone brightest: his 3.26 postseason ERA over that span was key to every one of the championships that made up the Yankee dynasty.

As you can imagine, the southpaw was a huge part of the late-1990s, early-2000s rivalry with the Boston Red Sox. He earned a win in the unforgettable 2003 AL Championship Series, helping the Yanks advance to the World Series, where he contributed a minuscule 0.57 ERA in a losing effort.

He wasn’t a part of the squad that inexplicably lost four straight games in the 2004 ALCS because he joined Roger Clemens in Houston as both Yankee hurlers signed with the Astros. For Pettitte, it was a homecoming, and it allowed him to play a World Series in front of his people, even though they lost to the Chicago White Sox.

After three seasons with the Astros, Pettitte returned ahead of the 2007 campaign. In 2008, he witnessed the final act of the old Yankee Stadium, as the Yankees missed out on postseason baseball. They would return to the grand stage in 2009, though, as Pettitte helped them win the Fall Classic with a 4.16 regular-season ERA and an even better 3.56 postseason ERA.

Pettitte initially announced his retirement in February 2011, spending a year away from the game before coming back to wrap up his career with a solid 2012 (2.87 ERA) and 2013 (3.74 ERA).

He is, without a doubt, one of the most respected Yankees of all time. Nobody has won more postseason games than him, and he retired with a 3.81 ERA in the playoffs.

Pettitte finished his eighth season on the Hall of Fame ballot with 48.5 percent of votes, needing to reach at least 75 percent in two remaining attempts. Perhaps he doesn’t have the rate stats or individual awards to be a no-doubter member of the Hall, but he does have the legacy and the totals.

After his career, Pettitte has focused on becoming a baseball dad, but he did rejoin the Yankees in the summer of 2023 to be an advisor. He was also the pitching coach of Team USA in the 2023 and 2026 World Baseball Classics (WBC).

Yankees fans who grew up watching the team in the late 1990s and early-2000s certainly enjoyed the sight of Pettitte working from the left side of the mound. He was never rattled and always seemed in control of his emotions and situations. You don’t see that calm demeanor and the look of a silent assassin that he gave opposing batters very often these days.

Happy birthday, legend!

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

There’s no place like home and the Atlanta Braves will surely be grateful to have spent some time in their own respective beds instead of what they had to deal during what ended up being a terrible road trip against the White Sox and Mets.

With that being said, it’s not like the Braves are coming home for a cakewalk. The Giants may have a poor record but they’ve been known to spring some upsets this season and the Brewers will be bringing arguably the most talented pitcher in all of baseball to town in the form of Jacob Misiorowski. Atlanta’s going to really have to work to get things back on track, so let’s see what the week ahead has in store for them.

June 16-18: San Francisco Giants

Current Record: 29-43 Projected Record (via FanGraphs): 74-88

On paper, the Braves probably couldn’t have asked for a better opponent to take on upon returning home from a rough road trip. The Giants have been pretty bad this season and outside of Casey Schmitt launching a bunch of dingers, there hasn’t been much for the fans in San Francisco to cheer about — either on or off the field.

San Francisco’s offense has been mostly middle of the road in terms of performance, as they have produced a team wRC+ of 102 off the strength of a team slash line of .257/.307/.416 with a .316 wOBA. As I mentioned before, Schmitt has largely been responsible for the power as he’s currently the only Giants hitter with over 10 homers so far this season. Unless there’s a complete disaster on Atlanta’s part, we aren’t going to be seeing the Giants hitting a ton of balls over the fence during this series.

With that being said, this lineup isn’t full of pushovers, either. Luis Arraez seems determined to continue hitting nothing but singles, Matt Chapman and Jung Hoo Lee have been productive with little-to-no power and Bryce Eldrige has been playing the role of “exciting young player” for the struggling Giants. Atlanta’s pitching staff will have to be on their game to keep this crew quiet and they have to be taken seriously — this same Giants team won a series at Wrigley Field and split a four-game series in Milwaukee against the Brewers (more on them later) so this is not a team to be taken lightly.

Still, the lineup will have to get the job done against a pitching staff that has largely struggled. Considering what ballpark the Giants spend most of their time in, it is honestly kind of shocking that they have the fifth-worst team ERA- in all of baseball (113) along with a bottom-10 FIP- (108). Then you look at what two of their three probable starters for this series have done so far this season and it all makes sense.

Adrian Houser is set to start for San Francisco during the season opener and he’s looked very vunerable on the mound all season. Of the the 13 starts that he’s made so far, he’s given up at least three runs in 10 of those starts. Five of those 10 starts saw him give up at least four runs and he hasn’t had a start of the “three runs or less” variety since May 17 against the Athletics. Meanwhile, Wednesday’s starter Robbie Ray has been a bit better but his stats have been skewed a bit after he got lit up on May 18 against the Diamondbacks for 10 runs on 11 hits. With that being said, the Nationals did get him for five runs on seven hits in his last outing so it’s entirely possible that the Braves might punish him like the Nats did.

Landen Roupp will be a different story, as he’s proven himself to be the top guy in San Francisco’s rotation so far and could really give the Braves some problems during his scheduled start on Thursday. Even if all of San Francisco’s starters do a solid job, the Braves could still turn things around late in the game if San Francisco’s bullpen continues to have issues. JT Brubaker and Keaton Winn have given opposing batters fits but outside of that, nobody else in this bullpen has really stood out as being of the shutdown variety. If the Braves are going to bounce back from that awful road trip, this should hopefully be the series to make it happen.

Tuesday, June 16 at 7:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision, Gray TV)
Wednesday, June 17 at 7:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Thursday, June 18 at 7:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision)

June 19-21: Milwaukee Brewers

Current Record: 43-26 Projected Record: 92-70

Well, there’s no two ways around it: The Braves will probably have a serious fight on their hands once the Brewers come to town. For starters (for lack of a better term), Jacob Misiorowski will likely be starting the series opener against the Braves. In case you’ve been living under a rock, Misiorowski has essentially been dominating hitters so far this season with his near-overwhelming stuff. His heater is five mph above average, his slider and curve are both seven mph above average, and his cutter and change-up are both six mph above average. No matter what he’s throwing, it’s going to have high velocity and it’s going to be nasty. He’s thrown 54.1 innings since May 1 and has given up a grand total of two runs (only one of which were earned) on nineteen hits with just nine walks and a whopping 80 strikeouts.

Miz’s most recent start was astonishing. He pitched a complete game against the Phillies where he only gave up one hit and struck out fifteen batters on 95 pitches (a Maddux!). He was a Kyle Schwarber hit away from what would’ve been one of the more dominant Perfect Games that you’ll ever see. Assuming Milwaukee sticks to their current rotation plans, the Miz will be coming to town and the Braves are going to have their hands full.

Oh yeah, the rest of the team is still pretty good too. At this point, picking against the Brewers before the season to do well is one of those things where I’ll only believe it where I see it because this team has been a buzzsaw so far. Brice Turang has been productive in all facets of the game, old friend William Contreras has been raking, Jackson Chourio continues to be exciting, Jake Bauers is a true threat at the plate and then guys like Garrett Mitchell and Andrew Vaughn are tough to deal with. Even Christian Yelich and Gary Sanchez have been handing out lumps to opposing pitchers so far.

All that has combined for the Brewers to have one of the best offenses in baseball so far. They’ve hit for 107 wRC+ as a team (for reference’s sake, they’re right behind the Braves who have a team wRC+ of 108) and have collectively delivered a slash line of .255/.341/.392 with a wOBA of .326. Their stats are pretty similar to Atlanta’s except the Brewers are getting on base a bit more while the Braves have done a bit more damage in the slugging department. Still, Milwaukee’s offense has been getting the job done in a major way and Atlanta’s pitching staff will have a real challenge on their hands this weekend.

Friday, June 19 at 7:15 p.m ET (BravesVision)
Saturday, June 20 at 4:10 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Sunday, June 21 at 1:35 p.m. ET (BravesVision)

_{All stats referenced were from FanGraphs before Sunday’s action so they may be slightly different}

I’m almost reluctant to type this onto the page, because I fear it’s a hope so delicate that discussing it in print could endanger its very existence, but alas: the Red Sox may soon receive a boost on offense. Romy Gonzalez, the Platoon Paul Bunyon himself, will begin a rehab assignment tomorrow with AA Portland. He will play second, first, and DH, in hopes that he can return by the start of the Sox’ next homestand ten days from now. “With the power potential and the thump in the bat, we’ve got to get him involved,” said Chad Tracy. “It could be [against] lefties, it could be [at] DH, he could play second base. There could be certain righties where it doesn’t make sense [to start Gonzalez]. But whatever it is, we know the capability of the bat and the power potential that brings. We’re going to certainly get him involved.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

Romy’s return comes at an opportune time for the Sox, who still have no idea when the other Romy, Roman Anthony, will be healthy enough to swing a bat again. The problem for Anthony? His injury is actually kind of groundbreaking. “I’ve been doing this 32 years. I actually have never heard of a ring finger-isolated CMC ligament tear,” said one orthopedist. “The joints in which the ligaments get injured are usually not the CMC level … They’re at the knuckle or joints within the fingers. If you look up ring finger ligament sprain, you’ll find nothing — zero — because it’s not a common injury.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

Romy Gonzalez will immediately step in and give a boost to what has been the Sox’ biggest weakness in 2026: right-handed hitting. But he won’t be the only source of righty power in the lineup. Willson Contreras has been an absolute beast. “I think the approach of making contact, trying to make contact is working,” Contreras said. “I know that I’m in a good stretch right now, but I’m trying not to overthink or think too much. I’m trying to keep my game simple, make contact and let everything happen.” (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Given the offensive struggles, it’s fair to revisit the notorious Rafael Devers trade, which happened one year ago today. (Jen McCaffrey, Andrew Baggarly, The Athletic)

Last night’s loss wasn’t solely the fault of the offense, though. While he’s generally a strong rookie campaign, Connelly Early has been faltering a bit lately and is struggling to keep the ball in the park. “I hope those come back to Earth a little bit,” said Andrew Bailey of the homers he’s been giving up. “But when you look at the grand scheme of things, he does generate some whiff. The batted ball quality is a little bit concerning in that the slug is out of the park.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

But while last night’s game wasn’t much fun for Sox fans, at least the 5,000 Scottish football fans in attendance got to see some taters. Here’s a closer look at their joyous march to the ballpark. (Justin Turpin, WEEI)

Sometimes, prospects end up being better trade chips than actual players. That might be the case with Owen Caissie who has already been part of two prominent trades but has yet to find his footing in the major leagues.

After being selected by the Padres in the second round of the 2020 draft, Owen Caissie was soon shipped to the Cubs as part of their trade for Victor Caratini and Yu Darvish. Once in the Cubs system. he quickly rose the ranks and established himself as a top 50 prospect, being chosen for the Futures Game in both 2024 and 2025.

After dominating AAA in 2025, he was called up to the Cubs in August but struggled in a twelve-game cameo. The Cubs were apparently not overly impressed since they sent him back down and then sent him to the Marlins as part of the deal for Edward Cabrera.

Marlins fans got excited because Maissie played for Team Canada in the WBC and batted .412 with a home run.

The Marlins installed him as their regular right fielder, and his season got off to a promising start when he hit a walk off home run in the third game of the season.

The good times did not continue as he went into a slump shortly after that. After showing some signs of life in May, he’s struggled in June with only two hits in the month so far.

Player development is rarely linear, so Maissie could well turn things around quickly. But as of now, he’s been far more valuable in the transaction column than on the field.

Hating on the Marlins

Would you look at that? The Marlins are at .500 thanks to a group of young players that have showed some promise. Shall we guess how this is ultimately going to end?

That young core might put it together and make the playoffs in the near future. And just as people think the team is ready to be an actual contender, management will start to ship off some of those players because they’ve begun to, or about to get more expensive.

There’s a debate about why the Marlins have been such a failure of a franchise, minus two insanely fluky World Series runs. Does ownership not spend money because the fans don’t support the team, or do the fans not support the team because ownership never spends enough money to sustain success?

It’s likely a little of both, but between the Marlins and Rays, we have a lot of evidence that Florida fans don’t pack the stadium even when the teams are good. The Marlins have had a few owners over the years, and while some of them have been among the worst to ever own a major league team, every one of them has come to the conclusion that its simply not worth spending a ton of money on the team.

Back in 2020, a bunch of their fans got all in my mentions because the Marlins were better than the Phillies in the short season, and they thought they had stolen a future star in Sixto Sanchez. They’ve been quiet ever since.

If MLB ever tried contraction, the Marlins would likely be one of the first teams on the list, and only a handful of people would actually miss them.

Remembering a guy who played for both teams

Billy McMillon

In 1997, the moribund Phillies traded Darren Daulton to the Marlins, so he could finish out his career with a contender. In return, they got outfielder Billy McMillon. I attended “Billy Mac’s” first game with the Phillies, and to my delight, he launched a grand slam in the third inning as the Phillies romped over the Giants.

I was convinced the Phillies had a future star on their hands. They did not.

He would only hit one other home run as a member of the Phillies, but I appreciate the symmetry in that he hit it in his last game with the team.

I don’t know why McMillon spent the entire 1998 and 1999 seasons in the minors – it’s not like those Phillies teams were overflowing with talent – but he never returned to the majors before becoming a free agent after 1999. He spent a few seasons as a quad-A player getting brief stints with the Tigers and A’s before moving on to a minor league coaching career.

Additional thought about the series

The Phillies’ offense had a tough time of it against the Brewers’ top pitchers, but hopefully they can start to hit better against a far less imposing trio of starters in this series:

• Ryan Gusto is a quad-A caliber player with a 6.00 ERA
• Former Phillie Tyler Phillips has recently switched from the bullpen to the rotation with mixed results.
• Sandy Alcantara has improved in his second post-Tommy John season, but he’s far closer to league average than Cy Young winner at this point.

Then again, it isn’t hard to imagine the Phillies’ struggling to score runs against these guys. Apparently, there’s a rule that at least two – if not more – players on the team have to be in a miserable slump at any given time. In the month of June, Trea Turner and Justin Crawford both have sub-.500 OPS while J.T. Realmuto is plodding along with a .167 batting average.

Players are going to go through slumps during a long season, but is too much to ask that the slumps not be so drastic and maybe they could do it one at a time? It’s hard to win games when you’ve got three or four automatic outs in the lineup at any given time.

It was a middling week for the Twins, going 3-3, wrapping up a three-series run against AL Central rivals with a series loss in Detroit before finishing the week at home with a series win against the Cardinals. In that time, the Twins homered 14 times, with Byron Buxton making his return from running into the wall in the Royals series to hit four homers himself. Royce Lewis, who played five games at first base this week, looks like his Triple-A self with three homers as well. Starting pitching was the biggest source of consternation, with the starters giving up 24 earned runs in 32 innings pitched. For the season, the starters have combined for a 4.61 ERA, eighth-worst in the league. The team goes on a week-long road trip, heading down to Dallas and then Phoenix.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• Game threads and recaps are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we experience the season together.
• Zach Koenig notes the Twins history that has already been made this season in the bullpen.
• Aidan O’Brien gives his case on why the Twins should call up Kaelen Culpepper.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Dan Hayes at The Athletic looks at how Royce Lewis has prepped for his new position.
• Bobby Nightengale at the Star Tribune checks in on the Twins’ top minor league prospects.
• With Royce Lewis making an immediate impact in his return, Theo Tollefson at Zone Coverage writes on why Matt Wallner may be coming back to Minneapolis soon.
• Kyler Fedko is the newest call-up for the Twins. Greggory Masterson at Twins Daily looks at the rookie’s role on the major-league roster.
• Eric Longenhagen and James Fegan at Fangraphs update their list of the Twins’ top-50 prospects.

In the World of Baseball:

• The Yankees have weathered the Aaron Judge storm reasonably well and now hold a one-game lead over the Rays. The White Sox and Guardians are now tied for the AL Central lead, while the Mariners hold a one-game advantage over the A’s. Incredibly, the Twins are still only three games out of the last wild-card spot.
• Nothing has really changed in the National League. It’s Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee in the top three spots. (Eagle-eyed readers will note this is the same exact thing I wrote last week). That being said, while Atlanta has a pretty large lead in the NL East standings, only two games separate the top three teams. The Cardinals, Phillies, and Padres round out the three wild card teams.
• Geraldo Perdomo of the Arizona Diamondbacks found himself in the middle of the mascot race on Sunday’s game.
• Jacob Misiorowski has been doing some crazy things this year. His start on Friday was probably the highlight, as he struck out 15 batters in a one-hit Maddux. David Schoenfield at ESPN has more on the historic night.
• Troy continued its incredible run through the Men’s College World Series, knocking off Ole Miss on Sunday. Elizabeth Merrill at ESPN profiles Trojan star John Boroff, more affectionately known as “Jabe Ruth,” who has been lights out this postseason.

Tacoma Rainiers

The Rainiers found some success for the first time in a while this week, snagging five of six against a very solid Albuquerque team. It’s been a brutal stretch of baseball recently for this Tacoma team, so managing to string together some W’s is an awesome sight to see.

A rehabbing Cal Raleigh did a substantial amount of work for the lineup this week and looks to be back to his old self offensively. Having launched five homers on his rehab stint, Raleigh figures to return to the big league club this week and should provide a massive boost for a lineup that’s missing the bulk of its major offensive producers. With a pitching staff that’s reeling and in desperate need of a guiding presence, Cal should provide this team with the leader it desperately needs.

Arkansas Travelers

The Travelers took home yet another series win this week, besting the Naturals by a series score of four to two. Despite a league-leading run differential of +103, the Travs find themselves 2.5 games back of the Tulsa Drillers for the division lead and will need to make up a bit of ground if they hope to lock up a spot in the playoffs.

Fans were treated to a dazzling double header on Saturday afternoon after inclement weather postponed Friday’s contest. Featuring arguably the top two pitchers in all of minor league baseball, the tandem of Ryan Sloan and Kade Anderson dominated opposing bats all afternoon, combining to twirl 12.2 scoreless innings while punching out 13 and walking none. The pair allowed just six hits on the day and looked exceptionally polished from the get-go. When we’ll see these two in the big leagues is yet to be seen and is largely up to factors out of their control, but when they do end up receiving the call to the bigs, it’s sure to be appointment television.

Lazaro Montes loves hitting on the road! Launching another three homers this week, Montes raised his season OPS up to .922 and looks like a force at the plate for this Traveler lineup. The lefty masher has been Arkansas’ best hitter for the bulk of this 2026 season and has already hit the 20 HR mark for the year, an accomplishment he’s achieved each of the past three seasons. Montes’ overall offensive profile is a tenuous one, and his high-strikeout approach is sure to give him his doubters, but with his inarguable talent and immense age-adjusted output at every stage of his career, Montes remains one of the best prospects in this organization and a surefire top 100 prospect leaguewide.

Everett AquaSox

The Frogs wound up splitting the series against the Canadians this week, unable to best a far inferior team in their home ballpark. The top prospects on this roster have really come into their own as of late, and despite a slow start the first few weeks of the season, this team is set up beautifully for a strong second-half contention window.

Here’s Jonny! Top centerfield prospect Jonny Farmelo is having a torrid month of June, carrying the AquaSox lineup out of the leadoff spot for the better part of three weeks. Now up to a season slash of .264/.394/.476, the speedy Farmelo’s 18 stolen bases on the year and solid centerfield defense make him a truly special prospect with nearly unlimited potential. Regardless of whether the organization will choose to challenge him with a promotion to Double-A or opt to leave him in Everett for the remainder of the season, the toolsy Farmelo is finally looking like his former self on the field and is one of the more promising young prospects in this Seattle system.

Shortstop Felnin Celesten had another fantastic week at the dish as he continued his resurgent 2026 season. Logging another eight hits on the week, Celesten launched a pair of homers in the series and now holds a season OPS of .906 through 212 AB’s. Celesten and Farmelo are in a similar boat for this upcoming promotion cycle; after struggling last season, their repeat of the Hi-A level has gone incredibly well and puts the organization in a position to reward them for their success. Though it’s not a foregone conclusion, look for the pair to make their way up to the Texas League by the end of the month.

Inland Empire 66ers

It was a series split for the 66ers this week, managing three games against a very solid Rancho Cucamonga team. The foundation for a solid second-half team is here, but they’ll need reinforcements from the ACL and upcoming draft class in order to get there.

Centerfielder Korbyn Dickerson has been on a heater as of late and looks to be ascending toward his ceiling as a prospect. The right handed outfielder is slashing .300/.405/.567 on the month and currently sits with a season OPS of .841 with 15 bags. Dickerson seems like a prime candidate to replace Jonny Farmelo on the AquaSox following his eventual promotion and should provide him a good challenge to close out the year. Hopefully he’s able to continue his hot hitting and carry some of that momentum over to an Everett team some time in the next few weeks.

ACL Mariners

Both Yorger Bautista and Nick Becker are largely in the same spot as they’ve been the past several weeks (high K’s, decent if uninspiring raw production), however right-handed hurler Po-Chun Lin has now had back to back scoreless starts after a tough handful of outings to kick off his pro career. Across his past two starts, Lin has logged 7.2 innings of two-hit ball while punching out 12 and walking three. Lin, who signed out of Taiwan last January, has had some interesting numbers in international competition and features a blossoming arsenal with a fastball that reaches the mid-90’s. He’s been knocked around a bit and doesn’t have the shiniest numbers, but with a solid K%-BB% rate and performance that’s trending in the right direction, Lin should find himself somewhere in the back half of the M’s organizational top thirty prospects list.

DSL Mariners

Young phenom Gregory Pio has continued to impress in the early stages of his career, leading the way offensively for this DSL squad thus far. The centerfielder launched his first professional homer in Saturday’s contest in a two-hit performance that raised his season slash to a .429/.500/.857 mark with an even 7:7 K/BB ratio (15.9% for both). With essentially no apparent holes in his game right now, Pio and his teammate Juan Rijo both figure to be prospects on the rise over the next few months.

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It’s no longer a battle of division leaders, but the Tampa Bay Rays-Los Angeles Dodgers series starting tonight still matches two of the best teams in baseball.

The Rays fell behind the Yankees in the AL East over the weekend, while the Dodgers are cruising in the NL West.

With a favorable pitching matchup and a more urgent need for a win, my Rays vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks expect Tampa to start the series off on the right foot on Monday, June 15.  

Who will win Rays vs Dodgers today: Rays moneyline (+148)

The Los Angeles Dodgers have alternated wins and losses over the last eight games, a schedule that includes the Angels and Pirates.

L.A. starts waiver-wire pickup Eric Lauer, who has pitched well for them but has a 5.47 ERA this year. He’s also a former division rival of the Tampa Bay Rays, so their batters are familiar with him. Current Rays have a .333 average and .632 slugging against the lefty.

And both Yandy Diaz and Junior Caminero boast wRC+ ratings north of 145 vs. southpaws.

The Rays have one of the five best records in MLB, making the current odds a bargain.

The game may not be a toss-up, but it’s close. Anything over +130 on Tampa is money well spent.

COVERS INTEL:Shohei Ohtani has just one walk in 10 plate appearances against Nick Martinez. Ohtani is hitless and has struck out three times. He’s grounded out four times and fouled out once. He made good contact against Martinez one time—a deep flyout.

Rays vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 9.5 (-120)

The Rays have scored four or fewer runs in seven of the last 10, the Dodgers in four of 10, including two of three.

Tampa starts Nick Martinez, who leads the league in fewest walks per nine innings. His offspeed stuff has a run value in the 100th percentile of MLB hurlers. His fastball is also 87th percentile, so he’s not merely a junkballer.

L.A. is without catcher Will Smith. Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Shohei Ohtani are the three Dodgers who have faced Martinez the most, and all have a .214 or lower career average against him.

Rays vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Rays +156 | Dodgers -163
• Run line: Rays +1.5 (-133) | Dodgers -1.5 (+127)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (+122) | Under 9.5 (-127)

Rays vs Dodgers trend

The Tampa Bay Rays have hit the Moneyline in 29 of their last 45 games (+9.70 Units / 17% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rays vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Rays vs Dodgers and game info

Rays vs Dodgers latest injuries

Rays vs Dodgers weather

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Corey Seager, who was just activated off the injured list ten days ago after spending a few weeks on the injured list with back spasms, has not played since Thursday’s series finale in Kansas City. He has been listed as day-to-day since then due to being generally sore and banged up after a collision at home plate with Royals catcher Carter Jensen on Thursday, though, per the beats, the team is now saying he is dealing with “concussion-like” symptoms as a result of the collision.

Here’s the collision between Seager and Jensen, for those of you who are curious:

The magic phrase “concussion-like symptoms” could be an indicator that the Rangers are consider the seven day concussion injured list as an option for Seager. That would mean that Seager would miss the three games against Minnesota this week, but would be eligible to be activated on Friday, when the Rangers start a series against the Padres. If he went on the 10 day injured list, on the other hand, the soonest that he could be activated would be on Monday, when the Rangers start a series in Miami. Under either scenario, he’d have to be played on the injured list today to be eligible to return on those dates, since i.l. moves can only be retroactive for up to three days.

If the Rangers were to place Seager on the injured list, he’d have to be replaced by a position player, since the Rangers are already carrying the maximum 13 pitchers allowed on the 26 man active roster. The only healthy position player on the 40 man roster who is not in the majors currently is Blaine Crim, though Crim, as a righthanded hitting 1B/DH, doesn’t necessarily make for the greatest of fits with the current needs on the active roster.

The more likely option would seem to be Josh Smith, who was placed on the injured list in early May due to a glute strain, then was hospitalized with a case of viral meningitis. Smith started a rehab assignment with Frisco on June 7, playing in both games of a doubleheader for the Roughriders, and continued that assignment by playing in all six of the Round Rock games this past week. Skip Schumaker on Friday said that Smith would need a little more time than usual on his rehab stint due to the fact that he was coming back from a hospitalization for an illness rather than your usual injury, but after three more rehab games, one would think that Smith would be ready to be activated, particularly if Seager needs a trip to the i.l.

Smith may end up activated today even if Seager doesn’t go on the injured list, and at some point, the Rangers will have to decide who will go down, whether upon Smith being activated if Seager doesn’t head to the i.l., or once Seager is activated if there is an injured list trip. The Rangers only have three true outfielders on their active roster currently, in Wyatt Langford, Brandon Nimmo and Alejandro Osuna, though Duran, Cody Freeman and Josh Smith are all infielders who can also play the outfield. Osuna came up with Michael Helman landed on the injured list with a broken hand, and would seem to be the odd man out when Evan Carter returns (hopefully next week), so Osuna could get sent down now, with some combo of Freeman, Duran and Smith handling left field in the meantime.

Alternatively, either Freeman or Nicky Lopez could be squeezed out. Lopez would seem to be superfluous once Smith returns, as a lefthanded hitting utility infielder, but then, Cody Freeman would seem to be superfluous with Duran here. Freeman can be optioned, while Lopez would have to be put on waivers, so sending Freeman down would correspond with the rule of maximizing your roster flexibility and capacity, but on the other hand, Nicky Lopez is Nicky Lopez, so I’m not sure how much that would matter.

The Cubs went 3-3 on their trip to Colorado and San Francisco. That isn’t great, but… it’s an improvement over recent weeks. They stand 7.5 games out of first place in the NL Central, which with 90 games remaining is far from insurmountable. And they are just one game behind the third wild card spot.

None of that is going to happen unless the team starts to hit again.

Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the six games.

Three up

Pete Crow-Armstrong continues his surge

PCA batted .346/.370/.654 (9-for-26) over the six games with three doubles, a triple, a home run, five runs scored and two stolen bases.

He was NL Player of the Week last week — I don’t think that’s quite enough to win the honor again, but PCA is on an 18-game on-base streak in which he is batting .377/.429/.714 (29-for-77) with six doubles, a triple, six home runs, four stolen bases and 14 runs scored. That has raised his OPS from .673 to .806 and, I think, puts him in the All-Star Game conversation.

Here is his first-pitch-of-the-game homer Saturday in San Francisco, his 12th of the year [VIDEO].

He also made another five-star catch [VIDEO].

Javier Assad was dominant again

After his great emergency outing replacing the injured Jameson Taillon a week ago Sunday at Wrigley Field, Assad shut down the Giants for six innings Friday, allowing no runs and three hits.

Assad’s making a strong case to remain in the rotation even when the Cubs’ injured starters return.

Here are his five strikeouts Friday [VIDEO].

Michael Busch’s numbers are quietly on the rise

Busch goes about his business on the field with little fanfare, and so you might not have noticed he had at least one hit in each of the six games on the road trip.

That extended his hitting streak to nine. On the six-game trip he batted .333/.462/.667 (7-for-21) with a double, two home runs, six RBI, four runs scored, four walks and even a stolen base.

That brought his season OPS up to .789. He leads the team with 42 RBI and I would think he’ll start hitting homers soon — he does tend to do that in bunches.

Three down

What is wrong with Dansby Swanson?

Swanson had a decent start to this season but his OPS has dropped below .600, a real danger zone. Over the six games he batted .158/.273/.211 (3-for-19) with eight strikeouts.

He’s still playing solid defense but… that’s not enough. He got a “reset” by sitting the last two home games before the trip, but it did not seem to help.

Same thing for Nico Hoerner

Hoerner got Sunday off after batting .150/.143/.200 (3-for-20) in the other five games on the road trip. He did strike out only once, but after a hot start Nico is batting just .185/.267/.219 over his last 37 games — 165 plate appearances. That’s a large enough sample size to be worrisome.

There are some here who have mentioned the day Nico was hit in the head by a pitch in San Diego, April 29 [VIDEO] as a possible turning point.

He remained in the game and played the next two days before getting a day off.

Up to April 29: .291/.370/.449, four home runs, 26 RBI, 13 walks, 14 strikeouts (31 games, 146 PA)
Since that date: .197/.275/.243, no home runs, eight RBI, 17 walks, seven strikeouts (39 games, 171 PA)

I dunno. Should he have been examined for concussion protocol? Maybe you guys are on to something.

Ian Happ is quietly sliding

Over the six games, Happ batted .136/.231/.409 (3-for-22). He did hit two home runs, one each against the Rockies and Giants, but had just one other hit for the week.

Overall Happ’s numbers are still decent, but the Cubs could use more production there. Or, just about anywhere. Here’s hoping the bats come alive beginning tonight against the Rockies.