Baseball News
While it has been known for some time that the Astros had planned to activate SP Hunter Brown for Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Tigers, it turns out that the Astros also intend to activate C Yainer Diaz as well according to MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart:
This would give the Astros back their Opening Day battery and 2 more key contributors to the team in their ace starter and number one catcher.
Astros would reduce the number of players on their IL list from 12 to 10.
The red-hot postseason for sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez continued on Monday at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha as the No. 6 Texas Longhorns extended their stay in the College World Series with a convincing 14-2 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide.
In the seventh postseason game for Rodriguez, the Flower Mound product recorded his seventh straight multi-hit performance, going 5-for-5 with seven RBI in hitting for just the third cycle in CWS history after a scoring decision review turned a second-inning double into a triple.
Rodriguez combined with the two batters in front of him — freshman left fielder Anthony Pack Jr. and junior designated hitter Ethan Mendoza — to go 11-for-14 (.786) with six runs and 13 of the 14 RBI recorded by the Longhorns. In recording 13 hits overall, Texas went 8-for-17 (.471) with runners in scoring position and 9-for-21 (.429) with runners on base, evidence of the extent to which the Horns improved their mental process at the plate after getting sped up in Saturday’s loss to the Diamond Dogs.
Texas also got a quality start from senior right-hander Ruger Riojas, the third straight from the 6’0, 195-pounder after battling shoulder tendinitis last month. Riojas threw 105 pitches over six innings, allowing two runs on six walks with seven strikeouts and two walks, putting the Horns in a positive to win without extending the bullpen after the offense gifted him three runs in the first inning and four runs in the second inning.
To open the game, Riojas worked off his lively fastball at 95 to 96 miles per hour, mixing in two different breaking balls to keep Alabama hitters off balance. Shortstop Justin Lebron did record a one-out single up the middle and a two-out stolen base, but the depth on a 1-2 breaking ball from Riojas induced the third strikeout in the frame.
Texas quickly looked threatening in the first as junior right fielder Aiden Robbins bounced back from his 0-for-4 performance against Georgia by smashing a 1-0 breaking ball down the left-field line for a leadoff double. Junior catcher Carson Tinney worked a full-count walk and Pack got to 3-2, too, but flew out to left field. Battling through a right shoulder injury and elevated to the four spot in the lineup, Mendoza took advantage of an elevated breaking ball to shoot a double through the left side and drive in Robbins.
So with only one out in the first inning, the Horns had already scored more runs against Adams than they did in the Texas product’s scoreless, six-inning outing in Austin two months ago. Rodriguez quickly added another double, pulling a 1-0 pitch down the right-field line to drive in two runs.
Adams recovered to strand Rodriguez on third by retiring redshirt senior second baseman Temo Becerra on a groundout to third and striking out junior first baseman Ashton Larson.
Despite getting ahead 0-2 against designated hitter Josh Lemm, Riojas issued a leadoff walk in the 11-pitch at bat as the Texas starter lost some velocity on his fastball and started to get some arm-side run on it, losing the strike zone entirely on an ensuing four-pitch walk. Trying to bunt, diminutive second baseman Brennan Holt got down 0-2 and suffered some bad luck on a hard-hit liner to first base that turned into a double play.
Dropping down for an 0-1 breaking ball, Riojas gave up a bloop single to left field that got one run back for Bama and extended the inning, but only for one more batter as Riojas recovered his command enough to get ahead and force a groundout to shortstop.
Junior third baseman Casey Borba opened the second inning with a leadoff single into the left-center gap, setting up a bunt situation for redshirt senior center fielder Dariyan Pendergrass, who finally got it down with two strikes to advance Borba into scoring position and turn the lineup over for Robbins. A strikeout on three pitches brought Tinney to the plate. Borba advanced to third on a wild pitch as Tinney drew his second walk.
Down 1-2, Pack slapped his own bloop single to left to score Borba before Mendoza pushed the lead to four runs on an opposite-field single through the right side.
Rodriguez blew the game open, hitting a ball into the left-center gap that was misplayed by the Tide outfielders as the ball rolled to the warning track, allowing Rodriguez to advance to third on the two-run double eventually reclassified as a triple for a 7-1 lead as the Horns keyed in on Adams tipping his pitches, negating the effectiveness of his high-level changeup.
After walking Becerra on a full count, Adams departed with two outs in the second inning and runners on the corners, but Alabama escaped without further damage as left-hander Matt Heiberger recorded the final out to strand both runners.
Riojas appeared to settle in with a 1-2-3 third inning and a strikeout to start the fourth before spinning a breaking ball onto Lemm’s barrel for a solo home run and then giving up two straight singles. On a hard-hit ball into right-center, Pendergrass was able to track it down with a good jump for a big second out. Reaching 81 pitches, Riojas left two runners on base with a swinging strikeout to get out of the fourth.
As assistant coach Troy Tulowitzki implored his hitters to work deeper in counts in the wake of a 12-pitch, 1-2-3 third inning, Tinney drew his third straight walk, but Pack grounded into a double play on the second pitch he saw from Heiberger. Mendoza was able to work a longer at bat before his own groundout that ended with his favoring his injured shoulder on the way back to the dugout.
Longhorns head coach Jim Schlossnagle was able to get some length with Riojas out for the fifth and sixth innings, which went quickly as the Texas starter extended his streak of consecutive batters retired to eight to finish his outing.
In the bottom of the sixth, two home runs turned the game into a blowout as Pack sent a two-run shot into the bullpen in left field, his fifth postseason homer, but his first since the Austin Regional, and a two-run bomb by Rodriguez at 106 miles per hour off the bat that traveled 418 feet.
It was only the fifth home run of the season for Rodriguez, who hasn’t had his typical power since breaking his right hand almost 16 months ago.
On in relief for Riojas, freshman right-hander Brody Walls helped preserve the Texas bullpen, which only threw 31 pitches on Saturday, striking out two and allowing only a single base runner over two innings.
In a heartening development for Schlossnagle and Tulowitzki, the Horns kept the pressure on the Tide at the plate, taking advantage of a fielding error by Lebron in the eighth when Tinney drew his fourth walk and Pack recorded his third RBI with an opposite-field single. After redshirt sophomore pinch hitter Blake Peterson notched his first career RBI, Rodriguez added another run on his second double of the game.
Redshirt junior left-hander Ethan Walker came on to retire the first batter of the inning before giving way to redshirt senior right-hander Cody Howard, who only needed seven pitches to get the final two outs.
Texas advances to face another elimination game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. Central on ESPN against the loser of Georgia and Oklahoma, Monday’s late game at Charles Schwab Field.
Texas baseball's offense did not slow down in Monday's College World Series elimination game against No. 7 Alabama, and neither did Adrian Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, who has been on the Longhorns' hottest bats this postseason, went 5-for-5 at the plate in the Longhorns' 14-2 win over the Crimson Tide to extend their stay in Omaha by at least one additional game.
In the process of his multi-hit performance, the Longhorns' shortstop made history by becoming the third player to hit for the cycle on college baseball's grandest stage — and he got some help from the official scorer to reach that mark.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, ESPN announced that Rodriguez's hit in the second inning had been rescored to a triple by the official scorer after it was scored as a double with the ball falling between Alabama's Eric Hines and Bryce Fowler in left center field.
Rodriguez's third triple of the game brought in two of his seven runs driven in on the day — two more RBI than his former season-high of five RBIs against Oregon in Game 1 of the Austin Super Regional.
Rodriguez began the day with a two-RBI double down the right field line in a three-run bottom of the first inning for the Longhorns. He'd tack on two more RBIs in the sixth inning when he got hold of a 91 mph pitch from Haegan Banks that sneaked into the corner of the Longhorns' bullpen in left field. His single came in the fifth inning.
He capped off his day with a double down the right field line to push his RBI count up to seven, matching a College World Series record.
Here's what to know on Rodriguez's big day:
Rodriguez joins the University of Minnesota's Jerry Kindall and Tennessee's Christian Moore as the three hitters to have hit for the cycle in the history of the College World Series. His cycle comes two years and a day from when Moore hit the cycle against Florida State in what was one of the craziest CWS games played in recent memory.
Kindall first reached the feat back in the 1956 CWS in a 13-5 victory against Ole Miss during the Golden Gophers run to their first College World Series title.
ESPN’s Mike Monaco noted on the broadcast that the scoring change came after the official scorer reviewed the footage of Rodriguez’s triple. According to the scorer’s explanation, Rodriguez briefly eased up after rounding first base before then accelerating again and maintaining that momentum all the way to third.
Here's a look at the now triple:
perfectly placed 🎯#HookEm | @arod_2024pic.twitter.com/WyezL8PBcF
— Texas Baseball (@TexasBaseball) June 15, 2026
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College World Series cycles: Texas' Adrian Rodriguez joins list with 7-RBI day
The Cincinnati Reds are back in action on Monday night in Great American Ball Park after dropping Sunday’s series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks. That loss canned the series for them, and they’ve now dropped five straight series overall as their precipitous fall down the NL Central standings continues.
They’ll look to get back on the winning side of things with Chase Burns on the mound, as he’ll fire the first pitch of tonight’s series opener against the New York Mets. Righty Tobias Myers – a reliever by trade – will be the nominal starter for the Mets this evening, though given he’s only topped 36 pitches once all season it will undoubtedly be an early bullpen game for New York.
The Mets come to town fresh off a series victory over the Atlanta Braves, so that’s fun.
First pitch is set for 7:10 PM ET this time around, and the game will be televised on Reds.TV and MLB.tv.
Lineups for both clubs are listed below. Go Reds!
Today is a much-needed off day for the Braves, who are back in Atlanta and hoping to get things back on track with a win tomorrow against the Giants. They got some, well, mixed news with Spencer Strider’s evaluation, as he’s been shut down for a month and will be reevaluated further. We did get some good news about Drake Baldwin so things may be looking up much sooner rather than later for the first-place Braves.
I’m not going to lie (and you probably guessed this from the featured image): I will be watching the World Cup this evening. If you’re insistent on watching baseball, though, there’s a good hate-watch opportunity going on this evening as the Marlins and Phillies will be locking horns. For the sake of the standings I think we all wouldn’t mind a Marlins win but either way, we all win when an NL East team loses so if that’s your choice then enjoy the hate-watch.
There are some intriguing matchups going on out West, though. It’s pretty interesting to see the Pirates and the A’s both being not-terrible this deep into the season and it’ll be very interesting to see how OaklandSacramentoLasVegas the A’s bounce back after getting walloped for 23 runs on Sunday against the Rockies.
Meanwhile, the Rays and the Dodgers will be locking horns on ESPN so that oughta be interesting off of the records alone. Can the Rays go into Dodger Stadium and lay down a marker of intent? Will the Dodgers bring back memories of 2020 with their performance tonight? We’ll see what happens.
For now, I hope everybody enjoys their evening, no matter if you’re watching baseball, soccer, or some show you’ve watched 3850 times already.
Rejoice, one and all. The reigning NL Rookie of the Year returns.
Sensing we needed some good news after the recent skid and mixed Spencer Strider update, the Braves have made an off-day move to reinstate Drake Baldwin from the IL and outright Austin Wynns to Triple-A Gwinnett.
Baldwin went down on May 19 with a strained right oblique. Sent on his rehab assignment on June 13, he played one (1) rain-delayed game in Jacksonville for the Stripers and went 1-for-3 with a solo homer. “That’s enough, bring him back,” we all joked. But the Braves clearly agreed.
Baldwin’s rehab homer made his hit total the exact same as Austin Wynns’ in his six games / 14 at-bats with the Braves. That lone hit was a single in the extra-innings loss in Chicago last week.
Baldwin is also in first place in NL All-Star voting for catchers in the first batch of votes released today. He’s poised to make and start his first All-Star game. As much as “Send your Braves to Philly” sounds like a threat, make sure you’re voting for Drake and the Braves 5x a day at braves.com/vote.
Texas Rangers lineup for June 15, 2026 against the Minnesota Twins: starting pitchers are MacKenzie Gore for the Rangers and Mike Paredes for the Twins.
Texas returns to Arlington to begin a six game homestand, with the first three coming against the Twinkies. Corey Seager is still not in the lineup.
The lineup:
Pederson — DH
Jung — 3B
Langford — LF
Nimmo — RF
Burger — 1B
Osuna — CF
Freeman — 2B
Lopez — SS
Diaz — C
7:05 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are -160 favorites.
MLB has released its first All-Star voting update, and a number of Yankees are in contention, with Ben Rice and Aaron Judge in good position to secure spots. As a refresher on how All-Star voting works, we’re currently in Phase 1, which runs through June 25th; the top overall vote-getter in each league after Phase 1 will automatically earn a starting spot at their position in the All-Star Game. The top two vote-getters at every other position proceed to a run-off in Phase 2.
Despite going down with a right rib stress fracture, Judge is still tops among AL outfielders, and trails only Yordan Alvarez for most votes in the American League. His lead over the number-two outfielder, Mike Trout, is narrow, with Judge leading by 977,460 votes to 926,601 votes. Alvarez, a DH, isn’t far ahead of Judge at 1,015,768 votes, but Judge faces an uphill climb to catch Alvarez and earn an automatic slot, given he’ll be on the shelf at least the rest of the month.
Ben Rice is one of two other Yankees in position to proceed to Phase 2, as he’s second to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base, trailing by about 96,000 votes. Guerrero’s star power keeps him in the top spot, with Rice thoroughly outplaying the Blue Jay, Rice’s 172 wRC+ dwarfing Guerrero’s 108. The other is Cody Bellinger in the outfield, in third behind Judge and Trout. The top six outfielders advance in the voting, so Bellinger, in the midst of what’s been his best season since his 2019 MVP campaign, looks to be in a good spot.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. is also within striking distance of qualifying for the Phase 2 run-off. He’s only in fifth place among AL second basemen, but he’s not far behind the second slot, with the Rangers’ Ezequiel Duran in second at 287,996 and Chisholm at 230,846. After a terrible start, Chisholm has looked much more like himself the last several weeks, and could move up in the standings if he stays hot. Giancarlo Stanton is in fourth in the DH rankings, but has slim odds to catch up after suffering a setback in his recovery from a calf injury.
Other Yankees that received enough votes to show up in the rankings for their respective positions: José Caballero, in ninth at shortstop, Ryan McMahon (amusingly) at tenth at third base, and Austin Wells (even more amusingly) at tenth at catcher. You can check out the full lists, as well as the voting for the National League, here.
ATLANTA — Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider will be shut down from throwing for four weeks because of inflammation in his right elbow, the team announced.
Strider, who had been placed on the 15-day injured list, had a consultation with Dr. Keith Meister before they decided on four weeks. Strider will have another MRI at the end of that period and would begin “throwing progression” if test were to show the inflammation had cleared, the team said.
Strider left a 7-5 loss at the New York Mets in the fourth inning due to right shoulder and elbow soreness. Braves manager Walt Weiss said the team also was concerned about a dramatic decline in Strider’s velocity.
Strider has a history of arm problems. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and had the UCL in his right elbow repaired with an internal brace in April 2024.
Rookie right-hander JR Ritchie, who pitched in relief behind Strider, will move into the rotation and has been scheduled to start against San Francisco.
Strider allowed six hits, including three homers, and a season-worst seven earned runs in three innings.
Strider was making his eighth start of the season for the first-place Braves after missing the first 34 games recovering from a strained left oblique. He is 4-2 with a 5.31 ERA this season.
Strider led the major leagues with 20 wins and an Atlanta-record 281 strikeouts in 2023.
Prior to the start of the team’s series with the Reds, the Mets announced a bevy of roster moves. First off, the club recalled Tobias Myers, who will start tonight’s game, and Jonathan Pintaro from Triple-A Syracuse. To make room on the roster, the team optioned Daniel Duarte to Triple-A and officially placed Christian Scott on the IL, retroactive to June 12, with a right hip impingement. The club also moved Jorge Polanco to the 60-day IL and claimed old friend and now current friend Zack Short off waivers from the Tigers.
The first move of note should not come as a surprise, as Carlos Mendoza announced following the team’s win yesterday that Myers would get the nod for New York in the series opener. The right-hander was sent down to Triple-A at the end of May to stretch out as a starter and give the team a fresh arm in the pen. Since going down to Syracuse, he has thrown six innings and allowed one unearned run on one hit. Mendoza stated that he will be limited to right around 40 pitches today, so he will essentially be an opener. Prior to the news of Scott’s injury, you could have made the argument that David Peterson could serve as the bulk arm tonight, but the lefty may now be needed to fill Scott’s vacant slot. Scott last pitched on Thursday and allowed four earned runs over 4 2/3 innings before exiting.
Pintaro will provide New York with a fresh arm to back up Myers tonight, at the very least. The right-hander has made three appearances for the Mets, allowing one earned run on one hit with five strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings. This will be his third stint for the Amazins this year. Duarte, who was sent down to make room for Pintaro, has also made three appearances for the Mets, allowing just one hit while striking out three over five innings of work. He pitched in each of the team’s last two games against the Braves, tossing 2 2/3 innings and throwing 20 of his 28 pitches for strikes. He did not allow a hit in either outing and struck out two while walking one, The heavy workload meant he would likely not be available for the next two games, and with the Mets likely needing to use their bullpen heavily in these outings, his demotion was essentially a given.
Lastly, if the name Zack Short sounds familiar, you may be ready to tackle and dominate the “2024 Mets Sporcle” quiz. The infielder appeared in 10 games for the 2024 club, amassing nine at-bats and picking up one hit. So, at the very least, he is ahead of Jed Lowrie on the club’s all-time hits list as he begins his second stint in orange and blue. Polanco hitting the 60-day IL functionally doesn’t change much about his recovery timeline, as the club said they expect him to appear as a DH in rehab game in the coming days.
After Aaron Judge went onto the IL, it was anyone’s guess how the Yankees would respond on the field without their captain. So far, the group has rallied, sweeping the Cleveland Guardians on the road and taking two of three against the Blue Jays with some late inning dramatics. Obviously, the team would prefer to have a healthy Judge in the middle of that lineup, but it’s encouraging that an offense that has looked very thin at times without him producing up until he went on the shelf has managed to score five or more runs in five of their last seven games and won six of them.
Now without Trent Grisham for a bit as well, it’s all on the young Yankees to fill the gaps in the outfield. Jasson Domínguez is back and starting alongside Spencer Jones with Cody Bellinger the lone mainstay from the Opening Day outfield, and that core with Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm Jr. will look to keep doing damage. Will the team’s long-debated outfield prospects bloom after finally getting a chance to start uncontested? Will the team’s bottom of the lineup pull through during this stretch? Can the team even manage to earn some separation from the Rays? If you have questions like these, or anything else on your mind, send ‘em in for a chance to be featured in our Yankees mailbag.
Answers will run on Friday afternoon. All questions received by the night of June 18th will be considered. You can leave your submissions in the comment section below or by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.
Didn’t we just do this last week? (Yes, we did.)
Thanks, schedule-makers.
For more on the Rockies, you can check out that series preview from last week or visit our SB Nation Rockies site Purple Row.
The Cubs have won nine straight games at home vs. the Rockies, sweeping three games each of the past three years. They outscored the Rockies, 51-21, including 3-1, 4-3 and 2-1 last season.
The Cubs are 21-14-2 in series at home vs. the Rockies — and 18-6-1 since 2000, including 13-2-1 in 2000-15 and 5-1 since 2019.
Their only winless series were two games each in 1996 and 1997. In 2006 and 2011, they lost two games, then won the third. In 2017, they lost three, then won the fourth.
The Cubs have swept the Rockies in seven series: four games in 2008, two in 2010 and three in 1993, 2007 and 2023-25.
…..
This series is the last of three this year in which the Cubs will have played the same opponent in two series separated by one against a different opponent.
The first was April 13-23, when the Cubs won two of three at Philadelphia, won three at home vs. the Mets, then swept four vs. the Phillies.
The second was June 5-14, when they lost two of three at home vs. the Giants, lost two of three at Colorado, then won two of three at San Francisco.
After Wednesday, the Cubs will have finished their season series vs. 10 teams: the Giants, Phillies and Rockies in the NL, and the Angels, Astros, Athletics, Guardians, Rangers, Rays and White Sox in the AL.
The only NL team they have not played is the Marlins. They will not until Sept. 4, when the teams meet in the first of three games at Miami. They will play three at Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ final three home games, Sept. 22-24.
(Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
Monday: Shōta Imanaga, LHP (4-6, 4.44 ERA, 1.062 WHIP, 4.72 FIP) vs. Michael Lorenzen, RHP (2-8, 7.54 ERA, 1.904 WHIP, 4.84 FIP)
Tuesday: Edward Cabrera, RHP (4-3, 4.86 ERA, 1.413 WHIP, 5.09 FIP) vs. Ryan Feltner, RHP (2-2, 5.20 ERA, 1.211 WHIP, 4.98 FIP)
Wednesday: Javier Assad, RHP (4-1, 3.99 ERA, 1.017 WHIP, 3.99 FIP) vs. Sean Sullivan, LHP (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.667 WHIP, 2.77 FIP)
Monday: 7:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Tuesday: 7:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Wednesday: 7:05 p.m. CT, Marquee Sports Network
Well, the Cubs DID finally win a series, over the weekend in San Francisco. The Rockies have lost eight of 11, though they did win a ridiculous game in Sacramento on Sunday, 23-9 over the A’s.
But overall they are 13-25 on the road and have lost nine of their last 13 road games.
If the Cubs don’t win at least two of these three, they’re in trouble.
The Cubs finally get out of the Giants/Rockies/Giants/Rockies pattern. They have Thursday off, then will host the Toronto Blue Jays in a three-game series at Wrigley Field beginning Friday afternoon.
We are having issues with polls at this time so please just list how many games you think the Cubs will win in this series in the comments.
In another edition of polls conducted by Bucs Dugout the results are in as fans were asked to vote on who they think the Pittsburgh Pirates’ team MVP would be through the early part of the season. The player that gathered the most votes was the Bucco’s slugging second-baseman, Brandon Lowe, as 67% of those who participated in the poll chose “Bam Bam” as the team’s MVP. The margins were not close as second place vote getter, Braxton Ashcraft, was only chosen by 10% of the fans that voted.
It is undeniable that Lowe has been on a tear in his first season with Pittsburgh. He was already big news when the Pirates traded for him this past offseason, but now that he’s blasting baseballs left, right and center, it may go down as one of the best trades in Pirates’ history. On the season Lowe is slashing .240/.325/.512 with 17 home runs, 46 RBIs and an .837 OPS. The 31-year-old second-baseman is currently tied for the 12th most home runs in baseball.
Ashcraft gathered the second most MVP votes from fans at Bucs Dugout, but there was a large margin between himself and the leader Lowe. Still though Ashcraft has emerged as maybe the best pitcher for the Pirates in 2026. The 26-year-old righty has a 5-3 record with 90 strikeouts and a respectable 3.30 ERA. Ashcraft now looking fully healthy has been very efficient in his outings this season, and could be a potential All-Star for the National League.
Newcomer Ryan O’Hearn and second year Pirate Spencer Horwitz both made up 6% of the fan votes as they have been great sources of offensive consistency for the club. Horwitz has settled into the best option at first base for the Pirates, as his .281 average and nine homers have been bright spots for the team. Even with some injury struggles, O’Hearn too has been one of the best hitters for Pittsburgh as well with his 10 homers, .275 average and veteran leadership all helping this be one of the best teams the Pirates have fielded in a decade.
Rounding out the list was Paul Skenes who got 5% of all votes for team MVP while Oneil Cruz got 4%. Skenes is undeniably one of the best pitchers in baseball but he is admittedly having a bit of an off year. With that being said an off year for Skenes is still great for the most part. Oneil Cruz has really seemed to turn a corner this season at the plate as he’s already knocked in 14 homers this year. On the base pads Cruz has been very active once again as he’s stolen 21 bags so far. His move to the injured list and defensive shortcomings will hold him back from truly shining as the team’s MVP.
FanDuel Sports Network has their list compiled of the most likely players to lead the league in homers by the end of the regular season. Brandon Lowe currently has the 21st best odds as a +17500 underdog to finish the year with the most home runs in baseball. Lowe also currently sits as a +30000 underdog to win National League MVP.
Following a couple of series away from home against the Pirates and White Sox, the Dodgers return home to face yet another team with a record above their initial expectations—a Rays team battling neck and neck with the Yankees for the AL East lead. Right at the center of this phenomenal campaign of the Rays lies the stabilizing work of veteran right-hander Nick Martínez alongside Drew Rasmussen at the top of the rotation. While Martinez’s terrific numbers in 2026 come as a surprise given his recent track record, specifically for Dodger fans, it is no new thing to see him perform well.
When Martinez takes the mound for the 41-27 Rays against the Dodgers, he’ll put on the line the finest numbers of his career against any big league club. Martínez has a 2.50 ERA in 36 innings against the Dodgers across three starts and another 10 appearances out of the bullpen. Mookie Betts, for instance, the Dodgers’ player with the most at-bats against Martínez, has a near .200 average in 29 at-bats against him.
As a team, the Dodgers didn’t get out of Chicago with a lot of positives, but one of them was seeing Betts’ bat coming alive, with the shortstop piling on five hits in the last two games, including a homer. Betts now carries this spark into a tough challenge facing a pitcher he has routinely struggled against.
Once a week these days, it seems, Jose Caballero annoys an opponent so much a baseball game stops because of it. Last week, it was Cleveland Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey. This week, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider and young pitcher Spencer Miles.
Sometimes, the games stop for a few seconds as pitchers grapple with his unique approach to the limits of the pitch clock. Sunday, the game stopped for nine minutes as Caballero argued with home plate umpire Steven Jaschinski after Jaschinski stopped play with nine seconds left on the pitch clock to scold Caballero when, by rule, the Yankees’ sparkplug need not be set until eight.
“There’s a lot of major league players in this league,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters in Toronto after the game, frustrated with the delay that ensued as Caballero argued his innocence.
“There seems to be one guy that has an issue with it. It sucks that a pitcher like Spencer Miles has to sit out there for as long as he did. Seems like it could have been handled a lot quicker and a lot more efficiently than it was. But, again, that’s not why we lost, but it’s Major League Baseball, everyone knows the rules.”
Funnily enough, that one guy with an issue might know the rules better than anyone. And he does not shy away from his willingness to use them to his advantage.
The plan, familiar to many by now, is this: Caballero must be set and looking at the pitcher with eight seconds left on the pitch clock to avoid a violation. So as the pitcher readies himself with 15 or 12 or even 10 seconds left, Caballero will step in to the batter’s box, tap his bat, and look set. But he will not look up until the clock hits eight seconds, forcing the pitcher to wait until he does.
“My thing is, I don’t want the pitcher to take control of the at-bat,” Caballero said, while kneeling gleefully, arms hanging over the back of his chair in the Yankees clubhouse.
“So if I am ready right when the clock starts, he has 17, 18 seconds to work with it, and I don’t want to be stuck in there thinking about oh, what’s he gonna throw? He might be shaking his head seven times and then I’m in there just thinking and I get tired of having my bat ready. I don’t want that.”
Caballero was in the Tampa Bay Rays organization when the pitch clock was tested in the minor leagues, so he says he has been honing this strategy since 2019. The clock didn’t hit the big leagues until 2023, so he thinks he has an advantage over veterans who did not grow up playing with it. He says the idea to delay as long as possible was his, and he is not surprised more players do not try it.
“It’s not always an advantage to do it. Sometimes there is more bad than good that you can get out of it – that’s why I’m always involved in all of these bad things,” Caballero said with a smile, referencing his early June disagreement with the Guardians over his approach.
“[Those disagreements] do bother me because it’s the rules. You’re supposed to call the rule,” he said. “Why do I have to stop my at-bat to let you know about the rule you’re supposed to be knowing? If I’m running, and you as a pitcher balk, why would I have to tell the umpire to call it? You know he’s making a mistake. Call the mistake. Simple as that.”
Caballero said every time the game stops because of his late set-up, the argument is “something different.”
Last week against the Guardians, for example, he said umpires told him he looked up once before looking down again, which Caballero disputed, and that Guardians catcher Patrick Bailey said he was waiting to look up until the last minute on purpose. Sunday, John Schneider said he took issue with how long Caballero argued with umpires about the situation.
In both cases – as in every case – Cabellero said he does not understand why anyone is still surprised by his strategy.
“The rules are the rules, and I have my time to do so, and I always do it. It doesn’t matter what inning, it doesn’t matter what count. It’s not like I’m trying to mess you up. You already know,” Caballero said. “I’m pretty sure every team has a meeting before facing us about it. You already know! All you have to do is wait until seven seconds and come set. It’s that simple. If you want to make it a scene, I’m going to look like the bad guy, but the rule is the same for everyone.”
Caballero, 29, probably draws more angst in part because his reputation as someone who tries to distract opponents precedes him. His manager, Aaron Boone, once referred to Caballero’s on-field agitating as “Woody Woodpecker stuff.”
“The instigator,” Boone said.
The Yankees have not had many instigators in Boone’s tenure – or perhaps, more accurately, in Aaron Judge’s reign. Judge towers over a notoriously buttoned-up clubhouse, one known for a business-like approach punctuated only by Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s fearless candor in recent years. When asked about how his willingness to push opponents’ buttons plays with his teammates in a clubhouse full of rule-followers, Caballero interrupted.
“I’m following the rules! It’s just a different way to follow the rules,” he said, smiling and twisting his chair side to side like an energetic kid who could not wait for class to end.
“It’s not that I want to get in trouble But for me, it’s a battle. If I can make you think about something else, I’m winning the battle right there,” he said. “I’m trying to get on base, no matter how, so if that bothers you, I couldn’t be more happy.”