Category: Baseball

Kyle McCann did not choose catching.

Catching chose him, the way it tends to do in youth baseball, suddenly, out of necessity, because someone else didn’t show up.

He was 12 years old, on a travel team somewhere in Georgia, and the regular catcher was sick. When the coach and the players who would step in, McCann raised his hand.

“Ever since then, I fell in love with it,” he said. “I wanted to catch every day after that.”

What he loved, he said, was the involvement. Other positions offered bursts of action — a ground ball to the shortstop, a fly ball to center — with long stretches of waiting in between. Behind the plate, there was no waiting. Every pitch was his.

“I was in every pitch of the game,” McCann said. “I wasn’t in the infield or outfield, just hoping a ball would get hit to me. I was calling pitches. I was in every play.”

That instinct — to be in the middle of everything, all the time — has followed McCann through a career that has required a great deal of patience.

Getting to The Show

McCann grew up in Suwanee, Georgia, attended Lambert High School, and went to Georgia Tech, where he spent his first two seasons largely at first base while Joey Bart — the second-overall pick in the 2018 draft — handled the catching duties.

When Bart departed, McCann stepped in and made the most of it, hitting .299 with 23 home runs and 70 RBI in his junior season and earning All-American recognition. The Oakland Athletics took him in the fourth round of the 2019 draft — 134th overall — and signed him for $500,000.

Five years in the Oakland system followed. He hit 17 home runs at Triple-A Las Vegas in 2023, posted an .825 OPS, and earned his way on Oakland’s Opening Day roster in 2024, making his major league debut on March 30 of that year.

He appeared in 54 games, hit .236 with five home runs, and then — as the Athletics began their transition to Sacramento — was released the day before the following season.

“I got released from Oakland the day before the season, didn’t get picked up,” he said.

Finding a way forward

“So I chose to go to Mexico to keep playing,” McCann said.

The league was the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol. His team was the Piratas de Campeche. His first game was in Mexico City, in a stadium holding 30,000 fans, with air horns blaring and an atmosphere unlike anything he had experienced in affiliated ball.

“Everyone’s screaming, air horns — the environment was very, very cool to see,” he said.

He enjoyed it. He learned things about elevation that would prove useful later — that at 7,000 feet above sea level, the ball behaves differently; that hydration matters more than you think; that running hard to first base in thin air will leave you more gassed than expected. Denver sits at roughly 5,280 feet. Mexico City had prepared him for what was coming.

Finding the Rockies — and another injury

It almost didn’t come at all. About a month and a half into the Mexican season, McCann was involved in a collision at first base — a season-ending injury that sent him home to rehab. He spent the rest of 2025 recovering. In early January 2026, his agent reached out to the Colorado Rockies. A minor-league contract was signed by early February. Spring training arrived.

Then, in one of the cruelest twists the sport offers, a cutter came in hard and up, McCann put a check swing on it, and the ball hit his wrist. He walked down to first base, thinking it hurt a little but when he tried to go out and catch, he knew it was more than that.

He didn’t fight Warren Schaeffer when the manager came to remove him from the game.

“Yep,” he told him. “We’re going to go see what this is about.”

An X-ray confirmed a fracture of the ulnar styloid. Six weeks of healing. Two weeks of progression. A week and a half of games. And now, finally, here — with the Albuquerque Isotopes, behind the plate again, doing exactly what he loves.

Enjoying Albuquerque

McCann is 28 years old and has been around long enough to have a philosophy about how he approaches the job. Ask him about working with pitchers, and he talks about reading people — figuring out which ones need encouragement and which ones need a more direct conversation.

“Some pitchers need a little more loving than others,” he said. “Some guys, you kind of got to get in their grill and say, ‘Come on now, lock in right here. We need to do this pitch in this situation.’ It’s really just learning what each guy likes.”

Regarding the ABS challenge system, he has mixed feelings, which he articulates with precision. As a hitter, he loves it — the ability to challenge a called strike and get it overturned is a real advantage. As a catcher, it cuts the other way. Framing has always been part of the craft, a skill catchers develop over the years, and the ABS system limits how much that skill can influence outcomes.

“It kind of hurts us a little bit,” he said, “because now we can’t steal many pitches.”

He doesn’t think it changes the game as dramatically as some have suggested, but he acknowledges the shift.

He also discussed Albuquerque’s pitch-suggestion system — where the dugout calls pitches for the first four batters of opposing lineups, with the catcher and pitcher able to shake off the suggestion. McCann has embraced it.

“They give us a sheet at the beginning of the game — here’s how we’re going to pitch each guy — so we kind of already have an idea of what we’re going to do,” he said. “I trust what they have in the dugout, what they have on hitters. I don’t mind at all.”

Welcome to Albuquerque, Kyle McCann!!

A two-run homer (428 feet) onto the berm and we're back in this one!

B5: Chihuahuas 6, Isotopes 3 pic.twitter.com/TQEZhxrcLT

— Albuquerque Isotopes (@ABQTopes) May 28, 2026

Giving a shoutout to Chuck Nazty

There is one more Georgia Tech connection worth mentioning. Charlie Blackmon — the longtime Rockies outfielder, a Tech alum himself — used to come back to the Georgia Tech facility in the offseason to hit and work out. McCann and his teammates would seek him out.

“We’d always go up to him and ask questions, trying to pick his brain, because obviously he had a great career,” McCann said.

It’s a fitting footnote for a player who has spent his entire career collecting lessons wherever he can find them — from Blackmon at Georgia Tech, from the veterans in the Oakland system, from 30,000 fans and 7,000 feet of altitude in Mexico. All of it is in the bank now.

The wrist is healed. He’s back behind the plate, for every pitch, right where he belongs.

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It's a quiet slate across the big leagues today, but I've still found immense value in my MLB player props home run analysis. 

Ronald Acuna Jr. will get things started, followed by Jarren Duran and Bryan Reynolds.

Read more in my MLB picks for Thursday, June 4. 

Best MLB home run props today

Home run pick: Ronald Acuna Jr. (+467)

Ronald Acuña Jr. is in the middle of one of the hottest stretches of his season. Over the last week, the Atlanta Braves superstar owns a barrel rate north of 35% and a hard-hit rate above 60%, indicating he's consistently generating elite contact quality. Acuna has already hit five home runs in his last five games.

The Toronto Blue Jays will use Mason Fluharty as an opener before turning things over to the bullpen. Fluharty has allowed a 45.5% hard-hit rate across his last five appearances, while Toronto's relievers own a 12.5% HR/FB rate over the last week.

That could be problematic against a hitter like Acuna, who has put 54.5% of his contact in the air during that span. With the Braves outfielder consistently elevating and barreling baseballs, this matchup offers another opportunity for his power surge to continue.

I'd play this pick up to +400.

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: BravesVision, Sportsnet One

Home run pick: Jarren Duran (+610)

Jarren Duran is swinging the bat well lately, collecting four doubles and two home runs across his last six games. The Boston Red Sox outfielder has also turned his fly balls into damage, posting a 40% HR/FB rate during that stretch.

The matchup is what stands out most, however. Trevor Rogers has been extremely vulnerable to power lately, allowing 2.53 home runs per nine innings alongside a 6.66 FIP across his last two starts. Opponents have also generated a 47.2% hard-hit rate, 11.1% barrel rate, and 22.7 average launch angle against him.

Those indicators suggest hitters are consistently making dangerous contact against Rogers, creating an appealing opportunity for a hot bat like Duran.

I'd play this pick up to +550.

• Time: 1:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NESN, MASN

Home run pick: Bryan Reynolds (+710)

Bryan Reynolds is tearing the cover off the baseball lately, posting a 20% barrel rate, 94 mph average exit velocity, and 53.3% hard-hit rate across his last 29 plate appearances. The Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder continues to generate loud contact and draws an intriguing matchup against Houston Astros right-hander Kai-Wei Teng.

While Teng has pitched reasonably well overall this season, the long ball has become a concern lately. Over his last 11 innings, he's allowed 1.64 home runs per nine innings and owns a 20% HR/FB rate, indicating opponents have capitalized when they've elevated the baseball.

That could be problematic against a hitter like Reynolds, who has put just under 35% of his contact in the air over his last six games while consistently producing hard contact.

I'd play this pick up to +650.

• Time: 8:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SportsNet Pittsburgh, Space City Home Network

Today’s HR parlay

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Astros pitcher of the Month Spencer Arrighetti may have struggled, but the team picked up their pitcher to do what they haven’t been able to do all year: Come from behind with a large deficit. Here are my 3 takeaways from this outstanding comeback performance!

1. Cam Smith’s Spectacular At-Bats.

His at bat in the Bottom of the 5th inning knocked out Paul Skenes which was huge for the Astros. Although Paul Skenes was on the mound he has shown times where he can fall to a decent or bad start. The Astros were good enough to get him out of the game. Their plan was to get him out of the game with a no decision. Cam Smith and company was a big part of that.

Two 2 strike, 2-out hits for 3 RBI tonight for Cam Smith.

One hit 102.0 mph off a 98.3 mph fastball on the outside corner.

This one hit 106.2 mph off a 98.1 mph fastball on the outside corner. You love to see it!!! #Astroshttps://t.co/wSIKsImKZ0

— Don Dougan (@don_dougan) June 4, 2026

This Tweet says it all, and shows that Cam seems to be really putting something together at the plate and the patience of the Astros seems to be paying off at the moment. When you look at what he’s done lately, it seems Cam Smith is more productive, a sign of life this club desperately needs in 2026. As you can see from his MLB.com profile he sits between .290 and .262 with 3 home runs in his last 15 games, with a slug around .500.

2. Spencer Arrighetti: Learning from Mistakes.

Is it possible to improve, even when you fail to complete a task. Absolutely, ask anyone who owns a small business. Many times, if not every time, success comes after failure. As I listened to Spencer Arrighetti address the media after the game I was encouraged how much he has grown up in his young career. After the game he said,

“ I should have known that throwing 5 straight fastballs to a major league hitter was a mistake. Henry Davis is a big leaguer for a reason.” “I was confident in my approach at the time, I just know now not to repeat that.”

The fact that he is aware of this tells me he is going to deal next several outings. It does seem many times a pitcher or hitter who gets one of these awards tails off a little in success. Maybe its a coincidence, then again maybe the athlete whoever it is just presses. No matter the reason Spencer Arrighetti is better after last nights game. There are two different types of athletes: Good athletes and GREAT athletes, the Great athletes are the good athletes that were able to get over their mistakes and failures and not let those setbacks define them.

Absolutely love this clip. Thank you @MaxZepedaSports for posting this. I have been impressed with him since I first spoke with him. He has really grown, and what I love is Spencer sees the mistakes and I am sure he will be dialed in next game. Prayers for his next opponent!… https://t.co/nDAN9O2Cby

— Htown Wheelhouse™️2X World Series Champs '17, '22 (@HtownWheelhouse) June 4, 2026

3. Josh Hader’s Return – The Fireman is About to Burn the League Down!

The Astros bullpen has missed Josh Hader, and this statement alone does capture the frustating performances Astros fans have come accustomed to in 2026. The Bullpen has had to deal with Bryan Abreu in the closer role, and he has not done well. All season his failures have been at the demise of the Astros, even in comback efforts. While you do have semi-reliable arms like Aj Blubaugh, Brian King, Seven Okert and Enyel De Los Santos, these guys do suffer and stand to be exposed if the starting pitching isn’t going the distance. This is why your leader, your stabilizer in Josh Hader is so important.

Having him as the anchor, doesn’t just help, it solidifies your bullpen with the assurance of knowing you know what you’re going to get with Josh Hader. Josh Hader is one of the Best at what he does with a career WHIP of 0.94, 228 career saves and 830 strikeouts, you feel much more confident if you are an arm going out there between a starter and the 9th inning.

These three players can help the Astros move one step at a time closer to .500. This is the goal, the question is can they come out of June with a winning record. I believe with their remaining opponents this month: The Athletics (I know, I know…), Angels, Royals, Tigers, Guardians (who are terrible at home), Blue Jays, Tigers again, and Minnesota. This team with Josh Hader now back, Hunter Brown returning soon, and getting back Jose Altuve and Joey Loperfido will help this team. So you tell me what do you think their record will be in the month of June?

Steve Lyons is a baseball lifer, having played the game and commentated for decades.    For Astros fans, “Psycho” as he’s affectionately called had a front row seat as part of the Fox Sports broadcast crew in 2005 when the Astros brought us their first pennant.     

We caught up with one of the more colorful and engaging personalities to ever grace the diamond and broadcast booth to talk modern day Astros and that magical ride from 2005:   

Q:  If you’re only a handful of games out of the wildcard race, it’s almost impossible to push the reset and blow this thing up, right?

A:  I don’t think you can panic.   There’s just too much baseball to be played.   It’s funny when the dog days come around.   To me the dog days are in mid-September when you see teams that you think are going to be there and they drop seven out of ten and fall out of the race.   They go from second place down to fourth and ultimately miss the playoffs.   It’s just way too early, we’re so far away from that point.   

You see clubs that do it but I wouldn’t go that route.    Every year it literally comes down to the final weekend, or final day of the season and one game.   It’s going to happen again, just watch.   You cannot overact in June.   

Q:  So many guys are in the process of coming off the IL, or just now returning.    Does Joe Espada receive a reprieve of sorts or if they fail to reach the post-season, could he be on the hot seat even with the onslaught of injuries, is that even fair?  

A:  It’s not even close to being fair.    I will tell you that in the clubhouse, you have to adopt a mentality that if guys get hurt, somebody else has to step up.    

There’s a big difference between being hurt and being injured.   Most guys are hurt and have to play through it.    When you’re injured though, that’s a different story.    

You just want to make sure you don’t continually have the same type of injuries over and over, and in terms of the manager, they have nothing to do with that.    

If you even have four guys out, you’ll quickly become a Triple-A club and you’ll lose series after series when you are competing against big leaguers.  

Q:  Let’s talk about that 2005 team.   You were there in the clubhouse with Phil Garner, and around that team when you were with Fox.   What do you most recall about that team?

A:  You know, when I think back to that, it’s so ironic because the White Sox weren’t predicted to do anything and Houston of course got off to that 15-30 start.    They called the White Sox one dimensional and nobody thought they’d even reach the playoffs.   They came together as a club, just as the Astros did and started playing better baseball week after week.   

Q:  That series was so evenly matched, I just cannot believe it resulted in a sweep.   The four games were decided by six total runs.  It’s just crazy.  Were you surprised it wound up being a sweep?

A:  Listen, if you look at those games, the White Sox could’ve been the ones getting swept.   The games were all so close.   It could’ve gone the other way.   There are weird things in baseball and Houston not winning a game was one of them.   

Q:  You played with Roger Clemens in Boston.   You know Roger.   How much does it have to be killing him not to have a plaque in Cooperstown?

A:  I have a tough time in general with the hall of fame.    I understand what it’s supposed to represent, but when Pete Rose isn’t in the hall of fame, that’s a problem.    

Outside of Ichiro, he’s the single greatest hitter in our lifetimes and no one else is even close.    Pete Rose wasn’t even a great athlete.    He just willed himself as a hitter to be great.    

The steroids era was bad, it’s a black eye, but these guys should be in, especially if they have the numbers to be in.    There are guys who did steroids who are in the hall of fame right now.    

I know how competitive Roger is, and it’s got to be killing him on the inside.   I love the guy but there’s a lot of smoke about if he did steroids or not. 

The San Francisco Giants wrap up this four-game road series against the Milwaukee Brewers this morning.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Adrian Houser, who enters today’s game with a 5.59 ERA, 5.21 FIP, with 35 strikeouts to 21 walks in 56.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 8-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, in which he allowed four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks in three and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against Brewers right-handed rookie Coleman Crow, who enters today’s game with a 3.14 ERA, 3.73 FIP, with eight strikeouts to three walks in 14.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Brewers’ 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Friday, in which he allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits with one strikeout and two walks in four innings.

Game #63

Who: San Francisco Giants (24-38) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (37-22)

Where: American Family Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: 11:10 a.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

Here’s the Guardians lineup:

Good morning(ish) to everyone. How about a sweep?#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/YhCBuDmPVD

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 4, 2026

Here’s the Yankees lineup

Thursday Matinee. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/tHPXLU3GSK

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 4, 2026

Let’s sweep!

The UIL concludes its 2025-26 athletic season with the Texas state baseball tournament, and as always, it's loaded with players who are either headed to college or waiting for the July Major League Baseball draft to assess their professional options.

Of the 11 state championship games spread over three days, most of the big names are in Class 5A and 6A.

More: UIL baseball state championship: How to watch, schedule, bracket

The tournament starts Thursday, June 4 at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

Here are six top players at the UIL state baseball championships.

Lucas Nawrocki, Aledo, LHP, 1B/OF

Nawrocki is an LSU signee and left-handed pitcher ranked as the No. 151 prospect for the MLB draft. He enters the championship with an 11-0 record on the mound and a .530 batting average at the plate.

Cooper Webb, Lake Travis, RHP/OF

The University of Texas signee has 127 strikeouts and a 1.04 ERA. He has been clocked with a 94-mile-per-hour fastball.

CJ Sampson, Tomball, 3B/RHP

Sampson is a Texas A&M commit and son of former Astros pitcher Chris Sampson. The exit velocity on his fastball has been clocked at 99 miles per hour.

Logan Corley, Lucas Lovejoy, LHP/1B

The TCU signee has a batting average over .450 and a fastball in the low 90s, complimented with a good slider and excellent control

Reed Blakely, Lucas Lovejoy, OF/LHP

A USC signee, Blakely has a 0.70 ERA as a pitcher and a .403 batting average. He has been clocked in the low 90s with his fastball.

Isaac Richardson, Houston Memorial, 3B

A Houston signee, Richardson has hit four home runs in the playoffs, including a walk-off in the semifinals that sent his team to state.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached, bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 6 players to follow at Texas UIL state baseball championship

Mauricio Dubón just continues to get the job done for the Atlanta Braves so far in 2026 in any way that they’ve asked of him. Whether it’s through his versatility in the field or increasingly more at the plate, Dubón’s been all over the place in a good way. Grant McAuley recently wrote an in-depth article covering Dubón’s great start to the season so far and so far, Dubón has been performing like he wants that story to continue rather than this being the peak for him in any way.

Dubón wrote yet another exciting page in what’s been a very fun chapter of his career that the Braves are benefiting from. His three-run homer off of Patrick Corbin in the third inning of Wednesday night’s eventual victory essentially turned the game around for the Braves at that point. While everybody has expected his defense to be what it has been so far (which is to say that there’s an expectation of quality defense no matter what position he plays in the field), the big hits have been something special to see. His numbers may not jump out as something fantastic as he’s hitting .249/.304/.380 with a .305 wOBA, 93 wRC+ and four homers but he’s getting it done in some big spots. He’s hitting .274/.354/.452 with two outs on the board, with an .806 OPS and an sOPS+ of 132 — indicating that he’s doing some of his best work when the Braves are down to their final out of any inning.

When did he crack that dinger last night? With two outs on the board. It’s impressive and a tiny bit shocking to witness Dubón coming up big in so many spots but one person who isn’t surprised by this development is Mauricio Dubón, himself. I asked him after Wednesday’s game about what’s changed at the plate for him with what he’s been doing now compared to what he had done in previous stops in his career. Dubón is a self-described “confident guy” and his answer to my question belied that confidence.

“I’m finally getting a chance to play, man,” replied Dubón. “In times past, I would get pinch-hit for and never get to finish the game. I’d go for 0-for-2…it’s funny because me and my Dad would always talk about ”You can hit righties,“ but I never got the opportunity to go out there [with the confidence of knowing] that I can hit anybody.”

Indeed, Dubón is hitting .258/.324/.411 against right-handers with a wRC+ of 107 and three of his four homers coming against right-handers so far this season. Those numbers are actually way up from his career numbers of .246/.285/.354 with a wRC of 76 against righties. Dubón has been given an opportunity with the Braves to play every day and he’s taking full advantage of showing what he can do in roles that he didn’t usually get to experience in the past.

“It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity and getting the chance to go another [day],” continued Dubón during the presser. “Nobody has given me anything. I’ve gone out there and earned every chance and opportunity that I get.”

Dubón’s glove is more-than-enough to keep him in the lineup on an every day basis at this particular point in time but he’s also shown that he can get it done with the bat whenever the Braves need him the most. It’s been a lot of fun to see him continue to prosper in the role that he’s been put into here in Atlanta and obviously everybody in Braves Country is looking forward to seeing Dubón continue to make good things happen in that role as this season progresses.

Alas, for the Orioles, forward momentum has been hard to come by this season. After a tidy 4-2 Game 1 win on Tuesday behind seven strong innings from Shane Baz, on Wednesday night Chris Bassitt turned in another flawed outing, going three innings with three runs allowed before exiting with back tightness. It’s not clear whether he’ll have to miss any time with this. Meanwhile, the Birds couldn’t get much done against—yes, a lefty, in Peyton Tolle, who silenced them over six scoreless.

Bassitt himself, after the game, said he felt like it was just one of those things and he had “full confidence” that the team would bounce back tomorrow with Trevor Rogers on the mound. Let’s hope so, because last year’s ace hasn’t been very good this year. After starting the year with a seven-inning shutout, he’s thrown a duck in practically every outing since, with four runs-plus allowed in six of his last nine appearances, along with a 10.01 ERA over his last seven outings. I’m sure the Orioles are working hard to fix whatever this is. Hopefully Chris Bassitt’s confidence in Rogers is warranted.

The Sox are countering with fifth-year right hander Brayan Bello. After a strong 2025 season where he went 11-9 with a 3.35 ERA, the team expected Bello to be a rotation contributor this year. But the results have mixed, to say the least. For whatever reason, Bello has pitched poorly as a starter, but very well coming in late behind an opener: in the former role, he has a 9.68 ERA; behind an opener, he has a 0.71 ERA. It sounds like the Red Sox don’t really know why this is, and Bello is getting a shot as a proper starting pitcher today. He’s been allowing lots of hard contact and striking out few hitters. The Orioles need to take advantage.

Orioles lineup

1. Taylor Ward LF
2. Gunnar Henderson SS
3. Adley Rutschman DH
4. Pete Alonso 1B
5. Samuel Basallo C
6. Leody Taveras CF
7. Colton Cowser RF
8. Coby Mayo 3B
9. Jackson Holliday 2B

Red Sox lineup

1. Jarren Duran LF
2. Ceddanne Rafaela CF
3. Wilyer Abreu RF
4. Willson Contreras 1B
5. Isiah Kiner-Falefa SS
6. Andruw Monasterio 2B
7. Caleb Durbin 3B
8. Carlos Narváez C
9. Connor Wong DH

On paper, the Yankees had a real pitching advantage in this series, tossing Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole in the first two games of the series before drawing one of Cleveland’s worst performing starters on Thursday.

But the thing about paper is that… It’s paper. The Guardians have put together two impressive offensive performances against two aces and kept the Yankees at bay to win the series at Yankee Stadium, a rarity. From 2022-25 (including playoffs), Cleveland was just 4-13 in the Bronx, but now has a chance to sweep in a Thursday matinee.

Carlos Rodón will look to help salvage the final game of this series, making his fifth start. It’s been a mixed bag for the All-Star left-hander, as he’s gritted his way through back-to-back strong starts after two poor ones to start the year, pitching to a 3.32 ERA (127 ERA+) and 3.89 FIP in 19 innings. He’s struggled with command, often falling behind in counts and already issuing 13 free passes through four starts, but he’s also been able to get outs despite not having his best strikeout stuff or velocity over the last two weeks. Rodón, if you remember, had the best postseason outing of his career in Game 1 of the 2024 ALCS at Yankee Stadium against this team.

The Guardians will counter with 26-year-old Slade Cecconi, who’s in his third year of being a full-time MLB starter. He was solid, if unremarkable, for Cleveland last year, but has struggled to the tune of a 5.25 ERA (79 ERA+) and 4.96 FIP in 61.2 innings across 12 starts. 364 days ago was his only previous start against the Yankees, where he allowed two runs in five innings, taking the loss.

He doesn’t allow too much hard contact and keeps the ball on the ground, but is well below average in strikeout, whiff, and chase rates, while being mediocre in keeping the ball off the barrel. He’s gotten unlucky in terms of batted ball outcomes, but not by much. Cecconi has a six-pitch mix, but throws some variation of fastball 76 percent of the time, while mixing in a curveball, sweeper, and changeup.

Aaron Judge is still out of the lineup as he gets more imaging on his rib injury, so it’s a similar top of the order with Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger. The top seven is identical, with only JC Escarra replacing Austin Wells and Max Schuemann replacing Anthony Volpe, playing right field as Caballero takes over at shortstop.

2024 ALCS Game 3 hero David Fry is leading off for the Guardians in front of José Ramirez, Rhys Hoskins, Travis Bazzana, and Angel Martínez. Stuart Fairchild slides in at sixth in front of Steven Kwan, while Austin Hedges gets his first start of the season, batting eighth. Brayan Rocchio rounds it out.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY

First pitch: 1:35 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Guardians.TV

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), WTAM 1100, Guardians Radio Network (CLE)

Online stream: MLB.tv (out-of-market only)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Thursday Matinee. #RepBXpic.twitter.com/tHPXLU3GSK

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 4, 2026

Good morning(ish) to everyone. How about a sweep?#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/YhCBuDmPVD

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) June 4, 2026

After falling victim to a Logan Webb gem last night, Milwaukee will try to keep the Giants from evening this four-game series at two apiece. Coleman Crow will go for the Brewers opposite Adrian Houser.

Some of you may not remember that Crow and Houser were actually traded for one another after the 2023 season. Milwaukee acquired Crow, at the time the Mets’ No. 29 prospect, in exchange for Houser (entering his last year of team control) and outfielder Tyrone Taylor.

Crow spent the whole 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, then recorded a 2.51 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in 10 starts with Double-A Biloxi before earning a promotion to Triple-A Nashville. He made his big-league debut earlier this year and has a 3.14 ERA through three starts (14 1/3 IP).

Houser, meanwhile, has pitched for four different teams since leaving Milwaukee. He struggled in his lone season in New York and was eventually designated for assignment in late July. Houser then signed minor league contracts with the Cubs, Orioles, and Rangers before finally latching on with the White Sox in late May of 2025.

He pitched well enough (2.10 ERA) in 11 starts with Chicago that the Rays traded for him at the deadline, but Houser couldn’t replicate his early-season success down in Tampa. He signed with the Giants in the offseason and has struggled again, entering today’s game with a 5.59 ERA in 11 starts (56 1/3 IP).

Designated hitter Christian Yelich leads off again today, followed by Jackson Chourio. Brice Turang — who had the Brewers’ only hit against Webb last night — and William Contreras will hit third and fourth, respectively. Jake Bauers will bat fifth and play first base, with Andrew Vaughn starting the game on the bench. Rounding out the lineup are center fielder Garrett Mitchell, right fielder Sal Frelick, third baseman Luis Rengifo, and shortstop David Hamilton.

Finally, an injury update on Brandon Lockridge courtesy of our own Dave Gasper:

Brandon Lockridge is heading to the Brewers Arizona complex tonight to continue his rehab, he said.

If all goes to plan there, Lockridge is tentatively scheduled to start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Nashville on Wednesday

— David Gasper (@dgasper24) June 4, 2026

As always, you can catch the game on Brewers.TV, WTMJ 620, and the Brewers Radio Network. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.

Let's get this series W

📺: https://t.co/eycfmE2vgm
📻: WTMJ

→ https://t.co/mvGXoRMTFSpic.twitter.com/jzClORfTP4

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 4, 2026

Series finale coming your way ⬇️

⌚️: 11:10 a.m. PT
📍: Milwaukee, WI
📺: @NBCSGiants
📻: @KNBR | KSFN#SFGiants  | @CocaColapic.twitter.com/lunm3AA1qS

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 4, 2026

He went from coach to player.

In a wild scene Wednesday, Boston Red Sox interim third base coach Chad Epperson went into the field of play to wave home Wilyer Abreu.

Epperson ran over the foul line, just feet from Baltimore Orioles third baseman Coby Mayo, to indicate to Abreu he should head home and actually wasn’t far from making contact with Mayo.

Red Sox interim 3B coach Chad Epperson went into the field of play while waving a runner home.

(H/T: @JCalvinMeyer) pic.twitter.com/Aj80RzsfAd

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 4, 2026

Abreu was rounding the bases after Willson Contreras smacked a double to left field in the first inning.

While he was initially deemed safe, Abreu was ruled out after a video review.

Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said the umpiring crew told both teams that if it happened again, Epperson would be ejected.

“Base coaches must remain within the coach’s box consistent with this Rule, except that a coach who has a play at his base may leave the coach’s box to signal the player to slide, advance or return to a base if the coach does not interfere with the play in any manner,” MLB Official Baseball Rule 5.03 states.

Epperson was hired as the interim third base coach after the Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and four other staff members following a 10-17 start to the season.

He was formerly with the Portland Sea Dogs, the Red Sox’s AA minor league affiliate. Epperson is the winningest manager in Sea Dogs history.

Following the bizarre incident, the Red Sox went on to win 8-1.

Abreu led the way on offense, going 2-for-5, including a two-run home run.

Payton Tolle also pitched six scoreless innings before Ryan Watson came in to finish out the game.

Since moving on from Cora, the Red Sox are 16-17 but still in last place in the AL East.

Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Padres play a three-game series in San Diego starting on Friday at 9:40 p.m. on SNY.

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5 things to watch

Help is on the way

The Mets have been without four regular members of their lineup for a long time, but they're about to get some reinforcements.

Jorge Polanco, who last played on April 14 and has been battling nagging Achilles and wrist issues, could rejoin the team for the start of this series.

When he is activated, the expectation is that Polanco will serve mainly as the DH in order to keep him off his feet. With the way Mark Vientos has struggled, Polanco's return could lead to a somewhat regular situation where he's at DH with Jared Young at first base. 

Francisco Alvarez is also working his way back, playing for Triple-A Syracuse on a rehab assignment.

Alvarez's return isn't imminent, but he should be back sooner rather than later if all goes well. 

Sean Manaea's outing

The Mets' rotation is in flux, with Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, and Freddy Peralta the only ones with set roles as starters.

That has left the Mets to frequently use openers ahead of bulk starters, with them recently experimenting with David Peterson (who is back in the bullpen) and Jonah Tong (who is back in the minors) as the bulk guys. 

With Manaea having excelled recently, he is the latest pitcher the Mets are trying out. He's set to pitch on Sunday, though it's unclear whether he'll start or pitch behind an opener.

Manaea came in after an opener on Monday against the Mariners and had his most impressive outing of the season, tossing five innings of one-hit ball while allowing one run, walking one, and striking out four.

During Monday's game, Manaea topped out at 93.8 mph. He averaged 91.8 mph on his four-seam fastball and 91.9 mph on his two-seamer -- notable increases from where he's been most of the season.

Is the Bo Bichette turnaround here?

This has been asked a few times this year, but something felt different about Bichette's performance in Wednesday's win over the Mariners. 

Bichette went 4-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored, and delivered a sacrifice fly in his other plate appearance.

While Bichette scuffled a bit in a handful of games before erupting on Wednesday, he has been hitting relatively well for a few weeks, slashing .274/.333/.435 (.769 OPS) with three homers over his last 16 games. 

Bichette has also been very unlucky this season on balls in play, and is above average in eight of 13 advanced offensive stats tracked by Baseball Savant, making it fair to believe a turnaround is on the horizon. 

The Padres are reeling

Part of the crowded NL Wild Card race, the Padres entered play on Thursday having lost four straight games and eight of their last 10.

San Diego is also having trouble scoring, with their 231 runs scored being the fewest in the majors. 

Part of the issue has been the struggling Fernando Tatis Jr., who had a 92 OPS+ and just one homer over his first 59 games. 

Manny Machado is also scuffling, hitting .170 with a 70 OPS+ ahead of play on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Jackson Merrill is slashing just .206/.277/.327 (70 OPS+).

San Diego's pitching staff is a strength

While the Padres' offense has been a major issue, their pitching has been very good.

They entered play Thursday having allowed 239 runs -- the fifth-best mark in MLB. 

A lot of that has had to do with Michael King and Randy Vasquez, who will both start against the Mets this weekend. Also getting a start will be former Met Griffin Canning, who was solid for New York last season before tearing his Achilles. Canning has been better lately after some poor showings, but has a 7.16 ERA and 1.55 WHIP in 27.2 innings over six starts this season.

Waiting in the bullpen if the games are tight late are Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon, and Mason Miller, who is having an otherworldly year. In 25.0 innings, Miller has a 0.72 ERA and 0.84 WHIP, and has struck out 49 batters -- an absurd rate of 17.6 per nine. 

Predictions

Who will the MVP of the series be?

Bo Bichette

The turnaround sticks this time.

Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?

Nolan McLean

McLean took a step in the right direction in his last start after two uncharacteristic clunkers. 

Which Padres player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?

Ty France

France is having a strong year, with an .858 OPS.

As we enter the season’s third month, with the Royals all but technically eliminated from playoff contention but still a bit too early to speculate about the trade deadline, it seems like a good time to take stock of how they could have handled the offseason better. Matthew LaMar already looked at how some of the players the Royals targeted have done this year, with most of them not performing particularly well, but what about some of the lesser-known names the Royals could have targeted?

Now, obviously, I’ve argued that I think if they were serious about contending in 2026, they should have pursued the top names in the market. I’m a huge fan of the arguments that interim MLBPA director Bruce Meyer has been making about how the Padres increased their profits and franchise value by spending real money despite being in a similarly small MLB market.

But even if you allow that those guys were too expensive for the Royals, there were lots of other guys who were much less expensive that the Royals could have considered. Some of them are doing quite well for themselves. Why did the Royals miss on them?

JJ Bleday, Dane Myers, and Nathaniel Lowe

Coming off the Reds series, these are obvious guys to look at. Bleday was signed to a 1-year, $1.4 million MLB contract on December 27, while Lowe required only a minor league contract on February 13, right as spring training camps were opening. Myers was acquired in a trade with the Marlins for a minor league outfielder with no pedigree who hasn’t been hitting well. The biggest problem for the Royals with the first two was that both of them hit left-handed, and the Royals are already so lefty-heavy. Lowe is, additionally, a first baseman only. This is, of course, a position the Royals thought they had locked down with Vinnie Pasquantino.*

*Vinnie, by the way, has been slashing .289/.396/.422/.818 since his day off against Boston a couple of weeks ago. Good for a 124 wRC+. Perhaps he’s back?

Lowe has all of 16 at-bats versus lefties, but he has yet to record a hit and has only one walk. If you think Vinnie has struggled against lefties… eesh.

Bleday, on the other hand, has been hitting lefties just fine with a 134 wRC+ against them. He’s been better against righties, but should the Royals have known that Bleday had this in him? Actually, maybe! Bleday’s career splits are 90 wRC+ against lefties and 109 against righties. Obviously, 10% below average isn’t where you want to be, but it would still be better than any of Pasquantino, Starling Marte, Carter Jensen, Jac Caglianone, or Isaac Collins this year.

Bleday had a crummy year for the Athletics last year, but he is only playing in his age-28 season this year and barely making more than Marte. He also had a higher walk rate and ISO than Marte last year despite the down season. And he’s under the Reds’ control for each of the next two seasons without being guaranteed anything. You have to imagine he wasn’t on the Royals’ radar, or they would have been able to outbid $1.4 million. But it sure seems like he should have been.

The Reds got Myers from the Marlins for 24-year-old minor league outfielder Ethan O’Donnell. Myers is an interesting case. Despite the fact that he’s a righty, he’s hit righties much better this year than lefties. Though his career splits suggest that’s a fluke. He’s also walking much more this year than in the past. His swinging strike rates have come down every year since his debut, and he was reasonably good two years ago. He also went on the IL three separate times last year, so you have to wonder if injury played a part in his ineffectiveness. But that didn’t stop the Royals from pursuing Lane Thomas. (Though, admittedly, Thomas has been plenty good against left-handed pitching this season, the whole reason the Royals signed him.)

Still, Myers is playing his age-30 season, so perhaps the Royals simply didn’t think the swinging strike trend could continue. And honestly, it plummeted pretty far this year, so I’d be interested to revisit at the end of the season and see if he’s still doing all that well.

Tristan Peters

Peters is a 26-year-old outfielder the White Sox acquired from the Rays for cash or a player to be named later (PTBNL). He’s hitting well for the White Sox, but he’s a lefty who isn’t hitting lefties, so the Royals probably made the correct decision to stay away here.

Curtis Mead

Mead is a 25-year-old corner infielder acquired by the Nationals from the White Sox for a catcher with an excellent name – Boston Smith – who is hitting well in high A but is already 23 years old. So, basically, some guy we will probably never hear about again. Honestly, Mead came out of nowhere. This is his fourth season in MLB, and he’d never come close to the walk rates or power output he’s shown in Washington. He’s always had good bat speed and a decent eye at the plate. His youth means he is an excellent guy for a team that doesn’t expect to contend to take a shot on as the White Sox did last year when they acquired him from the Rays.

The Royals, of course, have a couple of corner infielders they feel pretty good about in Maikel Garcia and Pasquantino, and they expected to contend this year, so I think passing on Mead or at least not getting into a bidding war over him probably made sense even if he’d look a lot better as a right-handed bat on the bench than Marte has.

Dominic Smith

This name might bring shivers down your spine, and you might not remember why. He’s the one who hit the walk-off grand slam against Carlos Estévez in Atlanta at the start of the season. He’s a left-handed first baseman who hit well last year but signed a minor league deal with the Braves. He has a 97 wRC+ against lefties this year, but it’s only 14 ABs. And did I mention he’s a left-handed first baseman? Once again, I think we can see why the Royals passed here.

Troy Johnston

See: Dominic Smith

Technically, Johnston can play the outfield, but he’s also got a -7 wRC+ against lefties this year. So he still wouldn’t have made sense for the Royals. The Rockies got him off waivers from the Marlins and he has hit .320/.377/.437 with two home runs in 58 games. He is not completely a product of Coors, hitting .293/.358/.404 in road games. He has mashed righties, hitting .358 against them, while just .158 against lefties.

Vaughn Grissom

The Angels acquired the 25-year-old, right-handed second baseman from the Red Sox for a light-hitting, low minors outfielder. The Royals have a few of those. Now, KC had decided that they were going to quasi-platoon Jonathan India and Michael Massey at second base to begin the year, so maybe that could explain why he wasn’t on their radar. But in retrospect, it sure seems like they might have considered making a minor trade for this kid instead of giving India a guaranteed $8 million.

Grissom broke into the bigs with Atlanta in 2022 as a 21-year-old. He was their top prospect playing in AA, and Ozzie Albies was hurt. In retrospect, it seems like they rushed him a bit. He did well that year but struggled in 2023 and 2024 before spending all of 2025 with the Red Sox’s AAA affiliate. And he put up a lot of red in statcast metrics there.

He wasn’t walking, and he wasn’t pulling the ball in the air enough, but he did almost everything else at a high level. You have to especially like the Zone Contact rate combined with a lack of Ks. Now, suddenly, his strikeout rate is cut in half from 2024, combined with a modest improvement in walk rate. His ISO is back to where it was all throughout the minors in the .160-.170 range. A 104 wRC+ isn’t tearing the cover off the ball, and he’s not a tremendous defender, but he would have been quite a bit better than anything the Royals ever got out of India.

Since India went down with an injury, the Royals have been mostly platooning Massey and Nick Loftin at second base, and, at least lately, they haven’t been the problem in the Royals’ lineup. Massey, at least, has been tearing the cover off the ball for two weeks with a 171 wRC+. And Loftin is one of the few guys who has had some luck with runners in scoring position. But, really, we should be comparing Grissom more to the at-bats of Marte with the positions of Loftin. And he would be an improvement, there, too.

Even though there are quite a few cheap bats that seem like they could have been available to the Royals, most of them make sense for the Royals to have passed on because the vast majority are left-handed hitters. No team can be perfect at this sort of thing. It’s easy to argue that the Royals did make similar gambles with players like Kevin Newman and Josh Rojas – their moves just haven’t worked out so far.

But, really, when was the last time such a gamble did work for KC? It sure seems like these kinds of guys break out or come back around the league all the time, but never for the Royals. And you have to wonder if their scouting, development, or coaching departments couldn’t use some improvement to make it easier to generate some of this luck.