When you keep hearing about how the Yankees need to shop in the relief aisle come the trade deadline, that probably tells you something about the state of their bullpen.

Despite nice numbers in some departments, the pinstriped ‘pen has provided too many agita moments for a team with big-time October aspirations and needs, at the very least, more depth. 

Your move, Brian Cashman. 

Their closer has been nails lately, but had a 5.14 ERA as recently as May 18. Their hoped-for primary setup man has issues with left-handed hitters. Their lefty killer had a 4.02 ERA entering Wednesday (all numbers in this piece are entering Wednesday), nearly a run worse than his final mark last season. They’ve blown 13 save opportunities. 

But the Yankees also have seen some pitchers emerge – Brent Headrick, for one – and have hope that one of their top prospects, Carlos LaGrange, can transition from the rotation to the bullpen to become a hard-throwing intimidator late in games. Fernando Cruz’s splitter is fearsome. 

And the pen as a whole grades out well by several stats – entering Wednesday, the Yanks were sixth-best among bullpens in fWAR. They own the fourth-highest ground-ball rate of any bullpen in the majors and the third-best homers-per-nine-innings rate. 

They are second in pen ERA (3.19) and have the fifth-lowest opponent average. They’ve also thrown the sixth-fewest bullpen innings. In their last 10 games entering Wednesday, Yankee relievers had a 1.13 ERA. In their last 22, it’s 2.12. 

We’ll have to take it all into consideration as we formulate a grade for the relievers for the first half of this season. 

David Bednar, the closer, has had some late adventures, but he’s bloomed recently. He went on the paternity list on Monday carrying a streak of 12 straight scoreless appearances that trimmed his ERA more than two runs, down to 3.09. He’s saved 16 games in 18 chances. And some of his expected numbers suggest his numbers could be even better.

He gets a lot of chase (his chase percentage is in the 100th percentile, according to Statcast) and his ground ball rate is in the 96th percentile. 

Camilo Doval looks the part of a high-leverage reliever with a 98.5-mile-per-hour fastball and an expected ERA of 2.81. But overall this season he owns a 4.55 ERA, allows 8.5 hits per nine innings, and gives up massive hard contact.

Lefties, in particular, are mashing against him with a .350 average and a .941 OPS. To give you an idea of the OPS, there are only four batters in MLB who have an OPS that high this season and it’s a glittering group – Yordan Alvarez, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Schwarber.

But Doval has been better lately, recording a 0.96 ERA in 10 games since June 5. But, perhaps indicative of his season, the one earned run he’s allowed in that span came when he inherited a jam and surrendered a grand slam to Andrew Benintendi of the White Sox on June 18.

“Slumps are part of the game as baseball players,” he told MLB.com through an interpreter afterward. “We all go through them. I’m not exactly getting the results that I expect of myself right this moment, but I know they’re coming. I know a good streak is coming.”

Cruz had a nifty 2025 and he’s even better now with a 2.57 ERA in 39 games. He throws his diving splitter half the time and batters are only hitting .130 against the pitch. He’s also finished 41 strikeouts with it, the fourth-most strikeouts on splitters in the majors. The three pitchers with more – Nathan Eovaldi, Shota Imanaga, and Kevin Gausman – are all starters.

Lefty Tim Hill has seen an uptick in ERA, thanks in part to a 7.45 mark in May. But he still gets ground balls as well as anyone, limits walks, and keeps the ball off the barrel while primarily relying on a sinker. If he keeps getting ground balls at his usual rate (63.6 percent), his ERA likely will plunge.

Headrick, in his first extended run in the majors, has proved invaluable as another lefty in the pen. The 28-year-old has a 1.58 ERA in 41 outings and only one pitcher who has pitched in at least that many games has a lower ERA – Toronto’s Louis Varland (0.98).

“He’s been huge down there,” Aaron Boone said recently of Headrick. “He just continues to solidify himself at this level. He’s pitching with a lot of confidence.”

The Yankees have gotten some good innings from Paul Blackburn, who has a 1.17 ERA in June and a 2.50 mark overall. Ryan Yarbrough can offer multi-inning stints, too.

The Yanks haven’t fixed Jake Bird, though. Bird, who came over at the trade deadline last year, has a 4.88 ERA and has been up and down from Triple-A.

GRADE: B-

There’s high-level talent and it’s hard to ignore the numbers. It just feels like the path to Bednar should be smoother. The Yankees have always shown a willingness and an ability to upgrade their bullpen, to say nothing of how they’ve unearthed relief gems others might’ve missed. Here’s betting they do that again. The final grade could be much higher.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies wrap up a series this afternoon, as Philly eyes a sweep.

The P's come into this one as a short -122 home favorite, and it's not difficult for me to understand why. I'll be backing them as they hold a clear pitching advantage in this matchup.

Here are my Pirates vs. Phillies predictions and MLB picks for July 2.

Who will win Pirates vs Phillies today: Phillies moneyline (-126)

COVERS INTEL: Jared Jones' average exit velocity is one of the highest allowed in the league, sitting in the Bottom 19 percent of the sport.

Pirates vs Phillies Over/Under pick: Under 10.5 (-107)

I like the Under with a projection of 9.4. Jones can give up damage, but he still misses enough bats to avoid a complete unraveling, and the Phillies’ offense has been closer to average than elite at 4.52 runs per game. 

Rangel is the bigger reason I’m comfortable below this number. His chase-heavy profile attacks a Pirates lineup with MLB’s highest whiff rate, giving him a path to soft counts and strikeout leverage. This total is priced as if both starters get hit (and hard), and I don’t agree.

I'd play this to -120.

Pirates vs Phillies weather

Pirates vs Phillies odds

• Moneyline: Pirates +114 | Phillies -124
• Run line: Pirates +1.5 | Phillies -1.5
• Over/Under: Over 10.5 | Under 10.5

Pirates vs Phillies trend

The Phillies have cashed the moneyline in 29 of their last 45 games for +10.60 units and a 17% ROI.

How to watch Pirates vs Phillies and game info

Pirates vs Phillies latest injuries

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.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Yet again, the Los Angeles Angels boast one of the greatest baseball talents of the generation, Mike Trout. Once again, that same Mike Trout finds himself limited due to injuries, even as he puts together his best season since 2022. Once again, the Angels failed to put together a team capable of winning significant games around Trout, and without him, they are downright terrible. And once again, despite finding themselves far out of playoff contention, their owner Arte Moreno seems disinclined to permit his front office to be true sellers, declaring Reid Detmers, José Soriano, and Jo Adell off-limits.

The only one thing different this year? The team fired general manager Perry Minasian last week, hiring John Mozeliak as the interim for the remainder of the season.

Should the Angels decide to do the smart thing and begin tearing everything down, they do have some pieces that may be of interest to teams throughout the league, including the Yankees. The pitching staff in particular is filled with quality names. A pair of young starters in Detmers and Soriano should be able to bring back sizeable prospect hauls if the front office was able to convince ownership to shop them around, as they are under team control for another two seasons. While Soriano gathered attention with his otherworldly start to the season, posting a 0.84 ERA through his first seven starts, it is Detmers who would be the more highly sought pitcher. His 2.9 fWAR ranks fourth among starters this season, and his metrics suggest that he is underperforming his 3.88 ERA. Soriano, meanwhile, has come down to earth after his meteoric rise, with a 5.34 ERA across his last 11 starts.

With the Angels’ interim general manager inexplicably believing that the team doesn’t need a rebuild, merely a small retool (perhaps influenced by ownership?), it’s much more likely that the team will be more inclined to trade from their bullpen depth. They may not exactly have an elite bullpen — they began the year with Jordan Romano as their closer, after all — there are some arms that may interest the Yankees. Veteran reliever Kirby Yates has rebounded nicely from a disastrous 2025 with the Dodgers, even if he hasn’t recaptured the magic of his 2024 season as the Rangers’ closer. With a 34.2 strikeout percentage that ranks 11th among relievers with at least 10 innings of work (he has pitched 17 innings this season), he would provide some swing-and-miss that the Yankees’ bullpen desperately needs.

On the offensive side, Los Angeles does not really match up with the Yankees. Zach Neto would give the team an offensive boost at the shortstop position, as he has a 114 wRC+ this season; defensively, though, he has taken a step back — instead of Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average disagreeing on his performance (he had 13 DRS and -8 OAA last year), both stats are very low on him this year (-2 DRS, -8 OAA). Jo Adell gives the Yankees something they don’t need more of — an outfielder who can function in center field but is below average there.

It’s unlikely, but a new front office in LA may finally cause Trout to force his way off the Angels. Now in his age-34 season and with an average salary of $37 million per year through 2030, he would still be a help to any team in the league…so long as he would be able to stay healthy. At this stage, he needs considerable DH time, and with Giancarlo Stanton still under contract through next season (with a team option for 2028), the fit is a bit awkward — even if a middle-of-the-order of Rice/Judge/Trout/Bellinger/Stanton would be a dream lineup.

Still, given the Angels’ refusal to trade Shohei Ohtani a few years back despite knowing that they would not even attempt to re-sign him…if you want to see that lineup, turn on MLB The Show. In fact, you might need to do that if you want to see any Angels players donning the pinstripes this season. Blame Moreno.

Meet the Mets

The Mets were blown out in the finale against the Blue Jays to drop the series. Starter Freddy Peralta was awful again putting the Mets behind early. The offense didn’t score until the game was well out of hand and all told it was just another sloppy loss in a season full of them.

Choose your recap:Amazin’ Avenue, Athletic, Daily News, Faith and Fear in Flushing, MLB.com, NY Post

One of the only positives coming out of the lopsided loss was Carson Benge’s home run off of a lefty.

Owner Steve Cohen went on a podcast and discussed a variety of topics including the alleged feud between Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, David Stearns’s job, the firing of Carlos Mendoza, the ejection of a fan at Citi Field holding a sign against Stearns, his unhappiness with the season, and the future of the team.

Luke Weaver has been one of the most dominant relievers in all of baseball, but should the Mets trade him at the deadline since he still has another year on his contract?

Jonah Tong’s family helped hand out his bobblehead giveaway to fans in Binghamton.

Around the National League East

The Braves started off July with a 5-1 win over the Cardinals.

The Marlins fell 6-3 to the Rockies in Colorado.

The Phillies defeated Paul Skenes and the Pirates 10-6.

Washington starter Cade Cavalli apologized for yelling a racially charged phrase at Wilson Contreras that caused a benches clearing incident.

The Nationals blew out the Red Sox 10-2.

Around Major League Baseball

The Yankees dropped their seventh in a row with a 6-2 loss against the Tigers.

The MLBPA’s latest CBA proposal included expanded rosters at the start of the season and placement on the 60-day IL in November.

Evidence is mounting that Major League Baseball may have changed the ball again, and that has led to more offense in the game.

Many teams could be interested in acquiring Tarik Skubal at the deadline, but it is still unclear what team will have a good enough package to acquire the Cy Young winner.

MLB has gutted the minor leagues in recent years for various reasons, and the strain is starting to show at the developmental level.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Grace Carbone took a look back at David Peterson’s tenure with the Mets.

This Date in Mets History

Happy birthday, Ángel Pagán!

The David Stearns scorecard isn’t pretty. You knew that already, but if you’ve been following along as I’ve graded different areas of the Mets’ first half this week, you’ve been reminded of how so many of his decisions have turned out badly.

Well, the good news for Stearns and the Mets is that he didn’t go 0-for-2026. The bad news is the one area where he excelled, putting together a dominant bullpen, is the area that matters least on a ballclub that is infrequently leading in the late innings.

Figures, right?

In truth, it’s fair to wonder if this Mets bullpen would have stood quite as tall had it been asked to do more in high-leverage spots.

For example, Devin Williams hasn’t blown a save since April 19, shaking off his early-season struggles to be a lock-down closer, yet he has only 12 saves for the season, miles from the MLB-high total of 26 by Cleveland Guardians’ Cade Smith.

On the other hand, Mets relievers are third in MLB in innings pitched, with 377, but some of that is because of the way they used the now-departed David Peterson, as well as others, as bulk-inning guys who followed openers.

The larger point is that the Mets have been able to keep their high-leverage relievers well-rested -- more so than they’d like, in truth.

That said, as far as grading their first half, it’s not fair to ding the pen for a lack of high-stress opportunities, for what they’ve done has been impressive. Indeed, their current 3.45 bullpen ERA ranks fourth in MLB, and their total of 379 strikeouts is first in the majors.

As such, it’s also only fair to give Stearns his due. 

Most notably, he signed Williams, despite the right-hander’s up-and-down 2025 season with the Yankees, moving quickly in the offseason to guarantee him $51 million over three years.

Whether he wanted Williams ideally to be Edwin Diaz’s set-up man may never be clear, as the Mets proceeded to lose Diaz to the Los Angeles Dodgers in what remains a murky scenario. Mets people were quick to put the word out that they wanted him back and expected to get last licks in the negotiations, while others familiar with the situation insisted Stearns was OK letting Diaz leave.

In any case, it was a wildly unpopular decision with Mets fans, but as it turned out, this one came up roses for Stearns, at least so far. While Williams has flourished, Diaz went down after only seven appearances with an elbow injury that required surgery to remove loose bodies, and he isn’t expected back until August.

As for Williams, he was shaky early but then seemingly found the form that made him one of the best relievers in baseball during his years in Milwaukee with the Brewers.

Most significantly, the right-hander has rediscovered the magic in his signature changeup, the so-called airbender that is a devastating weapon when he’s setting it up by throwing his fastball for strikes.

“You can see the confidence is back,” was the way one MLB scout put it this week. “It’s all about the confidence to throw the fastball with command and conviction and keep hitters from sitting on the changeup. He’s also trusting the changeup and not trying to steer it, as he did at times last year. When he’s just letting it go, it looks like his fastball delivery and then it disappears on hitters.”

Because of a few rough outings, Williams still has an unimpressive 4.13 ERA. But since April 23 he’s been dominant, giving up one earned run in 20 of his 22 appearances, to go with a couple of clunkers in non-save situations.

“I still need to see him close games in high-pressure spots again,” said the scout, “but it doesn’t look like that’s going to be an issue this year the way the Mets are playing.”

In the meantime, Williams is far from the only success story.

Luke Weaver, after some early-season problems as well, is on an all-time heater, having pitched 24 straight scoreless innings. In fact, he went all of May and June without giving up a run, while racking up 31 strikeouts compared to five walks.

Weaver has been so dominant that, even with another year on his contract, the Mets might be tempted to trade him at the deadline, as he’s likely to be highly sought after by contenders.

In addition, left-handers Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter have both been reliable. Minter hasn’t given up an earned run in 14 innings since returning from last year’s elbow surgery.

And then there’s Huascar Brazoban and his 1.93 ERA. The right-hander has been an all-purpose weapon, used as an opener as well as a multi-inning reliever. His 42.1 innings are the most of any of the “A” relievers, if you will, and he’s given up only 22 hits in those innings.

In short, Brazoban has proven to be a steal for Stearns, acquired from the Miami Marlins at the 2024 trade deadline for minor leaguer Wilfredo Lara.

Finally, Austin Warren has emerged as an important bullpen arm as well. A 30-year old journeyman, Warren was picked up on waivers from the Giants in January of 2025, and after appearing in only five games last season, he has made 24 appearances this season, pitching to a 2.45 ERA over 33 innings.

With all of that in mind, the only knock on the Mets’ pen is that Williams and Weaver, in particular, did struggle early, when the Mets were digging themselves the deep hole from which they’ve yet to recover.

But again, to be fair, every bullpen has at least a few ups and downs. For the Mets, it’s pretty much been all pointing up since April.

So Stearns did get something right this year, constructing what has been one of the better bullpens in baseball. Unfortunately for the Mets, poor performance in other areas has minimized its impact.

GRADE: A -

Most baseball fans know that July 1 is colloquially known as Bobby Bonilla Day. In 2000, the New York Mets decided to defer the remaining $5.9 million left on Bonilla’s contract after they released him for batting .160.

Bonilla’s agent used that dismal batting average to his client’s advantage, knowing the team just wanted him gone. He got the team to defer the remaining money for 10 years, but then got 8% interest and those payment spread out over the next 25 years.

As such, the Mets now pay Bonilla $1,193,248.20 every July 1.

Before he was on the Mets, however, Bonilla was on the Dodgers, a part of one of the most shocking trades in Dodgers history. Bonilla and Gary Sheffield and three other players were traded to the Dodgers from the Florida Marlins for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile.

The Dodgers traded Bonilla to the Mets, and that deferred payment idea ended up coming around to benefit the Dodgers 24 years later. In addition to Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers have eight players with deferred payments.

The Mets used that deferred $5.9 million to get Mike Hampton, a starting pitcher who helped them win the 2000 World Series. All of the players on the Dodgers payroll have helped them win World Series, aside from Edwin Diaz who remains to be seen. A running joke that has turned into a viable way to field a championship winning team.

Steve Henson of the L.A. Times has more details and quotes here.

In case you missed it, a fan at the Dodgers game against the A’s on Tuesday night got super excited about Team Mexico scoring a goal in their World Cup game against Ecuador. Justin Wrobleski’s pitch went into the dirt right after the fan yelled, but he then struck out the batter on the next pitch. Mexico went on to win and will play their next game on Sunday.

Chuck Schilkin has all the fun details here.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 9, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees) 5

This was a strong showing from the Tides lineup. Nine of the 10 hitters that appeared in the game had at least one hit. Heston Kjerstad and Christian Encarnacion-Strand both homered and drove in two runs. Enrique Bradfield Jr. had a pair of hits, a stolen base, and a run scored. Jonathan Rodríguez, Ryan Noda, and Bryan Ramos had one double apiece. Creed Willems went 1-for-3 with a single.

Christian Herberholz tossed five solid innings and allowed one run on four hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. His lone earned run came on a solo homer in the first inning. The bullpen was less impressive. Anthony Nunez recorded one out and allowed a run. Chris Kachmar gave up three runs over 1.2 innings. And then Nick Raquet and Andrew Magno both tossed one scoreless inning to wrap up the win.

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 8, Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets) 4

Three Baysox hitters went deep in this win. Ethan Anderson hit his 16th bomb, Thomas Sosa homered for the seventh time, and Wily Vasquez left the yard for the second time. Frederick Bencosme walked once, stole two bases, and scored one run. Anderson De Los Santos doubled, walked, and scored two runs.

Juaron Watts-Brown had another good start to earn the win. He worked 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on six hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. Over his las tthree starts he has lowered his ERA from 8.78 to 6.75. Ben Vespi gave up one run over 2.2 frames in the middle innings. And then Ryan Long allowed one run in the ninth inning to close it out.

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets) 13, Frederick Keys 7

Four of the five Frederick pitchers that worked this game had a bad day. JT Quinn gave up four runs (three earned) over 4.2 innings, though he also struck out five. Cohen Achen served up four runs in his lone inning of work. Chandler Marsh was the only arm that can be satisfied with his outing. He recorded four outs without allowing a baserunner. Todd Kniebbe gave up two runs in his inning, and Raimon Gomez coughed up a trio of runs, including two homers, in the ninth inning.

Yasmil Bucce led the offense for Frederick. The catcher went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, two runs, and two RBI. Wehiwa Aloy doubled, walked, and drove in a run. Edwin Amparo got his first High-A double, drove in two, and scored a run. Ike Irish went 1-for-5 with a single. It was a nice game for the lineup, just not enough when the pitching staff struggled so badly.

Low-A: Charleston RiverDogs (Rays) 9, Delmarva Shorebirds 4

Dalton Neuschwander started for Delmarva. He got through four innings and allowed just one run, but then things fell apart in the fifth. That inning saw Charleston score six runs and put the game out of reach. The bullpen did well to keep things as close as possible from there. Luis Beltrán, Kenny Leiner, and Zac Lampton combined for the final four frames. None of them were charged with earned runs, but Leiner was on the mound for two unearned runs in a messy eighth inning that included a hit by pitch, three wild pitches, and a throwing error.

Braylon Whitaker did a nice job setting the table for the Shorebirds atop the order He went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, a walk, and a run scored. Stiven Martinez drove in two runs with his seventh home run of the season. DJ Layton had a pair of hits, his 22nd stolen base of the season, and an RBI. Cobb Hightower went 1-for-4 with a single

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

Norfolk: at Scranton Wilkes-Barre, 7:05. Starter: Cade Povich (0-1, 5.06 ERA)

Chesapeake: vs Binghamton, 6:07 pm. Starter: Joseph Dzierwa (2-1, 2.78 ERA)

Frederick: vs Brooklyn, 7:00 pm. Starter: Yeiber Cartaya (1-1, 2.29 ERA)

Delmarva: vs Charleston, 7:05 pm. Starter: Andrew Herbert (2-2, 1.21 ERA)

Today’s Reflections

Something is starting to feel familiar. Familiar, but different.

The Cubs’ bats are starting to come into form once again. That was proven in the games from Monday and Tuesday. Six batters in the Cubs’ starting lineup Monday had hits, with Dansby Swanson, Seiya Suzuki, Alex Bregman and Pete Crow-Armstrong with a pair each, in the 3-2 walk-off win. Suzuki had the game-winning hit.

Then on Tuesday, every hitter in the starting lineup (even Kevin Alcantara!) had at least one hit. Suzuki and Carson Kelly each had a pair. Two of Swanson’s three hits were home runs, two of the five homers on the team.

But Shota Imanaga, who picked up the win Monday with 6.1 strong innings, is the only starter from the Opening Day roster that has not been injured. Matthew Boyd recently returned from the IL and had a bend-but-not-break outing Tuesday. And five of the OD bullpen members are on the IL, plus Colin Rea was an emergency move into the rotation.

While having a patchwork pitching staff, the Cubs have won 10 of their last 12 games. Yes, it’s another streak for the Cubs. But instead of the shocking runs from early in the season, where the feeling was, “Is this real?!!! Who cares — Let’s keep going, whoo!!”, the feeling is, “Is this ….. real?? When is it going to fall apart? When will the pitching injuries take a permanent toll on the team? Well, let’s keep going and see.” Not to be a downer here, but I feel there is definitely a stronger feeling of caution than there was in April and early May. Rightfully so.

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

Tuesday’s game stories:

• Scott Held (Chicago Tribune {$}): Dansby Swanson hits 2 of Chicago Cubs’ 5 HRs in 9-7 win over the San Diego Padres. “Alex Bregman, Michael Busch and Pete Crow-Armstrong added home runs to help the Cubs win for the 10th time in 12 games.”

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.con): Swanson homers twice as Cubs win slugfest over Padres. “There are nights when Wrigley Field transforms into a hitter’s haven and teams understand that piling up runs is not only the goal, but required to find the win column.”

• Mike McGraw (Daily Herald): Change of strategy: Cubs belt 5 home runs, hang on to beat Padres. “The Cubs were ready to begin a new chapter Tuesday.”

• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): Chicago Cubs’ Alex Bregman downplays thumbs-down gestures after homering at Wrigley for 1st time since March. “Chicago Cubs’ Alex Bregman didn’t have any interest in providing insight into his post-home run thumbs-down gestures.”

Monday’s game stories:

• Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): Another Wrigley walk-off: Injuries aren’t keeping Cubs from winning while attempting to weather storm. “Seiya Suzuki delivered the latest game-winning thrill at Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ 10th walk-off win of the season, keeping the victories coming while the team deals with an ever-increasing mountain of injuries.”

• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune {$}): Shota Imanaga and Seiya Suzuki power the Chicago Cubs to an MLB-leading 10th walk-off victory. “Imanaga held the Padres to two runs on nine hits and four strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings without walking a batter or allowing a home run on a humid, hot night at Wrigley Field.”

Assorted stories:

• Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): Walk of life: Cubs’ patience at plate paying off as offense heats back up after monthlong slump. “The Cubs are baseball’s walk kings, leading the majors in that category, getting improved on-base numbers all over the lineup and taking to shouting out free passes with as much gusto as complimenting home runs.”
• Evan Sullivan (Cubs Insider): Pete Crow-Armstrong’s Explosive June Puts Him Alongside Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig. “Pete Crow-Armstrong nearly lapped the field in June, posting a 3.1 fWAR mark that left Detroit’s Dillon Dingler (1.8) in the dust. The numbers Crow-Armstrong generated are so outlandish that they’ve only been replicated in four other months by two players.”
• Michael Canter (Cubs Insider): The Rundown: Power Surge Propels Cubs Toward Potential Sweep, Nothing Imminent on Trade Front, Mets Expect to Make Sweeping Changes. “Chicago’s North Side Baseballers have an opportunity to complete the sweep while simultaneously treating us to day baseball on what should be a beautiful summer afternoon.”
• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib): Cubs News: Ethan Conrad debuts, Vince Velasquez elects free agency, Pete Crow-Armstrong home run derby. “With the 2026 MLB Draft a little over a week away, the Chicago Cubs’ 2025 first-round draft pick has finally made his professional debut.”
• Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune {$}): Column: Craig Counsell downplays the Chicago Cubs’ many challenges, but he was hired to solve problems. “This might be Counsell’s most challenging season as manager, though he won’t consider the possibility and isn’t interested in comparisons.”
• Jon Greenberg (The Athletic {$}): Cubs are hurting, but they’re also showing their mettle during a challenging time. “The Cubs picked up their 10th walk-off win of the season when Seiya Suzuki drove in Pete Crow-Armstrong with a hit off the ivy.”
• Tyler Courtney (LastWordOnSports.com): Are the Chicago Cubs’ Injuries Becoming Their Greatest Concern in 2026? “At this point, it seems like there is someone new is added every day, as the pitching staff has been destroyed. Now, they must find a way to overcome the injuries if they wish to stay competitive.”

Trade Talk:

• Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): Jameson Taillon could make injury return before All-Star break, good news for Cubs’ battered pitching staff. “The Cubs are aiming to have Taillon, who’s been out since early June with a hamstring strain, make a rehab start this weekend, potentially setting him up for a return from the IL during the team’s final series of the first half.”
• Patrick Mooney (The Athletic {$}): What we’re hearing about Cubs’ pitching plans: Trade expectations, comebacks and more. “Even as they juggle various pitching injuries, the Cubs are trying to focus on internal solutions until the draft and trade deadline.”
• Eddie Lennon (LastWordOnSports.com): 3 Strong Luis Arraez Trade Destinations. “He doesn’t hit for power. He doesn’t rack up elite exit velocity numbers. He doesn’t overwhelm with highlight-reel tools.”
• Tyler Edmunds (OnTapSportsNet): The Cubs Need to Stop Waiting and Go Get Sonny Gray. “The Chicago Cubs adding Sonny Gray from the Boston Red Sox would make a lot of sense for a team desperately needing pitching help.”
• Eddie Lennon (LastWordOnSports.com): 3 Great Landing Spots for Freddy Peralta. “Peralta still brings exactly what contenders want in October: strikeouts, swing-and-miss stuff, and the ability to shorten games when every inning carries postseason weight.”

Food For Thought:

John Lee Hooker (1917–2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist famous for his hypnotic, driving “boogie” rhythm and deep, gravelly voice. Born into a Mississippi sharecropping family, he pioneered an electric-style adaptation of Delta blues in Detroit. Over a career spanning five decades, he recorded over 100 albums, releasing classics like “Boogie Chillen” and “Boom Boom”.

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

Surprise! I know it’s not Friday. But big thanks to Trenton! I’m going to be out tomorrow, so he graciously switched with me, and you get him tomorrow. I have even more good news for those who dislike my Friday Rumblings: I’ll be out of town the next two weeks. I believe Cullen and Max will be grabbing those, but I could be mistaken. Also, big thanks to them!

At The Star, Jaylon Thompson writes about Kris Bubic’s status:

The Kansas City Royals have scratched left-handed starter Kris Bubic from his scheduled rehab outing on Wednesday. Bubic was set to pitch around three innings with Triple-A Omaha. It would’ve been his third rehab appearance with the Storm Chasers.

However, Royals assistant general manager Scott Sharp joined Sports Radio 810 WHB and said Bubic will return to Kansas City. He will undergo further evaluation as he deals with left-shoulder soreness.

“I wish I had a little bit better news,” Sharp said. “Kris was supposed to pitch tonight. I don’t think he’s going to. He’s going to come back to Kansas City. And we just can’t get the final little bit of soreness out there. We’ll continue to be hopeful with continued treatment and rest that we can get him back sooner than later.”

Anne Rogers writes about it as well:

Bubic was transferred to the 60-day IL on Wednesday, which was more of a procedural move rather than directly related to this new setback; the Royals needed a 40-man roster spot to add reliever Jose Cuas and call him up to the big leagues. The 60-day IL dates back to Bubic’s initial IL date on May 15, so he’ll be eligible to return July 14. With this setback, Bubic wasn’t going to be back in the next two weeks, anyway.

Some better injury news from Rogers?

ICYMI: Max wrote about some of the roster moves yesterday: Cuas and Dobnak up, Cerantola down, Seabold to IL, and Bubic to 60-day.

Max also wrote about Chourio and Mitchell going to the MLB Futures Game.

Going back to Thompson, he also wrote about Cole Ragans. He had surgery and is… you know what? He put it all in a couple of sentences. Better to read it from him:

Kansas City Royals ace Cole Ragans underwent left-elbow surgery Wednesday. Ragans, 28, is expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season. It’s his third major elbow procedure as he previously underwent two Tommy John surgeries earlier in his career.

Fortunately, the game on the field is going better than off, right?!?

Listicles?

At The Athletic ($), Tim Britton and Chad Jennings list their trade deadline tiers:

Tier 6: Typical sellers
New York Mets
Colorado Rockies
Kansas City Royals – SP, RP

The Rockies expected to be here, the Mets and Royals less so. While Mickey Moniak and Freddy Peralta and Kris Bubic are useful pieces to move, these squads don’t really have the rosters to shake up the deadline by embracing a more aggressive sale. Maybe the Mets make some guys with team control available (like Brett Baty or Mark Vientos), but that would be because they’re enduring disappointing seasons that have depressed their value.

At CBS Sports, their baseball writers hand out halfway grades:

Kansas City Royals: F

Two years ago, the Royals made the playoffs. Last season, they had a winning record. This season, they are among the worst teams in baseball. The good signs (breakouts from Carter Jensen and Jac Caglianone) are overshadowed, quite greatly, by the bad. Injury concerns with Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic linger and the bullpen is a complete mess. Injuries to Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia haven’t helped matters, but the offense was lackluster even with them in the lineup. It’s just been all kinds of bad in K.C. this season. — Snyder

Finally, at ESPN, Anthony Gharib names the “Red, white, and bobby” bobblehead the best 4th of July giveaway.

And, just a quick little “around baseball” blurb, Happy Bobby Bonilla Day to all who celebrate!

Blogs?

Let’s lead off with Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep “Three Ex-Royals Players Who Are Thriving With Their New Teams”:

While Clarke’s profile is flawed, which explains why the Royals were okay with letting him go, he’s been dependable for the Diamondbacks, even in medium- to high-leverage. He has 11 holds this year, his highest mark in that category since 2023 when he had 12 holds in 58 plate appearances. Clarke will likely surpass that number barring an epic collapse or injury.

Considering the Royals bullpen ranks 29th in reliever ERA and 30th in WHIP, Clarke would be a worthwhile arm to have right now, especially in the late innings. Lucas Erceg and Matt Strahm have struggled, and Carlos Estevez has only pitched in one game due to injury. The Royals closer likely won’t be back anytime soon after another setback, according to Anne Rogers.

Gotta be honest: kindof surprised Taylor Clarke is having a cromulent year.

At Into the Fountains, Craig wrote about Tuesday’s ugly loss (as opposed to last night’s, which I’m sure he’s writing about now*).

*I don’t know how last night’s ended up, honestly – the Royals were only down 2-0 when I finished writing this.

Blog Roundup?

• Also, Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep: Chourio and Mitchell Name to All-Star Futures Game Rosters
• Philip Ruo at Royals Keep: Kansas City Royals Pitcher of the Month: June 2026
• Darin Watson at U.L.’s Toothpick: This Date In Royals History–1976 Edition: July 1 – Oakland scores three in the ninth to beat the Royals
• Jacob Milham at KOK: Royals Blake Mitchell’s prospect pedigree takes brutal hit after MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 update
• Nick Halden at KC Kingdom: Bobby Witt Jr. deserves more MVP buzz despite shortcomings of Royals roster

Since it’s not Friday, I figure a couple of movie reviews of movies I watched a month or two ago feels about right. Also, I went back and counted – this entry pushes us past 200 Friday Rumblings movie reviews. It’s almost a lock that I will eventually collect all of them in a low-effort link post one of these days.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

I didn’t care much for the first one, due to its scattered plot and characters.  This one is more focused.  It still has a few different plots, but they aren’t nearly as disparate – they all mostly come together in the end. Because of this focus, there aren’t as many laugh-out-loud moments as the first due to this focus on plot. It expands the, ahem, galaxy reasonably well, but I’m not sure how much further they can go with this.  As I said about the first, they tried too much kitchen sink with an origin story, lots about Bowser, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, and more.  It’s left less ground to cover for the future.  Star Fox was a fine addition, and maybe we’re going towards Super Smash Bros.  In short, it’s pretty and works reasonably well, better than the first.  But it’s still mostly forgettable and, sadly, I think Nintendo’s movies will burn out sooner rather than later.

Zootopia 2 (2025)

The first was wonderful – one of the better animated movies of the last decade.  It’s a movie that didn’t assume kids are just dumb consumers and tried to teach lessons in genuinely creative and entertaining ways.  It took almost a decade, but Zootopia 2 mostly delivers, even if it suffers some sequelitis.  If you look too literally at this one, the main quest in this kids’ movie involves tracking down a 100-year old patent to disprove fraud.  Of course, it’s really about learning to be yourself and learning to live with and finding value in others. That lesson is, once again, taught within a colorful, lived-in world with multi-faceted characters, full of modernized lessons that don’t assume kids are dumb. It’s not as fresh or original as the first. And maybe it will age better on subsequent watchings (Spiderverse 2 did for me).  But it is a worthy sequel, and I’m ok waiting another decade if the Disney team wants to keep putting out

Elio (2025)

The next couple of movies are original IPs, which makes it even more unfortunate that both miss the mark.  This one starts with a colorful and interesting premise. However, it leans heavily on two common Pixar tropes: a tragic introduction to our protagonist that eventually melts into the “two unlikely companions” buddy pic. There are times when the movie dreams big: like the Carl Sagan’s bits and universe-building.  But, most of the time, it lacks the smartness or sharpness that Pixar used to traffic in. It feels paint-by-number: alien families are just like human families, communication misunderstandings between races that ham-handedly mirror those between our main characters, our protagonist and his new friend were always going to save the day, and he was always going to go back to his adopted family on Earth.

Some pieces of a much better movie might be in there, but the finished product is not it.  I wonder about the production difficulties. Adrian Molina co-directed Coco, which was easily one of the Pixar’s best movies of the last decade.  He was the original director of this film, which drew on his personal life story.  However, he left for (or was pushed to) Coco 2 – it’s a little unclear.  Some combination of the new directors, Pete Docter, and the 2025 political climate removed Elio (per wiki) as a “queer-coded character”. Allegedly, this made it “much more generic” and about “totally nothing”. That could have been the heart that the final cut lacked. I’ve always said that kids are almost always smarter than we give them credit for, and Pixar reliably made bank on that for 15 years. They can still surprise you, but those hits are mixed in with lots of shiny, brainless shlock or sequels of movies from when they were better.

Wish (2023)

Wish, perhaps unfairly, had the weight of Disney’s 100^th birthday on its shoulders. They tried to do an old-fashioned fairy tale, right down to the legacy Disney book introduction.  It employs an interesting style of animation and the more I watched it, the more gorgeous it looked.  I like the basic idea of the movie, but –  here come the buts – it takes a long time to get anywhere.  There’s not enough plot and too much filler (like Alan Tudyk) yet still gives short shrift to major plots like Simon’s betrayal and “redemption”.  Some of the morality is vague and questionable, particularly for an old-school fairy tale; the idea of stealing wishes and who those wishes really belong to is greyer than it needs to be. And, critically: the movie never quite feels earnest enough to live up to its message. I really wanted to like the “You’re a Star” scene and the animation is fun. But it’s also a reminder that metafiction is hard to do and this movie misses the mark more often than not.  Considering how much musicals rise and fall with their tunes, the music for this one is just… fine.  I appreciate that they really tried to make a new animated classic. They just weren’t up to the task this time out; Better luck next time. Unfortunately, because these failed, we’ll probably be treated to more safe, unoriginal sequels instead.

Song of the day? How about we use one from one of the movies above?