Category: Sports News

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes that poor defense was the main culprit for the Texas Rangers dropping the series opener against the Colorado Rockies.

McFarland writes that Josh Jung in particular felt responsible for the defeat to Colorado after Jung’s error led to two runs scoring in a one-run loss.

Kennedi Landry writes that the game felt adverse from the start as Texas lost MacKenzie Gore to a muscle ailment after just one inning in the chilly conditions.

McFarland notes that Gore didn’t seem to think his injury was serious but the lefty will surely require more monitoring.

In addition to whatever the heck happened to Gore, Landry notes that Corey Seager finally landed on the IL proper yesterday after already missing several games with a back issue.

And, Matt Snyder has a power rankings for CBS sports but it’s mostly about how teams leaguewide have been bad and/or disappointing in what has been a very unusual season thus far.

Have a nice day!

It’s funny that it happened yesterday for two reasons, at least to me.

First, in the recap thread for Sunday’s game, there was a brief exchange about non-competitive games. Using a couple of different methodologies, True2Atlanta and I noted that there have only been four-ish games where the Braves weren’t competitive. I did a method that used average leverage throughout the game, and found that about 40 percent of games this season have been below-average in competitiveness basically all the way through, but 80 percent of those were Braves wins/dominations.

Second, Sunday’s game was the first time this season I missed a few innings. I did it “deliberately,” in the sense that the Braves had a big lead and I surmised I wouldn’t miss anything at all if I went to deal with “you’ve recently been in a car wreck” stuff. Yesterday’s game, well… there wasn’t really any reason to watch the horror show descend on Bummer and company.

Anyway, was last night rock bottom in terms of single-game dismantling of the Braves, or are we somehow going to be in for even worse somewhere in the 100ish remaining games of the season?

It’s getting harder and harder to argue against the belief that Cristopher Sánchez is one of the best pitchers in baseball. The Phillies ace lefty turned in one of the most dominant outings of the season so far in his last start, a complete game shutout with 13 strikeouts on 108 pitches. That dazzling performance lowered Sánchez’ season ERA to 1.82 which led the National League on Monday morning and was the fourth best in all of baseball. 

It’s funny to think now how disliked the trade that brought Sánchez to the Phillies was at the time it was made. As you’re probably well aware of by now, the Phillies traded a then top 100 prospect in Curtis Mead for Sánchez who, at the time, was deemed not worthy of the Tampa Bay Rays 40-man roster. Many evaluators believed that Sánchez’ ceiling was that of either a reliever or AAAA-type starter who would be destined to bounce back and forth from the Major and minor leagues. 

Sánchez deserves the lion’s share of the credit for his transformation from a fringe of the roster body into one of the best pitchers in baseball. He put in the work to improve himself physically and mentally to achieve a ceiling many thought not possible. But the Phillies deserve some credit too, as they helped him along in his journey and were able to successfully develop a homegrown ace. 

That brings us to our question of the day: Who is the Phillies’ biggest player development win? Sánchez may be the favorite, but the last winning core in Philadelphia also had some players that exceeded expectations. Ryan Howard of course was a fifth-round pick that turned into one of the most feared hitters across the league, but he was considered a first-round talent in some circles. Carlos Ruiz was never even close to a highly touted prospect, but under the Phillies tutelage he turned into a mainstay at catcher for a championship team while also guiding one of the best rotations in baseball history.

Who are some other huge development wins in Phillies history? Is Sánchez the biggest? What about Howard and Ruiz? 

Shōta Imanaga has been so good this year that I think all of us hoped he had turned the page on 2025 and would have a 2024-type season all year.

Until Monday, that was the case. Unfortunately, Imanaga got hit hard and had his worst start of the year (and to be honest, he had a couple of clunkers like this in ‘24, too), and the Cubs’ 15-game home winning streak ended ith a 9-3 defeat at the hands of the Brewers.

Christian Yelich homered in the second to give Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. Now, the wind was blowing out at 15 miles per hour on a warm evening at Wrigley Field, but that one didn’t need any help — it bounced off the right-field video board and measured 409 feet.

The Brewers put four on the board in the fourth and honestly, with a bit of luck Imanaga could have gotten out of that inning scoreless. Milwaukee had five hits in the inning, but the only one hit hard was a two-run double by Sal Frelick. A couple of seeing-eye singles and one that Nico Hoerner couldn’t get an out on produced most of the damage that gave the Brewers a 5-0 lead.

The Cubs couldn’t do anything with Brandon Sproat over the first four innings, even though the first two Cubs hitters of the game, Hoerner and Michael Busch, drew walks. About that, from BCB’s JohnW53:

The Cubs failed to score in the first inning after their first two batters walked.

In their last six games that had begun that way, from April 9, 2022 through July 18, 2025, the Cubs had scored three, six, five, six, five and three runs. They had won five of the games, only lost the next-to-last at home vs. the Padres, 8-7, on April 6 of last year.

The last time they did not score was on May 4, 2021, but they beat the Dodgers at home, 4-3.

So, not scoring in that situation is not only unusual, but the Cubs had generally won games like that in recent years. Not this time, though.

Imanaga was finally removed after serving up a three-run homer to Jake Bauers in the fifth. From John:

The eight runs off Imanaga tie for the second most he has surrendered in his 64 career starts.

He gave up 10 to the Mets in 3.0 innings on June 21, 2024, and eight to the Mets on Sept. 25 in 5.2 innings of last year. Both games were at home.

This was the eighth start in which he gave up at least five runs. His ERA this year was 2.32 going into Monday. Now it is 3.38.

I remember that 2024 game well. If it’s any consolation, in his first five starts after that game, Imanaga posted a 2.93 ERA and threw well most of the rest of 2024.

The Cubs did make an attempt to get back in the game. Carson Kelly’s single leading off the fifth erased any thoughts of a no-hit bid by Sproat. After Pete Crow-Armstrong struck out, Dansby Swanson deposited a baseball on Waveland [VIDEO].

That ball was crushed! [VIDEO]

And in case you were wondering where that ball wound up:

There have already been more home runs hit to Waveland this year, in 24 home games, than all of last year, when there were only three.

Nico followed with a walk and Busch doubled him in [VIDEO].

Well. Now it’s 8-3 and there’s only one out, another couple of hits and the Cubs are back in the game. Unfortunately, Alex Bregman grounded out and Ian Happ was called out on strikes to end the inning.

The Brewers made it 9-3 off Ethan Roberts in the sixth, the first run Roberts has allowed all year.

The Cubs put newcomer Ty Blach in the game in the seventh. He wound up throwing three scoreless innings, helped out by this nice throw by Happ to get Luis Rengifo trying to stretch a single into a double [VIDEO].

Blach did exactly the job the Cubs put him on the roster for — to eat up some innings and save the rest of the bullpen. He’s 35 and not likely going to be around for long, but that was a nice effort for the evening.

The Cubs did have some baserunners after the three-run seventh, but nothing doing, and overall the team was 0-for-9 with RISP. You know that’s been an issue much of the year, so I won’t belabor it, especially in a 9-3 blowout.

Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

I agree with Counsell about Imanaga’s command being the issue. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed quickly and he can turn it around in his next start.

One last note on this game from John:

This was the Cubs’ 100th regular-season game at home vs. the Brewers in which they allowed at least five runs.
They are 28-72 in those games.

When they have given up no more than four runs, the Cubs are 91-39 — .700.

The Cubs are 74-21, .779, when they have scored at least five vs. the Brewers at Wrigley, and 45-89, .336, with four or fewer.

The Cubs’ lead in the NL Central over the Brewers dropped to half a game with this loss (and Milwaukee is one game ahead in the loss column). And this series is not going to get any easier with Jacob Misiorowski on the mound for Milwaukee Tuesday evening. Ben Brown will get the start for the Cubs and he’s been really good in his two starts so far this year. Game time is again 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Throughout their history, the Boston Red Sox have notoriously done damage at the plate.

It’s pretty difficult to find an era in which they didn’t have mashers — or at least long, sustained periods where they ranked among the best in baseball at putting runs on the board.

Ted Williams and Bobby Doerr were the standard bearers in the 1940s and 1950s. Carl Yastrzemski then showed up in 1961, ushering in an era that included the likes of Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, and Carlton Fisk. Dwight Evans and Wade Boggs knocked the cover off the ball throughout the 1980s. (I don’t want to talk about the early 1990s, because that doesn’t fit my agenda.) Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, and Rafael Devers are just a few of the names who have led the charge for top-five offenses since the turn of the century.

It’s tradition — though that seems to have been lost this season…

The Red Sox seem to have forgotten what they’re supposed to be, as they ranked 29th in OPS (.666) and HR (33), 27th in total bases (546), and 22nd in batting average (.235) entering this week’s series against the Kansas City Royals.

EW!

I don’t need to get into all of the things that got them to this point, but a mix of stupid personnel decisions (Durbin, Caleb), regressing veterans (Duran, Jarren; Story, Trevor), injured youngsters (Anthony, Roman) and an entirely new coaching staff full of dweebs who have never played the sport in their lives are probably a good place to start the conversation — but where does it end?

I’d be extremely surprised if we see any meaningful moves made to get this group back on track before it’s too late, nor do I expect many of the names listed above to just turn things around. I just think they’re going to start playing a brand of baseball that works for them.

If that means playing like the Tampa Bay Rays, they’re going to play like the Tampa Bay Rays!

Boston’s pitching staff could be one of the three or four best in baseball, with the starting rotation giving you a quality start in seven of the last nine games. The Red Sox haven’t been able to consistently turn those performances into wins however, so there has been an emphasis on getting guys into the lineup who can actually put the ball in play and attempt to manufacture runs.

Mickey Gasper has started seven of the last nine games. Nick Sogard was called up and immediately inserted into an every day role. Andruw Monasterio is getting regular at-bats with the injury to Story. Connor Wong is playing a bit more.

It’s not sexy, but at least they aren’t swinging through everything and routinely posting uncompetitive innings.

Wong, Sogard, and Duran combined for an instance of small ball in Monday’s victory at Kauffman Stadium, with the former lacing a double down the line, moving over to third base on a bunt single, and scoring on a sacrifice fly — scoring an insurance run that gave them some breathing room in a 3-1 win over Kansas City.

It’s insane that those things get me excited, but that’s where we’re at!

Boston needs to continue playing that brand of baseball, which means more Sogard, Monasterio, Gasper, and whoever else is willing to actually give a shit.

Junior Caminero would be helpful, too, but they can’t actually be those guys…

Meet the Mets

The Mets won an absolute insane baseball game, becoming the first team since 1983 to score double digit runs in extra innings as they prevailed 16-7 over the Nationals in twelve innings. It was the club’s third straight victory and their sixth win in their last seven games.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Daily News, NY Post, ESPN

After the game, the team designated Austin Slater for assignment.

The Mets brought up Daniel Duarte and optioned Joey Gerber to Triple-A. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Mets transferred A.J. Minter to the 60-day IL.

Will Sammon shared the story of Joe Raccuia, the scout who discovered A.J. Ewing. Raccuia is recovering from a stroke and the loss of his son, but has found solace in watching Ewing’s rise to the majors.

Bo Bichette discussed his slow start and how he’s trying to get back to being the player the Mets signed.

Bichette did break through with a three-hit game last night.

Juan Soto discussed the difference between his reception at Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium.

The Mets are calling up Zach Thornton to pitch on Wednesday. Nolan McLean will remain on turn and pitch on Tuesday for the Mets.

Anthony DiComo explored why they picked Thornton over some of the other options.

Tim Britton offered a blueprint for the team’s turnaround on the latest edition of This Week in Mets.

There is a chance Francisco Lindor could be back in June.

Jorge Polanco has begun the strengthening phase of his road back to the majors, with the hope being that he could begin a rehab assignment in a week or so.

Kodai Senga tossed 46 pitches during a Sunday bullpen session as he tries to work his way back from injury.

Jared Young will move his rehab to Triple-A as aims to return from his injury.

Dave Kerpen, CEO of Kerpen Ventures, talked about how being a Mets fan, moreso than exiting companies or getting an MBA, was the best training to becoming a founder.

Around the National League East

The Braves activated Ronald Acuña Jr. from the injured list and played Kyle Farmer on the 10-day IL.

Atlanta topped the latest MLB Power Rankings.

The Phillies scored two in the eighth to top the Reds 5-4.

The Marlins cooled off the red-hot Braves, shutting them out 12-0.

Around Major League Baseball

Gerrit Cole could make his next start in the majors after touching close to 100 mph in his latest rehab start.

Tarik Skubal was encouraged by his latest symptom-free rehab start.

Roman Anthony of the Red Sox has hit a snag in his rehab and has hit pause as he tries to work his way back.

Pete Crow-Armstrong expressed regret at his ‘choice of words’ with a White Sox fan in a recent exchange.

An Astros fan who did not interfere with Brandon Nimmo stealing back a home run was rewarded with a signed ball and a nice message from the ex-Mets outfielder.

The Guardians beat up the Tigers 8-2.

The Rays walloped the Orioles 16-6.

The Yankees held off the Blue Jays 7-6, as David Bednar buckled down to secure a comeback win one night after his ninth inning collapse.

The Red Sox topped the Royals 3-1.

The Twins doubled up the Astros 6-3.

The Brewers earned a decisive 9-3 victory over the Cubs.

The Rockies held on to defeat the Rangers 7-6.

The Angels were being no-hit heading into the ninth, but ended up winning 2-1 in walk-off fashion.

The Padres blanked the Dodgers 1-0. Mason Miller showed his human side but still recovered to shut down L.A.

The Diamondbacks toppled the Giants 12-3.

The Mariners easily handled the White Sox 6-1. In the win, Colt Emerson hit his first major league home run, and after missing his debut, his family did not miss this feat.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Seth Ashby looked at what might be wrong with Bo Bichette.

Chris McShane previewed the team’s series against the Nationals.

Linus Lawrence provided a Monday Stat Party.

Allison McCague brought us the position player and pitcher meters for the week.

This Date in Mets History

David Wright hit a memorable walk-off hit against Mariano Rivera to give the Mets a series-opening victory against the Yankees on this date in 2006.

Let’s dial back to Sunday. With the caveat that I’m surprised Sean Manaea is still on an MLB roster, Aaron Boone hit all the right buttons. Pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt gets dotted to load the bases with one out, Max Schuemann comes into run for him. Anthony Volpe has his big two-run single, and Boone goes to his bench one more time, eschewing J.C. Escarra in favor of Amed Rosario. Rosario gets a ball in the air, Schuemann scampers home, and the Yankees have their third run of the frame. Not a bad bit of managing from Aaron Boone, and more importantly, highlights this reported sense of “urgency” the team seems to be running with.

From in-game snap decisions to broader choices like optioning Volpe to Triple-A, cutting Randal Grichuk, sending down Luis Gil, this does feel like a Yankee team that’s less interested in waiting out the first half of the season than most years. Of course the great irony is that while Boone made all those good moves in the top of the sixth, the Yankees actually lost that game because the bullpen collectively allowed six runs across five remaining innings.

And that’s the circle that we’re here to square today. The Yankees have some very obvious holes. It starts with the bullpen, where the team hovers around the median of baseball and can creep into the top ten depending on what metric you want to use. However, when we pair the relative weakness of the bullpen with the inconsistency of the offense — holes at catcher, third base, and a newly-discovered lack of depth in the outfield — and you start to get a picture of a team that can’t hit its way out of trouble.

I know people don’t like to hear this, but it is still early. I don’t think anyone should be doing serious roster analysis until a team has played 50 games, but I’m writing this a couple of hours before Game 48 with the Blue Jays kicks off. It’s early, but it’s starting to get not early. The trade market hasn’t quite kicked off yet, but one wonders just how far the Yankees are going to take this supposed sense of urgency. The club seems to perennially trade for relief pitchers that on paper improve the club, even if the 2025 version of that plan leaves some things to be desired.

Neither Escarra nor Austin Wells seems particularly interested in hitting a baseball, or are perhaps even aware there is a baseball to hit, and a change in the backup catcher slot seems inevitable. Ryan Jeffers’ 166 wRC+ will not hold up over a full season, but in a contract year for a pretty tough Twins team, he might be the type of target these oh-so-ruthless Yankees need to slightly overpay for.

Improving the outfield depends on how confident you can be in Jasson Domínguez’s return, and how he’ll hit upon returning. Spencer Jones, in at least his first taste of MLB action, doesn’t seem to have it, and while I’m going to be a little skeptical Domínguez has it long term, at least he’s shown more flashes than Jones has. That the Martian avoided a concussion while colliding with the wall should make us all optimistic, but outfield support could still be needed.

I know there are a lot of people who will probably stop reading the moment I type this, but this is a good baseball team. More than that, the club is combining yet another, improbable, year of Aaron Judge’s prime with performances by Cam Schlittler and Ben Rice that we may never see again. You can’t bank on a 1.35 ERA in perpetuity, even if Cam continues to soar across 2026 every reasonable bettor in the world would hedge on him being worse next year. The Yankees have wasted potential seasons of destiny before — the nice thing this year is you know exactly where the holes are. Want to prove you’re feeling the urgency? Fill them.

The Mets are designating outfielder Austin Slater for assignment, with his replacement on the active roster being outfield prospect Nick Morabito.

In addition moves, the Mets selected left-handed pitcher Anderson Severino to the major league roster before optioning him to Triple-A Syracuse, and transferred Clay Holmes to the 60-day IL.

Morabito, 23, is hitting .253/.364/.390 with four homers, six doubles, one triple, and 14 stolen bases in 41 games for Syracuse this season in what is his first taste at the level.

He spoke to reporters before Tuesday's game against the Washington Nationals, a team he grew up rooting for, and said he got the call "pretty late" on Monday night that he was getting called up and said the last 12 hours have been "kind of hectic."

"Just do my best out there and be the [best] player I can be," Morabito said of the Mets' expectations of him. "Go out there and have fun and just try and help this team win."

Morabito has been a weapon against left-handed pitchers this year, posting a .936 OPS (his OPS against righties is .702).

In five minor league seasons in New York's system, Morabito has a .769 OPS.

Morabito has played primarily center field this season, but has also gotten starts in right field and left field. He'll make his MLB debut on Tuesday in left field while batting seventh in the lineup.

"It’s very special," he said of his debut. "I grew up coming to this park so it’s a pretty surreal moment for me, just to be here and it’s very special."

The youngster added that he'll have a good amount of family and friends at the ballpark.

Meanwhile, Slater, 33, struggled in limited opportunities with New York this season. Often getting chances against left-handed pitching, the right-handed hitter slashed .250/.286/.300 with one double in 21 plate appearances across nine games.

He had been signed by the Mets earlier this season after being DFA'd by the Marlins.

Last night in the Red Sox 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals, Masataka Yoshida hit a triple and threw out a runner at the plate. When I think about Masataka Yoshida, hitting triples and throwing runners out at the plate aren’t things that come to mind. In fact, it was his first of each statistic since 2023.

What are some other uncharacteristic games that come to mind? Did Mo Vaughn ever steal two bags in a game or something? I’m young(ish), educate me! Talk about what you want and be good to one another. Go Sox.

Blake Snell will undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Whether his return is expected to be about three months, like closer Edwin Díaz, or perhaps a shorter timetable depends on what Dr. Neal ElAttrache finds during the procedure.

A potential example of the shorter timeline is Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, who had surgery on May 6. Skubal’s surgery was also performed by Dr. ElAttrache, who used a smaller NanoNeedle during the procedure. Cody Stavenhagen wrote about the procedure at The Athletic:

In the room with Skubal, ElAttrache explained how the smaller scope could change the procedure. There would be a smaller incision, almost like a poke for an IV. Where a larger arthroscope has to push through layers of tissue, sometimes causing more bleeding, scarring and inflammation, the NanoNeedle could more easily glide to the location. The surgery would require pumping an estimated 65 percent less fluid to insufflate the joint.

Skubal threw his first bullpen session for the Tigers on Monday, just 12 days after the surgery.

Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes spoke with reporters about Snell and other topics on Monday in San Diego, per Sonja Chen at MLB.com:

“Hopefully, it’s the shorter timeline,” Gomes said. “That’s the hope and expectation right now. Obviously we don’t know 100% until they’re in there, but that’s what we’re expecting.”

Gomes also talked about newcomer Eric Lauer, who was acquired on Sunday and will be activated during this series in San Diego. Lauer will likely pitch in relief this week before slotting into the six-man rotation next week at some point, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.

Justin Turner through the weekend was hitting .314/.424/.543 in 21 games for the Tijuana Toros in the Mexican League, where he’s managed by Roberto Kelly, another former Dodger. The 41-year-old Turner talked with Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times:

“I love playing,” he said. “I love competing. As long as I feel I’m serviceable and not just here for entertainment purposes, I’m going to keep doing it.”

John Gennaro writes about the Padres at his Bandwagon Beach newsletter, and captured the concept of baseball rivalries quite nicely:

The thing about rivals is that they are necessary. They are the result of multiple teams from the same division going after the exact same piece of glory and hardware. You’re probably not going to get to where you want to go without a rival pushing you to find your absolute peak. That’s what shows you where the ceiling is. That’s how you get to where you want to be.