Category: Sports News

Today’s roster move: Here

Tuesday notes…

• BETTER SCORE FIRST: The Cubs are 10-0 when they have scored first in games at home and 8-11 when their guests have scored first. They are 20-6 in all games when they have scored first and 12-21 when they have not. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• THE LONG BALL RETURNS…: The Cubs have hit at least one home run in five consecutive games, their third-longest streak of the season. They homered in six straight twice, April 12-18 and April 20-25, and in seven in a row, May 2-8. Their longest streak last year was eight games. They also had one of seven, one of six and seven of five. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• … BUT ONLY A LITTLE BIT: They have hit exactly one homer in their last four games. They had not done that since May 13-17 of last year. This is their 11th four-game streak since their most recent of five, Aug. 16-21, 2018. Their previous one of five was in 2012. That was the longest since they hit one homer in eight straight games, May 23-30, 2009, to tie the team record, set in 1931. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• TODAY IN CUBS HISTORY: Matt Stairs, Sammy Sosa and Rondell White homered and the Cubs defeated the Brewers 10-4 in Milwaukee. It was the final victory of a 12-game winning streak, the Cubs’ longest since 1936, and the Cubs led the NL Central by 3.5 games. It happened 25 years ago today, Saturday, June 2, 2001.

Cubs lineup:

Back home at @ofcwrigleyfield.

Watch the game live on @WatchMarquee. pic.twitter.com/ZhmFizdvyR

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 2, 2026

Athletics lineup:

📍Chicago pic.twitter.com/KKVCt0kx5r

— Athletics (@Athletics) June 2, 2026

Jameson Taillon, RHP vs. Gage Jump, LHP

I’m not sure what to say about Jameson Taillon anymore.

His last three starts have been, well, awful. The numbers back me up: 14.2 innings, 21 hits and four walks (1.705 WHIP), 16 runs (all earned, 9.82 ERA), eight home runs. His four-seamer velocity is down from last year, not by much, but maybe dropping that from 92.3 to 91.7 makes a difference.

Last year he had a decent outing against the A’s, April 2, 2025 in Sacramento, allowing two runs (a two-run homer by Brent Rooker). I think we’d take that.

Just keep the ball in the yard, Jamo.

Gage Jump. Now there’s a name!

Jump was the A’s second-round pick in 2024 out of LSU. He was a Top 100 prospect before this season and after nine starts at Triple-A Las Vegas this year, the A’s called him up to make his MLB debut last Tuesday against the Mariners. He allowed nine hits and four runs in five innings.

That’s about all I’ve got here, besides the pitch chart below (for the 88 pitches he threw against Seattle). He’s obviously never faced the Cubs or anyone on their active roster.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Athletics site Athletics Nation. If you do go there to interact with A’s fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

The Jays shared some injury news today:

• Dylan Cease will have a rehab start Thursday. With luck, he’ll be back with the Jays after that.
• Max Scherzer will have a rehab start Friday.
• Shane Bieber will have a rehab start, likely Saturday, in Buffalo and will likely need two more rehab starts.
• Alejandro Kirk will start a rehab assignment Wednesday, DHing for Dunedin. He’ll likely need a week’s worth of games to get back to speed. Or lack there of.
• Jesús Sánchez is day-to-day, not in the lineup today.
• And Addison Barger is hitting and will be back pretty soon.
• Yimi Garcia will pitch for Dunedin Wednesday.
• Tommy Nance will pitch in Buffalo Friday.

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Apparently it is raining in Atlanta. I’m hoping the game will happen, because I’ve planed to watch at the bar with a friend, and, if the game doesn’t happen, we’ll have to talk or something.

Tonight’s lineup:

The Brewers’ offense came alive last night, when a Milwaukee offense that scored only nine runs over the weekend put up 16 on Landon Roupp and the San Francisco Giants in the first of a four-game series. Tonight, they will look to keep that offensive momentum going, Kyle Harrison looks to continue his brilliant start to the season.

Harrison’s brilliance this year has been overshadowed by the firepower of his rotation-mate, Jacob Misiorowski. But it’s actually Harrison who leads the Brewers in ERA, even after Misiorowski’s seven scoreless innings on Sunday: in 10 games started this season, Harrison has allowed just nine runs. He’s just short of “qualifying” for the ERA title, but if he did, he’d be third in the league, only behind the Yankees’ Cam Schlittler (1.50) and Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez (1.47). Incidentally, those are probably your two leading candidates for the AL and NL Cy Young Awards right now.

Harrison hasn’t allowed a run in any of his last three outings, which covers 18 innings. In that time he’s struck out 20 batters and walked only one.

For the Giants, 25-year-old righty Trevor McDonald will take the hill. He’ll be making his sixth start of the year (in just his tenth career appearance), and he’s been okay this season: in 29 innings, he has struck out 27 and walked only six. He’s had some bad luck, so his 4.34 ERA doesn’t look great, but his FIP (3.26) tells a nicer story. While McDonald has walked only nine batters in 47 major league innings (1.7 per nine), his minor league numbers suggest that might be small sample size blip; even in just the last two years, he’s walked 4.4 batters per nine when pitching with Triple-A Sacramento.

Milwaukee will mostly ride with the lineup that collected 18 hits last night. The one change is that Garrett Mitchell is in while Andrew Vaughn is out; Jake Bauers slides from left field to first base, while Milwaukee goes with a Jackson Chourio-Mitchell-Sal Frelick outfield alignment. For the second straight night, Luis Rengifo and David Hamilton make up the left side of the infield.

First pitch is at 6:40 on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.

Do your thing, Kyle

📺 : https://t.co/eycfmE2vgm
📻 : WTMJ

→ https://t.co/mvGXoRMTFSpic.twitter.com/FGJjq3r6z0

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 2, 2026

Lineup for Game 2️⃣ up North

⌚️: 4:40 p.m. PT
📍: Milwaukee, WI
📺: @NBCSGiants
📻: @KNBR | KSFN#SFGiants | @CocaColapic.twitter.com/WwusSeKJtf

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 2, 2026

The awful road Orioles (9-17) take on the even more awful Fenway Red Sox (9-19) in a battle for the bottom of the American League East.

But you know who hasn’t been awful at Fenway of late? Connelly Early. He’s thrown back to back seven inning shutouts in the comforts of home against the Rays and Braves, who are two of the best teams in all of baseball.

Early’s probably going to have to be great again too, because offensively, the Red Sox have been so bad at Fenway Park this season, they’ve only won one game all year in which the opponent has scored more than two runs. In the month of May, it was even worse. Here’s all their wins at home in May, and as you can see, all of them involved the opponent scoring one run or less:

• 3-1 vs. Houston on May 1st
• 2-0 vs. Tampa on May 8th
• 3-1 vs. Philadelphia on May 13th
• 8-0 vs Atlanta on May 27th

Boy do they suck!

The good news is, as you can probably deduce, two of those were the Connelly Early games referenced above, so between that and the Orioles being on the road, maybe they can break through tonight.

Lineup wise, the biggest items of note are Ceddanne Rafaela and Willson Contreras back in there after being out of the lineup on Sunday to double up on rest days with the Monday off day, and Mickey Gasper continuing to court favor with Chad Tracy as he once again gets the start behind the dish.

⚾️ First Pitch: 6:45pm — Fenway Park, Boston, MA

📺 TV: NESN

📻 Radio: WEEI

San Diego Padres (32-26) at Philadelphia Phillies (30-29), June 2, 2026, 3:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Citizens Bank Park – Philadelphia, Penn.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Debut day. pic.twitter.com/suNO2orZRX

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 2, 2026

Back at The Bank#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/hLTyGjnSur

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 2, 2026

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The San Francisco Giants didn’t take long to find a new third base coach. Just four days after the team announced that they had removed Hector Borg from third base duties, and reassigned him within the organization, they formally hired his replacement: Gary Pettis.

Longtime Giants coach Ron Wotus had been serving as the interim third base coach following Borg’s demotion but, according to reporters, did not wish to remain in a full-time, traveling role. And so the Giants pounced on Pettis, announcing the news a day after USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported the likelihood of a deal.

Pettis, who is 68, has a lengthy resume, and has been coaching in the Majors for 22 years. He also has tons of experience as a third base coach specifically, as he served that role for the Houston Astros from 2015-2025, a run that included four championships and two pennants. He also spent many years working for the Texas Rangers, where he was primarily a first base coach, but also a third base coach for two seasons. Pettis was the first base coach for the Rangers in 2010, when they lost to the Giants in the World Series.

Not only does Pettis have tons of experience in the role, but he has plenty of experience with people in the Giants organization. During some of his time with the Astros, he worked under manager Dusty Baker, who currently serves as a special advisor to Buster Posey. And during much of his tenure with the Rangers, Pettis worked under manager Ron Washington, the organization’s Major League infield coach. So it’s safe to say that Pettis comes highly recommended from people within the organization.

In addition to his successful coaching career, Pettis played 11 seasons in the Majors as a centerfielder, and won five Gold Glove awards in a six-year period between 1985 and 1990. Befitting for his current role, Pettis was an excellent baserunner, and stole 354 bags in his career.

It’s also something of a homecoming for Pettis, who was born and raised in Oakland. He not only grew up in the East Bay, but played both his high school and college baseball in Oakland, at Castlemont High and Laney College, respectively. You can imagine how exciting it must be for Pettis to, after more than three decades in the Majors in various capacities, finally get a chance to wear a Bay Area jersey. His son, Dante, is an NFL wide receiver who was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the 2018 draft, and spent parts of three seasons with the Niners.

Pettis is expected to join the Giants on Wednesday for their game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Texas Rangers lineup for June 2, 2026 against the St. Louis Cardinals: starting pitchers are Nathan Eovaldi for the Rangers and Dustin May for the Cardinals.

The Texas Rangers go up this evening against Texas native and one time Dodgers wunderkind Dustin May.

The lineup:

Pederson — DH

Jung — 3B

Nimmo — RF

Burger — 1B

Duran — SS

Osuna — LF

Carter — CF

Higashioka — C

Lopez — 2B

6:45 p.m. Central start time. The game is a pick ‘em.

The curious case of Bryan Abreu continues to become more intriguing with every appearance he makes for the Houston Astros.

For a pitcher who was once considered one of the most feared setup men in Major League Baseball, it is an understatement to say that Abreu has underperformed this season. A reliever who routinely sat above 97 mph on the radar gun has seen his velocity drop by nearly three miles per hour, and the dominant results that Astros fans had grown accustomed to simply have not been there.

To be fair, Abreu had shown signs of improvement recently, putting together several scoreless appearances and appearing to regain some of the form that made him such a valuable weapon out of the bullpen. However, even during that stretch, the warning signs remained impossible to ignore.

His command issues continue to plague him. Too often he struggles to find the strike zone, frequently walking the leadoff hitter or putting additional runners on base. With a strike percentage hovering only slightly above 50 percent, Abreu is putting himself in difficult situations before opposing hitters even have a chance to do damage.

That simply is not good enough for a pitcher whose role is to enter high-leverage situations and protect slim leads, preserve ties, or keep his team within striking distance. The margin for error is too small, and right now Abreu is creating more problems than he is solving.

Beyond the numbers, he looks different. The confidence that once defined him appears to be missing. The intimidating presence and trademark stare that accompanied his dominance on the mound seem to have faded. His body language tells a story of a pitcher searching for answers rather than one who expects success every time he takes the ball.

The Astros must determine how they want to proceed because Abreu is no longer a reliever that manager Joe Espada can trust. That statement would have been unthinkable just a season or two ago, but it reflects the current reality.

While the recent scoreless outings are encouraging, context matters. The situations in which those appearances occurred matter just as much as the final line in the box score. The usage patterns suggest Espada deploys Abreu only when necessary or when the risk to the outcome of the game is relatively limited.

The series against Milwaukee provided another example. Entrusted with a one-run lead against a quality opponent, Abreu entered with an opportunity to secure a meaningful victory. Instead, he left the game with the score tied, and the Astros ultimately lost. It was another reminder that the version of Abreu who once thrived under pressure is nowhere to be found at the moment.

The question becomes: how much longer can the Astros continue expecting different results when placing him in situations he once handled with ease?

With Josh Hader expected to return soon and other bullpen options emerging, it is fair to wonder how long Abreu can maintain his place in the bullpen hierarchy. It may even be reasonable to question how secure his spot on the major league roster remains.

Abreu is approaching free agency, and based on his current performance, it is difficult to imagine owner Jim Crane committing significant money to an extension. The organization has already experienced the consequences of investing heavily in relievers after the disastrous Rafael Montero contract, and it would be surprising to see the Astros repeat that mistake.

As an impending free agent, Abreu is pitching for his next contract as much as he is pitching to rediscover the success that once made him one of baseball’s elite setup men. Unfortunately for both him and the Astros, neither objective appears close to being achieved.

The Astros are also in a position where every victory carries increased importance. After a slow start to the season, they are playing catch-up in the standings and cannot afford to give games away while waiting for a struggling reliever to figure things out.

That brings us to the questions the Astros must answer before the trade deadline.

Is there a physical issue contributing to Abreu’s declining velocity? Are there mechanical flaws causing his inability to consistently throw strikes? Is this something that can be corrected during the season, or does he need a stint on the injured list to address either a physical ailment or make significant adjustments?

There are mental questions as well. Has the constant struggle begun to affect his confidence to the point where he is expecting failure before he ever takes the mound? Has he become trapped in a cycle where poor performances feed self-doubt, which in turn creates more poor performances?

There is also the possibility that the heavy workload of recent seasons is catching up to him. Astros fans have seen similar situations before. One cannot help but wonder whether Abreu is dealing with the effects of overuse, much like Lance McCullers Jr. eventually experienced after years of heavy reliance and repeated arm issues. While the circumstances are certainly different, the concern remains valid when a pitcher’s velocity drops and effectiveness disappears.

Whatever the cause may be, the Astros cannot afford to ignore it much longer.

Bryan Abreu was once one of the most reliable and dominant relievers in baseball. Today, he is one of the biggest question marks on a team desperately trying to climb back into contention. Between now and the trade deadline, the Astros must determine whether the answers lie in mechanical adjustments, medical treatment, rest, or simply accepting that the pitcher they once depended on may no longer be the same.

Until then, every appearance will continue to add another chapter to the curious case of Bryan Abreu.