Category: Sports News

Meet the Mets

The Mets fell behind 9-0 in the first two innings and never recovered as they were bludgeoned by the Reds 12-0 in the first game of their three-day set at Great American Ball Park. The less we say about this one, the better.

Choose Your Recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Daily News, NY Post, ESPN, Faith and Fear in Flushing

The Mets congratulated the Knicks on their championship and looked to draw inspiration from their magical run to the NBA title, though they certainly didn’t do that last night.

The Mets made a few roster moves before the series began, including calling up Tobias Myers, who got rocked in 1 1/3 innings of work last night, and Jonathan Pintaro, who pitched in relief following Myers’ ineffective start. The club also sent Daniel Duarte down to Triple-A and placed Christian Scott on the IL with a right hip impingement.

The Mets announced that Kodai Senga would be starting tonight’s game for the team after the news of Scott’s injury.

Ronny Mauricio could start a rehab assignment towards the end of the week as he continues his recovery from a fractured left thumb.

The Mets claimed Zack Short off waivers from the Tigers and transferred Jorge Polanco to the 60-day IL.

Juan Soto is ninth in All-Star voting among NL outfielders, while Bo Bichette is eighth among third basemen.

Soto is taking pieces from his past as he mentors the team’s young outfielders, explains Laura Albanese.

Around the National League East

The Braves have shut down Spencer Strider for four weeks, and Strider says he is eyeing a late season return.

Atlanta’s JR Ritchie is ready to make the most of his second stint as a major league starter.

The Phillies blanked the Marlins 7-0. In the win, Philadelphia’s Number 6 prospect, Gabriel Rincones Jr., got his first hit, a home run, in his Citizens Bank Park debut.

The Nationals scored five in the fifth to top the Royals 7-3.

Around Major League Baseball

The MLB Power Rankings feature Atlanta retaining their top spot and the White Sox jumping 20 spots from where they were ranked on Opening Day.

The first update on MLB All-Star balloting was released, with Shohei Ohtani and Yordan Alvarez cruising atop their respective leagues.

Jared Greenspan broke down the closest races in Phase 1 of the ballots.

The MLB.com staff picked the biggest surprise for each team this season.

Max Ralph and Manny Randhawa made their latest predictions for this year’s All-MLB Team.

Sam Blum identified some cases of potential nepotism in baseball which are now standing out.

Adam McCalvy profiled two high school friends: Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby, who leads the NL in wins, and Landry Shamet, who just won an NBA Title with the New York Knicks.

The Giants are starting to test the waters on the trade market, according to Ken Rosenthal.

Padres reliever Ron Marinaccio was suspended for three games after hitting Gunnar Henderson with a pitch in their win against the Orioles last Saturday. San Diego skipper Craig Stammen received a one-game suspension.

San Diego placed closer Mason Miller on the bereavement list and recalled reliever Kyle Hart to take his place.

Corey Seager is heading to the concussion IL after a collision at the plate.

Texas Longhorns sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez hit for the cycle in the team’s 14-2 victory. In the process, he became the third player to hit for the cycle in the Men’s College World Series.

The Cardinals blanked the Padres 3-0, as Dustin May hurled a complete game one-hit shutout.

The Cubs scored one in the eighth and two in the ninth to earn a 5-4 comeback win over the Rockies. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit for the cycle in the victory.

The Twins defeated the Rangers 4-2.

The Tigers beat up the Astros 9-3. Colt Keith hit three homers in the win, becoming the youngest Tiger to accomplish the feat since Al Kaline in 1955.

The Diamondbacks held off the Angels 4-3.

The surging Athletics broke out yet again for an 11-2 win over the Pirates, proving their offensive display in Vegas was hardly a fluke.

The Dodgers snuck by the Rays 4-3.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

I previewed the team’s series against the Reds.

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

Linus Lawrence provided a Monday Stat Party.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2024, the Mets topped the Padres 11-6 to complete a 5-1 homestand and make it five straight wins after Grimace threw the first pitch heard round the world. Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Luis Torrens each contributed a home run in the team’s victory.

Over the weekend, the Yankees went into Toronto and picked up a very nice series victory. Despite still missing Aaron Judge, they took two out of three over the Blue Jays, using big ninth inning homers from Paul Goldschmidt and Ben Rice to take both games. Now, they’re set to return home for another series that, unexpectedly, features a battle of division leaders.

Starting tonight, the Chicago White Sox are in town for a three-game series. The White Sox have been notoriously bad over the last couple seasons, including a record-setting awful 2024. Yet, they’ve gotten off to a winning start to 2026, coming in at 38-32, tied with the Guardians for the AL Central lead. Offseason signing, Munetaka Murakami — who is on the injured list and will be absent for this series — has lived up to the hype, while they’ve gotten impressive performances out of a bunch of their young and upcoming talent, including last week when Braden Montgomery hit a walk-off homer in his MLB debut.

Can the White Sox continue their winning run to the season this week against the Yankees? Let’s take a look at what the pitching matchups have in store over the next couple days.

Tuesday: Gerrit Cole vs. Davis Martin (7:05 pm ET)

Cole is coming off the first meh start of his return so far. Against the Guardians last week, he was knocked out after just four innings. He only gave up two runs, it just came on five hits and two walks, driving up his pitch count for a guy still early in his return from Tommy John surgery. Between said surgery and just schedule luck, this will be the first time he’s faced the White Sox since August 2023, when Chicago actually got to him for four runs in seven innings.

Martin has been the ace of Chicago’s unexpected run, coming into this game with a 2.41 ERA and a 2.39 FIP in 13 starts. He also has a league-leading nine pitching wins, which no one would’ve guessed coming into the season. Those numbers are actually a little bit up from where he had been at the end of May, as he gave up six runs in 4.2 innings against the Twins in his first start of June. However, Martin responded by shutting out the Braves for six innings in his most recent appearance.

Wednesday: Carlos Rodón vs. Anthony Kay (7:05 pm ET)

In the second game of the series, Rodón will face off against his former team. His return from injury a couple weeks ago saw him get off to a rocky start, but he’s settled into somewhat of a groove of late. In his last four starts, Rodón has a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings. He’s still been walking a bit more batters than you would like, but he’s generally been able to work around them.

Kay is a former Mets first round pick who they traded to the Blue Jays for Marcus Stroman all the way back in 2019. Since then, he’s been around the majors a bit and in Japan for two years, before landing with the White Sox this past winter. With a 100 ERA+, he’s been about perfectly league average so far this season, although a 5.23 FIP suggests that he could be gettable.

Thursday: Ryan Weathers vs. Sean Burke (7:05 pm ET)

He’s still in the rotation for now, but recent starts suggest that Weathers will be headed for the bullpen whenever the Yankees get Max Fried back. Weathers has given up seven home runs over his last three starts, allowing a total of 16 runs in 17 innings across them.

Burke is another White Sox starter that has been right around league average so far this year. However, his numbers have come about with a bit of a slump following a good start to the year. Dating back to May 8th, Burke has a 5.82 ERA in seven starts. He’s been especially walk prone of late, issuing 10 free passes over his last two games.

1908
The number 13 proved lucky for the White Sox, as a 3-2 win over the New York Highlanders ran their winning streak to 13 games. Ed Walsh went the distance to improve to 14-3 on the season, while the Sox offense buffeted just five singles in the game with eight walks and five stolen bases. Patsy Dougherty and Jiggs Donahue had nearly identical starring turns, both going 1-for-2 with an RBI, two walks and a strikeout; the only difference came from Dougherty swiping two bases to Donahue’s one, plus a hit-by-pitch.

1969
By all accounts, during a horrible summer of baseball on the South Side, the White Sox found some relief — north of the Illinois-Wisconsin border. With an 8-3 win over the Seattle Pilots as one of 11 games played that season at Milwaukee County Stadium, the White Sox stretched their “Milwaukee White Sox” winning streak to five games (not consecutive wins, however, as each game at Milwaukee was a single contest, with the White Sox opposing every other AL team up north once during the season).

Chicago struck early and often, going up, 8-1, through three. Future Dodgers relief ace Mike Marshall took the brunt of the damage as Seattle’s starter, while the White Sox took advantage of three Pilots errors in the early going, and four total in the game.

The five wins equaled what would become the team’s longest outright winning streak (later that year, in September) and was not an indication of how good the team was; while this win improved the White Sox to 24-32, they still sat two games behind the expansion Pilots. In the end, the White Sox finished 1969 with a 68-94 record that was good for sixth place in the AL West and just four games better than Seattle.

1989
At 37, former Tigers farmhand Rick Wolff (drafted out of Harvard in 1972) makes a one-series comeback with the South Bend White Sox of the Midwest League (Single-A) for the purposes of a Sports Illustrated article. Wolff pinch-hit at the end of his first game, then starts the next two, batting ninth and then creeping up to eighth — and finishes the series 4-for-7 with a ground-rule double, three RBIs and a .571/.556/.714 slash line. His one error at second base comes when a pickoff throw travels through the pocket of his 20-year-old glove. Wolff himself was 15.1 years older than league average.

This was no end-of-season stunt in a lost season, a la Minnie Miñoso two decades earlier. South Bend won its division in 1989 with an 85-47 record, and featured such future White Sox as Scott Radinsky and Roberto Hernández, along with four other future major leaguers.

1997
After numerous charity and exhibition games, the White Sox and Cubs played for real for the first time in the regular season. The Cubs crushed their former starter, Jaime Navarro, jumping to a 6-0 lead and hanging seven earned on him in an 8-3 win. Lyle Mouton had a solo blast with the game out of hand in the sixth for the first Sox-Cubs interleague homer for the White Sox, while the Cubs went roundtripper-free in their first Crosstown interleague game. This was also the first interleague game ever played at Sox Park, and thus Mouton’s was the first home four-bagger in interleague play for the White Sox.

2023
The White Sox struck out 16 times in a 3-2 loss in Seattle against the Mariners. This came on the heels of striking out 16 times the night before in a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles. That tied the club mark first set in 2018.

Another oddity was the Sox hit six home runs in the two games but because they couldn’t get runners on base, every single home run was a solo shot!

Luis Robert Jr. and Jake Burger both homered once over the two games — and struck out seven times apiece!

It was an off day for the Atlanta Braves but also a positive one in terms of injury updates on Monday. Drake Baldwin is back, returning from a 4-week absence due to an oblique strain. Spencer Strider will not need surgery, but instead will be shut down for four weeks and then will be on a rehab plan to hopefully return later in the year. It seems wise for the Braves to add him to the list of pitchers they hope to get some value from this season but are not relying on.

Braves News

Austin Wynns was outrighted to AAA in the corresponding move for Baldwin.

Ronald Acuna Jr., Drake Baldwin, and Ozzie Albies are currently projected as starters for the NL in the All Star Game.

The Braves week ahead includes are a highly intriguing matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Here is a scouting report on potential draft target Tyler Bell of Kentucky.

Carlos Carrasco is once again back with the organization.

MLB News

The Giants could be open to trading several of their expensive vets.

Rangers placed Corey Seager on concussion IL.

The Red Sox did the near-unthinkable: they won 2 games in a row at home! A whole series! And it was against a team right in the playoff mix and just 1.0 game back for the lead in the AL West. At 35-36 the Rangers just left Boston under .500.

Also under .500 are the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays are sitting at 34-38, which isn’t great. They were down to the final outs of a World Series and are now sitting on the outside looking in, hoping they can turn things around in the remaining 90 games. Boston is 3.0 games back of Toronto and Baltimore. Despite a better run differential and expected winning percentage than those teams, the Red Sox are in last place in the AL East. This is a very important series for the bottom three AL East teams. Unfortunately, the Jays, decimated by injuries, are bringing some good pitchers.

Dylan Cease was their big acquisition last winter and he’s pitched like an ace. An ERA under 3.00, 103 strikeouts in 68 innings. But the Red Sox got to him in April. Over 5.2 innings, Cease allowed 4 runs, all earned. His second highest runs allowed of the year after a 5-run outing against the Yankees in May. He spent a couple weeks on the IL before his last outing: 6.0 innings, 1 run against the Phillies. Hopefully the Sox offense is prepared.

Payton Tolle is coming off maybe his most disappointing start of the season. And it was still a 6-inning outing where he allowed just 4 runs against Tampa Bay. He faced the Jays on April 28 and allowed 3 runs over 4.2 innings. That was his lone start on 4 days rest. He’ll have 6 days this time. In a very small sample size discussion, the two teams he’s faced twice – Atlanta and Tampa – have had more success the second time. Considering the first time was Tolle on shorter rest, there probably isn’t much to read into even that limited data point.

Max Scherzer is probably not long for MLB at this point. He started the season with 6.0 innings against the Rockies and tossed 6.0 against the Diamondbacks on April 18 but around those starts has tossed 10 total innings across 4 starts with a lengthy IL stint that cost him all of May. He hasn’t faced Boston this year. In 2025 he made one start in September against the Sox going 5.0 innings while allowing 4 runs in an eventual 7-1 loss. He’ll face Jake Bennett, who is at the other end of his career: the beginning. In three major league starts he’s gone 5.0 innings twice and 5.1 once. With Brayan Bello in the minors, Bennett has time to prove himself. And even 4 runs is better than some of the Bello starts (not his solid relief outings).

Trey Yesavage burst onto the scene in September 2025 and pitched in the World Series. Expectations were sky high. Injuries kept him out for most of April, but he’s been pretty good until recently. In his season debut he shut down the Sox for 5.1 innings, striking out 3, walking none, and not allowing a run. His most recent two starts haven’t gone well: 11 runs in 10.2 innings against the Orioles and Yankees with 8 of each Ks and BBs. Sonny Gray was excellent against the Texas Rangers, holding the club to a single run in 6.0 innings. He struck out 7, which has become more of a weapon again since his return from the IL. Gray was on the IL during the first series against the Blue Jays so he hasn’t faced them this season.

The Jays have a franchise record of 3889-3894 so a winning season for them could flip them into positive over their history.

Vlad Jr. has just 3 homers on the season.

Ernie Clement leads the league with 20 doubles.

New third baseman Kazuma Okamoto has slugged 15 homers.

George Springer had a bounceback 2025 but is hitting just .208/.303/.354 on the season.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Tuesday, June 16: Dylan Cease (2.91 ERA / 2.36 FIP) vs. Payton Tolle (2.70 ERA / 2.71 FIP)

Wednesday, June 17: Max Scherzer (10.23 ERA / 8.79 FIP) vs. Jake Bennett (5.28 ERA / 3.89 FIP)

Thursday, June 18: Trey Yesavage (3.78 ERA / 3.59 FIP) vs. Sonny Gray (3.03 ERA / — FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Tuesday, June 16: 6:45 PM ET on NESN

Wednesday, June 17: 6:45 PM ET on NESN

Thursday, June 18: 1:35 PM ET on NESN

After Miguel Rojas hit the second pinch-hit home run of his career to win Monday night’s game in the seventh inning, here are a few Dodgers news and notes for a Tuesday morning.

Switch-hitter Tommy Edman is expected to be activated off the injured list on Tuesday after missing the first 73 games of the season following right ankle surgery in November. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Monday at Dodger Stadium that Edman will be eased back in, and will start Wednesday against Rays left-hander Drew Rasmussen. Sonja Chen at MLB.com has more on what the versatile Edman will bring to the roster.

Because Edman is on the 60-day injured list, the Dodgers will need a corresponding roster move to create space on the 40-man roster in addition to the decision required to add him to the active roster. Roberts said Monday night that Santiago Espinal will be designated for assignment, which would satisfy both requirements.

Outfielder Teoscar Hernández, out since May 28 with a left hamstring strain, might start a rehab assignment this weekend. Also in Doug Padilla’s injury rehab roundup at the Orange County Register, Edwin Díaz is expected to face hitters this week for the first time since right elbow surgery in April.

Roberts will manage the National League All-Star team next month in Philadelphia, the fifth time he will be at the helm of a midsummer classic as the previous year’s pennant winner. Bill Shaikin at the Los Angeles Times went through the NL options for starting pitcher, and wondered if Roberts would choose Yoshinobu Yamamoto over Shohei Ohtani if it came down to that.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has a series on its website called Card Corner, in which they use a baseball card as a jumping off point to explore a player’s career. The latest such card is a 1970 Topps Bill Russell, and Craig Muder wrote about the career about the first member of the famed Dodgers infield from 1973-81, and who played 18 seasons with the Dodgers, tied for the most in franchise history.

Last week, the Denver Post’s Troy Renck laid out his trade-deadline philosophy for the Colorado Rockies, writing that the team is “making progress, but (it is) time for Paul DePodesta, Josh Byrnes to flex muscles with trades.” To summarize, here’s how Renck think the Rockies should approach the trade deadline: “Other than catcher Hunter Goodman and (Chase) Dollander, no player should be untouchable.”

For me, that raised a question: How should Hunter Goodman fit into the Rockies rebuild plans? Is he a player to build around, or is he more valuable as a trade chip that could bring back a significant haul?

He is building a solid MLB résumé. Last season, Goodman was the best player and a bright spot on a historically bad 2025 Rockies team. He also received league-wide recognition in his addition to the National League All-Star Team and his winning of a Silver Slugger.

The initial 2026 numbers indicate that 2025 was not an outlier season for the Rockies catcher; rather, this is who he is.

With the trade deadline in mind, then, it’s worth considering where Goodman is in terms of the numbers, where the demand might be for his services, and what might be the best move for the Rockies.

(All 2026 numbers are current as of Monday morning.)

Offensive numbers

As a quick refresher, Goodman finished 2025 slashing .278/.323/.520 with a 114 wRC+. He also hit 31 homers in 579 plate appearances. Add to that a K% of 26.3% and a BB% of 5.7%. Also notable were his home-road splits. Goodman hit 13 homers at Coors Field compared to 18 homers on the road, so Coors did not have a significant effect on that part of his game. However, when considering his overall numbers, he was roughly the same wherever he played: .307/.356/.526 (116 wRC+) at Coors and .248/.356/.515 (118 wRC+) on the road.

In other words, Goodman’s AVG and OBP were better at Coors while his SLG stayed roughly the same.

To anyone calling him a “Coors creation,” uh, no.

Now consider the numbers so far with the season just under half finished.

In 280 plate appearances, Goodman is slashing .250/.321/.536 (120 wRC+). Add to that the fact that he’s already hit 20 home runs, so he’s well on track to surpass his 2025 total.

As for his BB%, it’s 8.2% while his K% is an unseemly 33.9%, a significant increase over 2025.

In terms of his home-road splits, at Coors, he’s slashing .211/.300/.447 (77 wRC+ — you read that correctly) while on the road, Goodman is .283/.340/.609 (158 wRC+). So he has been significantly better away from Coors Field. As for home runs, he’s hit just seven of his 20 homers in Denver.

At this point, Goodman appears to be settling into another outstanding season.

Offensive numbers compared to other catchers

I was curious as to how his offensive numbers compared to those of his peers.

When compared to all other catchers, Goodman’s 1.7 fWAR ranks second among all MLB catchers. (Ahead of him is Dillon Dingler, 3.2 fWAR.) He leads all NL catchers by this metric, with William Contreras ranking second (1.6 fWAR).

His 20 home runs lead all catchers (Shea Langeliers has 18), as do his five stolen bases. (Gabriel Moreno of the Arizona Diamondbacks is next with four.) He also has the highest SLG among catchers with more than 100 plate appearances.

All of that is a long way of saying Goodman’s offensive numbers remain solid and surpass those of most other catchers.

Frankly, he should be the starting catcher for the National League at the All-Star Game next month, and it’s not even close. The fact that Goodman is currently sixth in the NL voting is, frankly, some hot garbage.

Defensive numbers

In 2025, Goodman was not an especially effective defensive catcher. In 841.1 innings behind the plate, he had -3 DRS, an FRV of 1, and a FP of .987. In other words, he was fine, but his bat more than made up for a marginal defensive performance.

Goodman said during the offseason that he had worked hard on the defensive side of his game, and the initial results are promising. In 406.2 innings caught, he has 1 DRS, an FRV of 0, and a .980 FP.

Granted, defensive metrics have their issues, but Goodman appears to have improved. Only Austin Wells has more DRS (3) while Goodman is tied with JT Realmuto and Dingler.

ABS Challenge numbers

That brings us to Goodman’s success with the ABS Challenge system, which Statcast tracks. (For the purposes of this column, I’m leaving out pitch framing.)

Overall, he ranks fourth on Baseball Savant’s leader board (behind Tyler Stephenson, Dingler and Salvador Perez). Goodman has won 35 of the 55 challenges he has issued, which gives him a 64% success rate. Twelve of those challenges have resulted in strikeouts.

MLB is early in its analysis of this particular metric, but the initial results suggest that Goodman is an exceptional challenger. (Is that even the correct term?)

Trade possibilities

So, yes, Hunter Goodman is a serious trade candidate. Goodman’s offensive bona fides are unassailable, his defensive numbers are improving, and his ABS Challenge numbers are at the top of the league — plus he’s not a free agent until 203o.

The next question, then, becomes whether there’s a market for his services.

The experts think there is.

Here’s Jeff Passan on June 4: “[F]or a team with a hole at catcher, Hunter Goodman could be had for a hefty return.” Add to that Mark Feinsand from last week:

The Rockies have shied away from trading Goodman in the past, but under new president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta, anything is possible this summer – even moving a player many deem untouchable. An All-Star and Silver Slugger recipient last season, Goodman has continued to hit this year, belting 18 home runs with an .837 OPS in 63 games. Goodman’s defense is slightly below average, but his bat would make him an appealing asset to a lot of contenders and he is under club control for three more seasons.

Which contending teams have been weakest at catcher so far?

There are three obvious choices in terms of catcher rankings by fWAR: New York Yankees (0.1 fWAR), Tampa Bay Rays (0.5 fWAR), and Pittsburgh Pirates (0.7 fWAR). (For those keeping score at home, the Rockies are ranked third in MLB with 2.2 fWAR at the catcher position.)

The Yankees and the Rays have long been trading partners with the Rockies, and as for the Pirates, well, seeing Hunter Goodman on that roster would be a treat.

The closest comparator I could come up with for a Goodman trade was the Miami Marlins sending JT Realmuto to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019. At the time, Realmuto was 28 and under team control until 2020. In return, the Marlins received catcher Jorge Alfaro, RHP Sixto Sanchez, LHP Will Stewart, and $250,000 in international bonus slot money.

Any trade for Goodman should surpass that.

Conclusions

Questions about whether Hunter Goodman could develop into an elite catcher have been answered with a resounding “yes.”

That voters have overlooked Goodman on their All-Star Game ballots is an insult to a talented young catcher. But for the Rockies (who, in case you’ve forgotten, are carrying three catchers on their roster), the better question is whether Goodman should remain with the team.

I’m a serious Hunter Goodman fan, but the only real answer for a rebuilding organization is that if the Rockies receive the right offer, he should finish on the roster of a contending team (with a deep farm system).

I am certain you will let me know in the comments your stance on this, and I look forward to reading what you have to say.

(The article contained an error about Goodman’s fWAR, which is 1.7 not 2.4, which has been corrected.)

Vote early, vote often

Before writing this, I knew Hunter Goodman was having a really good year, but I truly did not realize how good. Based on the numbers we have right now, he should be the starting catcher at the All-Star Game for the National League, and it’s not even close.

So, vote! You — and all your friends and family — may do that at rockies.com/vote.

Clint Hurdle talks Paul Skenes, Rockies Rebuild, Bobby Witt, Jr. and Mike Trout | ActionNetwork.com

If you’re curious as to what’s on Clint Hurdle’s mind these days, Kyle Odegard’s got you covered. Hurdle praises the Rockies new front office and gives his thoughts on Mickey Moniak and Chase Dollander.

Chase Dollander expected to undergo UCL surgery | MLB Trade Rumors

We’re still waiting for the official word from the Rockies, but Anthony Franco outlines what we know so far.

Dodgers Testing Calling Pitches From Dugout For Single-A Affiliates | Dodger Blue

Back when the Rockies started doing this, Ryan Spilborghs said he thought all MLB teams would follow suit in three years. Here we go.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!