Category: Sports News

Good morning. I hope you’ve already checked out the owners-proposed changes to the draft by now.

• As long as we’re on the topic of the draft, Kiley McDaniel has a mock draft.
• Jim Callis, who is traditionally really good at these things, offers his most recent mock draft.
• Keith Law re-drafts the 2016 draft. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• And Law has the biggest draft mistakes of the 2016 draft. (The Athletic sub. req.) If you think the Cubs are the only team making bad draft picks, you should read this article and realize everyone makes bad picks. (The Cubs did not have a first or second round pick in 2016.)
• Sam Blum polls the players and the overwhelming majority of them think there is going to be a lockout this winter. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• The MLB Pipeline crew have one player from each farm system that should be promoted.
• Dayn Perry looks at how Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski transformed into one of the best pitchers in the majors.
• Bradford Doolittle examines how the Brewers and Guardians keep defying expectations and winning.
• Ben Lindbergh argues that the Brewers have somehow figured out the key to “clutch” hitting, even if they don’t know how.
• Brian Murphy has six “under-the-radar” trades that are having a major impact in 2026.
• Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan rank the top trade candidates this summer.
• Mark Feinsand has ten possible trade candidates.
• Twins outfielder Byron Buxton shot down trade speculation by saying “I’m a Twin.”
• Jay Jaffe notes that one year later, the blockbuster Rafael Devers trade has been a disaster for the Giants and no good for the Red Sox either.
• The Pirates traded catcher Joey Bart to the Braves for right-hander Hunter Stratton.
• Dan Szymborski has six interesting players who could get called up to the majors this year.
• There are changes coming to the Home Run Derby. The contest is going back to the “swings” format rather than the timed format.
• Jake Mintz draws up his dream Home Run Derby field.
• Will Leitch has ten players who should be getting more All-Star Game votes.
• Russell Dorsey argues that the White Sox are one of the best teams in the American League.
• Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli report that Cal Ripken Jr. intends to take a bigger role in player development in the Orioles organization. (The Athletic sub. req.) Ripken wants to emphasize fundamentals.
• Jared Greenspan looks at two Rays relievers—Bryan Baker and Kevin Kelly—both rely on changeups, but he shows how the two changes couldn’t be more different.
• Missouri Senator Josh Hawley sent a strongly-worded letter to commissioner Rob Manfred demanding answers for the warnings issued to Giants players who wrote Bible verses on their “Pride Night” caps. To be clear, the players were not fined and players are not allowed to write anything on their caps.
• The independent league York Revolution forfeited last night’s game after several of their players refused to wear “Pride Night” jerseys.
• Ben Clemens believes we need a better way of dealing with inherited runners than the current ERA rules.
• Matt Snyder wonders who will be the next pitcher to throw a no-hitter.
• Mike Axisa shows how Paul Goldschmidt’s resurgence is helping to power the Yankees this year.
• Having a comeback season, Mike Trout went on the injured list with a hamstring strain.
• White Sox center fielder Everson Pereira went on the concussion list after a spectacular catch up against the wall.
• Tigers utility man Wencel Perez suffered a “concern[ing]” eye injury after a training band snapped and hit him.
• Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. left Thursday night’s game with a knee injury.
• In World Cup news, Team England stopped by Kaufman Stadium. Manager Thomas Tuchel threw out the first pitch and star Harry Kane and others joined the festivities. Anne Rogers reports.
• And finally, Jeff Polman wants you to stop paying attention to A.I. generated social media accounts. There’s a particularly awful “photo” of Lou Brock dancing off third with both Cubs and Giants players in the field behind him.

In 2015, Brett Sullivan was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays.

In 2023, he made his MLB debut as a catcher with the San Diego Padres.

This season, the 31-year-old Colorado Rockie made another MLB debut, this time as a pitcher. The catcher, who played some infield in college and in the minors, but has spent most of his career as a backup catcher, had a simple philosophy.

“Try to get off the mound as fast as possible. That’s it,” Sullivan said. “I don’t want to be out there that long, so I just try to let the defense make all the plays for me. They’ve done a good job.

“The approach is to throw it maybe very slow, and then sometimes not as slow,” he continued, “but know that hopefully they hit it to my defense. That’s a whole approach.”

The Rockies signed Sullivan to a minor-league deal in the offseason, and he immediately made an impact as a mentor to young catchers Hunter Goodman and Braxton Fulford in spring training. Little did Rockies fans know that he’d be spending time on the other side of home plate.

On May 19, Sullivan pitched a scoreless, hitless ninth inning in a 10-0 loss to the Rangers. Having only pitched one time in the minors, he didn’t hesitate when the Rockies coaching staff asked him if he could “go out there and throw strikes.”

“I was like, ‘Yeah, I got it,’ and that was basically it,” he said. “So I keep it simple, but hopefully I don’t have to do it again because that means we’re not winning. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just lobbing it up there.”

Sullivan has pitched in three more games since May 19 — all, unfortunately, in four blowout losses. However, he’s posted three scoreless innings and totaled a 4.15 ERA in 4.1 innings with six hits, two runs, including one homer, one walk and one strikeout. With his humorous and outgoing personality, he doesn’t take preparing for his side pitching job too seriously.

“I just sat on the bench, and then when the next inning was over, I just walked out onto the mound. I didn’t warm up — no routine, no nothing, just straight from the bench,” Sullivan said. “I grabbed Jimmy Herget’s glove and walked right out there.”

Sullivan said he’s used Herget’s glove three times and Ryan Feltner’s once, adding he grabs whatever is closest. 

Even if he’s just eating an inning, Sullivan has earned some impressive stats on the mound. On May 26 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sullivan became the only player besides Shohei Ohtani to hit a home run and pitch in a game. 

“It feels good to be in the same category as him, you know,” Sullivan jokingly said. “No, it’s that was just a fluke — a crazy, lopsided game — and you get asked to pitch, and then it happens that your spot in the order came up and facing another position player. But they all count. And it’s a fun story.”

He also pitched [kind of] like Ohtani by putting up a scoreless frame.

In his most recent outing, the ninth inning in a 19-6 loss to the Giants on May 31, Sullivan recorded his first and only career strikeout thus far. It was a memorable one, too, coming against three-time All-Star and World Series Champion Rafael Devers.

“I don’t know if I threw a strike to him, but the umpire called them, so we’ll take it,” Sullivan said. “And again, good story. For it to be Devers, who’s going to be a Hall of Famer, is funny.”

Sullivan said he kept the ball to remember the moment. However, Sullivan said he’s not practicing pitching, but does have a great response when asked what his best pitch is.

“I throw like a little air cutter, and I hope that it’s slow enough that the gravity takes it the other way off their barrel,” Sullivan joked. “That’s my best pitch right now.”

Since May 26, in Sullivan’s Ohtani game, the Stockton, Calif. native has hit four homers in 23 at-bats. That includes a two-homer game against the Chicago Cubs on June 11.

Sullivan didn’t have any home runs in his 78 at-bats before that day in L.A. Some might say being a pitcher has made him a better hitter. Sullivan credits something else, namely, taking Mickey Moniak’s advice that he needed new pants.

“I changed my wardrobe a lot,” he said. “I would say that’s the biggest change. I switched it up. I am now wearing Mickey Moniak’s clothes, and we’re gonna roll with that.

“There’s honestly not much else to it,” he continued. “This game is a funny game, it’s a tough game, but when you just have a clear mind, let things go, have fun with it, I think that things happen.”

Moniak told him he needed new pants, and Sullivan proudly said, “I listened.”

“I’m just trying to bring him a little piece with him to the plate with me,” Sullivan said. “It’s good.”

From the easy-going attitude and the sneaky pop at the plate to his ability to pitch and stay positive as a journeyman, Sullivan’s Tao of the backup catcher now also includes pitching. With the Rockies facing struggles in the bullpen and injuries to the starting rotation, it’s likely Sullivan will be back on the mound again at some point this season. It’s a role he’s happy to play if the Rockies need him.

“I think it’s just to help the bullpen when games like that are really lopsided,” Sullivan said. “You don’t want to waste one of those good arms because the next day is an opportunity to win a game, and we’ll need those guys fresh.

“So, if I could just go in there and save those guys, then you know that’s a small victory for the next day.”

On the Farm

Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 3, Sugar Land Space Cowboys 2 (10)

Drew Avans hit a walk-off single to score Nic Kent in the bottom of the 10th to lead the Isotopes to victory.

Jose Cordova hit a sac bunt to move Kent to third base to set-up the winning run. Albuquerque struck first when Zac Veen hit an RBI triple in the first inning to score Chad Stevens. Veen was thrown out at home trying to stretch it to an inside-the-park homer, but the Isotopes went up 1-0. The Space Cowboys tied the game in the seventh and took a 2-1 lead in the eighth. Albuquerque answered right back to tie the game 2-2 when Mike Antico hit an RBI single to score Avans.

Gabriel Hughes had a scoreless outing, striking out six while walking three and only giving up one hit in 4.2 innings. Jordan Romano kept the Space Cowboys off the scoreboard in the ninth and Erasmo Ramírez walked one, but struck out one in a scoreless, hitless 10th to earn the win. Avans, Veen and Ryan Ritter recorded two hits apiece to make up the majority of Albuquerque’s 10 hits.

Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 10, Reading Fightin’ Phils 6

Hartford rallied from a 5-2 deficit with a three-run seventh inning on its way to a 10-6 win on Thursday. Conner Capel hit two homers, while GJ Hill added an insurance solo homer in the eighth and Roc Roggio did the same in the ninth. Capel went 3-for-5 with five runs driven in and Hill and Roggio each recorded two hits and two RBI. Davison Palermo earned the victory after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings, Carlos Torres posted the hold by limiting Reading to one run in two innings with a strikeout. Dyan Jorge drew two walks and scored two runs.

High-A: Vancouver Canadians 13, Spokane Indians 9

Despite taking the lead in the first, second and third innings, Spokane couldn’t hold on to any of them and lost on Thursday night. Max Belyeu and Jack O’Dowd started the game with solo homers in the first as the Indians jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Jacob Hinderleider scored on a wild pitch and Belyeu hit an RBI single in the second inning to take 4-3 lead. In the third, Tommy Hofpe added a two-run homer and Kelvin Hidalgo hit an RBI single to put Spokane up 7-4 in the third. O’Dowd answered back after Vancouver tied up the game again when he hit a sac fly and Hofpe recorded an RBI double to put the Indians back on top 9-8 in the sixth, but that was the last rally for Spokane as the Canadians got the final comeback with a five-run seventh.

Low-A: Fresno Grizzlies 2, Inland Empire 66ers 3

Tanner Thach hit a two-run homer in the first inning and the Grizzlies took a lead they never lost in a big win on Thursday night. Thach came up a triple short of the cycle, finishing the game with five RBI, three hits and three runs scored. Roldy Brito doubled on a two-hit night and scored two runs, Wilder Dalis added a double and run-scoring single and Ashly Andujar added a two-run single.

Riley Kelly started the game strong for Fresno, throwing 4.2 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts, three hits and three walks. Manuel Olivares recorded the win after holding the 66ers to one run on three hits with five strikeouts, while Luke Hansel pitched the ninth and struck out two, despite giving up a solo homer.

Looking back on notable first half rookie Rockie performances | Purple Row

Skyler Timmins explores the impressive debut TJ Rumfield is making so far in Colorado, comparing him to other breakout rookies in Rockies history like Todd Helton, Wilin Rosario and Trevor Story. What do they all have in common? Ten homers and 50 hits before the All-Star break.

Renck: Rockies had their Paul Skenes in Ubaldo Jimenez. Ex-ace has ideas on how to develop next power pitcher. | Denver Post ($)

The Rockies begin a home series against the Pirates today and on Saturday, Paul Skenes is slated to pitch. With a struggling rotation, Troy Renck points out that the Rockies need an ace like they had 16 years ago in Ubaldo Jiménez.

ValleyCats INF Parker Coddou Headed to Colorado Rockies | TCValleyCats.com

The Tri-City ValleyCats, an independent professional baseball team out of Troy, NY that plays in the Frontier League, announced that infielder Parker Coddou was signed to a deal by the Colorado Rockies. From 2002 through 2020, the ValleyCats were the Class-A short season affiliate of the Houston Astros. Coddou, who scored 25 runs and posted 23 hits, while also leading the ValleyCats in stolen bases with 14, becomes their third player to be signed by an MLB organization this season.

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

If you’re no stranger to McCovey Chronicles, then you’re probably aware that I’ve been pretty critical of Buster Posey during his tenure. Err, during his tenure as president of baseball operations, I should specify. Not sure I ever had a criticism of Posey during his tenure as Face of the Franchise/Captain America/All-World Catcher/Hugger Extraordinaire/Three-Time Champion.

While I’m in favor of giving Posey more time before reaching any grand conclusions, most of the results have been poor. His free agency signings have been middling. His managerial decisions have backfired. His control of the image of the Giants has been slipping. His unwillingness to address the bullpen has been baffling.

But there’s one area where Posey (and general manager Zack Minasian) have excelled without question: deadline deals.

The 2025 trade deadline was bizarre for the San Francisco Giants. Just a few days before the deadline, the Giants, still clinging to the belief that they could be competitive, were reported to be buyers. Then they lost a few games, admitted defeat, and turned into sellers.

What followed was excellence. The Giants sent out the expiring contract of Tyler Rogers for Drew Gilbert, Blade Tidwell, and José Buttó. They traded Camilo Doval (who currently has a 5.08 ERA this year), and got back Jesús Rodríguez, Parks Harber, Carlos De La Rosa, and Trystan Vrieling. They moved on from Mike Yastrzemski, an impending free agent, and received Yunior Marte in return.

It seems that the Giants are once again heading for sell-town. And they once again have some intriguing options: starting pitchers Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle, and soon-to-be-four-time All-Star second baseman Luis Arráez are all on expiring deals. So too is reliever JT Brubaker. Center fielder Harrison Bader and starting pitcher Adrian Houser aren’t on expirings, but are paid modestly and have veteran cachet.

Barring a shocking winning streak, the Giants will have to fold their hand yet again, and turn their eye to the future. Can they match last year’s impressive deadline wheeling and dealing?

Stay tuned, I guess.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants kick off a series with the Miami Marlins tonight at 4:10 p.m. PT.

This is Part 2 of my exploration of some of the underlying details of Cardinal pitching prospects. The question I am trying to answer is… Of the minor leagues prospects we’ve been watching, who has the most interesting pitch shape metrics (ie. the under the hood stuff)? We seem to be far enough into the season to have built up some stats that can stand up to Small Sample Size (SSS) scrutiny. Since I do the daily down on the Farm Reports, I see the various pitcher usage and line score results every day. That has made me curious about some things that might be going on beyond the line score.

Last week folks got a look at the pitchers in Palm Beach. What I neglected to mention then is that the set of top 10th percentile pitch metrics was 225 pitch types deep, and the Cardinals had 25 entries in the group or just a little below league average of 28. This becomes a little less mundane when we start looking at AAA numbers.

First, I raised the bar for AAA pitchers to 150 pitches minimum instead of 50 pitches as for Low-A pitchers. This to keep the set manageable. If I used the same 50 pitch minimum, the AAA set would include 1267 pitcher/pitch type combinations. I’m looking for the outliers and that is a large outlier group. That the AAA group is five times bigger tells me that a significant difference between AAA and Low-A pitching is volume.

Same methodology as last week. I am looking for pitchers have top 10th percentile metrics. This is a “who has a tool that sticks out” kind of question. Even with a 150 pitch minimum, I still get 382 pitcher/pitch combinations in the top tenth percentile (almost double the Low-A group). In an ugly turn of events, only 17 Cardinal entries are found in this table and as you will see, too many of them are outlier in a bad way (as in last decile, not top).

AAA Metric Leader Board

Like last week, the first table shows just the pitch profile, not the results (which follow in the next section).

What do we see?

• People ask “what happened to Ian Bedell”. Well, he has an outlier bad FF velocity rate and gets no whiffs with it. And he uses this pitch 60.4% of the time. Pete Hansen and Bruce Zimmerman are in the same bottom decile in FB velocity across the International League, with the same whiff results. At least they don’t use this pitch nearly as often.
• Gastelum is in the top decile for spin rate on his Four Seam Fastball (FF), resulting in a top 20th percentile arm-side run. I bet that pitch really bores in on RH hitters.
• Skylar Hales has about the straightest FF in the league.
• Brycen Mautz is top floor on his arm-side run on his fastball, which probably allows the fairly pedestrian velo to play up. I bet he’d be super effective coming in to face LH hitters in relief, if that sorta thing was needed in StL.
• Mautz’ slider is odd. Almost no movement. This is one of those counter-intuitive ones. You’d rather be in the lowest tenth percentile, since glove side run is shown as a negative number in the data set.
• Rajcic’s horizontal movement on his fastball is near-elite, and you will see later gets elite results.
• Roycroft’s sinker profiles as elite, both in velo and drop (IVB). If only he had poise.
• Zimmermann makes the list in a bad way on his FF, FS and SL. He limits damage by limiting walks.

Overall, this is not a good profile for the AAA group and we see this with the shortage of depth for the MLB staff. We will keep this handy and see how it changes as some of the AA studs matriculate to Memphis later this year.

Performance Matters

Stuff (and the underlying metrics which show it) are one thing. Performance is another. Which AAA pitchers are getting the most out of their stuff? Let’s look more at performance outcomes as see how they rate.

In the above table, you will see many of the same names and pitches, this time with how those pitches are performing in real games. There are few new names, as some guys without top 10th percentile stuff are still getting top tenth percentile results, such as Nelfy Ynfante, who really limits hard contact without any top tier stuff.

Some notes:

• Gastelum (CH), Mautz (SL) and Roycroft (SI) each have a go-to pitch that is effective at limiting damage.
• Zimmermann avoids damage by limiting walks across all his pitches.
• Skylar Hales has an elite K rate. I’m not sure how.

You know what else I notice in these lists? Quinn Mathews doesn’t appear once. I wonder why? Let’s look specifically at his Prospect Savant page.

You see that his whiff rate falls just below elite at 89th percentile. Lots of stuff between average (~50th) and really good (80th), but nothing elite. Gives me a picture he does many things well, but nothing great. Even his walk rate isn’t anywhere near bottom 10th percentile for AAA.

The other thing I see in his data: His FF is probably his worst pitch in terms of K and BB rates. He throws it almost 50% of the time. He actually has a higher walk rate (25%) on his FF than K rate (23%). An adjustment to his pitch mix is coming.

Summary

There really isn’t anyone at AAA with standout tools. That is not to say there aren’t good pitchers. My screen was for top 10th percentile stuff…elite. Apparently, that is to be found at AA and High-A. We shall see.

Links

<a href="http://<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vSxqYqjHlZFG1sv4z7zqciltal6c87mVTWhdCigRAq1rwVYMDR2nQ8Kd2thIfvEmr-PAyLvP_FB2k4p/pubhtml?widget=true&headers=false">Here is a link to the underlying spreadsheet with top decile performance across the AAA level of baseball.

Happy Friday everybody,

Today is Juneteenth, an annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. This holiday was not recognized until 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

The A’s are celebrating by making tonight’s first of four home games against the Los Angeles Angels African-American Heritage Night.

While outfielder Lawrence Butler is the only African American on the current A’s roster, the franchise has employed some of the greatest Black players in MLB history, from Rickey Henderson (the Man of Steel) to Reggie Jackson (Mr. October), Frank Thomas (The Big Hurt) and Coco Crisp (Mr. Bernie Lean).

Down on the farm, two of the A’s top 10 minor-league prospects, outfielder Devin Taylor and infielder Kuroda-Grauer, hope to add more of an African-American presence to the A’s roster in the coming years.

Overall, MLB still struggles with roster diversity as squads primarily consist of White and Latino athletes.
According to MLB.com, Black players make up 6.8% of active and inactive Opening Day rosters in 2026, marking two consecutive years of growth. This is the highest percentage in nearly a decade, yet more work remains.

The Athletics were deeply ingrained in and involved with the diverse Oakland community during their 57 years spent playing at the Oakland Coliseum. They continue to remain active in the communities of their temporary home of Sacramento and future home of Las Vegas. However, both cities have fewer African American residents than the East Bay, making any community impact there likely less impactful.

Meanwhile, struggling veteran left-hander Jeffrey Springs gets the start tonight, looking to reverse his recent slump and get back in the win column After falling short on Pride night earlier this week, it would behoove the Athletics to secure the win on this special day.

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics Drop Series Finale To Pirates 12-4
• As a ballpark rises in Las Vegas, owner John Fisher is pitching his A’s — and himself
• Bally’s is causing problems for the A’s Las Vegas ballpark dream
• How A’s Prospect Wei-En Lin’s Potential Injury Could Impact Trade Deadline Plans
• Why Athletics’ Gelof Hottest Hitter in MLB Right Now
• Alvarado’s return so dominant, he’s inviting a lofty comparison
• Why Front Office And Manager Should Be Embarrassed By Today’s Game
• Some Easy Fixes Rocket Science Aren’t
• Athletics’ Devin Taylor Emerges As All-Around Talent
• Status Report: Uncertainty Persists In 5 Places On The Diamond
• Why A’s Williams Deserves Spot Past Jacob Wilson’s Return
• 7 wild facts from a Vegas show for the ages
• A’s $2 Billion Las Vegas Ballpark Shows Progress With First Roof Truss in Place
• A’s interested in Kris Bubic
• Korach reflects on A’s history in Las Vegas, upcoming move
• Three Things To Watch For The Athletics In June
• Las Vegas is ‘dying for a baseball team.’ Will its locals adopt the A’s?
• The A’s Inability To Play Well At Home Is Embarrassing
• Arnold and Jump are both slinging … anyone else reminded of another A’s duo?
• Three Dark Horse Trade Candidates for Athletics This Summer
• Athletics Early MLB Draft Preview

MLB News and Interest:

• Ranking top 2026 MLB trade deadline candidates: Skubal, more
• 2026 MLB mock draft: Our expert makes every first-round pick
• MLB Home Run Derby to ditch clock, revive swing-based system
• 10 All-Star candidates who deserve more love in the polls
• Trout headed to IL with hamstring strain amid resurgent season
• Brewers’ Priester to have season-ending thoracic outlet surgery
• Royals trade for RHP Randy Dobnak from Mariners
• Blue Jays place Max Scherzer on injured list with back spasms
• Phillies Option Andrew Painter
• Digging into 5 Trade Deadline hot topics
• Angels Acquire Tyler Heineman
• Here’s a prospect pushing for a promotion from each team
• Guardians Place Chase DeLauter On Injured List, Recall Kahlil Watson For MLB Debut
• Freak accident with therapy band could sideline Tigers outfielder Wenceel Pérez
• Austin Wynns Elects Free Agency
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

A’s top prospect Leo De Vries continues to hold his own in Double-A. He remains on track to reach Triple-A Las Vegas sooner than later, which would be the last stop on his supersonic ascent through the minor leagues.

The A’s pitching staff continues to give up runs at an alarming rate. It is a testament to the team’s offense that they are entering the weekend with a nearly .500 record, which outperforms their expected record of 32-42 based on runs scored and allowed.

Zack Gelof’s re-emergence as an everyday starter and major contributor has arguably been the Athletics’ biggest bright spot so far this season.

What do you think of this draft proposal as well as the corresponding one for international players?

Welcome to an odd, baseball-less Friday. The Phillies played the Mets yesterday, and they’ll play them tomorrow, and they’ll play them the day after that, but they’re not playing them today.

Onto the links.

Phillies news:

Adolis García is out for the season.

Roy Halladay was sent down to the minors in his youth. Can Painter follow in his footsteps? ($)

A lot of people learn to play baseball from their dads. Not a lot of them have a dad like Justin Crawford’s, though.

MLB news:

MLB has proposed seismic changes to the draft, including the introduction of an international draft and an end to drafting players out of high school.

Mike Trout is heading to the IL.

The Home Run Derby is ditching the clock.

Who are the top trade deadline candidates?

The Detroit Tigers began June en fuego, winning seven of their first nine games this month, including series wins over a pair of division-leading teams — a sweep of the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays and taking two of three from the AL West-leading Seattle Mariners. Since taking two of three from the Minnesota Twins at home, however, the team has reverted back to its losing ways.

After that hot start to the month, the Motor City Kitties have dropped four of five, with a de facto two-game sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Guardians and dropping two of three to the Houston Astros. Next up are the Chicago White Sox, who have been rather surprising so far in 2026 and are in a battle with the Guardians for the top spot in the AL Central.

Opening things up at home for a three-game weekend series against their division rivals is ace left-hander Tarik Skubal, whose return from the injured list last time out against Cleveland was a bit underwhelming. The 29-year-old lasted just 4 2/3 innings, surrendering three runs (two earned) on five hits (one home run) and a walk while striking out four and hitting a batter in for his third loss in a 3-1 defeat.

For the ChiSox, right-hander Erick Fedde will take the mound on Friday night for just the second start in his last six appearances. The 33-year-old’s previous start came against the Twins on June 3, when he tossed five frames of scoreless ball on two hits and a walk while striking out a pair for his first and only win of the season.

The game before that, Fedde faced the Tigers in relief, throwing four frames of two-run ball, allowing four hits (one home run) and three walks while striking out three in a game Chicago went on to win in extras, 4-3.

Here is how the two match up in the series opener on Friday.

Detroit Tigers (30-44) vs. Chicago White Sox (38-34)

Time (ET): 6:40 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site:South Side Sox
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network

Game 75: LHP Tarik Skubal (3-3, 2.81 ERA) vs. RHP Erick Fedde (2-5, 4.50 ERA)

SKUBAL

FEDDE