Category: Sports News

The offense the Phillies have been trotting out this season has been putrid at worst, average at best. You know this is something that can be state with almost factual intent when people get excited about the team scoring six runs on Wednesday. There have been a few spurts here and there of competence, most notably the games that followed the firing of Rob Thomson. Even in those games, the lineup was mostly reliant on Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber going nuclear for a few weeks in a row. In most of the other games this season, the help received by those two has mostly come in the form of Brandon Marsh. Nary a helper can be found with any regularity.

It’s quite jarring to use leaderboards for different offensive categories and see where the Phillies are ranking. After Wednesday’s game, the top of the National League leaderboard did see this trio mixed in. There’s Kyle Schwarber, sixth in the NL in wRC+ (157). Hey, there’s Harper, hanging around the top fourteen names (140). Look, scroll just a hair further and you can find that junkyard dog in Marsh (132), mixed in with names that, preseason, you’d have never put him with, names like de la Cruz and Freeman.

It’s not that trio that have been the problem. It is the supporting cast that has let the team done. One could argue that a lot of the blame could be placed on one or two players, but it truly has been a collective effort of badneess on the two thirds of the lineup not producing. Take that same wRC+ leaderboard mentioned up top and flip it so that the lowest numbers are at the top and you will find not one, not two – not even three – Phillies names there. You’ll find FIVE Phillies regulars among the very bottom of the league in wRC+ – Adolis Garcia (66), Alec Bohm (67), Trea Turner (73), Justin Crawford (78), and Bryson Stott (78). Adjust the qualifications a bit to lower the required plate appearances to 110 – hi, J.T. (71)!

That’s not just horrid, that’s downright….offensive.

In fact, it could also be something unprecedented. The other day, our very own John Stolnis wrote about how bad the team has been at the plate and put it into a more historic sense:

The Phillies’ offense is off to a historically terrible start. Coming into Tuesday’s three-game series against the Padres at Citizens Bank Park, their .224 team batting average is 2nd-worst in MLB (Padres, .218). Even in a season in which offenses throughout baseball are generally struggling, it is particularly terrible.

But even worse, their .224 average is the worst, through any team’s first 59 games in franchise history, of all time.

Folks, when you’re mentioned with wartime Phillies teams, that’s company that needn’t be kept. The unprecedented part is how bad it might get should these same players continue being this bad. In baseball history, there has only been one team that has had 5 or more players with 375 or more plate appearances and an OPS+ of 76 or less: the 1950 St. Louis Browns. As of right now, the Phillies have six regulars with an OPS+ less than 77.

It is just bad right now, the outburst on Wednesday notwithstanding.

The question becomes, can they change anything to make it better? Outside of radical personnel changes, that answer is probably no. Instead, the best change they can make is making sure the players that are hitting best are hitting the most often. That means having a lineup change imminent. As resistant as certain players are to do doing that, the struggle they have to score runs should have them lean towards doing as much as possible to take advantage of what they have working now.

Kyle Schwarber was the obvious choice to move into the leadoff spot, but he has a .609 OPS from that spot, a number that is almost 400 points lower than his accustomed second spot. On the flip side, Trea Turner has been better hitting second, clocking in with a .730 OPS from the spot. It’s unlikely the team would move Bryce Harper from his preferred third spot in the order, making Marsh the best option to hit behind him since he’s really the only one hitting well. It might be time to consider yet another move, this one maybe a bit more stark.

1. Marsh
2. Turner
3. Harper
4. Schwarber
5. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
6. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
7. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
8. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
9. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Marsh is not your typical leadoff hitter, yet drastic times, drastic measures, yada yada. He’s hit in the position a few games in his career, but mostly with the Phillies, he has been relegated (often rightfully so) to the second half of the lineup. The idea here is: if he’s on a career best hot streak this long into the season, why not ride it as long as possible? Sure, that bumps Schwarber all the way down to the cleanup spot, taking away the idea that a team should give their best hitters as many cracks at the plate as possible, but again – the team isn’t scoring runs often. Something different should be on the table.

If nothing else, it reinforces the dire need for a middle of the order right handed bat the team needs to add as soon as possible. The lack of production from Bohm, Garcia and Realmuto has made this doubly tough as it forces the team to shuffle deck chairs with the lineup card. Don Mattingly can rotate whoever he wants, wherever he wants, but if the team is going to continue to not hit, does it really matter?

Will they consider a lineup change? Probably not. There has been a lot of confidence emanating from the coaching staff that the players struggling will turn things around. There is plenty of time and history to indicate that might actually happen. Yet with a National League that has a surprising number of teams thinking they can get into the playoffs, banking wins now with a lineup constructed to better fit what they need could lead to a more secure playoff spot down the line.

As I said before, drastic times, drastic measures.

Last night I went to a trivia night contest at a local bar and one of the questions was – what number are the three uniform numbers retired by the Royals all divisible by? (answer below*) Retired numbers are reserved for the greatest in club history. But we all have our favorites that weren’t necessarily Hall of Famers, All-Stars, and sometimes they’re not even starting players.

One of my favorite Royals of all-time was Joe Randa. Nicknamed “the Joker” for his wide smile while he batted, Randa was a sure-handed third baseman and a doubles machine who seemed to have a knack for clutch hitting. He was a bit quiet and unassuming, modest, and hard-working – and fans loved that. He returned the love, calling Kansas City his home, even after he was traded away early in his career. He returned and become a solid starter and key to one of the best offenses in club history. He never made an All-Star team, but he’s one of my favorite players – I was fortunate enough to write his biography for the Society of American Baseball Research.

I have had some other favorites that never even reached the fame of Randa. Rey Palacios, Rusty Meacham, Esteban German, Justin Huber, Nori Aoki, Tim Collins, and of course, Kila Kaaihue were all guys I rooted for to make it.

Who was your favorite under-the-radar Royals player of all-time?

*-Five. (#5 George Brett, #10 Dick Howser, #20 Frank White)

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the Blue Jays’ first game at the SkyDome.

The stadium officially opened a couple of days earlier with a gala event featuring Oscar Peterson and comedian Andrea Martin. On June 8, Rod Stewart performed the first concert at the venue. I wonder if he has changed his setlist since then?

I have a story about that first game. Thirty-two years ago, I was a much younger Blue Jays fan. Some of the Jays’ games aired on CTV, but locally, they decided to join the game in progress after the evening news. You can imagine my disappointment. After the news finally ended, instead of switching to the game, they aired a half-hour feature about the construction of Skydome and a tour highlighting the ballpark’s modern features—hot and cold running water, vintage popcorn from the first Exhibition Stadium game, quirky details like that.

By the time the broadcast finally switched to the game, it was already an hour and a half underway. Naturally, I was not pleased.

The Jays lost 5-3 to the Brewers. Jimmy Key pitched a complete game, allowing 9 hits and throwing 141 pitches—yes, 141 pitches in a loss. Cito Gaston wasn’t one for pitch counts. In Key’s next start, he lasted only 3 innings and allowed 5 earned runs. The bullpen had already logged 19 innings over three games in Boston prior to this one, so Key took one for the team.

To be fair to Cito Gaston, this was the only game that season in which a Blue Jays starter topped 140 pitches. Across MLB in 1989, there were 39 games where a pitcher reached that mark—Nolan Ryan led the way with seven, Roger Clemens had four, and Bobby Witt had two. No other pitcher had more than one such outing. John Farrell, a familiar name, threw 159 pitches against the Jays in a Cleveland loss. Unsurprisingly, 1989 was the last year Farrell would throw more than 100 innings. The highest single-game pitch count that season belonged to Nolan Ryan, who threw 164 pitches on September 12 against the Royals—and didn’t even finish the game.

Gary Sheffield drove in the game’s first run in the opening inning, scoring Paul Molitor—who notched the first hit—on a groundout.

The Blue Jays’ first runs and home run at SkyDome came courtesy of Fred McGriff, who launched a two-run shot that also brought home George Bell.

Our batting order was (what a terrific lineup):

Junior Felix RF

Tony Fernandez SS

Kelly Gruber 3B

George Bell LF

Fred McGriff 1B

Lloyd Moseby CF

Ernie Whitt C

Rance Mulliniks DH

Nelson Liriano 2B

Bell and McGriff hit homers. Kelly Gruber went 2 for 4 with a double.

After that game, the Jays sat at 23-32, sixth in the AL East and nine games behind the Orioles. Despite the slow start, the team rallied for a remarkable 76-41 run to capture the division title. That was the year Cito Gaston took over from Jimy Williams after 36 games and a 12-14 record, guiding the club to a 77-49 finish. A trade deadline acquisition of Mookie Wilson also energized the roster.

The new ballpark delivered a major revenue boost, with luxury suites starting at $150,000 and SkyClub seats fetching between $2,000 and $4,000.

SkyDome was met with rave reviews from both players and fans. Ernie Whitt even dubbed it the eighth wonder of the world.

Anne Murray performed the national anthems, just as she did for the inaugural Blue Jays game at Exhibition Stadium.

What are your memories of the early days of SkyDome?

Prior to the 2025 season, one of my bold predictions was that DJ Herz was poised to have a breakout season. Back in 2024, Herz showed swing and miss stuff, while throwing more strikes than expected. However, after a rough Spring Training, it was revealed that Herz had to undergo Tommy John Surgery.

Since then, the left hander has faded out of the picture and has become a forgotten piece of the Nats future. That is going to change really quickly though because Herz is back on the mound. This afternoon the 25 year old lefty made his first rehab start in Rookie Ball. Herz overwhelmed the FCL hitters he faced, throwing two perfect inning with four strikeouts.

Outside of just getting back on the mound, the most important thing out of this outing is that Herz did not walk anybody. In his minor league career, Herz had serious control problems. He has walked 5.88 batters per 9 innings in his MILB career. However, that did not stop him from being a successful pitcher because his stuff is so good.

In case you forgot, Herz has a dynamic arsenal. His fastball averaged 93.5 MPH but it plays way above the velocity. This is due to his deceptive delivery, his big extension down the mound and the elite shape of his fastball. In 2024, the whiff rate on his fastball was over 30%, which is bonkers for a heater that is only in the low to mid 90’s.

However, he was not known for his fastball in the minors. As Herz rose through the ranks, scouts buzzed about his changeup. The pitch has 10 MPH of velocity separation from his fastball and has great downward movement. It looks like the fastball most of the way before falling off the table.

That changeup got good results, but did not play like an elite pitch. Sometimes Herz would slow down his arm when throwing the changeup, which tips off the hitters. When he sells the pitch well, the changeup can be devastating. Herz’s third pitch is a slider which is not a special pitch on paper, but plays well off of the fastball and changeup.

When DJ Herz had his best stuff, he was absolutely electric to watch. There was an outing against the Marlins in 2024 where he struck out 13 and walked nobody. I think it was the most dominant outing from a Nats pitcher since Max Scherzer left DC. He had the Marlins hitters on a string.

The flashes of elite stuff is what made me so excited about Herz entering 2025. It also made his injury such a bummer. He has been out of the picture for nearly a year and a half now. However, now that he has started a rehab assignment, that puts the Nats on the clock. Pitchers rehab assignments can only be 30 days long. After the 30 days, the team will have to make a decision to either call Herz up to the big leagues or send him to AAA for more reps.

If Herz continues throwing the ball like he did today, that will become an interesting decision. At worst, I think Herz could be electric in that multi-inning relief role that Brad Lord and Mitchell Parker have been in. Herz would be an immediate upgrade over Parker in that role.

With Herz coming back from a serious injury, I do not think the Nats will throw him right back in the rotation. He will probably be eased in either in the minors or the bullpen. This is the first step of his rehab assignment, and we will see what is next. I would assume his next rehab start will either be in Low-A or High-A, unless the Nats like having him in the confines of West Palm Beach. Herz should steadily throw more pitches as he builds up, and will eventually face tougher competition.

This is something Nationals fans should be really excited about. If Herz can keep his walk rate in the 9-10% range that it was in 2024, he will be a piece of the Nats rotation moving forward. His 27.7% strikeout rate when we last saw him in the big leagues was elite, and would give this Nats pitching staff a new element. Herz can blow fastballs by hitters in a way most of these Nationals pitchers cannot.

As he continues his rehab assignment, I will be watching the walk numbers and the velocity once it is available. Those are the two things that will tell you how close Herz is. We did not see the velocity today, but Herz not walking anybody is a very encouraging sign. It shows that he is already feeling sharp, which is awesome to see in his first time back in game action.

The Nats pitching this season has not been great, but there is help on the way. Between Herz, Jarlin Susana and Travis Sykora, there are a lot of young arms on the mend right now. Herz will be the first to make an impact, and if he is at his best, that impact could be loud.

With the MLB collective bargaining agreement set to expire on Dec. 1, the possibility of a lockout before the 2027 season looms. And early negotiations between the league and the union have not been promising. 

On May 28, the league proposed a hard salary cap, which would be the first hard cap in MLB history and kick in for the start of the 2027 campaign.

Under the proposal, the hard cap would be $245.3 million, with a salary floor of $171.2 million. The floor would also be an MLB first.

Unsurprisingly, that proposal was a non-starter for the union.

Although it was just an opening proposal, a hard cap of $245.3 million feels quite low, given that the current CBT tax kicks in once a team crosses $244 million in yearly salary. 

There are currently eight teams that project to be above (with a handful well above) the luxury tax at the end of the 2026 season -- the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays, Braves, Cubs, and Padres.

The Mets' current payroll is roughly $379 million, with the Dodgers leading the pack at around $416 million. Expecting teams to get under a figure of $245.3 million for 2027 borders on fantasy. Even something $100 million or so higher would be a very difficult ask for teams like the Mets and Dodgers. 

Juan Soto, who signed the biggest contract in MLB history a few offseasons ago, recently weighed in on the labor talks.

"I don’t think that’s right, to have a cap," Soto told Will Sammon of The Athletic. "Baseball is doing great. We’ve been increasing every year. It’s been great for baseball. We are in the best moment in baseball right now in all kinds of ways. Why should we have a cap?"

While the $245.3 million cap number MLB proposed seems quite low, the floor of $171.2 million also feels like a level at least a handful of small-market owners would balk at, even though it should be easily doable.

The last labor negotiations -- in 2022 -- dragged out until the middle of March, with the season starting on April 7 as a result.

The Atlanta Braves were not able to get a sweep of the reigning AL champion Toronto Blue Jays yesterday, but they did win the series and look to take that momentum into the weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates are having somewhat of a surprising season this year with a .540 record, and a run differential of plus thirty-seven. They had Paul Skenes to build off of and went and added some bats in the off-season, but it would be hard for someone with a straight face to say they predicted this outcome so far this season.

Martín Pérez will be taking on the Pirates offense that has currently scored only four less runs than the Braves ranking them fourth in MLB. Unfortunately for Pérez, he has not faced many of these hitters much in his career. He has only seen six of the hitters on the Pirates’ current roster and none of them have more than nine at-bats against him. Brandon Lowe has those nine at-bats and Pérez has struggled a bit allowing a .333 average and .788 OPS against him. Old friend Marcell Ozuna has seven at-bats and has definitely had the edge in the matchup with a .571 average and 1.700 OPS.

On paper Pérez has been fantastic this year and has been way better than likely most expected with an ERA of 2.79. If his season ended today, that would be his best ERA in a season in his career. His strikeout rate of 20.5 would be his second best in a season. For his career he has averaged 16.5 percent. Interestingly, he has been able to do all of this with a fastball that averages 90.0 MPH, which is unheard of in today’s game.

The down side for Pérez is that his ERA is likely unsustainable. Players are hitting the ball hard against him 42.0 percent of the time which is far higher than his career 36.1 percent and ranks in the bottom 29.0 percent of MLB. He has also been aided by a BABIP against of .226 and a strand rate of 84.4 percent. All of this combined shows his expected ERA (xERA) to be 4.34. This xERA is not terrible for a fifth starter. In fact, it is the best he has had in a season since 2022. However, it is important to note that regression is likely coming and he is facing a potent offense tonight.

The Pirates will bring Mitch Keller to the mound that some would say has been an underrated pitcher for most of his career. He is not elite by any means, but he has gotten the job done many times and has been a steady arm for the Pirates for years.

Coming into this game Keller sports an ERA of 4.35, and a what is interesting is his xERA is almost exactly the same at 4.36. Basically, what you see is what you get with him. In 2024 he had the exact same ERA and xERA.

The Braves as a team have faced Keller quite a bit. Eight different players have faced him between eight and nineteen times. Of these players, the Braves core lineup has mostly had great success. Ronald Acuña has nineteen at-bats against Keller and has three HRs and 1.371 OPS in that span against him. Matt Olson has the exact same OPS as Acuña against Keller in twelve at-bats, and Austin Riley has an OPS of 1.055 in ten at-bats against him. Mauricio Dubón has also had success in ten at-bats with a .400 average and .955 OPS.

Michael Harris has struggled to a .500 OPS, and Ha-Seong Kim is hitless in eleven at-bats.

The key for the Braves today will be to get to the Pirates bullpen as soon as they can because their bullpen is a clear weakness with an ERA of 4.29, which is in the bottom twelve teams in MLB.

First pitch is at 7:15 EDT.

Game Info

Game Time: Friday, June 5th, 7:15 pm EDT

Location: Truist Park, , Atlanta, GA

Watch: BravesVision

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan