Category: Sports News

Three out of four Dodgers minor league affiliates won on Sunday.

Player of the day

Chris Newell had two singles in his last 30 at-bats before hitting two home runs to deliver a win on Saturday. Then the Tulsa outfielder hit two more home runs on Sunday, part of a three-hit day that also included a walk.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Comets played catch-up all day, then scored twice in the ninth inning but left the tying run on second base in a loss to the Sacramento River Cats (Giants).

Austin Gathier had three hits. Noah Miller tripled and singled.

Jackson Ferris allowed three runs (two earned) in his 3 2/3 innings, and had more walks (four) than strikeouts (three) for the fourth time in 11 starts this season.

Double-A Tulsa

Down two runs in the ninth inning, the Drillers rallied for three runs for a road win over the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (Royals). Newell hit the first of five singles in the ninth-inning rally. Elijah Hainline’s single scored the winning run.

High-A Great Lakes

Two games after coming off the injured list, third baseman Logan Wagner hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning that provided just enough insurance for the Loons to hold for a one-run win over the Lake County Captains (Guardians).

Brooks Auger struck out a career-high nine in his four-inning start, and allowed just one run. He has 52 strikeouts against 15 walks to go with his 2.30 ERA in 31 1/3 innings, and a 39.7-percent strikeout rate.

Shortstop Emil Morales also homered for Great Lakes.

Class-A Ontario

Ching-Hsien Ko hit a two-run home run in the second inning that held up in the Tower Buzzers’ win over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Angels).

Tyler Gough allowed one run in 4 2/3 innings in his start for Ontario, and Will Gagnon followed with three scoreless innings to keep the Quakes at bay.

Transaction

No actual roster moves on Sunday, but pitcher Christian Zazueta is getting promoted from Great Lakes to Double-A Tulsa, per Kiley McDaniel at ESPN and Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic. Zazueta, the reigning Branch Rickey Award winner as the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year in 2025, has a 3.88 ERA in 11 appearances this year with 66 strikeouts against only 12 walks in 48 2/3 innings. The 21-year-old’s 28.4-percent strikeout-minus-walk rate ranks fifth-best among all minor league pitchers with at least 40 innings this season.

Sunday scores

• Sacramento 6, Oklahoma City 5
• Tulsa 5, NW Arkansas 4
• Great Lakes 5, Lake County 4
• Ontario 3, Rancho Cucamonga 1

The week ahead

• Oklahoma City at Reno (D-backs)
• Tulsa vs. Corpus Christi (Astros)
• Great Lakes at Lansing (A’s)
• Ontario at Visalia (D-backs)

Overall, it was another somewhat tough week for the Braves. However, despite another Sunday loss, the Braves did win the weekend in a pretty important series against the Brewers. That is certainly a needed positive. The Braves remain in a fine position, it now just needs to win another series to get back full momentum.

Braves News

While the Braves had a good weekend, there are legitimate concerns for Bryce Elder after another struggle on Sunday.
Eric Hartman once again went deep over the weekend.

MLB News

Bryce Harper once again helped the Philles get another victory.

RHP Jared Jones of the Padres was struck in the elbow by a line drive and had to be removed from his start on Sunday. Jones returned to action earlier this year from elbow surgery.

Johan Rojas of the Phillies will be out until next season due to elbow surgery. He was already out for the first part of the season due to PED suspension.

Folks, I don’t think I got it today. I spent all of Thursday getting ready for a weekend trip, of course not giving myself enough time to do everything I wanted to do, so the entire day was hectic. I arrived at my destination that night, and then drank heavily for three straight nights. I am unfortunately saddled with the inability to sleep when I drink – I am a near guarantee to wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning and then struggle to go back to sleep. There is a bonus: I have avoided many a hangover because it hasn’t kicked in yet when I wake up. The downside is becoming a walking zombie.

Anyway, I drove home Sunday morning, but not to my house. It was Father’s Day after all. I drove straight to my parents house on something like a combined 15 hours sleep over the past three days. Actually 15 is probably optimistic. My dad got a JJ Wetherholt jersey and Masyn Winn bobblehead, so it was incredibly exciting when both hit homers in the 1st. I’m not kidding, we just finished giving him gifts and then the Cardinal game started not even five minutes later. I finally got home at 7 pm. And here we are.

So a quick article it is. But I don’t want to leave you with nothing so, some random observations for you

JJ Wetherholt’s ridiculous season

JJ Wetherholt is answer to the question: what if you just maxed out everything a baseball player does? JJ Wetherholt, at least in his first three months of professional baseball, has been an elite baserunner and elite fielder. It doesn’t matter what stat you use. He is +13 outs above average, which is quite literally 100 percentile among defenders according to Statcast. He is 95th percentile by baserunning value. He has 1.2 dWAR if you prefer Baseball-Reference. And his hitting isn’t bad either.

Wetherholt, now with 3.3 fWAR on the year, is on pace to have the best rookie season by a Cardinals player since Albert Pujols. And it’s pretty much equal to Pujols’ season. He’s on pace for 7.1 fWAR, Pujols had 7.2 fWAR. That’s a rounding error. I have comped him to Chase Utley before in sort of a pie-in-the-sky outcome – that is not a crazy comp. Utley was not a Hall of Famer caliber player because of his offense – well he sort of was – but he maxed out his baserunning and fielding value.

Ignore the power aspect – Citizen Banks Park is a much better park for homers than Busch Stadium, but even accepting that, Utley most likely has more power than Wetherholt ever will – if you look at the season by season wRC+ Utley had, it doesn’t feel THAT crazy anymore. Utley’s peak began with a 134 wRC+, which he followed with a 130 wRC+, and then a 150, then 134, 141, and 128 wRC+. Wetherholt still has work to do, since he’s “only” at a 127 wRC+ right now.

However, he is arguably getting unlucky. Maybe yesterday’s game fixes that. I don’t know. But he entered yesterday’s game with a .360 xwOBA and a .343 wOBA. His 3-5 day with two homers and a HBP rose his actual wOBA to .354. But you know, it probably raised his xwOBA too. Somewhat inexplicably his second homer carried an expected batting average of .030 while simultaneously being a homer in 19 parks. His single carried a .930 xBA and there’s no data on his first homer, but that was more of a no doubter. Point being, I think his xwOBA will still paint him as unlucky.

So that 130-140 wRC+ range doesn’t feel crazy, and we’re talking about a 23-year-old with 71 career games. While his baserunning and fielding really has nowhere to go but down, his hitting may not be a finished product. We really have a special player here.

Have faith in Masyn Winn

Even if I accepted that Masyn Winn was now an 80-85 wRC+ hitter carried by his defense, I have not really understood the discourse about replacing him. Let’s tackle positions that are actually a problem first. I don’t care if there are a lot of 3 win shortstops, that doesn’t make replacing him automatically easy. Wetherholt could most likely handle SS, but his greatest weakness is his arm, so he is very much not a guarantee that it would work and there’s very little chance he’s a better defender at SS than Winn.

I have also been very vocal in thinking he has more in the tank offensively. He’s still just 24-years-old. I don’t think his best offensive days are behind him. I also look at like this: we don’t need Masyn Winn’s bat to better. It’s almost a bonus. I think it can be better, but we’re not dependent on it being better. Winn will still be a valuable player and a worthy starter on a playoff caliber team even if his bat is what it is. Despite a slow start with the bat and with defensive numbers that I think will get better, he’s still nearly on pace for a 3 WAR season.

Is anybody else worried about Gordon Graceffo?

Graceffo is really working on a razor’s edge right now. He is not missing bats, he is walking too many, and he’s not really getting a lot of groundballs either. ERA is the only stat that makes him look good, the rest make him look… unplayable honestly. Every single one of them. His bad game on Thursday was a long time coming, and he has 4 walks to zero strikeouts in his last 3.1 innings of work. I had kind of assumed his advanced stats would start creeping towards his ERA at some point, and they really haven’t.

It’s interesting how much even the analytical fans will trust a good ERA, because I just haven’t seen a lot of talk about Graceffo. By literally any advanced stat and I genuinely think I’m using literally correctly here, we should trust Ryne Stanek more than Graceffo. We should trust Justin Bruhl more! Why can’t he miss any bats???

And that’s all I got for you.

Whenever Colorado Rockies pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano (菅野 智之) pitches or speaks to the media, you may notice the man who flanks him. This is Yuto Sakurai, who has served as Sugano’s interpreter for the last two years. 

However, before Sakuari worked for Sugano, he had other roles that shaped how he approaches his current work.

Early Life

Sakurai was born in Tokyo, Japan, but moved to the United States at a young age. 

“I was probably four or five,” he said. “I remember going to kindergarten in LA, so it was just a short stint in LA that I had.”

And after a few years, his family moved back to Japan where he completed elementary and junior high school. But when he was a teenager, he moved to Vancouver, Canada.

“I wanted to play baseball in the States, but with visa complications, Canada or Australia was my second option,” he recalled. “And I thought ‘Well, the United States is right next door, so close enough.’ And that’s why I chose Canada.”

Sakurai also attended university in Canada, where he initially studied psychology and business but ultimately finished his degree in marketing.

“My friends were all taking business classes, and I thought, ‘Why not take business?’” he said. “And then while doing my business major, I took one of the marketing courses and just fell in love with it. It was a course called ‘Personal Selling’ or something like that. I really enjoyed the negotiation tactics and the communication aspect of marketing, so I think that’s when I kind of shifted.

“Studying wasn’t really my thing,” he laughed. “But in terms of acquiring language, it was one of the good things I was able to do so I guess it all worked out in the end.”

And even though Sakurai isn’t currently working in marketing, he credits the skills he learned with “absolutely” helping him land his roles in Major League Baseball.

“Being in this role, I’ve had to communicate with various people from different departments,” he said, “someone like you from the media or the PR from our team, business and baseball ops people, and then, of course, players. So it has definitely helped me out.”

Pivoting to Major League Baseball

Before Sakurai was hired by Sugano, he worked for another Japanese pitcher, Shun Yamaguchi (山口 俊). Yamaguchi and Sugano played together on the Yomiuri Giants in the NPB, and Yamaguchi was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays in December 2019. Unfortunately, his MLB career never quite took off, in part because of the COVID-shortened 2020 season. 

Yamaguchi made his MLB debut on July 26, 2020 and made 17 appearances that year. He went 2-4 with a 8.06 ERA across 25.2 innings. He was designated for assignment in February 2021 and signed by the San Francisco Giants, but was eventually released in July after not making another appearance in the majors.

“He was supposed to be a starter, but he ended up becoming a middle reliever,” Sakurai recalled. “It was during the 2020 shortened season – the COVID year – so he didn’t really have a chance to play that year. The Giants picked him up, but he never got to the major leagues. I think we played half the season in Sacramento.

“When he signed with the [San Francisco] Giants, I was like, ‘I have a background in Vancouver,’” he continued, “so I thought I could help him out with making the adjustments – coming over here, but also playing. And when I saw the news, I applied, and luckily they saw my email, and that’s how things started.”

After his role with Yamaguchi, Sakurai took a sabbatical from being an MLB interpreter. 

But then another opportunity presented itself in 2025.

Connecting with Tomoyuki Sugano

After spending 12 seasons with the Yomiuri Giants, Tomoyuki Sugano signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles as he fulfilled a longtime goal of playing Major League Baseball. However, he needed an interpreter to help him navigate life in the United States. 

That’s when Sakurai decided to shoot his shot again.

“I saw Tomo sign with the Orioles last year, and I thought, ‘Why not shoot the GM an email and see what the response will be like?’ And luckily, I got a response, and that’s how the thing started rolling,” he said.

“I had an interview with his agent, Shawn Novak, who speaks both English and Japanese fluently,” Sakurai continued. “And I had two different interviews with him and his agency, and then I was one of the final candidates and then got to speak with Tomo next on Zoom. He asked me a bunch of questions, but it seemed like he was looking for someone who is willing to help not only on the field, but off the field and have a relationship with and hang out with. So I was like, ‘Sure, why not?’”

Sakurai was based in Japan at that time, but moved back to the US when he was hired by Sugano. And part of his role is to help Sugano communicate with coaches, media, etc., but also to help him adjust to life in the US.

“I guess it’s helped – in a good way – that he’s single and didn’t have any family to be with over here,” Sakurai said. “I’m basically kind of replacing the family component there, so we just hang out every day – go out for lunch, go out for dinner, go golf together. Whichever city we go to, we try to find something to do. He likes to go to amusement parks, so we’ve been to a couple different Six Flags in the last year. And just seeing each other every other day kind of helped with the bonding process.”

And the two are pretty much inseparable at this point.

“I’m pretty much with Tomo 24 hours everywhere except for the time I fall asleep,” Sakurai said. 

“I wake up and usually he tells me, ‘Let’s meet up downstairs’ or [we’ll] go have lunch or coffee. That’s how my day usually starts. We go grab lunch, and then on a road trip, we come back, take the bus to the stadium, and from there on, you see what’s going on. I’m always with him on the field, and once the game is over, we take the same bus back. And if we don’t end too late, we usually go grab dinner together or have dinner at the stadium and go our separate ways afterwards.”

Perks of being an interpreter

On top of being connected to a legendary pitcher like Sugano, Sakurai has been enjoying being an MLB interpreter.

One of the most surprising things, though, was how ‘normal’ most of these guys are.

“You used to think of all these guys as your childhood heroes,” he said. “I mean, they still are, but how they interact with myself and Tomo, they’re just regular people, too. I was surprised about how a lot of them are very humble. They have respect for each other. No matter who you are, they will treat you with respect.”

And specifically with guys like Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, he has made sure to stay the same and not get too caught up in the moment.

But the biggest lesson he’s learned so far?

“Maybe try not to stand out too much,” he said, “because I am a staff member. I’m not a player, so essentially I have to hide in the shadows, per se, and do my job discreetly and try not to get too ahead of myself.”

Having worked for four organizations, Sakurai has noticed a few differences, but noticed one thing in particular that the Rockies excel at doing.

“I feel like we have a family-like team, per se. Like, the first day of spring training, everybody was welcoming from top to bottom,” he said. “Not all the teams have that, so I really appreciate that component. And even still now, we have a good thing going on. Everybody says hi to each other every single day coming in, and I really like that. It’s a long season to battle, so you want to get along with everybody as much as possible, and I think this organization has the best of it.”

However, Sakurai has one favorite part of the job that’s unique to his particular role.

“When I get to go on the mound with Alon [Leichman],” he said, “talking about what to do with the next hitter and stuff like that in front of 30,000 or 40,000 fans.”

“That’s something that not everybody gets to do – even as players,” he emphasized. “Position players wouldn’t really go up to the mound during the game unless they’re on the field already. So I think that’s my favorite part about this job. But otherwise, pretty much everything you get to do, like talk to the players that you typically see on TV on a daily basis. I get to do what I like to do – play catch with the guys. And last but not least, I like to travel. If it wasn’t for this job, I probably wouldn’t go to places like Cincinnati or Kansas City.”

But at the end of the day, Sakurai feels the same as most players about what he’s looking most forward to for the rest of the 2026 season.

“I think it’s the same with all the players and all the staff for all 30 organizations,” he said. “I think everybody’s ultimate goal is to get that championship ring, and I would love to accomplish that dream with these guys.”

And any advice to anyone who wants to get into this field?

“I think it’s just like any other job or any other dreams that people have,” Sakurai said. “If you put in the work for it, or you have the desire – like, for me, I wanted to work in Major League Baseball, and of course I had to put some effort in – anything is achievable.”

On the Farm

Triple-A:Sugar Land Space Cowboys 7, Albuquerque Isotopes 6

It was a back-and-forth affair in Albuquerque, but unfortunately, the Space Cowboys (HOU) came out on top. DH Nick Kent, second baseman Chad Stevens and catcher Jose Cordova all recorded two hits.

First baseman CJ Alexander got things started for the Space Cowboys in the first with a two-run homer, but Kent answered back in the bottom half with a solo shot of his own. Catcher César Salazar singled to put the Cowboys up 3-1, then Alexander walked with the bases loaded to score another run.

Kent doubled again in the third to score Dew Avans, and then Stevens singled to score Kent. Second baseman Pascanel Ferreras tripled to score left fielder Cavan Biggio in the sixth, and then Mike Antico hit a sac fly to score Stevens. A wild pitch by RHP Ryan Weiss then scored Cordova. Another triple, this time by third baseman Vimael Machín, scored first baseman Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP) to give the Topes the lead, but it was quickly erased by a Biggio two-run homer in the eighth to end the scoring.

Double-A:Hartford Yard Goats 7, Reading Fightin Phils 4

It was homer-fest in Hartford as the Yard Goats defeated the Fightin Phils (PHI) 7-4. DH Cole Messina (No. 26 PuRP) got things started in the first, scoring catcher Bryant Betancourt on a two-run homer to jump out to an early lead. Unfortunately, the Phils plated four runs in the third — all off RHP Fisher Jameson. Jameson ended up pitching three innings, but only allowed damage in his first inning. The Phils started off the third with a left fielder Bryson Ware homer, then center fielder Pedro León hit a three-run homer to put them on top. Goats’ first baseman Jimmy Obertop hit a homer in the fourth to cut into the lead, and then right fielder GJ Hill homered in the fifth to tie the game.

The first (and only) non-homer score came later in the fifth, when center fielder Conner Capel doubled to score shortstop Andy Perez. Betancourt wanted in on the homer parade, hitting a two-run shot as the final scoring hit.

High-A:Vancouver Canadians 9, Spokane Indians 5

DH Tommy Hopfe and right fielder Max Belyeu (No. 15 PuRP) each recorded multiple hits in the Indians’ 9-5 loss to the Canadians (TOR). Belyeu went 2-for-5 with two runs scored, one RBI, one walk and two strikeouts. Hopfe went 3-for-4 with three RBI.

Belyeu got things started with a leadoff homer to put the Indians’ up 1-0. Hopfe then hit a sac fly to score second baseman Roynier Hernandez later in the inning to put them up 2-0. In the third inning, DH Eric Snow hit a three-run homer to put the Canadians over the top. In the fourth, left fielder J.R. Freethy scored catcher Edward Duran on another sac fly, and then Hopfe doubled in the fourth to score Belyeu and Hernandez.

In the sixth and seventh, the Canadians blew things open with a double and two, two-run homers to put them up 9-4. Left fielder Jacob Hinderleider doubled in the seventh to score catcher Alan Espinal, but that ended the scoring and the comeback.

Low-A:Fresno Grizzlies 2, Inland Empire 66ers 1

It was a pitchers’ duel for most of the game in Fresno, as the scoring didn’t start until the seventh inning and ended with a walk-off. DH Luis Mendez led the way, going 3-for-4. Rehabbing second baseman Adael Amador and center fielder Roldy Brito (No. 11 PuRP) each went 2-for-4, and Brito also struck out once.

66ers (SEA) second baseman Dervy Ventura broke through the brick wall that was RHP Austin Newton when he hit a sac fly to score left fielder Ricardo Cova. It was the only run allowed by Newton, who also allowed three hits and struck out two batters in 6.1 innings of work.

In the Grizzlies half of the inning, catcher Jesus Freitez hit a sac bunt, and then right fielder Carlos Renzullo scored on a fielding error by pitcher Ray Cebulski. The walk-off also came off the bat of Freitez, who singled to score shortstop Ashly Andujar (No. 20 PuRP).

Patrick Saunders is hanging it up after 28 years at The Denver Post. A baseball writer looks back with gratitude. | The Denver Post ($)

Patrick Saunders has covered the Rockies since 1998 and his final game will be this Wednesday, June 24th against the Boston Red Sox at Coors Field. He shares some of his favorite stories from his career as he bids goodbye to the Rockies beat. Thank you, Patrick, for your excellent coverage of Denver sports over the years. You will be missed!

What just happened?! Explaining rare call that ended Pirates-Rockies thriller | MLB.com

Saturday night’s game ended with a rare 5U out due to an interference call. Kyle Karros fielded a ground ball from Jake Mangum with the bases loaded, and immediately started to look around without throwing anything. Turns out, the foot of Billy Crook grazed his glove while he was running from second to third, triggering runner interference. Crew chief Todd Tichenor explained it as such: “The runner failed to avoid the defender in the act of fielding the baseball; therefore, he’s called out. It’s very simple.” Luckily, the Rockies were on the winning side of the bizarre ending!

Rumfield is one of MLB’s top rookies thanks to Minor League lessons | MLB.com

TJ Rumfield has been setting toe world league on fire, slashing .279/.359/.483 with 28 extra-base hits in his first 75 games as a Major League Baseball player. He’s making a case for NL Rookie of the Year, and Thomas Harding talked to him about the lessons he learned in the minor leagues that prepared him for this moment.

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

These clubs have appeared in 5 of the last 9 World Series.   Each have run into various road blocks in 2026, but the winner of this upcoming series could potentially springboard to new life in the second half of the season.   

Blue Jays Play By Play Man Dan Shulman joins us to discuss the Astros upcoming series at the Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto.   

Q: Let’s start with George Springer.  Could he be turning the corner?  

A: George has looked better lately.  He fouled a ball off his toe earlier this season, fractured it, missed 17 games, and it seemed to take him a while to get his timing back when he returned.  But lately there have been signs that he is turning it around.  He is drawing a lot of walks lately, and if the power stroke returns too, that would really help the Jays. 

Q: For the Astros, injuries have drastically hindered their season thus far.   What have been the biggest hurdles for the Blue Jays?

A: They have been decimated by injuries too.  Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk both suffered injuries very early in the season.  Barger sprained his ankle, returned for one game, and suffered an elbow injury on a throw. He has only appeared in 9 games.  Kirk fractured his thumb in early April and just returned last week. 

As mentioned, Springer was on the IL and so was Nathan Lukes.  Daulton Varsho is on the IL now with a wrist issue. 

On the pitching side, Jose Berrios underwent Tommy John surgery, Cody Ponce tore his ACL, Dylan Cease was on the IL for 15 days, Max Scherzer missed more than a month and Shane Bieber is just now nearing a return after some arm fatigue following his Tommy John surgery.  So they have had more than their fair share of bullpen games as they try to find 5 starters.  They’re getting healthier now but it’s been a huge part of their struggles. 

Q: If you had to predict, which Jays “will” or “should” make the All Star Game next month in Philadelphia?

A: I think Ernie Clement should and will.  He’s had a very good season, and in my mind, deserves to be the starter at 2nd base for the American League.

Louis Varland has been one of the best relievers in the majors, he should be there and I think he will be.  I think Dylan Cease should as well, and likely will.  Even with a brief stint on the IL, he’s been one of the better starting pitchers in the AL. 

Even though he’s not having an All-Star caliber season, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could get voted in. 

Q: Lastly, it’s been a roller coaster with the pitching rotation which Astros fans can relate to.    What’s the latest?

A: They need to find 5 healthy, effective starters.  Cease and Gausman are a great 1-2 punch. Trey Yesavage has had his ups and downs this year but still gives them a quality starting pitcher.  A healthy Bieber would be a great addition.  The bullpen has been worked hard, Fluharty and Fisher are among MLB leaders in appearances.  But for the most part, it is a strong bullpen.

Happy Monday, everyone! We hope you had a restful weekend and are ready to take on the week ahead. We’ve got lots of fun little news bites from over the weekend to ease you into your Monday grind. On the good news side of things, Shohei Ohtani and his wife Mamiko Tanaka welcomed their second child and announced the birth over the weekend. In true Ohtani fashion, he then his a massive home run on Father’s Day Eve to help the Dodgers win.

The Phillies continue to have an unprecedented resurgence that should honestly make any team that has struggled in recent months (not naming names…) realize that there is room to turn things around still. This time, they did it with crazy performances from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. On the less cheerful side of things, Justin Verlander was scratched from his scheduled Sunday start due to a hamstring injury and will be heading right back to the injured list.

We’ve got all that and more below, so let’s get right into it!

• Michael Baumann looks at the Tigers’ strange and perhaps misguided use of their bench players when it comes to pinch-hitting.
• Matt Martell weighs the ins and outs of whether or not to use the ABS challenge.
• Rafael Devers tried to wave away a pinch-runner and the Giants were forced to respond after the fact. Story by Perla Paredes.
• Making some bold trade deadline predications. (SI)
• Justin Verlander was meant to make his return to the majors this weekend, but his start was scratched after a hamstring issue appeared during a bullpen session. It now appears he’ll be out several more weeks. (ESPN)
• Oh what a night! Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs in an inning and Bryce Harper hit for the cycle. Remember when the Phillies were struggling? Because they don’t. (AP)
• Matt Gelb looks at whether it was a heavier bat that helped Harper pull off that cycle. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Some sweet Father’s Day insights from MLB dads.

• Dan Szymborski looks at some interesting potential call-up candidates.
• Shohei Ohtani just became a dad for the second time, and wasted no time at all celebrating that fact with a massive home run. On Father’s Day Eve no less. (MLB)
• Kenley Jansen may be the MLB active saves leader, but that doesn’t mean he was chill when it came to his best friend setting a saves record for the World Cup. Story by Jason Beck.
• Robert Gasser is feeling great after his first win since 2024. (AP)
• Eric Koreen has a touching post about what his father’s love of the White Sox taught him about baseball and life. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Weird stats gonna do their weird stat thing.

• Michael Baumann assesses whether the end has finally arrived for Salvador Perez.
• Martin Gallegos offers a contender for the catch of the year.
• Got beef? Tarik Skubal and Mike Vasil got into a verbal altercation this weekend, now we have more details on what went down. Story by Tim Capurso.
• The Marlins have DFA’d the struggling Christopher Morel. They also moved Liam Hicks to the IL. (AP)
• Ken Rosenthal looks at what all the suitors for Tarik Skubal have in common. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• I don’t care if we shared this in a million posts, it’s the best thing ever and I’m subjecting you to it again.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.

This was the 11th week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on Sunday, June 21st).

According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), the Rays top overall prospect Theo Gillen has taken over at the top performer in the system. His full season stat line is further below.

Meanwhile, Aidan Cremarods is back as the top performing pitcher system. The 22-year old Cremarosa is having a solid debut season within the Rays system. The 2025 8th round pick is currently in Single-A and holds a 2.56 ERA | 2.52 FIP with a 32.0 K% & 4.9 BB% over 52.2 IP.

RUMBLINGS

• Kamren James, the Rays 16th round pick in 2022, had a career day on Sunday as he launched three homeruns in a single game. The 26-year old was hitting .209/.294/.341 with 2 HR over 103 PA entering play on Sunday.
• Luke Jackson, the Rays 11th round pick from 2025, made his organization debut. Jackson was among Baseball America’s top 500 prospects entering the draft and signed a $497,500 deal with Tampa Bay. The 22-year old is currently in Single-A.
• Leonardo Pineda, one of the Rays top international signings from 2024, has been placed on the 60-day Injured List
• Daniel Pierce, the Rays top draft pick in 2025, hasn’t played since May 3oth.
• Carson Williams since being optioned at the end of May is hitting .288/.358/.507 with a 24.7 K% and 9.9 BB% over 81 PA
• FanGraphs should be releasing their list of the Rays top prospects at some point this week.

TEAM LEADERS

• Must currently be assigned to that team
• Baseball America’s top ten prospects are featured below each team they’re currently assigned to.
• (minimum of 120 TBF & PA)

Tampa Bay Rays

Top 10 Prospects

• None currently on active roster

Durham Bulls

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .256, Carson Williams
OBP: .342, Carson Williams
SLG: .451, Carson Williams
HR: 9, Tatem Levins
wRC+: 104, Carson Williams
SB: 24, Raynel Delgado (Traded to the Astros on 6/10)

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 2.27, Evan Reifert
FIP: 4.03, Ty Johnson
K%: 29.6% Ty Johnson
BB%: 8.7%, Chase Solesky
WHIP: 1.04, Ty Johnson
AVG: .182, Evan Reifert
WHIFF%: 14.4%, Ty Johnson

Top 10 Prospects

• #2 Brody Hopkins
  • AAA: 4.91 ERA | 5.25 FIP | 25.6 K% | 20.7 BB% | .202 AVG | 12.5 WHIFF% | 58.2 IP

Montgomery Biscuits

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .309, Austin Overn (placed on the IL on 5/27)
OBP: .379, Xavier Isaac
SLG: .533, Austin Overn (placed on the IL on 5/27)
HR: 13, Will Simpson
wRC+: 141, Austin Overn (Placed on IL on 5/27)
SB: 28, Austin Overn (placed on the IL on 5/27)

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.94, Chris Clark
FIP: 3.14, Chris Clark
K%: 26.5%, Michael Forret (Promoted to Triple-A)
BB%:  4.3%, Gary Gill Hill & Santiago Suarez
WHIP 0.97, Chris Clark
AVG: .186, Michael Forret
WHIFF%: 15.4%, Jackson Baumeister

Top 10 Prospects

• #9 T.J. Nichols
  • AA: 7.11 ERA | 4.03 FIP | 17.2 K% | 9.2 BB% | .329 AVG | 10.1 WHIFF% | 19 IP
  • CPX: 1.80 ERA | 2.53 FIP | 20.0 K% | 0.0 BB% | .300 AVG | 9.2 WHIFF% | 5 IP
    • 4/7: Placed on Injured List
    • 5/9: Began rehab assignment in Complex League
    • 5/19: Activated from Injured List
• #10 Santiago Suarez
  • AA: 5.93 ERA | 5.28 FIP | 23.4 K% | 4.3 BB% | .249 AVG | 13.0 WHIFF% | 50 IP
    • 4/25: Placed on Injured List
    • 5/5: Activated from Injured List

Bowling Green Hot Rods

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .340, Theo Gillen
OBP: .449, Tony Santa Maria
SLG: .591, Theo Gillen
HR: 15, Connor Hujsak (Promoted to Triple-A)
wRC+: 165, Theo Gillen
SB: 28, Theo Gillen

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.90, Jacob Kisting
FIP: 2.47, Jacob Kisting
K%: 30.4%, Jacob Kisting
BB%: 5.2%, Jacob Kisting
WHIP: 0.95, Jacob Kisting
AVG: .196, Jacob Kisting
WHIFF%: 15.0%, Jacob Kisting

Top 10 Prospects

• #1 Theo Gillen
  • A+: .340/.446/.591 | 24.2 K% | 14.2 BB% | 12 HR | 28 SB | 165 wRC+ | 260 PA
• #3 Nathan Flewelling
  • A+: .255/.387/.477 | 25.3 K% | 15.6 BB% | 12 HR | 3 SB | 125 wRC+ | 269 PA
• #4 Caden Bodine
  • A+: .330/.411/.472 | 7.3 K% | 8.1 BB% | 4 HR | 2 SB | 132 wRC+ | 124 PA
  • A: .379/.433/.614 | 3.9 K% | 9.2 BB% | 5 HR | 1 SB | 181 wRC+ | 152 PA
• #6 Anderson Brito
  • A+: 3.34 ERA | 4.53 FIP | 28.8 K% | 14.4 BB% | .240 AVG | 13.4 WHIFF% | 32.1 IP
    • 5/23: Placed on 7-day Injured List

Charleston River Dogs

Team Offensive Leaders:
AVG: .379, Caden Bodine (Promoted to A+ on 5/19)
OBP: .433, Caden Bodine (Promoted to A+ on 5/19)
SLG: .614, Caden Bodine (Promoted to A+ on 5/19)
HR: 6, Taitn Gray & Cooper Flemming
wRC+: 177, Caden Bodine (Promoted to A+ on 5/19)
SB: 19, Alberth Palma

Team Pitching Leaders:
ERA: 1.97, Trey Pooser
FIP: 2.68, Aidan Cremarosa
K%: 31.7%, Mason Nichols
BB%: 3.6%, Aidan Haugh
WHIP: 0.84, Aidan Cremarosa
AVG: .175, Aidan Cremarosa
WHIFF%: 16.3%, Aidan Cremarosa

Top 10 Prospects

• #5 Cooper Flemming
  • A: .281/.369/.433 | 15.7 K% | 10.4 BB% | 6 HR | 8 SB | 121 wRC+ | 268 PA
• #7 Daniel Pierce
  • A: .252/.336/.390 | 28.6 K% | 7.9 BB% | 4 HR | 6 SB | 103 wRC+ | 140 PA
    • 4/22: Placed on the 7-day IL
    • 5/2: Activated from the IL
    • Hasn’t played since May 30th
• #8 Taitn Gray
  • A: .286/.406/.474 | 21.9 K% | 16.1 BB% | 6 HR | 4 SB | 144 wRC+ | 192 PA
    • 6/1: Placed on the 7-day IL

Good morning, baseball fans!

A new week of San Francisco Giants baseball is upon us, so it’s time to take a look ahead and see what’s on deck for this week.

After today’s off-day, the Giants return to Oracle Park to begin a three-game series against the Athletics. After that, they will welcome the Atlanta Braves to town for a rematch of last week’s series.

I don’t know who is doing the schedule this year, but man they sure do love to have the Giants play the same team two weeks in a row.

Anyway, of course I’m most interested in the A’s series. Nothing against the Braves, I just really love the vibes of Giants vs. A’s games, and it’s nice that A’s fans won’t have to travel for this one. Be nice to them if you’re going to a game during this series. Their organization has put them through enough.

Which series are you most interested in this week?

Stephen Kolek struggled from the start in his outing Sunday against the Cardinals.

“Those days are going to happen,” Kolek said. “Ideally, they’re definitely not as bad as they were today.”

The Cardinals sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning. In total, Kolek faced 15 batters, allowing nine hits and a walk. He didn’t record a strikeout.

“It’s definitely tough to pitch when you don’t have command over stuff like that,” Kolek said. “So we’re going to clean it up and get right back to it.”

Anne Rogers writes that Bobby Witt Jr. was kept out on Sunday as a precaution.

While an injured list stint is still a possibility, Kansas City will continue to evaluate Witt throughout Sunday and even through Monday, when the team begins a four-game series against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Manager Matt Quatraro said on Sunday that Witt feels better and is moving around better than he was two days ago.

“We’re going to reevaluate as the day goes on, get him a bunch of treatments and see how he’s feeling before we take off [for St. Petersburg],” Quatraro said.

Jaylon Thompson talks to Royals players about fatherhood.

The Royals honor this tradition in quiet ways. For example, they allow kids in the clubhouse to celebrate with their dads after home wins.

“I think that’s one of the coolest things,” Wacha said. “My dad wasn’t a big leaguer, so I didn’t get to be able to do that type of stuff. But I think it will be something cool. I think it’s cool being in a big-league clubhouse, for sure.

“And hopefully, whenever they are older, we get a lot of pics of them in here. You know, something they can look back on and they’ll think is pretty cool, as well.”

Anne also writes about what Father’s Day means to Royals players.

Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone used the off day Saturday to toss footballs with Tom Brady at a World Cup celebration, writes Pete Grathoff.

Salvador Perez attended the Ecuador/Curaçao matchup.

Kyle Schwarber hits two home runs in an inning and three overall and Bryce Harper hits for the cycle in a Phillies blowout win.

The Marlins designate slugger Christopher Morel for assignment.

The A’s designate former Royals reliever Scott Barlow for assignment.

The Angels release pitcher Taijuan Walker.

Rafael Devers balks at being replaced by a pinch-runner.

A’s outfielder Colby Thomas makes a sensational catch to rob a home run.

Who are the greatest father/son combinations in MLB history?

The Pirates are open to trading their competitive balance pick.

The Angels may not want to trade some of their top assets.

The Astros want to be buyers despite their place in the standings.

Is the 1951 Giants/Dodgers “Shot Heard Round the World” the greatest game in baseball history?

North Carolina defeats Oklahoma to set up a deciding Game 3 in the Men’s College World Series.

Wyndham Clark holds on to win his second U.S. Open title.

Curaçao goalkeeper Eloy Room sets a record with 15 saves in a 90-minute World Cup match against Ecuador.

Does it make sense to have data centers in space?

Comedian Carlos Mencia faces 12 felony charges for tax evasion.

Theodore Roosevelt will finally have his own presidential library opening in North Dakota.

Your song of the day is The Beatles with I’ve Just Seen a Face.