Category: Sports News

The Cubs managed to eke out their ninth walk off win of the season last night at Wrigley Field. It may seem weird to describe a huge win as “eked” out but that is how it felt. The Cubs entered the eighth inning with eight hits on the night, but four of them were Pete Crow-Armstrong’s cycle. When Caleb Thielbar surrendered a home run to Cole Carrigg in the top of the frame it seemed liked a foregone conclusion that the Cubs were about to suffer yet another agonizing defeat.

They managed to scrap together a win, however, aided by the control problems that have plagued the Rockies’ bullpen. But it was a subdued PCA who came to the mic to talk about the game, despite having just hit for the first Cubs cycle at Wrigley Field in 33 years:

Given the Cubs’ hot start to the season and recent struggles, it’s easy to see why PCA wants more. Considering he was picked off of first base in a one-run game after completing the cycle in the seventh inning, it’s easy to understand why he was more subdued than celebratory. While all of that is valid, today I’m going to make the case that PCA should go a little easier on himself. There have been some remarkable improvements in his game this season, specifically on the plate discipline side.

The book on PCA coming into the season is that he is an historically elite defender in centerfield with exceptional speed and a hit tool that can best be described as variable. He’s got an incredibly high ceiling and a very low floor, as you can see from his 15-game rolling wOBA throughout his career (as a reminder, wOBA is just a fancy on-base percentage that gives you more credit for extra base hits than walks):

You can see just how hot PCA has been recently relative to his past performance. This 15 game stretch is even better than his first half last season, which had PCA setting a pace for a 40/40 season before ultimately “settling” for a 30/30 season. You probably see another thing in that graph, specifically that the lowest points of the graph have started creeping every so slightly higher.

That’s a massive development for PCA, because if he can move the floor closer to the .300 wOBA rank from the .169 wOBA mark he set at his lowest point last season he’s not just an All-Star, he’s a superstar. To be clear, no one expects his wOBA to remain in the .583 stratosphere he’s currently living in, that will come back to Earth, but if that floor can move up he’ll be much more likely to avoid the collapse he saw at the end of last season in future campaigns.

There are a few statistics that indicate this could be a real development and not a small sample size mirage. Through PCA’s first two full seasons (2024-25), he had 1,057 plate appearances and slashed .243/.287/.443 with a wOBA of .307. For reference, the league average slashline and wOBA in 2025 was .245/.315/.404 and .313. That makes PCA a basically average hitter off the 2025 baseline for the most part with the glaring exception of his on base percentage, which was pretty far below the league norm for the first two seasons of his career.

So far in 2026 through 309 plate appearances PCA is slashing .277/.351/.493 with a wOBA of .364. This season’s league averages for those numbers are .243/.319/.398 and .320, indicating there has been a slight increase in on-base percentages across the league (possibly as a result of the ABS system, but I admit I’m speculating there), but PCA’s improvement this season is a massive step forward from the league average.

You can also see these improvements in PCA’s Statcast cards by comparing 2025 and 2026:

In 2026 PCA is walking 7.8 percent of the time. That’s still below the league average of a 9.1 percent walk rate, but it’s a massive improvement over his prior career mark of 4.7 percent. Taking more walks makes it more likely PCA will get a pitch to do damage on, which probably accounts for at least some of his slugging improvement this season relative to the first two seasons of his career.

A note of caution is required here because it does take a certain number of plate appearances to demonstrate that a player has actually improved a skill. That said, Fangraphs has done some in-depth look at when particular stats stabilize and on-base percentage tends to stabilize right around 300 plate appearances. PCA has 309 plate appearances this season.

PCA is still just 24 years old. He can and will improve and change his approach at the plate as he gets more exposure to the league. While he could regress to his prior sub-.300 OBP ways, here’s hoping this particular change sticks. If it does, PCA could be a historically good centerfielder with above average plate skills across the board. That’s a special player, indeed.

Everyone loves to hate a relief pitcher. Even the best teams have a “oh great, here comes this guy” guy in the bullpen. For the Boston Red Sox in 2026, that’s Greg Weissert. For some reason, Weissert is the Red Sox’s go-to guy to get out of a jam. That’s partially because they want to save Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman for later innings, and partially because he possesses qualities that should help him with traffic on the bases. Emphasis on should. Which is why I put it in italics, but I’m emphasizing it again because it’s that important.

What are those qualities, you might ask? Well, for starters relievers, it’s his sinker. Last season, against right-handed hitters, his sinker returned a 57% ground ball rate and 32% ideal contact rate. His four-seam managed a 15% swinging strike rate and 20% putaway rate. His slider also produced strikeouts in nearly one-third of two-strike counts against righties. Those factors combine to give him one pitch to produce ground balls, and two others to use to put away righties away. Against lefties, his changeup racked up ground balls while his four-seam was a reliable strike-getter and avoided hard contact. In 67 innings, Weissert posted a 2.82 ERA and, because I know you’re wondering, allowed 25% of inherited runners to score (54th of 174 qualifiers).

2026 hasn’t gone nearly as well. His ERA sits at 3.67, his strikeout rate is actually up 3.4% while his walk rate remains consistent, but his batting average against is up from .224 to .252. Inherited runners have also been a well-documented problem, with 50% scoring (173 of 205 qualifiers, although the qualifying number is kinda weird, which puts some guys with very few inherited runners on there. Either way, his mark isn’t good.)

Over the last few weeks, things have started to come together for Weissert. He hasn’t allowed an earned run and has stranded all three of the runners he’s inherited over his last five outings. He’s also struck out 7 of 18 hitters and only walked 1. Is it a case of a streaky reliever hitting a hot streak, or are there actual changes?

In this case, it’s a case of a streaky reliever having a good five-game stretch. That’s all. End of article. Thanks for the click.

I’m just messing around to increase my word count. There have obviously been changes, that’s why I’m writing this. Here’s a look at Weissert’s release point from the beginning of the season through his outing on May 28.

And here’s a look from May 29 through today.

You’ll notice there are two clear groupings in the first picture and just one in the second. At first, I thought Weissert was shifting back and forth, trying to find a spot on the mound that would work for him, but as I started digging deeper, I noticed he was actually shifting from side to side based on the hitter. Here are back-to-back hitters against the Minnesota Twins on May 22nd.

Against lefties, he’d stand on the first base side of the rubber, whereas he’d stand on the third base side of the rubber against righties. I still haven’t fully figured out horizontal approach angles, but I’d imagine the numbers say that this is the “optimal” approach for Weissert.

Unfortunately, the numbers are only numbers, and the player has to execute the game plan. Weissert already has a cross-body delivery, which tends to lend itself to inconsistency in command. Asking him to throw from multiple release points is just another variable that makes hitting spots harder. Check out his sinker locations over these two time frames.

It’s a small sample, but there are fewer pitches over the heart of the plate, and the ball is generally down in the zone. The weighted on-base average against the pitch in his first 24 appearances was .327; over his last five, it’s .199. The expected wOBA numbers line up with the actual nearly 1:1, as well.

I won’t run through every pitch, but I will look at them as a whole. In his first 24 outings, 35% of his pitches were either over the heart of the plate or in the “waste” zone. Those pitches are the best to hit, or almost wholly uncompetitive. The only positive outcome he’s had on one of those “waste” pitches this season is this whiff by Miguel Andujar for a strikeout. Every other pitch in that area has either been a ball or a hit by pitch. The pitches over the heart of the plate have a .353 xwOBA against them.

Since he’s shifted back to the first base side of the rubber full-time, he’s cut down on those pitches. Again, it’s a smaller sample, but only 30% of his pitches have been thrown to those zones. He’s living on the edges more, keeping the ball down, and it’s working out for him, at least for now.

Weissert isn’t all of a sudden going to become an elite reliever. He’s 31-years-old and has been up-and-down between Triple-A and the Majors for the last five seasons. Nobody is asking him to be elite, though. He just needs to be the bridge to the high-leverage arms, working one or two innings at a time. Now that he’s back to the first base side of the mound and his release points can remain consistent, he should be a steadier presence in the bullpen.

The Mets are designating infielder Vidal Brujan for assignment, reports SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes.

It is likely that Zack Short, who was claimed off waivers on Monday, replaces Brujan on the active roster.

Brujan, 28, struggled in limited playing time for New York this season, reaching base twice in 13 plate appearances. 

Short, whose positional versatility is similar to Brujan's, played 10 games for the Mets in 2024 and has since had stints with the Red Sox, Braves, Astros, and Tigers. 

There will be more roster machinations for the Mets when Francisco Lindor is activated from the IL, which could happen within the next week.

One player who could lose his 26-man roster spot upon Lindor's return is infielder Eric Wagaman, who has minor league options remaining. 

Three San Francisco Giants pitchers sparked controversy during the team’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night at Oracle Park by inscribing Bible verses on their team-issued caps, which featured a rainbow logo. The incident gained the attention of Vice President JD Vance, who publicly weighed in on the matter via social media.

In a reposted response to the Sports Illustrated social media post, Vance said, “Trump won; we don’t have to do this anymore.”

Pitchers Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker each altered their Pride Night caps by writing Genesis 9:12-16 next to the rainbow logo. This passage from the Bible describes God placing a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant with humanity after the flood.

In recent years, these verses have become popular among Christian athletes seeking to reclaim the rainbow as a religious symbol, rather than as the widely recognized symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. Last season, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw made a similar statement by writing the same verses on his team’s Pride cap.

Major League Baseball responded by formally warning Roupp, Brubaker, and Walker that their actions violated the league’s strict uniform policy, which prohibits players from making unauthorized alterations to team-issued gear.

MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney confirmed in a statement that the writing on the caps was a clear breach of league rules. He reiterated that the players had been cautioned not to repeat the offense.

More: Jose Ramirez injury update: Guardians star to miss extended time after hamate bone fracture

Heading into play on Tuesday, the Yankees will remain alone atop the American League East. Although their margin over the Rays is not a large one, their standing is a testament to their resilience through some difficult times on the health front. The team’s best player, and one of the best the sport has ever seen, Aaron Judge, is on the shelf for an extended time once again. 

While Judge’s absence is obviously the most glaring for the Yankees at the moment, it is far from the only one. With a list of guys currently on the injured list, and some already having spent time there, the offense is turning into an all hands on deck situation. Not unlike the scrappy bunch that helped lead the Bombers back in 2019, this year’s squad may be in need of a similar boost from unexpected contributors.

In 2019, the Yankees won 103 games in the regular season, and made it to Game 6 of the American League Championship Series. While the World Series is always the goal, it was undoubtedly a successful season for the team. Despite all of the highs of that team, Judge missed 60 games, Giancarlo Stanton missed almost the entire season (18 games played), and multiple players who enjoyed huge 2018 seasons, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar, and Didi Gregorious, all played half a season or less. The training staff was busy all year, and yet, the Yankees comfortably won over 100 games, and were within a couple wins of making the Fall Classic. While there is a lot that goes into a season-long saga, the surprising contributions from players like Mike Tauchman, Gio Urshela, and DJ LeMahieu made a huge impact. On top of that, partial seasons of really high quality ball from the likes of Cameron Maybin, Luke Voit, and Mike Ford were the cherry on top.

While asking for that many surprises would be wishful thinking, the 2026 Yankees will likely need some unsung heroes to step up in the absence of some of the roster’s bigger names. Aaron Judge is on the shelf until later on in the summer, and Giancarlo Stanton has only played in 24 games and just suffered a setback in his recovery. Meanwhile, last year’s big surprise Trent Grisham has found his way to the IL along with starting catcher Austin Wells, who also has had a miserable start to the year with the bat for good measure. It’s clear the production from these players, and any more who may miss some time, will need to be made up. While this is the case for any team that has realistic hopes for success, the question remains: who will do this for New York this time around?

Some of the make-up effort is already clear at this point of the season. Ben Rice is establishing himself as an high-caliber All-Star type, with a 172 wRC+ and 19 homers in just 65 games this season. While Rice taking a step forward is not necessarily a shock, to have it happen to this degree certainly helps with the absence Judge and company. After a miserable start, Ryan McMahon has heated up significantly over the past month, and would be a major boost if he could return to somewhere near peak form. José Caballero and Amed Rosario have done their part in occasionally limited roles, and feel like guys pulled directly from that 2019 vibe. Several infield spots for this team aren’t locked down by any means, regardless of injuries, so the continued success of Rosario and Caballero could be hugely beneficial. Veteran re-signee Paul Goldschmidt has also been experienced a pleasant renaissance, posting a 149 wRC+ and nearly matching last season’s home run total in just 45 games. If his low cost deal can help to keep some thump in the lineup in lieu of the absences, all the better.

While the unforeseen contributions that have already happened are fine and good, what’s to come is perhaps even more important. The Yankees can hope for the continued success of these guys, but it can’t necessarily be counted upon. Jasson Domínguez just recently returned, homering over the weekend, and the Yankees will have to hope his long-awaited breakout is on the horizon. Highly-touted prospect Spencer Jones has also been underwhelming since his call-up, and if the club can see some improvement as he adjusts to big league pitching, and if he can tap into the enormous power he’s known to possess, he could be a difference-maker.

This Yankees team has already enjoyed this phenomenon on the pitching side. When Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón were set to miss significant chunks of time to begin the season, the likes of Will Warren, Ryan Weathers, and primarily Cam Schlittler all did their part in maintaining one of the league’s strongest rotations. To this point, the Yankees have a team wRC+ that is second-best in the league, but with plenty of absences locked in, including some long-term ones, the continued success of these young up-and-comers, unproven role players, and veterans will be vital to a potentially successful season, just as it was in that highly entertaining 2019 campaign.

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The Chicago White Sox open a three-game set with the New York Yankees tonight at Yankee Stadium, with N.Y. listed as a -145 favorite despite Aaron Judge being shelved with a fractured right rib.

My White Sox vs. Yankees predictions and MLB picks for Tuesday, June 16 expect Chicago to pull off the upset.

Who will win White Sox vs Yankees today: White Sox moneyline (+129)

Former New York Yankees man Josh Donaldson said it simply recently in an interview about Aaron Judge’s absence:

It’s not the same team.

I agree with him and will be playing the Chicago White Sox moneyline down to +100 tonight.

Gerrit Cole’s 6th-percentile whiff rate serves as a massive red flag because it means he still doesn’t have his best stuff.

Chicago’s offense is well-positioned to take advantage, with Miguel Vargas (.398 xwOBA) along with Randal Grichuk (.388 xwOBA) flashing elite expected production.

Conversely, Davis Martin’s 88th-percentile chase rate should play well.

COVERS INTEL: Martin’s 97th-percentile pitching run value on his offspeed stuff has been elite throughout the 2026 campaign.

White Sox vs Yankees Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (-120)

While both hurlers boast xERAs under the 4.00 mark, their underlying contact metrics suggest some looming trouble. 

Gerrit Cole's 4th-percentile ground ball rate is a concern against a lineup with sneaky power. On the other side, Davis Martin faces his own hurdles with a 9th-percentile hard-hit rate allowed, surrendering loud contact at a 46.5% clip.

Even with Judge sidelined, the Yankees still have Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger to provide pop, while the Chicago lineup features a trio of bats sporting xSLG marks over .530.

Play to -130.

White Sox vs Yankees odds

• Moneyline: White Sox +124 | Yankees -144
• Run line: White Sox +1.5 (-178) | Yankees -1.5 (+146)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-122) | Under 7.5 (+100)

White Sox vs Yankees trend

The White Sox have hit the team total Over in 34 of their last 50 games (+16.30 Units / 28% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for White Sox vs. Yankees.

How to watch White Sox vs Yankees and game info

White Sox vs Yankees latest injuries

White Sox vs Yankees weather

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This stretch of games had it all. A long-awaited MLB debut, a thrilling walk-off win against the best team in baseball, and almost having a perfect game thrown against them. This week, the White Sox made a statement to the entire league that they can compete in big ways.

The week started with the National League-leading Atlanta Braves arriving in Chicago. Brandon Eisert opened for Erick Fedde, who each gave up two runs apiece. Matt Olson accounted for the Braves’ first three runs with a pair of homers. A fourth run scored on an error. Down 4-0 in the top of the third, things were starting to feel like they might get out of hand. Enter Miguel Vargas, whose 16th home run of the season cut the Braves’ lead in half. The rest of the game and all the highlights from Tuesday are dedicated to Braden Montgomery.

In the fourth inning, the right fielder knocked his first MLB hit and pushed across his first RBI to bring the White Sox within one. It would be rookie Jacob Gonzalez to tie it in the seventh and take the game to extras.

In the top of the 10th inning, the Braves pulled ahead 5-4. This is when the cinema started. With two outs and the tying run on third base, Braden launched a line drive into the right field bullpen to light the pinwheels and send fans home thrilled. Letting the kids play is really paying off.

Wednesday was the pitchers’ duel that we had all been waiting for. Chris Sale, who was traded by the White Sox to the Boston Red Sox back in 2016, made his sixth start against his former team. In those six starts, the southpaw was 2-2, struck out 47 batters, and owned a 2.91 ERA. Sale may be reaching his elder years in the league, but there doesn’t seem to be much slowing him down. His 16th year in the league is quickly shaping up to be a career year, posting just a 2.31 ERA in 13 starts and hitting 99 mph in Wednesday’s game.

Facing off against him was Davis Martin. This year’s ace was coming off his worst start of the season and desperately needed a bounce-back start. Bounce back he did. The righthander carved through the Braves lineup, going six innings, giving up no runs, and striking out six. The start brought his ERA back below 2.50 and hopefully righted the ship.

Sale, who allowed only two earned runs, did earn the loss in the second game of the series. The only scoring in the entire game for the home team happened in the bottom of the fourth inning. The frame opened with a Montgomery double. The now traded Derek Hill plated the newly minted right fielder on an RBI single. Then Hill came around to score on a very exciting ground out by Luisangel Acuña.

The Braves’ lone run scored in the bottom of the seventh inning on a fielding error by Vargas. As someone who did not want to see our lead diminished and who has the third baseman on her fantasy team, the error was not received well. A locked-in Seranthony Domínguez and Bryan Hudson more than made up for it as Will Venable’s squad secured a series win against the best team in baseball.

It did not matter that Thursday’s game was postponed until August 20. The season series against an incredibly solid squad has been secured. It should be noted that this rainout does mean the White Sox will play 16 games in a row in August, but we will cross that bridge when we get there. The more important thing was to focus on the World Series-winning Dodgers coming to town.

The big headline ahead of this series was Shohei Ohtani leaving Thursday’s game with knee inflammation. It appeared we might catch a break and not have to face one of the greatest hitters in the game. This was true for Friday’s series opener. One would think the message to the team would be to take advantage of this, and it seemed they took the hint.

Not only did the offense score eight runs against Roki Saski and Blake Trinen, but Anthony Kay was the only White Sox pitcher to give up any runs to the LA squad. Kay, who was coming off a start where he gave up six runs to the Phillies, gave up just two runs over his five innings of work and struck out seven. Who would have thought!

Everyone on the offense, except for Gonzalez, recorded a hit in the 8-2 victory. Vargas and Chase Meidroth lead the effort with three hits apiece. This made me very happy for my fantasy baseball team. Andrew Benintendi notched his seventh homer of the year with two outs in the bottom of the first to start the scoring, and Tristan Peters brought the scoring to a finish in the bottom of the fifth with his second triple of the year. It was a great start to the weekend.

Do you know what kills the vibe of a weekend? Watching the opposing pitcher carry a perfect game into the eighth inning and a no-hitter into the ninth. Yoshinobu Yamamoto entered Saturday with 2.68 ERA and 6-2 record. After 8 1/3 innings on 109 pitches, seven strikeouts, and no walks, the 27-year-old righty left the game with a 2.52 ERA and a 7-2 record.

It’s hard to win a game when you can only score one run in the bottom of the ninth inning. It is even harder to win a ballgame when your pitching staff gives up seven runs. Sean Burke did not show up with the same magic as Yamamoto. The game started with a home run from Ohtani, who returned to the lineup in the leadoff spot. Max Muncy added insult to injury, hitting two long balls against South Side pitching.

Had the team ended the week 3-2, I would have been happy. Instead, the Chicago White Sox gave fans the shock of the decade with a six-run sixth inning. The highlights of the sixth inning offense were three long balls. The first homer came from Sam Antonacci, the left fielder’s second home run of the year and first to leave the ballpark, tying the game at one. The second by Colson Montgomery (finally, a good hit after a rough week) made the lead more comfortable, bringing the score to 4-1. Meidroth’s two-run shot took a game-tying grand slam off the table, making it 6-1.

Relief pitching almost spoiled it, giving up one run in each of the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. In fact, Domínguez faced the go-ahead run in the final frame on two occasions. A force out and a strikeout of Freddie Freeman finally ended the threat and secured the win and the White Sox’s eighth home series victory in a row!

This week was one worth celebrating. It took the South Side squad all the way up to sixth in MLB’s power rankings. A position well earned. However, there are problems with the pitching staff that this front office desperately needs to address. The issue is not how the team has been playing in Bridgeport, but rather how they have been performing on the road. Just how bad is it?

When the White Sox are in the comfort of their own home, the pitching staff ranks sixth in MLB with a 3.41 team ERA and is tied for first with the Tampa Bay Rays with 24 wins. When the show is taken on the road, it is a completely different story. The hurlers are 14-21 with the league’s third-worst road ERA of 5.30. A friendly reminder: each team has to play the same number of games at home as on the road. An almost two-point difference in ERA and significantly fewer road wins are not a recipe for sustained success.

With that being said, Bob Nightengale reported this week that Chris Getz is going to be aggressive at the trade deadline. Now, this is Bob, so I take what he says with a grain of salt, but this makes sense given what was just discussed above. There are clear holes in the pitching, and acquiring a solid starter or two could go a long way toward getting this team across the finish line. May I suggest making a play for Tarik Skubal or Dustin May? If injuries continue to pop up with Colson and other key members of the offense, it also might behoove them to snag a veteran slugger. Time will tell. Getz appears to have a few prospects to entice teams with down on the farm.

Another test is on the horizon with an away series against both the Yankees and Tigers this week. Here’s to hoping something starts clicking with the pitching staff while they’re in the Bronx and it carries over to the visit at Comerica.

One of the reasons I felt good about the Kansas City Royals coming into the season was that I was extremely impressed by what we saw from Carter Jensen in September of last year. Jensen came up to the majors and immediately looked like one of the best hitters on the team, sporting a .300/.390/.550 slash line, good for a wRC+ of 159. It wasn’t just the results, but how he achieved them. The left-handed hitter drew nine walks compared to 12 strikeouts and flashed a sweet swing at the plate with some outstanding power. I didn’t expect Jensen to be 60% above league average as a hitter again, but I assumed he would be above average at the plate and behind it as a catcher, which would make him a very valuable player even as a rookie.

Jensen has not been the most disappointing player on the Royals this season – that title can be shared with Vinnie Pasquantino, Salvador Perez, and Lucas Erceg, in my opinion. But 40% of the way through the season, he has been a replacement-level player, which falls well short of expectations.

On one hand, this is not particularly surprising. It’s hard to be a rookie in MLB and live up to the expectations that us overeager fans can put on the players. Jensen currently has an 81 wRC+, which is disappointing given what he did last year but right in line with rookie catcher averages.

It’s hard for hitters to adjust to major-league pitching in their first extended taste of the big leagues when pitchers get a chance to study their tendencies and find weaknesses to exploit. That adjustment can be extra difficult on catchers, since they are also spending a lot of time learning on the defensive side of the ball as well.

The biggest sign of pitchers adjusting to Jensen is his increased strikeout percentage. Jensen is striking out in 28.8% of his plate appearances this season after only striking out in 17.4% last season. The catcher is swinging and missing at more pitches; his swinging strike percentage has gone from 10.9% to 12.4%. He is also looking at more pitches in the zone; his called strike percentage is up from 13% in 2025 to 16.5% in 2026.

Looking over Jensen’s Baseball Savant page gives us some more clues as to what might be contributing to the increase in strikeout rate and the adjustments that the 22-year-old will hopefully make as he continues to improve and adjust to MLB pitching. Statcast labels pitches thrown in the middle zone of the plate as “Meatballs,” and these are generally pitches that you want to swing at. Last season, the catcher swung at 79.2% of meatballs, which is above the major-league average of 76.2%. This season, Jensen is only swinging at 68.4% of meatballs.

I appreciate that he is attempting to take pitches and work the count, but this looks like a hitter being a little too cautious and not aggressive enough to me. I think if Jensen can get back to the level of aggressiveness on good pitches to hit that he found last season, he will both strikeout less and start making better contact. That seems achievable and something that should get better with time. I’m not worried currently about Jensen’s future ability at the plate, but for this season we may be watching more of him trying to figure out how to make good swing decisions against the best pitchers in the world.

It’s been the defensive side of the ball for Jensen that has stood out to me most when watching the Royals this season, particularly his blocking. Among 69 qualified catchers, Jensen is second-to-last (only above Logan O’Hoppe) in blocking runs above-average with -7 catching runs. Statcast estimates that Jensen should have 11 wild pitches + passed balls based on the quality of pitches he has received, but instead the catcher has 18. The rookie has struggled in particularly with balls low and to his left, which is a pitch that needs to be blocked to help your pitchers go for strikeouts. He’s had some truly awful blocking attempts. If the Royals were competitive this season, I’d feel like a Carter Jensen passed ball would be a Chekhov’s Gun just sitting there for a clutch moment. It doesn’t look like we will need to worry about it sabotaging this season, however, as there has been plenty of sabotage to go around.

The catcher does have some positive qualities behind the dish. He’s been slightly above-average as a framer, and has been much better than Perez at framing this season. Jensen has a quick pop time is currently in the 80th percentile in Caught Stealing Above Average. His overall defense as a catcher has been around replacement level despite giving away 8 runs with his poor blocking skills, so any improvement to his ability to block pitches is going to make his defense a net positive.

Jensen is skilled and athletic enough to figure out how to move to his left and block tough pitches. I believe that anyone who can make this catch can improve on their blocking ability:

We’ve also seen Bobby Witt Jr. make remarkable strides on defense after a difficult rookie campaign, so we know it can be done. Research by Tom Hanrahan has shown that catchers get better at handling pitchers after their rookie season, which is both encouraging and a reminder that Jensen is juggling a lot by leading off and catching as much as he is.

The struggles Jensen is currently working through seem like solvable issues and somewhat normal for a rookie catcher. I’m still optimistic about his future with the Royals, but watching him so far this season has reminded me that it’s tough to make the leap from Triple-A to MLB, and that I should have factored in more growing pains when estimating how the Royals would perform this season. Jensen looks like a rookie catcher out there, and at least so far, my expectations for something more were overly optimistic.