Justin Steele throws during spring camp in Mesa in February | | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
As you all know, the Cubs have had quite a number of injuries to the starting rotation this year.
The Opening Day rotation of Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton, Shōta Imanaga, Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon is in tatters. Of those five, only Imanaga has not missed a start (in fact, he is among a number of starters tied for the MLB lead with 15 starts). Horton’s out for the year. Cabrera, Boyd and Taillon have all missed time, though Cabrera’s injury, a blister, had him out only the minimum 15 days and he threw well against the Rockies on his return last week.
Boyd was also supposed to return last week, but had a setback. Taillon’s injury likely has him out until after the All-Star break.
And then there’s Justin Steele, who also had a setback in recovery from Tommy John surgery last year. Originally, it had been hoped he’d be back around now, but at this point Steele is likely out until at least August. I
It’s possible none of these guys will help the team later this year. Or maybe one or more will come back and stabilize the rotation. It’s fortunate that Ben Brown and Javier Assad have stepped up, something that gives the team real starter depth.
So in this week’s SB Nation Reacts survey, I’m asking which of Boyd, Steele or Taillon will help the club the most this year. Or maybe you think none of them will. Vote in the survey below and I’ll have the results here later this week.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 13: Mauricio Dubon #14 of the Atlanta Braves looks on after the fifth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field on June 13, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) | Getty Images
(Note: Stats here through June 14, which only matters for comparing the Braves to other teams. In an ideal world, I’d either do this on the 16th, or during the day on the 14th, but we live in something very far from an ideal world.)
I have a colleague that uses the word “correction” a lot. It’s notable because I don’t think she really means “correction” when she says it, but she’s incredible precise with her language, so it stands out. This seems kind of opaque without context, but essentially, any time something breaks a trend or is an unusual micro-pattern within a broader, different macro-pattern, there she goes with “correction.” 2008? Economic correction. Post-pandemic drop in crime? Correction. Maybe “correction” is right, or at least fine. In any case, when talking about the Braves in June, you can see why the word haunts me a bit.
The bottom line is that whether the Braves were good, bad, or mediocre, a 6-5 record over two weeks of play isn’t weird. 6-5 is like, the default record. If a team constantly went 6-5, i.e., splitting ten games and winning the 11th, that’s basically 15 “free” wins over a .500 record, which means an 88-win season. Incidentally, 88 wins is not too far off from what the Braves were projected to do preseason (90ish by FanGraphs’ Steamer/ZiPS blend, lower by stuff like ZiPS alone). So, 6-5 — don’t call it a correction. Or… do?
Because, well, before June, the Braves weren’t playing at an 88-win pace. They also weren’t getting particularly lucky in racking up the victories. They also went 5-1 through their first two series in June… only to run into a very unfortunate road trip that saw them lose likely their two most talented (or at least, highest-ceiling, highest-variance because of that high ceiling) players to injury, and go 1-4 in the process. Whoops.
Is it a correction to go from a 108-win pace to a 105-win pace? (No?) What about from a 110-win pace to a 105-win pace (also probably not). What about from a projected 95-win team estimated to play at an 87-win clip the rest of the way on May 31, to a projected 94-win team estimated to play at an 86-win clip the rest of the way, as of June 15? Well, now I’m just throwing out a bunch of rhetorical questions. The bottom line: the Braves had a bad week. They didn’t bank wins at their previous, breakneck pace. They also suffered some injuries that will make winning harder in the future. Both of those kind of sucked, but they still have MLB’s best record. I guess the message is that if you expect them to play as they have, chances are, your perspective could use a correction. If you expect them to play as a good-not-great team given their surfeit of injuries and the usual talent variations, chances are you won’t get whiplash… and if you do, it’ll be the pleasant kind.
How did the Braves do recently?
Well, that was a very long, 500-word intro. Right to the stats, then. Believe it or not, going 6-5 for a month is a top half performance in MLB. Their production, though, was kinda worse — given what they did, you’d expect them to have gone 5-6 or maybe even 4-7. So, it could’ve been worse. You’ll see what I mean, namely…
After finishing in the top ten in position player value in both April and May, the Braves are literally dead last in MLB in position player value so far in June. They’re 29th in batting outputs, 28th in batting inputs, and 12th in defensive value.
On the flip side, the pitching has actually been pretty good. Or, at least, fortunate. Seventh in fWAR (rotation 19th, bullpen eighth, kind of a weird combo but there it is)… but a rankwise breakdown of ninth in ERA-, fifth in FIP-, and 15th in xFIP-. HR/FB on the pitching side comes to the rescue when the bats slumber, I guess. Thanks, HR/FB!
Using game-by-game odds, the Braves should’ve gone somewhere around 5-6 or 6-5, so what they actually did isn’t that surprising. But again, that’s because game-by-game odds will generally slam every team in that .500ish range, since that’s kind of how baseball works. That said, in true double-you-tee-eff fashion, the Braves somehow both lost the game where they were most-favored in this two-week stretch (Chris Sale against the Jays at home), but won the game where they were least-favored (Martin Perez against the Mets in New York). Baseball, man. Weirdly, the Braves are 1-2 in the three games with their pre-game odds over 60 percent, but they’re also 2-3 in games with their pre-game odds below 42 percent.
How did the Braves do recently?
Look, you can’t be dead last at a big thing like position player production for two weeks and not have it mess with your rankings a bit. But, given that two months were in the books before this span, maybe only a bit. Every team has a stumble for a week, it’s a long season.
The Braves are now seventh in position player value. They’re third in batting inputs, seventh in batting outputs, and seventh in defensive production.
The Braves are now 12th in pitching value (19th rotation, third bullpen). They have baseball’s best ERA- (still), but are 12th in FIP- and 10th in xFIP-.
How are the hitters doing?
Heh. Well…
It was a good two weeks for Ozzie Albies and Mauricio Dubon… and throw Matt Olson in too if you count “getting super-lucky without doing much to earn it,” too. Aside from Michael Harris II, it was a bad-to-horrific two weeks for everyone else, which is how you get that last-in-MLB-for-two-weeks demerit. Also, note that of the guys who didn’t meet the 17 PA cutoff I’m using for these biweekly check-ins, everyone else was horrendous, too, except for Eli White. The Braves were basically getting half a lineup’s worth of anything over these last two weeks, and that’s not enough.
For the season as a whole, the performance is still pretty strong. Harris and Olson continue to play like surefire All-Stars, Dubon’s defensively-buoyed profile is working as his bat has been fine, and Albies, who legitimately hit well over these two weeks, is combining luck and a defensive resurgence to getting back to good rather than merely playable-ish. Still, the awful June so far has been a drag on a lot of guys. If this keeps up, the Braves will probably have to explore more than just the usual starter/reliever/right-handed bat at the Trade Deadline — they’ll probably stick with Austin Riley, but Yastrzemski might be playing himself out of a permanent strong side platoon fixture, and Dominic Smith can’t afford too many more two-week stretches like the one he just had before he tumbles into 2026 Riley territory value-wise.
Sandy Leon, man. He’s not there to hit but the hitting has been… really far away from basically anyone else, even when the team is struggling.
Another shoutout to Dubon, who not only led the position players in WPA in this two-week stretch, but literally tripled the next-closest WPA tally… which belongs to White, of all people.
How are the pitchers doing?
Not much surprising here. Martin Perez (from the top rope, somehow) switched places with Bryce Elder in the “huh, that was a really good two starts” this time around.
The Braves’ rotation is, in the end, in a really weird place. Chris Sale is Chris Sale, no need for further discussion but for continued gawking at how good he is. Bryce Elder and Martin Perez have both been surprising in their own way; even if Elder is regressing, maybe Perez will simply swap places with him in terms of an arm being more-than-useful for longer than a two-week stretch. Grant Holmes and Spencer Strider were both awful in two outings, but despite Holmes’ horrendous performance after nine batters and the Strider Saga we’ve all come to know and dread, those guys aren’t doing horrendously on the season… except for the homers. On the season as a whole, the Braves haven’t had horrendous HR/FB problems… but the rotation is creeping up there, given what happened to Elder, Holmes, and Strider over the last few weeks.
On the bullpen front, there’s not much of note, other than Didier Fuentes continuing to thrive. Both he and Robert Suarez had three shutdowns and no meltdowns while making five appearances each. Their efforts are a big reason as to how the Braves were even able to manage to go 6-5 in a stretch where only one starter (and not Chris Sale) amassed positive WPA while pitching.
Here’s a weirdo factoid: the Braves have four relievers that already have 0.8 fWAR or more. There are 18 of those guys in baseball right now, period. A majority of teams don’t even have one. The Braves do have this odd issue, where they probably need to use the bullpen more relative to their starters given the disarray in the rotation, but there’s such a steep dropoff between that fearsome quartet and everyone else that you can totally see them just tread water for a bit before they they either feel like they need to wheel hard toward a change in personnel and management, or someone emerges to fill the gap.
Anyway, see you at the end of the month, at which point I hopefully won’t be talking about any full-fledged swoon.
THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON -- Episode 2305 -- Pictured: New York Knicks Championship Team on Monday, June 15, 2026 -- (Photo by: Rosalind O'Connor/NBC via Getty Images)
The Knicks have scheduled their parade for Thursday at 10 a.m.
Mikal Bridges might not make it there.
See for yourself.
"Put your hands together For the Kings of the comeback A team of history A team of destiny Our dream team Please welcome The 2026 NBA Champions Your New York Knicks" pic.twitter.com/HRY8DEv6i2
“This stuff is harder than what you think, and … you have to have great assistants. You have to have great players. But I was gassed. I’ll never forget, in 2003, as an assistant (with the Spurs), and when we won the championship (against the New Jersey Nets) … I was on the other bench when the buzzer went off, (and) I was sitting on my chair. All I did was lean back in my chair and I sat there, I felt like, for 10 minutes. It was probably 30 seconds, but I just wanted to breathe. I wanted to breathe. And that’s what I wanted to do today. It was surreal. I was tired, and then I went to find my family. I went to find (his partner) Ro, my grandson, my son Elijah, my step-kid, my mom, my sisters, I went to find my family and enjoy it with them.”
On the Knicks’ coaching search:
“No. I mean, I’ve been around a long time. This business is just as crazy as any other business. I’m pretty good at trying to control what I can control. I had zero control over who else was interviewing, who was denied permission. I had zero control over that. I just did the best I could in the interview process. I went about my business and waited until it was either going to progress or end . . . I just let it unfold the way it unfolded.”
On James Dolan’s speech:
“It’s a pretty serious mood going into the playoffs. When he said that, I was like, ‘Mike, hold yourself together. Do not fall out. Focus on his words. Focus on his words. Try to keep this as serious as you can. And let’s see how it plays out with the players.’ But there was no way that I could get that done.”
On Dolan’s impact:
“His speech was effective ’cause it was powerful. It was impactful, and it added to what messaging we’ve been giving our guys from Day 1, from the Opening Night dinner going into training camp, it added to it.
“And it added to it on another level because now you have the top guy, the ultimate leader, the guy that owns the team, that writes the checks, saying how he feels in a deep-felt message.
“They took it very seriously. We had shirts made up with ‘2026 Playoffs,’ and on the back we had ‘10 Weeks.’ And we even had the slogan ‘10 Weeks’ on the wall in the locker room, and as time went on, guys would say, ‘Hey — we got three weeks left, three weeks, let’s lock in.’
“If you can break it down to where, ‘Hey, this is 10 weeks of your life. … 10 weeks of your life to reach the mountaintop.’ ”
On feeling supported by James Dolan:
“One hundred percent this man has my back and we’re aligned. And that’s what I needed to hear. Our business, it’s a tough business, there’s too many different opinions that everybody can see and feel that can create separation or divide amongst a group. And I felt when he said those words, especially about me, that our players and everybody that was around during that speech, knew that we were truly aligned, vertically and horizontally, and it was a strong bond.”
On Knicks fans after the championship:
“You can’t go anywhere without people hugging you and telling you how long they’ve been waiting. You see grandpas saying, ‘When I was 20-something years old that happened.’ Then you see parents saying, ‘When I was a little kid and my parents used to take me,’ then you see their kids saying, ‘This is great!’ They don’t understand how long 54 years is ’cause they’re 10 years old.
You can feel how passionate and how truthful and how much pain they had over this team not winning all those years.”
On having family around during the Finals:
“It’s awesome having family around. Look, I’m a big family guy. To be able to have that support, whether you’re at home or on the road, and that love for anybody, it can uplift them. Whether you win or you lose, they don’t care. They just want to be there for you, and they want to support you. It’s always good to have that around, especially being in San Antonio.”
On his father:
“He definitely has that Air Force background. I think that’s where I got my OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder] from. Dad, sorry. He’s pretty meticulous with whatever he goes about in his business.”
On getting another NBA opportunity:
“I obviously interviewed a couple times [for other NBA jobs], didn’t get them. Then Sacramento came. That gave me an opportunity, which I appreciate.”
On traveling after being fired by Sacramento:
“After I got fired, I wasn’t thinking about it, because my wife and I were running all over the world. We were in Sydney, we were in New York, Mexico, St. Barts. Next thing I know, they’re asking me to interview here.”
On the origin of the ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’ chant:
“I was an assistant (coach) in San Antonio many moons ago, a reporter who asked me a question, he said, ‘What did you learn during your time here when you coached the seven-year-old Dogs Flying Football team?’ I said, ‘I learned the cheer.’
We used to have the parents all come in the huddle, all the kids come in the huddle before every game, we put our hands in, and I go, ‘Who let the dogs out?’”
og really taking this nation by storm thats my hearthrob right there everyone is inlove with him pic.twitter.com/CNRkzwLg0M
— sports live tweeter yadira (@jonmoxIeys) June 16, 2026
Karl-Anthony Towns
On his meesage to future generations of hoopers:
“As long as you believe in yourself and you are willing to put the work in—anyone, kids growing up in New York, kids growing up all around the world have the chance to be a New York Knick as long as they want to do it and they gotta be willing to put the work in.”
On Victor Wembanyama:
“I mean, he’s taller, but for sure, you know, he’s a great player. He’s a once-in-a-generation player, someone that the league is honored to have. And to be able to see that kind of size and skill is something that we haven’t been able to see in the game of basketball before.”
“Honestly, it was like a lifetime, honestly, that’s what it felt like. I knew I had to because I knew that face would look crazy on TV.”
On his teammates:
“I think the best part about it is that these guys have my back night in and night out. Made that moment 10 times more special.”
On Mikal Bridges’ Instagram Live:
“Someone take Mikal’s phone away.”
On Josh Hart’s missed layup in Game 4:
“A lot of great things happen there. When we’re down one, and you miss wide-open layups.”
On not retaliating against Victor Wembanyama:
“I think it starts, honestly, with my parents, how they raised me. I’ll start there. I wanted to [retaliate] but at the same time, I knew that being a leader, understanding the moment, understanding the situation, you have to keep your composure. No matter when it’s being too high or being too low, you gotta stay even-keeled. That’s something I had for a long time.”
On Josh Hart being only his work-best-friend:
“I was ready to admit it, but after hearing that. I’m good.”
On Mike Brown’s ‘Who Let The Dogs Out?’ chant:
“We’ve got to put that to bed.”
Everything Mikal said on his drunk IG live today 😂
• Shouted out Atlanta for pissing him off and turning him up
• Called Ariel Hukporti “35” and joked that he lied on his birth certificate
• Called Jalen Brunson the GOAT and said his big-ass head needs a statue.
“Just take over the Knicks and get a chip. That’s some savage talk.”
On James Dolan:
“He could be a bigger savage if he built a practice facility in the city. But he still a savage.”
On Brunson deserving a statue:
“JB. Baaaaa. Goat. Baaaaa. Build him a statue. Build that little big-headed a statue, bro.”
On Becky Hammon’s comments on Jalen Brunson:
“And about Becky. No disrespect for Becky, man. She’s a m—-rf—-r for real, and she’s a savage for sure… Becky’s a savage, too. I appreciate Becky [Hammon], no cap. The words she said about can’t win with JB being a ‘1A’, ‘1B’, ‘he too little’, all that did is fuel that n—- bro.”
On Jalen Brunson’s mentality:
“I don’t care what y’all say or what he says, but I know him. And he ain’t gonna tell y’all. He knows what she said. It fueled that n—- to go be him, go be f—ing great….. Don’t f—k with Becky, bro, don’t disrespect Becky. She’s the GOAT.”
On his goal for the championship parade:
“I just want to bring my dog on the float; that’s it.”
“For me, I just wanted to set up an epic last possession. We wouldn’t have that OG tip-in without that missed layup. I was willing to sacrifice that layup so OG could get the tip-in. I was trying to be a good teammate.”
On Mikal Bridges drinking at 9 a.m. on a Monday:
“At 9 o’clock? Call the hotline.”
On Jalen Brunson as a work-best-friend:
“Well, you always have, like, work best friends. You go to school, and you have a friend there, and when he’s not there, you’re like, ‘Dang, where is he at?’ But when you go home, you don’t think about him.”
On his first impression of Brunson after meeting him in Villanova:
“I thought he was an entitled, privileged five-star recruit, [and] I wasn’t really a fan.”
On Brunson’s personality:
“It’s kind of the same now. People think that I’m the childish one, but he is like the annoying friend… He is probably the most annoying person I know behind the cameras.”
Mitchell Robinson shares his mental health battles (and an adorable picture of himself a child) in an IG post this afternoon pic.twitter.com/Mmq846SVds
“I don’t even know where to begin the battles, the sacrifices, the mental breakdown, the disbelief in myself, the injuries, the surgeries, the mistakes and to be able to stay strong and bounce back from being in hell was all worth the ride I appreciate the fans and my friends and family for helping me get through all of that while fighting to get it done the sacrifices yall made for me throughout the years will never go unnoticed and unappreciated I can’t thank you all enough for everything y’ll got me through.”
On asking the Knicks to communicate their postseason commitment to their family:
“Go home, talk to your wives. Don’t tell them you’re not going to have sex, and don’t tell them it was my idea. But let them know what this is going to be like, what your commitment is going to be like.”
On what a championship would mean:
“I don’t know if you understand what it would mean to win the NBA championship. It would be life-changing. … It will stick with you the rest of your lives. And if you don’t win, you’ll be thinking about it the rest of your lives.”
On the Knicks’ legacy:
“You will forever be important to New York City. No matter where you go and what you do the rest of your lives, when people introduce you, even if you become the president of the United States, they’ll start off with ‘NBA champion, 2026.’ … That’s what’s at stake here.”
On the need for sacrifice:
“The big word is sacrifice. You’re going to have to sacrifice if you want to achieve this.”
On his belief in the Knicks:
“I know you can do it. You know you can do it. I believe you know you can do it.”
On accountability and preparation:
“At the end of these 10 weeks, what you achieve is what the public’s gonna think of you — not what you say in the press conferences, etc.”
On building daily habits from the get-go:
“You need to bump your practice. You need to pay more attention to your diet. You need to sleep better. You need to be ready for every game. … That’s not something you start on the first game of the playoffs. That is something you start right now, today!”
On his particular demand for sacrifice:
“I had this idea that maybe you should give up sex for the next 10 weeks — you don’t have to give up sex for the next 10 weeks — BUT — like the Spartans, you know what Spartans are? They denied themselves, right? So that they can have an edge. Get the edge. Go home, talk to your wives and tell them — don’t tell them you’re not gonna have sex, don’t tell ’em it was my idea — but let them know what this is gonna be like, what your commitment is gonna be like, and how they’re gonna have to sacrifice too. Those concerns at home, they can’t come on the court. It’s not who we play, it’s how we play. Because I believe this team can beat ANYBODY in the NBA.”
On rewarding Knicks players’ families:
“When we win the championship, we will get rings. And when we get rings, so will they. I will buy a ring for each one of your significant others, because their contribution is gonna be very important to this team winning.”
On the areas to improve:
“The next 10 days, fix those three things as part of your focus, because those are our Achilles’ heels, and they’ll stop us in the playoffs.”
On demanding commitment from everybody:
“You gotta try like you’ve never tried before. It’s only 10 weeks, guys. You gotta go for it. You gotta leave nothing on the table. You must go for it. Do it. Commit to it. Go for it.”
On Mike Brown building a relationship with Jalen Brunson:
“The first thing he did was drive down to Jalen’s house and go to dinner with him in Jersey Shore. And I had told him, ‘Build a good relationship with Jalen, and he’ll run through a wall for you.’ That’s what they both did (this season). This is amazing, man. Mike’s been amazing. He gives way too much credit to everybody else. This is Mike Brown.”
On helping Jalen avoid his mistakes:
“You just take the experiences that you had, and the mistakes that you made, and try to instill them into your kids and make sure they don’t go down that same path.”
On his goals for Jalen:
“My only goal was that, ‘Hey, I wanna help my son reach his dream and play in the NBA.’ And our only goal was to get a guaranteed contract and be successful. It wasn’t to be this, you know? I’d be lying to tell you I knew it would come out to this. No way!”
On coaching Jalen in New York:
“I say this to him all the time, ‘Me coaching you the last four years, I never had a bad day. It’s going to work, looking at you, so I don’t expect you to have a bad day.’”
On lessons learned from his own career:
“I’ve been there not knowing if you’re gonna be there the next day. So I’ve always instilled that in him, and he took that… The credit goes to your children; they listen, they learn, and they want to be great.”
“When we first acquired him, I would’ve been happy with 20 points and six assists, because they talk about his height and having no speed. I thought in a playoff situation, opponents would put taller guys on Jalen and he would have trouble.”
On Brunson’s playoff success:
“But he found a way. In every series, he found a way. The Spurs have excellent defenders on the perimeter, and they were frustrated and devastated by Brunson. It’s a testament to his sagacity. His game is right between the ears.”
"I've never heard him talk about any other Knick team with the kind of reverence he talks about this team."
Mike Breen shares Clyde Frazier's thoughts of this Knicks championship team with @RichEisen 💪
On the origin of his ‘Go ahead and cry’ comment after the final buzzer:
“The cry line was from all the fans that I’ve talked to. It started the last three or four seasons when there was hope that this team might actually win a championship. They all said the same thing. ‘If that ever happens, I’m going to cry.’ They all said it. I figured that is a good time to let them know, ‘It’s OK to cry.’ That’s where it came from.”
On Leon Rose’s roster construction and long-term vision:
“It really starts with Leon [Rose]. I’m so impressed with his vision to put this together. I think the guys he went out and got, Karl-Anthony Towns and [OG] Anunoby, [Landry] Shamet — Mitchell Robinson fit in that way, even though he had him. He went out and got those kinds of guys like Josh, Mikal and Jalen that were about winning and about the team. It sounds simple, but that’s really hard to do today. All of those guys sacrificed parts of their games.
“It was specifically Leon’s plan to get those kinds of guys. It was a great vision and it took a lot of courage, because you know it was not something anyone else in the NBA had done. If it didn’t work, he would’ve been highly criticized.
It started with Jalen, and then bringing in Donte [DiVincenzo] and Mikal, the trade for Karl-Anthony Towns. He was doing it to get all the same type of character. He had a vision for that type of character and that type of player, that I don’t think anybody else has ever done in the NBA.”
On the Finals comeback and celebration:
“Thank God I didn’t leave. Being with 19,800 people, singing Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York,’ Jay-Z’s ‘Empire State of Mind,’ being down on the court hugging Jalen, Mikal and Josh, and Spike Lee and Tim Thomas and [Stephon] Marbury, just being a part of that New York Knicks scene was one of my great memories all time in sports.”
On whether he also deserves a ring:
“I have been on such a great ride with these guys, that’s enough for me.”
“He did something that a bunch of great guards were never able to do, he did something that James Harden, as a starter on his own team, never even made the finals and fell short over and over again. Steve Nash, who was an unbelievable player, two-time MVP, through no fault of his own, could never quite get the team there. Chris Paul finally did it in the 2021 finals late in his career, but they lost. Jason Kidd; two straight finals, but he lost, and then finally gets one later as a role player starter in Dallas.”
On Brunson’s championship run:
“What Brunson did was up there with Dwayne Wade in 2006. It was up there with Walton in 1977. You can go on. through, but we’re just dragging a team to the finals, and he is somebody that I never in a million years would have thought would make the pyramid. He was the guy over and over again who could create the best offense for them, and he got better when it mattered…I have him at 40. I have him above Nash, Kidd, Sam Jones, Harden, George Gervin, and Luka Doncic.”
NEW: Today, Pope Leo XIV posed with the New York Knicks jersey.
After asking Leo for a miracle, Spike Lee credits the U.S.-born pontiff’s blessing over the team with helping them win their first NBA title since 1973. pic.twitter.com/1NsdBnzV8m
On Victor Wembanyama not shaking his hand with the Knicks:
“I think Wemby got exposed in a variety of ways here. I think he came off as petty. I think he came off occasionally as a guy who would give a cheap shot. I didn’t like sort of how he ended the series. Go find Jalen Brunson. I mean, Jalen Brunson was all class.”
On the Spurs’ lack of sportsmanship after the Finals loss:
“(Wembanyama,) look your killer in the face. Look your killer in the face. You got to look them in their face. By the way, if you leave the court and you don’t look me in my face and I just beat you, I actually know that I owned you forever because you couldn’t even look me in the face.
“And so to see them walk off the court, it was disheartening. And I blame it on youth. I blame it on lacking the leader to show them that, hey, this is what you do, not walk off. I blame it on that. I blame it on that.
“Lacking the leadership, the leader to show them that, no, no, no, there’s a way to win and there’s a way to lose. There’s a way to win and there’s a way to lose. And walking off the court, not looking your killer in his eyes, ain’t the way to lose.”
“You talk about Jalen Brunson and what he just accomplished, he cemented himself as the greatest Knicks ever. Jalen Brunson just cemented himself as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Jalen Brunson just cemented himself as one of the greatest winners in sports. Jalen Brunson just cemented himself a top 5 player in this league. Jalen Brunson just cemented himself as one of the greatest offensive players that this game has ever seen.”
On Brunson’s clutch performances:
“When you talk about coming up clutch, put him up there with the all-time greats. Averaging over 11 points in the fourth quarter. Averaging over 32 points in the NBA Finals. Magic Johnson didn’t do that. Steph Curry didn’t do that. Isiah Thomas didn’t do that. And I’m talking about point guards. Now, we’re talking about a man that is sitting at the table with Isaiah Thomas and Steph Curry, as far as guards that’s listed under 6’3 leading their team to an NBA championship, and a Finals MVP.”
“I can’t pick anyone out because everyone had a part in it. The coaching staff, everyone had a part in it, so I won’t do that. I won’t single anyone out, but Brunson [the team captain] is the King of New York right now. The people have spoken.”
On Brunson as a Ghostbuster:
“There’s something strange in your neighborhood. Who you gonna call? Jalen Brunson!”
On his emotions after the title:
“I broke down a lot. I wasn’t the only one. Everyone in there was. Fifty-three years [the last time the Knicks won the championship was in 1973], everyone let it all out, everyone felt joyful, they were tears of joy.”
On what the title means for New York:
“It means we’re over the hump. The curse is over, and this is the first time in a long time that I’ve really seen the city happy.”
On New York’s resilience:
“We’ve been through a lot, and we have something to really, really be proud of.”
CLEVELAND, OHIO - NOVEMBER 30: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers waits during the first quarter against the Boston Celtics at Rocket Arena on November 30, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Donovan Mitchell is extension-eligible for the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer. The seven-time All-Star has given no indication that he wants out of Cleveland, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll take this opportunity to extend.
“I think the Cavs and Donovan are in a very good place,” said Windhorst. “And I think everyone should be prepared for the eventuality that he does not extend.”
Mitchell choosing not to extend could frighten some fans. We all have PTSD from the LeBron years. But this does not mean that Mitchell is getting ready to demand a trade or jump ship the following season. Instead, it just means he’s got maximum money on his mind.
“He is in a maximum leverage situation,” said Windhorst. “He has one year left in his contract, and next year he can sign with all of the goodies that come along with a brand-new contract because he’ll be a 10-year veteran.”
What’s the difference between signing a deal this summer and waiting another year? A 5% bump in how much Mitchell can make. Signing next year, after he’s completed his ninth NBA season, will make Mitchell eligible for 35% of the Cavs cap space as compared to the 30% available to him now.
Mitchell averaged 27.9 points per game last season and reached his first conference finals. He’s been an All-NBA member in three of his four seasons with Cleveland. To this point, Mitchell’s time in the wine and gold has been mutually beneficial.
Of course, not signing an extension this summer will bring another wave of rumors. Speculation will run rampant no matter what Mitchell intends with this decision.
“The only incentive that Mitchell has to sign right now is to do the Cavs a favor,” said Windhorst. “If Donovan does not extend, it doesn’t mean that he’s leaving, it doesn’t mean that he’s unhappy, it doesn’t mean that the Cavs should lose sleep, it does mean that he’s maximizing his situation.”
No one can predict what next summer will bring. As of now, all we know is that it makes the most sense financially for Mitchell to hold off on signing an extension. That seems to be the path he will take.
Despite wildly unprecedented success with the Vegas Golden Knights, former Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella has re-joined the NHL's coaching carousel.
After replacing the fired Bruce Cassidy, Tortorella, 67, ripped off a 7-0-1 run to end the 2025-26 regular season, then went 14-8 in the playoffs en route to the Stanley Cup Final.
The caveat, though, is that Tortorella's truncated contract with the Golden Knights expires on June 30, and Vegas has already decided, as they announced Tuesday, that it will not be renewed.
For the second time in two years, the ex-Flyers coach is on the streets looking for a new job.
The gruff head coach's stubbornness ended up playing a part in his undoing with the Golden Knights, as he stuck with his former Flyers starting goalie, Carter Hart, through a historically bad start to the Stanley Cup Final.
At the other end of the ice, Flyers legend Rod Brind'Amour swapped an injured Freddie Andersen for Brandon Bussi and was ultimately rewarded with a Stanley Cup victory.
With his triumph, Brind'Amour joined an exclusive club at Tortorella's expense, becoming one of four men in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup as both a player and coach with the same franchise.
It is currently unclear as to whether Tortorella can or will return to coaching and explore further opportunities in the 2026-27 season; if not, a return to the ESPN booth could be in the cards once again.
In the end, though, Tortorella's run with the Golden Knights was a classic Tortorella run as a head coach.
Some legendary quotes, like leaving clothes in a hotel, skipping media availabilities that resulted in fines and loss of a draft pick, and some unsustainable success that burned out in the end.
As we are one week out from the NBA Draft, the unofficial deadline for a Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, and talks around that trade — and rumors of trade talks — are heating up.
That much we know. Where Antetokounmpo gets traded and for whom — or if there is a surprising twist still to come — remains undecided. But it seems to be a two-team race. Here's the latest.
Miami or Boston?
The Heat and the Celtics remain not just the frontrunners to land Antetokounmpo but really the only teams in the race. However, which one is in the league depends on who you ask: Miami not only remains the most likely option according to the league sources NBC Sports has spoken with, but also those sources have grown increasingly confident that the Heat ultimately will be the spot. There is growing skepticism about Boston's seriousness, as reported by Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe during an appearance on NBC Sports Boston.
The Bucks seem to not be in love with the Heat's offer(s) and continue to discuss trade packages with other teams, team sources say. That said, Miami has been able to improve what it can offer since the trade deadline.
Miami's offer reportedly focuses on Tyler Herro (a Wisconsin native), Kel'el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and a couple of first-round picks, including No. 13 in this draft. Herro is the oldest of those players at 26. The buzz that the Bucks don't like it sounds like spin and public negotiation, as Milwaukee tries to get the most out of this deal — they want to pressure the Heat to add more.
Boston provides that pressure. The Celtics' offer reportedly could involve All-NBA wing Jaylen Brown, coming off the best season of his career, plus other players and a number of picks. Boston made an offer, according to Bill Simmons of The Ringer, but did not provide details on what it included.
The first question becomes: Do the Celtics really want to do this trade? They get older, Antetokounmpo has had a concerning injury history that has hit hard in recent playoffs, and he wants a max extension, with the last couple of years of that deal potentially being an expensive anchor.
Plus, this would force Boston coach Joe Mazzulla to play a different style — which may be the point. At his end of season press conference, Celtics president Brad Stevens said he wanted the team to attack the rim more, one way to force that adjustment is to bring in a player who only attacks the rim and is not a guy you want shooting 3s.
Is breaking up a Brown and Jayson Tatum pairing that is entering its prime and has already won a ring wise? On top of all that, it would take at least a third team to get a trade done, because Brown is not on Milwaukee's new timeline, the Bucks don't want him as a player, they will want to flip him for younger players and picks.
Miami's offer is at least as good, if not better and is more straightforward. That said, it's Milwaukee's job to get the best offer it can, so why wrap it up now? Wait until close to the draft, just in case.
LAS VEGAS — John Tortorella will not return as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights after guiding them to the Stanley Cup Final on an interim basis.
Uncertainty lingered over the situation through the team’s elimination in Game 6 of the final against Carolina. General manager Kelly McCrimmon announced that Tortorella would not be back.
“We thank Torts for the guidance he provided our team since joining the organization in March,” McCrimmon said. “When the decision was made to bring Torts to Vegas, we needed an immediate impact to help us at a pivotal point in the season. Torts’ experience and leadership proved to be the boost that we were looking for, helping guide us to the Stanley Cup Final. We are grateful for Torts’ passion, sincerity, and commitment to our organization, and we wish him and his family the best.”
McCrimmon hired Tortorella on March 30 when he fired Bruce Cassidy with eight games left in the season. The Golden Knights won seven of them and then got through three rounds before losing to the Hurricanes in the final.
Tortorella, who is set to turn 68, is 22 years removed from coaching Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup in 2004. After his time with the Lightning, he spent time running the bench for the New York Rangers, Vancouver, Columbus and Philadelphia and was out of the league for roughly a year before getting the call from McCrimmon.
Players spoke highly of how Tortorella handled jumping in this spring. He took criticism in recent days for deciding to stick with goaltender Carter Hart, whose .863 save percentage was the lowest in the final since Minnesota’s Jon Casey in 1991.
One avenue Vegas could go with for Tortorella’s successor is promoting Ryan Craig, who has been coach of its top affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League, for the past three seasons.
Toronto Blue Jays starter Dylan Cease continues to rack up strikeouts at an elite rate, and a favorable matchup against a swing-and-miss-prone Boston Red Sox lineup makes Over 7.5 strikeouts my favorite play tonight.
Read on for my Blue Jays vs. Red Sox Predictions and MLB picks on Tuesday, June 16.
Blue Jays vs Red Sox predictions
Blue Jays vs Red Sox best bet: Dylan Cease Over 7.5 strikeouts (+115)
Dylan Cease has eclipsed this total in five straight outings, averaging 9.4 strikeouts per start.
This matches up well against a Boston Red Sox lineup that sits 20th in xBA against the slider with a 31.7% whiff rate, the pitch that Cease uses as his out-away pitch with a 46.8% whiff on it.
I’d buy Cease Over 7.5 strikeouts down to +105.
COVERS INTEL: Cease's 13.63 K/9 leads all MLB pitchers who have thrown at least 60 innings in 2026.
Blue Jays vs Red Sox same-game parlay (SGP)
The Blue Jays lineup matches up well to succeed against BoSox starter Payton Tolle. His most-used pitch is a four-seamer, which the Jays have crushed with a .271 average, the second-best mark in baseball. Add Over 4.5 hits allowed for Tolle.
The player who profiles best against Tolle’s pitch-mix is Kazuma Okamoto. He owns a .471 average against the four-seamer when facing LHP. Add Okamoto Over 0.5 hits.
Blue Jays vs Red Sox SGP
Dylan Cease Over 7.5 strikeouts
Payton Tolle Over 4.5 hits allowed
Kazuma Okamoto Over 0.5 hits
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Get the best Jays ML odds at BET99 — every game.
Blue Jays vs Red Sox home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto)
Tolle hasn’t allowed a home run in four straight starts, so I’ll make this a half-unit wager.
However, Okamoto is one bat that profiles well against Tolle’s pitch mix.
Okamoto leads the Jays with 15 homers this season and owns a .360 average, a .640 slug-rate, and a 61.2% hard-hit rate against the four-seamer and sinker.
This positions him well for success today as the Boston hurler has a 64% usage rate on those pitches.
2026 Transparency record
Best bets: 34-35, +4.05 units
SGPs: 13-56, +3.35 units
HR picks: 11-58, +1.4 units
Blue Jays vs Red Sox odds
Moneyline: Toronto -120 | Boston +100
Run line: Toronto -1.5 (+140) | Boston +1.5 (-160)
Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-110) | Under 7.5 (-110)
Blue Jays vs Red Sox trend
The Toronto Blue Jays have hit the Game Total Over in 11 of their last 15 games (+6.70 Units / 41% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Blue Jays vs. Red Sox.
How to watch Blue Jays vs Red Sox and game info
Location
Fenway Park, Boston, MA
Date
Tuesday, 6-16-2026
First pitch
6:45 p.m. ET
TV
Sportsnet, NESN
Blue Jays starting pitcher
Dylan Cease (3-3, 2.91 ERA)
Red Sox starting pitcher
Payton Tolle (3-3, 2.70 ERA)
Blue Jays vs Red Sox latest injuries
Blue Jays vs Red Sox weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - JULY 27: General manager Dana Brown of the Houston Astros talks to Joe Espada #19 before the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Minute Maid Park on July 27, 2024 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Astros entered June with a chance to make up ground in the AL West and in the AL Wild Card race with 27 games against a soft schedule.
Houston would play 21 of its 27 games in June against teams with losing records. Having gotten Jeremy Pena and Jose Altuve back, and looking at a mid-June return of Hunter Brown and Yainer Diaz (both scheduled to debut today), the Astros were seemingly getting healthy at the right time.
However the pitching has once again faltered. Mike Burrows and Kai-Wei Teng have both struggled through the month. Despite being given a 9 run lead before he threw his first pitch, Tatsuya Imai imploded in his last start and wasn’t able to complete the first inning.
The resulting starting pitching failures have left the Astros a meager 6-7 this month, as they continue to burn season clock mired in mediocrity instead of making a charge.
Do you believe the Astros still have a charge left in them, or is this finally the year the injuries are too much to overcome?
Will the Astros be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline?
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Houston Rockets fans largely do. Rafael Stone is the devil incarnate. The root of all evil. The sole reason why the Rockets were not the 2025-26 NBA champions.
This won’t be another full-fledged Stone defense piece. I will quickly note the cognitive dissonance between fans and peers when it comes to Stone. He’s regularly voted among the best GMs in the league – by other GMs. Most Rockets fans wouldn’t let Stone manage a junior high group project.
Who’s right? Are fans just close enough to the situation, or a bit too close? For my money, the track record is complicated. Green over Mobley was an abject disaster, and an own goal no less. Otherwise, fans tend to underrate how rare it is to land both Alperen Sengun and Tari Eason in the middle of consecutive drafts, and understate luck as a factor. This exact roster with Cade Cunningham is earning him universal praise.
Anyway, there’s one achievement Stone does not have on his resume: A second-round steal. He has not selected a player in the second round of the draft who has contributed meaningfully to the team:
With the 39th pick in this year’s draft, he should change that.
Rockets must maximize opportunity with 39th pick
Why would a valuable player slip to the second round? What is it about these guys that leads to such egregious misscouting?
Well, it’s a case-by-case question, but often, these guys fall into the defense-only camp. They’re raw, tools-y, and wholly incapable of putting the ball in the basket.
Say Ime Udoka in the mirror three times, and one of them appears.
One prospect I’ve found tantalizing for years is Baba Miller. Then again, put any 6’9″ + wing with defensive versatility and a functional handle in front of me, and I turn into the popular girl in an 80s movie getting picked up by the bad boy on the motorcycle with the leather jacket. Plus, cool name bias could be a factor.
At 6’11”, Miller can guard at least three through five, maybe two. He can handle the ball to an extent. Last year, he shot 34.2% on 3.4 three-pointers per game. Pretty good!
This year, that number fell to 19.2%. Not so good.
Perhaps Ugonna Onyeso is a smarter bet. He has at least one bankable skill. Onyeso’s 17.4 Block Percentage led the entire NCAA last year.
The offense is raw. Onyeso hit 27.8% of his 1.0 threes per game this year, which is indicative of floor spacing development, but any Rockets fan knows that a hypothetical shot is strictly hypothetical until it isn’t. Still, as an off-the-bench energy big, there’s some appeal here.
Otherwise, the Rockets could (if you’re reading this, avert your eyes, Mr. Udoka) draft a player with more of an offensive mindset. Richie Saunders looks like the type of 6’5″ shooter you’d be happy to put on the floor for ten minutes in an NBA Finals game. Trevon Brazile is 6’10” and can shoot, but there are concerns about his Udok-atude (effort).
Don’t look at me. I’m no scout. The point is this: Stone needs this feather in his cap. Adding a homegrown second-round pick to your playoff rotation is a hallmark of quality GMing. It’s a way to extract surplus value, and manage your cap. Unless the Rockets plan on moving this pick, they should take it seriously:
Although even if Stone nails it, some people will hate him anyway.
The popularity of the 2026 World Cup and NBA Finals helped FanDuel Sportsbook achieve multiple new records.
Key Takeaways
USA-Paraguay and Morocco-Brazil are the two most-bet soccer matches in FanDuel history.
The Knicks and Spurs' three-game finish to the Finals were all the most-bet NBA games in company history.
The USMNT will be back in action at the World Cup on Friday.
FanDuel has offered betting odds from a plethora of sports, leagues, and events since sports betting was legalized in the U.S. in 2018, but no soccer or basketball game drew more attention than the events of this past weekend.
It was a record-breaking weekend at FanDuel!
⚽ USA vs. Paraguay and Brazil vs. Morocco are the two most popular soccer matches in FanDuel history.
🏀 NBA Finals Games 3–5 between @nyknicks and @spurs are the top-performing NBA games we've ever seen.
The U.S. men's national team's tournament-opening matchup with Paraguay kicked off the record-breaking stretch Friday evening. The Group D game finished 4-1 in favor of the Americans, who earned a big three points with one of their strongest-ever performances.
Brazil and Morocco - positioned sixth and seventh in FIFA’s world rankings, respectively - carried the momentum through their Group C clash Saturday. The 1-1 draw resulted in one point for each side after goals from Ismael Saibari and Vinicius Junior.
As exciting as the matchups were for fans across the country, they were equally enticing for sports bettors. FanDuel confirmed the two games were the most popular soccer matches in company history.
“Milestones like these are made possible by the teams across FanDuel who deliver exceptional experiences for our customers every single day!” the company wrote in a post shared on social media.
NBA Finals sets brand-new podium
As the World Cup whet the palate of sports bettors, the NBA Finals capped off an unmatched three-game span of basketball betting.
Games 3-5 between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks were the “top-performing” NBA games in FanDuel’s history. Although it was not revealed if that referred to handle or tickets, it reflects the all-time popularity of the matchup.
The Knicks’ five-game series win came against expectations. FanDuel had the Spurs at around 2-to-1 pre-series favorites after they dispatched the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, San Antonio lost four of five games, three as home favorites.
Despite the Knicks’ triumph, the Spurs and Thunder opened as coleaders (+250) in 2027 NBA championship odds. The Boston Celtics (+600) are third, and the Knicks are fourth (+750) at FanDuel.
Finals MVP Jalen Brunson is also +3,500 to win NBA MVP - good for ninth on the board. He’s between the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham (+2,700) and the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown (+6,500), while Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (+200) is an early front-runner.
More records ahead?
Looking at possible record-setting opportunities on the immediate horizon, the USMNT will return to the pitch to take on Australia on Friday afternoon. The Stars and Stripes are -170 favorites to win the match at FanDuel and sit 11th in World Cup odds (+3,500).
Defending champion Argentina will take on Austria in a matchup between two capable squads next Monday. The U.S. will face Turkiye on June 25, and Norway will cross paths with France on June 26.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 02: Cody Bellinger #35 and Jazz Chisholm Jr. #13 of the New York Yankees high five after hitting a home run in the fifth inning during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on May 2, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
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Yesterday, MLB released its first update on All-Star Game balloting results. To no one’s surprise, Aaron Judge leads all outfielders in voting, as the Yankees’ superstar remains well-regarded enough—and with 17 homers in 59 games, no schmuck—to at least be in good shape to make the American League squad despite the rib injury that’s currently keeping him away from the field. Ben Rice is also second among AL first basemen, trailing only the immensely popular Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Blue Jays. In a more just world, Rice would be neck-and-neck with A’s slugger Nick Kurtz (who has a 173 wRC+ to Rice’s 171; Vlad’s at 108), but that’s what the results are as of Monday.
Regardless, Judge and Rice appear to be in good shape to receive spots on the AL roster at the Midsummer Classic, whether it’s by fan vote for Judge, or player balloting/managerial selection for Rice. Sophomore standout Cam Schlittler is a near-lock to go to Philadelphia for the festivities as well, and he could even start for the Junior Circuit. But what about beyond them?
If the Yankees have any All-Stars beyond Judge, Rice, and Schlittler, then Cody Bellinger and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are probably the most likely candidates. Bellinger has been New York’s most consistent hitter outside of Rice thus far in 2026 (130 wRC+) and is in contention for his first All-Star appearance since his MVP-winning 2019 with the Dodgers. He ranked third among AL outfielders in voting, and if that holds, then he will advance to Phase 2. So Bellinger could get the nod via fan vote or another selection.
As for Chisholm, he started 2026 off ice-cold in his own bid for a third career All-Star selection. As recently as May 12th, he had .600 OPS and a 70 wRC+ in 42 games. Since then, however, he’s surged with a .911 OPS and a 152 wRC+ in his last 25 games. The AL second base field is especially weak this year, so that might be enough to get Jazz to Philly. He has an outside chance at advancing to Phase 2 of the vote because even though he’s fifth, he’s only 57,150 votes behind second place. It’s a crowded field of mediocrity.
Would Jazz and/or Cody get your votes? Let us know in the poll below and we’ll check out the results later this week.
It's been a long road for Dustin May from GIF hero to reliable starting pitcher. Videos of his hard-running sinker and sweeping breaking ball dazzled many baseball fans for years, but he had pitched over 50 innings just once in an MLB season heading into last year. Even in a relatively healthy 2025 season, he had his worst year from a results perspective, so what May has done this year in his first season with the Cardinals has caught many by surprise. After seven years, it seems that we may finally be witnessing the Dustin May breakout.
When the right-hander debuted back in 2019, he was coming off a solid but not exceptional minor league career. His ratios had always been good, but the strikeout numbers never seemed to match what people saw with their eyes: a 6'6" mass of lanky limbs and flowing red hair, hurling 98 mph sinkers with 19 inches of run in on right-handed hitters and 87 mph breaking balls with nearly 16 inches of movement in the other direction. It was so easy to imagine May leaving MLB hitters in fits.
Yet, it never seemed to happen. Mostly due to injuries.
After pitching over 140 innings split between the majors and minors in 2019, May was healthy for all of the COVID-shortened 2020 season, throwing 56 innings with a 2.57 ERA, but the strikeouts weren't quite on par with the league average. In 2021, he began the season in the Dodgers' starting rotation before injuring his elbow and having to undergo Tommy John surgery in May of that year. When he returned in 2022, he pitched well in the minors and threw 30 MLB innings before back injuries shut him down for the rest of the season. He was, again, healthy at the start of 2023 and made nine starts before a right forearm and flexor tendon injury ended his season and required surgery and significant rehab.
That's when the injuries got even scarier. While May was completing a rehab program in the Dodgers’ training facility at Camelback Ranch,he suffered a torn esophagus when a piece of salad got stuck in his throat while he was out to dinner. May had to be rushed into surgery and then remained in the hospital for another 11 days before being released. Not only was the incident frightening in its own right, but it further delayed his return from elbow surgery, and he missed the entire 2024 season.
As a result, not much was expected of May when he returned to the mound in 2025. It was just nice to see him healthy and pitching. He went on to make 23 starts for the Dodgers and Red Sox, pitching a career high 132.1 innings before missing the final weeks of the regular season and the Wild Card Series due to elbow inflammation. On one hand, a 4.96 ERA and 1.42 WHIP were disappointing, but on the other hand, May finally cleared an important mental hurdle and threw a full MLB season. Almost.
"I mean, it definitely helped [to throw a full season]. I mean, I still didn't have a full season, which is kind of irritating," May said before the Cardinals' final game against the Mets in New York last week. "I got kind of close and then fell off right at the end, but it was definitely good to go and throw the most that I had thrown in a season."
Yet, there was still more to accomplish heading into 2026, and while May came into the season feeling good, the early results were not kind to him. In his first three starts of the year, May had a 9.45 ERA while posting an underwhelming 17% strikeout rate and 7.4% swinging strike rate (SwStr%). It seemed like the 28-year-old was heading for another disappointing season before he made a small pitch mix change, leaning into his cutter more than he had in years.
Over the first three starts, May threw almost 31% four-seam fastballs and just 11% cutters. Over his next 11 starts, he has reduced his fastball usage to 25% and upped his cutter usage to 24.5%. Since then, May has a 2.63 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 24.1% strikeout rate, and nearly 11.1% SwStr%.
"It was just kind of something where we liked the shape of [the cutter], and we didn't think we were using it enough," explained May. "Then once I started to use it more, it definitely weakened contact a lot. I feel like it's a very good, 'get me back into count' pitch. I feel like it's a good get-me-out-of-a-jam pitch. It's been big for me so far."
May's belief that his cutter weakened contact is backed up by the data as well. On the season, the pitch has given up far less hard contact than his four-seam fastball. May has a 25% Ideal Contact Rate (ICR) and 3.3% barrel rate allowed on his cutter compared to a 41.3% ICR and 6.8% barrel rate on the four-seamer.
Because of May’s lower arm slot, his four-seamer has below-average vertical movement and a lot more horizontal movement than normal. That's a problem for lefties because the four-seamer will tail out over the plate a bit more, kind of like a sinker. As a result, lefties hit May’s four-seamer harder and swing and miss less often, which is why, over this recent stretch, May has made his cutter his primary fastball to lefties, throwing it nearly 30% of the time, while knocking his four-seam usage down around 26%. Specifically, the cutter has been a pitch that he’s able to use 67% of the time early in counts to lefties and get ahead, which then sets up his sweeper, which has a 32% PutAway Rate to lefties this year (that measures how often a two-strike pitch results in a strikeout).
The cutter has provided May with more value than just weakening contact against lefties. In this 11-start stretch, he’s also throwing the cutter 16% to righties, using it early in the count 71.4% of the time. Despite it being an early-count pitch for righties, it actually has a 23% swinging strike rate over these last 11 starts, likely because May is so sinker and four-seamer focused to righties that when he throws a cutter that’s four mph slower than his other fastballs and with a different movement profile, hitters are lost: "Righties are probably so geared up for the sinker in, so anything that's kind of starting in the same line and then just kind of holds it and kind of darts left at the end instead of barreling it on their hands, they're probably like, "Oh s@#t, like I gotta swing, like that's in the zone, and then it's like already too far."
Not only has the cutter itself gotten additional whiffs for May, but it has also improved his four-seamer performance as well. In this 11-start stretch, May's four-seamer is allowing just a 27% Ideal Contact Rate to righties and has not given up a single barrel. He's also gotten more swing and miss on the four-seamer, with a 14% SwStr% to righties, mostly because he’s locating it up in the zone over 70% of the time during this run.
As May explains, the four-seamer has "a pretty similar spin profile [to the cutter], so coming out of the hand, it looks pretty much the same. Then it holds its line a little bit better, so I feel like throwing it in the relative locations that the cutters are, which is more targeted at the upper zone, I feel like it opens up a lot." In this case, elevating the four-seamer over the top of the cutter has opened up plenty of whiffs for May against right-handed hitters.
That deliberate attention to location has been a focal point for May this season: "I for sure think it's location-based for me at the moment. The heater's been playing very well, and being able to know where I want to throw it, getting it into location, has been good. So, I'm just trying to tack onto that."
In fact, May is getting more strikes on all three of his fastball variations this season. His sinker may have a slightly lower zone rate, but the strike rate has gone from 68% last year to 73% this year. Similarly, since the cutter is inducing more whiffs, its zone rate is down, but its strike rate is up from 66.7% in 2025 to 73.1% this year, and the four-seam fastball has improved in both, with a 3.5% increase in zone rate and a 8.3% increase in strike rate. If you wanted to use Location+, which is a FanGraphs stat that measures a pitcher's relative success in hitting his spots, May's four-seam fastball Location+ has improved from 92 last year to 102 this year (99 is average), and his cutter has gone from a 91 Location+ to a 112, which is a massive shift.
That improvement is not lost on May, who knows that his recent success is because he's "locating [his] heaters pretty well, trying to keep a good mix with those, and just trying to figure out the good spots to throw the breaking balls." It's those breaking balls that have been a larger struggle for May over his career. In part, May's struggle with his breaking balls has been because of just how much they move. It's a bit of a gift and a curse. May gets tremendous movement on his breaking balls, but that means he constantly needs to think about where to target them so that they land close enough to the strike zone to induce a swing.
Last year, May's most-used breaking ball was a sweeper, which had a Stuff+ grade of 108 (99 is also average) but a Location+ of just 96. The pitch had nearly 18 inches of horizontal run at 85 mph and seemed like it should have killed righties, but it had a below average 11.7% SwStr% against them in part because the zone rate was just 1.4% above average, and the strike rate was 2% above league average for a sweeper. He also had a 6.7% mistake rate on the pitch, which was 2.5% above league average and is supported by the fact that May threw far more middle-middle sweepers than average.
He had the same issue in 2023 when his most-used breaking pitch was a curveball that had 15 inches of horizontal movement at 86.2 mph. It was really just an earlier iteration of his current sweeper, but it had a Stuff+ grade of 136 and a Location+ of 85. That season, May had just a 17th percentile strike rate on his curveball, so it posted just an 8% SwStr% despite its elite movement profile.
"The sinker, the heater, the cutter, are all pitches I'm kind of able to kind of throw kind of where I want to," admitted May. "I'm still trying to figure out how to throw the slider like I was last year, because last year was super easy out of hand, but it's been pretty bad so far this year."
Last year was the first year that May threw his new slider. He scrapped his curveball last year and tweaked it into more of a sweeper, taking off over one mph but adding about three inches of horizontal movement and removing about an inch of drop. Last season, that new sweeper became his most-used pitch overall at 39.3% and posted a 44.3% zone rate and 61.5% strike rate, as mentioned above. This season, that zone rate has fallen to 36.8%, but the strike rate is only slightly down to 58.4% in part because he's getting far more swings and misses on it.
May is now on his third team in the last year after being traded from the Dodgers to the Red Sox in July and then signing with the Cardinals over the winter. With each new organization comes new coaching staffs and new ideas for how to attack hitters or utilize a pitch mix. In May's case, moving to the Cardinals didn't mean a drastic overhaul of his arsenal but simply new discussions about how to optimize it.
"My pitch shapes are kind of what they are; they're good, so there hasn't been any talk for anything shape-wise," he revealed. "It's just more so usage-wise, and trying to figure out the right time to use [a pitch], and the ability to like get back into counts or get ahead in counts, and then finish it off."
The added swing and miss on his sweeper has likely been tied to that shift in usage. Even if May is not happy with the feel and location of his sweeper, seeing a 15.6% swinging strike rate on the pitch after posting an 11.7% mark last year is encouraging. A big part of that is because May has leaned into it as his two-strike pitch, throwing it 49.2% of the time in two-strike counts this year versus 34.3% last year. The biggest jump has come against lefties, where he is using it nearly 55% of the time as a two-strike offering to them, after doing so 33% of the time last year.
May has been able to utilize this approach because his curveball has been a nice surprise for him after bringing it back this season. The pitch is now 83 mph (down three mph from 2023 when he last used it), with 10 inches of horizontal movement and nearly 19 inches of drop, meaning that May has made it more of a vertical breaking pitch to pair with his more horizontal sweeper. It's a pitch May uses only 7% of the time this season, but it's one he believes has been a key to his success.
"I feel like the curveball opens a lot of doors, and I'm very fine with where my arsenal is at right now, and how it's playing," May admitted. "Being able to flip a curveball in for an early strike, and then trying to get a swing and miss with the sliders... That was kind of the whole idea behind it; it was never like 'Let's use this as like a big pitch for this year,' but it's been really good, so it's definitely opened up some eyes for myself. If I can locate this, then I'm definitely gonna get some swing and miss on it, so just being able to kind of feel that out as the year's gone on and kind of find the right situations to throw it and not overexpose it."
That last part is crucial to May's maturity as a pitcher. It would be easy to understand why a pitcher would see a pitch performing well and decide to keep throwing it. Make the hitters show that they can hit your pitch. However, May has come to realize that some pitches are better in complementary roles. The curve is one of those pitches. It has been hit relatively hard this year, with a 50% Ideal Contact Rate allowed and a .400 average and .459 wOBA; however, it also has a 22% called strike rate against lefties, over 4% better than league average. He uses the pitch 75% of the time early in a count to lefties and can steal those key strikes to get him ahead in the count; yet, relying on it too much would leave him open to allowing more hard contact.
"I feel like the, the more that I would expose [the curveball], the more that it would probably show that it's not needed to be thrown that much, and it's more of like, oh, there it is, and then it's more just to keep it in their head."
Right now, May is certainly in hitters' heads. He has always been an imposing figure on the mound, with his lanky frame, wild hair, and elite pure stuff; yet, the results have never matched the image. His strikeout rate during his entire Dodgers career was just over 22%. He had only twice posted a swinging strike rate over 10%, and it was in two seasons where he didn't even pitch more than 30 innings. Yet, here he is with an 11-start stretch where he's missing bats comfortably above the MLB average and pitching like one of the better arms in baseball.
"I'm always an open ear to listen to stuff, but I feel like I've got a pretty good knowledge about myself to figure out what's good and what's bad. When I'm going good, I know I've got good stuff."
At this point, it would be hard for anybody to disagree.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 19: Head coach Kenny Atkinson of the Cleveland Cavaliers meets Dean Wade #32 and Keon Ellis #14 of the Cleveland Cavaliers on the court during the second quarter of a game against the New York Knicks in Game One of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 2026 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers had the most expensive roster in NBA history last season. They’re looking to trim some of those costs this summer.
“The most recent thing that I’ve heard from the Cavs is that they’re looking to shave off some salary,” said Brian Windhorst on ESPN Cleveland. “If anything, they’re just trying to make sure they have some maneuverability with that second apron.”
The second apron is nothing to play with. Sweeping restrictions such as the inability to aggregate contracts in a deal or complete sign-and-trades altogether make it difficult to re-tool a roster when operating above the second apron.
Cleveland has already taken multiple steps towards getting under. Trading De’Andre Hunter and then Darius Garland while reportedly working with James Harden to restructure his deal could help them achieve this. But more needs to be done.
“I think, primarily, they may be investigating if they can move Dennis Schroder,” said Windhorst. “And they are prioritizing re-signing Dean Wade over re-signing Keon Ellis; maybe they can do Ellis too. I guess it depends on what else they can do salary-wise.
Dumping Schroder, who is set to make roughly $15 million a year for the next two seasons, would be an easy way for the Cavs to cut costs. Schroder has been traded to eight different teams throughout his career, so this would be nothing new.
The Cavs have a more difficult decision with Dean Wade and Keon Ellis. Ideally, you don’t want to let talent walk for nothing. But this isn’t a team that has additional money to spend. Wade is reportedly garnering attention across the league as an MLE candidate. That means the Cavs will have to pay to keep Wade, which strains their chances of bringing back both him and Ellis.
Choosing Wade over Ellis, in my opinion, makes sense. Wade is the only true ‘wing’ on this roster, and you can’t afford to lose a 6’9” versatile defender when you have nothing to replace him. Ellis, meanwhile, has much to prove as he struggled to crack the playoff rotation last year. He needs to bulk up and prove he can defend on a string before taking that next step.
Cleveland knows what it’s getting with Wade, for better or worse. Sticking with what’s familiar seems to be a trend with this organization.
“I know there’s this desire among some in the fan base to radically change their roster,” said Windhorst. “But that’s not the information I have.”
Teyana Taylor said she had a "f--kin time" while celebrating with the Knicks after they won four of the five games against the Spurs to earn the franchise's first championship in 53 years.
Teyana Taylor said she had a “f–kin time” while celebrating with the Knicks after they defeated the Spurs to earn the franchise’s first championship in 53 years.
The Golden Globe-winning actress, who is a New York native, shared an Instagram carousel post with photos and videos of her dapping up Knicks guard Jordan Clarkson and hugging Knicks forward OG Anunoby.
“Still not over thissssss ,” wrote Taylor, whose divorce with former Knicks guard Iman Shumpert was finalized in July 2024.
“Superrrrrr prada my dawgssssssss @karltowns, @jordanclarksons, the whole squaddddd & @jordynwoods bagggg! Y’all really brought that s–t home! LFGGGGGGGGG @nyknicks .”
Other snapshots showed Taylor with Jordyn Woods, the fiancée of Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, his father, Karl-Anthony Towns Sr. and Woods’ mother, Elizabeth Woods.
Taylor also posed with rapper Fat Joe and his business manager, Rich Player.
She wore an NBA champions hat, a leather Knicks jacket and a bedazzled glove that said New York on her left hand.
One image showed her with her hand on Woods’ orange bag from her own brand, Woods by Jordyn, which became a viral good luck charm during the NBA Finals.
(L-R) Karl-Anthony Towns Sr., Teyana Taylor Jordyn Woods and Elizabeth Woods after the Knicks won the 2026 NBA Finals. Instagram/Teyana Taylor
“The bag,” Taylor captioned the photo.
Shumpert, who is an NBA analyst for ESPN, played for the Knicks from 2011-15.
He won a championship with the LeBron James and the Cavaliers in 2016, and last played for the Nets in 2021.
Iman Shumpert and Teyana Taylor attend Reginae Carter’s 22nd Hot Girl Birthday at Republic Lounge on November 29, 2020 in Atlanta. WireImage
Taylor and Shumpert made headlines last March over reports about their settlement and the splitting of their assets.
The singer filed for divorce after six years of marriage in January 2023, and she announced their separation that September.
In a statement posted to her Instagram at the time, Taylor said shut down infidelity rumors and said she she and Shumpert were “best friends” and were focused on co-parenting their two children.
“Iman and I are separated and have been for a while,” she wrote on Instagram. “To be 1000% clear, ‘infidelity’ ain’t one of the reasons for our departure. We are still the best of friends, great business partners and are one hell of a team when it comes to co-parenting our 2 beautiful children.”
The pair who tied the knot in 2016, have share daughters Iman “Junie” Tayla Shumpert Jr., 10, and Rue Rose Shumpert, 5.
COVERS INTEL: Cease's 13.63 K/9 
,” wrote Taylor, whose divorce with former Knicks guard Iman Shumpert was finalized in July 2024.
.”
