Category: Sports News

Author’s note: When we started on this series, we envisioned three or four articles that described what the Rockies are doing to support their Latin American players as they transition to playing professional baseball. As we learned more about it, however, we discovered there was much more here — and that the Rockies were at the forefront of ensuring Latino baseball players received educations that prepared them for the next steps in their lives, whether that was playing baseball or doing something else. It doesn’t get enough attention — and we’ve only really come to understand it through telling this story — but five MLB teams radically re-envisioned what becoming an MLB player would look like for Latino prospects.

All photos are courtesy of Josh Rosenthal.

Two weeks ago, we discussed the Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program, which began in 2012. That article highlighted the program in its current form, but in a phone interview, Josh Rosenthal – the original architect of the program – shared how the program came to be and its impact on Major League Baseball. 

Origin story

Rosenthal served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala. Upon his return, he was introduced to now-Vice President of International Scouting and Development Rolando Fernández by his brother, Zack, who was an assistant general manager for the Colorado Rockies at the time.

“[Fernández] had this dream for building an education program for the Latino players, and my brother was talking to him about it,” Rosenthal said. “My brother had been working for the team since 2006, and he introduced me to Rolando, and we hit it off when we met for the first time, talking about the idea for this project and this program. And every time I went to visit my brother, I would connect with ‘Ro,’ and we would brainstorm about the possibility of this program, not ever knowing whether it would come true or whether funding would become available.”

They stayed in touch, discussing the framework for a program should it come into existence. 

And in 2012, it did. 

Rosenthal interviewed for a position to build the program, but his inspiration always came from his time serving in the Peace Corps because of the culture shock he experienced serving in El Campo, Guatemala. 

“I needed to really adapt to a very different culture, and I also needed to learn a new language all at the same time,” Rosenthal said. 

He sees the experience of the Rockies Latin-American prospects reflected in his own.

“That’s what these boys are having to do, as well,” he said. 

“They’re learning a new culture, moving from the Dominican Republic or Venezuela or wherever to the United States. It’s a different culture and a different language. So I’d been through what they’ve been through. I also have a passion for helping people. Being in the Peace Corps, you’re given a unique gift to help people every day. That’s your job. And so I was looking for something that was fulfilling. Obviously, I was a baseball coach, baseball fan and (came from) a baseball family. My brother was the assistant GM for the Rockies for a long time, so this was a marriage of all my passions – teaching, language, travel and helping people in baseball.”

Setting the standard

When the Rockies started their program in 2012, only four other teams had dedicated education programs and full-time education coordinators: the Houston Astros, the Kansas City Royals, the Detroit Tigers, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Other MLB teams had English programs, but nothing really comparable. 

“We’re really setting these players up for success, both on and off the field, during and after their careers,” Rosenthal said.

During that time, Neskys Liriano, the education director for MLB, and Rafael Pérez, the director of Dominican operations for MLB, pushed education programs and challenged teams to build better infrastructure to support them. MLB also dedicated space at the Winter Meetings for these five teams to share resources, so other teams could build their own programs.

Eventually, Rosenthal and Angel Amparo partnered with the New York Yankees to create one of the first high school education programs that allowed students to earn their high school diplomas while playing baseball.

“If I die tomorrow, that’s my legacy more than anything,” Rosenthal said.

“These boys develop all these amazing skills – they develop leadership, hard work, discipline, teamwork… They’re international. They know how cultures work in the United States. They’re bilingual. They have all these amazing experiences, but then they go home, and they have no high school diploma, so they can’t get a good job.”

Not everyone was on board, however. 

“When we developed the high school diploma program, at times there was a little bit of pushback” Rosenthal said, “because we’re in the business of winning championships, not educating young men.” 

But Rosenthal knew that was the wrong approach.

“We did the research, and we backed it up, and we said, ‘No, an educated player is a better player. And somebody who has the self-confidence and understands that they have a fallback when their career is over – whether it’s after a 10-year career in the big leagues or whether it’s when their career fizzles out in the Dominican Summer League or rookie ball – they’re going to be more confident knowing that they have a fallback,” he said. 

“They’re going to be better learners because they’ve had formal education, and they’re going to be able to more quickly learn English. They’re going to be able to more quickly communicate with their teammates and their coaches. They’re going to be able to understand more quickly what the coaches are teaching them about pitching or hitting.’ So we were able to justify this education for them beyond just being on a moral ground.”

They also had support from others in the front office, including former general manager Jeff Bridich.

“His wife has a doctorate in education, as well, and the Monforts are kind and loving people who supported us, and they told us that they’d pay for the program,” Rosenthal said. 

“And now all 30 clubs have programs.”

Creating a new culture

Since this was a new program, there was a big learning curve in the first year for Rosenthal and his team as well as the Rockies organization. 

Rosenthal was hired in mid-February 2012 and reported to spring training in Scottsdale just two weeks later. During that spring, he spent most of his time observing baseball operations and interviewing players and coaches to learn as much as possible about Major League Baseball. 

Then he got to work on a guiding handbook, which wasn’t without challenges.

“I worked and I grinded and I made copies of English books and picture dictionaries and all this stuff,” he said. “I was in my office just grinding away and I didn’t really feel like I was part of the team.”

He approached then-GM Dan O’Dowd, who told him to be more present with the team.

“So instead of being locked in my office, I started being at practice,” he said. “I started being on the field. I started sitting in the dugout during games or sitting in the stands with the players and working with them and talking about baseball in English, but I was also able to show off my knowledge of baseball in the game and I was able to have conversations with the coaches and they understood and the players understood and respected (me).”

That helped build rapport within the organization as well and set the standard that English classes were just as important as baseball instruction.

“There were some times where players would get called out of my class for a meeting with a hitting coach and I had to step up and be like, ‘No, you can’t leave. You’re in my class right now,’” Rosenthal said. “And I would have to make a statement. There was a time when a coach came in because Rolando wanted to see a player, and Rolando is all powerful, but I would say, ‘Nope, you can see him in 30 minutes when class is over.’

“I have all the respect in the world for Rolando – he’s one of my mentors,” he continued. “But English class is just as important as looking at a video for hitting or pitching or mental skills. That was the culture that we built, and it was appreciated because of that. If a player missed English class, it was like he missed BP, and he wouldn’t play in the game. And we had that culture and guys never missed. It was mandatory, and that was really important.”

In addition to creating new norms in the classroom, Rosenthal and his team also had to break some old norms outside it. Most important was better integrating the dugout and the clubhouse — literally.

“When I first got here in 2012, the dugouts in spring training were separated,” Rosenthal said. 

“The Latino players were on one side, and the American players were on the other side. And I went in and said, ‘Hey, we need to change this. You need to mix up these lockers.’ And they said, ‘No, it’s the way we’ve always done it.’ And there was some pushback, and I basically was like, ‘Guys, we’re literally segregating these players. It’s a big word, but this is literally what this is.’ 

“And they acknowledged it, and they were like ‘We never even thought about it. This is just the way we’ve always done things.’ And sure enough, I had Bridich go in and talk to the clubhouse staff and say, ‘You’re going to go in and mix up all these lockers.’ Now, it was a lot of work to move everyone’s locker, but they did it, and we really had unification of our American and Latino players.”

Another way they unified the players was with a language lesson at the beginning of every meeting in spring training.

“We would do a word of the day or the phrase of the day at the beginning of our morning meetings,” Rosenthal said. “I would call on an American player and I’d call on a Latino player, and the American player would have to say the word of the day in Spanish, and the Latino player would have to say it in English. And everybody was learning, and they were working together, and it was impactful.”

Proudest moments

While there have been a number of players who have reached the Major Leagues, Rosenthal said he’s most proud of “the guys who have become coaches and scouts and that sort of thing because those guys have careers for the rest of their lives.

“I know their kids are going to go to great schools. I know that their children are going to be educated, really breaking the cycle of poverty,” he continued. 

“A guy that makes it to the big leagues could lose all his money. It’s wonderful that they made it to the big leagues, but we have Michael Ramirez who’s the Latin American Hitting Coordinator. Cesar Galvez is the manager in (Single-A). Alving Mejias is a crosschecker, and that’s one of the highest roles in scouting. Helmis Rodriguez is a pitching coach. These are all guys that came up through our program, and at times, we would be talking to the front office guys and I’d say, ‘Hey, when this guy’s career is over, this is the type of guy that we want to become a coach or have a role in our program.’ And these are guys that have been hired by the team and have careers that are going to be able to support them forever. So those are the guys I’m most proud of.”

As far as players go, Rosenthal cited six players who played for their countries in the WBC: Germán Márquez, Antonio Senzatela, Huascar Brazobán (who is now with the Mets), Ezequiel Tovar, Juan Mejia, and Carlos Estévez.

“One of my proudest moments was the Dominican Republic versus Venezuela WBC game, which was the biggest game in Latin America,” Rosenthal said. “We had six players in those games – Márquez and Estévez didn’t play – making significant impacts in these huge games that were the biggest in their country’s history. It was just really special to see them on that world stage, and that was one of my proudest moments for sure.”

Looking to the future

Rosenthal left the team in December 2019 to spend more time with his family, but he still keeps in touch with the Rockies.

“I keep in contact with them,” he said. “I stop by the complex usually once a year. Angel and I are best friends. We still talk on the phone. The Rockies staff is pretty much the same as when I was hired in 2012 – the core group is still there, and those guys treated me like family and took care of me.”

Additionally, he has turned his focus to his nonprofit, the BASE Foundation, which “provides educational opportunities for boys who are active and dedicated baseball players, but come from low-income communities and have limited resources.”

But most importantly, Rosenthal highlighted the impact these education programs have had on the Latin American communities.

“I think Latin American baseball and its affiliation with Major League Baseball, in some ways, has a bad reputation,” he said. “They sign these players at 16, and that means a lot of these kids drop out of school and go and work and train full-time in an academy and put their education on the back burner. But the education programs that the teams are building and providing to the players make baseball part of the solution, not part of the problem. 

“It’s really amazing,” he continued. “It’s gone beyond our wildest dreams that all 30 clubs have active education programs now, and all 30 clubs have high school diploma programs. That’s thousands of kids that have received a high school education in addition to becoming bilingual, learning financial planning, learning emotional intelligence, and those types of skills will help them be successful both on and off the field, during and after their careers. It’s really wonderful.”

Up next

In the coming weeks, we will have interviews with some of the teachers, as well as player experiences and community involvement.

Stay tuned!

On the Farm

Triple-A:Albuquerque Isotopes 4, El Paso Chihuahuas 3

The Isotopes fell back to earth, only scoring four runs after scoring 45 in their last two games combined. They managed to still beat the Chihuahuas (Padres), though, so that’s positive. Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP), Cole Carrigg (No. 4 PuRP) and Jose Cordova each recorded two hits, but it was Chad Stevens who singled in the eighth to secure the win.

Caron Palmquist (No. 19 PuRP) pitched three innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Patrick Weigel pitched three more scoreless innings, but Seth Halvorsen gave up two runs in the seventh to blow the save. Blas Castaño and TJ Shook put up two innings of zeroes, though, to close things out and earn the win and the save.

Double-A:Hartford Yard Goats 12, Reading Fightin’ Phils 6

It was a home run parade in Hartford, as the Yard Goats defeated the Fightin’ Phils (Phillies). The Goats hit eight extra base hits — four doubles, one triple, and three home runs.

Each of the Goats’ starters had at least one hit, and they racked up 17 in total. Aidan Longwell did the most damage, doing 3-for-5 with a triple, a home run, three runs scored and three RBI. Bryant Betancourt also had a three-hit day, recording a double but also scoring two runs, recording an RBI and taking a walk. Dyan Jorge, Andy Perez, Benny Montgomery and Cole Messina (No. 26 PuRP) also had two hits apiece.

Starting pitcher Connor Staine threw five innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Carlos Torres pitched two scoreless innings, but then Sam Weatherly got lit up for three runs on three hits in his inning of work. Luckily, Fidel Ulloa was able to finish the game with just a walk and two strikeouts.

High-A:Eugene Emeralds 8, Spokane Indians 1

The Indians struggled to find any offense in their series finale against the Emeralds (Giants). They mustered four hits, which came at the hands of Tevin Tucker, Jacob Humphrey, Robert Calaz (No. 6 PuRP), and Roynier Hernandez. Hernandez hit a double, while Calaz hit a solo homer — which was the only score of the game.

Jeff Criswell — making his second start of his rehab assignment after having Tommy John surgery in March 2025 — started the game, pitching a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. But the damage was done against the other three pitchers. Yujanyer Herrera (No. 22 PuRP) pitched 2.2 innings and was tagged for two runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout. Fisher Jameson pitched 3.1 innings and was tagged for three runs (two earned) on four hits with three strikeouts. And Hunter Mann gave up three more runs in his one inning of work, including one walk and three strikeouts.

Low-A:Stockton Ports 5, Fresno Grizzlies 4 (F/10)

The Fresno Grizzlies fell in extra innings against the Stockton Ports (Athletics). The Grizzlies jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first, but then the Ports answered back in the bottom of the inning. The Grizzlies tacked on another run in the fourth, but the Ports answered back again in the sixth to make things 3-3. Entering extras, Roldy Brito (No. 11 PuRP) singled to score Carlos Renzullo, but Michael Brooks singled to score Gavin Turley and then Myles Naylor singled to score Clayton Gray and officially walk off the Grizzlies 5-4.

Goodman’s watchful eye from behind plate paying off with ABS challenges | MLB.com

Watching the ABS challenge system has been one of the more entertaining things about baseball this year, as it’s given fans a glimpse into how hard it is to judge the strike zone from all sides. However, Hunter Goodman has proven to have a keen eye behind the plate (not as much in the batter’s box, though). Thomas Harding talked with Goodman about his strategy, and what’s been behind his early-season success.

Don’t mess with Walt Weiss: Beloved former Rockies player, manager has Braves playing inspired baseball | Denver Post ($)

Walt Weiss played shortstop for the Rockies from 1994-97 and managed the team from 2013-16. Now, he’s the manager of the red-hot Atlanta Braves after serving as the bench coach for the last eight years. Earlier this year, Weiss went viral for tackling Jorge Soler during a brawl that broke out between the Braves and the Los Angeles Angels. Patrick Saunders caught up with Weiss in his return to Coors Field to discuss what went down in the brawl, as well as finding himself back in the manager’s office.

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David Peterson will be pitching following an opener this afternoon against the Colorado Rockies in Denver. The Rockies recently swept the Mets at home in late April, and Peterson’s return to pitching after an opener comes after his difficulties in his last appearance, a start against the Nationals. 

Peterson has floundered in all five of his starts this year and was sent to the bullpen for two games until the Mets’ need for healthy starting pitchers was too great. He returned to a traditional starting role for an April 29 start at home against the Nationals, But he allowed five hits and walked three as he gave up seven runs in three-and-two-thirds innings. His ERA now sits at 6.53.

Nevertheless, Peterson has done well against the Rockies historically, with a 3-1 record and a 1.99 ERA. In his one start at Coors Field in 2024, he only gave up one run and five hits in five innings. 

That week sucked, man.

Even with a couple of wins for the Red Sox here and there, I think we can go ahead and generally chalk up the recent play we’ve seen one week into the post-Cora era as “uninspiring” as this dreadful start to the season slugs along. Another series L against Houston only reinforces how bored I am with this team. It’s a shitty feeling. I need the spark to be back within my baseball-related life.

Say what you want about the dismissal of the manager and members of his coaching staff (which, believe me, we have here at OTM) but all of the warts of the 2026 team were not gonna magically disappear with them. The lineup, by and large, is still not doing enough to succeed. Most of the starting pitching staff—something that was supposed to be a strong foundation of this team—is either hurt or hasn’t met the standard. We’re staring down a pair of games in Detroit this week against two of the best left-handed pitchers in the sport—a pair of guys who already shoved against us recently—along with a series at the end of the week against a good Rays team. It could get real spooky by the time I sit down to write the next MMBB. We got outfielders throwin’ their hands up at infielders, we got hit pieces comin’ in, our pets’ heads are fallin’ off—the vibes are just putrid right now, even if I did find a pair of positive things to talk about in this edition of the Brushback. Little victories, people.

And here’s the kicker: we’re now the main show in town. The C’s and B’s biting the dust means the stage is ours. The ire in Boston will be squared directly on the Sox. Sometimes I feel that talking points like that are a bit corny, but the bad vibes could be even worse if the boys don’t turn this around fast. The old adage is that you can really start panicking by Memorial Day, right? Well, the calendar just turned to May. I don’t want this 2026 campaign to get out of hand, though it just might.

It’s Monday Morning Brushback time, y’all.

Bell-oh, No

I feel like I’ve stuck my neck out for Brayan Bello over the last few years. Whether it’s here on OTM or on Pod On Lansdowne, in person or online, I’ve given him grace. Just a few weeks ago on this very site, I wrote in a Brushback article that I still believe there’s a good pitcher in there somewhere in spite of what was (and still is) a real rough start to 2026.

Since that shout out, things have only gotten worse for Bello. In seven innings over his last two starts, he’s surrendered 19 hits (and three walks, so not as bad I guess?) and 12 runs—all of ‘em earned. His ERA has now ballooned beyond 9 and his WHIP is a ghastly 2.26. He’s gotten some more swing-and-miss in his game, sure, but that isn’t resulting in K’s. I’ll concede that hasn’t been his game in the past, but the qualities he’s shown in the past have also been mid. He’s technically keeping the ball on the ground a lot, I suppose, but is that because everyone right now knows they can tee off of him? I suppose not every ball can be barreled up (although Bello’s body of work seems to be trying to disprove that notion considering his barrel rate sits in the 7th percentile as I’m writing this), right?

I’m baffled at how bad this has been for Bello. I can’t really tell you exactly what’s causing this, because so much of the stuff under the hood looks bad. My patience is wearing thin, if it’s not completely gone already. I’ll leave it to others to dive deep on his body language when he’s being taken off of the hill and whatnot, but the fact of the matter is that he’s only made it through five full innings in one of his six starts. Hell, he’s only made it into the fifth twice! It is, simply put, unacceptable stuff from number 66. If he doesn’t want to get all pissed off, I’d suggest he stop throwing absolute cookies that are practically tailor-made for clobbering en route to another outing where he fails to qualify for a winning decision.

Interim manager Chad Tracy said they might utilize an opening pitcher for Bello’s next start. Maybe that does something; it worked for Nick Pivetta a few years ago if you recall. Or maybe it does nothing at all and it’s just window dressing. Either way, I don’t think a trip down to Worcester is out of the question for him in the near future, especially when you remember that he’s still got minor league options remaining. The issue is that the amount of MLB-caliber arms available for Boston at this point in time is thin (although it sounds like Sonny Gray could return soon), so the team might feel like they need to have Bello out there to eat more innings.

(Note: Of course, now it looks like Ranger Suarez is hurt. I’m writing this just as we’re all finding out that he got pulled after just four innings. Yikes.)

While that might be true, I think the clock’s ticking here folks. Something’s gotta change or something’s gotta give. Not to repeat myself, but Bello’s pitching has been unacceptable for a team claiming to contend for something this season. Figure it out, man.

HEY MAYERRRRRRR!!!!!!!

I know the production at the plate fell off towards the end of his cup of coffee in 2025 and it was a slow start for him to begin 2026, but infielder Marcelo Mayer has impressed me with the lumber recently. His nine-game hit streak came to a close in Saturday’s loss, sure, but his OPS climbed over .100 over that stretch (.549 to .685; gotta start somewhere, right?) while he struck out just once in that same time frame.

The strikeouts—or lack thereof—for Mayer have certainly been the most positive development in my book. His swing was always beautiful and we’ve seen flashes of the type of hard contact he can make when he’s on, but he struck out about 30% of the time across his 136 plate appearances last year. Entering play on Sunday, he’s almost slashed that K-rate in half; he had only struck out 16.3% of the time, good for the 79th percentile in the league prior to Sunday’s action.

The reasoning behind that, simply put, is that he’s not chasing at junk. For a team that has so many noncompetitive ABs over the first month-and-change of the season, Mayer’s plate approach recently has been a breath of fresh air.

Now, of course, the point about limiting strikeouts is all well and good, but it isn’t everything. Mayer’s offensive production is still subpar at the end of the day. The OPS still starts with a 6 since he’s not excelling at either component of that formula. It remains to be seen if he can continue to deliver against left-handed pitchers, though Tracy has said he wants to give him more looks against those guys (thankfully).

But the building blocks to Marcelo’s continued offensive development are showing themselves now. It’s gonna be hard for a 23-year-old to make any sort of progress with the bat if the ingredients aren’t in place. If he’s staying competitive in the box and not bailing pitchers out by chasing at stuff out of the zone, that sets the table for everything else. His swing is beautiful, he controls the bat on a good plane, and his bat speed is very good. If he’s pairing good swing decisions with his physical tools, then I believe that positive regression is in the cards for Mayer.

Maybe that Car Shield heckler motivated him to be better.

Bennett’s Beginnings

A hearty congratulations to lefty Jake Bennett on making his MLB debut Friday night and logging his first victory! He threw five innings en route to the W, as he struck out a trio of ’Stros while surrendering just one earned run. It was a perfectly cromulent debut for the 25-year-old.

Three words on what you can perhaps expect from Mr. Bennett, courtesy of the wonderful Prospect Savant resource: extension, extension, extension. CBO Craig Breslow loves pitchers who are literally letting go of the ball closer to the plate than the average bear, and Bennett’s got that in spades as evidence by his 93rd percentile extension within the Arizona Fall League. He doesn’t throw insanely hard (easy for me to say that a fastball sitting at around 95 MPH isn’t that fast, I suppose) but the location and command he’s shown has been impressive; MLB Pipeline rated him a 60-grade command guy on the 20-80 scale. The 4SFB-change-sinker triumvirate looks to be his main offerings, as he threw those three offerings 74 out of 85 times on Friday.

Pipeline writes: “He has a high floor as a No. 4 starter and Boston believes it can help him add some more strength and velocity, which could make him more than that.” I’ll take that, especially right now given the pitching injuries. Crochet and Gray, like I said earlier, won’t be on the mend terribly long (although I have no idea what the deal with Suarez is right now, TBD), but those IL stints along with the performance of the guy who I just wrote about could open the door for some more Bennett appearances.

One thing to watch the next time Bennett’s out on the bump, perhaps, is the walks. He issued two free passes on Friday, but historically that’s not been an issue for him. He walked just 6% of batters in the AFL a few months back, and again: that control is damn good.

Bennett could be a quite useful pitcher to have, and his emergence could be coming at the right time for Boston. I’m interested to see him continue to develop.

Song of the Week: “Nothin’ But The Taillights” by Clint Black

A lil’ honky-tonk action for ya to begin the week.

Same time and same place next week, friends! Go Sox.

Hello and happy Monday, folks.

The Boston Red Sox baseball club is at it again tonight. They travel to Detroit to face the Tigers in the first of a three-game series. First pitch from the Motor City is 6:40 EST. The best lefty on the planet will be taking to the mound, as Payton Tolle faces off against Tarik Skubal. I’ll let you guess who that best lefty on Earth is.

Seriously, though, Skubal again? This soon after the last time we saw him? Man, that’s annoying. Here’s hoping he doesn’t totally carve us up again.

Can our guys do better than driving in just one run across six innings, like what happened when Tarik pitched at Fenway a few weeks back? Can we improve on the four hits and two walks we registered that time around? I’m gonna guess no, but who’s to say!

Be good to each other and go Sox.

Welcome to week 6 of our 2026 NL Central Power Rankings — let’s rank some teams!

1. Chicago Cubs (22-12); 5-1 this week; 82.8% chance to make postseason (FanGraphs)

The Cubs had another strong week, winning five straight over the Padres and D-backs after dropping their series opener in San Diego on Monday night.

Moisés Ballesteros and Pete Crow-Armstrong each slugged a pair of homers for Chicago this week, though they certainly weren’t the Cubs’ best hitters. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki tied for the team lead with six hits, each adding a homer. Happ also led the team with seven runs scored, adding a pair of doubles and a triple, too.

Shota Imanaga had the best start of the week for Chicago, going seven scoreless with five strikeouts in his outing. For the bullpen, HOby Milner totaled 2 2/3 scoreless frames over three outings, striking out two and picking up a save. Jacob Webb and Ben Brown also picked up a save each.

Chicago now hosts the Reds for four games beginning Monday night before beginning a nine-game road trip this weekend, starting in Texas against the Rangers.

2. St. Louis Cardinals (20-14); 6-1 this week; 26.2% chance to make postseason

Before I go any further, I just want to say that I had a very difficult time ordering the bottom four in these rankings. I can see a case for having any of these teams in the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, or No. 5 spot. Based on the fact that the Cardinals swept the Pirates and the Pirates swept the Reds, though, I felt I must order those three teams in that order. That just left the Brewers to slot somewhere in the pack. Continuing on…

As I just mentioned, the Cards swept the Pirates in a four-game series to begin the week, and they then stretched that win streak to six with a pair of wins over the Dodgers before dropping Sunday’s series finale.

It was a big week on the power front for St. Louis, as Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker, and JJ Wetherholt all had two homers apiece. Burleson and Wetherholt also added three doubles each, with Burleson and Walker leading the team with 11 hits on the week (and 11 RBIs each, too). Victor Scott and Walker each swiped a pair of bags, and Iván Herrera added three doubles and eight walks for a .469 OBP this week.

Andre Pallante and Michael McGreevy turned in solid starts this week, as Pallante went six innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts, and McGreevy went six scoreless frames with three strikeouts. Riley O’Brien got two more saves, and George Soriano added a save of his own. Ryan Fernandez and Gordon Graceffo both had scoreless weeks for the bullpen, with Fernandez going two perfect innings with four strikeouts and Graceffo spanning four innings over three appearances.

St. Louis now welcomes the Brewers to twon for three games before they head west to take on the Padres and A’s over the next week.

3. Milwaukee Brewers (18-15); 4-2 this week; 41.4% chance to make postseason

The Brewers took two of three against both the D-backs and Nationals this week, moving back to three games above .500 by the end of the weekend.

Sal Frelick managed to lead the Brewers with two homers this week, though he had just five hits total. William Contreras led the offense with 11 hits on the week, including a homer and a double, as he also led the team with nine RBIs and seven runs scored. Tyler Black made the most of limited opportunities, going 7-for-13 with three doubles and seven RBIs in four games this week. Brice Turang added eight hits and seven runs over 17 at-bats.

Jacob Misiorowski went 5 1/3 no-hit innings in his start on Friday night, striking out eight and allowing just two walks. Logan Henderson took the loss on Sunday but was solid overall, striking out eight and allowing two runs on three hits and no walks. Shane Drohan, Jake Woodford, DL Hall, Easton McGee, Abner Uribe, and Trevor Megill all had solid weeks for Milwaukee’s bullpen, with Woodford and Uribe picking up a save apiece.

The Crew wraps up the road trip in St. Louis to begin the week before an off day on Thursday. They’ll then welcome the Yankees to Milwaukee for three games beginning on Friday.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates (19-16); 3-4 this week; 60.1% chance to make postseason

The Pirates had an odd week, as they were swept by the Cardinals over four games before bouncing back to sweep the Reds this weekend, finishing their homestand with a 3-4 record.

Henry Davis picked up a pair of homers this week for the Bucs, with seven other players adding a homer each. Nick Gonzales led the team with 11 hits, though he had just one extra-base hit (a double), while rookie Konnor Griffin added 10 hits, including a homer, two doubles, and a triple, slashing .370/.433/.630 for the week. Ryan O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds each had eight hits.

Braxton Ashcraft had a really rough start against St. Louis but bounced back nicely on Sunday against the Reds, spanning 7 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts on just 82 pitches. Mitch Keller also turned in a solid start, going seven innings with one run allowed and six strikeouts. Wilber Dotel, Justin Lawrence, Mason Montgomery, Cam Sanders, and Gregory Soto had scoreless weeks for the bullpen, totaling 11 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts between them.

Pittsburgh now heads to Arizona and San Francisco, as they’ll take on the D-backs and Giants for three games each beginning Tuesday night in Phoenix.

5. Cincinnati Reds (20-14); 2-4 this week; 27.1% chance to make postseason

The Reds take this final spot mostly because they took a sweep at the hands of the Pirates, even though they’re still tied for second place in the division. Prior to that sweep, they took two of three from the Rockies to begin the week.

It wasn’t a great week for the Cincinnati offense, but Will Benson led the way with a pair of homers and a double. Nathaniel Lowe and Spencer Steer each had six hits, with a homer and two doubles apiece, while Spencer Steer led the team with seven hits, including a homer.

Chase Burns made a pair of solid starts, totaling 13 innings with two runs allowed and a team-high 16 strikeouts. Andrew Abbott picked up the other win in his start, going six quality innings with two runs allowed and five strikeouts. Graham Ashcraft and Sam Moll were the only real bright spots for the bullpen, as they totaled 4 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and no runs allowed this week.

The Reds now head to Chicago to face the Cubs for four games beginning Monday night. They then return home to host the Astros and Nationals beginning Friday.

The Guardians lost to the A’s and moved on to Kansas City while making some significant prospect moves at the same time.

Deborah had the recap. She has really drawn the short straw with Sunday recaps but she always does a good job, anyway. Chase DeLauter homered. The Guardians just couldn’t knock Aaron Civale out, which is annoying. Parker Messick had a rough game, but that’ll happen.

The Guardians promoted Angel Genao to Triple-A Columbus. Genao had a 125 wRC+ at Akron with a 17/21 K/BB%. Making it to Triple-A as a 21 year-old is super impressive. I’d like to see if he can find a little more power (.113 ISO so far) and reduce that 54% groundball rate. I would not expect him to be in Cleveland until 2027, even with this promotion.

Justin Campbell moved from Lake County to Akron. While trying to prove he has put injury concerns behind him, Campbell has put up a 2.40 ERA/1.96 FIP and a 13.2/3 K/BB/9 in High-A. Time to see if he can do the same kind of tortures to Double-A hitters. …If so, things start to get pretty exciting.

Finally, Jaison Chourio moved from Lake County to Akron as well. Chourio has opened with a 142 wRC+, .167 ISO, 18.6/17.5% K/BB. He had 10 games in center, 5 games in right and 2 games in left with the Captains. Nice to see the 20 year-old switch-hitter bouncing back after an uneven 2025.

AROUND MLB:

Tigers, Twins and Royals won, and the White Sox lost. The Tigers and Guardians are tied atop the Central.

It was a bloodbath in the National League West last week, with all five teams in the division piling up defeats. The Dodgers, Padres, Giants, and Diamondbacks all had their longest losing streaks of the season last week, while the Rockies at four straight losses to end the week was two shy of their worst stretch in 2026.

Neither the Dodgers nor Giants hit a home run all week, and San Francisco lost all six of its games. The entire division combined to go just 6-24 for the week. Brutal.

Division notes

Ildemaro Vargas was hitless on Saturday, which was notable because that’s the first such game for him this year. The utility man, who has played all four infield positions for Arizona, had a 27-game hit streak dating back to 2025, during which he hit .400/.427/.667. Samath and Jim McLennan at AZ Snake Pit examined the longest Diamondbacks hit streak since 1999.

The Giants did not hit a home run in any of their six games last week, and have gone homerless in an MLB-high 21 of their 34 games this season. They have lost 18 of those 21 games, fueling their worst-in-baseball 3.12 runs per game. “Runs have been hard to come by for this club,” wrote Steven Kennedy at McCovey Chronicles. “Wall-clearing power, nearly impossible.”

Mason Miller on Tuesday allowed two runs to the Chicago Cubs, which snapped his scoreless streak at 34 2/3 innings. though the Padres did win that game before their losing streak. Dating back to last year’s trade deadline, Miller has allowed a run in only two of his ..37 games with San Diego.

Samantha Bradfield at Purple Row laid out the details of the Rockies cultural education and development program for their Dominican academy and summer league team.

NL West standings

Dodgers 21-13, – –
Padres 20-13, 0.5 GB
D-backs 16-17, 4.5 GB
Rockies 14-21, 7.5 GB
Giants 13-21, 8 GB

The week ahead

• Dodgers: at Astros, vs. Braves
• Padres: at Giants, vs. Cardinals (4 games)
• D-backs: vs. Pirates, vs. Mets
• Giants: vs. Padres, vs. Pirates
• Rockies: vs. Mets, at Phillies

Last Week’s Results

• Monday: Off Day
• Tuesday: Brewers 13, D-backs 2
• Wednesday: D-backs 6, Brewers 2
• Thursday: Brewers 13, D-backs 1
• Friday: Brewers 6, Nationals 1
• Saturday: Brewers 4, Nationals 1
• Sunday: Nationals 3, Brewers 2

Division Standings

• Cubs: 22-12
• Cardinals: 20-14
• Reds: 20-14
• Brewers: 18-15
• Pirates: 19-16

Last Week

• Cubs: 5-1
• Cardinals: 6-1
• Reds: 2-4
• Brewers: 4-2
• Pirates: 3-4

Top Pitching Performance of the Week

Jacob Misiorowski, despite having to exit fairly early, had a great outing on Friday night. He went 5 1/3 no-hit innings, allowing just two walks with eight strikeouts en route to his second win of the season.

There was no shortage of solid options this week for the pitching staff, though I’ll give specific honorable mentions to the young trio of Kyle Harrison, Logan Henderson, and Shane Drohan. Harrison went six innings with one run allowed and five strikeouts; Henderson went six innings with two runs allowed and eight strikeouts; and Drohan totaled five innings with one run allowed and five strikeouts over two appearances. Jake Woodford also totaled 4 2/3 scoreless innings over three relief appearances, striking out five and picking up a three-inning save in Milwaukee’s blowout win over the D-backs.

Top Hitting Performance of the Week

William Contreras had probably his best week of the season thus far, as he went 11-for-25 (.440 batting average) with a homer, a double, nine RBIs, and seven runs scored. He picked up four hits on both Thursday and Friday, becoming just the seventh Brewer player to achieve that feat.

Honorable mention to Tyler Black, who went 7-for-13 (.538 batting average) with three doubles and seven RBIs in limited opportunities this week.

Injury Notes & Roster Moves

• The Brewers made a flurry of moves on Wednesday this week, as they placed LHP Angel Zerpa on the 15-day injured list, sent Luis Matos outright to Triple-A Nashville (he cleared waivers after being DFA’d), and selected LHP Brian Fitzpatrick for his MLB debut. Zerpa’s injury doesn’t sound promising, as Pat Murphy told reporters on Sunday that Zerpa is in the process of deciding whether or not to undergo Tommy John surgery — regardless of his decision, it sounds like a lengthy return for the lefty.
• The team also sent Andrew Vaughn and Jackson Chourio on rehab assignments with Nashville on Wednesday. Both were originally slated to return later today in St. Louis, though Chourio’s return is now in question after he fouled a ball off his foot on Saturday night. While X-rays came back negative, it’s certainly possible Chourio will have to take an extra couple of days before we see him in the majors.
• Brandon Woodruff exited his start early on Thursday afternoon, as he had clearly diminished velocity. After it was reported he was just dealing with fatigue, he went on the 15-day IL with right shoulder inflammation, though an MRI revealed no structural damage. It sounds like he’s hoping to miss close to the minimum amount of time.
• After Woodruff’s injury, right-hander Easton McGee was recalled from Triple-A Nashville. McGee made one scoreless appearance (one inning) before being optioned back to Nashville for Logan Henderson, who made a quality start against the Nationals on Sunday afternoon.
• In another injury scare for a Brewer star, ace Jacob Misiorowski exited in the sixth inning of a no-hit bid against the Nationals on Friday night. He was reportedly just dealing with cramping, and he isn’t expected to miss any sort of extended time, though his next start (originally slated for Wednesday in St. Louis) may be pushed back a couple of days.
• Brice Turang was also scratched from Sunday’s lineup with an illness. The severity of the illness is unknown, but I’d expect we’ll see him at some point this week in St. Louis.
• Quinn Priester made his third rehab start with Triple-A Nashville on Friday night, though he continues to deal with command issues — a common issue among players returning from thoracic outlet syndrome. He’ll likely make at least a few more rehab appearances before an expected return later this month.

On Deck

• Monday: @ Cardinals (6:45 p.m.)
• Tuesday: @ Cardinals (6:45 p.m.)
• Wednesday: @ Cardinals (12:15 p.m.)
• Thursday: Off Day
• Friday: vs. Yankees (6:40 p.m.)
• Saturday: vs. Yankees (6:10 p.m.)
• Sunday: vs. Yankees (1:10 p.m.)

This whole “game on a Monday after a series should end on a Sunday” thing is just weird. Like, why couldn’t they have just scheduled a different day later this year?

Very strange.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Jhoan Duran had a bullpen session where he apparently hit 100 on the gun. He might skip a rehab assignment.
• The Phillies gave Aaron Nola an extra day of rest in the hopes that his early season struggles might be turned around ($).
• Gage Wood continues to impress with a fastball that is starting to see its scouting grade rise.

MLB news:

• There are ten stars across the game that had a rough start to their season. Is it time for patience or panic with them?
• Anthony Volpe is going to stay in the minor leagues now that the Yankees have activated and optioned him there.
• As the Braves get back Spencer Strider, they’re losing Ronald Acuna, Jr. to a hamstring strain. They’ll probably win like 10 of 12 now.