SP: Christian Scott
SP: Hunter Dobbins
First pitch: 1:10 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
FIRST PITCH: 1210p Central
TELEVISION: Twins.TV, “presented” “by” “Progressive”
RADIO: WCCO 830 AM “Your Good Neighbors to the North”, KMNB 102.9 FM “The Wolf”, The “Glen Perkins Kinda Sounds Like He’s Getting Tired of Kris Atteberry” Baseball Network, Audacy Application
KNOW OUR FOE:Bless You Boys, a Detroit Tigers Community
The Minnesota Twins finish up a 10-game stretch of contests against American League Central rivals today with a rubber match against the Detroit Tigers. A win secures a 5-5 record during that stretch and pushes the Tigers to 3.5 games behind the Twins for third in the division. A Twins loss doesn’t do the things that you just read.
After a successful bullpen game in which the bullpen did their darndest to cough it up as usual, Minnesota will send Zebby Matthews to the mound and ask him to go at least nine innings today à la old school Major League Baseball. You could make an argument that Matthews has been the most consistent starting pitcher as of late, turning in four quality starts in his last five games. His last outing was against the Kansas City Royals in which he went seven innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs, four walks, and struck out two. That outing – and two more of his past five starts – saw Zebby throw 100 pitches on the dot. The Twins will definitely look to avail of this workhorse today.
Detroit counters with Keider Montero. The 25-year-old Venezuelan had a rough outing his last time out, going five innings and allowing four earned runs to the Seattle Mariners at home. The highly-regarded prospect has had a handful of great outings but also a handful of rougher outings; the Tigers are 4-8 in games in which Montero has started. He’ll feature a mid-90s four-seamer, a slider, a change, and a curve.
GO TWIMS GO
A second video shows just exactly what Knicks fans were pelting Victor Wembanyama with.
An initial video that emerged Wednesday night that showed the Spurs star getting hit by an unknown object, but a new video seemingly confirmed it was eggs flying around Wembanyama’s head as he was arriving at the team hotel hotel, the Ritz-Carlton.
Someone just perfectly threw an egg at Wemby LMFAOOO pic.twitter.com/yvPPzWZaAf
—(@wstgoat7) June 11, 2026
After blowing a 29-point lead in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, the 22-year-old ducked while trying to walk into the hotel as a horde of Knicks fans screamed at him and his teammates.
Security guards grabbed Wembanyama and quickly escorted him inside the hotel as fans shouted “Wemby” in angry fashion.
Early Thursday morning, fans took to X to voice their displeasure with the situation.
“As a Knick fan, I absolutely hate this. I don’t like what Wemby is doing on the court. It pisses me off. But game is settled between the lines. Never take sports anger outside the arena. Whether it is fans or players, win and lose with class folks. Don’t be a-holes,” X user @BrettErmilio posted.
“Man at the end of the day, it’s just basketball. Don’t ever dehumanize players,” X user @LakersPixie also posted.
It’s not the first instance of violence and security concerns surrounding Knick fans during the NBA Finals.
Following the Game 2 watch party outside Madison Square Garden, 26 people were detained.
After the Game 3 watch party at Bryant Park, 21 more were taken into custody, and five officers were even injured after fans threw objects at them.
The Frenchman — aside from being the Spurs biggest star — is public enemy No. 1 in New York City after he wasn’t called for a flagrant foul after shoving Jalen Brunson to the ground in Game 3.
Wembanyama still finished Game 4 with 24 points and 13 rebounds, but missed key free throws late to keep the Knicks in the game.
With their backs against the wall, the Spurs look to avoid elimination in Saturday’s Game 5 as the series shifts back to San Antonio.
SAN DIEGO, CA – The Stanley Cup banners from 2012 and 2014 still hang in Crypto.com Arena, and, fairly, they always will. But at some point, a franchise has to reckon with whether those banners are a source of inspiration for nostalgic zoom-ins during the national anthem or a set of chains, and for the Los Angeles Kings, the answer in 2025-26 felt uncomfortably close to the latter.
One season ago, this team was 48-25-9, with 105 points, second in the Pacific, and a Simple Rating System score of +0.50, ranking them sixth in the league. The Simple Rating System measures average goal differential per game adjusted for strength of schedule, where 0.0 represents a league-average team. By that measure, the Kings last season were a legitimate contender still figuring out how to win in May.
This past season, they finished 35-27-20, 90 points, good for fourth in the Pacific, eighth in the West, dead last in penalty kill, and ranked 24th in that same metric at -0.32. A 15-point drop in the standings is not just a bad year; it’s a signaling one. A swing of nearly a full point in goal-differential rating, from top-ten to bottom third, is something more systemic. That is a team whose construction stopped working, and the numbers make no attempt to hide it.
Well, even with those numbers, they made the playoffs again; that’s good, right? Colorado swept them, exposing an identity and backend no longer fit in the modern NHL. The Kings stand at the exact same fork in the road they have been staring at for years, except now they have finally run out of excuses not to take it.
A Championship Built for a Different Era
To understand what is wrong with the Kings, you have to understand what was right about them. The 2012 and 2014 championship squads were built on a specific formula: elite goaltending from Jonathan Quick, deep and dominant center play anchored by Anze Kopitar, and a defensive core as physically suffocating as any in the league. That blue line did not just prevent goals; it legitimately controlled games. It wore opponents down, being the backbone of two Stanley Cups in three years, and made Los Angeles one of the most respected organizations in hockey.
The problem is that the formula stopped working league-wide, and the Kings never fully committed to replacing it.
Kopitar retired this past offseason, leaving Drew Doughty as the last remaining player from that 2014 championship roster. Kopitar finished his final season as the team's best plus/minus at +19, which is as fitting a statistical eulogy as any. With him goes one of the most critical supporting pillars of that former championship identity, and the front office has no choice now but to decide what comes next and commit to it.
The Dubois Detour
Before examining where the Kings are, it helps to understand what they spent to get here.
In the summer of 2023, the Kings made their most aggressive move of the post-championship era, trading Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round pick to Winnipeg to acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois on an eight-year, $8.5 million AAV deal. The logic seemed obscure: find the post-Kopitar center before Kopitar was gone while developing Quinton Byfield, lock him in long-term, and build the next era of Kings hockey around two young centers with upside.
Dubois produced 16 goals and 24 points in 82 games, finished minus-9, and was moved to Washington the following summer in a one-for-one swap for Darcy Kuemper. That’s bad, akin to Milan Lucic in 2016, Andrej Sekera in 2015.
The return, improbably, looked like organizational competence for exactly one season. Kuemper posted a 31-11-7 record with a .921 save percentage and a career-best 2.02 GAA, earning a Vezina Trophy nomination alongside Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy. That performance was the primary reason the 2024-25 Kings tied a franchise record with 105 points. The Dubois detour, for a moment, looked survivable.
On June 19, 2024, the @LAKings acquired Darcy Kuemper from the Washington Capitals for Pierre-Luc Dubois. In his first season back with the #LAKings, Kuemper had a record of 31-11-7, with a .922 SV%, 2.02 GAA, and was named as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.#GoKingsGopic.twitter.com/eB4dYafXMF
— The Kingstorian (@Kingstorian) June 19, 2025
Then Kuemper got hurt in December, in a suspect collision with Mikko Rantanen in Dallas. He never recovered his form, finishing 2025-26 with a .891 save percentage and a 2.78 GAA, both below his backup's. The organizational buffer he had provided disappeared, and the structural weaknesses underneath came fully into view. The assets sent to Winnipeg never came back. Vilardi, Iafallo, and Kupari are all still playing. What the Kings extracted from that transaction was one excellent goaltending season, followed by an injury, followed by a 15-point collapse in the standings.
The League the Kings Didn't Follow
While Los Angeles was busy preserving its defensive culture, the rest of the NHL evolved past it. The modern premium is no longer on blueliners who lock down the defensive zone and move the puck safely. It is on defensemen who can do that and activate offensively, who have the skating ability and hockey sense to transition quickly and become legitimate threats in the attacking end.
Look at the two most successful franchises of the post-COVID era. Vegas built its blue line around players who combine physical play with genuine offensive instinct. Florida followed a similar blueprint with a defensive corps that can defend hard and still generate from the back end. Both teams have won Stanley Cups in the last three years, and both have been in the finals or rotated in for four straight years. Both play a brand of hockey that is big, mobile, and relentlessly transitional.
The Kings play hockey that is heavy, structured, and extremely careful–almost no risk involved from the backend. The blueline has been excellent at preventing goals and nearly useless at generating them, and in a league where the margin between the playoffs and the second round increasingly runs through transition offense and power play execution, careful does not cut it.
The Numbers That Tell the Story
The statistical profile of the 2025-26 Kings is a study in contradiction. They were one of the better defensive teams in the league in terms of raw goals against, finishing seventh at 238. That is a real accomplishment. But their offense ranked 29th in the NHL with 220 goals, their power play converted at 17.0 percent (28th), and their penalty kill operated at 74.6 percent (30th in the league).
A defensive-identity team finishing near last in penalty kill is not a philosophical outcome, but rather, a structural failure. It means the players running the penalty kill lack the skating and stick ability to sustain real pressure, which turns every infraction into an outsized crisis that a 17.0 percent power play couldn’t offset on the other end.
Adrian Kempe led full-season Kings scorers with 36 goals and 73 points, followed by Quinton Byfield at 49, Alex Laferriere at 44, and Brandt Clarke at 40. That 24-point gap between first and second describes a team with one load-bearing wall and not enough supporting structure. The most important asterisk in those numbers belongs to Artemi Panarin. Acquired from the Rangers in early February, he played only 26 games in a Kings uniform, posting 9 goals and 18 assists for 27 points. His 1.04 points-per-game pace with Los Angeles was the best on the roster, and he was the primary offensive engine in both wins against Colorado before the sweep closed out. The Kings have him signed through 2027-28 at $11 million AAV.
That matters because the forward group the Kings have assembled is as talented as any in their franchise’s salary cap era. Kempe, Panarin, Kevin Fiala, Laferrière, and the depth behind them represent a real top-six. But the problem has never been the wings; it has been everything behind them.
The Doughty Problem
The most uncomfortable conversation in Los Angeles right now involves Drew Doughty, and it has to be had.
Doughty is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, with two Stanley Cups, Norris Trophies, Olympic gold medals with Canada, and a career that ranks among the finest any defenseman has assembled in the salary cap era. None of that is in dispute, and none of it makes the current situation easier to navigate.
He is signed at approximately $11 million per year, a contract written for the version of Doughty who was annually in Norris Trophy conversations and driving possession at 5-on-5 through his skating and puck movement. That version of Doughty is no longer playing in the NHL. What remains is a player who can still defend, still reads the game at a high level, but has lost the foot speed and offensive activation that made the contract reasonable in the first place.
The spin-o-rama at the blue line is gone. Pulling away from forecheckers and turning defense into offense in a single stride is gone. What you see now is a mouthful: an offensively capable defensive defenseman being paid like one of the best two-way defensemen in the league.
With one year remaining on that contract, Ken Holland faces a decision that is more business than sentiment, and the Kings' ability to address the offensive backend problem will remain constrained as long as that cap number is locked in.
The Clarke Signal
Brandt Clarke is 23 years old and finished this season with 40 points from the blue line. He was the only Kings defenseman generating consistent offense from the back end, and he did it while logging real minutes against real competition despite a plethora of sheltering for most of his young career. A top-10 overall pick, Clarke has moved past that deployment phase. He is showing exactly what the Kings hoped when they drafted him: a puck-moving, skating defenseman with the offensive instinct the rest of the blue line fundamentally lacks.
Despite some promising signs being elevated to the first powerplay unit, the Kings have spent two seasons asking Clarke to be patient in a system not built for him. The next step is building the system around him instead. That means accepting what Doughty is now rather than what he was, committing to Clarke as the number-one defenseman, and finding partners who complement his game rather than pull the group back toward the past.
The same logic extends to Byfield. His 49-point season is acceptable for a player still developing into his role, but he should be the unquestioned first-line center and offensive engine going forward. The Kings have two legitimate building blocks in Clarke and Byfield. The question is whether the organizational culture is actually ready to hand them the keys, or whether it will keep hedging toward the veteran identity that has produced five consecutive first-round exits.
Laviolette and What It Means
The Laviolette hire is not a minor adjustment. His 846 career wins rank seventh all-time. His teams have reached the postseason in 11 of the 14 seasons he has finished behind a bench, and he is a Stanley Cup winner with Carolina in 2006. He took Philadelphia to the Final in 2010 and Nashville in 2017. He is comfortable with young rosters, comfortable with veteran leadership, and comfortable with an uptempo style that is, by design, incompatible with the defensive rigidity the Kings have been running for the better part of a decade.
The Kings did not hire Laviolette to maintain what they have. They hired him because what they had stopped working, and because his coaching profile signals a genuine willingness to play differently. The Panarin acquisition points in the same direction, as the star Russian forward had his best statistical seasons under Laviolette in New York. This is a front office that believes it is close and is making moves to prove it, and for the first time in a while, the forward group being handed to a new coach is actually equipped to play a different style.
Whether that belief is fully warranted is a legitimate debate. A team that dropped 15 points in the standings and was swept in four games is not a minor adjustment away from anything. They have a center issue and a defensive core issue that both need to be addressed. The organizational optimism reads partly as ambition and partly as a refusal to acknowledge how much ground was lost in a single season, and how much the Dubois misadventure cost in assets that would have made rebuilding the blue line easier.
The Choice
The Kings are not fixing everything in one offseason. But they are standing at a genuine inflection point, the kind that defines franchises for the next decade. The old identity, built on defensive suffocation and institutional caution, has run its course. Kopitar is gone, and the championship blue line is a dusty afterthought. What is left is Doughty in the final year of a contract that outlasted the player it was written for, and behind him, Byfield, Clarke, Panarin, and a wing group as talented as any in the Western Conference waiting on an organization to actually commit to them.
The losses of Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence exposed just how thin and homogeneous this blue line became. Five nearly identical defensemen who play the same way and produce the same absence of offense cannot be papered over with a coaching hire. The reconstruction has to be real, with mobility and offensive activation as the criteria rather than defensive familiarity.
Laviolette is the right hire with Clarke being the right bet. Panarin is signed and ready to work with Byfield. The work now is making sure the culture actually changes and not just the name on the office door.
There’s a thought that keeps haunting me as I watch the NBA Finals this year.
What if former Dallas Maverick superstar Luka Doncic – currently Los Angeles Lakers – had the same guidance and preparation early on and before even entering the league that the San Antonio Spurs’ young superstar Victor Wembanyama did?
Would that have made his journey in the NBA easier and smoother, and perhaps helped him win a championship and an MVP award faster?
And could it have helped him gain the recognition many believe he deserves – but isn’t getting – from the media and talking heads?
Wemby came into the league so prepared and so comfortable with who he was that it almost shocked fans and media. How could he not care that people snickered because he brought a book to read before the All-Star game?
How is he able to quote philosophers, and insist on showing his emotions – unlike most other players his age?
Why has he not spent his whole life dunking on opponents rather than educating himself to be prepared to take on both the mental and physical challenge of being the best?
To some, this may come off as arrogance. And maybe to some extent it is, because he truly believes he can be the best, and he is confident in that and in himself – because he puts in the work. That is not very different from some of the best players to play the game of basketball. It actually sounds very similar. He came into the league, knowing who he was, who he wanted to be, and he never steered off that path.
Imagine if someone like Luka Doncic had come into the league as prepared and well-guided as Victor Wembanyama. His first seven years in the NBA may have looked very differently.
This is no slight to Luka Doncic at all, who has been known to trust people around him, but unfortunately has learned down the line that people are not always as good at their job as you would assume.
When Wemby entered the league, he came almost fully formed in how to take care of his extraordinary physique, how to work on specific movements like flexibility and balance for injury prevention and efficiency. He arrived having been guided, it seems, for years on how to take care of himself and his body’s needs, and he never seems to veer off that.
Mentally and intellectually, he has also made surprising, but intentional choices from the beginning. Staying at a Shaolin Temple in China for ten days last summer, studying Chan meditation, Shaolin Kung Fu, traditional Chinese medicine and more.
And arranging for a fans section in San Antonio, which he taught chants from Europe. Intentionality in everything he does.
And as someone who has followed, analyzed and written about Luka Doncic for years – and even tried to bridge cultural gaps between Americans and Europeans so many times – I can’t help but wonder:
Where would Luka Doncic be if he was as prepared and well-guided, in as good of a situation and had a roster slowly and steadily built around him during his early years in the NBA?
Intentionality in everything you do seems to be a marker of success. Luka Doncic is one of the best basketball players in the world – if you know me, you know I’ve pushed for him to win MVP, especially in 2024 – and in my opinion, he is the best player in the world when he is healthy.
But if you compare everything around that to Wemby’s approach, it’s already clear who comes out on top, despite Wemby only being in the league for a few years.
Wembanyama clearly had better guidance coming into the league. He clearly learned to take care of himself early on at another level, too. He was clearly supported and lifted by being surrounded by people who he could trust, who have been able to make certain he ended up in the best situation possible.
Luka Doncic had none of that early on, it seems.
I know what you’re thinking right now. Doncic was drafted by an organization that didn’t put him in a similar development situation or roster construction effort as Wemby. And I agree with you. That is part of the point. On multiple levels Luka Doncic was not set up for success in the same way Wemby has been and still is.
And that is the point.
But despite lacking in all of this, Doncic still made it to where he is right now – and that’s pretty spectacular. Who knows if he still has a chance to win the MVP award and get a ring – he should and he deserves it – but he didn’t have much of the outside help that others did.
And because of this, Wembanyama may win MVP before Luka Doncic.
The absurdity of that sentence drives me nuts. When an acquaintance and fellow Danish journalist two years ago asked who would win it first, Luka or Wemby, I was perplexed. Luka was a superstar, among the best ever, Wemby was a rookie.
But the reality is that Wemby was in the top three nominees for MVP this year, and Luka was not. He is leading a team in the Finals right now, and Luka is not.
The absurdity of that situation after what Luka has done in Dallas with so little, and what he did to lead the Mavs to the Finals in 2024 haunts me. Many of us, I bet.
But the world is full of absurdity, just look around. Sometimes we just have to laugh, because what else can we do?
The fact remains, however. If Luka Doncic had had what Victor Wembanyama has, he would probably have reached the top already. Instead, he keeps fighting the same fight he has for five years in a cycle that just seems to repeat itself.
Intentionality. Maybe that’s the cure against absurdity. It may be worth a shot.
After Victor Wembanyama, the league will never be the same. The way he came into the league, almost fully ready and prepared to take care of his body and knowing exactly what he wanted, will set a precedent for future stars. And that’s a good thing for all of us.
After completing my most recent review on Daniel Jackson, I started thinking “What if the Phillies drafted for need?” The “need” being a right handed power bat, preferably a corner OF. I would also prefer if the prospect not be a reach or a guy that almost certainly will go 20 spots higher. Turns out there’s a guy ranked in the Phillies range at #29, that could easily fall to the 36th pick. As luck would have it he’s a former power hitting Catcher who had to convert to Right Field because of defensive concerns (promise I did not plan all these little parallels).
Rose is a 6’1”, 210 lbs Right Fielder who just turned 21 at the end of May. He was ranked ~200 in the 2023 draft, but since he told teams he would honor his commitment to Louisville, he went undrafted. He’s an above-average runner (though he’s a stocky guy, so I expect that to not be a big long term strength) and currently an above-average hitter for power with a potential to tap into more (on to that later). He has a borderline plus arm, which is enough to play in Right Field, where he reportedly gets good reads and has the speed and arm to be, at least, as average defender out there. Jackson has fringe 5-tool skills, but Zion is almost entirely about the Power as his lone carrying tool, though nothing else looks below average.
As a hitter, Zion is also very different from Jackson’s relatively clean swing. Zion has similar bat speed and strength, but with a big leg kick and a lot of bat wiggle before he starts his swing. Higher level Pitchers may be able to exploit all that movement by rushing him and throwing his timing off. So he’ll need some adjustments made with a pro hitting coach to try to quiet those parts down some. Also similar to Jackson, Zion had a bit of a reputation as a free swinger, but unlike Jackson he has a history of very good bat control that allowed him to make consistent contact with a very respectable 14% K rate in 2025 and a 10% K rate in 2026 and consistently ran excellent walk rates the last 2 years. Zion’s Home Runs were down this year, but his doubles were up (both in terms of rate, as he played way less games this year thanks to Louisville having a very down year and not making the postseason), so his Slugging is actually higher. Still draft year is a bad time for bad Home Run luck, especially if it’s a big part of your profile. I think a swing change to silence some of the bat waggle and improve his timing, as he sometimes strides, then rotates and it would be best to be into your rotation a little earlier, can further aid in his ability to get to an above average or better hit profile. It’s a small change, but could unlock additional home run power too.
I’ll embed two videos here. The first is from a showcase during his High School years, so you can see his swing then (also, some teams still are reportedly high on his potential behind the dish, so you get some throws from the position to start off here). The second is of highlights from this season. No side views, but the swing, while nosier, does seem to have more of an upstroke for launch angle.
The reason I think Zion is ranked a little ahead of Jackson is because of greater positional certainty. He’s already shown he can be an average or better player full time at positions other than Catcher along with a better hitting track record. I’d be shocked to see any team put him back at Catcher and set his development timeline back by likely years. I’d expect he stays in the OF, maybe even Center early on until he proves he needs to move to Right or Left.
The Cubs sit at 34-34 so far in 2026, but the way they’ve gotten to that .500 record is anything but average. While it seems hard to believe here in June, yes, it was 2026 when the Cubs were putting together multiple 10 game winning streaks, not to mention a 15-game home winning streak that had fans giddy and looking up records from decades ago.
Oh, what a difference a month makes:
That’s right, y’all. It was this season when the Cubs were 15-games over .500 and looked like they might just be the team to beat in a tough NL Central. Here on June 11 they are eight games back of the division leading Brewers having just dropped back-to-back games (and therefor the series) against the 26-42 Colorado Rockies. Their offensive woes are so entrenched they’ve managed to score just five runs in two games at Coors Field.
To be clear, baseball isn’t played in a 30-game season for a reason. There are winning streaks and losing streaks. The 2016 World Series Champion Cubs were 1-9 heading into the All Star break. But looking at that 7-22 mark, which is good for merely a .241 winning percentage over a 29-game stretch, had me wondering which Cubs teams had 30-game stretches of sub-.300 winning percentage baseball and how they wound up faring that season.
Luckily, Baseball Reference has precisely the right tool for this query in their span-finder. Unluckily, none of the Cubs teams who have ever gone 8-22 at some stretch during the season since 1920 (the Live Ball Era) have ever made the playoffs. You can peruse this very sad and hapless list below:
| Year | Worst 30-game win % | W/L | Fired Manager? | Playoffs? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | .143 | 4-24 | Yes | No |
| 1973 | .167 | 5-25 | No | No |
| 2006 | .200 | 6-24 | No | No |
| 2000 | .200 | 6-24 | No | No |
| 1999 | .200 | 6-24 | No | No |
| 2021 | .233 | 7-23 | No | No |
| 2012 | .233 | 7-23 | No | No |
| 1980 | .233 | 7-23 | Yes | No |
| 1966 | .233 | 7-23 | No | No |
| 1954 | .233 | 7-23 | No | No |
| 1953 | .233 | 7-23 | No | No |
| 1951 | .233 | 7-23 | Yes | No |
| 1921 | .233 | 7-23 | Yes | No |
| 1960 | .241 | 7-22 | Resigned | No |
| 1956 | .241 | 7-22 | No | No |
| 2013 | .267 | 8-22 | No | No |
| 2010 | .267 | 8-22 | Resigned | No |
| 1997 | .267 | 8-22 | No | No |
| 1982 | .267 | 8-22 | No | No |
| 1979 | .267 | 8-22 | Resigned | No |
| 1955 | .267 | 8-22 | No | No |
| 1947 | .267 | 8-22 | No | No |
A few notes on this list. First, spans don’t happen in neat 30-game intervals and the way Baseball Reference deals with that is to identify multiple spans. I sorted this query by lowest winning percentage and scanned a little over 250 individual spans to identify each year where there was a 30-game span with an 8-22 record or worse. I think I got every season, but I may have missed one or two. Additionally, a lot of the teams who had a 5-25 stretch also had a 6-24 stretch or a 7-23 stretch, you get the gist. They are represented by the worst 30-game stretch they had that season.
The years that don’t have 30 decisions in the list are stretches that had some tie games in pre-lights Wrigley Field.
All of the above notes aside, that table isn’t so much a warning bell as the Titanic hitting an iceberg. The glass isn’t half empty, it somehow evaporated after being overflowing.
No Cubs team that has ever posted a 30-game winning streak with an 8-22 record (or worse) during any stretch of the season has ever made the playoffs. Out of 23 seasons where managers experienced such a stretch, four previous Cubs managers were fired during that season, an additional three resigned.
To be clear, I’ve seen and read nothing that leads me to believe Craig Counsell or any other member of the Cubs coaching staff should be fired. The injury problems to the pitching staff combined with the offensive struggles of well over half of the lineup aren’t going to magically improve because of a new manager. Do not add my voice to the cacophony of fans who think this team will go back to winning 10 in a row with a new skipper. That said, one of the first things that jumped out at me as I scanned these seasons was that 30.4% of the managers who oversaw such a stretch were not managing the Cubs at the end of that season.
It’s bleak, to say the least.
The next team on the list of terrible, horrible, no good, 30-game spans just happens to be the first appearance of the 2026 Cubs. The Cubs entered play tonight with a 9-21 record over their last 30 games. If they can eke out a win today they will be 8-22 over their last 30 games.
We should all take some solace in yesterday being the first appearance of the 2026 Cubs on this list. They’ll have earned themselves a second appearance after tomorrow, even if they win. In an environment with expanded playoffs they may even be able to make the postseason field. But many of the teams on this list appear 5, 10, sometimes 20 or more times, and they certainly didn’t have two 10-game winning streak under their belts earlier in the season. If the Cubs are going to try for another unprecedented feat in 2026, perhaps they will become the first team to make the playoffs in a season where they posted a sub .300 winning percentage for a period of 30 games.
Jordan Romano knows what it feels like to be one of the best relievers in baseball. He has been there.
Two All-Star appearances, 105 saves with the Toronto Blue Jays, and a stretch from 2021 through 2023 where he was, on most nights, simply unhittable. A 6-foot-5 right-hander from Markham, Ontario, with a fastball that backed hitters off the plate and a 2.90 ERA across his six seasons in Toronto, Romano was, for several years, one of the most reliable ninth-inning arms in the American League.
Then the right elbow gave out.
Romano underwent arthroscopic surgery in July 2024 to repair an impingement. He made just 15 appearances in 2024, posted a 6.59 ERA, and watched Toronto non-tender him that winter.
He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for $8.5 million in 2025, trying to recapture his elite form. Romano made 49 appearances, posted an 8.23 ERA across 42.2 innings, and ended the season on the IL with right middle finger inflammation. He then signed with the Los Angeles Angels over the winter on a major league deal and made the Opening Day roster, but lasted 11 appearances before being released on April 27 with a 10.13 ERA across eight innings. The Angels chapter lasted less than a month.
Now, sitting in the Arizona heat at the Rockies’ Scottsdale facility — days before his assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque — Romano was throwing off the mound for the third time in a week and talking about energy transfer.
The reason he chose Colorado, of all the places he could have landed, comes down to one name: Matt Buschmann.
The Rockies bullpen coach was on Romano’s staff in Toronto for several years, and Romano credits him as a significant piece of his success during that run. When the opportunity to sign with Colorado emerged, Romano called Buschmann. He liked what he heard about the people the organization had brought in. He spoke with pitching personnel — Owen Cuffee and Emilio Martinez among them — and came away convinced this was the right environment to do the work.
“I really like the stuff they’re doing, the new guys they hired,” Romano said. “I talked to Owen and Emilio — really smart guys. I decided this is probably the best fit for me to work on my stuff, get better down here, and help contribute up there.”
The work, in his telling, is specific. The mechanics of how he transfers energy through his delivery — the sequencing, the timing, the feel of it translating from bullpen session to live game — is where he is spending most of his time. It is unglamorous and incremental, the kind of thing that doesn’t show up in a stat line.
Some days it clicks.
Some days it doesn’t.
“I’m trying to get to the point where my delivery is doing what I’ve been working on without really thinking about it,” he said. “Muscle memory. I feel like we’re almost there. It’s kind of exciting.”
He is also working on a new splitter grip — one he believes gives him better command of the pitch and more movement — and on generating more velocity overall. The combination of a tuned-up delivery and a sharper splitter, in his mind, is the difference between the pitcher he has been recently and the pitcher he knows he can be.
What is striking about Romano, sitting in the ACL clubhouse in early June, is how unbothered he seems by any of it. This is his fourth organization in three years — Toronto, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and now Colorado. — and he has developed a kind of institutional fluency for the transition.
“The first two weeks, you’re kind of learning everyone’s name,” he said. “And then after two weeks, it’s kind of like — everyone’s been cool here.”
He does not come off as bitter about the way things have gone. He is not performing enthusiasm that he doesn’t feel. He genuinely seems to enjoy the process.
“The thing I like most about baseball is, like, the performing is amazing,” he said, “but the working on stuff — you’re trying to do something, and then you see it kind of click. That’s the best feeling for me.”
He paused. “Get down here, get in the trenches a little bit, work on your stuff.”
He has pitched at Coors Field before. He knows what it asks of a pitcher — the way breaking balls behave differently in thin air, the necessary adjustments in pitch locations.
“You’ve got to set your sights a little differently with your breaking balls,” he said. “But I actually enjoy it. It’s a beautiful park.”
He wants to get back there. He is not racing toward it. One step at a time, he said. Get the delivery right first. Let the rest follow.
For a pitcher who was, not long ago, one of the most reliable closers in the American League, the patience required to rebuild something from the ground up in Triple-A in June is not nothing.
But Romano doesn’t frame it as patience.
He frames it as a preference.
The work itself, he says, is that part he loves. The competing and feeling good — that’s what he’s building toward.
“Sometimes it’s not as fun competing when you know you’re a little off, or you don’t feel right,” he said. “Competing and feeling good — that’s going to be fun. That’s honestly one of the better feelings you can have.”
He’s close. He said so himself. From a guy who has had every reason to stop believing it, that counted for something.
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Stop the presses, I hit a home run prop last night! The tide is turning, and now I have a small getaway slate to dig into those MLB player props for another Dinger winner.
The lefties have the hitting edge at Citi Field with winds going to right field and prime hitting conditions, while the bats at Kauffman will get an 18-mph wind boost to center field. I wrap things up with a Dodger bat this evening!
These are my favorite MLB home run props for Thursday, June 11.
| Player to hit a HR | Odds |
|---|---|
 Alec Burleson | +449 |
 Jac Caglianone | +582 |
 Freddie Freeman | +441 |
| 💲Today's HR parlay | +15519 |
Left-handed bats get a boost today with 10-mph winds blowing out to right field at Citi Field, and Alec Burleson is the target. He has already homered in each of the first two games of the series and has gone deep three times over his last five games.
He also owns one of the best flyball rates on the team over the last two weeks, and the lefty has one of the strongest pull rates in the lineup.
The fair price for him to go deep for a third straight game is closer to +370/+380, making him one of the better +EV dingers on the board today.
He'll face Christian Scott, who looks due for some correction in his current HR/FB rate while carrying one of the worst groundball rates in baseball.
Kauffman Stadium is hot and humid today with 18-mph winds blowing out to center field. The Royals get Kumar Rocker, who appears to be outperforming his underlying numbers. His HR/FB rate is roughly half of what it was last season, despite carrying a worse groundball rate.
He saw Kansas City two starts ago and pitched well, but the familiarity edge shifts to the Royals hitters in today's rematch.
Jac Caglianone is swinging the fastest bat on the Royals over the last two weeks and at a Top-10 rate in all of baseball. The bat speed is turning into production, as he has three home runs over that stretch while slugging a team-best .737.
Only 15 players in baseball have posted a better slugging percentage than Caglianone over the last 14 days.
His price is still longer than some of the bigger-name Royals bats, but based on recent form and the underlying metrics, Caglianone at +450 or better is the best way to take advantage of the wind, heat, and pitching matchup.
Mitch Keller is one of the better home run targets in the late games tonight. He has been especially vulnerable to left-handed hitters, who account for 68% of his home runs allowed since 2024.
The wind is blowing out to left field at 10 mph, which fits Freddie Freeman's profile, as only 12.2% of his balls in play are pulled.
Freeman is 9-for-18 lifetime vs. Keller, with one dinger, has three four-baggers over the last two weeks, and has the Dodgers' third-best slugging rate over that stretch — behind two guys who are 100 and 200 points shorter to go yard today.
There aren't a ton of good HR looks late today, but the righty vs. lefty of Keller vs. Freeman at +400 or better is making the card.
| Alec Burleson | Bet Now +15519 |
| Jac Caglianone | |
| Freddie Freeman |
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.
You could call it a spirited gathering.
As Gotham’s team of the moment rallied to a nailbiting 107-106 Game 4 win over the San Antonio Spurs in the last 1.2 seconds Wednesday night, a watch party haunted an unusual — if not ghoulish — locale: Sparrow Contemporary Funeral Home in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
The gathering drew about 75 Knicks fans-turned-funeral-home-guests, who savored the home team’s shocking recovery from a 29-point deficit within the parlor’s two service rooms, each space featuring a large projector screen, ample seating, and a spread of wine, beer, soda, chips and some appropriately orange and blue snacks.
Perhaps Knicks fans from the great beyond even joined them in spirit?
Sparrow owner Erica Hill told The Post that she’d initially been shocked by the “micro-viral” response to her initial Instagram posts promoting the party — one featuring a Knicks logo and cheeky overlay text proclaiming, “We know a thing or two about loss.”
That said, Hill, who founded the boutique spot in November 2021, has never viewed her business as a site solely for the morose, having hosted book launches, meditative experiences, and even comedy shows in the open-concept space.
At the watch party, while the volume was more respectful than an unruly bar level, it was still a lively group — and why not?
“My whole thing is, why can’t a funeral home be more than a ‘death space?’” said Hill, who intentionally designed Sparrow with light-colored walls, contemporary artwork, and skylights to go against the dark, gloomy funeral home archetype. “Why can’t it be a community space, where [people] come together to do many things?”
It wasn’t the only unexpected venue with a pop-up party, either.
The mosque at the Islamic Center of New York City in the West Village expected about 100 fans for its own gathering Wednesday night. And Jersey City’s Liberty Science Center welcomed revelers to a raucous Game 4 “After Dark” bash inside the soaring, 89-foot dome at Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium, with plans for another this Saturday for what Knicks fans hope is the championship finale, with Jalen Brunson and crew now leading the series 3-1.
Funeral guru Hill has cheered in the Knicks’ journey through the team’s run, but she was really inspired to host her shindig after seeing the recent video of the Knicks’ Karl-Anthony “KAT” Towns in which the NBA standout spoke about feeling his late mother’s presence on the court during Game 1 of the finals.
In the viral interview, Towns — who lost his mother Jacqueline Cruz in April 2020 due to complications from COVID-19 — said that he felt “a calm and a peace” while playing, having felt like he was “seeing her in the stands.”
A deeply moved Hill lost her own father, a lifelong basketball fan and player, a few years prior.
“We live in a society that doesn’t like to talk about people who have died, our grief or our sadness,” said Hill. “And then you see this New York Knicks [player] talk about his mom and how clearly he felt her presence — I just thought that was so beautiful [and] to honor him, we should have our own watch party here.”
Knicks cap-wearing attendee Will Borowski, a 28-year-old grave digger and monument restoration worker at Brooklyn’s historic Green-Wood Cemetery, first learned about it through a friend, death doula Gabrielle Gatto, who attends regular professional meet-ups at Sparrow.
Borowski confessed that he thought the idea seemed more than a little “out there.”
But, ever-willing to try new things, the native Brooklynite and avid Knicks fan tagged along — and almost immediately felt that it was “everywhere [he] needed to be.”
“Being a grave digger, it starts out, like, ‘Oh, my God, there’s this family grieving their loved one,’” Borowski told The Post. “After a while, it all blends into one job that I have to do … I think being here puts that into perspective. Everyone’s here because they grew up knowing somebody who was a big fan of sports, and that person touched them in a way that left a lasting impact.”
Instead of a funeral guest sign-in book, though, a Knicks logo-emblazoned easel board titled “Who Are You Watching For?” awaited party-goers, who added the names of departed loved ones who were dedicated sports fans.
For Borowski, that person was his uncle Kevin.
“He’s always someone I’ve sort of kept in my heart since he passed — we would always B.S. about why teams were doing well, why they weren’t doing well,” said Borowski. “He was the first person I thought of when I walked in here.”
For 32-year-old Gatto, who also works at Green-Wood, attending the event was a no-brainer.
On the board, she honored her uncle Vinnie, a firefighter and captain of Bed-Stuy’s FDNY Engine Company 235 who died of 9/11-related cancer.
“He would have loved this because he really lived life to the fullest,” Gatto told The Post. “His number one thing was to show up and be weird and see who falls in love with you because of that, and I think that’s what’s happening right here, right now.”
Sara Donnellan, a 31-year-old writer, checked out the party with her husband, Drummond Dominguez-Kincannon, after a friend initially shared the funeral home’s Instagram post with her as a joke. Having attended one of the home’s comedy shows in years past, she remembered being “impressed” by the warm environment and the unique way that Sparrow aimed to demystify death.
Dominguez-Kincannon, on the other hand, was a bit more hesitant when she asked whether he wanted to go.
“I was, like, ‘I don’t know, do I?'” Dominguez-Kincannon told The Post.
However, after his wife explained Sparrow’s mission, he quickly changed his tune.
“I’d thought, OK, that’s pretty cool,” Dominguez-Kincannon recalled. “I won’t be walking into a gloomy space … When I walked in, I was, like, all right — vibes seem high.”
More than anything, attending a Knicks party at a funeral home made the couple reflect on how grief and joy can often walk hand-in-hand — and at their best, bring the community together.
“I like the idea of coming into spaces like this, not just for a loved one passing,” said Sara. “Just recognizing that it doesn’t have to be this scary space — it can be just like any other place in the community that opens up doors.”
Texas Rangers lineup for June 11, 2026 against the Kansas City Royals: starting pitchers are Kumar Rocker for the Rangers and Michael Wacha for the Royals.
We have an afternoon getaway game in Kansas City today. If the Rangers win, they will win the series and get to .500. If they lose, they will lose the series, drop to two games under .500, and we will all continue to wonder whether they will ever get back to even this year. Joc Pederson gets the day off after leaving yesterday’s game with a hip issue.
The lineup:
Langford — LF
Seager — SS
Jung — 3B
Nimmo — DH
Duran — RF
Burger — 1B
Carter — CF
Diaz — C
Lopez — 2B
1:10 p.m. Central start time. Rangers are +105 underdogs.
Ron Swoboda. Stephane Matteau. Graeme Lloyd. David Tyree. OG Anunoby.
The pantheon of players who’ve come to New York and stamped themselves in playoff lore is short and sweet and celebrated. Anunoby’s Right Hand of God tip-follow with 1.2 seconds left completed a 30-point turnaround, the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, lifting the New York Knickerbockers to within one win of their first title since 1973. Diving catches in the World Series, a double-overtime series-winning goal, an improbable stretch of dominance, a freak play you couldn’t repeat if you tried 100 times . . . and OG may have topped them all.
Without the bitter life wouldn’t taste so sweet, but for the first 40 minutes the Knicks played like their pregame meal was grapefruit rinds. San Antonio built the biggest halftime lead for any Finals road team — 27. With just over nine minutes left, the Spurs were up 20. In an irony worthy of O. Henry, it happened despite Mike Brown’s team, having raised the issue of the free throw disparity after Game 3, quadrupling the visitor’s attempts by the break (23-6).
It was the 3-point shooting, natch, creating the division between the sides, with the visitors +30 from deep by halftime. For much of the first half, I thought, “All right, they can’t keep making 60% of their 3s,” which gave way to “They really gonna make 60% of their 3s?!” Understand: for far longer than is decent, the Spurs were on pace to score 180 points. On offense, they couldn’t miss. On defense, they made Jalen Brunson endure a triathlon just getting the ball past midcourt. Karl-Anthony Towns took two shots the whole first half, the victim of an absurd coach’s challenge in the game’s first minute. The Spur reserves outscored the Knicks’ 22-2. Pick your poison, it all pointed to the same end. Not that some of us lost sight of the big picture.
Madison Square Garden belongs to the people, and we the people all, eventually, belong to the dead. There are ghosts at 33rd and 8th. Ghosts that don’t take kindly to 22-year-olds throwing cheap shots, reveling in their protected status at the league office and mouthing off about being in someone’s head when they’re down in the series and there’s most of the game left to contest. The Knicks needed to look within. They needed the crowd. But they also needed the ghosts.
When San Antonio’s lead was at its peak, 29, Victor Wembanyama — bet your bottom dollar the league overturns it — was whistled for a flagrant foul for swinging a ‘bow into KAT’s face. Obviously the ghost of J.R. Smith briefly possessed Wemby, making him go one step too far with the aggression while making amends for the 2013 elbow on Jason Terry, the one that sent a promising oasis of a season down the tubes (Mixed metaphors, I know. I’m a goof). The rest of the way it was 55-25 Knicks.
The last time the Knicks came this close to a title, a small sparkplug guard who played harder than anybody, whose superpower was his effort, couldn’t hit a basket in Game 7. The ghost of John Starks was with Jose Alvarado last night. The Puerto Rican demigod played only three minutes in the first half but 12 in the second, giving the Knicks a critical second ball-handler to give Brunson a chance to be Brunson. 10 of those minutes were in the fourth, when he hit all three of his shots for eight points, including an essential bomb with three minutes left to make it a four-point game.
By his lofty standards, Patrick Ewing struggled in the one Finals he played in. The scoring touch just wasn’t there. So what did The Big Fella do? Just haul in a Finals-leading 12.4 rebounds while setting the record for blocks in a Finals. The ghost of Aloysius was with Towns last night. KAT had a team-high 10 rebounds and broke his fourth-quarter scoreless streak. Most importantly, KAT was there. Playing. Present. Even when he wasn’t looking to shoot, the threat Towns presents kept Wembanyama out guarding him away from the basket, opening up some precious real estate for the other Knicks to do their thing.
Early on, my nightmare scenario was coming true: with KAT in early foul trouble and Mitch Hack-a-Mitch’d, Mike Brown had to turn to Ariel Hukporti and Jeremy Sochan for first-half minutes at the 5. I like them both, but no. After only eight first-half minutes, Towns staying out of foul trouble the rest of the way let him play 18 in the second. He wasn’t much of a scorer, but he grabbed seven rebounds post-intermission and dished a couple of dimes. He did whatever they needed from him to win this game. All the players did.
And the coach, and while some people continue to debate the relative worth of Mike Brown, I say any coach who in the biggest spot looks more Red than Riley is worth his weight in gold. The ghost of Pat the Rat’s decision to play Starks ad nauseum when he couldn’t make a jumper, with Rolando Blackman on the bench, has haunted any Knick fan who lived through that Game 7 in Houston; Riley himself has said it’s his biggest coaching regret.
When the 1970 Knicks lost Willis Reed early in Game 5 of the Finals, Cazzie Russell and Dave Stallworth stepped up as the entire Knick squad pulled in one direction, ultimately toppling Wilt Chamberlain. There’s a difference between a total team and a top-heavy group.
Brown played 12 Knicks in the first half. Tom Thibodeau would have shrunk the rotation to four. But in order to best the Spurs’ modern-day Prometheus, it was going to take a true team effort, every last ounce every last one of them could muster. And they did. And they did it. The Spurs made 28 shots in the first half. Second half? Eight. New York closed on a 32-11 run, their eleventy billionth huge run of this postseason.
The Knicks winning the championship was never going to happen in a dull, mundane fashion. It was always gonna take something like the greatest Finals comeback in league history. And you know? There was literally no point last night when I thought they were done. That is a quality unique to this Knick of any I’ve ever watched. I was frustrated and confused as they fell behind. I was sick of all the (understandable) gushing over San Antonio’s play the first two or three or three-plus quarters. I was never without hope. I was never even without certainty.
One of the oldest ghosts at Madison Square Garden has been the fake comeback, for years the symbol of everything we loved and lashed out at with this team. The fake comeback is the epitome of team-sponsored torture — they let you down, only to build you up, only to let you down, like you *knew* they always would.
These Knicks? They never let you down. Can you believe it? We’ve waited 53 years to say that.
Quoth Mike Breen after OG’s tip-in: “It’s good! It’s good! It’s good!” It is. It really, truly is. Last night wasn’t just a comeback for the ages. It was catharsis, the breaking of one identity and the premiere of a new one. Like the 2004 Red Sox. Or a hermit crab. Or Carrie, after the prom. The “LOL Knicks,” the “Knicks for clicks,” the “not a model of intelligent management” Knicks? They’re on life support. They could be, should be the new ghosts, and sooner than later. The old Knicks are dead.
All hail the new New York Knicks.
The MLB draft is a month away, to be held during All-Star week in Philadelphia beginning on July 11. The Royals benefitted from the draft lottery, moving them up to the #6 overall pick. This is considered a fairly strong draft class with good impact talent, with a terrific class of college hitters at the top and a deep pool of talented high school pitchers.
UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is the consensus best player in this class, likely to go #1 to the White Sox. Prep shortstop Grady Emerson is the top high school player with Georgia Tech catcher Vahn Lackey also likely to go in the first few picks.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel writes that the “next grouping after the clear top three players” includes high school shortstop Jacob Lombard, high school outfielder Eric Booth Jr., and college pitcher Jackson Flora. The Royals should be positioned to grab one of these six players, but they also have the sixth-largest bonus pool, which could allow them to be flexible. There is typically a surprise in the first ten picks, and McDaniel thinks it could come with the Royals’ pick. They could cut an under-slot deal with the #6 pick, to grab a first-round talent in later rounds that fell due to high bonus demands.
What are the top draft observers saying about who the Royals might take? While mock drafts remain an inexact science, many of the game’s top draft writers keep connecting Kansas City to the same handful of names, most notably Lombard, Booth, and left-hander Gio Rojas.
Jacob Lombard is a right-handed bat whose father George was a big leaguer, and whose brother is a top prospect with the Yankees. The Miami-area product is a five-tool player widely lauded for his baseball IQ and coachability. The last time the Royals selected a toolsy, mature high school shortstop whose dad played in the big leagues, it seemed to work out for them. In a mock draft back in early May, Keith Law of the Athletic had the Royals going chalk and grabbing Lombard. Most other mocks also report the Royals prefer Lombard, although they don’t think he will be available when the Royals select at #6.
Eric Booth Jr. is a 70-grade runner with good bat speed that some evaluators think will translate to decent power numbers in the big leagues. MLB Pipeline notes that Booth’s left-handed swing can look choppy at times, but evaluators are encouraged by his excellent exit velocities. He also won the home run derby at the Perfect Game All-American Classic. Joel Reuter at Bleacher Report has the Royals taking Booth, citing his potential as a “20-homer, 40-steal everyday center fielder.” Law reports that the Royals’ plan is to take either Lombard or Booth if one is available. McDaniel and Carlos Collazo at Baseball America each write that the Royals prefer Lombard to Booth.
Gio Rojas could be the option if both Lombard and Booth are off the table. Jim Callis at MLB Pipeline wrote the Royals will “sort through the consensus top six players, at least one of whom will get to them, along with left-hander Gio Rojas, the consensus top prep pitcher.” The Miami-area lefty can run his fastball up to 98 mph and complements it with a sweeping slider and a changeup. MLB Pipeline writes he has the makings of a frontline starter, and with “outstanding presence on the mound” and an ability to “fill up the strike zone.” McDaniel writes that Rojas is the backup option if Lombard and Booth are both off the table, possibly as a “cut-rate option” that could sign underslot. Collazo reports the Royals have heavily scouted Rojas.
Jackson Flora is the top college pitcher on the board, and could be an option if the top prep players are off the board. Peyton Sower at Just Baseball writes that Royals scouting director Brian Bridges has done well with college pitching selection in recent years, so he has the UC-Santa Barbara pitcher going to the Royals. He writes that Flora has a “fascinating arsenal” with “above-average command” including a kick-change he uses against left-handers. Flora had a 1.06 ERA with 133 strikeouts in 102 innings this season for the Gauchos.
Other names that could be possibilities for the Royals include high school pitcher Carson Bolemon, who Keith Law calls one of the top prep arms. He writes that the Royals prefer Lombard or Booth, but pitching could be a “fallback option” with the South Carolina lefty a possibility.
California high schooler Jared Grindlinger is an intriguing two-way player that most teams see as a hitter, but Callis reports the Royals like him better as a pitcher. At 17, he’s one of the youngest players in the draft, but has a fastball that sits 90-93 mph that could tick up as he grows.
Collazo reports there is some buzz about Florida right-hander Liam Peterson, although he might be a reach at #6. The Royals have gone with Gator pitchers before – notably Brady Singer and Jackson Kowar. Peterson stands 6’5” with a mid-90s fastball that could increase in velo in shorter stints. He had a 4.59 ERA with 111 strikeouts in 84.1 innings this year for the Gators.
The Royals could look to college hitters, with McDaniel suggesting Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick is an option. A right-handed slugger, Helfrick hit .283/.417/.562 with 18 home runs in 62 games for the Razorbacks and 55 walks. Mark Powell at FanSided has the Royals going with Drew Burress, who hit .358/.473/.657 with 16 home runs and 10 steals in 61 games for Georgia Tech. Burress is a more polished hitter, but standing at 5’9”, he lacks imposing physical tools. Powell writes that Burress has rising stock, and would likely be an underslot signing.
From celebrity row at Madison Square Garden to the feud between owner James Dolan and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over security at watch parties, Knicks fans have become a focal point of the 2026 NBA Finals. But they're not all making the best impression with the franchise in the spotlight again, just one win away from winning its first championship since 1973.
The unfortunate behavior may now include an apparent egging attempt on the Spurs' best player.
Another wave of arrests occurred during the celebrations that followed the Knicks' thrilling comeback win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, June 10, and video later emerged on social media of an object thrown at Spurs star Victor Wembanyama from the swarm of New York fans waiting outside the team's hotel. The caption on the original video referred to the object as an egg.
This latest incident comes on the heels of videos that appeared to show a fan wearing a Spurs jersey being attacked after NBA Finals Game 3 in New York, and drew a strong reaction in the aftermath of the Knicks' historic comeback.
"If you're throwing eggs at Victor Wembanyama and, the other night, if you're beating up on people, threatening, or doing anything to people wearing Spurs jerseys, just know that you are a disgrace," ESPN's Mike Greenberg said on "Get Up," while also referring to these particular Knicks fans as "lunatics."
"You're not disgracing the city, you're disgracing yourself and everyone that knows you, and that should go without saying," Greenberg added.
Wembanyama looked back briefly but otherwise did not appear to react when the object was thrown at him following Game 4 on Wednesday. Another angle makes it appear as if the object (likely an egg) hit a street sign near where Wembanyama was walking and liquid (yolk?) splashed near him.
He was then quickly ushered into the hotel by security without further incident.
Someone just perfectly threw an egg at Wemby LMFAOOO pic.twitter.com/yvPPzWZaAf
— 🌧️ (@wstgoat7) June 11, 2026
Knicks fans WAITED for the Spurs at their hotel and somebody threw something at Wemby and hit him
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) June 11, 2026
THIS IS ACTUALLY INSANE MAN WTF
pic.twitter.com/9guYUKJI1z
There were fan gatherings across New York City as the Knicks completed the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history, but some again required law enforcement involvement.
According to the NYPD, across multiple locations around the city, 56 people were taken into custody, 15 were arrested, and 41 were released with criminal court summonses. Some of the charges included assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon (knife), reckless endangerment, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction of governmental administration, and trademark counterfeiting.
The NYPD previously released surveillance photos related to the Game 3 incident and announced it was looking for a group of five men charged with robbery. They allegedly surrounded a man wearing a Spurs jersey walking back to his hotel around midnight in midtown Manhattan and "proceeded to punch and kick the victim about the body and forcibly removed the victim's basketball jersey from his body."
"Being a Knick fan doesn't mean being disrespectful to Spurs fans in any way," actor and celebrity Knicks fan Ben Stiller wrote on social media ahead of Game 4. "We get caught up during the games but we gotta show respect to our fellow humans."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Knicks fans blasted for Victor Wembanyama egging, NBA Finals conduct
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Happy Friday Junior, folks! Read that again: I did not say "Happy Friday."
Despite it being a getaway day, there are a few guys I'm in love with to have success at the dish today: Hunter Goodman, Miguel Vargas, and Randal Grichuk.
Here's how I'm targeting their MLB player props on June 11.
| Player | Pick | Odds |
|---|---|---|
 Hunter Goodman | Over 1.5 total bases | -102 |
 Miguel Vargas | Over 1.5 total bases | +104 |
| Randal Grichuk | Over 1.5 total bases | +117 |
Over at Coors Field, Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman finds himself in yet another great matchup against Chicago Cubs right-hander Edward Cabrera.
In the default ratings on Batters-Box, Goodman owns a strong rating, with that data dating back to the start of his career. While the sophomore catcher carries an elite rating in the current season timeframe, his trends toward a strong rating are still worth noting.
Across 30 strong ratings, Goodman has left the yard 26.67% of the time and surpassed this prop in 50% of those games. Not only that, but the Rockies' backstop owns an 87.4% arsenal coverage rating against Cabrera's pitch mix.
The 26-year-old got off to a slow start this season, but he has turned things around over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, batting .304 with a 1.000 SLG and 1.433 OPS while producing a 55.6% hard-hit rate and 33.5% barrel rate.
Since returning from injury, Cabrera has not exactly been a pitcher I'm looking to back.
Against the last 30 right-handed hitters he's faced, he's allowed 47.4% hard contact, a 21.1% barrel rate, and a 52.7% elevation rate. Those hitters have also posted a .311 xBA, .681 xSLG, and .426 xwOBA during that stretch.
At nearly even money for two bases at Coors Field, I'd play this down to -110 if I had to.
The next two guys I'm going to boast about offer a ton of value this evening. Sure, they might not even play due to the thunderstorms expected to roll through the South Side of Chicago, but I don't look at, nor do I care about, the weather.
14 mph winds blowing out, though. Eyes emoji
With how well Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas has been playing this season — especially against southpaws — it's hard to pass up the value on him tonight.
For those worried about the rain, I actually love a hitter even more if there's a delay. Making a starting pitcher go through his routine twice before the first pitch can throw everything out of whack.
Vargas enters today with a favorable matchup rating on Batters-Box in the default ratings dating back three seasons. More importantly, he owns an elite rating in the current season timeframe.
He also carries a 95.3% arsenal coverage rating against Atlanta Braves left-hander Martin Perez's pitch mix.
The soon-to-be All-Star has been torching lefties. Over his last 30 plate appearances against them, Vargas owns a .409 batting average, .682 slugging percentage, and a 1.234 OPS, while producing 60% hard contact and a 10% barrel rate.
Perez has allowed nearly a 60% elevation rate to right-handed hitters on the road while also surrendering 40.6% hard contact.
With the wind blowing out and the way Vargas has been seeing left-handed pitching, I want to be all over him this evening. I wouldn't pay any juice on this prop, so shop around and grab the best plus-money price you can find.
The other guy I’m in love with in this matchup is newly added fan favorite Randal Grichuk, who has been a great addition for the White Sox since arriving from the Yankees.
Like Vargas, he has been giving left-handed pitchers hell this season, sporting a .407 BA, .889 SLG, and 1.356 OPS over his last 30 plate appearances against southpaws. During that span, he has also produced a 40.9% hard-hit rate and a 9.1% barrel rate.
The 34-year-old veteran owns the second-highest rating in this matchup over on Batters-Box, marking his 33rd elite home rating. In his previous 32 elite home ratings, he has recorded at least one hit 65.63% of the time and doubled in 37.5% of them.
With Grichuk hitting in the two-hole and two bases sitting at +117, I think this is a great spot for both the No. 2 and No. 3 hitters tonight — assuming the weather cooperates.
For those wondering why I'm backing these props despite the weather concerns, my answer is simple: if they're playing, there's always a chance.
That's how I've always approached it. Others may disagree, but I spend far too much time digging through the data to let the possibility of rain, snow, or even a massive typhoon scare me off a play. If the game is on, it's in consideration.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
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