In 2023, during an NBA Today discussion on ESPN about the Knicks being stuck in purgatory, Becky Hammon shared a hot-button take about Brunson's ceiling. Hammon asserted New York didn't have "a dude" or true No. 1 superstar to win a championship. Analyst Kendrick Perkins pushed back, saying the Knicks had Brunson, but Hammon didn't agree.
The Aces coach argued the 6-foot-2 guard was "too small," citing examples such as John Stockton, Steve Nash and Allen Iverson. Hammon mentioned Stephen Curry as the lone exception to the rule. With the Knicks now in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, Hammon's comments have resurfaced. The Las Vegas coach appears to be catching some heat from fans, but remains unfazed.
"The two best teams are probably in the West, but I'm up for being proven wrong," Hammon said. "And that's the other thing. I think Jalen Brunson's a hell of a player. A hell of a player. I'm speaking historically on the NBA with what I said ... I stand by it."
In response to the recent online backlash, Hammon didn't understand why her comments had resurfaced when it's been over two years. A media member said they were giving Hammon a chance to "clear the air," but she didn't subscribe to that notion.
"There's no air to be cleared. I said what I said. (If) he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong," she said. Hammon, who spent time in the NBA from 2014 to 2021 with the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach, emphasized again she believes the two best teams in the league were in the Western Conference.
"You know who I'm cheering for," Hammon said, smiling.
RHP Jhony Brito continues his rehab assignment with Double-A San Antonio after getting started with the ACL team. He is working as a starter and threw 3.1 innings on May 23, throwing 68 pitches, giving up three runs and six hits in his second start.
RHP Ryan Och, catcher Brendan Durfee, catcher Blake Hunt, LHP Adler Cecil, and lefty reliever Zack Qin are all on rehab assignments with the ACL Padres to start their return to the season. Och, Durfee and Hunt should end up with El Paso. Qin and Adler will probably go to Single-A Lake Elsinore.
Veteran infielder José Miranda, who had an opt-out in his contract in June, was released by the Padres on May 18. Playing with El Paso since the end of Spring Training, Miranda, 27, was hitting .268/.308/.482 with five home runs and 26 RBI. Two younger players, Samad Taylor and Jase Bowen, have been more productive and there didn’t appear to be a future for Miranda with the Padres.
El Paso Chihuahuas (23-28 record, 3rd in Pacific Coast League East)
Infielder Mason McCoy has found power in the 2026 season and leads the Triple-A Chihuahuas with 34 RBI. He has seven doubles, a triple, and six home runs with a .458 slug. Outfielder Jase Bowen continues to lead with 12 homers and has 33 RBI and a .600 slug. IF/OF Samad Taylor leads with a .329 average, and infielder Pablo Reyes has a .422 OBP and .966 OPS.
Bowen and Taylor would be the front-runners to come to the Padres in the event of an injury, although only McCoy and infielder Will Wagner are the ones who remain on the 40-man roster.
Righty starter Evan Fitterer has surprised this season, showing outstanding command with his 93-95 mph fastball and plus-curve to earn a 2.09 ERA in 38.2 innings pitched and nine starts. No other pitcher on the staff has an ERA less than 3.30, even the relievers.
Righty David Morgan is still struggling with his command, despite having quality stuff, and has a 7.56 ERA in 8.1 innings with El Paso.
Righty Garrett Hawkins, on the 40-man roster and the Padres No. 12 prospect, has lost some velocity and command this season. He is carrying a 5.49 ERA in 19.2 relief innings with 15 strikeouts and 19 walks.
San Antonio Missions (17-28 record, last in Texas League South)
Righty starter Miguel Mendez, on the 40-man roster, has struggled since returning from the neck sprain that took him out soon after the start of the season. He has a 5.40 ERA in 19.2 innings with 24 strikeouts and 10 walks. His command/control has not returned to their previous levels, although his stuff remains good.
LHP Omar Cruz has been working out of the bullpen and has a 5.14 ERA in 14 innings with 21 strikeouts to six walks. In his last two appearances, he has piggybacked with Mendez and gone long relief in both his starts.
Righty starter Ian Koenig has an overall ERA of 4.31 in 39.2 innings over eight starts. The 25-year-old has been better over his last two starts with 11.1 innings pitched and a 3.86 ERA.
RHP Francis Peña has 13 relief appearances for 18.1 innings with a 1.47 ERA. His walks are still high with 20 to his 27 strikeouts, but his struggles of last season seem to be behind him.
Righty starter Victor Lizarraga had a difficult start to the season and carries a 5.55 ERA in his 35.2 innings but has been better in May. Over his past two starts, he has a 1.50 ERA in 12.1 innings pitched.
Leandro Cedeño, the 27-year-old free agent sign from the offseason, continues to lead in all hitting averages for San Antonio. Catcher Ethan Salas, who turns 20 on June 1, has the lead in homers with six and RBI with 24. He has cooled slightly from his torrid April but is still hitting .289 in May with an .810 OPS. He also has nine stolen bases in 10 attempts.
Outfielder Kai Roberts has 14 stolen bases without being caught and boasts plus-speed and plus-defense. His hitting has not caught up for the 25-year-old.
First baseman Romeo Sanabria, who impressed during major league spring camp, started slow with the Missions but is heating up in May. He is currently sitting with four home runs, 20 RBI, and a .368 OBP.
Infielder Carson Tucker has also slowed a bit in May but is still hitting .309/.361/.409 with nine doubles, a triple, and 10 RBI.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (22-23 record, 4th in Midwest League East)
Left-handed starter Kash Mayfield started 2025 strong, then had a shoulder injury. When he returned, the organization limited his innings, and he was inconsistent. Starting 2026, Mayfield has been dominant and is easily the best pitcher on the TinCaps. He has a 1.30 ERA in 34.2 innings pitched across eight games. He has 43 strikeouts to 14 walks, which gives him a 34.7% K rate. Hitters are batting .099 against him.
Mayfield had a significant drop in velocity to his fastball last season, even before his shoulder injury. Getting that velocity back this season has been an ongoing goal.
This season, he has topped out at 95.7 mph while hitting 95 mph in his most recent start. The 21-year-old should still have more to come and should be back to the 92-97 mph range he had as an amateur. In a recent interview with Clark Fahrenthold of MadFriars.com, Mayfield speaks to working on his delivery to increase velocity and is seeing the results.
“In my motion, I’m putting in a little more effort instead of just cruising through the motion – kind of going max effort at the finish and driving with my back leg – and since doing that, the velo has slowly started to tick up again.”
His throwing motion features deception, and he hides the ball well. He features his fastball, a killer change-up, and a slider that he is still working on.
Reliever Clay Edmondson, drafted in the 14th round of the 2025 draft, is a sidewinder who doesn’t throw hard but has a 51.4% ground ball rate and a 0.47 ERA in 19 innings over 16 games. He has become the closer for the team and recently earned his 10th save for the season.
Right-handed starter Carson Montgomery, in his first full season after returning from Tommy John surgery, has a 1.41 ERA in 32 innings pitched over seven starts. Currently ranked the No. 30 prospect on MLB Pipeline, Montgomery features a mid-90’s fastball with a slider/sweeper and a change-up. He has excellent command so far this year, with 29 strikeouts to 13 walks.
Outfielder Alex McCoy continues to show that he has made an adjustment with his swing, giving him better contact than he has shown previously. McCoy leads the team in average (.303), slug (.599), and OPS (.967). His nine home runs and 28 RBI are also tops with the TinCaps. He leads the team in doubles with 16 and has eight stolen bases in 11 attempts.
Outfielder Kasen Wells leads the team in OBP with a .394 average and has 26 walks. He also leads in stolen bases with 11 in 17 tries. Outfielder Jake Cunningham is pushing McCoy with his .303/.379/.560 batting line. He has seven home runs and 20 RBI.
After starting his rehab in Arizona, righty reliever Ty Adcock has joined Fort Wayne.
Lake Elsinore Storm (25-20 record, tied for 1st in California League South)
Catcher Ty Harvey is back with the Storm after his injury rehab. He and catcher Truitt Madonna split time between C/DH/1B and are showing why they are both in the top prospect list. Harvey has played in less games due to his injury but is hitting .340 with a .912 OPS. Madonna started slower but has an .844 OPS in May. He has 11 stolen bases in 15 tries, Harvey has five stolen bases in six tries.
Infielder Kerrington Cross, drafted in the seventh round of the 2025 draft, is not in the top 30 of the prospect list but is pushing for a promotion before mid-summer. The corner infielder is hitting .307/.496/.568 with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs and 20 RBI. He has also stolen six bases in seven tries over his 35 games and 88 at-bats.
Outfielder Ryan Wideman has cooled off a bit in May but is still hitting .295 with an .840 OPS. He has 12 doubles, five triples, three home runs, and 30 RBI with 33 stolen bases in 40 attempts. The centerfielder also plays excellent defense to go with an average arm. His biggest weakness at draft time was his chase tendencies and his strikeout rate. He currently has 37 strikeouts in his 176 at-bats and a 21% K rate.
ACL Padres (8-9 record, 3rd in ACL West)
Infielder Dawson Willis is an undrafted free agent signed in 2025. At 6-feet-4 and 22-years-old, Willis is a defense-first 3B/SS who has just begun his professional career with the Padres. In four games and 14 at-bats he has two doubles, a triple and is hitting .429/.500/.714.
C/1B Jholan Downer and SS Yimy Tovar lead the team with averages of .348 and .345, respectively. Tovar is repeating in the ACL and could be pushing for a promotion to Lake Elsinore soon.
Taiwanese righty Lan-Hong Su has started two games and has four innings pitched. He has eight strikeouts in those four innings pitched and four walks, allowing no runs.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 16: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chuck's Global Stars brings the ball up court against Kyrie Irving #11 of the Dallas Mavericks and Shaq's OGs during the 74th NBA All-Star Game at Chase Center on February 16, 2025 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Rockets fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
The Houston Rockets are used to this. Pretty much every name that might be available on the trade market has been linked to them. That’s been happening for a while now. Houston has historically been a pretty aggressive team when it comes to trades, and that reputation has remained through GM Rafael Stone’s tenure. The Rockets were linked just yesterday to Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics. They’ve also been linked this offseason to Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Donovan Mitchell, and Giannis Antetokuonmpo.
What we want to know is, out of those five players, which one would you most like to see on the Rockets?
Cast your vote, tell us in the comments, and we’ll be back soon with the results.
MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said antics on the mound by Brewers reliever Abner Uribe after an inning-ending strikeout in a 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals were unacceptable.
Uribe got Alec Burleson on a called third strike with two outs and runners on first and second in the eighth, the only inning he pitched. Uribe then made three WWE-style crotch chops while facing the Cardinals dugout.
The Cardinals challenged the call, which was close, but narrowly confirmed to be at the bottom of the strike zone.
“I don’t know what got over him. I mean, he’s been an emotional guy, but that kind of things, that’s just not how we do things,” Murphy said. “I was embarrassed by it. Why are we doing it? It’s a 6-0 game. What are we doing there?”
“I love the kid. Believe me, I love the kid,” Murphy continued. “There’s so much good in this kid. He’s been so great for us in so many ways, but that’s unacceptable. So, whatever’s going on, you can’t tolerate that. For his teammates, and for everything, it’s not going to be tolerated, that’s all there is to it.”
Murphy said he already talked with Uribe. Murphy also realized how close the pitch was to being overturned and the possible ramifications.
“The thing that I think about is if that challenge got overturned, you’ve got to reset and go back out there and pitch,” Murphy said. “This is Major League Baseball. Guys can reset, boom, base hit, dumper, homer, and all of a sudden it’s 6-5.”
Uribe apologized through an interpreter, but also directed some of the blame toward the Cardinals.
“Everyone here knows me and knows who I am, and knows I have a bit of a history of being emotional out there,” Uribe said. “I think first I owe an apology to the Brewers. I owe an apology to my teammates, to my manager, all the bosses of the team. I understand that’s unacceptable, to go out there and react in a way like that.”
“But at the same time, I don’t think it’s unprofessional for their manager to be making signs towards our dugout saying that he’s going to be hitting guys,” Uribe said. “There was an event that occurred during the practice today, too, and I don’t think that was right. So, I have my teammates’ back always.”
Uribe declined to elaborate on the event, and said St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was making signs during the previous game that led Uribe to believe it was to hit Brewers batters.
Marmol did not comment afterward on Uribe’s antics on the mound.
“It looked like their team and Murph was handling it on their side,” Marmol said. “That’s their player. We’ll handle ours.”
At the time, however, Marmol was not aware of Uribe’s accusation.
Uribe was suspended for six games and fined following a benches-clearing brawl against the Tampa Bay Rays in April 2024.
If you've been watching the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, you know that they are absolutely littered with former
Columbus Blue Jackets players. From Vegas and Colorado to Carolina and Montreal, there is no shortage of former CBJ to watch.
But, with last night's sweep of the Colorado Avalanche, the Vegas Golden Knights will be sending a trio of former players to the Cup final. Oh, and the head coach, John Tortorella.
Brandon Saad - Traded to Columbus in June of 2015. He then played two seasons, totaling 106 points, before being traded back to the Chicago Blackhawks in June of 2017 for Artemi Panarin. He has 2 points in 5 playoff games for Vegas.
William Karlsson - Contrary to popular belief, Karlsson was not drafted by the CBJ. He was traded to Columbus in March of 2015. He played two full seasons and totaled 45 points for Columbus. The CBJ left him unprotected in the 2017 Vegas expansion draft and was snatched up by the VGK. The Vegas original has now played nine seasons for the Golden Knights and totaled 403 points, highlighted by his wacky first season in the desert, where he scored 43 goals and 78 points. He hasn't come anywhere close to the 43 goals and 78 points since that 2018 season. He has 76 points in 116 playoff games for Vegas.
Keegan Kolesar - Ok, I admit, this one is a bit of a stretch since he never actually played for Columbus, but he was chosen 69th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft. He was traded to the VGK on June 24, 2017, in exchange for a pick that would become Alex Texier. The Vegas original has 120 points in 439 games for Vegas. He has 4 goals in 72 playoff games.
John Tortorella - Vegas shocked the NHL world when they fired Bruce Cassidy before the season's end. Since then, he's led the Knights to a division title and has just swept the heavy cup favorite Colorado Avalanche. In Columbus, he led his teams to a 227-166-54 record with four playoff appearances. Included in that is the historic sweep of the 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning team, which highly resembled the Avs team he just swept.
The Vegas Golden Knights await the winner of the Carolina Hurricanes and Montreal Canadiens series, which features a couple more former Blue Jackets.
Next Up For Columbus: The NHL Draft is on June 26 and 27 in Buffalo, where the CBJ will own pick #14.
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CLEVELAND, OHIO - MAY 26: Andrés Chaparro #87 and Curtis Mead #45 of the Washington Nationals celebrate after defeating the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on May 26, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Nationals defeated the Guardians 6-3. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After another highly impressive performance, the Nats are now two games over .500. They will finish off their road trip this afternoon in Cleveland, and finally get an off day afterwards. While the Nats have been outstanding this season, they only have one sweep. The boys will look to change that today.
With a righty back on the mound for the Guardians, the Nats are making a few changes. Luis Garcia Jr. will be back in the lineup at first base. Curtis Mead looks to be a full time player now, getting another start at third. Jorbit Vivas will start at second over Nasim Nunez. Jose Tena will be back at DH, which slides Daylen Lile to left and James Wood to right. Dylan Crews will get the day off today. Drew Millas will be doing the catching in this one. PJ Poulin will open again, and Miles Mikolas will follow. It should be all hands on deck with a fresh bullpen and an off day.
The Guardians are changing some things up too. Jose Ramirez will be at DH. That will move Daniel Schneemann from center field to third base. Steven Kwan will go back to center field. Back up catcher Austin Hedges will get his first start of the series. Gavin Williams has been outstanding for the Guardians this year and will hope to give Cleveland length after their first two starters got lit up.
Guardians 5/27
T. Bazzana 2B J. Ramírez DH C. DeLauter RF K. Manzardo 1B A. Martínez LF D. Schneemann 3B S. Kwan CF A. Hedges C B. Rocchio SS
This road trip against two first place teams has already been outstanding. Getting the sweep today would be the cherry on top. The bullpen should be involved heavily today given their lack of usage lately and the off day tomorrow. Blake Butera should go all in for the sweep. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
One of the biggest storylines surrounding the Florida Panthers heading into the summer is their goaltending.
Or perhaps, it’s their lack thereof.
As of now, the Panthers do not have any NHL goaltenders under contract for next season.
Longtime starter Sergei Bobrovsky will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1 following the expiration of the seven-year, $70 million deal he signed with Florida back in 2019.
Bobrovsky, who will be 38 years old on Opening Night later this year, is reportedly still looking for a reasonably-sized payday and a deal that will have some term attached to it.
Considering his age,v those could be fairly big asks, but he’s also been arguably the best playoff goaltender over the past several seasons and has a pair of Stanley Cup wins under his belt to go along with the well-earned reputation.
Ideally, Bobrovsky and the Panthers will negotiate their way to something that both sides can live with, but the vibe over the past several weeks is that the two sides are not close.
“He wants to stay in Florida, I think that’s the preference,” Pagnotta said. “He wants to stay there but he also wants term, by every indication.”
Pagnotta mentioned the six-year, $31.5 million deal Florida signed a then-37-year-old Brad Marchand to last summer as something Bobrovsky may be looking at the Panthers to offer, with more money spread out over a longer-term deal.
The two sides have been discussing a contract extension for several months, Pagnotta said, which is why Borbovsky’s name came up around the Trade Deadline.
That outside interest in Bobrovsky remains there, but how far those potential discussions go will depend on how things shake out with the Panthers.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he goes to July 1, to at least understand what the proper appetite is out there for his services,” Pagnotta said. “But again, his priority would be to stay in Florida. I think the Panthers certainly would like to keep him, but at the same time, they’re going to do their due diligence as well, and look to see what other options might be available if Bob leaves.”
Those options could include a pair of veteran goaltenders that could be available via trade this summer in Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues.
“One guy, I think, on (Florida’s) radar is St. Louis’s Jordan Binnington, who is going to be entering the final year of his contract,” Pagnotta said. “Again, the priority is to keep Bob, but Florida is going to look at their options if that’s not the case.”
Binnington has one year remaining on his current deal with an average annual value (AAV) of $6 million while Hellebuyck has five years left on his contract that carries an AAV of $8.5 million.
Florida is estimated to have around $15.2 million in cap space to work with this summer, according to PuckPedia.
We still have about a month until the NHL Draft, which takes place on June 26 and 27 in Buffalo and will be followed by the start of free agency on July 1.
It should be a fun and interesting time between now and then as we keep track of all the chatter regarding potential player signings and movement while simultaneously enjoying the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Photo caption: Apr 4, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) looks on against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period at PPG Paints Arena. (Mark Alberti-Imagn Images)
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani was hit on the right hand by a pitch and left the Los Angeles Dodgers’ game against the Colorado Rockies.
The two-way superstar was struck by Rockies starter Kyle Freeland in the fourth. Ohtani left after grounding out in the fifth. He was 0 for 2 with a run scored in the team’s 16-5 win.
Manager Dave Roberts said the ball mostly hit the pad on Ohtani’s hand before clipping his pinkie finger.
“We’re in a good spot,” he said, adding that given the Dodgers’ big lead he wanted Ohtani to rest ahead of his scheduled mound start in the series finale.
“I haven’t decided yet if he’s going to hit,” Roberts said. “I just want to kind of make sure how he comes in and physically how he feels because I want to make sure he feels really good on the pitching side of things.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Yankees manager Aaron Boone watched the hits begin to pile up on the massive, crown-shaped scoreboard beyond the centerfield wall at Kauffman Stadium, and he knew that his team was doing something impressive against the Kansas City Royals.
He didn’t know until afterward that it was something historic.
Yes, there were six home runs, including two from Amed Rosario. And the Yankees put up 24 hits in the 15-1 romp, their most since a game against Baltimore in July 2011. But what set the performance apart from all others — including all those games played by Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle — was this simple fact: For the first time in their storied history, the Yankees got at least two hits from every single player in their starting lineup.
“I did see all the hits on the board,” Boone said afterward, “and I was like, ‘Man, you don’t see that very often.’”
The Yankees had the benefit of facing the Royals on a designated bullpen day. Struggling reliever Bailey Falter was first on the mound, and he allowed as many hits (seven) as he record outs. Luinder Avila wasn’t a whole lot better when he replaced him.
The last of the hits came against outfielder Tyler Tolbert, who threw a steady diet of 44 mph pitches to get through the ninth inning.
Yet that doesn’t take away from one of the impressive hitting performances in Yankees history. Their hit total tied for their eighth-most ever, and the 24 hits were their most in a road game since Aug. 31, 1974, in a game against the White Sox.
The six homers were the most by a team in the majors this season.
“The performance they put up today,” Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler said, “that was awesome to watch.”
The barrage began with Cody Bellinger’s second homer in as many days, a two-out shot in the first. But it really gained steam after Paul Goldschmidt’s double, when Ben Rice hit a sinking liner to right field that Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone lazily grabbed at grass level. Boone challenged the out call, and a review confirmed that the ball had touched the ground for an RBI single.
Rosario came to the plate next and belted a two-run homer an estimated 420 feet to left field.
Anthony Volpe added his first homer of the season in the second inning, and the Yankees piled on four more runs on a steady stream of singles in the third. Aaron Judge provided an RBI double in the fifth, Trent Grisham went deep in the seventh, Jazz Chisholm Jr. — the last of the starters to get two hits — homered in the eighth and Rosario hit his second of the game in the ninth.
He sheepishly admitted that he was just trying not to strike out against Tolbert’s languid lobs to the plate.
“It feels good to be part of history,” Rosario said through a translator. “It’s a team effort and being part of it is great.”
The Yankees now have hit 82 home runs this season, by far the most in the majors. The Royals, by comparison, have hit 51, including the solo homer that Bobby Witt Jr. hit in the third inning for their only run of the entire game.
Meanwhile, the 24 hits that the Royals allowed were the fourth-most in a game in franchise history. Rosario finished with four hits while Grisham, Rice, Volpe and Austin Wells had three apiece. The rest of the starters each had two.
“Look,” Boone said with a smile, “as hard as hitting is — as hard as it is now, night-in and night-out — to have a day where everyone, you know, can fatten up a little bit, it’s good.”
One of the best stories of the spring has been John Tortorella. Seemingly from out of nowhere he was summoned to fix the falling apart Vegas Golden Knights.
Torts proved that he still has the Golden Touch.
Poof! Just like that the Knights rolled through, one, two rounds and then the real test arrived and Vegas celebrated three out of three wins going into last night's epic encounter with Colorado.
The result was – shall I say – redundant; a 2-1 and an un-real four-game sweep of the series.
What matters now is up for conjecture but the much is certain. Torts has emerged as the hottest personality in The Game – AND HIS VEGAS CONTRACT ENDS THIS SPRING.
Granted, the likelihood is that he'll wind up with a cushy multi-year deal – BUT.
May 26, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez (55) gestures as he circles the bases on a two run home run against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
The Pittsburgh Pirates offense caught fire Tuesday night after a 12-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. One of the bigger storylines from that game is rookie Esmerlyn Valdez hitting his second home run of the season in just his fourth game played.
Valdez hit his first home run of his Major League career against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday night. The 22-year-old has now hit home runs in back to back games played since he did not play on Monday. He also has 5 RBIs so far on the season.
Valdez has 12 at bats so far in his Major League career with two hits, both of those hits are home runs. The rookie has found his power which is a great sign for the Bucs especially with the injury of Ryan O’’hearn.
The power has been great for Valdez but he has struggled with strike outs so far. In four games played he has struck out seven times including twice in Tuesday night’s games. There is also a concern about having no hits outside of those home runs. Consistency is important and although the power is great you want to see him get on base some more and get some more hits.
This is a very promising start for Valdez and for the players on the Buccos. With Konnor Griffin playing well too the future is very bright in Pittsburgh. Although he played really well in the Minors, Valdez was only called up because of the Ryan O’hearn injury but if he continues to play and hit well then there might be a spot on this team.
The Pirates have now won three games in a row including winning the first two games of a four-game series against the Cubs. That is massive news because the Bucs were just 3-10 vs Chicago last year, and they already have four wins this year. Pittsburgh has two more games in this series against the Cubs with Bubba Chandler and Paul Skenes set to pitch.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Cubs baseball. Those two 10-game winning streaks feel like they were a long time ago as the Cubs dropped their 10th game in a row Tuesday night, falling 12-1 against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. It’s honestly an impressive amount of variance in their streakiness. The Cubs are in uncharted territory:
The Cubs are now the first team in MLB history to post two winning streaks of 10 or more games and a losing streak of 10 or more games by May 26. History.
There’s a lot of offensive blame to go around, but today I wanted to focus on the hitting fortunes of one player in particular: Moisés Ballesteros. Ballesteros started off the season red hot with a .338/.392/.620 slashline, including five home runs en route to a 183 wRC+ through his first 79 plate appearances in March and April. That’s cooled off considerably with the rookie hitting just .100/.200/.160 with just one home run and a wRC+ of 18 through 59 May plate appearances. Today, let’s take a closer look at Ballesteros’ struggles at the plate, because the real hitter is probably somewhere between these two extremes.
The good news is this snapshot of Ballesteros’ skills and expected results is pretty positive for the young hitter. It would be nice if the Chase % and Whiff % were a little lower (more on that in a second) but the underlying metrics, including a 90th percentile Hard Hit %, an 11.7% Barrel %, an above league average K% of 18.7% and a similarly above average BB% of 11.2% are all pieces to build and hope on for Cubs fans, so what changed in May?
The below charts make a pretty compelling case that at least in the last 15 games or so, it’s just bad BABIP luck, first up Ballesteros’ 15-game rolling wOBA, BABIP and Hard Hit %:
This is far and away the closest correlation of three stats, but the Hard Hit rate has recovered in the last 15 games or so and nothing tracks closer to Ballesteros’ actual wOBA than his BABIP. That’s going to be a running trend in these charts. As a reminder, wOBA is a fancy on-base percentage that gives you more credit for extra base hits and BABIP measures your batting average on balls in play, literally, was it a hit or not. BABIPs tend to coalesce around a mean, but that mean is different for different players. Ballesteros currently has a pretty limited sample for his MLB BABIP, last season he ran a hot .349 through 66 plate appearances. He’s currently sitting at a .256 through 138 plate appearances. For reference, during his last two full seasons in MiLB he ran BABIPs of .323 and .315 through full season samples.
So that .256 is quite unlucky relative to Ballesteros’ previous results and it’s not being driven by hard hit rate, at least not recently. What about ground ball rate?
Adding ground ball rate to the equation helps us understand a bit of the problem, it’s inversely correlated to Ballesteros’ recent results, although it’s a little all over the place early in the season. A number worth keeping an eye on for sure, although maybe not as closely tied to Ballesteros’ overall results as his hard hit rate is.
Last, but certainly not least,
Last, but certainly not least, we can look at that wOBA and BABIP result correlated with Ballesteros’ strikeout rate. Again, like with his ground ball rate, we can see that when Ballesteros is striking out more, he’s getting worse results.
In the last month, Ballesteros’ BABIP luck has been pretty bad. That appears to be correlated with both an increased strikeout rate and an increased ground ball rate. So I wanted to see if there were possible explanations for either, and as you can see below Ballesteros is seeing a few more breaking pitches as the season progresses. It looks like an adjustment the league is making to him, he’ll need to adjust back:
The silver lining is that we may already be seeing Ballesteros adjust, just without the results yet. Check out his last 10-games of work (minus yesterday, which did have some weak contact and two strikeouts):
That’s a lot of hard contact along with more walks that strikeouts. Critically, it’s also a lot of hard contact in the air (admittedly sometimes too high in the air, but in the air).
It’s going to be a season of adjustments for Ballesteros, but I’m cautiously optimistic the young hitter is in the process of figuring out this most recent adjustment. His BABIP in May has been .114, that screams positive regression on the horizon.
Head coach ‘confident our best cricket is in front of us’
Issues with alcohol among tourists due to ‘distractions’
Brendon McCullum has promised to use “a firm grip” to eradicate issues with alcohol and attitude among the England squad, admitting that “there were some mistakes made” by his players during last winter’s tours of New Zealand and Australia.
In his first interview since returning to England for the start of the international summer, with the first Test against New Zealand starting at Lord’s next Thursday, McCullum conceded that his team had proved unable to handle the pressure of an away Ashes series.
Aug 4, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Bailey Falter (36) on the mound against the Boston Red Sox in the third inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images
After a blowout on Tuesday, the Royals announced that starting pitcher Bailey Falter has been designated for assignment. Falter gave up seven runs to the Yankees, recording just seven outs. Mason Black was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. Falter appeared in five games this year, giving up 15 runs in 9.2 innings for a 13.97 ERA.
The Royals acquired Falter last summer from the Pirates for first baseman Callan Moss and pitcher Evan Sisk. Falter had been a useful pitcher for Pittsburgh in 2025, with a 3.73 ERA in 22 starts, but a low strikeout rate and a 4.91 FIP suggested perhaps he had been a bit lucky. He gave up 15 runs in 12 innings with the Royals before they shut him down in August with a bicep contusion.
The Royals decided to bring Falter back on a one-year, $3.6 million deal, hoping he could help provide some rotation depth. He gave up five runs in 3.1 innings over his first two starts before the team put him on the Injured List with elbow inflammation. He returned in mid-May, and was used for a spot start last week against Boston as the Royals suffered injuries to their starting rotation. He was called on to start again for the Royals on Tuesday, but immediately ran into trouble, giving up three home runs.
“I’ve been in the bullpen the past few days, been trying to do my bullpen routine,” Falter said. “Trying to stay ready, just in case I do get in the game. And then just another last-minute start. Kind of just throws a whole wrench in the plan.”
Falter ends his Royals career with the third-highest ERA in club history for anyone with at least ten innings. His contract is guaranteed, meaning the Royals are on the hook for the rest of his salary, unless he is claimed off waivers (minus the league minimum if he clears waivers and pitches for another MLB team).
Worst ERA, Royals club history (min. 10 IP) Justin Grimm 13.50 (12.2 IP) Albie Lopez 12.71 (22.2) Bailey Falter 12.46 (21.2) Blaine Boyer 12.05 (21.2) Allen McDill 11.70 (10)
Black was up earlier this year for the Royals and pitched 4.2 shutout innings over four games. The 26-year-old right-hander had a 6.53 ERA in 13 relief outings for Triple-A Omaha with 14 striekouts and 10 walks in 20.2 innings.
PITTSBURGH — Chicago Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd is scheduled to make the first of what is expected to be two rehab starts for Triple-A Iowa, the team said.
Boyd has been on the injured list since May 4 with a torn meniscus in his left knee that required surgery. He was injured when he sat down on the floor to play with his children.
Boyd is 2-1 with a 6.00 ERA in five starts this season. He was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in his 12-year career last season.
Boyd threw a 52-pitch simulated game prior to a 12-1 loss the Pirates.
