A busy week in the National League West was marked by a few All-Star starting pitchers getting sidelined, and a few roster shakeups among the under-.500 teams in the division.

San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb, who led the National League in innings pitched in each of the last three seasons, including leading the majors in 2023 and 2025, was placed on the 15-day injured list on Saturday with right knee bursitis. The Dodgers got an All-Star pitcher back in their rotation in Blake Snell, but he returned one start early — to a rusty first outing back — because another All-Star, Tyler Glasnow, was placed on the IL with back spasms.

San Francisco shakeup

The Giants continue to flounder, last in the majors in runs scored (3.25 per game) and 29th in wRC+ (83), but made a few roster moves with an eye toward the future this week. First was calling up 21-year-old slugger Bryce Eldridge, the consensus top-50 prospect, last Monday for an extended look. Eldridge started five games .. at designated hitter and hit his first major league home run on Saturday, in a game San Francisco lost by 10 runs.

On Saturday, the Giants traded starting catcher Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians for pitcher Matt Wilkinson — with the incredible and apt nickname Tugboat — and the 29th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. While Bailey was otherworldly defensively with his two Gold Glove Awards, he hasn’t done much with the bat, a career .224/.282/.329, 72-wRC+ hitter who was hitting just .146/.213/.183 this year. Though you might remember him from his only home run this year, a three-run bomb off Jack Dreyer to beat the Dodgers on April 22, orBailey’s walk-off grand slam last September off Tanner Scott.

Steven Kennedy wrote about the Giants Bailing on Patrick for McCovey Chronicles.

Deserted

The Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday designated center fielder Alek Thomas for assignment, jettisoning the rangy defender who was hitting just .181/.222/.340 with a 53 wRC+ in 100 plate appearances this season and a career .273 on-base percentage in five major league seasons. That opened the door for consensus top-100 prospect Kyle Waldschmidt to get his first major league opportunity.

Arizona only allowed 10 runs in their six games this week, but still managed to lose three times, thanks to an offense that scored nine runs on Tuesday but only 10 runs over the five games since. Another D-back struggling at the plate is Ketel Marte, who received National League MVP votes in each of the last few years and finished third in 2024. Through Sunday, Marte is hitting just .212/.268/.370 with a 76 wRC+ this season. Jim McLennan at AZ Snake Pit examined what’s wrong with the three-time All-Star.

Divisional notes

• Lincoln Zdunich at Gaslamp Ball wrote about the “little league grand slam” that got past San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. on Friday night.
• Joelle Miholm at Purple Row examined the Colorado Rockies success, or lack thereof, in using an opener this season.

NL West standings

Dodgers 24-16, – –
Padres 24-16, – –
D-backs 19-20, 4.5 GB
Giants 16-24, 8 GB
Rockies 16-25, 8.5 GB

The week ahead

• Dodgers: vs. Giants (4 games), at Angels
• Padres: at Brewers, at Mariners
• D-backs: at Rangers, at Rockies
• Giants: at Dodgers (4 games), at A’s
• Rockies: at Pirates, vs. D-backs

Is Cristopher Sanchez at the beginning of a Cy Young run? He’s got his ERA down to 2.11 and has looked dominant the past two outings. There’s this guy in Los Angeles is having an arguably better season, but Sanchez has put himself back into the conversation.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Brandon Marsh had another great day at the plate, going 4 for 4 on Sunday. He’s “believing” in himself ($).
• The Phillies made another waiver claim yesterday, bringing Jackson Rutledge into their organization. A good depth piece.
• Keith Law went to see some Phillies’ prospects this weekend and came away with decent looks at Dante Nori, Bryan Rincon and Aroon Escobar ($).

MLB news:

• The Reds have had a nice start to season, but they’re going to be without Rhett Lowder for a little while his shoulder is barking.
• Harrison Bader has been on the injured list since April 15, but it’s starting to look like a return is near in his future.
• The inside story of why the Giants decided to trade Patrick Bailey to the Guardians is really kind of interesting ($).

Free of charge for the discerning reader.

Happy birthday to Milt Pappas, and a mighty host of others.

Today in baseball history, in 1955, Ernie Banks hits a grand slam — the first of five on the year — to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 10-8 victory that snaps the Brooklyn Dodgers‘ 11-game winning streakand other stories as well.

Today in baseball history:

• 1904 – Cy Young‘s 23-inning no-hit string ends. The streak included two innings on April 25th, six on April 30th, a perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 5th, and six innings today.
• 1919 – Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators pitches 12 scoreless innings in a duel with Jack Quinn of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds. Johnson allows only two hits and retires 28 batters in a row.
• 1946 – The New York Giants defeat the Boston Braves, 5-1, in the first night game played at Braves Field. The 37,407 fans are surprised as their hometown heroes enter the field wearing shiny satin uniforms designed to reflect the light generated by the electricity used for the evening contest.
• 1957 – Even though the game is practically over before the Pirates come to bat, having given up six runs to the Phillies in the top of the 1st inning, the first Pirate at-bat provides the most memorable moment of the game, Roberto Clemente‘s 440-plus-foot inside-the-park home run. The Phils win the game, 7-2.
• 1963 – Sandy Koufax pitches the second of four career no-hitters to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat San Francisco, 8 – 0.
• 1972 – Tom Seaver wins his 100th game in a 2-1 New York Mets victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Mets also acquire veteran outfielder Willie Mays from the San Francisco Giants for pitcher Charlie Williams and $50,000.
• 1980 – 39-year-old Pete Rose steals second base, third, and home in one inning for the Phillies. The last National League player to pull off this feat had been Jackie Robinson in 1954.
• 1990 – Dave Winfield rejects a trade that would have sent him from the New York Yankees to the California Angels in exchange for pitcher Mike Witt. A no-trade clause in Winfield’s contract gives him the right to turn down the deal. Five days later, Winfield will reach an agreement with the Yankees and give his permission for the trade to take place.
• 1998 – Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs sets the major league record for strikeouts in consecutive games (33) by fanning 13 Arizona Diamondbacks in a 4-2 victory. The record for strikeouts in two starts had been 32, set by Luis Tiant in 1968 and matched by Nolan Ryan (1974), Dwight Gooden (1984) and Randy Johnson (1997).
• 2000 – The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 14-8, in the longest nine-inning game in National League history: 4 hours, 22 minutes. The game features one of the longest home runs in the history of Wrigley Field. A picture circulated by the Associated Press puts it this way: “Rick Frohock celebrates on the rooftop of a three-story building on Waveland Ave. behind the left-field bleachers of Wrigley Field after catching a home run hit by Chicago’s Glenallen Hill against the Brewers. It was believed to be the first time a ball landed on top of the apartment building.” Hill’s shot is estimated at 490 feet by the next day’s press accounts and eventually measured at 500 feet.
• 2009 – Ryan Zimmerman goes 4 for 5 with two home runs to extend his hitting streak to 29 games, but San Francisco beats Washington, 11 – 7. Randy Johnson strikes out nine for career win number 298. The game features the tallest pitching match-up in history, with the 6′ 10″ Johnson facing Daniel Cabrera, who stands 6′ 9″.
• 2012 – Brandon Inge drives in four runs as the A’s romp past the Tigers, 11-4. Detroit released Inge earlier this season, but he is now on a tear, becoming the first major leaguer since Lou Gehrig in 1931 to drive in four or more runs four times in a five-game span.
• 2016 – Max Scherzer ties the major league record by striking out 20 batters in a nine-inning game against his former team as the Nationals defeat the Tigers, 3-2. He now shares the mark with Roger Clemens (who did it twice), Kerry Wood and Randy Johnson. Scherzer does not issue a single walk in the game.

Cubs Birthdays:Trenidad Hubbard, Jerry Martin, Milt Pappas,* Mel Wright, Gene Hermanski, Dewey Adkins, Jim Connor. Also notable: Charlie Gehringer HOF.

Today in history:

• 330 – Newly built city of Constantinople (Byzantium) dedicated to Emperor Constantine the Great, becomes the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.
• 868 – “The Diamond Sutra”, the world’s oldest surviving and dated printed book is printed in Chinese and made into a scroll.
• 1812 – The Waltz is introduced into English ballrooms; some observers consider it disgusting and immoral.
• 1864 – Battle of Yellow Tavern in Henrico County, Virginia; Union Army prevails and Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart is mortally wounded.
• 1900 – James J. Jeffries KOs James J Corbett in 23 for heavyweight boxing title.
• 1931 – “M” Fritz Lang’s first sound film starring Peter Lorre premieres in Berlin.
• 1947 – BF Goodrich announced the development of tubeless tire.
• 1959 – “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb” by Edd Byrnes & Connie Stevens hits #4.
• 1965 – Ellis Island added to Statue of Liberty National monument.
• 1969 – British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin.

Special Music Segment! Since you probably didn’t know all the words to “Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb,” here are several that you should know:

• 1963 – “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” single by Peter, Paul & Mary hits #2; Peter Yarrow adapted a poem that college classmate Lenny Lipton had left behind after borrowing Yarrow’s typewriter.
• 1968 – Irish actor Richard Harris releases single “MacArthur Park”; it becomes a million-seller topping the charts in Canada and Australia, and peaking at #2 in US and #4 in UK.
• 1970 – “The Long and Winding Road” becomes Beatles’ last American single release.
• 1974 – ABC Records releases Steely Dan single “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” from the “Pretzel Logic “album; it peaks at #4 in the US, making it their biggest hit.
• 1975 – Capitol Records releases Natalie Cole‘s debut album “Inseparable”; it features two hits “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” and the title track.
• 1981 – Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s musical “Cats” (based on poetry by T. S. Eliot) directed by Trevor Nunn, opens at the New London Theatre in the West End, London; runs for 8,949 performances.
• 1985 – Madonna‘s “Crazy For You” single goes #1.

*pictured.

Last Week’s Results

• Monday: Cardinals 6, Brewers 3
• Tuesday: Postponed (rescheduled for July 7)
• Wednesday: Brewers 6, Cardinals 2
• Thursday: Off Day
• Friday: Brewers 6, Yankees 0
• Saturday: Brewers 4, Yankees 3
• Sunday: Brewers 4, Yankees 3

Division Standings

• Cubs 27-14
• Brewers 22-16
• Cardinals 23-17
• Pirates 22-19
• Reds 22-19

Last Week

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

Top Pitching Performance of the Week

Just like last week, our selection here goes to Jacob Misiorowski. Miz made all sorts of history on Friday night when he threw the seven fastest pitches ever thrown by a starting pitcher, but it wasn’t just that he was throwing hard: the Yankees couldn’t hit him, either. Misiorowski threw six shutout innings, struck out 11 batters, and allowed just two hits and two walks while outdueling Max Fried.

As for honorable mentions, there were good pitching performances up and down the roster this week, but I’d like to single out Aaron Ashby, who picked up two more wins this week and threw five scoreless innings across three outings.

Top Hitting Performance of the Week

There are several players worthy of this honor this week, but I’m going to go with Sunday’s walkoff hero, Brice Turang. He hit two of the team’s four homers this week, including Sunday’s winner, and compiled an OPS over 1.000. Sure, Tchaikovsky seems appropriate for the occasion.

Honorable mentions to Jake Bauers, who was 4-for-9 with a homer, a double, and two walks, plus the two “we’re back” guys: Andrew Vaughn, who homered and had a .982 OPS over his first five games back, and Jackson Chourio, who sparked the offense in St. Louis and picked up a team-high eight hits (three of which were doubles) this week.

Injury Notes & Roster Moves

• The biggest news this week was on Monday, when Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn were both, finally, activated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, Blake Perkins was optioned to Triple-A Nashville and Greg Jones was designated for assignment. Jones cleared waivers and was outrighted to Nashville four days later.
• Perkins, though, did not stay in the minors for long. Brandon Lockridge suffered a scary, but ultimately hopefully relatively minor, injury when when he crashed into the wall going after a foul ball on Friday night. On Saturday, Lockridge was placed on the injured list, and Perkins was back with the Brewers after just two games with the Sounds.
• We got a positive update Friday on Christian Yelich, who has been out since April 13th. He has been swinging and running the bases, and the team mentioned that he could be back with the Brewers as soon as the next series.
• Brandon Woodruff was scheduled to begin throwing again on Saturday. We’ll see how he responds, but given that there’s supposedly nothing structurally wrong, he could rejoin the team soon.
• Ángel Zerpa, who was placed on the injured list last week, needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the rest of the season. That surgery is scheduled for Monday.
• Akil Baddoo is getting close, and should go out on a minor-league rehab assignment this week.

On Deck

• Monday: Off Day
• Tuesday: vs. Padres (6:40 p.m.)
• Wednesday: vs. Padres (6:40 p.m.)
• Thursday: vs. Padres (12:40 p.m.)
• Friday: @ Twins (7:10 p.m.)
• Saturday: @ Twins (6:10 p.m.)
• Sunday: @ Twins (1:10 p.m.)

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (20-18)

ROCHESTER 8, SYRACUSE 5 (BOX)

The recently signed Xzarion Curry made his first start as a member of the organization and the right-hander was alright, allowing a pair of runs over five innings. The bullpen took over in the top of the sixth with the score tied 2-2, and that’s where things went downhill. Joey Gerber allowed three runs in the sixth, the recently signed Cionel Perez allowed a run in the seventh, and Anderson Severino allowed two runs in the ninth. Syracuse went down fighting, at least, scoring a run in the sixth and two in the seventh; in that seventh inning, they had the opportunity to mount a true comeback, loading up the bases, but Christian Arroyo struck out to end the inning.

·  DH A.J. Ewing: 2-5, 2B, RBI, SB (5)

·  CF Nick Morabito: 0-3, BB, 2 K

·  RF Ryan Clifford: 2-3, 2 R, 3B, HR (7), RBI, BB, K

·  1B Christian Arroyo: 0-3, RBI, 2 K

·  3B Yonny Hernández: 0-4, K

·  LF Cristian Pache: 1-4, R, HR (4), RBI, 3 K

·  C Hayden Senger: 0-4, 3 K, PB (7)

·  SS Jackson Cluff: 2-4, 2 R, HR (5), RBI, K, SB (3)

·  2B Kevin Villavicencio: 1-3, 2 K

·  PH Ji Hwan Bae: 0-1

·  RHP Xzavion Curry: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

·  RHP Joey Gerber: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, L (1-1)

·  LHP Cionel Pérez: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Dylan Ross: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

·  LHP Anderson Severino: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Alex Carrillo: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (11-22)

GAME ONE

HARTFORD 5, BINGHAMTON 2 / 7 (BOX)

Irving Kota was quite hittable in his four-plus innings of work, allowing five runs on nine hits. The Rumble Pony bats kept them in the game early, with Eli Serrano driving in a run on a double and a second run scoring during the sequence on a fielding error, but that ended up being the totality of their offense for the contest.

·  DH Eli Serrano III: 1-4, 2B, RBI, 2 K

·  3B Jacob Reimer: 0-4, 3 K

·  CF Jose Ramos: 1-2, BB, SB (3)

·  C Kevin Parada: 1-3, K

·  1B JT Schwartz: 0-3

·  LF TT Bowens: 0-2, BB

·  RF Matt Rudick: 0-2, R, BB, SB (2)

·  SS Wyatt Young: 1-3, 2B, 2 K

·  2B Diego Mosquera: 0-2, R, BB, K

·  RHP Irving Cota: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, HBP, L (0-1)

·  LHP Gabriel Rodriguez: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

·  LHP Jefry Yan: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

GAME TWO

HARTFORD 5, BINGHAMTON 0 / 7 (BOX)

At least they weren’t no-hit? It’s been a few weeks since I wrote a report where Binghamton got no-hit, so I feel like we’re due. Outside of R.J. Gordon allowing five runs in the top of the second, Binghamton’s pitching was solid. The bats, on the other hand? Not so much. With two hits in this contest, Wyatt Young boosted his team-leading batting average to .225. That about says it all.

·  CF Eli Serrano III: 0-2, 2 BB, K, SB (1)

·  DH Jacob Reimer: 0-3, 2 K

·  C Chris Suero: 0-0, 3 BB, SB (7)

·  RF Jose Ramos: 1-3, K

·  3B Nick Lorusso: 1-3, K

·  LF JT Schwartz: 0-3, 2 K

·  2B Wyatt Young: 2-3, CS (1)

·  1B Onix Vega: 0-3

·  SS Diego Mosquera: 0-2, BB, K

·  RHP R.J. Gordon: 1.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, E (1), L (0-1)

·  LHP Matt Turner: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, WP

·  RHP Brian Metoyer: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

·  RHP Douglas Orellana: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

·  LHP Felipe De La Cruz: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (8-24)

BOWLING GREEN 5, BROOKLYN 4 (BOX)

With the score tied 4-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, Joe Charles was summoned from the bullpen. The right-hander walked the first batter he faced and then allowed a double, putting the winning run 90 feet away. After escaping leaving a meatball right down Broadway, he got burned by throwing a hanger down and in to centerfielder Theo Gillen, who laced a line drive down the first base line to win it for the Hot Rods.

·  SS Mitch Voit: 0-4

·  2B Yonatan Henriquez: 0-3, BB, 2 K

·  RF John Bay: 0-4, K, CS (2)

·  DH Ronald Hernandez: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR (3, 4), 2 RBI, 2 K

·  C Daiverson Gutierrez: 0-4, K, E (6)

·  3B Colin Houck: 1-4, K

·  1B Trace Willhoite: 0-2, R, BB

·  LF Vincent Perozo: 2-3, R

·  CF Sam Biller: 1-3, RBI, SB (2)

·  RHP Brady Miller: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

·  RHP Garrett Stratton: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, BS (1)

·  RHP Bryce Jenkins: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

·  RHP Joe Charles: 0.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, L (0-1)

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (14-19)

LAKELAND 8, ST. LUCIE 3 (BOX)

Daviel Hurtado and Nicolas Carreno combined to throw six solid innings, with the former allowing a run on 2 hits over 2.0 innings while striking out 4 and the latter allowing a run on 2 hits and 3 walks over 4.0 innings while striking out 7. Elwis Mijares replaced Carreno in the bottom of the seventh and let the game get away from St. Lucie after allowing five runs to score. The bats were sluggish to start things off, but came alive in the later innings, scoring a run apiece in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings.

 ·  SS Elian Peña: 2-4, R, RBI, BB, CS (3)

·  LF JT Benson: 1-4, 2B, BB, K

·  1B Randy Guzman: 1-4, BB, 3 K

·  RF AJ Salgado: 0-4, 3 K

·  C Julio Zayas: 1-3, R, BB, 2 K

·  3B Sam Robertson: 1-4, K, SB (17), E (4)

·  DH Chase Meggers: 1-4, RBI

·  CF Simon Juan: 3-4, R

·  2B Branny De Oleo: 0-3, BB, 2 K

·  LHP Daviel Hurtado: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

·  RHP Nicolas Carreno: 4.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, WP

·  RHP Elwis Mijares: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, L (2-2)

·  RHP Joe Scarborough: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Rookie: FCL Mets (1-6)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Ronald Hernandez

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Joe Charles

On Sunday night in Kansas City, Detroit Tigers infielder and longtime farm hand Gage Workman, launched a two-run homer in his first major league at-bat with the Tigers. He’s already contributed, but whether he can continue to help the Tigers is a pretty big question mark. For years, Workman has been a talented minor league player whose weaknesses at the plate were too exploitable by upper level pitching. He’s still only 26 years old and the Tigers could certainly use an injection of power and better defense. Workman may be able to provide that in Kerry Carpenter’s stead, at least in the short term.

Gage Tater Workman played with Spencer Torkelson at Arizona State and was the guy who bumped Tork from third base over to first base, his more natural position. The Tigers drafted Workman in the fourth round in the shortened 2020 draft, the same year Torkelson went first overall. In our early prospect coverage after the draft, we preached patience with Workman, as he was both a little young for his draft class and pretty raw as a switch-hitter with power but plenty of swing and miss in his game. But at the same time, he had speed, defensive ability, a pretty good idea of the strike zone, and power. He was a high risk, high reward prospect from the beginning.

Workman struck out 30.6 percent of the time in A-ball in 2021, and there aren’t many college hitters who start out with that many strikeouts and go on to significant major league success. On the other hand, he cracked 12 home runs and stole 31 bases as a strong-armed shortstop. The biggest issue for him was a right-handed swing that just wasn’t getting it done. For a couple of seasons, the Tigers worked with him on it, but eventually were able to convince him to abandon switch-hitting in 2024.

By then, he was also starting to transition to playing third base in the upper minors while still sidelining at shortstop and sometimes in the outfield. Even in 2026 with the Toledo Mud Hens, Workman has started 15 games at shortstop, though that’s partly due to Trei Cruz getting injured early on. He can handle the position decently well, but has always been a little mistake prone making more subtle plays around second base. Third base allows him to pick balls and let his arm eat, and that’s really where he’s best suited. He also has enough speed to play anywhere in the outfield. He just doesn’t have as much experience with it.

Workman reached Double-A in 2022, but he struck out 40 percent of the time with the Erie SeaWolves. 206 strikeouts in 515 plate appearances is a wild amount of strikeouts, and there probably aren’t too many successful major league hitters who ever struck out 200 times in a minor league season. Things went no better in a little extra work in the Arizona Fall League that October. He struck out 38.8 percent of the time with Erie in 2023, and by that point prospect watchers were cutting bait on him.

Workman’s transition to hitting left-handed full-time really helped him. His cut his strikeout rate with Erie to 27.5 percent hitting only left-handed in 2024, and he hit 18 homers and stole 30 bags along the way. That was progress in terms of trimming the strikeouts, and to his credit, Workman has always drawn his share of walks. He wasn’t doing any better against left-handed pitching than he had when he switch-hit, and he still was highly vulnerable to good breaking stuff, but he was hammering right-handers with much better consistency. There was, and is, still a lot of swing and miss, but those improvements finally got him within striking distance of the major leagues.

At that point, with the 2024 Double-A season behind him, Workman turning 25 years old, and he was exposed to the Rule 5 draft. The Tigers elected not to protect him or catching prospect Liam Hicks, and it was suspected that Workman might well be picked up by another team. That team was the Chicago Cubs, and they took Workman on their Opening Day roster last year. The Miami Marlins took Hicks, and that has gone much better for them.

It was a short struggle for Workman in his few weeks on the north side, and he was quickly designated for assignment and then traded to the Chicago White Sox. That didn’t go very well either, and when he suffered a minor hip injury, the White Sox designated him as well, and he returned to the Tigers in May of 2025. All tolled, he only got 17 major league plate appearances combined between the Chicago clubs. He’d made his major league debut, but otherwise wasn’t in any better position than he started, and didn’t get much of a chance either. Things didn’t improve with the Tigers, as Workman struck out nearly 40 percent of the time with the Toledo Mud Hens over the rest of the season.

All of this is to say, don’t go getting too excited just yet. Workman has power, zone recognition, speed, and pretty good defensive ability at third base. There’s plenty to like, but he’s always been really poor against breaking stuff and will strike out quite a bit. Workman isn’t an unknown around the league. He has huge potential, because if he could hit even decently against right-handed pitching, you’d have a pretty valuable strong-side platoon player who does a lot of things to help you win in all phases of the game. If there was real confidence league wide that he’d figure it out at the plate, the Tigers may never have gotten him back.

There is one key sign to watch this spring that might indicate that Workman is starting to find his way against upper level pitching. Workman batted a grisly .146 against breaking stuff in his combined time at the Triple-A level last year, with a horrendous whiff rate of 49.6 percent. Every once in a while he’d run into a hanger, but for the most part pitchers who could command a breaking ball could get ahead and then spam breaking balls down without throwing another strike and pretty easily get Workman out.

Against fastballs he was still quite good. Against offspeed stuff he was at least okay. But breaking balls, and not even good quality ones, were his kryponite, and most prospects who flame out against upper level breaking stuff never break through.

However, the worm turned a bit this spring. He’s still whiffed at breaking pitches 41.3 percent of the time in Toledo this season, so he hasn’t suddenly turned into a low risk contact hitter. But, he also hit .324 against breaking balls over the first five weeks of the Triple-A season, with a whopping .265 isolated power mark. His expected batting average is just .240 and his expected slugging percentage is just .408 compared to actual results of .588 slug, so he’s certainly had plenty of good fortune, but he is also clearly doing better at avoiding chasing so much, and hammering some mistakes up in the zone.

Overall, he’s cut his strikeout rate down to 23.7 percent in Toledo this spring, so while that’s not the kind of sample you want to bet the house on, he’s never put up numbers this good either. Possibly, he’s figured it out just enough that he’s no longer easy prey for breaking stuff, and if he can at least keep pitchers honest and not chase sliders and curveballs in the dirt constantly, they’ll have to feed him more fastballs and try to spot some sliders and curveballs in the zone. Workman is a solid fastball hitter who will do some damage and always has been. It’s partly a question of patience, partly a matter of breaking ball recognition.

So, expect plenty of swing and miss from Gage Workman, and know that this may just be a case of catching a hot hitter and riding him until major league pitching figures him out. It’s at least possible that some growth last year may have been masked by the chaos of getting picked by the Cubs, making his major league debut, struggling, bouncing through the White Sox organization briefly, rehabbing a minor injury, and then ending up right back in Toledo after a whirlwind ride to the places with the tall buildings, as Jim Price would say. He still did plenty of damage against right-handed pitching, and he’s a versatile defender who can steal you a base.

Gage Workman doesn’t have to become a good pure hitter to help the Tigers. He just has to avoid slipping back into old bad habits that made him an easy mark for upper level pitchers with good command of their breaking stuff. If he’s just disciplined enough to get pitchers up in the zone, Workman might do enough damage to let his secondary skills play up and find a sustainable role in Detroit. For now, any contributions are much appreciated.

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Good news: the Orioles do, indeed, love their mothers. They made it a happy Mother’s Day with a 2-1 win over the Athletics that averted a three-game sweep. While the O’s offense again didn’t inspire much confidence, they delivered one of their best-pitched games of the season, holding their opponent to one run for just the third time in 2026. They even made a legitimately good defensive play — who knew it was possible? — with Leody Taveras and Samuel Basallo joining forces to cut down the potential tying run at the plate in the seventh. Check out Mark Brown’s recap of the much-needed victory.

With the win, the Orioles (18-23) have climbed out of the basement of the AL East, pulling a half-game ahead of the Red Sox (17-23). It’s wild to think that the O’s, as horrific as they’ve looked this year, still have a better record than three AL teams and are within a game and a half of six others. The American League is well and truly dreadful so far. Only three of the 15 teams have winning records. Three! The Yankees and Rays have been great, the Athletics have been good, and everyone else is .500 or worse. At this rate it’s going to be hard to scrounge up six legitimate AL teams to make the playoffs. In that sense, the Orioles’ hopes of remaining relevant in 2026 are far from over.

Still, it stands to reason that the entire league isn’t going to stay bad for four more months. A few teams will stabilize and will separate themselves from the pack. In all likelihood, all six AL playoff teams will finish the year with a winning record. So the Orioles are going to have to do some real work if they want to be part of that group. Moseying around mediocrity isn’t going to cut it in the long run.

These next three games against the Yankees are going to be an enormous test. Frankly, we’re all kind of expecting the Yanks to mop the floor with the Birds like they did last weekend in New York, when the O’s were humiliated in all four games, getting outscored 39-10. And that may well happen again. But if the Orioles can show some semblance of fight and urgency, and maybe steal a game or two in this series, perhaps the outlook for the rest of 2026 won’t look so bleak.

We can only hope this matchup against the Yankees goes better than the last, or the Orioles’ escape from the AL East cellar will prove to be short-lived.

Links

Has Rutschman returned to his All-Star form? | MAILBAG – BaltimoreBaseball.com

Alternate headline: “Is Adley so back?” I think we all know the answer, friends.

Orioles’ Anthony Nunez pulls off gender reveal for brother after relief outing – The Baltimore Sun

This is a pretty cool way to do a gender reveal. Way better than those people who, like, set off fireworks and accidentally start a forest fire or something.

Orioles trying Jackson Holliday at third base during Sunday rehab start – The Baltimore Banner

Translation: Coby Mayo might want to start packing his bags for Norfolk.

Better safe than sorry! Albernaz dons mask, glove in dugout – MLB.com

I feel like the O’s have been so terrible that we haven’t gotten to see much of Alby’s personality, so it’s good to see that the manager is trying to keep things loose. Whether it will make any kind of difference is another question.

Gunnar Henderson: “I’ve been pretty terrible for about a month now” – Steve Melewski

Yes, Gunnar. We’ve noticed.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Four ex-Orioles were born on this day, most notably the late right-hander Milt Pappas (b. 1939, d. 2016). Pappas pitched in the majors for 17 years and won 209 games, and he spent the half of his career in Baltimore, where he was a two-time All-Star and a steady presence in the Orioles’ rotation for nearly a decade. But he’s best known for being the main piece of the three-player package sent to the Reds for Frank Robinson, which turned into the best trade in Orioles history.

Other former Orioles with May 11 birthdays are right-handers Kerry Ligtenberg (55) and Mark Huismann (68) and outfielder Trenidad Hubbard (62).

On this day last year, the Orioles beat the Angels in Los Angeles, 7-3. Zach Eflin pitched five solid innings, Gunnar Henderson bashed a two-run homer, and #9 hitter Maverick Handley drove in two runs without a hit thanks to a sac fly and a squeeze bunt. It was the 421st — and final — win of Brandon Hyde’s Orioles managerial career. The O’s followed with four straight losses and Hyde was fired later that week.

Random Orioles game of the day

On May 11, 1999, the Orioles suffered an 11-6 loss in Cleveland. An early 2-0 O’s lead evaporated when Cleveland scored six runs in the fourth, with the first six batters of the inning all reaching base against Sidney Ponson, capped by a Richie Sexson three-run homer. Ponson was tagged for eight runs in 4.2 innings and wasted an 11-hit effort by the O’s offense. Cleveland starter Bartolo Colón, in the third season of his eventual 21-year career, earned the win.