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As I posted here last week, the Cubs will be having celebrations this weekend honoring their 150th anniversary in the National League.

Monday on Marquee Sports Network, the team announced the 40 players that had been chosen as their 15oth anniversary team. The 40 players were chosen in a fan vote and around 20 of them will be in attendance for a ceremony pre-game on Saturday.

Here’s the roster by position, and my thoughts on the fan choices.

This really can’t be argued with. Two managers who brought the Cubs World Series titles, and another who came close. Honorable mention should be given to Joe McCarthy, who was the manager of the 1929 NL champion Cubs and came close to winning again in 1930. It was that failure that led team owner William Wrigley to fire McCarthy, one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history. McCarthy went on to win eight pennants and seven World Series with the Yankees. Would that have happened with the Cubs? Obviously we’ll never know, but I think some of those pennant-winning teams in the 1930s might have squeaked one or two titles out with McCarthy at the helm.

Another honorable mention here for Johnny Kling, who caught over 1,000 games with the team from 1900-11 — except for 1909, when he held out for a higher salary after the two World Series titles. Not getting paid what he thought he was worth, he told the Cubs he thought he could do better running a pool hall in his native Kansas City, so he took a year off. His replacements were awful and the Cubs finished six games out of first place. Could they have won the 1909 pennant with Kling?

Phil Cavarretta, the 1945 MVP and Chicago native who played on three Cubs NL title teams and managed the club for parts of three seasons, should have been given consideration.

Johnny Evers, a Hall of Famer who posted 39.7 bWAR in 12 Cubs seasons, should be here.

Hornsby’s a Hall of Famer too, but he played only four years for the Cubs, his best seasons (apart from 1929) were elsewhere, and his managerial tenure was turbulent.

No arguments at all with these choices. Stan Hack should be in the Hall of Fame.

Again, no arguments. Don Kessinger’s probably the best player not on this list, with six All-Star appearances and two Gold Gloves, but his offensive numbers were pedestrian.

I would have put Hall of Famer Kiki Cuyler on this list instead of José Cardenal. Cardenal was a fun player who stole 129 bases for the Cubs, but Cuyler was just a better player. Cuyler stole 161 bases as a Cub and his 43 steals in 1930 were the last 40-steal season for any Cub until Ivan De Jesus stole 44 in 1978. His .325 BA in over 3,600 at-bats for the Cubs ranks fourth in the Modern Era.

Speaking of which, Riggs Stephenson deserves consideration, too. His .336 BA as a Cub is tied for the franchise record with Bill Madlock. Stephenson was a key part of the 1929 and 1932 NL pennant winners and finished fifth in MVP voting in ‘32.

There is a major omission here: Charlie Root, who holds the Cubs franchise record for wins with 201, and got MVP votes in five different seasons, back when there was no Cy Young Award. He’d likely have won it in 1927, when he won 26 games and led the NL in innings.

Don Elston, who was a reliable Cubs reliever for some really bad teams in 1953 and again from 1957-64, deserves some consideration here.

As you can see, the fan vote tended to give more credit to recent players, and even some active players. There were some great Cubs before 1945, and they should have been given more recognition. Nevertheless, this is a pretty good representation of franchise history, and the entire team will be honored on Saturday.

Here’s the entire team reveal as broadcast Monday on Marquee.

Hey, MLB schedule — what gives? The Braves enter a skid, have to play the Brewers (which doesn’t help with the skid), then get a day off to travel home and… have the Dodgers next? Woof. Yes, the Braves took a series from the Dodgers in Los Angeles earlier this season, but the offensive ineptitude-driven skid continues, and the Dodgers are, well, the Dodgers.

Actually, let’s stay on that for a second. The Dodgers are supposed to be extreme world-beaters on paper, but really, they’ve been just another team. A good team, mind, but not anything obscene. They don’t have MLB’s best record, and in fact, like the Braves, they’re 11-10 in August. They were also “only” 13-11 in July, so they’ve gone about seven weeks being generically above-average rather than anything else. They had a six-game losing streak earlier, something that helped the Braves actually overtake them for the second seed for a time… but they’re in the midst of a six-game winning streak and have put some distance between themselves and the Braves record-wise. This is a chance for the Braves to close that gap, but honestly, the Braves have enough issues right now that setting lofty goals like “catch the Dodgers” doesn’t have much of a sense of immediacy.

Still, the Dodgers are good. They have the second-most position player fWAR, and the fourth-most pitching fWAR, even as they’ve babied their pitching staff to an extreme degree. For example, tonight’s scheduled starter, Tyler Glasnow, has made just seven starts before being shelved with a back injury; this will be his return to active duty for the first time since early May. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani have dominated on the mound, backed by the usual superlative relief performance from a mix of expected-ish (Tanner Scott, with a gigantic rebound after his dreadful 2025) and unexpected (Edgardo Henriquez) sources. The bats, well, you know about the bats. Max Muncy has crossed the 4 fWAR threshold for the first time since 2021, though the Braves do get a break as Andy Pages is out with injury. The Dodgers do feel a bit more stars-and-scrubs-y than they have in recent years, but it’s really more “stars-and-guys-who-produce-at-an-okay-clip” and the combined effect is still daunting.

On the hill for the Braves to start this series will be Bryce Elder, who comes in with a 94/111/99 line (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-), good for 1.1 fWAR in 137 2/3 innings across 24 starts. Elder has been has usual inconsistent self, though homer issues (see that large FIP-xFIP gap) have made it difficult for him to have an unequivocally good start recently. He hasn’t had a start with an FIP and xFIP both below 4.00 since June 2, and his line is 135/151/107 since. There’s no huge upswing to point to here, though he did acquit himself pretty well against the Diamondbacks in his most recent start (36/99/87), helping the Braves salvage a game of that set.

Elder started against the Dodgers back in LA earlier this season and had one of his better outings of the year, an eight-strikeout, four-walk affair in 5 2/3 innings. The Braves gave him a four-run lead early, and he and the bullpen pretty much rode it to the end of the game. Elder has made six career starts against the Dodgers and has a 5.51 FIP and 4.43 xFIP to show for it. It’s not clear whether that’s good considering it’s him and the Dodgers (his career FIP and xFIP are between 4.00 and 4.50), or disappointing. In any case, those numbers will probably budge in some direction today.

As mentioned, this game will be Tyler Glasnow’s return from the Injured List. As has been the case for much of his career, Glasnow has been excellent when available, but not available all that much. He put together a 66/75/69 line in seven starts this season before hitting the shelf, though even that can be diced up into four dominant starts in five tries at the start of the year, then an outing where something was Probably Wrong (six walks in 5 2/3 innings), and then a start where he lasted just one inning before being forced out with injury. Maybe Glasnow will be rusty, but if he isn’t, facing him probably won’t cure the Braves’ offensive doldrums.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Monday, August 25, 7:15 p.m. EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

TV/Streaming: BravesVision, Gray TV, Gray Media Telemundo, TBS

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Reds fans and fans across the country.

The Cincinnati Reds sought out the Pittsburgh Pirates last summer as they inched their way closer and closer to a potential spot in the 2025 playoffs, practically begging them to hand over their defensive maestro 3B at the trade deadline.

Hand them over the Pirates did, as Ke’Bryan Hayes became a Red – as did the roughly $32 million that was owed to him over the remainder of his long-term contract. His defensive reputation has held the part. So far in 128 games with the Reds, he’s been a 10.1 DEF run player defensively at the hot corner, per FanGraphs, while being 10 outs above average per Statcast.

Everything else, though, has been an abject disaster.

Among the 374 MLB players who have logged at least 150 PA so far this season, Hayes owns the single lowest marks in wRC+ (23), wOBA (.207), OBP (.206), OPS (.457), and has somehow managed just 8 RBI the entire time. The cratering is catastrophic, really, even though it isn’t perhaps the single biggest problem the Reds have seen from him in his time in Cincinnati.

What’s also plagued him this year is the very same bad back problem that began to undercut his abilities in Pittsburgh. He hit just .233/.283/.290 in 396 PA during a banged-up 2024 season the year before the Reds went out and traded for him, and he was hitting just .235/.290/.306 for Pittsburgh at the time of the trade. Those numbers ticked up initially after the deal (.271/.328/.441 across his first 19 games as a Red) but bottomed back out to just .213/.312/.255 over his final 32 games of the season.

He’s an offensive hole in the lineup bigger than any other team in baseball can boast, and he’s that with a chronic back problem that can flare up whenever.

The knowns were all there, and the Reds still acquired him. The knowns are all still there right now, too, as Hayes inches closer to his 30th birthday in January. Still, the red flags haven’t been enough for the Reds to completely call time on the experiment despite FanGraphs having suggested he’s been “worth” -0.8 fWAR this year in only 76 games played.

He’s under contract for $7 million in 2027, $8 million for 2028, $8 million for 2029, and the team holds a $6 million buyout on a would-be $12 million salary for 2030. So, to simply eat his contract and cut him would still require about ~$30 million given how much time is left this season, and it sure doesn’t look like the Reds are ready to simply cut him right now as they slide further and further into the NL Central cellar.

If they don’t cut him this season, there’s not really time for him to do anything worse between the end of 2026 and the beginning of 2027. In other words, it sure does look like the fact that he’s still on the team right now means they plan on giving him at least one more chance to show he can be something, anything more offensively for them while also providing his elite glove work. That might at least get him to be a replacement level player, something that would be leaps and bounds better than what they’ve gotten from him now.

Of course, that would again come at the expense of Sal Stewart, who came up as a 3B. That’s the position where he’d provide the most value to the Reds, and he’s been shoehorned into playing 1B more often than not all season due to the presence of Hayes (and Eugenio Suarez). Will the Reds really kick another year of experience at the move valuable spot down the road with Stewart just to see if a hope and a prayer that Hayes can post an OPS that begins with 6 actually comes to fruition?

I think, sadly enough, all signs point to the Reds giving Hayes the 3B job to start next season and then – only then – will they make the move to cut him if his production stays where it has been.

What say you? Do you think it’ll be Hayes on the Reds roster at 3B again to start 2027?

Abimelec Ortiz started his big league career on top of the world. In his first 11 games, he went 10 for 29 with 4 homers and a 1.160 OPS. It looked like the Nats not only replaced Luis Garcia Jr., but found an upgrade. However, big league pitchers have adjusted to Ortiz and he has come back to earth. Despite that, my faith in the young slugger remains high.

Just from the eye-test alone, Abimelec Ortiz looks hitterish. He has a beautiful left handed swing and always looks ready to fire. That swing took Ortiz from an undrafted free agent to a big leaguer in just a few years. Ortiz was a dominant power threat in the minors, with 116 career MILB homers. The power he showed in the Rangers system caught the Nats eyes and they made him part of the MacKenzie Gore package.

This season was more of the same for Ortiz, who slugged 18 homers in 85 AAA games. In Rochester, he posted an .845 OPS, though many of his underlying numbers suggested he should have been even better. Ortiz has never been the most highly touted prospect but he has always had power and makes more contact than you would expect.

That was sure the case when he burst on to the scene in the big leagues. With big league pitchers not having a book on him, Ortiz dominated early. He crushed fastballs and made consistent contact on pitches in the zone. That caught the league’s attention though, and pitchers adjusted.

Teams noticed Ortiz’s tendency to chase and exploited it. With a better scouting report on him, Ortiz has gotten his welcome to the big leagues moment. Before getting a hit at the end of last night’s game, the 24 year old was going through a 1 for 24 slump.

There was some bad luck and hard contact in that stretch, but some of his flaws got exposed. In the minors, Ortiz chased 27.6% of the time, which is right around average for the level. However, against better pitching that number has gone up to 36.7%, which is right in line with Keibert Ruiz. 

With Ortiz facing big league pitching for the first time and pressing during his first slump, this is not a huge surprise. Ortiz is a fairly aggressive hitter by nature, but as he gets more experienced, he will have to find a way to tone it down.

His first two at bats last night were really ugly examples of Ortiz chasing. However, as the game went on, he started to make some adjustments. Even though he chased some pitches in the at bat, Ortiz did find a way to work a walk. He also smoked a low line drive the other way for a base hit at the end of the game.

Those at bats feel like potential momentum builders for the youngster. Ortiz is a pull  hitter, and that is a big part of his success, but going the other way to get a knock was great to see. Along with being a power hitter, Ortiz’s ability to be adjustable and make contact is another strength. That is what makes him different from your run of the mill Quad-A power bat in my opinion.

Even after this slump, Ortiz’s numbers are still pretty encouraging. His OPS has dipped to .727, but his slugging percentage is high at .470. Ortiz’s bat speed is elite at 75.4 MPH, which points to serious power upside. He is also great at hitting balls at optimal angles and pulls the ball in the air over 25% of the time.

Ortiz is still doing most of the things that made me so excited about him as a prospect. When I dug into his profile prior to his debut, I saw a very complete hitter. The chase has come up against better pitching, but he still has huge power and makes contact at an average rate. That is a very exciting combination.

As Ortiz adjusts to big league pitching, I expect that chase rate to be closer to 28-30% rather than over 35%. With his skills, he can afford to chase a little more than average. I also think we could see another Big Abi heater before too long based on his last couple at bats.

I saw him gain confidence after that walk and hit. Like the rest of the team, yesterday’s offensive outburst seemed like it took a weight off his shoulders. We still have to see more, but I am still high on Abi.

A big reason why the Nats traded Luis Garcia Jr. is because of their belief in Ortiz. Nobody expected it to be perfect, but you can see the talent with this player. Hopefully he has a big finish to the season and locks down a role as the Nats first baseman against right handed pitching entering 2027.

After revealing the Purple Row community’s Colorado Rockies top prospect list over the last couple weeks, it’s time to show the whole list at once with some voting stats. I’ll also have some thoughts on the state of the system as a whole soon to conclude the series.

Without further ado, here is the full mid-season 2026 Top 30 PuRPs list, including some voting stats:

Shortstop Ethan Holliday, Colorado’s first-round pick in 2025, received 15 of the 29 qualifying ballot first place votes to lead the group this time around. That bested pre-season top PuRP and 2024 first-round pick Charlie Condon, who got 10 first place votes, as well as Roldy Brito, Tyler Bell (this year’s first rounder), and Cristian Arguelles — who all received at least one first place vote and rounded out the top five.

As a reminder, 30 points were granted for a first place vote, 29 for second, etc. Until a player was named on ten ballots, his vote totals were modified on a sliding scale to avoid an individual ballot having too much say over the community forecast — though that wasn’t a factor this time around in the top 30. There were no ties in the top 30 this time, though other ties were broken for non top-30 players according to voting rules.

For more info on voting numbers for players that didn’t quite make the top 30, please check out the intro post to this edition of the PuRPs list, two articles’ worth of multi-ballot players (Part I and Part II) as well as the write-ups of the honorable mention PuRPs.

Some more notes:

• The top 16 players were listed on at least 27 of the 29 ballots — 10 were named on each ballot.
• 68 players received at least one vote for this PuRPs list (up from 55 last time), 53 got mentioned on multiple ballots (up from 46), while 32 were named on at least ten ballots (and therefore were unmodified). Here is a link to the polling thread.
• In this edition of the PuRPs list, there were 11 new names compared to the pre-season 2026 list, including five of the top 15. That’s an above average amount of turnover, considering not too many pre-season PuRPs graduated from rookie status.
• Among those who were on the pre-season list, the biggest risers were Wilder Dalis (up 14 spots) and Roldy Brito (up 8), while the big fallers were Robert Calaz (down 20), JB Middleton (down 15), Sean Sullivan (down 13), Brody Brecht (down 11), Welinton Herrera (down 10), Ashly Andujar (down 10), and Max Belyeu (down 8).
• Breaking the list down by position, there are 13 pitchers (one of which is definitely a reliever; ten are righties, three are southpaws, only two are in the top ten, and just five are in the top half of the list), two corner infielders, seven outfielders, six middle infielders, and two catchers — there’s some positional flexibility in there of course.

I’ll have more on the overall system in my concluding post soon!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

So long, rookie ball. The DSL season officially wrapped up with a disappointing playoff run by the DSL Yankees concluding on Friday, which means we can fully set our sights on the playoff push for all four full-season affiliates.

This week on the farm, we saw records being set in Scranton, bats heating up in Somerset, a torrid win streak down in Hudson Valley, and another offensive onslaught in Tampa.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Record: 28-20 (65-57), 1.5 GB in the International League East after a 3-3 week against the Charlotte Knights (White Sox)

Run differential: +24 (+27)

Coming up: Away @ Worcester Red Sox (Red Sox)

The RailRiders have had a poor month, but they were able to stabilize things against Charlotte to stay within striking distance of a playoff spot with a few weeks left. After losing the first two games by one and five runs, they took three of the last four.

Despite having a bunch of big names in the lineup, Scranton’s offense is rather mediocre. It was a big week for Oswaldo Cabrera (6-for-20, 3 HR, 5 RBI), who’s been great since mid-June, while Anthony Volpe has suddenly discovered his power stroke. Much of the team struggled to make an impact this week, including a rehabbing Cody Bellinger, Mitch Garver, and a recently traded Christian Bethancourt, but Jasson Domínguez finally woke up from a multi-week slumber with a big game on Sunday. Also, quick shoutout to speed demon Duke Ellis for breaking SWB’s single-season stolen base record!

The emergency promotion of Brendan Beck handicapped a rotation this week that’s working with a struggling Xavier Rivas (3.1 IP, 6 R) and still without Kyle Carr. Alexander Cornielle and Adam Kloffenstein both posted really strong outings, while Carson Coleman and Travis MacGregor had varying levels of success as openers in bullpen games. Elmer Rodríguez continued a strong stretch of successful outings with five one-run innings on Tuesday and will likely be making his big league return against Houston this week.

The three big names in the bullpen are guys who haven’t been there for long. Eli Morgan made his org debut this weekend after a minor league signing, while Justin Topa’s only been here a week and is heading up to the majors. There’s also the elephant in the room of the rehabbing Luis Gil, who’s seemingly going to be a two-inning reliever for the rest of the year. He’s been effective in a small sample, even if the velo isn’t quite there, so don’t be surprised if he’s back in the bigs in a few weeks.

Players of Note:

Jasson Domínguez: .269/.354/.431, 7 HR, 27 RBI, 11 SB, 106 wRC+
Anthony Volpe: .211/.282/.442, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 11 XBH, 82 wRC+ (106 PA
Oswaldo Cabrera: .292/.347/.456, 17 HR, 57 RBI, 31 XBH, 107 wRC+
Brendan Beck: 9-2, 2.75 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 19.9 K-BB% (121 IP)
Elmer Rodríguez: 8-3, 2.59 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 13.1 K-BB% (97.1 IP)

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Record: 27-24 (64-56), 1 GB in the Eastern League Northeast after a 4-2 week against the Hartford Yard Goats (Rockies)

Run differential: +14 (+50)

Coming up: Home vs. Akron RubberDucks (Guardians)

Somerset is also staying in the mix after a strong week in Hartford, in which they rallied from losing two of the first three to end the week on a three-game streak. They have the best overall record in the Eastern League Northeast Division, but they’re going to need to win the second half to get into the playoffs.

There were a bunch of standout hitting performances, with guys like the ever-reliable Coby Morales (9-for-20) and Chandler Simpson clone Luis Durango (6-for-12 before going on IL Monday) setting the table for the 20 RBI combined by Roderick Arias, DJ Gladney, and Manuel Palencia. The latter, who had an ice-cold bat through the end of June, is suddenly slashing .372/.400/.606 with a 166 wRC+ in 100 plate appearances since the start of July. The system could definitely use some catchers.

Some bad news on the pitching front headlined the week. Ben Hess’s season is over after being placed on the injured list for the second time this season, ending a disappointing second season in the organization. Replacing him from High-A Hudson Valley was Sean Paul Liñan, who was ineffective in the double duty this week on Tuesday and Sunday. Dom Hamel got hit around, Rory Fox tossed six brilliant innings before an ugly blowup in the seventh on Saturday, and the star of the week, Cade Smith, allowed just one hit in six scoreless frames. All of a sudden, after struggling most of the season, he’s had back-to-back outstanding starts.

There wasn’t much to talk about in the bullpen, particularly with Trent Sellers and Harrison Cohen moving up to Scranton mid-week, but the team got another four shutout innings from Tony Rossi, who’s seemed to settle into Double-A after an initial adjustment. The 27-year-old former UDFA has a 2.60 ERA at the level in 27.2 innings with 36 strikeouts to just six walks.

Players of Note:

Jace Avina: .245/.350/.474, 19 HR, 55 RBI, 47 XBH, 24.5 K%, 122 wRC+
DJ Gladney: .272/.329/.517, 21 HR, 75 RBI, 17 SB, 121 wRC+
Coby Morales: .282/.373/.498, 19 HR, 74 RBI, 19 SB, 134 wRC+
Cade Smith: 7-7, 4.80 ERA, 5.64 FIP, 1.43 WHIP, 11.8 K-BB% (105 IP)
Ben Hess: 3-4, 4.45 ERA, 4,69 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 13.7 K-BB% (56.2 IP, injured)

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Record: 31-23 (61-57), 1 GB in the South Atlantic League North after a 6-0 week against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)

Run differential: +48 (+57)

Coming up: Home vs. Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)

For the last two months, nobody’s been able to unseat the Tarpons as the hottest team in the organization, but Hudson Valley seems to have finally taken over. The first six-game sweep of the season by any Yankees’ affiliate, extending a larger eight-game streak, has revived a once-dead playoff push into suddenly realistic territory. Four of the six games this week were won by one or two runs, and many of them involved some seriously clutch hitting and pitching.

It wasn’t the best offensive week for the group, but they got timely hits. Maika Niu and David McCann, specifically, had rough weeks after recent heaters, but were both instrumental in the weekend wins. Dean Toigo had three extra-base hits, and Jackson Lovich continued to make it work with his sky-high strikeout rate, but the real star was Eric Genther, who I’ll have more about in a bit.

Franyer Herrera looked quite shaky in his double duty this week, but everyone else pulled their weight. Sure, Bryce Cunningham allowed four runs in six innings for the second straight week, but the length is appreciated. The other three all put up zeroes, with Pico Kohn tossing four shutout innings in his best start since returning from injury, Luis Serna striking out seven in 5.2 one-hit innings, and Allen Facundo having an efficient five-and-dive en route to a sweep-clinching victory.

It was a good week for the bullpen, particularly for Jose M. Rodriguez (5.2 IP, 1 R) and Andrew Landry, but the man who looks the closest to a Double-A promotion is Thomas Balboni Jr., who’s finally healthy after missing 2025 due to Tommy John surgery. After eight strikeouts in three shutout innings this week, he’s pitching to a 3.38 ERA in 34.2 innings with 55 strikeouts this season.

Players of Note:

Eric Genther: .268/.404/.442, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 31 XBH, 127 wRC+
David McCann (FCL/A/A+): .292/.374/.573, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 24 XBH, 135 wRC+
Jackson Lovich (A/A+): .287/.361/.500, 21 HR, 81 RBI, 34 SB, 28.3 K%, 121 wRC+
Luis Serna: 6-5, 4.15 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 1.16 WHIP, 20.0 K-BB% (104 IP)
Bryce Cunningham: 2-8, 4.71 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 1.42 WHIP, 9.0 K-BB% (80.1 IP)

Single-A Tampa Tarpons

Record: 34-18 (66-46), 7 GA in the Florida State League West after a 3-2 week against the Daytona Beach Tortugas (Reds)

Run differential: +86 (+109)

Coming up: Away @ Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)

Tampa is undefeated in its last nine series, securing their seventh series win in that span after Sunday’s game was cancelled due to inclement weather. Their last series loss was in mid-June. This week was much more dominant than the record suggests, as they outscored Daytona Beach 54 to 30. They’re now seven games clear of the division lead with 12 games to go.

I’m done summarizing this absolutely insane offense, so here’s a list of everything they did this week:

• Dax Kilby went 4-for-15 with three RBI, seven walks, and a triple. He’s still running a walk rate of 21.7 percent through 26 games.
• Yostin Pena emphatically returned from injury, going 9-for-21 with three homers and 11 RBI. His raw power is ridiculous, folks.
• Luis Escudero went 7-for-13 with four RBI. He still has the best overall numbers on the team, and that’s saying something.
• Paul Gutierrez-Contreras II went 7-for-19 with five RBI, a double, and a triple. He’s already posted multiple batted balls over 110 mph in his brief pro career.
• Luke Pettitte made his professional debut and impressed, going 6-for-16 with two homers, five RBI, and two doubles. Mostly a DH by virtue of recovering from TJS, he also got a game in at first base.
• Anthony Potestio went 5-for-10 with seven walks. Through 47 career plate appearances, he has a .574 OBP.
• Brando Mayea stayed scorching hot with four hits and two homers in 11 plate appearances. He’s suddenly looking like a dude again.
• Wilberson De Pena didn’t play this week, but reportedly isn’t hurt and should be back tonight.

I get sad thinking about the state of the Tampa rotation, which has been battered by both injuries and promotions. Facundo and Henry Lalane were promoted midseason, Tyler Boudreau was poached for a week by Somerset, and both Mac Heuer and Thatcher Hurd had season-ending injuries. Boudreau and Edinzo Marquez scuffled this week, Sabier Marte had an absolute nightmare of an outing, and J.T. Etheridge tossed five solid innings. The star of the show this week was Justin West, who’s now 8-0 with a 2.28 ERA in 51 innings across his last nine starts.

Players of Note:

Luis Puello: .275/.345/.523, 14 HR, 50 RBI, 33 XBH, 121 wRC+
Yostin Pena (DSL/A): .367/.432/.633, 12 HR, 76 RBI, 31 SB, 148 wRC+
Dax Kilby: .282/.455/.435, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 7 SB, 142 wRC+ (110 PA)
Tyler Boudreau: 6-3, 3.60 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 1.09 WHIP, 17.4 K-BB% (95 IP)
Justin West: 10-3, 4.25 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 18.2 K-BB% (103.2 IP)

FCL Yankees

Record: 29-29, 7.5 GB in the FCL North

Run differential: +2

Missed playoffs. Season over.

DSL Yankees & Bombers

DSL Yankees:
Record: 33-21, 2 GB in DSL East
Run differential: +141

DSL Bombers:
Record: 25-29, 11 GB in DSL Southeast
Run differential: +8

Ah well. It was a fun road for the DSL Yankees, who had a truly special offense, but that offense completely went cold in the DSL Cup Pool Play, losing both games before the third was cancelled for irrelevance. It’s a shame, really.

This will be the last time we talk about the DSL squads this year, so let me give a toast to what was truly a special year for the farm’s international hitting development. The Yankees spent under $1 million combined on Isaias Castillo, Yostin Pena, and Juan Torres, only for all three of them to show up and break records in their time down in the D.R., vastly outperforming their signing bonuses and the seven-figure players that’ve come before them.

We’ve seen guys like this before, though. The likes of 2022 Keiner Delgado, 2023 Josue Gonzalez, 2025 Richard Matic, and more have posted OPS totals over 1.000 and haven’t made an impact stateside, but there’s reason to think it might be different now. Some of these numbers are truly alien, and even with a better hitting environment, the top three OPS totals in recent memory in this organization came from this season, as well as five of the top eight.

The pitching wasn’t great for them for much of the year, but a few guys did some great stuff. Cesar Acosta came on strong towards the end of the year with the best strikeout-to-walk numbers in the system, while Fredy Penuelas kept an ERA under two in over 50 innings. Watch for both of them in the FCL next year.

Players of Note:

Isaias Castillo: .294/.408/.629, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 35 XBH, 28 SB, 132 wRC+
Juan Torres: .385/.470/.644, 8 HR, 65 RBI, 36 XBH, 26 SB, 159 wRC+
David Carrera: .333/.502/.594, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 23 XBH, 160 wRC+
Fredy Penuelas: 52 IP, 1.56 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 18.4 K-BB%
Cesar Acosta: 51.2 IP, 3.31 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, 24.1 K-BB%

Prospect of the Week: Eric Genther

Weekly Stats: 7-for-23, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 2B, 5 BB, 4 K
Season Stats: .268/.404/.442, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 31 XBH, 7 SB, 127 wRC+

Who is the best catching prospect in the Yankees’ organization? For much of the last half-decade, that was only a hard question to ask because of the abundance of projectable talent, but now? There are a lot of question marks. It’s never a good sign when the team prioritizes several minor league free agent backstops to fill the devoid upper minors.

There are a few guys who can take the mantle. Manuel Palencia is the most progressed, and his bat seems to finally be catching up; Luis Puello has looked great in a Jesus Rodriguez-esque role in Tampa; Poly Ojeda was incredible in a small stint in the DSL; David McCann is off to a brilliant start to his pro career, and the pair of catchers drafted in July come with a lot of fanfare.

But what if I told you the best catching prospect in the system might just be a converted UDFA outfielder? Genther, who played just eight games as a catcher (all in summer collegiate leagues) after graduating high school, signed out of Rhode Island in 2025 and was immediately put behind the plate by the Yankees to prop up a weakened unit. It was a gamble, but one that seems to be paying off.

His season in Hudson Valley has encompassed everything a minor league season should be. He opened much too passive, posting a massive walk rate early at the expense of little-to-no game power. Through May 17th, Genther had a .373 OBP, but zero home runs and not a good enough hit tool to compensate for the lack of pop.

Since then? He’s been a completely different animal. In his last 75 games, he’s slashing .285/.416/.512 with a 142 wRC+, tapping into the power he didn’t show much of at all to start the season. His walk rate initially declined with a short-term increase in his strikeout rate, but over the course of the season, he’s been able to recover his plate discipline to even better levels while continuing to slug. The 24-year-old has been the personification of adjustments.

I’m not sure how things are going defensively for him, but he’s in the right hands if he wants to try to learn to be passable back there. His long-term projectability is hard with his age, but the Yankees have had some of their best success stories with older guys who just force their way up by mashing.

Arriving in 2019 in a trade with Philadelphia along with Carlos Santana (briefly, the first time), John Paul Crawford took over at shortstop and gradually blossomed into a valuable everyday bat and spiritual heart and soul of the Mariners infield. Who could ever forget these moments in 2019 and 2021 where he witnessed the final games of two Mariners legends and seemed to fully understand the emotional weight of endings and simultaneously embrace his role as a team leader.

(clears throat, blows nose)

Apologies for the emotional terrorism I sprung on y’all there, but I wanted to point out that even though Crawford has felt like an afterthought at times this season due to nagging injuries, a slow season at the plate, and a decline in defense, the question of what to do as his contract expires at the end of the 2026 season deserves much consideration. He has been through it, right there with all of us. Seeing Félix go. Sending off his friend and infield big brother Seager as the team bitterly fell just short of the playoffs in 2021. He celebrated with us all in 2022 as the team finally broke the postseason drought. He posted a career year in 2023 at the plate. He led all celebrations again in 2025 and picked the team’s postseason victory song. This season he demonstrated his quality leadership again by graciously accepting the move over to third base so that Colt Emerson could take over at shortstop until he too was too injured to play.

J.P. has been everything you could reasonably ask for in a modern-day everyday MLB shortstop. If this is his last hurrah with the team and assuming he makes it back from the IL one more time, it will all likely feel very bittersweet, much like Seager’s finale. I wanted to write this post to a) help folks pre-grieve the potential end and b) remind everyone to appreciate J.P. as much as we can this next month. I also want to point out that even in limited playing time, his wRC+ sits at 103 which is not far off from his career norms aside from his blistering 2023 season. The totals and bWAR may be down, but when he’s been healthy, he’s still been contributing at the plate, which leads me to hoping they give him a couple more seasons as a utility infielder.

Anyways, I wanted to pose some questions to the community and let’s hear your takes on our dear Captain J.P. Crawford.

1. Is J.P. Crawford done as a Seattle Mariner after 2026?
2. If no, what’s the path forward in terms of contract and position?
3. If yes, is J.P. a future Mariners Hall of Famer?

Let’s hear it in the comments!

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It's Dinger Tuesday, and I'm back on the longball beat, combing for the best four-baggers and MLB player props. 

Max Scherzer is one of the more generous pitchers on today's slate, and there are some big Royals prices, while Aaron Nola's reverse splits are giving value to right-handed Seattle bats. 

Plus, Yandy Diaz's price is 250 points longer than yesterday in what might be a better matchup.

These are my favorite home run props for Wednesday, Aug. 25.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Vinnie Pasquantino	+600
Randy Arozarena	+538
Yandy Diaz	+800
💲Today's HR parlay	+35085

Home run pick: Vinnie Pasquantino (+600)

Max Scherzer has the worst HR/9 of all MLB starters today since the beginning of last season, and that's saying something with Aaron Nola getting the ball today.

Scherzer enjoyed a good run after coming back from the IL, but just got shellacked for seven runs in his last start. He owns an 8.33 ERA at Rogers Center this year with nine dingers allowed in 27 innings of work.

All Royals batters get a good look today, but Vinnie Pasquantino at +600 was the easy choice. He doesn't have as many homers (2) as Jac Caglianone (5) in August, but his slugging (.769) paces the team and is third in baseball this month.

He missed 17 games with a wrist injury, but has a 1.218 OPS in his seven games back with two dingers and six extra-base hits. 

There is a lot of meat on this HR bone with the fair price around +450.

• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Sportsnet, Royals.TV

Home run pick: Randy Arozarena (+538)

With Aaron Nola and his home-run gifts on display today, the Mariners were one of the first places I looked for HR prices.

Nola has ripped off back-to-back strong starts, but has still allowed the most dingers in baseball and is coming off a 100-pitch outing — the first time in 21 starts he's reached triple digits. He averages 91 pitches per start this season, and the efficiency could take a hit on the road today.

Right-handers have also handled Nola well, posting a better average against him than lefties since 2024, which is why I'm landing on Randy Arozarena at +538 with a fair price of +475. He leads the team in HR/FB rate (25.9%), HardHit% (41.9%), and SLG (.579) this month.

He's also gone deep seven times in August, with only three other hitters clubbing more.

It's a great price on a reverse-split pitcher who has been a HR gift, especially on Dinger Tuesday.

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Mariners.TV, NBCSP

Home run pick: Yandy Diaz (+800)

Sometimes it's all about price, and that's where I am with Yandy Diaz vs. Jackson Jobe on Tuesday night at +700 or better.

It's a favorable matchup against Jobe, who has allowed two dingers over 14 innings this year and should see his ground-ball rate regress closer to his career numbers.

Diaz hits right-handed pitching well, with an OPS that's five points better than against lefties, which is why I'm scratching my head over why today's HR price is 250 points longer than yesterday's in a similar, if not better, matchup.

It's a .300 hitter with 25-HR potential getting priced like a No. 9 hitter in a good matchup. Sign me up.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Rays.TV, DSN

Today’s HR combo

Vinnie Pasquantino	Trade Now +35085
Randy Arozarena
Yandy Diaz

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