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No scoring here, because trying to gauge this sort of thing when a rehab setback is nearly expected with pitchers will only end in metaphorical tears.

The Braves have gotten a mild flurry of injury updates on the progress of young arms like Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, and AJ Smith-Shawver in their respective rehabs and returns from injury.

Schwellenbach was already a standout starter when he went down: his career line is 77/82/78 (wow) (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-) in 38 starts spanning 234 1/3 innings. However, he went down with a fractured elbow (what) in the middle of last season, and then experienced inflammation in the offseason. In the early days of Spring Training camp, he underwent surgery to remove bone spurs in the offending (offended?) elbow. He’s been throwing, but there’s no real timeline for him, and at this point, it seems like he might come back to make a few outings down the stretch (if it’s even worth it), if at all. But, he’s the guy with demonstrated big league success (and then some)… though to what extent he’ll be able to replicate that after a very long injury-related layoff remains to be seen.

Hurston Waldrep was one of the few fun stories the Braves experienced last year. He had a 68/79/89 line last year across ten big league appearances. Spring Training-related ramp up revealed some elbow soreness, and he also underwent bone spurs cleanup surgery. Waldrep is further along than Schwellenbach, and began a rehab assignment in the minors earlier this week. With no setbacks, he could be back sooner rather than later… though what that means for the Braves’ bulk guy-stuffed roster is uncertain.

AJ Smith-Shawver was a nearly-forgotten name amid all the other drama that befell the Braves last season. He underwent Tommy John Surgery after that whole sordid mess where it took Spencer Strider noticing something was up from the dugout. Smith-Shawver will be starting a rehab assignment soon, so he’s in between Waldrep and Schwellenbach timeline-wise. Given that he was very raw and inconsistent in limited MLB exposure (just 74 innings, 88/115/115), it’s hard to know what to expect from Smith-Shawver. There are a lot of feel-related things that take a while to come back for many post-rehab pitchers, but he didn’t have much feel to begin with, so… who knows.

The Braves have a few other injured pitchers on their roster, but they’re really wild card picks at best. I’m not sure Joe Jimenez is coming back; messaging from the team has been morose to non-existent regarding his status. Joey Wentz is out with an ACL injury suffered in Spring Training, so that’s that. There’s also Danny Young — the Braves could probably use a good left-handed reliever, and Young has dominated lefties en route to an overall 101/80/80 line. Like Smith-Shawver, he had Tommy John Surgery last year, with his coming about a month before Smith-Shawver’s. That said, we haven’t really heard anything about Young’s progress, but he’s an easier plug-and-play onto this roster at the moment.

So, those are the choices. Who ya got?

I thought about it again, yes I did.

What’s that, you’re asking?

I thought about just posting the final score of this game as a one-line recap.

“The Cubs lost to the Athletics 5-4 in 10 innings,” the one line would have read.

But you come here for a recap of Cubs games, and by gum you are going to get one, and it’s not gonna be pretty.

This game didn’t start out pretty, either. Colin Rea got four ground balls in the first inning. That’s good! Unfortunately, there was also a walk sandwiched in there, and the A’s beat two double-play relays, scoring a run on one of them for a 1-0 lead. Then Rea gave up a one-out double and two-out single in the second and the Cubs trailed 2-0. It might have been worse if not for this nice sliding grab by Seiya Suzuki [VIDEO].

To the surprise of many, the Cubs did actually come back. Suzuki began the comeback with this monster home run leading off the second [VIDEO].

One out later, Dansby Swanson doubled, but was stranded. In the third, Nico Hoerner led off with a double and Pete Crow-Armstrong launched this ball into the bleachers [VIDEO].

The Cubs had the lead!

The lead was extended in the fourth. Ian Happ led off with a double — already the Cubs’ fifth extra-base hit of the game.

That was also a milestone in Happ’s career [VIDEO].

Much more on Happ’s 1,000th career hit from BCB’s JohnW53:

Ian Happ’s fourth-inning double made him the 37th player with 1,000 hits in games as a Cub. Those 37 are just 1.6 percent of all 2,295 who have played for the Cubs.

The last with a 1,000th hit had been Anthony Rizzo, with the second of his two doubles at home against the Mets on Aug. 27, 2018. Rizzo finished with 1,311 as a Cub, to rank 20th, between Bill Nicholson (1,323) and Tom Burns (1,299).

The total hit count for the 38 range from Cap Anson (3,012), Ernie Banks (2,583) and Billy Williams (2,510), to Andy Pafko (1,048), Derrek Lee (1,046) and Hack Wilson (1,017). Starlin Castro fell just nine hits, with 991.

Happ is the 1,415th MLB player to reach 1,000 hits in a career — 6.0 percent of all 23,658 big leaguers. Four of them made exactly 1,000: Orator Shafer, 1874-90; Birdie Tebbetts, 1936-52; Dee Fondy, 1951-58; and James Carroll, 2002-13. Scott Brosius made 1,001 in 1991-2001 and Jim Hickman made 1,002 in 1962-74. Shafer, Fondy and Hickman are among 273 players with at least 1,000 hits who spent time with the Cubs — 19.3 percent of all 1,414, about one of every five.

And some postgame comments from Happ about what that all means:

"That's what makes it so special, just being with this team for as long as I have, wearing this uniform … The fans have given me so much here, that's the most special part. Every day they're here, they're supportive."

Ian Happ reflects on his 1000th career hit and his career… pic.twitter.com/enZZPUEJU5

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 4, 2026

One out after Happ’s milestone hit, this happened [VIDEO].

So this was a discussion among our group in the bleachers, and maybe with you too. Would you have sent Busch to try for an inside-the-park home run on that hit? He was slowing down at third, obviously due to a stop sign third-base coach Quintin Berry put up. But if running full speed? It would have taken a perfect throw to get him at the plate. Would have been close, to be sure, but… would you have done it?

Busch wound up stranded. That fifth run would have made a difference, obviously.

Rea settled down after those first two innings and allowed only two further baserunners, one of whom he picked off. He was removed with one out in the top of the sixth after just 69 pitches. Seemed a bit odd after he’d thrown 98 and 92 in his two previous starts and had an extra day of rest due to Monday’s off day. Hoby Milner finished the sixth without incident.

Jacob Webb threw a scoreless seventh so the Cubs went to the eighth with a 4-2 lead and relievers set up the way Craig Counsell drew it up — Caleb Thielbar for the eighth and Daniel Palencia for the ninth.

Unfortunately, Thielbar had a bad inning. He served up a 426-foot homer to pinch-hitter Colby Thomas leading off the inning, then a single and double tied the game 4-4. Phil Maton came in and I had visions of this 4-4 game suddenly becoming a 6-4 or 7-4 deficit. Maton did allow a hit but got out of the inning with the game still tied.

In the bottom of the inning, Alex Bregman led off with a walk but Suzuki hit into a double play. That turned out to be important, because Happ then doubled again, which would have given the Cubs the lead. It was the Cubs’ seventh extra-base hit of the game. More on that from John:

The Cubs’ seven extra-base hits (four doubles, one triple, two homers) among their nine total hits were their most in a game this season.

They had six (three doubles, three homers) among 18 hits in a 10-inning, 8-7 win at home over the Phillies on April 23, then six (four doubles, triple, homer) among 12 hits in an 8-4 win at home over the Diamondbacks on May 3.

Palencia threw a 1-2-3 ninth but the Cubs also went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning. On to extras, then.

The A’s scored a run when placed runner Alika Williams scored on a single by Nick Kurtz off Ethan Roberts. Ryan Rolison had to come into the game to face Tyler Soderstrom with two out and a runner on first. He got the out, after a review [VIDEO].

Counsell sent Kevin Alcántara to be the placed runner in the bottom of the inning, running for Miguel Amaya, who’d made the last out in the ninth. Alcántara moved to third on a fly to center, then almost got himself picked off third. Didn’t matter when PCA struck out and Bregman flied to right to end the game.

Ugly, ugly facts:

• The Cubs’ run since their peak this year is now 5-18
• They dropped to 4-3 in extra innings
• They dropped to 9-7 in one-run games

The Cubs also dropped to fourth place in the NL Central, still 6.5 games behind the Brewers, who got two-hit by the Giants Wednesday. Everyone in the division lost Wednesday except the Cardinals, who defeated the Rangers. (And if you think this Cubs game was bad, the Pirates led the Astros 8-3 going to the bottom of the seventh and lost 11-9.)

Still lots of time left. One hundred games, to be exact.

But it would be nice to start winning. Like, right now.

Here are Counsell’s postgame remarks [VIDEO].

The Cubs, now on an eight-game Wrigley losing streak (following that 15-game home win streak), will attempt to salvage the final game of this series against the A’s Thursday evening at Wrigley Field. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and J.T. Ginn will go for the A’s. Game time is again 7:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

It may be time to accept that the NL East division title is likely out of the picture for the Phillies. There are still over 100 games left to play in the regular season, but the Phillies’ early swoon and the Braves’ hot start has likely given Atlanta a big enough lead that it’s become unlikely for them to be caught unless something major changes.

But hope for the postseason is not lost, as the Phillies are right in the thick of the wild card race. Again, there’s still a lot of games to be played, but as we begin to enter the summer, it’s time to at least keep one eye on the standings.

At the start of play yesterday, the Phillies were one game out of a wild card spot. They have successfully gotten themselves firmly back into the picture after their horrific start. That’s the good news. The bad news is that they are one of eight teams currently separated by three games in the standings. The others outside of the Phillies are the Padres, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Cubs, Reds, and Nationals.

Not all of those teams will stay this close in the race. Washington has been a surprise thanks to a very good offense, but they seem a good bet to come back to earth at some point due to their poor pitching. The Cardinals and Pirates are other teams playing well above expectations at the moment. The Cubs have been in freefall lately while the Padres have held the top spot despite having pitiful offensive numbers, especially with runners in scoring position.

The Phillies have already secured a tiebreaker with the Padres thanks to their win Tuesday night. They are in position for one over the Pirates thanks to their sweep in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. On the other hand, the Phillies have lost the tiebreaker badly to the Cubs as they played Chicago in the midst of their poor April and are 1-6 against the Cubs. As for the rest, it could go either way as the Phillies still have at least one more series to play and are either 2-1 or 1-2.

So, who do you think will be the Phillies biggest competition for a wild card spot?

Cardinals 5, Rangers 3

• I regret to inform you that the Rangers’ winning streak has come to an end.
• A five game winning streak is nice, of course. But sweeping in St. Louis, coming back home for the weekend series, where I will be in attendance on Saturday and Sunday, on a six game run?
• Oh, and getting back to .500, as well.
• That would have been cool.
• Remember when the Rangers were above .500?

• But we have to deal with the reality that we have, not the reality we want.
• And the reality that we have right now is a Rangers team that has won 5 of 6, but that is just at 30-32 because they lost 6 of 7 before that.
• MacKenzie Gore did not pitch particularly well. He needed 31 pitches to get through a first inning that featured three walks and a single. Fortunately, only one run scored, and the bases were left loaded, and if you’re a glass-half-full type you might point out that his control problems went away after the first inning, since he didn’t issue another walk the rest of the game.
• Gore did, however, allow 8 more hits before getting pulled with two outs in the fifth, at 100 pitches.
• Gore’s 100th pitch was a curveball that Thomas Saggese crushed for an RBI triple that made it a 4-1 game. He was then lifted for Luis Curvelo.
• Gore is generating a certain Adam Eaton vibe with me right now. Eaton, like Gore, was a well regarded high school first round pick by the San Diego Padres. Eaton, like Gore, was seen as having really good stuff and top of the rotation potential, but wasn’t pitching up to that potential early in his career. Eaton, like Gore, was acquired by the Texas Rangers both to shore up the team’s rotation and because the team thought he was ready to break out, and that they could unlock his potential.
• Eaton was a rental, of course, here for just a season before becoming a free agent. And a bad season it was…Eaton put up a 5.12 ERA and 5.32 FIP in 65 innings over 13 games, then signed a three year, $24.5 million free agent deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
• That contract was considered an overpay at the time, but the Phillies felt that he had untapped potential they could unlock. Instead, he put up a 6.10 ERA over 49 starts and two relief appearances in two seasons, was released after two seasons, split the 2009 season between Baltimore and Colorado, put up an 8.08 ERA in 49 innings between the clubs, and was out of baseball after that.
• I’d forgotten about how bad Eaton was after he left Texas.
• Gore has been better for the Rangers than Adam Eaton was, and the package the Rangers gave up for him does not appear as onerous.
• It is ironic, though, that Chris Young, the guy who made the MacKenzie Gore trade for the Rangers, was sent to San Diego as part of that Eaton trade.
• Young was, in fact, the guy we were most upset about losing at the time. Adrian Gonzalez seemed like someone who might turn into a decent major league first baseman at some point, not a future star.
• Gore is currently rocking a 4.23 ERA, a 3.98 xERA, and a 3.61 FIP in 66 innings over 13 starts as a Ranger. I think the team was hoping for a bit better performance than that.
• The B-team relievers handled the final 3.1 innings. Luis Curvelo allowed a homer. Robbie Ahlstrom pitched well in his major league debut, striking out two of the four batters he faced
• Cal Quantrill pitched on back-to-back nights? He’s a real reliever now.
• Not a great performance by the offense, which managed just one run off of Cardinals starter Andrew Pallante.
• They did get to reliever JoJo Romero for the second game in a row, at least. Romero, a lefty, came into the game with two outs in the sixth with two on and two out, triggering a cavalcade of pinch hitters by the Rangers. Cody Freeman hit for Alejandro Osuna in the sixth, striking out to end the inning. Justin Foscue hit for Evan Carter to lead off the seventh, and doubled. After a Kyle Higashioka walk, Michael Helman pinch hit for Nicky Lopez, which left only Danny Jansen remaining on the bench.
• Michael Helman pinch hitting for Nicky Lopez is not a sentence I ever wanted to have to write. At least, as it pertains to the Rangers.
• Joc Pederson thus had to face Romero in the lefty-on-lefty matchup because, well, only Danny Jansen was left on the bench, and even Skip Schumaker, who has been very aggressive in going to his bench early, didn’t want to leave himself with no position players remaining in the top of the seventh.
• Pederson responded by roping a two run triple, because as our friend Tepid says, baseball exists to eff with you.
• The Rangers were not able to get him home, though, nor were they able to get the tying run on base. Once again, the early pinch hitting decisions left the Rangers with the righthanded parts of their platoon going up against righthanded relievers in the eighth and ninth, though Freeman did single off of Ryne Stanek in the eighth.
• Cody Freeman has a 1500 OPS on the season! How can you send him down with numbers like that!
• Hopefully the imminent return of Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford provides a boost to the lineup. That would be helpful.
• MacKenzie Gore touched 97.8 mph with his fastball, averaging 96.2 mph. Luis Curvelo touched 95.4 mph with his fastball. Robby Ahlstrom maxed out at 97.6 mph with his sinker. Cal Quantrill topped out at 95.1 mph with his sinker. Cal Quantrill, who picked up a win in relief the night before on one pitch, used seven pitches to get the final two outs.
• Joc Pederson had a 103.4 mph fly out and a 103.3 mph triple. Justin Foscue had a 100.6 mph double.
• Back home for three against Cleveland before hitting the road again. .500 is attainable…I just know it!

Meet the Mets

Bo Bichette and the offense finally showed up in the Mets’ series finale against the Mariners. Bichette went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, and Carson Benge stole home as part of a double steal in the team’s victory. Freddy Peralta held the Mariners to just one run in six innings, and the Mets were able to leave Seattle with a win.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, Daily News, MLB.com, Newsday, NY Post

Before the game, the team optioned Jonah Tong to Triple-A and recalled right-hander Joey Gerber.

Manager Carlos Mendoza recently admitted he knew his job was in jeopardy during the team’s 12-game losing streak earlier in the season.

Benge stole home for the first time in his professional career during a double steal to extend the team’s lead in the third inning.

Kodai Senga gave up three runs in his latest rehab appearance with Syracuse.

Around the National League East

The Braves defeated the Blue Jays 7-3 to win their 17th series of the season.

Max Meyer and the Marlins defeated the Nationals 4-1 to secure their first road sweep of the year.

Despite Cristopher Sánchez’s scoreless streak ending at 50.2 innings, the Phillies still defeated the Padres by a score of 3-2.

Washington’s offense struggled in their sweep against the Marlins.

Around Major League Baseball

The Padres designated Nick Castellanos for assignment after he hit just .191 with his new ballclub.

Commissioner Rob Manfred admitted that this year’s labor negotiations could lead to a lockout.

Yankees’ slugger Aaron Judge sat out yet again with a rib injury but he is going to undergo more tests to see if they can pinpoint his exact ailment.

Shohei Ohtani’s ERA is a miniscule 0.74 after his latest start against Arizona.

The 2026 All-Star balloting is officially open.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Lucas Vlahos argues that it is time for the team to cut its losses with Mark Vientos.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1976, Dave Kingman drove in eight runs and hit three home runs in the team’s 11-0 win over the Dodgers.

The Yankees took a disappointing loss on Wednesday, with Gerrit Cole allowing a trio of homers to the Guardians in the 5-4 defeat in the Bronx. Although the Bombers had their moments on offense, including bringing the deficit to one in the ninth, it was not enough to match Cleveland.

Despite the loss, there was plenty of other baseball going on around the American League with implications, including some good developments for the Yanks, as the Rays continue to struggle over the last few days. Let’s take a look at the Junior Circuit’s action on Wednesday.

Detroit Tigers (25-38) 7, Tampa Bay Rays (36-23) 2

Both offenses came out blazing in Wednesday’s duel between the Tigers and Rays, a welcome sight for the latter, who were coming off of a shutout. Despite this, Tampa Bay was still unable to do enough to get by, as they suffer a sweep at home at the hands of the Tigers.

RBI singles from Dillon Dingler and Yandy Díaz had both squads on the board in the first. An inning later, both clubs matched each other with solo homers, one from Jake Rogers and one from Cedric Mullins, which tied the game at two. It was not the desired start for either Nick Martinez or Troy Melton on the mound.

From that point forward, the Tigers took control of this game. Spencer Torkelson gave them the lead with a sacrifice fly in the third, but the big blow came an inning later. After Matt Vierling and Gleyber Torres reached on a pair of singles, Dillon Dingler broke the game open with his 14th home run of the season, a three-run blast to put Detroit up by a score of 6-2.

From there, the Tigers remained in the driver’s seat the rest of the way. They needed just two different pitchers to get through the game on Wednesday, with Melton leading the way. The young righty was excellent for much of his eight innings of work, during which he struck out five and allowed just two runs.

After a lengthy effort from their starter, Detroit needed just one inning from the ‘pen, which they gave to Drew Anderson. The righty worked a seamless final inning, as the Tigers secured the sweep over Tampa Bay. The Yankees have been unable to take much advantage of it, having dropped two in a raw to the Guardians.

Other Games

Atlanta Braves (42-20) 7, Toronto Blue Jays (29-33) 3:

The Braves answered the age-old question of “what’s better than a three-run homer?” on Wednesday, as a pair of ‘em pushed Atlanta past the Blue Jays. The first came in the third inning when Mauricio Dubón jumped on a 2-0 pitch and turned their deficit into a lead. Later on, in the seventh with a pair of runners on, Ozzie Albies got in on the fun when he belted one of his own off the facing of the second deck in left field. With plenty of run support, Braves starter Grant Holmes turned in a solid start, working six innings of two-run ball in the win.

New York Mets (27-35) 7, Seattle Mariners (33-30) 1: 

Although a J.P. Crawford solo homer in the first inning had the M’s right in the middle of this game, that swing was just about the end of the offense in this one for Seattle. The Mets had a big rally in the fourth inning with hits from Bo Bichette and Jared Young and a well-executed double steal that saw them plate four runs in the frame. While the bats continued to do their job for the Mets, Freddy Peralta turned in a very solid start, allowing just one run across six innings of work, striking out half a dozen batters. With the loss, Seattle’s eight-game winning streak comes to an end.

PHOENIX — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ frustrations are starting to seep in.

They keep getting asked the same questions, but have no new answers.

Simply, they have run out of superlatives, and there’s not a single Dodger player who keeps a Roget’s Thesaurus in his locker.

Just how many different ways can you possibly describe Shohei Ohtani, the Greatest Sho on Earth, who once again Wednesday night defied any semblance of reality on a baseball diamond in the Dodgers’ 7-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks?

“The best player,’’ Dodgers catcher Will Smith said after the June 3 win, “that’s ever walked on this earth.’’

Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo took it a step further: “He is from another planet.’’

Ohtani showed the world once again why no one alive has ever seen anything quite like this.

He stepped on the pitcher’s mound at Chase Field, retired the first 11 batters he faced, and surrendered two hits and one walk in in six shutout innings, lowering his ERA to 0.74. It’s the third-lowest ERA in the first 10 starts of a season in MLB history.

He stepped to the plate six times, and reached base five times, with three hits and two walks, raising his batting average to a season-high .301 with a .941 OPS.

It’s only the fourth time in baseball history that a player has pitched at least six shutout innings and reached base five or more times, a feat last accomplished in 1964 by New York Yankees starter Mel Stottlemyre.

"He's probably one of a handful of players that could play in another league above the major leagues,’’ Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo says. “It's the best way I can define it.

“It's freakish what he's able to do. You know where he is at all times in the lineup, you are budgeting to not let him beat you because he's just so unpredictable, and there is no weakness.

“He's the best player I've ever seen, and I've been around some really, really good players.’’

Well, considering Babe Ruth played his last game in 1935, and Bill Greason (101) and Bobby Shantz (100) are the only two 100-year-old former major league players still alive, it’s fair to say the rest of the 8.3 billion alive in this world would say the same.

“It’s really hard not to think about what he’s going to do next,’’ says Dodgers veteran infielder Miguel Rojas, “when he’s that talented. I really hate when people start making assumptions that he can’t hit as well when he pitches, or he can’t pitch as well when he hits, because someone as talented as Shohei, he can do anything.

"You’re seeing it every night.’’

Certainly, we’ve already seen what Ohtani can accomplish as a hitter, leading the league in homers twice, leading the league in slugging three times, and hitting at least .300 twice.

But what he’s doing now, not even Ruth ever hit more than 20 homers and won more than 10 games in the same season.

Certainly, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says, this would be the greatest season of his career, eclipsing his 2024 season when he hit 54 homers and stole 59 bases, but never pitched, recovering from Tommy John surgery.

“Absolutely,’’ Roberts says. “I mean, what’s more unique, being one of one, the 50/50 club, or throw 165 innings and hit 30-something homers and have a .950 OPS?

“I think this would be for sure.’’

'I like where I'm at'

If Ohtani maintains this, the Baseball Writers' Association of America might as well start engraving his name on his fifth MVP plaque. The Dodgers should start taking artist renderings for the Ohtani statue outside Dodger Stadium. The Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown should start clearing out wall space.

And, Ohtani, well, maybe it’s time for him to join the crowd and appreciate just what he’s doing.

“I like where I’m at,” Ohtani said. “But it’s still May [actually June]. I do want to be able to look back halfway through the season and see where things are at.

“But I’m pleased with where I’m at right now.”

Anyone else would be absolutely ecstatic, dancing on the mound, flipping their bat to the upper deck, and coming up with new antics on TikTok.

Sorry, it’s not Ohtani’s style.

Pitching on another level

He badly wants to lead the Dodgers to their third consecutive World Series title, accomplished only by the Yankees and Oakland A’s, but appears almost as obsessed with winning his first Cy Young award. He’s 6-2 with an MLB-leading 0.74 ERA among starters, but Cristopher Sanchez of the Philadelphia Phillies (7-2, 1.46 ERA) just had a 50.2-inning scoreless inning streak. Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers (6-2, 1.65 ERA) has struck out 108 batters with his 103-mph fastball. Brewers teammate Kyle Harrison is 7-1 with a 1.57 ERA., And San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller has a 0.72 ERA and has been perfect in 17 save opportunities.

You have one or two rough starts, and you can kiss the Cy Young award goodbye.

“I’ve noticed with Shohei, every run is a premium,’’ Roberts said. “He’s literally trying to throw a shutout every single time he goes out there, where I don’t know if every starter has that mindset.’’

No one has seen anything like it.

Maybe no one will again.

This is a player who has already won four MVP awards. He is the only player in history to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in the same season. He has won two home run titles. He won an RBI title. He won 15 games with a 2.33 ERA one season with the Los Angeles Angels.

But, never, ever, has he had a season like this, shaping up to be the greatest in baseball history.

He has pitched 61 innings this year, just one inning shy of qualifying for the ERA title, and given up just five runs and 30 hits. He has 10 homers, 33 RBI and leads the league with a .419 on-base percentage. And he’s getting even better the last three weeks. He was kept out of the starting lineup for two consecutive days to give him a breather, and responded by hitting .435 with seven doubles, two triples, three homers, 16 RBI and a 1.254 OPS in the Dodgers’ last 20 games.

“I think we were all expecting something really big happening when he came over here as a two-way player,’’ Rojas said, “but to see what he’s doing, this, well, I really don’t have any words to describe it anymore.

“What can you say? We’re watching the show like everyone else.’’

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani continues historic season, lowering ERA to 0.74

The Dodgers have always been at the forefront of technology and innovation. They have been using their Trajekt Arc pitching machine to help hitters prepare for opposing pitchers. The machine replicates release points and deliveries, while also showing the batter specific pitch characteristics.

Dalton Rushing has been below average in challenges to called pitches so far this season. So the Dodgers thought they would try something out of the box -if the Trajekt Arc pitching machine helped batters see pitches better, maybe it could help Rushing see them also.

They started using one of their own pitchers, Justin Wrobleski. Each simulated pitch showed one of three data points – how Rushing caught it, where the pitch was, and if Rushing should challenge or not.

From Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:

“It’s weird, because you don’t see the ball the whole way,” Rushing said. “It’s not like an actual pitcher, obviously, on the mound. The catching side of it is a little weird. The pitches are sometimes better, sometimes not as good off the machine. But at the same time, it’s giving us an idea to train our eyes a little bit.”

The Dodgers are one of only a few teams using this technology, and it still has some kinks to be worked out. But it seems to be helping Rushing in the margins, pun intended, as he correctly challenged two pitches in Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s start on Sunday which turned those at bats into strikeouts.

Also in The Athletic, Katie Woo covers how the Dodgers use of the six-man rotation is working for them so far this season. The team has been able to weather the loss of both Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow, still having one of the top pitching staffs in the majors and the second-best record in all of baseball.

“The benefit is it allows (Ohtani, Yamamoto and Sasaki) to be on a routine that they’re more accustomed to,” pitching coach Mark Prior said. “It’s also another way for us with some of our younger guys to come up not tax them right out of the chute. In this environment, you’re already adding the stress of pitching to this level versus the minor leagues, so these are all just little benefits I think we’ve seen in the margins.”

While pitchers like Roki Sasaki, Shohei Ohtani and Yamamoto are used to working with six days rest, it is benefitting pitchers like Emmet Sheehan who is used to the traditional time between starts.

“Six days rest is awesome,” Sheehan said. “Getting a little bit more recovery every week, keeping guys fresh, keeping the innings down on the year, I think, are probably the biggest things.”

The Dodgers pitching staff currently are averaging 5.71 innings per start, best in the majors, and way above last year’s mark where they finished in 28th. The team hopes this goes a long way to keeping the staff healthy heading into the playoffs.

1959
The 1959 season was filled with extra-inning games for the White Sox, including SIX against Baltimore. There were also three true marathon games, of 17, 17, and 18 innings — ALL against the Orioles. This was the first one that went at least 17 innings.

In this game, Earl Torgeson’s solo home run off of Jerry Walker in the last of the 17th was the difference in Chicago’s 6-5 win at Comiskey Park. Bob Shaw pitched five relief innings to get the victory. 

The Sox rallied from 4-2 and 5-4 deficits to get the win. The game lasted 4:37.

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1972
It is forever known as the “Chili Dog Game,” one of the most electrifying games in team history.

In the second game of a doubleheader against the Yankees (Chicago already having won the opener, 6-1), White Sox manager Chuck Tanner wanted Dick Allen available to pinch-hit in the last of the ninth inning if needed. Allen at the time was wolfing down a chili dog because he had played in the first game, was sitting out the nightcap — and was hungry. When Tanner called on him, Allen quickly had to put on a uniform, getting the last of the chili dog all over the top of it — forcing the clubhouse boys to rush to find him a new, clean jersey.  

With two men on and Chicago losing, 4-2, Allen stepped to the plate. On the third pitch from future Sox relief pitcher Sparky Lyle, Allen deposited the ball into the left-field lower deck for a 5-4 win and a sweep of the twin bill. A bat-day crowd of 51,904 (11th all-time in White Sox/Chicago attendance) exploded.

One of the greatest one-liners in Sox history took place as Lyle was walking in from the bullpen. Mike Andrews was on first base, and he and Lyle were roommates when both were with the Red Sox. As Lyle approached the mound Andrews called out, “Sparky, you’re in deep shit now!”

As a side note, future sportscaster Keith Olbermann, a Yankees fan, wrote about listening to this game in a book he co-authored with Dan Patrick (The Big Show): When Allen hit the home run, Olbermann threw his radio out of the second-floor window of his parents’ house.

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1973
White Sox pitching ace Wilbur Wood appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. At the time it looked like Wood was on his way to 30 wins, given he already had 13 before June 1. The headline read, “Wizard With a Knuckler.” 

But because of a massive number of injuries to the team, Wood would “only” finish with 24 wins. He started 48 times, had an ERA of 3.46 and threw an incredible 359 innings. The 1973 White Sox wound up using the injured list 38 times.

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1977
In the second inning of a game at Comiskey Park versus the Yankees, Richie Zisk, “The Polish Prince,” hit a rooftop home run near the left field line off of Don Gullett, a solo shot. He became the seventh Sox player to do this. Unfortunately the Sox would lose the game, 8-6, as the Yankees already had put a seven-spot up in the top of the second.

[This is the first game SSS editor Brett Ballantini ever attended, and he can still picture that ball rising up toward the roof and simply … disappearing. Magical.]

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1990
The White Sox drafted right-handed starter Alex Fernandez in the first round pick (No. 4 overall), completing one of the most remarkable four-year runs of first-rounders in MLB draft history (preceded by Jack McDowell, Robin Ventura and Frank Thomas). Fernandez would be in the majors just two months later, on August 3. And the righty had staying power; his 28.5 WAR (20.3 with the White Sox) ranked fourth in 1990’s first round behind Chipper Jones, Mike Mussina and Rondell White.

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2008
In the third inning facing John Danks, future White Sox third baseman Mark Teahen hit a long home run out to center field for the Royals. One inning later, Jim Thome did Teahen one better, with the ninth-longest homer hit at new Sox Park at the time (464 feet) and the first ever to reach the Fan Deck in center field.

The White Sox led for most of the game, until the ninth when K.C. rallied for two off of closer Bobby Jenks. The two teams played five innings deadlocked at 4-4, until Paul Konerko stepped to the plate against future White Sox reliever Jimmy Gobble at 11:35 p.m.:

It was PK’s only hit of the contest, in seven plate appearances. The White Sox seemed destined to throw away this game, having failed to score despite doubling in two of the extra frames. But a miracle season continued, and at 32-27 the South Siders remained atop the AL Central.

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2016
It is a trade that will live in infamy: GM Rick Hahn sent young hurler Erik Johnson and 17-year-old Fernando Tatís Jr. to San Diego for veteran starter James Shields.

Tatís, the son of a former major league slugger, had been signed less than one year earlier and had yet to play a single game in the White Sox system. Three years after the trade, Tatís was in the major leagues, immediately garnering MVP votes. Prior to the 2021 season, Tatís signed a 14-year, $330 million contract extension with the Padres, anointing him as perhaps the premier talent in all of baseball.

It is suspected that Tatís was inserted into the deal to help persuade San Diego to eat some of Shields’ onerous remaining salary; that short-sighted gambit succeeded, as the Padres sent $31 million along with Shields, lowering the White Sox obligation to Shields to $27 million over four years. In a 2025 interview, Hahn admitted that part of the reason Tatís was in the deal was that the White Sox objected to San Diego’s original asking price of an additional pitcher along with Johnson.

Shields’ 5.31 ERA ranks second only to Jaime Navarro for highest in team history among pitchers allowed to throw at least 400 innings for the club. The warning signs were evident … in his last start for San Diego, Shields allowed 10 runs against the Mariners and was publicly ripped by the Padres owner.

In his White Sox career of 77 games (76 starts), Shields logged a -0.3 WAR.

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2023
One of the few bright spots in what would be a forgettable season came when Liam Hendriks earned his first win since his cancer diagnosis in the offseason.

The win came six days after his first appearance back with the White Sox, and marked a second straight scoreless effort.

How did Hendriks earn his first victory back? Oh, only with the ninth walk-off grand slam in White Sox history. With the sacks packed and one out, Jake Burger lined a 1-0 curveball out to left-center for a 6-2 win over Detroit.

The current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between MLB and the Major League Player’s Association (MLBPA) that governs the business of the league as a whole is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2026 season. As always, this means that both sides have started angling to increase their slice of the pie that is the overall profits of the sport.

Both sides have exchanged their initial proposals for changes, the first official public steps towards hammering out what the next CBA will include. Most, if not all, of these proposed changes will not make it through negotiations to the final agreement in their current form.

They do, however, give us a sense of the types of changes that each side is seeking. This affords an opportunity to assess how those types of proposals would potentially impact the Rockies if a watered-down version of them does make it to the final agreement.

MLB’s initial proposal

The league’s first pitch for these negotiations is light on fluff and instead included just two fundamental changes to the structure of the business.

Major League Baseball has made its cap proposal:
2027 cap: $245.3 million
Floor: $171.2 million

A 50-50 split in revenues.

More to come. pic.twitter.com/IqZqE5cpCy

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) May 28, 2026

Team salaries

• Creating a hard salary cap of $245.3 million per team.
• Creating a hard salary floor of $171.2 million per team.
• Committing to the idea that the exact value of the salary cap and floor will encompass a 50-50 split of league baseball revenue between players and ownership as that changes over time. Notably, MLB’s exact definition of “baseball revenue” is vague.

As was the case during negotiations for the previous CBA, Rockies owner Dick Monfort is on the owners bargaining committee and has been a known proponent of a salary cap for some time so the fact that this is being proposed is not surprising. This is probably the least likely single policy to actually be agreed to given the unions decades long vehement opposition, but it is still worth considering the specifics.

If this hard cap and floor were in place in 2026, nine teams would be forced to shed payroll to get under the cap. From the NL West, this would include the San Diego Padres ($9 million) and the Los Angeles Dodgers ($163 million). On the flip side, twelve teams would need to increase player payroll to get over the floor including the Rockies, who would need to increase their payroll by roughly $31 million.

While player payroll is not the Dodgers only advantage, the sheer amount that they would need to cut would unavoidably reduce their ability to paper over mistakes or build roster redundancy at the level they currently can. There would still be a gulf between them and the Rockies in terms of player development, talent evaluation, and attractiveness to free agents, but it would be foolhardy to say that a salary cap and floor wouldn’t somewhat reduce the differences between the two organizations.

Team revenues

• Creating a centralized fund for all local media revenue to be distributed evenly between all teams.

This essentially means that teams would share money that comes in from TV and radio deals. Depending on the specifics of what exactly qualifies for this, it could be a massive overhaul to the overall revenue structures for all teams. Smaller market clubs would suddenly get a huge influx of money that they did not previously have access to.

Under this proposal, the factors that would differentiate spending capacity between clubs would be ticket sales, merchandise, and whatever other commercial interests they have (such as ballpark-adjacent real estate like the Rockies have with McGregor Square).

The Rockies, who have had historically good attendance despite comparatively non-valuable media rights, would theoretically see some of the largest benefits from this change of any team in the league.

The MLBPA’s initial proposal

Unlike the league’s proposal which focused on two fundamentally disruptive changes, the MLBPA focused on a large number of smaller adjustments to the existing system as best summarized by Jorge Castillo of ESPN. This is a buffet of changes that, each in isolation, wouldn’t make a large difference, but if taken as a whole would mark a major shift.

The MLBPA's proposal maintains the game's current financial structure with significant changes. The revenue-sharing proposal aims to increase money given to lower-revenue teams but forces them to direct that money to the major league team. Many more dollars going to players, too.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) May 27, 2026

If we pool the clauses with similar goals in mind together, we can think through the potential impact on the Rockies specifically.

Team salaries

• Raising the existing Competitive Balance Tax threshold from $244 million up to $300 million.
  • Removing all existing non-financial penalties (such as draft pick forfeiture) for surpassing the CBT threshold.
• Creating a Competitive Integrity Tax that would penalize teams that did not spend at least $150 million on player payroll.

This likely would not change the status quo for the Rockies as a franchise. In seven of the past nine seasons, their payroll would have fit between these two bands as far as the league calculates taxable payroll. It’s a similar story for every other non-Dodgers team in the division. It is possible that teams like the Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks would spend a bit more if the tax threshold were increased, but not enough to fundamentally change the competitive dynamics of the division.

Minimum player salaries

• Increasing the minimum player salary (currently $775,000) in installments starting at $1.5 million in 2027 and up to $2.2 million in 2031.

On paper, this seems like it would impact teams in the middle of a rebuild more than others (because they lean on pre-arbitration and marginal free agents). But looking through the payroll breakdowns of the NL West this season, that doesn’t appear to actually be true.

So far in 2026, the Rockies have nine players slated to make less than this proposed new minimum salary. If this were in effect, they’d be on the hook for something north of $6 million more in payroll this season without any further promotions or signings. As it turns out, that’s a smaller increase than every other team in the division other than the Diamondbacks, who currently have five such players.

This would be a big deal for the individual players, but does not seem to have specific competitive implications for the Rockies.

The Draft

• Increasing the size of the draft lottery to include the first eight picks instead of just the top six.

This would marginally increase the chance that the Rockies would end up in the draft lottery in back-to-back years and thus be forced to pick outside the top ten regardless of their record the following season, as has happened for this coming draft. It could have some small effect on the front office’s attempts to plan their next competitive window but only marginally.

Pre-Arbitration

• Expanding the Prospect Promotion Incentive. Currently, draft picks after the first round are awarded to teams that have eligible players who either win the Rookie of the Year or finish top 3 in Cy Young or MVP voting. In the expanded proposal, picks after rounds two and three of the draft would also be awarded to teams with eligible players that earned lower finishes in any of those three awards voting.
• Increasing the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $50 million to $180 million to be awarded to the top 125 pre-arbitration players that have not signed long-term extensions.
• Introducing automatic annual increases to the pre-arbitration bonus pool.

All MLB teams contribute equally to the pre-arbitration bonus pool, and thus the players are not paid directly by the team they play for. This would have no effect on the Rockies other than more of their good young players getting financially rewarded for their performance.

The expansion of the Prospect Promotion Incentive, however, could directly impact a team like the Rockies that will be looking to begin building a new core in the coming years via graduates from their farm system. Decreasing the awards voting bar required for a team to earn additional draft picks from rookie performances would incentivize more aggressive callups for teams looking to inject even more talent into their minor leagues.

Arbitration

• Making player salaries from arbitration guaranteed. This would mean teams could no longer get out of paying a salary for a player that they lost the arbitration case for just by releasing him.
• Introducing a minimum arbitration tender of $3 million.
• Doubling the pool of “Super 2” arbitration players from 22% of those with more than two but less than three years of service time up to 44%.
• Providing a one-time increase of 20% to pre-existing arbitration salaries (with a maximum of $2 million).

Similar to the minimum salary increase, this would have relatively large implications for overall league payroll, but the distribution of that increase per team is not heavily connected to their market size or competitive window.

For example, comparing the New York Yankees and the Pittsburgh Pirates, one would assume the bigger-market team that always fields a winning roster would rely less on arbitration-eligible players. In fact, however, the 2026 Yankees have 11 players that were arbitration eligible this past offseason whereas the Pirates only have four.

This isn’t likely to impact the Rockies more or less than any other team.

Free Agency

• Granting free agency to players that are at least age thirty once they reach five years of service time instead of the standard six.
• Eliminating the qualifying offer. Teams would still receive draft picks upon losing a free agent but would no longer forfeit draft picks when signing players.
• Creating a system in which teams that receive revenue sharing would be awarded draft picks for signing players at high salaries.

This section is one that could specifically benefit the Rockies, who are a revenue sharing recipient but historically have been able to spend more than most of the other teams with that designation. This combination means that the Rockies would be one of the very best-positioned teams to take advantage of a system in which spending on an occasional high-priced free agent could also net them a draft pick.

The elimination of the qualifying offer would further increase the Rockies ability to spend on free agents as they would not need to worry about losing draft picks that are especially valuable to small and mid-market teams. That being said, the same would be the case for all other teams and would not specifically benefit the Rockies much more than others.

Conclusions

It is worth reiterating that these initial proposals will not be agreed to. The league and the union will continue negotiating, making counter proposals, and publicly vying for support throughout the season and offseason. We likely will not know what portions of these proposals the sides really care about until the threat of potentially losing games in 2027 comes near. Once the two sides reach an eventual agreement, we’ll need to assess it on its own merits.

That being said, even looking through these drastic initial proposals, the thing that stuck out to me most is just how little they would practically affect an individual team like the Rockies in terms of their competitive aspirations or the fan viewing experience. The Rockies biggest problems have always been of their own making and not a factor of institutional disadvantages.

Whether the next CBA favors the players or the owners more, the Rockies fate will largely come down to how well they identify and develop talent (just like always) with potentially a small boost from the new ecosystem… assuming they are astute enough to navigate it well.

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On the Farm

Triple-A:Albuquerque Isotopes 14, Salt Lake Bees 13

This was a wild one that went in to the tenth inning and saw the two teams combining for 28 hits, 14 walks, seven stolen bases, and five home runs.

The largest contributors to those totals on the Isotopes side were Adael Amador who was on base four times, Zac Veen (No. 9 PuRP) and Charlie Condon (No. 1 PuRP) who both had two hits including driving in the go ahead and insurance runs, and Nic Kent who had three hits including a home run. Even more impressive, however, was Andrew Knizner who had a monster game in which he collected four hits, two of which were home runs. All told, it was a good night if you like offense.

Double-A:Hartford Yard Goats 7, Portland Sea Dogs 10

On the flipside, defense was the difference in this one. Four separate Yard Goats committed an error leading to three unearned runs, without which the game would have been tied heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Each of Connor Capel, Aidan Longwell, and GJ Hill hit home runs which provided the bulk of the offense for Hartford. On the mound Connor Staine started and went four innings in which the only runs he gave up were accounted for amongst the unearned total. Davison Palermo relieved Staine and had the only clearly poor pitching performance of the night in the form of four earned runs in just a single inning pitched.

High-A:Spokane Indians 2, Hillsboro Hops 4

A relatively low scoring affair that was won when the Hops scored their third run in the top of the fourth, it just took a few more innings for anyone to know it. Bryson Hammer was the starter and allowed those three runs on the back of six hits and four walks but was otherwise solid through five innings. Justin Loer took over for him in the sixth and pitched three scoreless innings.

The lineup, with their nine hits and a walk, had plenty of baserunners but failed to drive them in leaving nine stranded. Both Tommy Hopfe and Jack O’Dowd had two hits, and Robert Calaz (No. 6 PuRP) hit a triple, but Max Belyeu (No. 15 PuRP) had the best offensive performance of the night in the form of three hits including two doubles.

Low-A:Fresno Grizzlies 6, Lake Elsinore Storm 5

The Storm was up five to nothing heading into the bottom of the ninth and then this happened:

1. Clayton Gray walked.
2. Tanner Thach singled.
3. Derek Bernard singled to load the bases.
4. Carlos Renzullo grounded out but drove in a run.
5. Tanner Thach scored on a wild pitch before Ashly Andujar (No. 20 PuRP) walked.
6. Jesus Freitez flied out but drove in a third run.
7. Luis Mendez walked.
8. Cameron Nelson smoked a ball past right field that almost landed on a car. Game over.

Do yourself a favor and just go watch that half inning.

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Karros turning corner at the plate? HR signals step in right direction | MLB.com

It’s no secret that Kyle Karros has struggled at the plate to start his major league career. Thomas Harding talks to Karros and Warren Schaeffer about his early struggles and how he’s starting to see results. Between Karros’ insistence in this piece that his problems stemmed from not relaxing enough and his pre-season plan of maintaining the approach that he’d had success with in the minors, a picture of Karros as both confident and a bit stubborn may be beginning to emerge.

Rockies’ Ezequiel Tovar adjusting through highs and lows of high-profile year: ‘I’m not a robot’ | Denver Gazette ($)

In comparison, Kevin Henry’s recent piece detailing Ezequiel Tovar’s struggles to start the season show a different response to failure. In the piece Tovar goes into the frustration with his performance and the constant process of making adjustments to identified issues regardless of how the results are playing out on the field.

VOTE NOW! Help make Rockies All-Star Game starters | MLB.com

It’s somehow already June, which means that voting for the All-Star team has officially begun! Vote early, vote often as they say.

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