ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 24: Atlanta mascot Blooper waves a flag after an Atlanta Braves win following the conclusion of the MLB game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves on April 24th, 2026 at Truist Park in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Red Sox have returned to the Dead Ball era.
“Sell the team” chants have taken over NESN.
Alex Cora was fired at 10-17. Chad Tracy is at 8-8. Craig Breslow is probably fielding calls about Aroldis Chapman, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Garrett Whitlock…guys who can help winning clubs right now. And Boston travels to face the only team with 30 wins. Baseball being what it is, they could sweep, of course. But this is going to be a tough series. The pitching matchups might favor Atlanta despite the Red Sox having good pitchers too. Chris Sale won’t be pitching so at least one of their aces misses the weekend series.
Connelly Early takes the ball Friday night against Spencer Strider. Early is coming off an excellent outing against Tampa Bay, 7.0 scoreless innings in their lone win in three games against the AL East leader. Strider began the year on the IL and, after being knocked around in Colorado for 3.1 inning,s shut down the Dodgers for 6.0. Maybe he’ll be rusty again. Kinda of an even-odd thing. One hit, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts even during an Ohtani slump is nothing to sneeze at.
Payton Tolle, aka Mass Pike, has made three starts on at least five days rest and one start on four days rest. Those three have included two gems and one kinda OK start. In the one on four days he wasn’t as sharp and issued four walks. Hopefully the Braves are a good matchup for him. They are actually the 23rd ranked offense in walks but 24th in strikeouts. So maybe this will be a defense-heavy workload. Durbin to the rescue? Bryce Elder is a righty who strikes people out but not at the elite level. He has 53 Ks in 54.2 innings but struck out 8 and 9 batters, respectively, in his last two starts. He does have 20 walks over that time which is…fine. He only averages 87 pitches per outing so if they work a few deep counts (I know, I know) maybe they can hold him under the 6.0 inning mark. He has reverse splits and this year righties are hitting .268/.297/.310 with lefties at an insane .130/.246/.236. Basically every lefty becomes Caleb Durbin. Not great for Tracy’s matchups.
Brayan Bello just pitched on Tuesday. He could be the TBD after an opener again. That’s four days rest. Jake Bennett can’t be recalled yet. The opener is working out for him. Whatever is causing him issues at the start of the game just doesn’t seem to be there. With 6.1 and 7.0 innings and 1 run allowed each time the Red Sox should keep the arrangement going as long as they can. Grant Holmes is the weak link of the series. Not that it matters when a guy with an ERA of nearly seven can shut down the lineup and given Wednesday. He’s a righty with essentially even splits. He’s given up an OPS of .680 to same-sided hitters and .678 to lefties. He hasn’t made it into the fifth in three of his last five starts.
Ronald Acuña Jr. has been on the IL. With any luck they’ll miss him.
Drake Baldwin is having a tremendous season with 11 homers and 37 runs scored (leading the league) while slashing .295/.378/.520.
Matt Olsen has 14 homers and 15 doubles.
Old friend Dom Smith is hitting .358/.386/.543 in limited playing time.
Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Michale Harris II…basically the entire lineup is dangerous. Must be nice.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday, May 15: Connelly Early (3.16 ERA / 4.35 FIP) vs. Spencer Strider (2.89 ERA / 3.75 FIP)
Saturday, May 16: Payton Tolle (2.78 ERA / 2.80 FIP) vs. Bryce Elder (1.81 ERA / 3.09 FIP)
Sunday, May 17: TBD (— ERA / — FIP) vs. Grant Holmes (4.35 ERA / 5.19 FIP)
When/Where to Watch
Friday, May 15: 7:15 PM ET on NESN
Saturday, May 16: 7:15 PM ET on NESN
Sunday, May 17: 1:35 PM ET on NESN
In the meantime, imagine Craig Breslow slowly turning into a Batman villain…
HOUSTON, TEXAS - APRIL 04: Jim Crane of the Houston Astros attends the game between the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center on April 04, 2025 in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Much of the Astros issues tie back to Crane’s decisions (or lack thereof). Is he willing to step up and fix them, or is he willing to eat his words?
“I made a statement the other day that as long as I’m here the window’s open. So I’ve got to live up to that.” Those are the words of Astros owner Jim Crane, as said to PaperCity Magazine’s Chris Baldwin back in February 2024.
Crane takes his belief that the “window is always open” very seriously. He is competitive, he wants to win. He’s also a very intelligent, very shrewd businessman, and he isn’t blind to what is going on with his franchise right now.
After dropping 3 of 4 at home to the Seattle Mariners, the Astros find themselves in a very tenuous position. They are now 11 games under .500 as we approach Memorial Day. Memorial Day is the unofficial quarter marker of the season, and the time when records start to matter. Being 10 games under .500 at Memorial Day is Red Alert.
There has been no end in sight for the litany of injuries this team continues to suffer from. With 14 players currently on the IL, the Astros’ depth has been seriously tested yet again, and with suboptimal results. For a team that entered the season without SPs Ronel Blanco, Hayden Wesneski, and Brandon Walter, it then lost Cy Young finalist Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and for a time Tatsuya Imai (more on him shortly).
The depth the team built in the offseason with starting pitching has been ripped through. Ryan Weiss, brought over from the KBO after several successful seasons there, has flopped. Jason Alexander, who pitched well for the team last season after they grabbed him off waivers, has also flopped. Colton Gordon, who pitched 86 sometimes good/sometimes not so good innings for Houston last season, has flopped as well.
Nate Pearson, signed in the offseason recovering from surgery with the idea he could get an opportunity to start, has already been converted to a reliever in the minors while rehabbing. Kai-Wei Teng, who succeeded as a reliever for Houston thus far, is being tried as a starter and the results have not been as strong. Cody Bolton has spot started and worked as a multi-inning reliever with middling results (4.76 ERA), and those middling results are among the most positive the team has received from is depth so far.
Crane did not want to risk exceeding the tax line in the offseason, so GM Dana Brown was forced to work in the margins. So far, those decisions have mostly failed.
The biggest moves the team made in the offseason were the trade for SP Mike Burrows and the signing of free agent Tatsuya Imai.
Burrows is a young pitcher who only had one season of MLB experience and showed some promise. He was tremendous all spring. As soon as the regular season began, he suddenly became homer prone with an inability to finish off batters. Burrows currently has allowed the most hits in the league (60 in 50.1 IP) and his HR/9 rate has increased from 1.2 last season to 1.8 this season. He has allowed 10 HR in 50.1 IP this season after allowing 13 in 96 IP last season. His walk rate from last season is about the same, but his K/9 rate is down almost a full strikeout from last year (9.1 in 2025 to 8.2 this season).
Tatsuya Imai was the top pitcher coming from Japan this season and one of the top pitchers on the free agent market. A surprisingly soft market for Japanese players allowed the Astros to swoop in and get him at a significant discount. Imai has tremendous stuff, and was a highly accomplished pitcher in Japan.
Imai dominated all spring, but like Burrows, once the regular season started, something went haywire.
Imai looked strong in the first 2 innings of his first start of the season, then experienced Steve Blass syndrome (can’t find the strike zone) in the 3rd inning against the Angels, walking a pair of guys while giving up 3 hits and had to be lifted. He was strong in his second start, and threw 5.2 scoreless with 9K. In his third start, he recorded only one out and walked 4 of the 7 batters he faced. He went on the IL with ‘arm fatigue’ afterwards.
Imai struggled to find the strike zone while rehabbing in the minors, but was called up anyway despite clearly not being ready because the Astros are desperate for starters. Imai was put in a bad spot, and predictably failed as he allowed 6 ER in 4 innings, with 5 hits, 3 walks and 2 home runs allowed. Despite having an arsenal with 5 pitches, he chose to only throw 2 of them, his fastball and his slider. The slider is what often did him in.
Perhaps the Astros could have made other decisions with their pitching, but the budget didn’t allow it. Despite Framber Valdez’ need for a personal therapist at times, he is still a top pitcher and workhorse who has pitched among the most innings in baseball the last 4 seasons. Considering the contract he eventually settled for, it seemed like a player the Astros could have re-signed if they wanted to. Maybe he had worn out his welcome in Houston, but for a team that for the past 2 seasons has been decimated by pitching injuries, he was going to be a difficult person to replace. Clearly, they have been unable to fill that void as well.
In the bullpen, Josh Hader had a setback after being shut down in August last season, and still has not returned. Of course, the team acted as if his return to start the season was a guarantee all offseason, and then his timeline suddenly started getting pushed back further and further. Hader is now expected to return approximately May 24. When it comes to a closer you have a $95M investment in, it is wise to be careful with his rehab. It also would have been wise to make better contingency plans.
Bryan Abreu, expected to fill his role as closer while Hader rehabbed, had a sudden loss of velocity and command, and started the year terribly. He was eventually removed from the closer role and put in lesser leverage situations to regain his form and confidence. While his velocity is still not where it should be from a total velocity or consistency standpoint, he has been improved in his performances of late. That said, he still doesn’t look like the Abreu who has been among the most dominant relievers in baseball the last 4 seasons.
Bennett Sousa, who assumed the mantle of the 8th inning setup man last season when Hader went down before he also went down with elbow inflammation, missed the start of the season rehabbing from an oblique strain and is now back on the IL after 5 appearances with elbow inflammation.
Steven Okert and Bryan King, both coming off career seasons, have not been as effective as last season. Their bullpen has been the worst in MLB this season.
Crane is well aware that the Golden Era of Astros baseball was rooted in pitching and run prevention. The Astros have the worst pitching in all of baseball right now, they lack the ability to fix it from within, and they have not shown that they can stay afloat until they get some of their horses like Brown and Javier back from injury.
The time for this team to act is now, before the hole they dig is too big to escape. Even in a weak division, they are burning runway in a hurry. At least one Wild Card team is likely to have a better record than the AL West division winner, possibly more. While the standings say the Astros aren’t so far back they can’t make it up, being the team that surrenders the most walks and most runs is certainly says the road will be too difficult to hoe.
Jim Crane now finds himself at a crossroads. He has chosen to have lame ducks at both manager and GM. While there is no indication that Joe Espada has lost the clubhouse or that players are tuning him out, there is also no way of knowing if Dana Brown truly has the authority to make the moves necessary to try to get this team turned around.
With an important amateur draft coming up for Houston in which they have 8 picks in the first 6 rounds, including picks 17 and 28 overall, the Astros have a chance to add some quality talent to their rebuilding farm system. Right now, 5 of Houston’s top 8 prospects are in A ball or lower. Their only two Top 100 prospects are both at Fayetteville, and both very young (Kevin Alvarez is 18, Xavier Neyens is 19).
A ‘rebuild from within’ for this team is essentially 3 seasons away at a minimum, and since Crane has stated he isn’t about a rebuild, it certainly seems something is going to be done. The question is what and in what direction?
Would Crane bite the bullet on this season, trade off veterans with 1-2 years left on expensive deals (Walker, Hader) and players the team is unlikely to be willing to re-sign to expensive, long-term deals (Pena) to shed payroll, get prospects, and re-tool in the offseason with a different group and make another run immediately?
Would the window that is always open simply be repaired? Would it be under construction for multiple seasons?
That one year vs multiple years situation is the key to the Astros doing the absolutely unthinkable, and that is trading Yordan Alvarez.
Trading the super-elite star player rarely works in baseball, because the prospects you get back – even if they pan out – very rarely pan out to be the same quality of player who is a total game changer. Boston tried this with both Mookie Betts and Rafael Devers and they are in last place in the AL East with a team that cannot hit. The Nationals did this with Juan Soto and despite 3 of the prospects they received panning out, are still under .500 and traded one of those players away already (Mackenzie Gore).
The Astros made a smart play in trading Kyle Tucker, who they knew they couldn’t re-sign. They got back a solid player in Isaac Paredes who has become a fan favorite. Hayden Wesneski has spent most of his time on IL. Cam Smith was the big prospect who they got in return, but they have pushed him too fast because they didn’t have another option for RF and his development has stalled.
In a smarter timeline, Cam Smith would have played last season at Triple A and then been promoted at some point this season. We aren’t in that timeline.
Crane is a very proud man. He does not take losing well, and he doesn’t take it lightly. However it isn’t a stretch to say that his decisions of payroll restriction on a team that has printed money for a decade and leaving his GM out to dry again (see Click, James) have led to what is mostly an untenable situation with his baseball team.
He can empower Dana Brown to make the moves that need to be made to improve the team (which could mean parting with a player like Walker, Paredes or Pena), though it’s usually hard to trade this early. He could give Brown the green light to cut some dead weight and bring up a player like Alimber Santa who is pitching very well in the pen for Sugar Land but isn’t on the 40-man roster yet.
He could give Dana Brown the direction to demote players who are badly underperforming, like Cam Smith, and give other players (Zach Cole, Zach Dezenzo, Shay Whitcomb; Joey Loperfido when he returns from IL) a regular opportunity while letting Cam rediscover his swing in the minors. This seems to me like a simple, logical decision, but may be one Crane has to force.
Crane is not afraid to assert himself, nor is he afraid to insert himself into the day-to-day operations of the team (see Verlander, Justin; Greinke, Zack; Abreu, Jose; Montero, Rafael) for better or worse. Crane is not afraid of “the bucks stops here”, and it is something that made him the best sports franchise owner in the history of this city.
Yet here the Astros are, 45 games into a 162 game season but already 11 games under .500 and with a pitching staff both decimated by injuries and in disaster mode, needing answers and direction. There seems to be only one person who can give it to them.
He is also the person who writes the checks.
If Crane wants to stand on his word of “the window is always open”, he is going to be the one who needs to roll his sleeves up and make it work. He has done it before.
It’s decision time. Which way will Crane go? We probably find out very soon.
Round one of the Subway Series gets going this weekend with the New York Yankees meeting the New York Mets.
We've backed the best pitcher in baseball on the mound without much of a second thought this season. Tonight will be no different in this series opener.
Read all about it in my Yankees vs. Mets predictions and MLB picks for Friday May 15.
Who will win Yankees vs Mets today: Yankees moneyline (-150)
The New York Metschase rate is nearly 32%, well above the league average. That should play directly into Schlittler's strengths as he enters this game with one of the highest chase-inducing rates in the league.
On the other side is Clay Holmes, facing the Yankees since the first time after leaving them this past offseason.
While it's not exactly quantifiable, the Yankees' familiarity with him matters. From a more tangible perspective, his groundball-dependent profile should struggle against a lineup that leads the MLB in barrel rate at 11.7%.
I am fairly close to market here, but lean towards under 7 with a projection of 6.8 runs.
A short-handed Mets lineup is going to really struggle to generate offense against Schlittler for most of the same reasons listed above. Schlittler doesn't give free passes, so you have to get contact against him.
I'm simply unsure how the Mets get much. While I think the top-heavy portion of the Yankees gets after Holmes (especially the second time around), his heavy groundball-inducing profile will have plenty of success against the bottom of the lineup.
Chris Hatfield's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 17-16, +0.16 units
Over/Under bets: 22-12, +12.59 units
Yankees vs Mets odds
Moneyline: Yankees -150 | Mets +135
Run line: Yankees -1.5 (+118) | Mets +1.5 (-145)
Over/Under: Over 7 (-110) | Under 7 (-110)
Yankees vs Mets trend
The New York Yankees have covered the Run Line in 16 of their last 25 games (+9.80 Units / 37% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Mets.
How to watch Yankees vs Mets and game info
Location
CitiField, Flushing, NY
Date
Friday, May 15, 2026
First pitch
7:10 p.m. ET
TV
AppleTV
Yankees starting pitcher
Cam Schlittler (5-1, 1.35 ERA)
Brewers starting pitcher
Clay Holmes (4-3, 1.86 ERA)
Yankees vs Mets latest injuries
Yankees vs Mets weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
UNITED STATES - MAY 19: Joyous New York Mets mob third baseman David Wright (3rd left) after Wright hit an RBI walkoff single off New York Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth, with two out, to score catcher Paul Lo Duca and give the Mets a 7-6 victory over the Yankees at Shea Stadium. The Mets won the first game of the Subway Series, but the rival teams will battle it out twice more over the weekend. (Photo by Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images) | NY Daily News via Getty Images
Since the arrival of interleague play in 1997, there have been nearly a regular season’s worth of regular season games played between the New York Mets and the New York Yankees. These 152 games have included some of the many feats and oddities you’d expect from a season’s worth of play, from three-homer games to wacky walk-offs to proper routs. They’ve also seen certain players distinguish themselves from the pack, whether for specific in-game accomplishments or cumulative totals.
As another edition of the Subway Series is set to begin—this time featuring a whole new cast of Mets ready to make their mark on the crosstown rivalry—it seems a fitting moment to check in on the state of the series’ record book, from all-time leaders to single-game leaders to Statcast superlatives. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather a sampling of some of the standout highlights. So let’s hop on board, stand clear of the closing doors, and take a brief ride through 29 seasons of Subway Series baseball…
Most Hits, GAME Brett Gardner (5) – June 26, 2009
Rookie Brett Gardner gave Citi Field a rude introduction to the Subway Series. The 25-year-old hit leadoff, going 5-for-6 with three singles, a double, and a late homer off Elmer Dessens in the veteran right-hander’s second game as a Met. Pesky as ever, all three of Gardner’s singles came on softly-hit flairs which found grass just beyond the infield, while his homer barely cleared the fence in the right-field corner. The Mets’ only offense in the 9-1 loss came courtesy of Gary Sheffield’s 508th (and penultimate) career home run.
Most Home Runs, GAME Francisco Lindor (3) – September 12, 2021
The only three-homer game in Subway Series history belongs to Francisco Lindor, who accomplished the feat in the midst of a relatively underwhelming first season in Flushing. Lindor carried a .222 average and .696 OPS into the night, but all that seemed to disappear as he hit a trio of clutch homers (two of them putting the Mets in the lead) during an emotional subway series on the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001. Lindor got his first curtain call, his first of many iconic Mets moments, and his only career three-homer game to date.
Most RBI, GAME Carlos Delgado (9) – June 27, 2008
Forget Subway Series records — Carlos Delgado’s nine-RBI effort in the first game of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium tied a Mets franchise record. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, he tallied all his RBI in just four innings. In the top of the fifth, he laced a two-run single. In the sixth, he crushed a grand slam to the back of the bleachers in right-center field. In the eighth, he punctuated the performance with a three-run homer off future Met LaTroy Hawkins.
Most Strikeouts, GAME Jacob deGrom (12) – August 13, 2018 / Dillon Gee (12) – May 30, 2013
Both of these 12-strikeout performances came on the road at Yankee Stadium, and contrary to what you might guess, Gee’s outing was actually far more dominant than deGrom’s. The 2018 Cy Young Award winner allowed three runs (two of them earned) on five hits and two walks in 6.2 innings of work, while Gee went 7.1 innings and allowed just one run on a solo shot from Robinson Canó.
Gee has another entry on the Subway Series leaderboard, as his start on July 2, 2011 is tied with Tylor Megill’s on September 10, 2021 for most whiffs (18) by a Met, but Masahiro Tanaka has them both beat with 22 on May 14, 2014. The day after that Tanaka masterpiece, the Yankees were set to face Gee’s spot in the Mets’ rotation, but the right-hander went down with a lat strain. The Yankees instead faced a 26-year-old making his MLB debut named…Jacob deGrom. In classic deGrom fashion, he ended up on the short end of a 1-0 pitchers’ duel. It was the first 1-0 finale in Subway Series history, and the only one to date.
Most Hits, CAREER 1. Derek Jeter (131) 2. Alex Rodriguez (65) 3. David Wright (62) 4. Robinson Canó (61) 5. Brett Gardner/José Reyes (53)
Jeter laps the field here. Literally. His 131 Subway Series hits are more than double any other player’s total, accumulated over 88 games played (which also rank first). A-Rod, Wright, and Canó are neck-and-neck in the battle for second place, with 7 of Canó’s 61 hits coming in a Mets uniform. But just as predictable as Jeter’s ranking atop this leaderboard was Wright’s ranking atop the Mets’ side. The 12th of his 62 hits, a soaring single to straightaway center off Mariano Rivera, represented one of the most memorable walk-offs in franchise history,
Most Home Runs, CAREER 1. Aaron Judge (14) 2. Derek Jeter/Alex Rodriguez (13) 3. Jorge Posada (12) 4. Pete Alonso/Robinson Canó/Curtis Granderson/Mark Teixeira (11)
Judge’s solo homer off Justin Hagenman on July 3 last season moved him into a tie with Jeter and A-Rod, and his two-run homer off Brandon Waddell two days later made him the Subway Series’ new home run king. Alonso was climbing up the leaderboard at a breakneck pace, clubbing 11 homers in 32 games against the Bombers. This likely would have been a two-man race for years to come if Alonso had returned to the Mets, but instead he has taken his Yankee-killing talents to Baltimore, picking up right where he left off with a pair of homers in his first series back in the Bronx earlier this month. That leaves Judge to continue adding to his total relatively unthreatened. Canó and Granderson, meanwhile, sneak into the leaderboard with help from stints on both side of the rivalry.
Most Stolen Bases, CAREER 1. Derek Jeter (19) 2. José Reyes (14) 3. Roger Cedeño/Alfonso Soriano (9) 5. David Wright (8)
This is a Roger Cedeño stat. Jeter, Reyes, and Wright all had over 200 Subway Series plate appearances to climb their way onto this leaderboard. Soriano had 99. Cedeño had 71. In 17 Subway Series games, Cedeño slashed .323/.371/.492. Five of his nine stolen bases came during 1999 (a season in which he swiped 66 bags for the Mets) and one of those five was a steal of home. The other four came in his second stint in New York from ’02-’03. Still, the accumulators win out, with Jeter and Reyes unsurprisingly leading the pack.
Most Saves, CAREER 1. Mariano Rivera (20) 2. Armando Benítez/Edwin Díaz/Billy Wagner (5) 5. Aroldis Chapman/Francisco Rodríguez (4)
Behind Rivera, who accounts for over 25% of saves recorded for either side in Subway Series history, a trio of Mets closers are tied for second place despite varying degrees of effectiveness. Wagner pitched to a 4.66 ERA in 9.2 IP, Benítez maintained a respectable 3.00 ERA in 15 IP, and Díaz was absolutely dominant, posting an 0.96 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 9.1 IP. A pair of fireballers in Chapman and Rodríguez are tied at fifth. The players with the most likely chance to enter the leaderboard this season are ex-Yankees Luke Weaver and Devin Williams, each of whom picked up a Subway Series save against the Mets last season.
Longest-projected Home Run (Statcast era/since 2015) 1. Aaron Judge (457 ft) – August 16, 2017 2. Aaron Judge (453 ft) – August 23, 2022 / Gary Sánchez (453 ft) – August 30, 2020 4. Giancarlo Stanton (443 ft) – September 12, 2021 / Juan Soto (443 ft) – July 24, 2024 6. Francisco Lindor (436 ft) – September 12, 2021
Judge’s mammoth 457-foot blast off Robert Gsellman on August 16, 2017 landed in the third deck in left field, and landed him a share of the tenth spot on the list of longest homers hit at Citi Field (his teammate Stanton has the No. 2 entry on that list). Lindor’s second homer in his three-homer game sits at sixth as the highest Mets entry on this leaderboard, one of two dingers included from that game along with Stanton’s game-tying shot a half inning later. Judge and Sánchez split second place, each with a homer well up the left-center-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium (though for Sánchez’s homer, a go-ahead grand slam off Drew Smith in August 2020, the bleachers were eerily empty). Soto, meanwhile, ranks with a moonshot to Monument Park off future teammate Sean Manaea.
Fastest Pitch (Pitch-tracking era/since 2008) 1. Aroldis Chapman (102.7 mph) – August 15, 2017 2. Aroldis Chapman (101.9 mph) – June 9, 2018 3. Aroldis Chapman (101.6 mph) – June 9, 2018 4. Aroldis Chapman (101.5 mph) – June 9, 2018 5. Aroldis Chapman (101.3 mph) – June 9, 2018 6. Bobby Parnell (101.1 mph) – July 1, 2011
The five fastest pitches all belong to Chapman, with four of those coming in one inning to a trio of 2018 Mets including José Reyes, José Bautista, and Devin Mesoraco. But the single fastest pitch he threw in a Subway Series game resulted in a game-ending grounder off the bat of Juan Lagares ten months earlier. The sixth-fastest (and top ranked by a Met) belongs to Bobby Parnell, who recorded what’s listed as a 101.1 mph fastball to strike out Nick Swisher and end the top of the eighth inning in a Mets loss.
June 14, 2009 was not Johan Santana’s day. The left-hander entered the start with a 2.39 ERA and exited with a 3.29 ERA after allowing nine runs in three innings of work. The Yankees didn’t stop there, racking up four more runs off Brian Stokes and getting another pair off Jon Switzer, marking the third-to-last outing of the latter’s career. Jeter went 4-for-4, while Hideki Matsui and Robinson Canó both went deep. Somehow, it was not the Mets’ most deflating loss of the series, as two days earlier an infamous pop-up popped in and out of the glove of Luis Castillo. But the Mets have more Subway Series wins by a 10+ margin, with 12-2 victories in 2000 and 2024. Each featured a trio of homers — the first from Mike Piazza, Edgardo Alfonzo, and Derek Bell, and the second from Francisco Alvarez, Tyrone Taylor, and Harrison Bader. The first game also came in an Al Leiter/Roger Clemens pitchers’ duel which turned out one-sided.
Longest/Shortest Games Longest: Yankees 4, Mets 2 (f/10) (4 hours, 36 minutes) – June 14, 2002 Shortest: Yankees 4, Mets 2 (f/7) (2 hours, 14 minutes) – July 4, 2021
There’s a cruel irony in the fact that the longest and shortest games in Subway Series history — two polar opposite games in some respects — ended up with the exact same result. The ’02 marathon’s length was no doubt aided by Mets starter Steve Trachsel, often referred to as “The Human Rain Delay” for his slow pitching pace. The Mets led 2-0 at Shea Stadium by virtue of a walk and passed ball in the third inning, but the Yankees clawed back with an RBI single from Bernie Williams in the eighth and another by Derek Jeter in the ninth to tie it. A homer from then-Yankee Robin Ventura in the top of the tenth was the deciding factor. The ’21 sprint was aided by the short-lived seven-inning-doubleheader rule, allowing the low-offense contest (the two teams combined for seven total hits in seven innings) to conclude abruptly when the seventh-inning stretch would normally occur.
If there’s one area of the Subway Series where the Mets have properly outdone the Yankees, it’s walk-offs. The Mets have twice as many walk-off victories as the Bronx Bombers, with the total reaching double digits as of Brandon Nimmo’s double off Nick Ramirez in June 2023.
But I close the journey through Subway Series records with this stat not only for its uplifting Mets slant, but also because there is one related feat still up for grabs: no player has racked up multiple Subway Series walk-offs.
This season, there’s a prime candidate in Amed Rosario, who oddly enough already has a walk-off at Yankee Stadium against the Yankees during a chaotic covid scheduling snafu. Has anyone ever had a walk-off hit for and against the same team in the same stadium? Some cities’ teams shared ballparks back in the early 20th century, but those teams were divided by league in a time before interleague play. It would come at the cost of a Mets win, but if Rosario pulled it off, he could earn himself a distinction in baseball history as well as Subway Series history.
I always like to start previews with my favorite prospect. That’s often someone the Phillies have no chance at, but not this year. A reclassicification of draft eligibility made this year’s mystery box my favorite, most intriguing option. Grindlinger is a left handed Outfielder and Pitcher and is a potential 1st/2nd rounder in both roles. He also has a perfect name for Philly, who would certainly love someone to grind it out in either role for a decade or more. The catch is Grindlinger will be one of the youngest players to be drafted in league history as he’s currently 17 years old as of April 16th. He’s already 6’3” and 185lbs and at barely 17 there’s a chance a little more growth may be coming. He’s committed to University of Tennessee for College. He reclassified to the 2026 draft in mid-February, so I don’t get the sense he plans on sticking to that commitment barring a drop in draft stock
The draft stock is tough to gauge, as Baseball America mocked him to the Phillies in their first mock draft and didn’t have him at all in their second and in their third mock, they have him going 20th. He was the #3 prep prospect in the 2027 class, so it’s reasonable he’d still be a first rounder here. Teams also seem to be flip-flopping a bit on what role he’s better in. At first it was solidly pitching, but consensus seems to have moved to hitting. I’ll write up both here.
I’ll start with Pitching, since that seems to have taken a bit of a backseat in his profile, I’ll give more of a Cliff Notes version. This is still a very viable path for him in the pros though. As a Pitcher, he already has an Above-Average Fastball that sits mid-90’s and he can get up to 96 to go along with a low 80’s Slider and Changeup. Both could end up Above-Average or better. Grindlinger throws from a 3/4 slot and the 4-seamer shows good carry and arm side tail. He has a good track record of throwing all 3 for strikes, though like all Prep Pitchers all 3 pitches need some work on consistency and command. The ceiling is probably #2 Starter.
As a hitter the hype train has really gotten rolling for Grindlinger. To be honest, I get it for the potential, but there are also some warning signs that I think will limit how high he can go in the draft. Everything is projection at this point. While that’s true for all prep players, it’s especially so here. He’s well beyond his years at the plate showing patience and elite contact rates in and out of the zone. He simply doesn’t swing at things he can’t put in play. This sounds great, but he’s also facing fellow prep arms with a mixed bag of secondaries. Part of the concern stems from his bat speed being below average, the other part comes from him having a flat bat path and a likely trade off trading contact for power in pro ball. He already manages average power, but he’s likely destined for Right Field as a pro where his 55 grade speed and plus arm can best play up, and teams want to get above-average or better power out of that position ideally. There’s a little Bryson Stott to that hitting profile, though here you’d also be projecting additional muscle adding to his bat speed some and to his power overall.
Every draft pick is a risk and projection, but what I like about Grindlinger is you can see 2 development paths to value as a top of the rotation lefty Starter and as probably more of a 5-6 hole hitter with solid defensive potential. Plenty of guys have failed at both those roles, but having that backup plan, especially if he lasts all the way into the comp picks is plenty valuable.
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 28: Nolan Gorman #16 of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated after hitting a home run during the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Tuesday, April 28, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rayni Shiring/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Nolan Gorman has been a long term project in the Cardinals franchise with some obvious upside. The obvious upside, of course, is the fact that when he makes good contact you could build a statue of his pose and the homerun. If you put a Gorman bomb up against a sunset, you might actually watch the Gorman bomb. Fans that have watched for any amount of time know that those statue-esque shots have not been coming often enough in the last few years.
The calendar has ticked by into mid-May and Gorman is running an 89 wRC+. He’s been more valuable than one might think because of a pleasant development on defense. There are games, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this, that he looks like he may be hanging out with the ghost of Nolan Arenado at third base to guide him. He’s currently in the 84th percentile in defensive value for all big leaguers. And, while defensive stats can notoriously flutter during a season, the eye test tells you he’s clearly on a different plane this season.
The purpose of this article is not to suggest that Nolan Gorman is a disaster. He’s not. He’s accumulated 0.4 fWAR thus far. While that’s not what anyone hoped for his value coming into the season, he’d end up at a passable 1.6 fWAR for the season at this pace. That’s playable, if disappointing. The bigger question comes if he remains Nolan Gorman, defensive specialist at the end of the year. The offensive rebuild clearly has four building blocks of varying degrees in Walker, Herrera, Wetherholt, and Burleson. Winn has been fairly good as well and his defense at short is going to keep him around for a while at a minimum.
Can you run a below average offensive third baseman long term if your goal is to compete for titles? The answer obviously comes with a multiplicity of variables around Gorman, but it’s not a strong case. So, what’s Gorman been doing this year to be stuck at his 89 wRC+? It’s a tale as old as time (well, as old as Gorman’s career anyway).
In short, Gorman is whiffing too much, but not providing enough power to offset his swing and miss game. He’s striking out 28.8% of the time, which is actually down a hair so far from his career high of 33.8% of the time last season. Can you be successful striking out at this rate? Well, let me introduce you to a gentleman named Jordan Walker who is striking out 28.4% of the time this season. So, the obvious answer is yes you can be successful, but you have to capitalize on your power at a healthy rate.
This is the perplexing part of Gorman’s game. The foundation for power is there. Statcast has him in the 94th percentile for Launch Angle Sweet Spot. Essentially, he’s launching the ball at an angle that should be doing damage. This stat tends not to be very predictive, but Statcast has tracked him at the very top of baseball in this metric his entire career. In other words, his swing shape produces the right angle of contact for big damage.
So if the K% isn’t great but also doesn’t prohibit him from being valuable offensively and his swing shape is producing the right kind of contact, where’s the hangup? He’s pulling the ball more than ever, hitting line drives and flyballs at career norms, so many of the normal sources aren’t much different than his career averages. What is different is how he’s currently handling changeups. The league has an obvious attack pattern and is exploiting it to the max.
Nolan Gorman is facing changeups over 20% of the time. That’s double his career averages, and has a ghastly -5.2 run value on them according to Fangraphs. For all his Launch Angle Sweet Spot brilliance, Gorman is only squaring up pitches in the 15th percentile and producing slightly below league average exit velos. The Cardinals have vastly limited his at bats against lefties this year, but righties are getting ahead of him and finishing him off with changeups that he’s just not handling well.
The Faustian bargain with players like Gorman is that their whiffs will be offset by prodigious damage on pitches they do handle (see Jordan Walker again). At this moment, Gorman is not holding up his end of that bargain and pitchers have found a weakness that they are currently maxing out in their pursuit of securing outs from Nolan Gorman.
Because whiffs will always be his chokepoint on offense, Gorman is already operating with a ceiling on his capability. This is not new. To put a fine point on the end of this article though, how much longer will the Cardinals stick with him at these production rates? He’s accrued over 2000 PA at the MLB level and is 1% below league average at a 99 wRC+. This is, once again, not a crisis point, and there’s no one at his position that is beating down the door to St. Louis (can Blaze Jordan be credible over there??). So, they’re unlikely to make a move in the immediate future.
But, Gorman has done nothing to disabuse the notion that he’s not a core piece going forward. He has time to adjust this season, but I think it’s fair to ask at this point if he’s capable of adjusting to the level that the Cardinals need him to adjust. Hitting is extremely difficult, but if Nolan Gorman is going to stick around, he needs to start handling changeups better.
So, let’s hear it. What do the Cardinals do if Gorman continues producing offensively at this rate for the rest of the year? Thanks for reading!
SAN DIEGO, CA - MARCH 20: Mj Collins Jr. #2 of the Utah State Aggies takes a foul shot during the first round of the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament game against the Villanova Wildcats at Viejas Arena at San Diego State University on March 20, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We are less than six weeks away from the 2026 NBA Draft, and a pair of former Mountain West players competed in the NBA G-League combine last weekend. Did they help their stock during the 44-player showcase in Chicago, Ill.? Let’s examine!
MJ Collins, G, Utah State:
Skinny: Neither Collins nor Henley were one of the handful of players who were invited to the NBA Draft combine. But Collins was the better of the two in the workouts. The athletic guard had the fourth-highest standing vertical (32.5”), third-highest max vertical (39.5”) and ninth-fastest pro-lane shuttle time (10.64) of the 44 participants.
Additionally, Collins shot the ball fairly well in the workouts. He scored just five points on five made free-throws in the scrimmages (0-3 FG), but Collins netted 24 of his 30 mid-range pull-up jumpers and excelled in the 3-point star drill (the final numbers said he went 26-of-25 … obviously a typo, but I’m not sure in which direction, so I don’t have a final number).
All in all, it was a good combine for Collins, even though his performance in-game didn’t help his stock.
Verdict: Stock Neutral
Projection: Undrafted free agent, two-way
Jaden Henley, G, Grand Canyon:
Skinny: Conversely for Henley, I don’t think he tested particularly well (relative to his peers), but he was as advertised in game.
Henley was a wrecking ball. He led Team 4 with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 20 minutes, totaling eight rebounds, one assist and one steal. He missed his lone two 3-point attempts while knocking down all five of his free-throws.
Conversely, his poor shooting from 3-point range carried over into the workouts, where I wanted to see some improvement. He only made nine threes in the star drill, tied for the third-fewest; only Liberty’s Zach Cleveland, George Washington’s Rafael Castro (who impressed) and North Dakota State’s March Strickland finished with fewer. He shot 11-for-25 on the spot-up shooting drill (one fewer than Collins) and 17-for-30 on the pull-up shooting.
Henley, a hyper-athletic slasher, shot just 30.7 percent from beyond the arc (2.5 3PA) across four collegiate seasons, including 26.8 percent in his lone season at Grand Canyon. He has an intriguing skillset, but one that desperately needs an efficient shot. I think he helped his stock, but that weakness will still exist until it doesn’t.
May 6, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates designated hitter Marcell Ozuna against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Marcell Ozuna is a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, a fact that surprised me. The past two years, the Pirates largely used Andrew McCutchen as their designated hitter/spot outfielder, but they apparently grew tired of Cutch’s farewell tour and decided to bring in Ozuna instead. It was clear that would be a downgrade in character, but it has also been a downgrade in performance as well. (Not that McCutchen is tearing it up in Texas.)
After two straight seasons with an OPS over .900, Ozuna’s numbers decreased with the Braves in 2025. Entering his age 35 season, the Braves gambled that Ozuna would continue to decline, and based on early returns, they may have been correct. (I really don’t like it when the Braves make correct decisions.)
Not sure how much longer you can keep justifying the Marcell Ozuna signing. Current OPS of .578. #Pirates
With the Pirates off to a good start to the season, there’s already calls to cut bait with Ozuna, and call up prospect Jhostynxon “The Password” Garcia.
The Password hits 3 HRs in a game in his Triple-A return from injury. Marcell Ozuna better pick it up. Because Garcia is a phone call away. pic.twitter.com/dhiC0vuKuj
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) May 12, 2026
There’s every chance that Garcia is going to be terribly overhyped because of his name. (This relates to my theory that we’d feel differently about Orion Kerkering if he didn’t have an exotic name) But promising seasons like this one are few and far in between for the Pirates. Considering every day brings Paul Skenes one day closer to becoming an ex-Pirate, the team may not feel they can waste a chance at the playoffs hoping that Ozuna can turn things around.
Trivia
Last week’s answer: On August 23, 1993, the Rockies earned their second ever win in Philadelphia thanks in part to a home run by Charlie Hayes. WC Phil was correct.
This week’s question: Who is the Phillies’ franchise leader in home runs hit at PNC Park?
A matchup of aces – Disadvantage: Phillies?
On Sunday, we’re scheduled to get a great pitching matchup as Zack Wheeler is due to go against Paul Skenes. However, Wheeler wasn’t at his best when going head-to-head against other top pitchers last season.
April 8 vs. Chris Sale: 5.1 IP/ 5 ER
May 29 vs. Sale: 5.1 IP/6 ER
July 12 vs. Yu Darvish: 6 IP/4 ER
August 2 vs. Tarik Skubal: 6 IP/3ER
That was probably a fluke more than anything, since Wheeler has pitched in plenty of important games over the years, and come up big more often than not. But it would be nice if he could come close to what Mick Abel did last year when he pitched six shutout innings in opposition to Skenes, allowing the Phillies to eke out a 1-0 win.
Additional thought about the series
Despite the Pirates rarely fielding good teams, the Phillies have had quite a bit of trouble winning games at PNC Park recently. The Phillies have lost their last three series in Pittsburgh, including last year when they were swept in a three-game series in June.
They may not find victory any easier to come by this season, since this appears to be the most talented Pirates squad since their last playoff appearance in 2015. Thanks in part to some new arrivals, the Pirates rank fifth in the majors in runs scored. Prodigy shortstop Konnor Griffin has looked the part in the early going; free agent imports Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn have added much needed power to the lineup. And while he may be a disaster in the field, Oneil Cruz is dangerous in the leadoff spot.
Oneil Cruz goes the other way and breaks the scoreless tie with his 10th home run of the year! pic.twitter.com/MuLyg9r6Yg
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 10, 2026
The Pirates’ starters have also been good with veteran Mitch Keller and second year man Braxton Ashcroft forming a strong top of the rotation along with Skenes. But the bullpen is a different story. Closer Dennis Santana appears to have been demoted with former Phillie Gregory Soto getting the bulk of save opportunities now. Soto is off to a good start, but we all know he is good for a meltdown appearance every so often.
The Phillies’ key to victory may be keeping the game close in the early going and then striking in the later innings. (Though I certainly wouldn’t mind it if they scored a bunch of early runs either.)
After years of seemingly constant rumors, in part fueled by mixed signals from Giannis Antetokounmpo himself — not to mention teams hoarding picks and players just for this moment — an Antetokounmpo trade feels more certain than ever.
Milwaukee is reportedly “open for business” and appears more serious about it than ever — and there is a deadline. Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslem said he wanted to see a decision made (either Antetokounmpo agrees to sign an extension in Milwaukee or they trade him) and any trade completed before the June 23 draft, less than six weeks away. The Bucks reportedly continue to seek a blue-chip young player and a boatload of draft picks in any deal.
Which teams are calling Milwaukee? Where might Antetokounmpo play next season? Here are nine teams to watch (and a few to rule out).
Remember: Antetokounmpo has a lot of leverage in where he lands. He only has one year guaranteed left on his contract (the second year is a player option), and he can tell a team he will not sign an extension with them, making the price to get him unreasonable. Antetokounmpo can almost control this process, and his representatives will work with the Bucks on any deal that gets done.
Miami Heat
Pat Riley wants to go big game hunting (Pat Riley always wants to go big game hunting), and after a play-in exit this April, he will be willing to push all his chips into the middle of the table. The Heat went after Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline and can do so again with an offer centered around Tyler Herro, Kel'el Ware, three first-round picks including the 13th pick in this draft (Miami has to make the pick then trade the player after the draft), plus 2031 and 2033, and they can throw in the swap rights from up to four years between now and 2033.
Antetokounmpo wants to stay in the East with a contender, and while there would be a lot of roster work to do, he and Bam Adebayo are a very good foundation. Plus, Miami has the draws of no state tax, plus plenty of sunshine and mojitos nearby. If Antetokounmpo pushes for Miami, this would happen.
Boston Celtics
At his end-of-season press conference, Brad Stevens — the man in charge of basketball operations in Boston — talked about the need for this team to put more pressure on the rim. Specifically, the Celtics need players who can drive the lane (and an upgrade at the five).
Nobody puts pressure on the rim like Antetokounmpo. After the Celtics' first-round exit, Boston is suddenly the team on everybody's lips. It can put together an offer around Jaylen Brown and up to four first-round picks — but is that the direction the Celtics want to go? Trade away the player they drafted and developed in Brown to get a mercenary who is older and has been injured often in recent seasons?
Antetokounmpo has expressed admiration for coach Joe Mazzulla and might well be interested, but how aggressive will the Celtics really be in this chase? If Antetokounmpo pushes for it, this could happen.
Orlando Magic
After another early, disappointing exit from the playoffs — including a Game 6 collapse where the Magic missed 23 shots in a row at one point — there are a lot of people around the league who see Orlando potentially going all in on an Antetokounmpo trade. The Magic at least explored the idea of trading for the Greek Freak at the deadline.
Orlando likely would construct a deal around Paolo Banchero and a handful of first-round picks. This trade would dramatically shorten the runway in Orlando because they get much older — Banchero is 23, Antetokounmpo turns 32 next season — but, if everyone is healthy, it gets them closer to the teams at the top of the East next season and for a few years. Antetokounmpo gets to go to a contender in a warm-weather state. If the Magic are convinced the Banchero and Franz Wagner era isn't going to work out and the duo needs to be broken up, this is a path they can choose.
Cleveland Cavaliers
If Cleveland makes it to the Eastern Conference Finals, does it change things for the Cavaliers? Probably not. This is the most expensive team in the NBA this season, and it should be Finals-or-bust. If they are unable to get past the Pistons (Cleveland leads that series 3-2 as of this writing) or the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals, changes will be coming. Remember, Donovan Mitchell can be a free agent in the summer of 2027, and he will put pressure on the organization to go all in to get the players who can get him to the Finals.
Cleveland and Milwaukee discussed a trade package centered on Evan Mobley at the deadline, but the sticking point was how much draft capital would go back to the Bucks. If Antetokounmpo decides he wants to stay in the Midwest and go to Cleveland, and he pushes for it, this could be a deal that becomes real.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota was one of the teams that talked with Milwaukee at the trade deadline, and Antetokounmpo reportedly — and understandably — had interest in pairing with Anthony Edwards.
But there are a lot of hurdles to this trade. It's just hard to construct. The Bucks will want Jaden McDaniels, and he has shown incredible growth and become a foundational piece for the Timberwolves in the last year (and he has had a standout playoffs). Also, Minnesota is short on draft picks to trade, so it would need a third team involved.
Another massive hurdle (for Minnesota and a few more teams on this list): Does Antetokounmpo want to go to the Western Conference, where Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder, Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, and Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets all stand in the way the next few years? The sense is Antetokounmpo wants to stay in the East, league sources have told NBC Sports.
Houston Rockets
Houston has the quality young players and draft picks needed to entice Milwaukee in a trade, and after an early exit from the playoffs despite signing Kevin Durant last summer, might the Rockets go all-in again? Don't bet on it. GM Rafael Stone didn't sound like a guy thinking big moves at his end-of-season press conference.
"We'll look at everything over the offseason, and all potential deals," Stone said. "But we think the players in our locker room can win a lot of games and be very competitive. We have players coming back from injury that will help us. And if we bring back the same group, I think continuity will help us."
Golden State Warriors
Giannis Antetokounmpo and Stephen Curry together and chasing a ring (let's throw LeBron James in that mix, too). It would be entertaining.
It's also unlikely. Golden State pushed hard for a deal at the trade deadline because it knew heading into this summer there would be better offers on the table than its four first-round picks. The matching salary would likely have to be Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green, and an injured Butler (ACL) or Green — neither of whom would want to be there — is not appealing to the Bucks. Plus, again, the Warriors are in the West, and if Antetokounmpo wants to compete for a title, well, he and Curry are at best in the second tier in that conference.
New York Knicks
Never say never, but this team is on the verge of reaching the NBA Finals for the first time since people feared the Y2K bug — do they want or need to break that roster up for Antetokounmpo?
That said, New York is the one team we know Antetokounmpo told Bucks general manager Jon Horst to talk to. The challenge is putting together a trade both sides like. The money works if it's Karl-Anthony Towns for Antetokounmpo, but KAT is a poor fit for a rebuilding Knicks team. A deal also can work with OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, but do the Knicks want to break up the guys who embody the team's identity? Even if Milwaukee is interested in those players, it also will want picks, and the Knicks don't have many to trade, so now a third team is in the mix, and it gets complicated.
Never say never, but this is a long shot.
Milwaukee Bucks
While it seems like a parting of the ways is going to happen, we've all seen this movie before. Antetokounmpo has threatened to leave in the past, used that as leverage to get the Bucks to make a bold (if not always wise) trade, and then signed to stay with the only city and team he has known.
This time it feels different. Antetokounmpo was frustrated last season — especially for the final games when he was not cleared to return and play with his brothers. Antetokounmpo and the Bucks talked, and their general manager, Jon Horst, explored trade offers at the deadline. Around the league, the expectation is that a trade is happening this time.
But would anybody be shocked if it doesn't?
Brooklyn Nets
No doubt the Brooklyn Nets are star hunting after being let down in the NBA Draft Lottery in consecutive years, but this team probably should be in the group below. The Nets have plenty of picks to offer in a trade, but not the blue-chip young talent. Also, Antetokounmpo wants to compete for a title, and even with him healthy and at his peak, the rest of this roster is worse than Milwaukee's. It's hard to see this happening.
That’s not happening group
• Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are building around Luka Doncic, and he and Antetokounmpo — two ball-dominant players who are not elite off-ball — would not mesh well. The Lakers' only blue-chip young player is Austin Reaves, and he'd have to agree to a sign-and-trade for this to work, and the Lakers would rather keep him. Plus, Antetokounmpo has said in the past he doesn't love Los Angeles as a city, and he'd be moving to the stacked West. Just hard to see this happening.
• Portland Trail Blazers. New owner Tom Dundon wants to make a statement about how he is there to compete and wants his front office to go after Antetokounmpo. It all feels a bit performative. The Trail Blazers do have two former teammates Antetokounmpo loves in Jrue Holiday and Damian Lillard, plus they have quality young players and some picks. But does anyone see Antetokounmpo agreeing to sign an extension in Portland? He's not going West to be on this team.
• Atlanta Hawks. All the buzz in league circles is that Atlanta is not throwing its hat in the ring, it wants to build something more organically around Jalen Johnson. They want to keep the No. 8 pick in this draft. While the Hawks could use a No. 1 option, this is not the guy they are going to chase.
• Toronto Raptors. Some people see this as possible because the Raptors are in the East, have plenty of picks and can add Collin Murray-Boyles after a strong playoff showing. However, it seems to me that Antetokounmpo would see Toronto as another version of Milwaukee — a good team with him, but not a contender. I just do not see this happening.
The saga surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo's future with the Milwaukee Bucks got another curveball this week when one of his teammates aired out some behind-the-scenes details about this past season that weren't flattering for former Bucks coach Doc Rivers or the franchise's Greek superstar.
Myles Turner revealed on an episode of his "Game Recognize Game" podcast with WNBA star Breanna Stewart that Rivers had a policy in which he didn't fine any players and "guys were late all the time. Guys were showing up to film whenever they want. Guys were missing meetings. It was one of the craziest things I've personally experienced."
"We literally, if the plane took off 2 o'clock, we weren't leaving until 4:30," Turner continued in comments that were published on Thursday, May 14. "I'm being so serious, bro. It was crazy, dog. Guys were hours late to the plane. It got to the point where I just knew not to show up until like an hour after they said the plane was going to take off. It was crazy."
Stewart asked Turner to name to worst culprit for being late. Turner responded without hesitation: "Giannis."
"Giannis is going to show up whenever he wants, really, you know? I think that kind of just came with the territory of that," Turner added, "and once I kind of saw what was going down, I was like ... more power to you. They ain't going to fine you. Do what you do, except when we're going to Dallas (near his hometown of Bedford, Texas)"
Turner just completed his first season with the Bucks after signing a 4-year, $108-million contract last year to potentially help Milwaukee remain an Eastern Conference contender alongside Antetokoumpo. But the Bucks struggled most of the regular season, with Antetokounmpo in and out of the lineup due to injuries while dealing with steady trade speculation.
Antetokounmpo has one year left on his contract, with a player option for the 2027-28 season. Bucks ownership stated it plans to either sign Antetokounmpo to a new max contract extension or trade him and hopes to have a resolution on his future with the franchise before the NBA Draft. The team's front office is already listening to potential deals, according to reports.
— Game Recognize Game (@gamerecgamepod) May 14, 2026
Turner said he had never been on an NBA team before in which the players weren't fined, and expressed surprise at the lack of structure and disciplinary protocols under Rivers.
"Any other team I've been on, guys got fined. And there was a sense of order and a sense of understanding," Turner said. "So yeah, you're late to the plane? Fine. You're late to treatment? Fine. You're late to film? Fine. But I personally did not experience that last year for the first time in my career. So we'll see what Taylor Jenkins does."
Who will win Reds vs Guardians today: Guardians moneyline (-135)
Andrew Abbott's profile is littered with red flags. He ranks in the 28th percentile in xERA, the 15th percentile in xBA, and the 15th percentile in K%. He's allowing a lot of good contact and not missing many bats, which is a bad combination.
Factor in the Cleveland Guardians are a Top-8 offense in average and wOBA vs. lefties and there is a lot working in their favor.
COVERS INTEL: Tanner Bibee has allowed an average of 1.9 earned runs over 20 home starts since the beginning of last season.
Reds vs Guardians Over/Under pick: Under 8.0 (-115)
Bibee has allowed five runs at home through five starts, and seven over his last eight dating back to last season. He is a nightmare to deal with in Cleveland.
His excellent play should continue against a Cincinnati Reds offense that ranks 26th in wOBA vs. righties on the road.
While Abbott is not pitching overly well, he should benefit from playing in a more pitcher-friendly ballpark. He has allowed five runs through three road starts this season – including nearly six shutout innings against the high-powered Cubs.
Todd Cordell's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 17-7, +7.28 units
Over/Under bets: 10-13-1, -4.11 units
Reds vs Guardians odds
Moneyline: Cincinnati +115 | Cleveland -135
Run line: Cincinnati +1.5 (-175) | Cleveland -1.5 (+150)
Over/Under: Over 8.0 (-110) | Under 8.0 (-110)
Reds vs Guardians trend
The Cleveland Guardians have hit the Game Total Under in 25 of their last 40 games at home (+9.35 units, 21% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Reds vs. Guardians.
How to watch Reds vs Guardians and game info
Location
Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
Date
Friday, May 15, 2026
First pitch
7:10 p.m. ET
TV
Reds.TV, CleGuardians.TV
Reds starting pitcher
Andrew Abbott (2-2, 4.47 ERA)
Guardians starting pitcher
Tanner Bibee (0-5, 4.17 ERA)
Reds vs Guardians latest injuries
Reds vs Guardians weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
Boro say move is ‘only appropriate response’ to scandal
Australian Hull fan angry over possible postponement
Middlesbrough have demanded that the English Football League expel Southampton from the Championship playoff final against Hull and are furious at being denied a chance to argue their case at an independent disciplinary hearing.
All eyes will be on the Subway series between the New York Yankees (27-17) and New York Mets (18-25) this weekend. Last year, the two teams split the season series 3-3.
The Yankees enter on a cold streak. New York is 1-5 in the last six games and 2-6 in the past eight. The Yankees have been outscored 19-14 in the past six games. It's the worst stretch of the season for the Yankees as they enter the Subway series. This will be the seventh-straight road game for the Yankees and despite the losing skid, New York's pitching staff ranks first in ERA on the road (2.80) and second in OBA (.209).
The Mets are coming off a three-game series sweep of the Tigers and 7-3 over the last 10 games. New York is 8-4 this month and starting to make up ground on their early slump. In May, the Mets are hitting .226 (23rd) and 12 home runs (tied 13th), but it's been about the pitching staff. The Mets' pitchers own a 2.67 ERA (4th) and have 117 strikeouts (tied 5th) and the 7th-ranked OBA (.213).
Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Yankees at Mets
Date: Friday, May 15, 2026
Time: 7:10 PM EST
Site: Citi Field
City: Flushing Yard, NY
Network/Streaming: Apple TV
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Yankees at the Mets
The latest odds as of Friday:
Moneyline: New York Yankees (-157), New York Mets (+130)
Spread: Mets +1.5 (-143), Yankees -1.5 (+119)
Total: 7.0
Probable starting pitchers for Twins at Mets
Friday's pitching matchup (May 15): Clay Holmes vs. Cam Schlittler
The Yankees’ Aaron Judge is hitting .268 with 42 hits and 97 total bases over 157 at-bats
The Yankees’ Trent Grisham is hitting .175 with 24 hits and 28 strikeouts over 137 at-bats
The Mets’ Juan Soto is hitting .269 with 28 hits and 49 total bases over 104 at-bats
The Mets’ Bo Bichette is hitting .218 with 38 hits and 33 strikeouts over 174 at-bats
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Yankees at Mets
The Yankees are 24-20 ATS this season
The Mets are 17-26 ATS this season
The Yankees are 24-18-2 to the Under this season
The Mets are 24-16-3 to the Under this season, ranking first in the MLB
The Yankees are 12-12 ATS on the road and 17-6-1 to the Under, ranking first in the MLB
The Mets are 7-14 ATS at home and 10-9-2 to the Over
The Mets are 3-0 and on the ML as a home underdog, one of three undefeated teams
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Twins and the Mets
Rotoworld Bet Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Friday's game between the Yankees and the Mets.
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Mets on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Mets at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Over on the Game Total of 7.0
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In episode three of this series, I began a two-part exploration of the encounter between Toronto’s George Bell and Boston’s Bruce Kison on June 23rd, 1985. Having visited Kison side of things, we will now consider the life and times of George Bell.
In the late 1970s scouts all around major league baseball began descending upon the Dominican Republic, which had suddenly been identified as highly lucrative territory. The DR was home to countless talented young ball players and those ball players due to the country’s dire economic conditions were highly exploitable.
With the unemployment rate around 40% teams realized they could sign players for a lot less than American prospects asked for. And if those Dominican players did happen to get signed by a major league team, they were sent to the states socially isolated by the language barrier and dependent upon agents who were often crooked and looking to swindle ’em all over again.
A cruel irony recalled by George Bell, one of those young Dominican players, was that while navigating this labyrinth of shameless exploitation, he was the one looked at with suspicion. American players found any reason they could to dislike him. His English wasn’t polished enough, he was too this, not enough that, didn’t play the game the right way.
In 1982, while playing for minor league Syracuse, Bell stepped in against Lynn McGlothen, an 11 year Major League vet pitching in AAA ball in the hopes of one last call up. In a game years earlier while pitching for the Cardinals, McGlothen beamed one New York Mets batter then brushed back another three innings later, then hit that batter too. The intent was so transparently clear that the Mets Dave Kingman charged the mound straight from the dugout.
McGlothen did not hesitate to throw at a batter if he had the inclination and he seemed to resent George Bell for the same superficial reasons everybody else did. Bell was a hotdogger. It was decided. McGlothen drilled him in the face, fracturing his cheek and jawbones. While his teammates stormed the field to exact revenge, Bell arrived on the ground certain that his career in baseball, his one chance at a better life was over.
“He’s dead,” Bell thought of McGlothen, not because Bell would kill him or because his teammates would, but because fate would one day catch up with him.
Two years later, McGlothen lost his life in a fire. His friend was also killed with everyone else escaping the home. Bell who’d fully recovered and made his way to the majors, addressed the tragedy sometime after seemingly unprompted. He expressed his sympathies for the friends and loved ones of those who died then said in McGlothen’s fate, “People like that decide it. They have a bad heart. No way they can stay alive.”
You might find those words to be callous, even cruel. I mean I do. Then again, I doubt either of us have persevered through the circumstances Bell did only for somebody to break his face and potentially ruin his life just for playing baseball with a little bit too much swagger.
Baseball was George Bell’s one and only chance at a better life, the sort of life we’d wish for anybody, and he was fiercely, sometimes even violently protective of that chance.
COVERS INTEL: Despite the names in the lineup, the 
