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The last two days have been brutal, but a full Tuesday slate gives us the perfect chance to bounce back.

My MLB player props are counting on Hunter Goodman and Kyle Schwarber to lead us back into the green on June 30.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Ty France	Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI	-137
Hunter Goodman	Over 1.5 total bases	-122
Kyle Schwarber	Over 0.5 doubles | Over 0.5 home runs	+495 | +167

Ty France Over 1.5 hits + runs + RBI (-137)

A guy I have never backed once in my life, Mr. Ty France, welcome to my card!

The San Diego Padres first baseman enters today with an elite rating over on Batters-Box's current season dataset, while also boasting nearly 90% arsenal coverage against Chicago Cubs southpaw Matthew Boyd.

The Cubs left hander has been allowing a ton of elevation and hard contact to opposing right handed hitters. Over the last 30 he has faced, they are generating a 52.5% hard-hit rate, 13% barrel rate, and 74% elevation rate.

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is.

France has torched left-handed pitching. To give you a delectable sample size, over his last 90 at-bats against lefties, he is hitting .300 with a .520 SLG and .877 OPS, while producing a 57% hard-hit rate and a 10.8% barrel rate.

With this already being a juicy-heavy prop, I would not play it any higher. If you cannot find a good number, I would pivot to his total bases instead.

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MARQ, SDPA

Hunter Goodman Over 1.5 total bases (-122)

Time to back one of the hottest hitters in baseball as he takes on the worst rated pitcher on the slate, per Batters-Box.

My pride and joy, Colorado Rockies star catcher Hunter Goodman, is two home runs away from cashing his preseason home run total, and I want to ride his hot streak. Of course, I am playing it safe by taking the Over on his bases prop tonight against Miami Marlins right hander Eury Perez.

Goodman has been tearing the cover off the ball, generating a 33.33% barrel rate and 66.67% hard-hit rate over his last five games. On top of that, he has nearly 64% arsenal coverage against all of Perez's pitches, with every expected batting average checking in at .290 or better.

On the other side, Perez brings an arsenal where half his pitches grade below league average. His fastball, which he throws 47% of the time, is his only above-average offering. Against fastballs this season, Goodman owns a .351 xBA, .750 OPS, .321 wOBA, and 58% hard contact.

I would not pay much more than the current price for this prop. If you are looking for a little more value, I would rather sprinkle his double or home run props. 

• Time: 8:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: COLR, MIAM

Kyle Schwarber Over 0.5 doubles (+495) | Over 0.5 home runs (+167)

Someone I am almost never looking to back on a total bases prop, because there is rarely any value, is Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber. We know his game — he is a true three outcome player.

I am a firm believer there are only two ways to attack him when he is in a great spot but the prices are awful:

1. If you can get him below -170 for a hit.
2. What we will be doing tonight, which is targeting his double and home run markets.

Schwarber enters Tuesday with the fifth-highest arsenal coverage among elite rated hitters on Batters-Box, covering 81.5% of Bubba Chandler's arsenal. Across 104 elite rated home matchups, the Phillies slugger has homered 34.62% of the time while recording a double just 14.2% of the time.

Sure, that is not the sexiest trend for the double, but that's why it's priced at nearly +500.

He is also recording two hits only 24% of the time. For those looking to lay the juice on his hit, he records at least one hit 63.46% of the time.

Schwarber owns an 80% hard-hit rate and a 13.3% barrel rate over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching. Meanwhile, Chandler has allowed a 14.3% barrel rate and a 71.4% elevation rate over his last 30 plate appearances against left-handed hitters.

If Schwarber gets a hold of one tonight, it is going to be elevated, and it has a great chance of leaving the yard.

Do not pay juice unless it is for the 1+ hit!

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSP, SNP

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Action on the diamond doesn't stop, and our MLB experts have sifted through games to bring you the best MLB picks for June 30.

Highlighted teams for today include the Washington Nationals, Miami Marlins, and Colorado Rockies!

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Neil Parker: Nationals ML	+122
Joe Osborne: Marlins vs Rockies - Over 11.5	+108

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Neil Parker's expert pick: Nationals moneyline

Price: 45¢ (+122) at Polymarket

The Washington Nationalspace the majors in wOBA against lefties, and Boston Red Sox southpaw Connelly Early has surrendered the 10th-highest barrel percentage among pitchers with at least 75 innings.

Early is also eyeing statistical correction with his 3.59 ERA well below his 4.72 FIP, in addition to his unsustainably high 85.7% strand rate.

The Boston offense doesn’t move the needle with a 27th-ranked xwOBA in June and sixth-lowest barrel percentage for the season, either.

• Time: 7:10 p.m. ET
• How to watch: NESN, Nationals.TV

Joe Osborne's expert pick: Marlins vs Rockies - Over 11.5

Price: 48¢ (+108) at Polymarket

The Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies could be in for another offensive explosion after combining for 17 runs on Monday at Coors Field.

Both lineups enter Tuesday red hot, ranking third and fifth in OPS over the past two weeks. Colorado turns to Tanner Gordon, who comes off the DL.

He owns a 6.37 ERA this season and an atrocious 9.92 ERA in 16 1/3 innings at home, while Miami counters with Eury Perez, who's posted a 6.04 ERA across six road starts. 

With the Rockies' bullpen ranking 29th in home ERA and a 10.3 mph wind blowing out, there's a lot to like about the Over in Denver.

• Time: 8:40 p.m. ET
• How to watch: Rockies.TV, Marlins.TV

More MLB best bets for today

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Losers of five consecutive games and eight of their last 10, the Yankees are desperate to turn things around. Ryan Weathers and some suspect defensive play are mostly to blame for Monday’s loss against the Tigers, one in which the bullpen had to throw 7.1 innings.

With the unit needing a fresh arm for the next few days, the Bombers have recalled right-hander Yovanny Cruz from Triple-A Scranton ahead of Tuesday night’s matchup with Detroit. Yerry De los Santos, who tossed two frames on Monday and allowed two unearned runs in the process, was sent down to the RailRiders following the game.

The 26-year-old Cruz has racked up 2.1 innings in the majors this year, allowing no runs or walks and striking out three. He has mostly pitched in Scranton, where he has a solid 3.18 ERA and a 3.88 FIP in 28.1 innings of work. Cruz has struggled a bit in June, surrendering four earned runs in 8.2 innings, but was able to string together a couple of scoreless appearances last week, putting himself in a position to help the Yankees and getting the call.

Cruz’s control is not the best, as he walked 4.1 hitters per nine in Triple-A, but he is armed with a couple of impressive pitches in his triple-digit fastball and his slider. The latter is the real swing-and-miss weapon, and he’s not afraid of using it against both lefties and righties.

If he can keep his fastball in the strike zone but away from the middle-middle part of it, Cruz could be an interesting relief pitching piece for the Yankees in the upcoming weeks. He just needs a shot and some consistency.

De los Santos, who was called up last week, returns to Triple-A with a 1.04 ERA in 8.2 MLB innings this season,, albeit mostly mop-up work. He is likely to get another shot eventually whenever the Yankees are in another roster crunch.

Being an all-glove, no-hit player pretty much bars you from superstardom, but even then, some manage to earn a place among baseball legend by doing the right thing at the right time. Bucky Dent’s seasonal OPS never climbed above .700 during his Yankees tenure, yet his name is rightfully etched into club history because his three-run home run basically won the 1978 AL pennant and sent the Red Sox packing. However, players like Dent are the exception. Most of them fade into obscurity — and that’s far from the worst outcome. Some are seen as emblematic of their team’s incompetence, their names becoming shorthand for a fallow era. Unfortunately, that was the fate that met Jerry Kenney.

Gerald Tennyson “Jerry” Kenney
Born: June 30, 1945 (St. Louis, MO)
Yankees Tenure: 1967-72

Born in St. Louis, Jerry Kenney was raised in Beloit, Wisconsin, and excelled at basketball as a high schooler, earning All-State honors in his senior year. However, Kenney chose to focus on baseball as a profession, and in the 1963-64 offseason he was signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent. He rose through the minor league ranks quickly, earning a promotion to the bigs in 1967, and proceeded to hit .310/.412/.397 over 74 plate appearances.

Kenney’s budding career was interrupted with a mandatory stint in the Navy, as the Vietnam War was ongoing. Fortunately, what was originally a two-year stint was shortened, and it was reported in November of 1968 that Kenney would be able to return for the 1969 season. As fate would have it, one Mickey Mantle announced his retirement on March 1, 1969. The narrative-hungry media were quick to name Kenney, who had split his time between center field and shortstop in the minors, as the heir to Mantle. Talk about setting reasonable expectations.

Suffice it to say that Kenney could not quite live up to Mantle’s standards. In his four seasons with the Yankees after he returned from military service, Kenney never hit more than four homers, and his batting average never reached the .270 mark. However, with the benefit of modern metrics, we can now see that Kenney was far more talented than the back of his baseball card would suggest. While his offensive metrics are generally mediocre, Kenney did manage to post a 103 wRC+ over 120 games in 1971, on the strength of a 14.2-percent walk rate and a .368 OBP. On the other side of the ball, the numbers paint a picture of a truly elite defender. From 1969-72, Kenney recorded 42 Fielding Runs Above Average — this despite only playing in 440 of 642 team games. On the strength of his glove, he was able to post 6.8 WAR over that period despite some terrible years with the stick. He wasn’t a star by any means, but he was a solid role player, and far from a scrub.

However, the Yankees, presumably not fully appreciative of Kenney’s defensive contributions, decided after 1972 that they had had enough of him. That offseason, Kenney was dealt to Cleveland as part of a four-player package for Graig Nettles.

OK, I know this article should be reserved for giving Kenney his deserved flowers, but this trade is so absurd that I feel compelled to spill some digital ink on it. So the Yankees dealt four players — Kenney, Charlie Spikes, John Ellis, and Rusty Torres — to Cleveland, getting back Nettles and Jerry Moses. What in the world was Cleveland thinking? Nettles had already established himself as one of the best players in the league, posting a whopping 16.2 WAR from 1970-72. And yes, I realize that WAR only meant Cold or Vietnam back in those days, but even when you account for his relatively low batting averages, Nettles still socked 71 homers over that period while playing Hall-of-Fame-caliber defense at the hot corner. It truly boggles the mind. I mean, imagine Cleveland trading Jose Ramirez to the Yankees in the 2020-21 offseason for a package of Tyler Wade, Kyle Higashioka, Mike Tauchman, and Estevan Florial. The resulting riot would have surpassed the Cuyahoga River Fire of 1969 as the most notable Cleveland disaster.

Phew. Okay, back to celebrating Kenney.

Kenney’s MLB career ended unceremoniously with just five games played with Cleveland in 1973. After his retirement, his name, along with Horace Clarke’s, became synonymous with the Yankees’ postseason drought that stretched from 1965 to 1975.

However, Kenney (and Clarke) deserve to be remembered as much more. Though it may be true that the Yankees never sniffed the playoffs during Kenney’s tenure, it’s not like he alone was the reason; far from it. As shown above, Kenney himself was a solid, if a bit one-dimensional, piece — had he found himself on more talented Yankees squads, he might have carved a name for himself with some postseason heroics, like Bucky Dent. It just so happened that his tenure coincided with a dip in the Yankees’ fortunes, and the retirement of a franchise legend in Mantle coinciding with the start of his career only served to inflate the hype around him — intensifying the scorn of fans when he inevitably failed to live up to it.

So, on this day, rather than disparaging Kenney for who he wasn’t, let’s celebrate Kenney for who he was — an elite defender, a solid role player, and a Yankee. Happy Birthday, Jerry!

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

The AJ Smith-Shawver news that Braves president of baseball operations and general manager Alex Anthopoulos shared last week in an interview with BravesVision is coming exactly to fruition.

The right-handed pitcher is set to officially begin his rehab assignment Tuesday night with Single-A Augusta, the Braves announced Tuesday morning.

Smith-Shawver’s first rehab start is slated for a 7:05 p.m. EDT game time with Augusta hosting the Salem RidgeYaks. You can watch the livestream if you have an MLB.TV subscription.

It’s approaching 13 months since Smith-Shawver underwent Tommy John surgery last June. His last appearance was May 29 and the injury derailed what seemed to be a potential breakout season as he had a 3.86 ERA in nine appearances with 42 strikeouts, 21 walks and four home runs allowed in 44 1/3 innings.

The early returns from Smith-Shawver’s build-up work ahead of the rehab assignment officially beginning have been promising, Anthopoulos said.

“He was throwing the ball really well in Florida. He looked good,” Anthopoulos said. ” … Obviously it’s a max 30-day rehab assignment. We don’t necessarily always go all that way. We’ll see how he looks and he’ll build up.”

With Spencer Strider still sidelined for the foreseeable future and Bryce Elder coming hurtling back down to earth, more rotation options would be a big help for a Braves team which is all of a sudden clinging to a 3.5-game division lead.

Hurston Waldrep’s return over the weekend was Step 1. It seems Smith-Shawver will be Step 2. And with Spencer Schwellenbach heading to Florida soon for a potential return in August or September, per MLB.com, it would seem he will be Step 3.

Now to see if the Braves bridge that further over the next month with a trade acquisition ahead of the deadline.

“Look, it’s going to be one of those things where we’ll take the five best guys, the guys that are hot,” Anthopoulos said.

The Nats are in a seemingly endless search for quality MLB relievers, so every time I see an interesting one, I will write about it. After the disaster against the Phillies, the Nats decided to recall Zak Kent. He has fired two scoreless innings since coming back, and has a unique arsenal I want to talk about.

Kent is one of Paul Toboni’s many waiver claims since taking the job. As we know by now, these claims are dart throws and most of these guys are on waivers for a reason. With Kent, he has been on the waiver wire multiple times. He was DFA’d by the Twins in late April, and then picked up by the Nats. Kent made a few outings for the Nats in May before being sent down.

As mentioned here, Kent is a Virginia native, and he went to school at VMI. This is a bit of a homecoming for him, so that may add motivation for him. However, staying in the big leagues should be enough motivation. To stay in the big leagues, you need to perform, and that is what Kent has done since coming back.

Zak Kent has a very unique arsenal that could make him a sneaky piece. The biggest thing that stands out with Kent is how much he can spin the baseball. Among pitchers who have thrown at least 100 pitches, Kent has the third highest spin rate on his fastball. He also gets a ton of spin on his slider and curveball.

In my opinion, Kent’s 4-seam fastball is actually more of a hard cutter. If you look at the pitch plot, his heater has a ton of cut and not a lot of ride. Even when you watch the pitch, you can see the ball cutting away from hitters.

His fastball/cutter is not very hard, averaging 92.4 MPH on the season. However, since joining the Nats, his average fastball velocity is up to 93.4. Kent’s slider is over a tick harder as well, and his curveball is almost 3 MPH faster. It is not an arsenal that will overpower hitters, but a 93 MPH cutter is nothing to yawn at.

In my opinion, Kent’s two breaking balls are his best pitches. This season, he has a whiff rate over 35% on both his curve and his slider. Kent is a natural supinator, meaning he gets a lot of natural cut on the ball. That means he can access a lot of different breaking ball shapes. I wonder if the Nats try to add a sweeper here. This year he has one pitch that was listed as a sweeper and had three last year, so it seems like they are trying it out. 

Since coming back, Kent has been leaning into those breaking balls. It is only two outings, but he is throwing both his curve and slider over 30% of the time. We have seen Andrew Alvarez have success throwing his fastball, slider and curve in about equal doses, and I think Kent can follow that formula.

I actually found a piece from early 2025 where Kent dove into his arsenal. Interestingly, he did call his fastball a cutter, despite the fact Baseball Savant classifies it as a 4-seamer. There are some cool details about his mix in this piece.

In Kent’s 6 outings with the Nats, his ERA of 4.70 is unremarkable. However, he has a FIP of 3.49 and an xERA of 2.11. Stuff models do not really like Kent’s cut fastball, but they do grade out his breaking balls as above average. His command is nothing special, so those breaking balls are really the key for him.

I do not think Kent will be a dominant closer or even some great high leverage guy. However, I do think he has some interesting traits that could make him a solid big league reliever. Right now, the Nats need as many solid big league relievers as possible. If Kent can provide them with that, he would be a godsend.

He has only made two outings since coming back, but he has put up two zeroes and has not allowed any hits. In this bullpen, it does not take much to rise up the trust ladder. If Zak Kent has a couple more of these types of outings, he will be tasked with closing games before too long. I am not sure how well that would go, but it is great to see a reliever throwing the ball well and doing actually interesting things.

Tony Fernandez, widely regarded as the greatest shortstop in Blue Jays history, would have celebrated his 64th birthday today.

Fernandez still leads the franchise in games played (1,450) and hits (1,583), among other records. He also set single-season marks for singles (161) and triples (17), and is second among position players in bWAR with 37.5, narrowly behind Jose Bautista (38.4). This changes every time there is a tweak to the formula of bWAR. He was first a couple of years ago.

Fernandez had four separate stints in Toronto. He debuted at age 21 in 1983 and played shortstop until 1990, when he and Fred McGriff were dealt to San Diego for Roberto Alomar and Joe Carter—a franchise-altering trade.

In 1993, after Dick Schofield’s early-May injury, the Jays tried Alfredo Griffin and Domingo Cedeno at shortstop, but neither stuck. Toronto traded with the Mets to bring Tony back, and he delivered: hitting .306/.361/.442 in 94 games and helping the Jays win another World Series.

After the season, Fernandez signed with the Reds as a free agent. He also played for the Yankees and Cleveland before rejoining the Blue Jays before 1998 as a utility infielder. In 1998, he played extensively at second and third base. By 1999, he was the starting third baseman and posted a terrific .328/.427/.449 slash line, though his defense drew some criticism.

In 2000, he played in Japan, then signed with the Brewers for 2001. After two months, Milwaukee released him, and Toronto brought him back once more; he finished his career as a Blue Jay, mostly as a pinch hitter and DH.

Tony won four Gold Gloves and was an exceptionally athletic shortstop—always one of my favorites. His leaping jump-spin throws and sidearm deliveries to first base were iconic, and I tried to copy them as a kid. He was usually smiling on the bench, though he didn’t say much to the media. Maybe it was a language thing, or perhaps Dominican players found the press unapproachable—or vice versa.

He was the smoothest shortstop I’ve ever watched play.

Fernandez is in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. In a fairer world, he’d be in Cooperstown too.

Tony passed away in February 2020, and his loss hit me harder than I expected.

Bud Black turns 69 today.

The Blue Jays traded for Black on September 16, 1990, when they were one game behind the Red Sox in the AL East.

He debuted in relief on September 18 and got the win, pulling the Jays into a tie for first. Black’s first start was a loss, but he started the second-to-last game, earned another win, and kept Toronto in the race. However, a loss on the final day (while Boston won) left Toronto two games back.

After the season, Black signed with the Giants as a free agent.

Across 15 MLB seasons, Black posted a 121-116 record and a 3.84 ERA over 398 games (296 starts).

After his playing days, Black became a pitching coach, then managed the Padresin 2007. He managed the Rockies to start 2025 but was let go after 40 games (7-33 start). He’s now an advisor with the Padres.

Pat Venditte turns 41 today.

Venditte pitched eight games for the Blue Jays in 2016.

He’s famous for pitching with both hands—earning the headline “amphibious pitcher,” which is even rarer than ambidextrous.

Venditte appeared in 61 big-league games over five seasons with six teams.

It is also Kazuma Okamoto’s 30th birthday.

Happy Birthday Kazuma

2026 MLB Draft Preview: Chris Rembert scouting report.

The 2026 is less than two weeks away — the first round kicks off on July 11, 2026 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #16, their second round pick is at #54, and their third round pick is at #89.

Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. Today we are looking at Auburn second baseman Chris Rembert.

Chris Rembert is a 6′, 209 lb. righthanded hitting second baseman at Auburn University. Rembert graduated high school in Pensacola, Florida, in 2024, and was not drafted. A redshirt sophomore, Rembert turns 21 in early July.

Rembert’s hit tool is his carrying tool. He has good contact ability and bat speed, though his swing is such that he doesn’t lift the ball much, resulting in a lot of ground balls and line drives. He puts up strong exit velocity numbers to go with his contact ability, with Keith Law noting that he can handle velocity. However, his power numbers are lacking due to the fact he doesn’t tend to get lift on the balls he makes hard contact on.

Rembert has mostly played second base for Auburn, and is considered average there at best. There is some question as to whether he will have the range to stick at second base going forward — however, he could play third base or a corner outfield spot if necessary. His speed is considered more or less average.

Rembert was impressive as a freshman, slashing .344/.467/.555 with 37 walks against 36 Ks in 260 plate appearances, with 10 home runs. He saw a drop in walks and power in 2026, with just four home runs in 265 plate appearances, with 19 walks against 39 Ks. He put up a .343/.399/.459 slash line.

Baseball America has Rembert at #55 on their board. MLB Pipeline has Rembert at #41 on their board. Kiley McDaniel puts Rembert at #53 on his top 150 list. Keith Law has Rembert at #27 on his board. Fangraphs has Rembert at #31 on their board. Baseball Prospectus has Rembert at #29 on their top 30 draft board.

Rembert checks quite a few Rangers boxes for a college hitter — strong contact rates, strong exit velocities, quality performance in a strong conference. He regressed from his freshman season, which likely means he’ll be picked in the second or third round, rather than being a potential first round pick, as seemed to be the case after his terrific 2025 season.

He’s another one of these guys whose future as a professional will hinge on his ability to get more value out of his hard contact, rather than there being a bunch of hard hit 6-3s. His inability to play up the middle other than at second base is an issue, but being able to potentially play the corners gives him more value as a potential bench option, even if he doesn’t hit for enough power to be a regular.

Previously:

Liam Peterson

Tyler Bell

Aiden Robbins

Jared Grindlinger

Logan Reddemann

Cooper Harris

Justin Lebron

Cameron Flukey

Derek Curiel

Hunter Dietz

Logan Hughes

Carson Wiggins

Peyton Bonds

Ace Reese

Sawyer Strosnider

Gio Rojas

This is my least likely preview. Before the season Baseball America projected Lebron in the top 5 and even mentioned his potential to be #1 overall. Lebron responded to this lofty praise with easily his worst season yet. This included an eye popping 18 errors (that would be a roughly 50 error pace in MLB) and a batting average 55 points lower than either of his first 2 College seasons. Will he fall all the way to 36? Probably not because there’s Gold Glove potential and easy power, but I also wouldn’t rule it out as there are equal questions about the bat and there’s those 18 errors.

Lebron is a 21 year old, 6’2″ 190lbs right handed hitter from the University of Alabama with a pretty flashy tool set: Plus speed and arm, above average to plus power and above average to plus fielding and a somewhat questionable hit tool with plus bat speed and an approach to swinging Austin Powers would be overwhelmed by. As a defender Lebron brings great range and a cannon arm. The errors are a combo of the range getting him into the occasional error, but also that great arm’s accuracy can go a bit haywire at times. His tools should allow him to stay at Short, he’ll just need to clean up the throws and focus if he can clean up those items he could end up being a plus or better defender. His speed has also made him a big threat on the basepaths and he loves stealing bases. He’s been caught stealing TWICE in 3 years. Yeah, that’ll play.

Now onto his hitting and swing. Honestly, I love the swing. A small leg kick, he maintains his eye level pretty quiet setup and that plus bat speed. No changes needed in my opinion. The pitch recognition though is another story. Lebron loves to swing and he will expand the zone. He also struggles with breaking/off speed pitches. He doesn’t miss often on Fastballs, but he misses almost half of everything else. His raw power is probably double-plus, but game power gets held back a bit by the pitch recognition and contact issues. This feels like a guy the late 2000’s front office would kill for, it also seems like the type of hitter this team has had no luck developing. In the video below you get a great mix of game action showing a little of all the good thing Lebron can do.

I have very strong doubts Lebron gets anywhere vaguely close to 36. The tools are just too exciting and someone in the top 20 is probably going to roll the dice. Some Player Development Director will be convinced he can fix the issues. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Lebron dominates in A ball. His tools are probably going to be enough to overwhelm some talent there and, as you can see in the video, he feasts on high Fastballs, which he’ll see plenty of along with breaking pitches still a bit raw and similar to College. Double-A will be where he may first get exposed. But, man, that power in Reading’s homer prone park would be blast to watch, even if he only hits the Mendoza line with a 40% K rate.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

Griffin Canning returned to the mound for the San Diego Padres in their series opener against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Monday night and there is no doubt that most of the Friar Faithful, if not all, were wondering how long he would last and how many runs he would allow before being removed from the game. To his credit, Canning lasted 4.1 innings and allowed two runs, which was enough to put the Padres in position to win, but the offense failed to produce, and the end result was a 3-2 walk-off win for the Cubs.

Canning has struggled throughout his time in San Diego and holds a 1-5 record with an atrocious 7.09 ERA. That is definitely not what any team wants to see from a member of its starting rotation. The fact that he remains in the rotation and continues to get starts is evidence of just how bad the Padres rotation is at this time. Walker Buehler has been arguably the most reliable starter of the group with Michael King lacking consistency and Randy Vasquez floundering with his recent performances. Lucas Giolito, German Marquez and Matt Waldron all joined Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove on the injured list and Yu Darvish was lost for the season before it ever began.

The hope is that Pivetta and Musgrove can return some time after the All-Star break, but how long after is unknown. Whether it is their returns or a trade deadline acquisition, Canning is squarely on the chopping block based on his numbers this season. His best start came on May 25 against the Philadelphia Phillies when he threw 6.2 innings and allowed three runs on three hits with two of those hits being home runs. Canning followed that performance with three consecutive five-inning outings but has not gone longer than 4.1 innings in the three outings since.

According to the results of this week’s Padres Reacts Survey on Gaslamp Ball, the Friar Faithful who participated in the poll have seen enough from Canning and are ready to let him go. Giolito’s recent addition to the injured list may have spared him for now, but if the Padres get any rotation help, Canning will be the first to pack his bags if the fans get their way.

Brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

Check out some prospects who have been hot in the system!

HITTERS:

Xavier Neyens – Neyens, the Astros first round pick last year, has put together a strong season so far. This week the 19-year-old hit .400 with 3 home runs and 9 walks in just 5 games. Overall this season, Neyens has a .900 OPS with 12 home runs for the Woodpeckers.

Albert Fermin – Fermin got the biggest international bonus the Astros issued out this year and is off to a really strong start in the Dominican Summer League. This week the 17-year-old hit .333 with a double, 2 home runs, 8 runs batted in and 3 stolen bases. He is hitting .368 this season.

Lucas Spence – Spence, who got off to a slow start, has really turned it on and earned a promotion to Triple-A. This week the outfielder hit .421 with 3 doubles, a home run, 7 runs batted in and a stolen bases. He’s hitting .370 over 22 games in the month of June.

Arturo Flores – Flores is a young catcher down in Fayetteville but has been doing some damage with the bat this year. After earning a spot on the list last week, he repeats here with another big week. The 20-year-old hit .438 with 2 home runs and 5 runs batted in. He has 11 home runs and a .851 OPS overall.

PITCHERS:

Ethan Pecko – After a slower start to the year, Pecko has been one of the best pitchers in minor league baseball in the month of June. This week the right-hander tossed 6 innings allowing 1 run while striking out 4. In June he has a 0.75 ERA allowing just 2 runs on 13 hits over 24 innings for Sugar Land.

Brett Gillis – Gillis has had some strong starts this season and after having his best start last week, he bested that outing this week. In his start for the Hooks, the right-hander tossed 7 scoreless innings allowing 3 hits while striking out 7. He has a 3.45 ERA this season in Double-A.

Bryce Mayer – Mayer has been solid this year and this week he turned in his longest outing of the season tossing 5.2 scoreless innings with 3 strikeouts in his start for the Hooks. Mayer has a 3.89 ERA with 62 strikeouts over 44 innings this season in Double-A.

Jackson Nezuh – Nezuh has done well racking up the strikeouts this season, though the ERA has been a little higher. This week he was great allowing just 1 hit and 1 run over 5 innings while striking out 9. Overall this season, the right-hander has 64 strikeouts over 53.1 innings.