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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

From Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MLB’s initial proposal

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

Team salaries

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

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

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

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

Team revenues

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

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

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

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

The MLBPA’s initial proposal

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

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

Team salaries

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

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

Minimum player salaries

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

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

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

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

The Draft

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

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

Pre-Arbitration

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

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

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

Arbitration

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

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

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

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

Free Agency

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

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

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

Conclusions

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

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

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

On the Farm

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

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

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

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

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

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

High-A:Spokane Indians 2, Hillsboro Hops 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Guardians took game 2 from the Yankees last night after the Guards offense got Garrit Cole for 3 home runs, the only home runs Cole has allowed this season. Nick has the recap.

After taking the series from the Yankees in the Bronx, it is the perfect time to remind everyone to VOTE GUARDS. Yes, All-Star Voting is already here with the Midsummer Classic fast approaching. The Guardians are 9 games above .500 and there are multiple Guardians that are more than deserving to go. You can vote 5 times a day, per email here.

Cade Smith was bestowed the honor of American League Reliever of the Month for the month of May with his league leading 13 saves.

Luke Hill, who was recently promoted to AA Akron RubberDucks, was named the Guardians hottest hitting prospect by MLB. In his short time with the RubberDucks, Hill hit a double for his first AA RBI.

Around the League

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, Christopher Sánchez had his historic streak come to a close last night. After pitching 50 and 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, the lefty gave up a game tying hit to the Padres. Sánchez takes the honor of the fifth-longest single-season streak since 1893.

The Angels gave up a home run on just about the closest thing to a double doink you can see in baseball.

Good morning, baseball fans!

As the San Francisco Giants were losing Tuesday night’s game, I predicted that the Colorado Rockies would win their game and push the Giants back into fifth place. And they did just that.

Now, I’m writing this before Wednesday’s games, so things might change between now and the time this publishes (as they are wont to do). And I absolutely do hope this was just a brief stop at the bottom. But the fact remains that as of the time this is being written, the Giants are in last place in the NL West.

I have to admit, I didn’t see this coming. I guess I’d gotten so used to the Rockies just being a non-factor that I assumed fourth place was the floor. I hate being wrong.

Anyway, let’s get the vent session going. How are we feeling about this development? Personally, it doesn’t really matter if this is just a brief stop at the bottom of the division. Falling below the Rockies feels like a bridge too far.

My dad and I had a conversation after Tuesday’s loss, and he predicted that either Tony Vitello won’t last the season, or Buster Posey won’t. I pointed out the fears I shared at the time of Posey’s appointment. Huge upside if it goes well. But if it doesn’t…how could they possibly part ways with a franchise icon that has such goodwill in the fanbase?

Personally, I think the first to go will be Vitello. And I think I have to agree with my father, that he will not make it through the season. I don’t know how much of that would be deserved vs. being a convenient scapegoat. But that’s just how things have tended to go over the last few seasons.

How are you feeling about the Giants’ falling to fifth place?

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants wrap up this four-game road series against the Milwaukee Brewers this morning at 11:10 a.m. PT.