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Fernando Tatis Jr. is a two-time Platinum Glove Award-winning right fielder, which is why his error on Friday night was inexplicable. Tatis Jr. misplayed a groundball off the bat of JJ Weatherholt with the bases loaded and it resulted in a Little League grand slam that put the St. Louis Cardinals ahead of the San Diego Padres, 4-0. It was evident Tatis Jr. was trying to field the ball in an effort to make a throw toward the infield in order to limit the number of runs scored on the play. Instead, the ball rolled under his glove and continued to roll until it reached the base of the right field wall. It was not something any fan of the Padres expected to see, and it may be the first sign that his struggles at the plate are affecting his play in the field. San Diego never threatened to get back in the game and lost the second game of the series to St. Louis, 6-0.

As bad as the error was by Tatis Jr. the team performance at the plate was worse. The Padres were held to one hit over nine innings of baseball. A lineup that included Jackson Merrill, Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Gavin Sheets and Tatis Jr. in the top five batters was held to a single hit, which came off the bat of Merrill in the bottom of the fourth inning. That was the only inning San Diego threatened to score. After the leadoff single, Bogaerts and Machado hit back-to-back groundouts. Sheets and Tatis Jr. walked to load the bases, but Miguel Andujar grounded out to end the inning and the St. Louis pitching shutdown the Padres for the remainder of the game.

Griffin Canning was on the receiving end of the Tatis Jr. error and was charged with six runs over 4.1 innings pitched. He allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out five. Yuki Matsui, Wandy Peralta and Ron Marinaccio combined to work the final 4.2 innings and allowed just four hits and no walks, while keeping the Cardinals off the board.

San Diego only drew the two walks in the bottom of the fourth inning but struck out a combined 10 times while being held to one hit. The Padres will try to put the embarrassing loss behind them today in the third game of the series against the Cardinals at Petco Park at 4:15 p.m.

Padres News:

• The Padres are just like any other team in MLB and have started to incur injuries to position players. Jake Cronenworth (concussion) and Luis Campusano (fractured toe) were both placed on the injured list this week, which created opportunities for Sung-Mun Song and Rodolfo Duran.

• Jase Bowen added two more home runs to his season total with a standout performance for the El Paso Chihuahuas.

• San Diego pitching prospect Humberto Cruz pleaded guilty to transporting undocumented immigrants within the United States and will have his work visa revoked for up to 10 years.

Baseball News:

• Jacob Misiorowski had a dominant outing and helped the Milwaukee Brewers get a 6-0 win over the New York Yankees.

• The Chicago Cubs may never lose again – not really. But they did win their 10th game in a row with a 7-1 win over the Texas Rangers.

• Munetaka Murakami hit a home run in the first game of the series between the Chicago White Sox and the Seattle Mariners. He has homered in the first game of each series Chicago has played this season. However Seattle won the game, 12-8.

• Freddie Freeman hit his 100th home run as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers and helped his team defeat the Atlanta Braves, 3-1.

• Dylan Cease is adjusting quite well with the Toronto Blue Jays and recorded 10 strikeouts in seven innings to lead his new team to a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

• The New York Mets got a strong start from Nolan McLean and were able to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in extra innings.

• Robby Snelling made his MLB debut with the Miami Marlins, but his day was spoiled by the Washington Nationals who got a 3-2 win.

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The Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels clash this afternoon at Rogers Centre in a game where runs should be a precious commodity.

That matchup headlines my favorite MLB picks for today in the "no run first inning" and "yes run first inning" markets.

Here are my best NRFI and YRFI bets for Saturday, May 9.

Best NRFI/YRFI bets today

Angels at Blue Jays: NRFI (-120)

Two good arms take the hill in this matchup as Jack Kochanowicz and Trey Yesavage battle it out.

Kochanowicz hasn't allowed a run in the first inning in three straight starts, and he's only given up five earned runs during that span. He faced the Toronto Blue Jays on April 21, and gave up just one earned run. That didn't come until the sixth inning. 

As for Yesavage, he's only allowed one earned run across two starts since returning from injury, compiling an impressive 0.96 ERA.

The Los Angeles Angels have scored in the first just once in their last four contests, and the Jays also have just one run in the first across their previous four games, too. The series opener ended 2-0 for the Jays, with both runs coming in the third. 

• Time: 3:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Sportsnet, ABTV

Cardinals at Padres: NRFI (-111)

The San Diego Padres have been underwhelming offensively this season, and it's often taken them a while to even score any runs.

They've scored just three times in the first in 27 games against right-handed starters, and Dustin May takes the bump for the St. Louis Cardinals here. While he has gotten in some trouble in the first as of late, the Padres have scored in the first just once in their last four contests. 

The Cardinals also haven't scored in the opening frame in five straight games, and Randy Vasquez has only allowed runs in the first once this season in seven starts. He typically comes out and finds a rhythm early, and Vasquez owns a 3.20 ERA overall. 

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: FOX

Twins at Guardians: YRFI (+100)

The Cleveland Guardians are rolling right now offensively.

They're in the middle of a three-game winning streak, and Cleveland put up a four-spot in the first on Friday. They also scored three runs in the finale against the Royals on Thursday evening.

The Guards face Minnesota Twins righty Joe Ryan here, and he has a 4.64 ERA on the road compared to 2.60 at home.

Minny isn't scoring in the first inning very much lately. I truly like this pick for the Cleveland angle, as this entire lineup is swinging the bats extremely well.

While Ryan is typically solid, the Guardians could very well jump on him early and put some runs on the board. The likes of Jose Ramirez, Bryan Rocchio, and Steven Kwan have had success against him. 

• Time: 6:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Twins.TV, CLEGuardians.TV

What is a NRFI bet?

NRFI (No Run First Inning) and YRFI (Yes Run First Inning) bets add a thrilling twist to the start of an MLB game. A NRFI bet is a wager that no runs will be scored in the first inning. You're betting that the starting pitchers for both teams will get through the first inning without allowing any runs, whether by striking out batters, inducing ground balls, or through solid defensive play.

A YRFI bet is the exact opposite. You're betting that at least one run will be scored in the first inning. In this case, you’re hoping for an early offensive burst such as a leadoff walk, a timely hit, or even a home run.

NRFI and YRFI bets add excitement to the early part of a game and offer immediate gratification for bettors looking for a quick resolution.

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.

All year, the Cubs have gone by a “next man up” mantra. Thus, when Matthew Boyd went down with a knee injury this week, Ben Brown was tabbed to make the start in his place. It was Brown’s first start of the year, and his past results as a starter have been uneven.

Like just about everything else that’s happened with the Cubs this year, Brown did his “next man up” job exceptionally well. Expected to go no more than three innings, Brown instead no-hit the Rangers for four innings. Michael Busch added a bases-clearing double and Seiya Suzuki homered in a 7-1 win over the Rangers, the team’s 10th win in a row. That, combined with losses by the Braves and Yankees, leaves the Chicago Cubs waking up this morning with the best record in baseball. Also, the 2026 Cubs are in rare territory:

Per the Elias Sports Bureau, these Cubs are the fifth team in MLB history with multiple distinct winning streaks of at least 10 games before their 40th decision of a season. The 1955 Dodgers, 1941 Cardinals, 1889 St. Louis Browns and 1880 Chicago White Stockings (Cubs) also achieved the feat.

And per Elias, the Cubs are also just the sixth team with a gap of three or fewer games between a pair of winning streaks of at least 10 games. That rare feat was also pulled off by the 1906 Cubs (one game, twice), 1897 Orioles (one), 1880 White Stockings (two), 1978 Pirates (two), and 1955 Dodgers (three).

Further:

The @Cubs are the first team in MLB history to have 2 separate 10+ game winning streaks and a 15+ game home winning streak all before the end of May. pic.twitter.com/AJstxlVQFG

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 9, 2026

We are all witnessing history… and of the best possible kind.

Now, let’s look at how this one unfolded.

With one out in the top of the first, Michael Conforto bounced a ball into the seats at Globe Life Field for an automatic double. One out later, Ian Happ singled him in [VIDEO].

That’s where the game stayed until the fourth. In that inning, Happ led off with a walk and Seiya Suzuki smashed his seventh home run of the year [VIDEO].

That ball: Crushed! [VIDEO]

A note on Suzuki’s blast from BCB’s JohnW53:

Suzuki’s fourth-inning home run extended the Cubs’ streak to seven games with at least one homer, a season high. Going into Friday, 11 other teams had had a streak of at least seven games this season. The Yankees had homered in 14 straight games; the Mariners, in 12; and no other team in more than eight.

There were 89 streaks of at least seven games last year, including ones of seven and eight by the Cubs. Twenty-nine streaks were at least 10 games, with a high of 18 by the Giants. The Dodgers had two streaks of 14; the Royals, one.

Brown was just outstanding in his four innings of work. He threw an efficient 46 pitches (31 strikes) and allowed just one baserunner, a second-inning walk to Joc Pederson. He struck out three [VIDEO].

I’ve been critical of the effort to make Brown a starter in the past. But this year, he’s developed additional pitches and has been much more effective in a multi-inning relief role. With a slot in the rotation currently available with the injury to Boyd, perhaps Brown can fill that place. An excellent job done in this one by Brown, whose season ERA dropped to 1.82.

More on Brown’s evening from John:

Brown is just the third Cub to start a game and exit after four no-hit innings — but the second in as many years.

On Opening Day of last season, against the Dodgers at Tokyo, Shota Imanaga was lifted after walking four and striking two.

Matt Clement walked one and struck out three at Los Angeles vs. the Dodgers on May 5, 2002.

That was the first such start since Monk Dubiel walked none and struck out one at home vs. the Reds on May 29, 1949. Under the hazy scoring rules back then, Dubiel was awarded the win, since the Cubs were ahead, 1-0, when he departed. They won, 10-2, as Emil Kush finished up, working five innings and allowing two runs on six hits and three walks, with two strikeouts.

Ryan Rolison relieved Brown in the fifth and walked the first two batters he faced. One out later, an RBI single by Justin Foscue made the score 3-1. At that point Javier Assad relieved Rolison. Assad’s second pitch was a wild pitch, advancing the runners, but he retired the next two Rangers to end the inning.

In the sixth, Busch drew a one-out walk and stole second. The Rangers have a reputation as an easy team to run on, so the Cubs took advantage. That was just the sixth steal of Busch’s 372-game MLB career to date.

One out later, Pete Crow-Armstrong bounced a ball into the seats, scoring Busch [VIDEO].

The Cubs blew the game open in the seventh. Nico Hoerner reached on an error, Conforto walked and Alex Bregman singled, loading the bases with nobody out. The next two Cubs hit into force plays at the plate, but Busch cleared the bases with this double to make it 7-1 [VIDEO].

Assad completed 3.2 scoreless innings in relief of Rolison, then just-activated Ethan Roberts entered the game for the ninth. He issued a two-out walk but then got Andrew McCutchen to fly to center to end the game [VIDEO].

Good pitching, the usual solid defense and timely hitting made this win very satisfying, and so, at least for this one:

Here are postgame remarks from Busch [VIDEO].

As mentioned in the clip, Busch saw 37 pitches in this game (the Rangers threw 187 pitches overall). That’s more than seven pitches per plate appearance, a sign of a really good, patient hitter. After a very slow start, Busch is batting .300/.413/.489 (27-for-90) over his last 24 games with three home runs and 21 RBI.

Here are Craig Counsell’s postgame comments [VIDEO].

So. The two 10-game winning streaks, sandwiched around a three-game losing streak, obviously make the Cubs 20-3 over that span. That’s three games better than anyone else in MLB over that time (Yankees and Rays, 17-6), and I’ve noted the other things the Cubs have done with the streaks this year, matching things that haven’t been done in decades or in some cases, in over a century. You are witnessing amazing history, something to remember forever.

The Cubs will go for 11 straight wins Saturday evening against the Rangers. Edward Cabrera will start for the Cubs and Jack Leiter goes for Texas. Game time is 6:05 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.

Triple-A: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 9, Norfolk Tides 1 — Game 1 (7 inn.)

You wouldn’t know it by the final score, but this was a one-run game until the last inning, the seventh, when the Stripers erupted for seven runs to turn it into a blowout. Reliever Gerald Ogando got torched for five runs in just two-thirds of an inning, and infielder Willy Vasquez had to take the mound for the final out, though he gave up two runs of his own. Before that, the Wells brothers (not actually brothers) were Norfolk’s pitchers. Starter Levi Wells worked 4.2 decent innings and gave up one run, and Tyler Wells followed with 1.1 frames. Poor Tyler was saddled with the loss despite being the only Tides pitcher not to give up any earned runs. He allowed an unearned run on an error by third baseman José Barrero, which broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth.

Just like the Orioles, the Tides managed just four hits in this game. A Barrero solo homer in the fifth accounted for their only run and only extra-base hit. Norfolk didn’t have a single at-bat with runners in scoring position. Not going to win many games that way.

Box score

Norfolk Tides 3, Gwinnett Stripers 2 — Game 2 (8 inn.)

The normally seven-inning doubleheader game had to go to an extra frame before Norfolk walked it off in the bottom of the eighth. Sam Huff’s RBI single plated the free runner, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, to salvage the split of the twin bill. The Tides offense put up a better showing in the nightcap with nine hits, eight of them singles. Center fielder Jud Fabian was 1-for-3 with a walk from the leadoff spot and also threw out a runner at home.

At any given moment I can never remember whether Albert Suárez is in the minors or in the Orioles’ bullpen, but apparently the answer is the former, because he started this game for Norfolk. He gave up two runs in four innings. Andrew Magno, Ryan Long, and Enoli Paredes followed with four innings of scoreless relief. Long was particularly impressive, working 2.1 frames with no damage.

Box score

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 5, Altoona Curve (Pirates) 1

The Baysox delivered a solid performance both at the plate and on the mound, but the latter was a little better. Four Chesapeake pitchers combined to hold Altoona to just one run, starting with Christian Heberholz (four innings, one run), then two scoreless frames apiece from Daniel Lloyd and Jeisson Cabrera. Left-hander Micah Ashman saved the best for last by striking out the side in a perfect ninth inning. The 23-year-old from last year’s Charlie Morton trade has a 2.00 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 18 innings this year.

The Baysox offense produced nine hits and five walks, and might’ve run up the score a little more if they hadn’t gone 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 1o on base. Even still, they got the job done. Frederick Bencosme went 3-for-4 with two doubles, Thomas Sosa homered, Adam Retzbach drove in two, and a rehabbing Jackson Holliday walked three times. That helped make up for a rare off night for Chesapeake’s two best hitters, Ethan Anderson and Anderson De Los Santos, who were a combined 0-for-9 with six strikeouts.

Box score

High-A: Frederick Keys, 11, Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 10 — 11 inn.

The Keys are the most exciting O’s affiliate right now, and boy, they did not disappoint with this barnburner of a game. After blowing a late three-run lead to send the game to extras, the Keys rallied back from a two-run deficit in the bottom of the 10th and then another two-run deficit in the bottom of the 11th, pulling off a walkoff victory on back-to-back homers by Maikol Hernández and Elis Cuevas. Frederick is now 18-12.

It was certainly a well-balanced offensive attack. Ten different Keys batters had at least one hit. Nine of them scored a run, and seven of them drove in a run. Let’s start at the top of the lineup, where leadoff man Ike Irish had a hit, a walk, and an RBI. A rehabbing Reed Trimble mashed a homer. Vance Honeycutt hit a two-run double. The #7 and #8 hitters, Colin Yeaman and Leandro Arias, each had two RBIs. Wehiwa Aloy did not start but came in off the bench and struck out in both at-bats.

The offense needed to be good, because it was not a banner day for the Frederick pitching staff — specifically, the bullpen. Starter Yeiber Cartaya did great, throwing five shutout innings with one hit and six strikeouts, but a bunch of relievers struggled. Brandon Downer lived up to his name by giving up three runs, and Jacob Cravey coughed up four runs in the 10th and 11th but was bailed out by the Keys’ bats.

Box score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 3, Salem RidgeYaks (Red Sox) 2

This was another well-pitched victory for an Orioles affiliate on this night. Right-hander Christian Rodriguez, a 2024 tenth-round draft pick making just his second professional start, delivered a quality outing with six innings of one-run ball. He gave up eight hits, but struck out five without walking anyone.

The Shorebirds did all their scoring in the top of the second. Junior Aybar drove in the first two runs with a double and Braylon Whitaker followed with an RBI single. Three of the Shorebirds’ five hits came in that inning. They were otherwise quiet at the plate, but not on the basepaths, where they stole six bases without being caught. Whitaker and Aybar had two steals apiece.

Box score

Saturday’s scheduled games:

• Norfolk: vs. Gwinnett, 6:35 PM. Starter: TBD
• Chesapeake: vs. Altoona, 6:35 PM. Starter: Evan Yates (1-1, 6.33)
• Frederick: vs. Jersey Shore, 6:00 PM. Starter: Kiefer Lord (0-0, 5.40)
• Delmarva: at Salem, 6:35 PM. Starter: Denton Biller (1-1, 5.66)

Probably not the question to be asking after two consecutive losses, but it’s fair. The Phillies are 17-21, yet still maintain decent enough playoff odds by FanGraphs and Baseball Reference. They have played better baseball of late, which has at least made them more watchable.

So, how are we feeling about their playoff chances? The division crown is probably over, though miracles can happen. The third wild card is probably the one they need to be shooting for, so how do you feel about that? Are they still a favorite to make it in your eyes?

Few things are more fun than an unheralded draft pick forcing his way into the Cardinals’ plans. Any draft pick has the odds stacked against them, but players picked outside the top few rounds have a vanishingly small chance of putting together a major league career. This week I found myself pondering whether or not Jalin Flores, a relatively obscure prospect in Peoria, was in the early stages of breaking out and setting a trajectory for Busch Stadium. There isn’t too much to say about Flores in particular, although I will say a few words in a minute, but this inspired me to take a quick walk down memory lane.

The Cardinals organization has a rich history of identifying talent later in the draft. Albert Pujols, of course, is the best example of this over the last three decades.  While the Cardinals haven’t identified another inner-circle Hall of Famer in the late-rounds of the draft this century (duh), they have been adept at identifying future contributors, and a few core pieces even much later in the draft. Let’s take a look at the best Cardinals picks in the 10th round and later this century.

2000 to 2004 

The early 2000s drafts were not as bad as I remember, but were mostly carried by high-round draft picks Yadier Molina and Dan Haren. The draft at this time had 50 rounds and the Cardinals drafted and signed a total of 12 players in the 10th round or later that eventually made it to the majors. Of those 12 players, three provided positive career fWAR.

Tyler Johnson is not included in the above table as his career fWAR was negative, but he was taken in the 34th round of the 2000 draft. While he only threw 77 big league innings, he etched himself in Cardinals lore by holding opponents to 1 run across 7.1 innings during the 2006 playoffs. Johnson ran a 12/2 K/BB ratio and teamed up with Randy Flores to provide an improbable pair of lockdown lefties at the back of the Cardinals’ pen. 

Another player not listed above is Terry Evans. Evans was drafted in the 47th round in 2001 out of Middle Georgia State University. He bumped around the lower minors for a couple of years without doing anything too noteworthy. In 2006, he was having a bit of a breakout season in Double-A as he had popped seven home runs in his first 21 games. At the time I was just getting into avid prospect watching, so I was quite frustrated when the Cardinals traded Evans to Anaheim for a seemingly washed up pitcher with a 6.29 ERA. During the regular season, Dave Duncan did not have much luck resurrecting his career, but come playoff time, Jeff Weaver pulled out a sensational run to help the Cardinals to the title. 

Anthony Reyeswas drafted in the 15th round of the 2003 draft. He was actually considered a better prospect than Adam Wainwright when they both debuted in 2005. Reyes had a disappointing rookie season in 2006, putting up a 5.06 ERA across 17 starts. He is remembered for his epic eight-inning performance in game 1 of the World Series when he allowed two runs on only four hits while outdueling Tigers rookie phenom Justin Verlander. What I had forgotten was that this was only Reyes’ second start of the postseason. After a brutal seven-game NLCS with the Mets, the Cardinals were out of pitching and had to choose between Reyes and Jason Marquis to get the start. While Marquis had a horrible season and did not pitch in the playoffs, it was still a gutsy call for Tony La Russa and the staff to go with the rookie pitcher. 

The most significant career of the early 2000s group came from another future playoff hero, Jason Motte. Motte was drafted as a catcher in the 19th round of the 2003 draft, but unable to hit at a satisfactory level, he was converted to a pitcher in 2006. The rest is history as Motte blitzed through the minors on his way to a 2008 debut in St. Louis. Motte will forever be remembered for recording the final out of the 2011 World Series and running a 2.08 ERA across 21.2 playoff innings from 2009 to 2012. 

2005 to 2011

Jeff Luhnow was hired as Vice President of player development in 2003 and moved to the player procurement side in 2005. After a horrible draft in 2004 that yielded no significant major leaguers, the late 2000s were critical in establishing the deep pipeline of talent that allowed the Cardinals to contend in the post-Pujols era. While there were big wins like Colby Rasmus, Shelby Miller, and Lance Lynn at the top of the draft, the Cardinals started finding real impact across the board. The positive fWAR players in this era were:

The fun started in 2005 when the Cardinals selected Jaime Garcia in the 22nd round of the draft. Garcia would pitch ten seasons in the majors while accruing 14.5 career fWAR. While Garcia battled injuries for much of his career, he was a critical piece of the Cardinals’ rotation, when healthy. The Cardinals struck again in 2006 selecting Las Vegas prep outfielder Tommy Pham in the 16th round. Pham spent parts of nine seasons toiling in the minor leagues before debuting in 2014. He has posted over 18 career fWAR including a 5.8 fWAR season with the Cardinals in 2017. 

In 2007, the Cardinals had seven late-round picks that made major league debuts, but the most prominent was Tony Cruz who somehow hung around for four years while posting -2.5 in cumulative fWAR. 2008 was more fruitful as the Cardinals found Kevin Siegrist in the 41st round. Siegrist had a short but productive career posting a 3.04 ERA across 276 games. His best season came in 2015 when he pitched in 81 games as the Cardinals’ primary lefty reliever and posted 1.3 fWAR.

It turned out that 2009 was the year the Cardinals hit the jackpot three times with late-round picks selecting Matt Carpenter (31.5 fWAR) in the 13th round, Trevor Rosenthal (7.8 fWAR) in the 21st round, and Matt Adams (3.6 fWAR)  in the 23rd round. 

To cap off the run, in 2011, the Cardinals took Seth Maness in the 11th round. Maness provided a couple of excellent seasons as Mike Matheny’s designated groundball specialist, but was only able to hang on for parts of five seasons when his already low velocity started to slip. 

2012 to 2015

After the epic haul in 2009, the Cardinals had much more limited success in the later rounds. The period after Luhnow left the organization and before Randy Flores came onboard yielded only two positive fWAR players in the later rounds of the draft. 

The big win in this period of time was selecting Luke Voit in the 22nd round. While Voit hit 90 of his 95 career home runs for other teams, he did bring back Giovani Gallegos in a trade with the Yankees. While the Cardinals had some excellent picks at the tops of the 2014 and 2015 drafts, not a single player even made a major league debut that was drafted after the 10th round. 

2016 to present

The Randy Flores era has come with plenty of great draft picks but the late-round gems have still been relatively sparse with only five positive fWAR players since 2016. After the abbreviated five-round 2020 draft, the 2021 draft was shortened from 40 rounds down to 20. 

In 2018, the Cardinals selected Kyle Leahy in the 17th round and signed him with a tiny $75K bonus. Leahy has not accumulated much fWAR yet, but his development has been a huge win for the organization as he has provided multiple years of good relief work and could start racking up value much more quickly if he can stick in the rotation. Nathan Church might have the best chance of shooting up the fWAR leaderboards. Drafted as a polished, contact-oriented hitter, he has improved his bat speed and power output enough that he has played himself into a starting role, at least for now. 

Looking ahead, who could join the list? 

With Church carrying the torch for the 2022 draft, there are some very interesting prospects coming up behind him from the last three draft years. 

Jacob Odle is probably the best bet to make a push from the 2023 draft. Odle was drafted as a strong-armed junior college pick and is still just 22 years old. Odle missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He got his feet wet with 51.2 innings last year, but walked over six batters per nine. Back in Low-A to start the season, Odle has cut his walk rate from 17.9% to 12.2% and is striking out 28.9% of batters faced. While his numbers are solid, it is Odle’s stuff that has him on the prospect radar. His average four-seam velocity has increased from 94.2 to 97.2 MPH (topping out at 99.4 MPH). Odle has a solid pitch mix as he is throwing his four-seam, sinker, cutter and curveball all over 20% of the time while sprinkling in a changeup and slider here and there. 

Deniel Ortiz was drafted in the 16th round of the 2024 draft and has already progressed to Double-A as a 21-year-old. Unfortunately, he injured his wrist in his first game this year and has not seen additional action. Ortiz was ranked 21st in the Cardinals system by Baseball America coming into the year and will be looking to build on a sensational first season when he does return to the field. 

Jalin Flores, an 11th-rounder in 2025, is the only position player from the Cardinals class to be pushed to the High-A level. Flores has responded well by cutting his strikeout rate from 32.4% in Low-A to 20.6% this year. He has popped 3 home runs and is running an ISO just under .200 through his first 107 plate appearances. Flores is interesting because of his pedigree. He was a top-100 draft prospect coming out of high school. After a terrible freshman year at Texas, he rebounded as a draft-eligible sophomore putting up an OPS over 1.000 and bashing 18 home runs. After the strong season, he was again considered a top-100 draft prospect and again preferred the college route. A disappointing junior year allowed him to fall to the eleventh round where the Cardinals drafted him and gave him a slightly above slot $175K bonus. Flores is graded as a good defender and is still getting reps at shortstop as well as third base. 

So is Jalin Flores actually breaking out? It’s way too early to say. But 107 plate appearances of improved contact, plus the defensive versatility and the draft pedigree, are enough to keep watching. And if the Cardinals’ track record tells us anything, it’s that the guys worth watching aren’t always the ones you’d expect.

You tell me.

Michael Harris ll with the swim move on a bang-bang play at the plate against Will Smith and, though it was close, he’s out.

Braves challenged, but the ruling on the field stood. pic.twitter.com/ym6rE1YMmY

— Adrian Medina (@AdrianMedina_16) May 9, 2026

Shaking a slump: How Garrett Stubbs' vibe could help Alec Bohm ‘reset' originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

0-for-31. That was the hitless stretch buried inside Brandon Marsh’s poor start to last season.

He landed on the injured list in late April with a strained hamstring. It was supposed to be his year as the Phillies’ everyday center fielder.

Marsh went to Lehigh Valley to rehab and try to find himself again. Garrett Stubbs was there. And what followed was less about mechanics than most people would assume.

“Nothing that he doesn’t already know — which is that he’s a superstar player,” Stubbs said. “When you go through those lulls, it’s hard to remember that. You get on hot streaks and sometimes you feel like you’re never going to get out. And then when you go through the lows, the same thing happens in the opposite direction.”

Marsh will tell you the same thing. The swing was not the problem.

“Physically, I didn’t really change much,” Marsh said. “I liked where my swing was. I was swinging at bad pitches. It was more in my head than physically. Stubby helped me out tremendously, just with the mental side going into the game and approaching your day.”

Marsh finished his rehab assignment with consecutive multi-hit games and returned to the Phillies on May 3. Since then, he owns the highest batting average among National League hitters at .311, trailing only Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz for the best mark in baseball.

Stubbs watched it happen up close. He knows what it takes to turn that kind of stretch around, and he has made it part of his role to help teammates through it.

“Coming down to Triple-A, letting the shoulders down, relaxing and just remembering how good of a player he is, regardless of what result was currently happening — that was a huge part of it,” Stubbs said. “It’s not always a mechanical thing. Sometimes it is, but there’s a big mental side to the game.”

Now, Alec Bohm is the one trying to find his way through.

The Phillies gave Bohm a pair of “reset” days on Thursday and Friday. He enters Saturday hitting .159 through his first 126 at-bats — the second-lowest average by a Phillie through the club’s first 38 games since 1901, with a minimum of 120 plate appearances. His .433 OPS is the lowest by a Phillie through that same stretch.

The circumstances make it harder. Bohm is in his final arbitration season before free agency, and he is carrying off-field noise after filing a lawsuit against his parents, alleging financial mismanagement. The Phillies need the hitter they have seen before, though.

There is reason to believe he is still there. Last season, through his first 94 plate appearances, Bohm slashed .198/.223/.264 with no home runs. The rest of the way, he hit .308 with an .801 OPS and 11 home runs. His teammates have not forgotten that.

“He’s one of the best hitters ever to play the game. He knows he is. We all know he is,” Marsh said. “He’s going to come out of it and be better from it. It’s all going to be water under the bridge. He’s going to be fine.”

Stubbs knows the daily grind of a stretch like this from the inside. The attention makes it harder.

“You walk into this locker room and you see media members,” Stubbs said. “They look at you. They know what story’s going on. You’re not playing well. They know you’re not playing well. It’s just a snowball effect of pressure that consistently happens.”

The ways a clubhouse can help are not always formal. Stubbs, who goes by the “Chief Vibes Officer,” knows that better than most.

“It’s the moments in the locker room or on the bench — [Bohm and I] talk all the time,” Stubbs said. “It’s not always related to something serious. Sometimes it’s about going to play golf on the next off day. Blowing off some steam and hanging out with the boys, having a few beers and forgetting about whatever went on that day.

Through 162 games, you’ve got to have times like that where you take a deep breath and forget about the day-to-day.”

Interim manager Don Mattingly’s decision to give Bohm two days off came from the same place — not as a warning, but as a recognition that sometimes the hardest-working players need permission to step back.

“He’s been working so hard, hitting extra all the time,” Mattingly said Thursday. “I encouraged him to take a reset day from the standpoint of — grind, grind, grind, take a step back. And then we get back after it.”

The Phillies are not simply waiting for things to turn. Mattingly said Kevin Long, the hitting group, the front office and others have been working through video and biomechanics, comparing the current Bohm to the version of him that hits the ball to all fields and drives in runs.

“Nobody’s just looking away, saying, ‘He’s going to hit,'” Mattingly said. “You’re trying to figure out solutions. Most of the time, a guy catches a feel, gets a couple of knocks, and then he’s off to the races. He’s going to hit, and I’ll believe that till the day I’m not on this earth.”

Stubbs, who considers Bohm a close friend, was careful not to speak for him directly. But everything he said about what a struggling player needs applies to what is happening right now.

“Knowing that the other guys in the locker room understand how good of a player you are — that is, to me, the most important thing,” Stubbs said. “Everyone on the outside doesn’t always realize how difficult it is to play this game. They also don’t always realize that we’re human beings, and we have family matters, whether they’re public or not, that happen daily, weekly, monthly.”

A year ago, Marsh was the one who needed to find his way back. Stubbs helped him get there — not by overhauling anything, but by reminding a good player that he was still a good player.

Bohm got his reset. The belief in the room has not changed. And neither has the memory of what Marsh looked like before it all turned around.

That is the point Stubbs knows better than most. Sometimes it starts with remembering who the player already is.