Worldwide Sports News

Major League Baseball started the All-Star voting process on Wednesday, beginning the campaign for the 2026 All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The current ballot setup involves two phases, with fan voting for starting position players from June 3-25. From there, the top two players at each position, and the top six outfielders will move into the second phase, with voting totals reset and that vote open from June 29-July 2.

Here are the Dodgers on the ballot this year

• DH — Shohei Ohtani
• C — Will Smith
• 1B — Freddie Freeman
• 2B — Hyeseong Kim
• 3B — Max Muncy
• SS — Mookie Betts
• OF — Andy Pages
• OF — Kyle Tucker
• OF — Teoscar Hernández

A reminder that pitchers are not voted on by fans. So let’s stick with position players today. In total, 20 position players will make the National League All-Star team — nine starters voted on by fans, then nine players voted on by the players, and two others chosen by the commissioner’s office. Often those last spots include a team’s only All-Star, to satisfy the requirement that all 30 MLB teams have at least one All-Star.

Today’s question is simple: Which Dodgers position players should be All-Stars in 2026?

Well, the Sox are now dealing with an injured injury replacement. Nick Sogard, who has been with the Sox since Trevor Story went down with a hernia, is now experiencing some “side soreness” himself and has been placed on the 10-day IL. Coming east from Worcester to replace him is Anthony Seigler, who was acquired in the now-infamous Kyle Harrison-Caleb Durbin trade and who has been tearing it up in AAA to the tune of a .298/.425/.471 stat line with 3 homers. (Sean McAdam, MassLive)

And how is Trevor Story doing, anyway? He was back at Fenway yesterday, working on his, umm, walking, if the lede to this story is to believed. After undergoing surgery on the aforementioned hernia, he is expected to be out for 8-12 weeks. “It just kept getting worse, kept getting worse, and I couldn’t recover from it, and it was obviously affecting me on both sides of the ball,” he said. “You don’t get a trophy for going out there and just dragging your right leg with you and playing, so it was a situation where I felt like I needed to do it to be the best version of myself, and go out there and play the way I know how to.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

As for Garrett Crochet, an MRI this week revealed that he has a “very low grade lat strain.” We don’t yet have a timeline for his return, but he will be permitted to begin throwing again as soon as he no longer feels any discomfort. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Thankfully, the pitching rotation has more or less held up during Crochet’s absence. There is, however, some concern about the amount of home runs Connelly Early is giving up, as he’s now allowed 11 in his last 9 starts. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)

Early gave up another bomb to Pete Alonso last night, as the Sox once again lost at Fenway. With a 9-20 home record, the Sox are the only big league team with fewer than 10 home wins and are off to their worst home start since 1932. (Khari A. Thompson, Boston.com)

Is there any particular reason for the poor home performance? Isiah Kiner-Falefa made some cryptic comments about unnamed groups of people being around the team too much at home, but others aren’t so sure. “I don’t know. I think baseball happens,” Wilyer Abreu said. “Right now, we can’t win games here, but we’re trying, we’re battling, we’re trying our best and working on trying to win here.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

While Connelly Early is starting to give up too many homers, Abreu is starting to hit too few. Abreu, who, along with Willson Contreras, has carried the Sox limp offense for much of the season, hasn’t made a trip around the bases since May 8 and has more strikeouts than hits over his last 16 games. (Tyler Maher, NESN.com)

Detroit Tigers (25-38) vs. Tampa Bay Rays (36-22)

Time/Place: 1:10 p.m., Tropicana Field
SB Nation Site: DRaysBay
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Troy Melton (1-0, 1.42 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Martinez (5-1, 1.62 ERA)

Today’s grab bag of talking points comes after the A’s squeaked out a 2-1 win over the streaky Cubs. A good and important win, if frustrating because the A’s faced a flammable SP and had to eek out a victory by the seat of their pants. But they did so all is well for a day.

Lawrence Butler

What exactly is the A’s plan for how to deal with their recently extended RFer who just can’t it going in 2026? Carlos Cortes has emerged as the clearly superior choice to start in RF against RHP and so the A’s have taken the proper approach in a performance based industry and handed Cortes the job most every day.

Trouble is that has left Butler as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement languishing on the bench getting precious few at bats with a spotlight on him as a player so bad he can’t crack the lineup and isn’t getting the reps needed to prove otherwise or get in a rhythm.

While optioning Butler to AAA might be a blow to the ego, it’s arguable that so is a daily benching. Lately Butler has only gotten into the lineup as an occasional sub in CF for Henry Bolte, in which his defensive limitations are exposed while the bat produced all of a .135/.262/.154 line in May.

The status quo, where Butler sits on the bench most of the game most days except when he starts and plays a position he’s bad at, is helping who? It seems like the A’s need to go one of two distinct directions with Law: start him in RF at least half the time or option him to AAA for a reset. This “in between” limbo isn’t good for his confidence or development, nor for the team’s success.

9th Inning Drama

The A’s appear to be embracing the “closer by committee” approach, which is fine other than the fact that it almost never works. Last night, with a 1-run lead, Mark Kotsay turned to Scott Barlow who does have the most career saves of any A’s reliever. But those 61 saves were earned when Barlow was throwing 93-95 MPH and the 2026 version tosses sinkers at 89.4 MPH.

Barlow has done mostly a good job for the A’s, but a closer he isn’t. He has a 5.00 BB/9 IP rate and a very middling K rate (7.67/9 IP). His 3.00 ERA belies the underlying metrics that show a 3.63 xERA and a whopping 5.40 xFIP.

Last night Barlow was bailed out by lefty Hogan Harris, also a shaky choice to close out a game with his 22 BB (and 2 HBP) in 28 innings. Meanwhile, Jack Perkins, he of the 33 K and 7 BB in 28 IP, has been relegated to mop up duty lately, while Luis Medina, who has been scored upon in only 4 of 18 appearances, has been used sporadically with no discernible pattern.

Perkins and Medina are flawed in their own ways for sure, but what they bring to the table is “closer stuff”. For the A’s to putz around with guys like Barlow, Harris, and Mark Leiter Jr. trying to secure win in close games, is fraught with danger — as we saw last night when it did work out, barely. Not that Perkins has been above blowing a save, but the stuff plays. Barlow’s…not so much.

“Closer by committee” is better named “try to win with smoke and mirrors”. I don’t recommend it.

Infield Decisions Loom

Max Muncy is 3 games into a rehab assignment at AAA, while Jacob Wilson may go out on his rehab later this week. Those two represent the starting left side of the infield in April, since replaced by Zack Gelof and Darell Hernaiz, with the slick fielding Alika Williams taking over Hernaiz’ UTL infielder spot.

Wilson’s return will be simple: he will start at SS and presumably Hernaiz will return to the utility role at Williams’ expense. But Muncy’s return is more imminent and more complicated. Gelof has done a good job since taking over 3B, though it has also been an up and down ride.

Both offensively and defensively, Gelof started out strong, then had a bad stretch, and has since recovered to be strong again. Overall, here’s where Gelof’s numbers are in 44 big leagues games:

Batting: .261/.305/.430, 25.5% K rate, 102 wRC+
Defense at 3B: +4 DRS, -1 OAA

The question is whether Muncy represents an upgrade, an equivalent, or a downgrade as a 3Bman. Muncy has also had an up-and-down season at the plate prior to the injury — it’s unclear to what extent the injury played a part or to what extent his poor swing decisions caught up to him. His stats in 26 games before hitting the IL:

Batting: .239/.308/.402, 35.6% K rate, 95 wRC+
Defense at 3B: -4 DRS, -4 OAA

If anything is clear it’s that Gelof is the superior fielder, partly because by the metrics Muncy has been pretty awful. (Last season Muncy ran at an identical pace, with -4 DRS and -2 OAA in half the number of innings.) At the plate both are dangerous, inconsistent, and streaky.

Perhaps there is room for some sharing of the position with Muncy highlighted against LHP and Gelof getting plenty of starts against RHP. Another possibility is that Gelof could be the one to spell Bolte in CF sometimes, rather than Butler — a development that makes more sense if Butler is not on the bench, e.g., if Muncy’s activation coincides with optioning Butler.

History shows Muncy being handed the every day gig at 3B twice now despite not proving he can handle the position defensively nor hitting consistently. But this came at times when Gelof was either injured or at AAA. We’ll see what the A’s brass is thinking when Muncy’s rehab is completed — which should be in a matter of days.

Your thoughts on all of the above? Or some of the above? Share your thoughts…below.

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Several hitters enter Wednesday's slate with underlying power metrics that suggest more home runs could be on the way in my MLB player props. 

I'll include Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kazuma Okamoto, and Freddie Freeman in today's home run parlay.  

Read more in my MLB picks for Wednesday, June 3. 

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Pete Crow-Armstrong	+487
Kazuma Okamoto	+525
Freddie Freeman	+571
💲Today's HR parlay	+24517

Home run pick: Pete Crow-Armstrong (+487)

Pete Crow-Armstrong is starting to heat up. Over the last week, he owns a 63.2% hard-hit rate and 26.3% barrel rate. While PCA has just one home run during that stretch, the underlying metrics are excellent, evidenced by a .772 expected slugging percentage. The Chicago Cubs outfielder has consistently punished mistakes and should like this matchup against Athletics left-hander Jeffrey Springs.

Springs has allowed 50% of his contact against left-handed hitters to come in the air this season, with 10% of those fly balls leaving the yard. The veteran has also been vulnerable recently, as 36.3% of the fly balls he's allowed across his last two starts have resulted in home runs.

That's a dangerous setup for Crow-Armstrong, who has consistently elevated the baseball lately, posting an average launch angle above 26 degrees over his last 30 plate appearances.

I'll play this pick up to +400. 

• Time: 8:05 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marquee Sports Network, NBC Sports California

Home run pick: Kazuma Okamoto (+525)

Kazuma Okamoto has emerged as the Toronto Blue Jays' premier power threat, launching 13 home runs this season. The Blue Jays slugger is locked in at the plate, posting a 27.3% barrel rate and .556 ISO over his last seven games. What's even more encouraging is the way he's generating that power, putting 50% of his contact in the air during that span.

That profile matches up well against Atlanta Braves starter Grant Holmes. Over his last two outings, Holmes has allowed a 52% hard-hit rate and 20% barrel rate, both indicators that opposing hitters are consistently making dangerous contact. He's also surrendered a 37.5% fly-ball rate during that stretch.

That's an appealing combination for a hitter like Okamoto, whose recent surge has been fueled by both elite quality of contact and consistent lift. If Holmes continues allowing elevated hard contact, Okamoto has a strong chance to capitalize.

I'll play this pick up to +450. 

• Time: 7:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: BravesVision, Sportsnet One

Home run pick: Freddie Freeman (+571)

Freddie Freeman has shown signs of finding his power stroke recently, putting 38.1% of his contact in the air over the last week while posting a37.5% HR/FB rate. While his 9.5% barrel rate is modest compared to some of baseball's elite sluggers, Freeman continues to generate the type of contact capable of leaving the yard.

The matchup is what stands out most. Zac Gallen has allowed a 44.1% hard-hit rate and 14.7% barrel rate across his last two starts, suggesting opposing hitters are consistently making dangerous contact. Freeman has also enjoyed some success against Gallen throughout his career, taking him deep twice in 29 at-bats.

If Gallen's recent contact issues persist, Freeman has a favorable opportunity to capitalize.

I'll play this pick up to +500. 

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SportsNet LA, Dbacks.TV

Today’s HR parlay

Pete Crow-Armstrong	Bet Now +24517
Kazuma Okamoto
Freddie Freeman

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.

Go Rays!

The first two games of this series have been a real bummer, but the Nats have a chance to salvage things this afternoon. They will look to avoid a sweep at the hands of a Marlins team that has given them all sorts of trouble. Hopefully the bats can wake up today.

Blake Butera is making a couple changes to the lineup. Dylan Crews will be all the way up in the 2 spot. James Wood will DH and Daylen Lile will be in left field. Luis Garcia Jr. will be in the 8 hole, while Nasim Nunez will be back in the lineup as the second baseman. Andrew Alvarez will get the start, but Brad Lord should be ready when needed.

The Marlins are going righty heavy with their lineup. Christopher Morel, Javier Sanoja, Esteury Ruiz and Connor Norby will be in the lineup after not appearing yesterday. Kyle Stowers and Joe Mack are the only left handed hitters in the lineup, which sets up well for Brad Lord. Max Meyer has been great for the Fish this year and will get the ball today.

Game Info:

Stadium: Nationals Park

Time: 1:05 PM EST

TV: Nationals.TV

Radio: 106.7 The Fan

A sweep to fall under .500 would be very demoralizing, which makes today a big game. The Nats go on a west coast trip after this, so they will want to have some good vibes heading on to that long flight. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!