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Jaylon Thompson of the Kansas City Star talked about how Jac Caglianone’s error on Wednesday night turned out to be rather costly.

On Wednesday, the Royals got behind early. A costly error and some well-timed execution doomed the Royals in a 5-3 loss. In the third inning, the Rays scored two runs on an ill-advised throwing error from Royals first baseman Jac Caglianone.

Wednesday marked the 5th straight game that Bobby Witt Jr. was sitting out, here is Brian Murphy’s update

Witt was not in the club’s starting lineup for Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field, marking the fifth straight game he has been on the bench since suffering a Grade 1 MCL sprain during Thursday’s win over the Cardinals.

Witt has gone through on-field drills while wearing a knee brace before each of the team’s first three games against the Rays and said Wednesday that his knee has “been better every day.” He also said that he would be available off the bench if needed, but he ultimately did not play.

“We have to understand what the brace is going to do and how he feels,” Quatraro said Wednesday. “That communication with Bobby is paramount.”

Speaking of injured Royals, Kris Bubic made his first rehab assignment appearance last night in Omaha, here is what Jared Greenspan had to say.

Royals left-hander Kris Bubic resumed his rehab assignment with a 1-2-3 first inning for Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday night.

Bubic needed just eight pitches to retire the side in order against Triple-A Columbus. He mixed in four pitches and topped out at 92.7 mph with his four-seam fastball.

Bubic first landed on the IL on May 18 (retroactive to May 15) after experiencing left elbow soreness following his May 14 start against the White Sox. Though Bubic expected his IL stint to be a short one, he suffered a setback following his first rehab start on June 9 when he experienced shoulder soreness.

David Shields has struck out 10 batters in each of his last two starts; here is what Anne Rogers said about the Royals prospect.

Kendry Chourio, the club’s No. 2 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 74 overall, is just 18 years old and made his debut with High-A Quad Cities last week. His promotion reunited him with David Shields, who is 19 years old and the Royals’ No. 4 prospect.

Together, Chourio and Shields are two of just nine pitchers in their age-19 season or younger to reach High-A or better this year.

Shields has spent the entire season with Quad Cities, making 13 starts and pitching to a 4.03 ERA, which ranked fifth in the Midwest League entering Tuesday’s series opener. After posting a 2.38 ERA with Single-A Columbia last year and being named the Royals’ Paul Splittorff Pitcher of the Year, the lefty was eager to take the next step in High-A and face the challenges that have come with it.

The MLB trade deadline is coming up; here is the risks Mike Gillespie at Royals Keep says the Royals shouldn’t take.

With the Cole Ragans news from the other day, Kevin O’Brien of Royals Keep thinks the deadline plan is clearer.

Dansby Swanson has had a really tough year, however he did just drive in 15 runs against the Mets.

The Phillies keep snatching victory from the Nationals at the very last moment, Derek Hill (remember his homer off Strahm as a White Sox player?) this time did the damage.

The Paul Goldschmidt renaissance continues, this time against Tarik Skubal.

The Royals have lost in some rather sucky ways this year, but the Angels walk-off against Baltimore yesterday might’ve taken the cake.

Dodgers Mookie Betts hit his 300th career homer yesterday

The 2026 NBA Draft ended last night, here is all the picks

Your song of the day I Want To Know What Love Is by Foreigner

Today’s Reflections

It feels SOOOO good to put Dansby Swanson’s name first on the Cub Tracks page! Tuesday night, he had a two-run home run and an RBI double, followed by a three-run homer and a grand slam in Game 1 Wednesday afternoon. In his last five games (through Game 1 of the doubleheader), Swanson is 8-for-18 with four homers, 14 RBI and only two strikeouts. Here’s hoping that Swanson has found some magic in that bat.

In Tuesday’s game, PCA hit his 17th HR, extending his on-base streak to 24 games and his hitting streak to 11.

Michael Busch’s two-run home run Wednesday increased his team-leading RBI to 44.

I don’t want to gripe and worry about injuries at this moment — that’s done below. The Cubs have won eight of their last 11 games, so I’m just going to enjoy this mini-offensive resurgence.

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Wednesday’s Game 1 stories (Game 2 will be in the next Cub Tracks):

• Jerry Beach (Chicago Tribune {$}): Dansby Swanson’s 2 HRs and 7 RBIs fuel Chicago Cubs to 10-3 rout of New York Mets in Game 1 of doubleheader. “Dansby Swanson hit a tiebreaking three-run home run and added a grand slam Wednesday.”
• Bill Ladsen (MLB.com): Swanson slams Mets with 2-HR, 7-RBI outburst, “Shortstop Dansby Swanson continues to show signs of life at the plate.”

Tuesday night’s stories:

• AP (ESPN): Crow-Armstrong and Swanson homer off an ineffective Senga to power Cubs past Mets 9-6. “Coming off consecutive rainouts, Chicago scored five times in the second against Kodai Senga.”

• Jordan Campbell (Cubbies Crib): Ridiculous Cubs replay review that screwed Pete Crow-Armstrong raises questions. “Naturally, PCA is at the center of the drama.”
• Mike Fitzpatrick (Chicago Sun-Times): Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell perplexed by rainout and irked by ‘terrible rule’.

The gamut of Cubs injury woes:

• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): Cubs’ Avalanche of Pitching Injuries Reaches Insurmountable Status. Are They Stuck? “Correcting a previous post of mine: you do, in fact, gotta hand it to the injury gods. Those jerks are vicious, but a little bit hilarious, too.”
• Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Ben Brown, Edward Cabrera to IL as Cubs Make Several Roster Moves. “Thursday’s presumed starter (Brown) has a neck strain, and Cabrera is dealing with a hamstring strain. No word yet on a timeframe for either to return.”

• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Edward Cabrera’s hamstring injury tests Cubs already tenuous pitching depth: ‘We’re in a rough spot’. “The sight of Edward Cabrera writhing on the ground in pain was not one Craig Counsell needed to see Tuesday night.”
• Bill Ladsen (MLB.com): Boyd ready to return from IL Thursday after shrugging off ailments. “Weather permitting, he hopes to pitch in a big league game on Thursday against the Mets.”
• Josh Davis (Clutch Points): Cubs LHP returns to mound for 1st time since setback. “Chicago Cubs left-handed pitcher Justin Steele started throwing activities on Monday for the first time since his UCL injury setback.”
• Tommy Erbe (OnTapSportsNet): Jed Hoyer Provides Pivotal Update On Justin Steele, Plans For 2026. “As Justin Steele continues to progress in health, Jed Hoyer provides a tentative plan for getting him back on the mound.”

Trade talk (including conflicting opinions):

• Paul Magno (Yardbarker): Chicago Cubs reality check: Is a big trade for pitching even worth making anymore? “The Chicago Cubs are absolutely not where they thought they would be at this point of the season.”
• Tyler Courtney (LastWordOnSports.com): Should the Chicago Cubs Consider Trading Seiya Suzuki? “Losing a player of his caliber is never easy, but there are plenty of reasons to consider it.”
• Matt Sullivan (Just Baseball): Why Would the Chicago Cubs Trade Seiya Suzuki? “The right fielder is a top offensive weapon for the Cubs, so why even think of moving him to a different team?”
• Alexis Farinacci (Diamond Centric): Early Trade Deadline Relief Candidates: Aroldis Chapman, Luke Weaver, & More. “In terms of relief pitchers, the Astros, Tigers, Red Sox, Royals, and Mets could be teams to monitor for dealing away relief pitchers ahead of the August MLB trade deadline.”

Assorted stories:

• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG CANNOT HELP HIMSELF. “This behavior cannot be stopped.”
• Matt Sullivan (Sporting News): Cubs select contract of former Phillies, Pirates righty starter amid Edward Cabrera injury. “Cubs select contract of ex-Phillies righty pitcher Vince Velasquez.”
• Tyler Courtney (LastWordOnSports.com): Should the Cubs Move to a Six-Man Rotation in 2026? “A Chicago Cubs’ six-man rotation continues to be a common discussion as the 2026 season progresses.” (This was before Brown and Cabrera went on IL, but an interesting topic nevertheless.)
• Vinnie Duber (Chicago Sun-Times): After bullpen bruising, Cubs pitchers need to get ready for next call: ‘That’s your job as a reliever’. “In the wake of Cubs relievers giving up eight runs and blowing a 5-0 lead Saturday, it’s on the hurlers to get back on the horse.”

Food For Thought:

Lemon Henry “Blind Lemon” Jefferson was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular and successful blues singers of the 1920s and has been called the “Father of the Texas blues”.

Due mainly to his high-pitched voice and the originality of his guitar playing, Jefferson’s performances were distinctive. His recordings sold well, but he was not a strong influence on younger blues singers of his generation, who could not imitate him as easily as they could other commercially successful artists. Later blues and rock and roll musicians, however, did attempt to imitate both his songs and his musical style.

Jefferson had an intricate and fast style of guitar playing and a particularly high-pitched voice. He was a founder of the Texas blues sound and an important influence on other blues singers and guitarists, including Lead Belly and Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.

The San Francisco Giants have had their fair share of bad injury news this year, but on Wednesday they got some good news on that front: Heliot Ramos is nearing a return. The Giants All-Star outfielder, who has been sidelined since mid-May, should be wearing a Giants jersey again soon.

Prior to Wednesday’s walk-off win over the Athletics, Giants manager Tony Vitello said that Ramos could potentially return this weekend, when the Giants host the Atlanta Braves. Ramos started a rehab assignment with AAA Sacramento on June 17, and has appeared in five games for the River Cats, hitting 6-19 with a home run, three walks, and seven strikeouts.

While Ramos’ return will be a welcome sight for the Giants, no one’s entirely sure how the Giants will make the roster work once he’s back. In Ramos’ absence, Casey Schmitt has moved from the infield to left field, where he’s been essentially an everyday player. Schmitt has been one of the team’s best hitters, and leads the Giants in home runs, so it’s not like they can move him out of the lineup to facilitate Ramos.

One possible solution was hinted at during Tuesday’s AAA game, when Ramos played right field for the first time since 2024. With Harrison Bader still sidelined, and neither Drew Gilbert nor Jonah Cox running away with the center field role, could the Giants shift Jung Hoo Lee back to the middle of the grass, and play Ramos in right field, while keeping Schmitt in left field? That’s certainly the best offensive arrangement the team can come up with, though the defensive arrangement is more befitting an October haunted house than an October baseball dream.

Of course, if Luis Arráez’s recent injury lingers, that could temporarily solve the problem, with Schmitt moving to second base, and Ramos slotting in at left field once more. We’ll just have to wait and see.

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants conclude their series with the Athletics this afternoon at 12:45 p.m. PT.

Triple-A: Durham Bulls (Rays) 6, Norfolk Tides 4 – Game 1

One bad inning sunk the Tides in this one. The top of the third inning saw the Bulls send 11 batters to the plate and score all six of their runs for the game off of five hits (including a two-run homer), two walks, and a hit by pitch. All six of the runs were charged to starter Trace Bright, but two of them came in after José Espada came on to try to quiet things down.

Anthony Nunez had a nice night. He tossed two shutout innings and struck out four. Josh Walker and Kyle Nicolas combined for a scoreless seventh inning as well.

Norfolk’ lineup outhit Durham’s 7-to-4, but they lacked much pop. Heston Kjerstad went 1-for-4 with their lone extra-base hit, a double, and three strikeouts. A rehabbing Dylan Beavers made his first appearance at Triple-A, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. José Barrero collected three hits, a run, and an RBI. Bryan Ramos had a hit, two walks, and two RBI.

Triple-A: Durham Bulls (Rays) 5, Norfolk Tides 3 – Game 2

The second game of the double header was a sloppy one for Norfolk. Their pitchers issued nine walks, and the defense made a pair of errors behind them. That meant that only three of the five runs allowed were earned by the pitching staff.

Yaqui Rivera started and gave up two runs on five walks and five strikeouts over 2.1 innings. Dietrich Enns followed and gave up three runs (only one earned) on a hit, two walks, and three strikeouts in his 2.2 frames. Andrew Magno and Cameron Weston worked one shutout inning apiece.

The first five hitters in the Tides lineup had one hit each, going 5-for-17 with three walks and four strikeouts as a group. The final four hitters went a combined 0-for-9 with two walks and two strikeouts. Kjerstad had one of those hits and drove in two of the team’s runs with a fifth-inning single. Jud Fabian had the other RBI on a sac fly. Beavers did not play in the night cap.

Double-A: Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 3, Chesapeake Baysox 2

This was a standout performance for Baysox starter Juaron Watts-Brown, even though he was saddled with the loss. Over six innings the righty allowed just one run on five hits (one home run), one walk, and eight strikeouts. Cohen Achen came on for the seventh and would allow one unearned run due to an error by Anderson De Los Santos at third base. Juan Rojas was charged with a run in the ninth inning after walking the lead-off hitter, which came around to score after he was pulled in favor of Alex Pham.

Both of Chesapeake’s runs scored on solo homers in the ninth inning. Ethan Anderson hit his 14th of the year, and Aron Estrada smacked his 12th to bring the home team within one run. But there were few chances to score other than that. The team had only three at-bats with runners in scoring position and left a measly four runners stranded.

High-A: Frederick Keys 2, Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals) 0

The Keys came out swinging, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning, which would prove to be all they would need to earn the win. RJ Austin led off with a single and quickly scored on an Ike Irish double. A wild pitch moved Irish to third base, and he then scored on a Victor Figueroa sac fly. The Keys would have just three more hits and zero runs for the remainder of the game.

Luckily, the Frederick pitching staff was on top of its game. Caden Hunter set the tone with five shutout innings in which he allowed one run, three walks, and eight strikeouts to lower his season ERA to 2.11. Richard Guasch worked a perfect sixth inning. And it was Riley Cooper to close out the final three innings, striking out five in the process.

Low-A: Fayettville Woodpeckers (Astros) 6, Delmarva Shorebirds 2

There were some positives in the latest Delmarva loss. For example, Jaiden Lo Re had two hits, a walk, an RBI, and a stolen base. The 19-year-old has a .918 OPS since being promoted to Low-A. Braylon Whitaker had a three-hit game. Raylin Ramos hit his fourth home run of the season.

On the pitching side of things, starter Christian Rodriguez looked good. Over seven innings he gave up two runs on seven hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. Kenny Leiner had a tougher day, coughing up four runs and only recording two outs. Zac Lampton did get the final out of the eighth inning, but not before allowing one of his inherited runners to score on a single.

Box Scores

Thursday’s Schedule

Norfolk: vs Durham, 12:05. Starter: Chris Kachmar (1-0, 5.17 ERA)

Chesapeake: vs Harrisburg, 6:35 pm. Starter: Evan Yates (4-3, 5.14 ERA)

Frederick: at Wilmington, 6:35 pm. Starter: J.T. Quinn (3-0, 3.30 ERA)

Delmarva: at Fayetteville, 6:35 pm. Starter: Esteban Mejia (0-4, 8.17 ERA)

Do you know what’s really nice about this season and in particular, the position the Cardinals have put themselves in? It’s June 25th and we have over a month until the Cardinals have to make a decision on what to do at the trading deadline. One could argue, and I think I would argue, that the results over the next month and change have no downside. Think about it.

What if the Cardinals suck for the next 30 games? Cool. Selling just got super easy. Everything we assumed would happen this season at the deadline will happen. That’s our downside. That the trade deadline will work exactly as we just assumed it would work at the beginning of the season – and in April too, because I doubt many bought the good start then. Everything is still going according to plan. A lot of the individual performances have gone better than expected and that will probably remain true in a month still.

What if the Cardinals are still in a wild card spot? Cool. Great problem to have. The Cardinals have a tough decision, we as fans do not. The team as currently constructed can still sneak into the wild card if they sell, because it is too easy to make the playoffs nowadays – which is not me saying it is easy to make the playoffs, I’m saying it should be harder. Yes, I am a less playoff teams is the way truther. But if they don’t sell, well they got that far with this current team, there’s no reason they can’t keep it up for another couple months. Maybe they even soft buy for fan engagement reasons. Even better!

And yet, Cardinals fandom at large does not seem to be reacting as if this is the case. Most fans, or more accurately I’m sure the most vocal ones, are treating wins and losses as if this was a team projected for 1st in the NL Central to begin this season. It’s been an interesting development. But yeah I just think we should be treating this like the no lose situation it is, because the worst case scenario… is basically the original plan. You can’t say that very often. That’s the fun of a rebuild season, wins are almost gravy.

I am okay with the idea of both buying and selling at the deadline. Obviously under this scenario, you’re not buying anything impactful, because frankly selling makes no sense if you trade any legitimate pieces to acquire an upgrade. Unless it’s a player for more than just this year. But you can acquire a minor upgrade for an extraneous piece. Think something similar to the Luke Voit for Giovanny Gallegos and Chasen Shreve trade.

The Cardinals have players equivalent or close enough to Voit – at least at the value he had when he was traded – in spades: Bryan Torres is a pretty good parallel honestly, because he has a good projection and strangely, no real route to playing time here. Jose Fermin already waited three years for his shot, and they’re effectively the same player. One happens to be right-handed and has a much easier route to playing time. If not him, you still have Cesar Prieto, maybe somebody believes in Thomas Saggese, who is still just 24-years-old. There’s room for maybe two of these guys, and if you can get a bullpen arm for one of them, that’s a win-win.

One thing I think I can’t quite get behind is trading Lars Nootbaar if you’re trying to have your cake and eat it too. Like obviously, trade Nootbaar if we’re completely selling. Don’t trade Nootbaar if we’re going for a playoff spot. But if we’re doing the soft buy and sell thing….. I don’t think you can trade Nootbaar either. That seems like a true sell move to me. I understand the logic. Joshua Baez will replace Nootbaar.

I think a smart planning team would expect Baez to struggle. Maybe that’s just me personally. That’s not me saying he will automatically struggle. But if I have any intention of making the playoffs, I’m not assuming we see no drop-off from Nootbaar to Baez. I assuming the opposite. I’m assuming we’re getting Masyn Winn in 2023. Well maybe not that bad, but you get the idea. I am assuming that going from Nootbaar to Baez will be a rather huge drop-off for this year specifically.

Part of it is the type of hitter Baez is. He has been improving in the strikeout department and I expect that to continue, but I also think someone who strikes out 30% of the time for two months in AAA is probably going to strike out more than that in their first attempt at the majors. I just think that would be a smart assumption. And maybe he has the power to overcome that, but maybe it looks something like Nolan Gorman. Again, I am speaking purely of 2026, not his future.

I will also say it would be kind of clever of the Cardinals to do that, because I think it would be accepted by the fans. I think fans are truly bought into Baez being good immediately, and even if he’s not, I don’t think Chaim Bloom will get any shade for it. It’s a good sell move without seeming like a sell move. That’s half the battle with selling when in a playoff position. I personally think it would decrease the Cardinals’ playoff chances, but I don’t think most fans would think that way.

This is a much easier argument to make right now, when Nootbaar has a very good hitting line. I think if you assume he’s a career 111 wRC+ hitter, I’d get a lot more pushback on this one. I’ll be honest: I’m very doubtful Baez would be a good hitter this season after looking at the history of 30% K rate guys. It was pretty consistent and yes I know most of them weren’t highly regarded prospects and yes there wasn’t a directly comparable player to Baez, but I think it properly scared me about him this season. Even Joey Gallo wasn’t immediately a good hitter.

Again, to be extremely clear, I am supportive and fine with Baez being in the majors to end this year. Ideally he gets the Masyn Winn treatment, we get 45 days of him, the Cardinals may get a draft pick for him next season. But if I do that, I am not expecting the playoffs. That, to me, is a sign that the Cardinals are sticking to the rebuilding plan. I don’t believe it’s a have your cake and eat it too situation. I really don’t.

Nelson Velazquez

Something I did not expect with the Nelson Velasquez experience is probably the fact that he is completely unplayable in the outfield. Yeah I didn’t think it was going to be this bad. I am honestly a lot more pessimistic about his future role on this team because of his defense. Simply, because most of the time, the Cards can’t really put him at DH. Unless Ivan Herrera starts learning a new position, that DH spot is covered most games.

But he is a truly horrendous fielder. He has been replacement level this season. Think about the fact that he has a 139 wRC+ right now. His defense has been so costly that Fangraphs has him as a replacement player. Now, to be fair, he won’t be this bad defensively over a full season mostly because I don’t think it’s possible, but also he won’t have this good of a hitting line either.

Obviously, the small sample of 224 career innings at LF producing a -5 OAA is beyond unplayable, but that’s also not completely fair. So I will be as fair as possible. He was for some reason put in 225 innings at CF by the Cubs, which was predictably disastrous. He was worth -4 OAA in 225 career innings. He was also worth -1 OAA in RF in 448 career innings. So using some positional adjustment for the CF numbers, his current performance suggests he is a -12 OAA corner outfielder over a full season. That’s Jose Martinez territory.

And frankly, if he’s below average in RF but there’s something about LF specifically that makes him a truly bad fielder, the numbers would be worse than that. And since Jordan Walker isn’t going anywhere, we won’t find out if he’s playable in RF. Something worth chronicling, because it just gives him a very high bar for how good he has to hit. Which granted, is also true of DH, but not quite the same thing. Because you aren’t actually costing your team as a DH if you have an above average bat, you are in the field.

Columbus Clippers 3, Omaha Storm Chasers 2

The story of this game was the performance from Logan Allen. It’s been an up and down season for him but he was brilliant in this game. He tossed 6 shutout innings, striking out 9 without allowing a single walk. His ERA is down to 4.66 on the season. Franco Aleman continues to put up video game numbers, after another scoreless outing with 2 strikeouts. His ERA is down to 0.35 on the season.

The Clippers offense was held to just 3 runs despite having 11 hits. CJ Kayfus went 2-4 with a walk and an RBI single, Bo Naylor went 2-5 with two hard hit singles. Joe Lampe also continued his hot stretch, he went 2-4 and is now hitting .400 with a 1.108 OPS since being promoted to AAA.

Akron RubberDucks 6, Richmond Flying Squirrels 11

Juan Benjamin went 2-4 with a HR, Wuilfredo Antunez also homered, and Luke Hill went 1-4 with a double. Jose Devers also went 1-4 with a HR.

It’s been a tough transition to AA for Rafe Schlesinger. He allowed five runs on Wednesday in just four innings pitched while walking more batters than he struck out. His ERA since being promoted to AA is now up to 9.49. I am confident he will rebound once he makes some adjustments.

Lake County Captains 6, Fort Wayne TinCaps 7

Aaron Walton went 1-4 with a walk and his 13th HR of the season. He is hitting .270 with a .905 OPS on the season. Jace LaViolette raised his average up to .240 with a 2-4 performance with a walk. He has been much better after a rough first couple weeks of his pro career. Nolan Schubart went 1-3 with two walks and has his OPS up to .884.

Jacob Zibin had an up and down High-A debut. He allowed four runs in 4.1 innings pitched, but he also struck out 8 batters, which is very impressive. I really like seeing him miss bats at this level already, and am excited to see how he finishes his season out. Donovan Zsak lowered his ERA to 3.09 after tossing two scoreless innings of relief with 3 strikeouts.

Hill City Howlers 4, Hickory Crawdads 7

While I am certainly not out on the young man, I can’t think of a more disappointing Guardians prospect than Joey Oakie this season. I really thought he was going to take a leap into a top 100 type prospect and we have seen the complete opposite. After another rough start where he gave up five runs in 4.2 innings pitched, his ERA is up to 6.75. The stuff is too good for him to perform this badly, they gotta figure this out.

Luis De La Cruz went 2-4 with a 2 run HR and an RBI single. Cannon Peebles went 1-3 with a walk and an RBI triple.