Jun 10, 2026; New York, New York, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) reacts during the fourth quarter of game four of the 2026 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images
What a game. What a team. Those players and us fans wish we could have those last seconds back, or heck, even the entire fourth quarter. The roller coaster ride of emotion had a lot of peaks but the downward swirl there in the fourth makes you almost want to erase it from your memory because of the pain it brought.
That’s what we at Pounding the Rock are here for. Join us on this journey to erase the pain of that loss. We have the technology. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, it means going through the better parts (highlights, if you will) of the game and remembering that the joy of winning never comes easy nor does it come without the disappointment of losing.
So sit back, try to enjoy some of the good parts of Wednesday’s game as we try to erase from memory the second half/fourth quarter of the game. If you hear the voices of Kate Winslet, peak career Jim Carrey, early career Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, and Elijah Wood, that’s normal. It’s completely normal.
Victor Wembanyama led the team with 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds while Dylan Harper contributed 21 points on 8 -12 shooting off the bench.
Early on, there were some good, purposeful ball movement to find the open player in the corner for an open three. A lot of those seeing as how the team set a record for most threes in the first half. The first half being the operative word.
The Spurs swarmed early and got some easy points off of turnovers. Playing aggressive, yet loose, seems to be a winning formula they’ll hope to duplicate and maintain.
Victor Wembanyama got crafty with his footwork to get around his defender for the bucket inside. If this move was a craft beer, it’d be described as hoppy but a subtle bounce with a sweet aftertaste.
Analytically speaking, the pull-up mid-range jumper is inefficient. But aesthetically speaking, the mid-range jumper is pretty, especially when Dylan Harper is able to probe his way through the defense and make space for himself to pull up.
We know the second part of the saying “Live by the three . . .” but this is a highlights article remember, so we’ll stop there and have a moment to appreciate Carter Bryant’s early development into becoming the next great D and Three wing.
This mildly chaotic scrum off a jump ball ended with a drained three for the Spurs. The most impressive part was Dylan Harper fighting (successfully) for the ball in a sea of Knicks arms.
If you missed the game because you were too busy trying to duplicate the memory-erasing technology from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, here are the full-game highlights:
Next up, the Spurs will head home for Game 5 on Saturday, June 13, 2026.
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 30: Hunter Dobbins #40 of the St. Louis Cardinals in action against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on April 30, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The St. Louis Cardinals will continue their joyride in New York Wednesday afternoon as Hunter Dobbins will get the start for the Redbirds. The New York Mets will hope Christian Scott can pull off a miracle as he will take the mound for the metros. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10pm central time and the broadcast will be available on Cardinals.tv.
Former Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent has found himself back in the NHL.
The Seattle Kraken have announced that they've added Vincent as an assistant coach for the upcoming season.
Per a Kraken Press Release, “He's been a head coach at every level. He’s been an assistant coach at every level. He's been coaching for 26 years and at the pro level for the last 15 years. In all of the research I did, everything said about him checked all the boxes. Everyone said he is an extremely hardworking and loyal guy who loves to win and loves to develop players. For me, Pascal was the favorite right from the beginning based on his experience and what I was hearing about him. We feel very fortunate to get him into our mix. “
For the last two seasons, Vincent has been head coach for the Laval Rocket, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Montréal Canadiens. He was named AHL Coach of the Year in 2025, leading the Rocket to 101 points and a league-leading 48-19-5 record. It was his second AHL coach of the year honor, winning the first in 2017-18 with the Manitoba Moose. He has worked as an NHL assistant coach across seven seasons, five with Winnipeg (2011 to 2016) and two with Columbus (2021 to 2023), before serving one year as head coach with the Blue Jackets in 2023-24. - Kraken PR
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Don Waddell fired Pascal Vincent on June 17th, 2024, after just one season as the head coach. Vincent was hired just before the season started in 2023, after Mike Babcock was fired just before training camp started.
Next Up For Columbus: The NHL Draft is on June 26 and 27 in Buffalo, where the CBJ will own pick #14.
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Sports bettors made a killing in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, which went straight into the history books after the New York Knicks completed the largest comeback in Finals history to beat the San Antonio Spurs.
Wednesday’s contest finished with a game-winning tip-in from OG Anunoby that capped off an incredible rally from a 29-point deficit.
Key Takeaways
The Knicks were as long as +3000 live underdogs at FanDuel.
86% of live moneyline bets at BetMGM were on the Knicks.
FanDuel has the Spurs as -5.5 favorites in Game 5.
The Knicks were -1.5 favorites at most sportsbooks heading into Game 4. It only took them less than two quarters to fall into a 71-42 hole, drawing a round of well-earned “boos” from the fans in attendance at Madison Square Garden.
FanDuel sportsbook told Covers that the Knicks got to as long as +3000 in live moneyline odds, giving them an implied 3.2% chance of winning the game. BetMGM and DraftKings both confirmed the Knicks’ live moneyline odds reached as long as +2200, equaling a 4.4% implied chance.
Unfortunately for the sportsbook, bettors took those numbers.
A massive 86% of bets and 67% of live-betting money wagered at BetMGM was on the Knicks’ moneyline. An additional 76% of tickets and 75% of the handle were also on the Knicks to cover the live spread, which varied throughout the matchup.
BetMGM also outlined how the Knicks’ moneyline odds evolved during the game. They entered at -130, went up to +375 after the first quarter and +1400 at halftime, and were +800 going into the fourth quarter.
The Game 4 comeback
The Spurs’ epic collapse marked the second time in this series that they literally threw a game away.
In Game 2, with the score tied and less than 10 seconds on the clock, Victor Wembanyama tossed a pass to Stephon Castle in transition just as the latter turned his back to hustle downcourt. The ball ricocheted off of Castle’s back into the waiting hands of Jalen Brunson, who was fouled and made the game-winning free-throw. Victor Wembanyama missed a shot to win at the buzzer.
The Spurs could have almost assuredly prevented a loss in regulation in Game 4 on Wednesday, had De’Aaron Fox held his nerve.
The 10-year NBA veteran found himself ahead of the pack to collect a loose ball on the Knicks’ side of the court with less than 15 seconds remaining and his team up one, but rather than bleed the clock and wait to get fouled, he attempted — and missed — a layup.
"I just thought I'd be able to outrun [OG Anunoby]."
De'Aaron Fox explains his late game shot that was blocked by OG Anunoby.
The Knicks rebounded the ball, and a few seconds of game time later, Anunoby put in the decisive shot to put his team one game away from a championship.
NBA Finals betting outlook
NBA teams up 3-1 in the Finals are 37-1 across all of NBA history. The only loss occurred in 2016, when the 73-9 Golden State Warriors lost three straight to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
From a broader view across all 303 best-of-seven series that stood 3-1 at one point, only 15 (5%) teams recovered from the deficit.
FanDuel Sportsbooks isn’t completely crossing out the possibility for the Spurs, although they think it’s unlikely. Their +385 NBA Finals oddsgives them a 20.6% implied chance of winning the Finals to the Knicks’ -500 (83.3%).
The series will return to San Antonio for Game 5 on Saturday, where the Spurs are -5.5 favorites. The Knicks won Games 1 and 2 on the road as +4.5 and +6.5 underdogs, respectively.
For six straight quarters, the Knicks' defense had been a hot mess.
Throughout Game 3, the Spurs were getting deep in the paint at will — 40 of their 84 shots came at, or within five feet, of the rim, including some spectacular Victor Wembanyama alley-oops. After posting a 104.1 offensive rating in a Game 2 loss, the Spurs picked apart the Knicks' defense to the tune of a 119.1 offensive rating in Game 3.
That turned out just to be the appetizer. The Knicks' defense was even worse in the first half against a Spurs team that could not seem to miss, allowing a 161.4 offensive rating to a San Antonio squad up 27 at halftime. Knicks' rotations were late, if they happened at all, and their transition defense felt non-existent.
Then, in the third quarter of Game 4, the Knicks completely flipped the script.
The entire historic 29-point comeback — including the iconic tip-in game-winner by OG Anunoby — does not happen without New York first stringing together stops. New York put together good defensive possession after good possession, following six quarters of failing to do exactly that.
New York held the Spurs to just 30 second-half points on 8-of-39 shooting, 3-of-17 from 3-point range and forced nine turnovers.
"Really, we didn't change much. We basically kept the same game plan," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. "But defensively, we just did it harder for longer stretches, and we were really in tune to what we were supposed to be doing. Our level of physicality increased without sending them to the free-throw line, as well, which is huge." "Probably just our contests were better. Just like 1% better," Anunoby said. "Just a little bit better. Getting out faster and making sure every shot is contested and then finish possessions with rebounds and then running out, moving the ball, taking good shots, shooting open shots, not hesitating."
The Spurs more than helped contribute to their own demise. A team that had spent six quarters making a point of getting downhill met some resistance and just stopped, falling in love with the 3-pointer and pull-up jumpers — San Antonio scored just four points in the paint in the second half.
"The biggest thing was, I told the guys, we can play better," Brown said. "Right now we are letting the ball get to the paint and we've got to do a better job of keeping the ball out of the paint."
The Spurs shot 0-of-5 in the paint in the third, and while they tried to turn that around after the momentum shifted, they still shot just 2-of-9 in the paint in the fourth quarter.
Anunoby on Fox
One of the biggest changes Brown made in the clutch was to put his best perimeter defender, Anunoby, on De'Aaron Fox.
Fox is the veteran leader of the Spurs and the floor general, the guy supposed to settle the Spurs down and make smart plays when things are starting to go wrong. The steady hand. The coach on the court.
Instead, when the game got tight, for reasons nobody can explain, the Spurs kept running Fox isolations against Anunoby or pick-and-rolls where Anunoby would fight through the screen, which were consistently a disaster. I got a text from a scout watching at home during this stretch that was literally "STOP PLAYING THROUGH FOX WHEN OG IS GUARDING HIM!" Everyone saw the problem, but Fox and Spurs coach Mitch Johnson just kept going back to it. There were multiple examples of Fox and Wembanyama miscommunicating on multiple pick-and-rolls under Anunoby's pressure. At one point, with 2:00 left in the game, it led to a Josh Hart breakaway and a blown layup that felt like it could be the Knicks' story of the night. With 37 seconds left, Fox just isolated on Anunoby and missed a midrange jumper, but got bailed out because Stephon Castle made a great play to get the offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback attempt.
Then came the defensive play nobody will forget.
Jalen Brunson missed a jumper with 16 seconds left that led to a scramble for the rebound, where the ball was tipped out into the backcourt. Fox chased it down and then, inexplicably, decided he could beat Anunoby to the basket and went for the layup rather than dribbling it out and forcing the Knicks to foul him (Fox is a 90% free throw shooter for the series). Anunoby won the battle at the rim with an epic block, keeping it a one-point game, and giving the Knicks a chance.
Just before his game-winning putback to complete the Knicks' NBA Finals-record 29-point comeback... OG Anunoby delivered a CLUTCH block on the other end.
Anunoby is not likely to win Finals MVP, and nobody should have an issue if it goes to Jalen Brunson, but Anunoby's defensive contributions, on top of scoring 33 in Game 4, should have him in the conversation.
His key role in turning around the Knicks defense in the second half is why New York is one win away from its first title since 1973.
It’s been reported for quite some time now that the Florida Panthers and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky are at odds.
Bobrovsky seeks a high-paying contract, while the Panthers are looking for something a bit cheaper that will allow them to continue building their roster without losing key pieces. The 2025-26 season was a massive down year for the 37-year-old, and rumors circulated around the trade deadline that Bobrovsky could be available.
Nothing came to fruition, but we now know the Panthers were seriously considering it.
The Panthers weren’t willing to move on from Bobrovsky very easily, and Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky was never willing to move a first-round pick for Bobrovsky.
If this deal had gone through, the landscape of the NHL could have looked completely different.
The Hurricanes are currently in the Stanley Cup finals, duelling with the Vegas Golden Knights. The series is currently tied at two games apiece, but the Hurricanes have dealt with their fair share of goalie controversy.
To begin, Frederik Andersen has had several noted playoff mishaps and has built a bit of a reputation for his play faltering in big games and moments. While he was outstanding in the first three rounds, his play has once again declined as the pressure ramps up.
Bussi started Game 4 for the Hurricanes and guided them to a 4-3 win to tie the series.
If the Hurricanes had traded for Bobrovsky, would this controversy have still arisen? Would Bobrovsky have been the undisputed starter? Would he have found his game again behind a healthier team?
So many questions could be asked about this reported trade situation. Whether they win or lose, the Hurricanes are in the Stanley Cup final without top-notch goaltending, and Bobrovsky could have changed that.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh Pirates settle their three-game series with the finale at PNC Park tonight.
Mitch Keller takes the hill for the home team, and my Dodgers vs. Pirates predictions and MLB picks for Thursday, June 11, don’t envision him finding much success.
Who will win Dodgers vs Pirates today: Dodgers moneyline (-165)
There isn’t much to like about Mitch Keller’s profile at this stage of his career against a potent team like the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Keller’s 4.54 xERA and .278 xBA aren’t encouraging. He doesn’t miss bats (18th percentile whiff rate), which isn’t a surprise given his underhwhelming stuff (93 Stuff+).
L.A. has a .273 xBA — and a 148 wRC+ against right-handed pitching — in the last 14 days and should collect plenty of hits while avoiding the punchout (9.7 swinging strike rate).
Justin Wrobleski gives the Boys in Blue a starting pitching edge. Play them up to -175.
COVERS INTEL: Mitch Keller leads with his four-seamer (33%) and has been fortunate with a .229 BA. The pitch’s .310 xBA is more concerning, and LA — with a league-best 19.4 runs above average against fastballs — will provide immediate regression.
Dodgers vs Pirates Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (-105)
The forecast screams hitting weather, so I’ll open up my ears and oblige Mother Nature’s call.
It’ll be a warm day in the low 80s with winds of 9-11 mph blowing out to left field. That’s bumped the total up to 9.5, but it isn’t a big enough increase.
Wrobleski’s underlying profile begs for regression. He’s essentially a two-pitch hurler, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rank sixth against fastballs (12.6 wFA) and eighth against sliders (3.4 wSL).
Both bullpens have been a disaster (L.A. 6.04 ERA over the last 14 days, Pittsburgh 5.88).
JD Yonke's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 21-21, -4.41 units
Over/Under bets: 30-13 +16.4 units
Dodgers vs Pirates odds
Moneyline: Dodgers -170 | Pirates +145
Run line: Dodgers -1.5 (-105) | Pirates +1.5 (-115)
Over/Under: Over 9.5 (+100) | Under 9.5 (-120)
Dodgers vs Pirates trend
The Pirates have gone Over the total in 12 of their last 14 games. Find more MLB betting trends for Dodgers vs. Pirates.
How to watch Dodgers vs Pirates and game info
Location
PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA
Date
Thursday, June 11, 2026
First pitch
6:40 p.m. ET
TV
SportsNet LA, SportsNet Pittsburgh
Dodgers starting pitcher
Justin Wrobleski (7-2, 2.62 ERA)
Pirates starting pitcher
Mitch Keller (5-3, 4.81 ERA)
Dodgers vs Pirates latest injuries
Dodgers vs Pirates weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: Christian Scott #45 of the New York Mets pitches during the game against the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field on May 13, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Mets lineup
Carson Benge – RF
Bo Bichette – SS
Juan Soto – DH
Jared Young – 1B
A.J. Ewing – CF
Marcus Semien – 2B
Brett Baty – 3B
Francisco Alvarez – C
MJ Melendez – LF
SP: Christian Scott
Cardinals lineup
JJ Wetherholt – 2B
Iván Herrera – DH
Alec Burleson – 1B
Jordan Walker – RF
Lars Nootbaar – LF
Masyn Winn – SS
Jimmy Crooks – C
Nolan Gorman – 3B
Nathan Church – CF
SP: Hunter Dobbins
Broadcast info
First pitch: 1:10 PM EDT TV: SNY Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2
MINNEAPOLIS, MN. - MAY 2026: Minnesota Twins pitcher Zebby Matthews (52) pitches in the first inning, Tuesday, May 19, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minn. The Minnesota Twins hosted the Houston Astros at Target Field. (Photo by Jerry Holt/The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images) | Star Tribune via Getty Images
The Minnesota Twins finish up a 10-game stretch of contests against American League Central rivals today with a rubber match against the Detroit Tigers. A win secures a 5-5 record during that stretch and pushes the Tigers to 3.5 games behind the Twins for third in the division. A Twins loss doesn’t do the things that you just read.
After a successful bullpen game in which the bullpen did their darndest to cough it up as usual, Minnesota will send Zebby Matthews to the mound and ask him to go at least nine innings today à la old school Major League Baseball. You could make an argument that Matthews has been the most consistent starting pitcher as of late, turning in four quality starts in his last five games. His last outing was against the Kansas City Royals in which he went seven innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs, four walks, and struck out two. That outing – and two more of his past five starts – saw Zebby throw 100 pitches on the dot. The Twins will definitely look to avail of this workhorse today.
Detroit counters with Keider Montero. The 25-year-old Venezuelan had a rough outing his last time out, going five innings and allowing four earned runs to the Seattle Mariners at home. The highly-regarded prospect has had a handful of great outings but also a handful of rougher outings; the Tigers are 4-8 in games in which Montero has started. He’ll feature a mid-90s four-seamer, a slider, a change, and a curve.
SAN DIEGO, CA – The Stanley Cup banners from 2012 and 2014 still hang in Crypto.com Arena, and, fairly, they always will. But at some point, a franchise has to reckon with whether those banners are a source of inspiration for nostalgic zoom-ins during the national anthem or a set of chains, and for the Los Angeles Kings, the answer in 2025-26 felt uncomfortably close to the latter.
One season ago, this team was 48-25-9, with 105 points, second in the Pacific, and a Simple Rating System score of +0.50, ranking them sixth in the league. The Simple Rating System measures average goal differential per game adjusted for strength of schedule, where 0.0 represents a league-average team. By that measure, the Kings last season were a legitimate contender still figuring out how to win in May.
This past season, they finished 35-27-20, 90 points, good for fourth in the Pacific, eighth in the West, dead last in penalty kill, and ranked 24th in that same metric at -0.32. A 15-point drop in the standings is not just a bad year; it’s a signaling one. A swing of nearly a full point in goal-differential rating, from top-ten to bottom third, is something more systemic. That is a team whose construction stopped working, and the numbers make no attempt to hide it.
Well, even with those numbers, they made the playoffs again; that’s good, right? Colorado swept them, exposing an identity and backend no longer fit in the modern NHL. The Kings stand at the exact same fork in the road they have been staring at for years, except now they have finally run out of excuses not to take it.
A Championship Built for a Different Era
To understand what is wrong with the Kings, you have to understand what was right about them. The 2012 and 2014 championship squads were built on a specific formula: elite goaltending from Jonathan Quick, deep and dominant center play anchored by Anze Kopitar, and a defensive core as physically suffocating as any in the league. That blue line did not just prevent goals; it legitimately controlled games. It wore opponents down, being the backbone of two Stanley Cups in three years, and made Los Angeles one of the most respected organizations in hockey.
The problem is that the formula stopped working league-wide, and the Kings never fully committed to replacing it.
Kopitar retired this past offseason, leaving Drew Doughty as the last remaining player from that 2014 championship roster. Kopitar finished his final season as the team's best plus/minus at +19, which is as fitting a statistical eulogy as any. With him goes one of the most critical supporting pillars of that former championship identity, and the front office has no choice now but to decide what comes next and commit to it.
The Dubois Detour
Before examining where the Kings are, it helps to understand what they spent to get here.
In the summer of 2023, the Kings made their most aggressive move of the post-championship era, trading Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round pick to Winnipeg to acquire Pierre-Luc Dubois on an eight-year, $8.5 million AAV deal. The logic seemed obscure: find the post-Kopitar center before Kopitar was gone while developing Quinton Byfield, lock him in long-term, and build the next era of Kings hockey around two young centers with upside.
Dubois produced 16 goals and 24 points in 82 games, finished minus-9, and was moved to Washington the following summer in a one-for-one swap for Darcy Kuemper. That’s bad, akin to Milan Lucic in 2016, Andrej Sekera in 2015.
The return, improbably, looked like organizational competence for exactly one season. Kuemper posted a 31-11-7 record with a .921 save percentage and a career-best 2.02 GAA, earning a Vezina Trophy nomination alongside Connor Hellebuyck and Andrei Vasilevskiy. That performance was the primary reason the 2024-25 Kings tied a franchise record with 105 points. The Dubois detour, for a moment, looked survivable.
On June 19, 2024, the @LAKings acquired Darcy Kuemper from the Washington Capitals for Pierre-Luc Dubois. In his first season back with the #LAKings, Kuemper had a record of 31-11-7, with a .922 SV%, 2.02 GAA, and was named as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy.#GoKingsGopic.twitter.com/eB4dYafXMF
Then Kuemper got hurt in December, in a suspect collision with Mikko Rantanen in Dallas. He never recovered his form, finishing 2025-26 with a .891 save percentage and a 2.78 GAA, both below his backup's. The organizational buffer he had provided disappeared, and the structural weaknesses underneath came fully into view. The assets sent to Winnipeg never came back. Vilardi, Iafallo, and Kupari are all still playing. What the Kings extracted from that transaction was one excellent goaltending season, followed by an injury, followed by a 15-point collapse in the standings.
The League the Kings Didn't Follow
While Los Angeles was busy preserving its defensive culture, the rest of the NHL evolved past it. The modern premium is no longer on blueliners who lock down the defensive zone and move the puck safely. It is on defensemen who can do that and activate offensively, who have the skating ability and hockey sense to transition quickly and become legitimate threats in the attacking end.
Look at the two most successful franchises of the post-COVID era. Vegas built its blue line around players who combine physical play with genuine offensive instinct. Florida followed a similar blueprint with a defensive corps that can defend hard and still generate from the back end. Both teams have won Stanley Cups in the last three years, and both have been in the finals or rotated in for four straight years. Both play a brand of hockey that is big, mobile, and relentlessly transitional.
The Kings play hockey that is heavy, structured, and extremely careful–almost no risk involved from the backend. The blueline has been excellent at preventing goals and nearly useless at generating them, and in a league where the margin between the playoffs and the second round increasingly runs through transition offense and power play execution, careful does not cut it.
The Numbers That Tell the Story
The statistical profile of the 2025-26 Kings is a study in contradiction. They were one of the better defensive teams in the league in terms of raw goals against, finishing seventh at 238. That is a real accomplishment. But their offense ranked 29th in the NHL with 220 goals, their power play converted at 17.0 percent (28th), and their penalty kill operated at 74.6 percent (30th in the league).
A defensive-identity team finishing near last in penalty kill is not a philosophical outcome, but rather, a structural failure. It means the players running the penalty kill lack the skating and stick ability to sustain real pressure, which turns every infraction into an outsized crisis that a 17.0 percent power play couldn’t offset on the other end.
Adrian Kempe led full-season Kings scorers with 36 goals and 73 points, followed by Quinton Byfield at 49, Alex Laferriere at 44, and Brandt Clarke at 40. That 24-point gap between first and second describes a team with one load-bearing wall and not enough supporting structure. The most important asterisk in those numbers belongs to Artemi Panarin. Acquired from the Rangers in early February, he played only 26 games in a Kings uniform, posting 9 goals and 18 assists for 27 points. His 1.04 points-per-game pace with Los Angeles was the best on the roster, and he was the primary offensive engine in both wins against Colorado before the sweep closed out. The Kings have him signed through 2027-28 at $11 million AAV.
That matters because the forward group the Kings have assembled is as talented as any in their franchise’s salary cap era. Kempe, Panarin, Kevin Fiala, Laferrière, and the depth behind them represent a real top-six. But the problem has never been the wings; it has been everything behind them.
The Doughty Problem
The most uncomfortable conversation in Los Angeles right now involves Drew Doughty, and it has to be had.
Doughty is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, with two Stanley Cups, Norris Trophies, Olympic gold medals with Canada, and a career that ranks among the finest any defenseman has assembled in the salary cap era. None of that is in dispute, and none of it makes the current situation easier to navigate.
He is signed at approximately $11 million per year, a contract written for the version of Doughty who was annually in Norris Trophy conversations and driving possession at 5-on-5 through his skating and puck movement. That version of Doughty is no longer playing in the NHL. What remains is a player who can still defend, still reads the game at a high level, but has lost the foot speed and offensive activation that made the contract reasonable in the first place.
Drafted defenseman from the Kings organization and their relative 5on5 rates for the past three seasons. Stats via NS
The spin-o-rama at the blue line is gone. Pulling away from forecheckers and turning defense into offense in a single stride is gone. What you see now is a mouthful: an offensively capable defensive defenseman being paid like one of the best two-way defensemen in the league.
With one year remaining on that contract, Ken Holland faces a decision that is more business than sentiment, and the Kings' ability to address the offensive backend problem will remain constrained as long as that cap number is locked in.
The Clarke Signal
Brandt Clarke is 23 years old and finished this season with 40 points from the blue line. He was the only Kings defenseman generating consistent offense from the back end, and he did it while logging real minutes against real competition despite a plethora of sheltering for most of his young career. A top-10 overall pick, Clarke has moved past that deployment phase. He is showing exactly what the Kings hoped when they drafted him: a puck-moving, skating defenseman with the offensive instinct the rest of the blue line fundamentally lacks.
Despite some promising signs being elevated to the first powerplay unit, the Kings have spent two seasons asking Clarke to be patient in a system not built for him. The next step is building the system around him instead. That means accepting what Doughty is now rather than what he was, committing to Clarke as the number-one defenseman, and finding partners who complement his game rather than pull the group back toward the past.
Side by side comparison of the old era vs the new. Brandt Clarke carries more risk to his game, but the offensive numbers don't lie.
The same logic extends to Byfield. His 49-point season is acceptable for a player still developing into his role, but he should be the unquestioned first-line center and offensive engine going forward. The Kings have two legitimate building blocks in Clarke and Byfield. The question is whether the organizational culture is actually ready to hand them the keys, or whether it will keep hedging toward the veteran identity that has produced five consecutive first-round exits.
Laviolette and What It Means
The Laviolette hire is not a minor adjustment. His 846 career wins rank seventh all-time. His teams have reached the postseason in 11 of the 14 seasons he has finished behind a bench, and he is a Stanley Cup winner with Carolina in 2006. He took Philadelphia to the Final in 2010 and Nashville in 2017. He is comfortable with young rosters, comfortable with veteran leadership, and comfortable with an uptempo style that is, by design, incompatible with the defensive rigidity the Kings have been running for the better part of a decade.
The Kings did not hire Laviolette to maintain what they have. They hired him because what they had stopped working, and because his coaching profile signals a genuine willingness to play differently. The Panarin acquisition points in the same direction, as the star Russian forward had his best statistical seasons under Laviolette in New York. This is a front office that believes it is close and is making moves to prove it, and for the first time in a while, the forward group being handed to a new coach is actually equipped to play a different style.
Whether that belief is fully warranted is a legitimate debate. A team that dropped 15 points in the standings and was swept in four games is not a minor adjustment away from anything. They have a center issue and a defensive core issue that both need to be addressed. The organizational optimism reads partly as ambition and partly as a refusal to acknowledge how much ground was lost in a single season, and how much the Dubois misadventure cost in assets that would have made rebuilding the blue line easier.
The Choice
The Kings are not fixing everything in one offseason. But they are standing at a genuine inflection point, the kind that defines franchises for the next decade. The old identity, built on defensive suffocation and institutional caution, has run its course. Kopitar is gone, and the championship blue line is a dusty afterthought. What is left is Doughty in the final year of a contract that outlasted the player it was written for, and behind him, Byfield, Clarke, Panarin, and a wing group as talented as any in the Western Conference waiting on an organization to actually commit to them.
The losses of Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence exposed just how thin and homogeneous this blue line became. Five nearly identical defensemen who play the same way and produce the same absence of offense cannot be papered over with a coaching hire. The reconstruction has to be real, with mobility and offensive activation as the criteria rather than defensive familiarity.
Laviolette is the right hire with Clarke being the right bet. Panarin is signed and ready to work with Byfield. The work now is making sure the culture actually changes and not just the name on the office door.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 05: Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts in front of Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs during a 118-116 Los Angeles Lakers win over the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena on November 05, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images). NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There’s a thought that keeps haunting me as I watch the NBA Finals this year.
What if former Dallas Maverick superstar Luka Doncic – currently Los Angeles Lakers – had the same guidance and preparation early on and before even entering the league that the San Antonio Spurs’ young superstar Victor Wembanyama did?
Would that have made his journey in the NBA easier and smoother, and perhaps helped him win a championship and an MVP award faster?
And could it have helped him gain the recognition many believe he deserves – but isn’t getting – from the media and talking heads?
Wemby came into the league so prepared and so comfortable with who he was that it almost shocked fans and media. How could he not care that people snickered because he brought a book to read before the All-Star game?
How is he able to quote philosophers, and insist on showing his emotions – unlike most other players his age?
Wemby is unapologetic about not trying to hide his emotions 💪❤️
Why has he not spent his whole life dunking on opponents rather than educating himself to be prepared to take on both the mental and physical challenge of being the best?
To some, this may come off as arrogance. And maybe to some extent it is, because he truly believes he can be the best, and he is confident in that and in himself – because he puts in the work. That is not very different from some of the best players to play the game of basketball. It actually sounds very similar. He came into the league, knowing who he was, who he wanted to be, and he never steered off that path.
Imagine if someone like Luka Doncic had come into the league as prepared and well-guided as Victor Wembanyama. His first seven years in the NBA may have looked very differently.
This is no slight to Luka Doncic at all, who has been known to trust people around him, but unfortunately has learned down the line that people are not always as good at their job as you would assume.
When Wemby entered the league, he came almost fully formed in how to take care of his extraordinary physique, how to work on specific movements like flexibility and balance for injury prevention and efficiency. He arrived having been guided, it seems, for years on how to take care of himself and his body’s needs, and he never seems to veer off that.
Mentally and intellectually, he has also made surprising, but intentional choices from the beginning. Staying at a Shaolin Temple in China for ten days last summer, studying Chan meditation, Shaolin Kung Fu, traditional Chinese medicine and more.
Wemby truly is one of one 👽@ramonashelburne details how 34 generations of ancient warrior training helped build Wemby this offseason: https://t.co/y46rZuJGWm
And arranging for a fans section in San Antonio, which he taught chants from Europe. Intentionality in everything he does.
And as someone who has followed, analyzed and written about Luka Doncic for years – and even tried to bridge cultural gaps between Americans and Europeans so many times – I can’t help but wonder:
Where would Luka Doncic be if he was as prepared and well-guided, in as good of a situation and had a roster slowly and steadily built around him during his early years in the NBA?
Intentionality in everything you do seems to be a marker of success. Luka Doncic is one of the best basketball players in the world – if you know me, you know I’ve pushed for him to win MVP, especially in 2024 – and in my opinion, he is the best player in the world when he is healthy.
But if you compare everything around that to Wemby’s approach, it’s already clear who comes out on top, despite Wemby only being in the league for a few years.
Wembanyama clearly had better guidance coming into the league. He clearly learned to take care of himself early on at another level, too. He was clearly supported and lifted by being surrounded by people who he could trust, who have been able to make certain he ended up in the best situation possible.
Luka Doncic had none of that early on, it seems.
I know what you’re thinking right now. Doncic was drafted by an organization that didn’t put him in a similar development situation or roster construction effort as Wemby. And I agree with you. That is part of the point. On multiple levels Luka Doncic was not set up for success in the same way Wemby has been and still is.
And that is the point.
But despite lacking in all of this, Doncic still made it to where he is right now – and that’s pretty spectacular. Who knows if he still has a chance to win the MVP award and get a ring – he should and he deserves it – but he didn’t have much of the outside help that others did.
And because of this, Wembanyama may win MVP before Luka Doncic.
The absurdity of that sentence drives me nuts. When an acquaintance and fellow Danish journalist two years ago asked who would win it first, Luka or Wemby, I was perplexed. Luka was a superstar, among the best ever, Wemby was a rookie.
But the reality is that Wemby was in the top three nominees for MVP this year, and Luka was not. He is leading a team in the Finals right now, and Luka is not.
The absurdity of that situation after what Luka has done in Dallas with so little, and what he did to lead the Mavs to the Finals in 2024 haunts me. Many of us, I bet.
But the world is full of absurdity, just look around. Sometimes we just have to laugh, because what else can we do?
The fact remains, however. If Luka Doncic had had what Victor Wembanyama has, he would probably have reached the top already. Instead, he keeps fighting the same fight he has for five years in a cycle that just seems to repeat itself.
Intentionality. Maybe that’s the cure against absurdity. It may be worth a shot.
After Victor Wembanyama, the league will never be the same. The way he came into the league, almost fully ready and prepared to take care of his body and knowing exactly what he wanted, will set a precedent for future stars. And that’s a good thing for all of us.
Louisville’s Zion Rose hit a home run against Kentucky at Jim Patterson Stadium in the 119th Battle of the Bluegrass. April 21, 2026 | Scott Utterback/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
After completing my most recent review on Daniel Jackson, I started thinking “What if the Phillies drafted for need?” The “need” being a right handed power bat, preferably a corner OF. I would also prefer if the prospect not be a reach or a guy that almost certainly will go 20 spots higher. Turns out there’s a guy ranked in the Phillies range at #29, that could easily fall to the 36th pick. As luck would have it he’s a former power hitting Catcher who had to convert to Right Field because of defensive concerns (promise I did not plan all these little parallels).
Rose is a 6’1”, 210 lbs Right Fielder who just turned 21 at the end of May. He was ranked ~200 in the 2023 draft, but since he told teams he would honor his commitment to Louisville, he went undrafted. He’s an above-average runner (though he’s a stocky guy, so I expect that to not be a big long term strength) and currently an above-average hitter for power with a potential to tap into more (on to that later). He has a borderline plus arm, which is enough to play in Right Field, where he reportedly gets good reads and has the speed and arm to be, at least, as average defender out there. Jackson has fringe 5-tool skills, but Zion is almost entirely about the Power as his lone carrying tool, though nothing else looks below average.
As a hitter, Zion is also very different from Jackson’s relatively clean swing. Zion has similar bat speed and strength, but with a big leg kick and a lot of bat wiggle before he starts his swing. Higher level Pitchers may be able to exploit all that movement by rushing him and throwing his timing off. So he’ll need some adjustments made with a pro hitting coach to try to quiet those parts down some. Also similar to Jackson, Zion had a bit of a reputation as a free swinger, but unlike Jackson he has a history of very good bat control that allowed him to make consistent contact with a very respectable 14% K rate in 2025 and a 10% K rate in 2026 and consistently ran excellent walk rates the last 2 years. Zion’s Home Runs were down this year, but his doubles were up (both in terms of rate, as he played way less games this year thanks to Louisville having a very down year and not making the postseason), so his Slugging is actually higher. Still draft year is a bad time for bad Home Run luck, especially if it’s a big part of your profile. I think a swing change to silence some of the bat waggle and improve his timing, as he sometimes strides, then rotates and it would be best to be into your rotation a little earlier, can further aid in his ability to get to an above average or better hit profile. It’s a small change, but could unlock additional home run power too.
I’ll embed two videos here. The first is from a showcase during his High School years, so you can see his swing then (also, some teams still are reportedly high on his potential behind the dish, so you get some throws from the position to start off here). The second is of highlights from this season. No side views, but the swing, while nosier, does seem to have more of an upstroke for launch angle.
The reason I think Zion is ranked a little ahead of Jackson is because of greater positional certainty. He’s already shown he can be an average or better player full time at positions other than Catcher along with a better hitting track record. I’d be shocked to see any team put him back at Catcher and set his development timeline back by likely years. I’d expect he stays in the OF, maybe even Center early on until he proves he needs to move to Right or Left.
The Cubs sit at 34-34 so far in 2026, but the way they’ve gotten to that .500 record is anything but average. While it seems hard to believe here in June, yes, it was 2026 when the Cubs were putting together multiple 10 game winning streaks, not to mention a 15-game home winning streak that had fans giddy and looking up records from decades ago.
Oh, what a difference a month makes:
That’s right, y’all. It was this season when the Cubs were 15-games over .500 and looked like they might just be the team to beat in a tough NL Central. Here on June 11 they are eight games back of the division leading Brewers having just dropped back-to-back games (and therefor the series) against the 26-42 Colorado Rockies. Their offensive woes are so entrenched they’ve managed to score just five runs in two games at Coors Field.
To be clear, baseball isn’t played in a 30-game season for a reason. There are winning streaks and losing streaks. The 2016 World Series Champion Cubs were 1-9 heading into the All Star break. But looking at that 7-22 mark, which is good for merely a .241 winning percentage over a 29-game stretch, had me wondering which Cubs teams had 30-game stretches of sub-.300 winning percentage baseball and how they wound up faring that season.
Luckily, Baseball Reference has precisely the right tool for this query in their span-finder. Unluckily, none of the Cubs teams who have ever gone 8-22 at some stretch during the season since 1920 (the Live Ball Era) have ever made the playoffs. You can peruse this very sad and hapless list below:
Year
Worst 30-game win %
W/L
Fired Manager?
Playoffs?
1981
.143
4-24
Yes
No
1973
.167
5-25
No
No
2006
.200
6-24
No
No
2000
.200
6-24
No
No
1999
.200
6-24
No
No
2021
.233
7-23
No
No
2012
.233
7-23
No
No
1980
.233
7-23
Yes
No
1966
.233
7-23
No
No
1954
.233
7-23
No
No
1953
.233
7-23
No
No
1951
.233
7-23
Yes
No
1921
.233
7-23
Yes
No
1960
.241
7-22
Resigned
No
1956
.241
7-22
No
No
2013
.267
8-22
No
No
2010
.267
8-22
Resigned
No
1997
.267
8-22
No
No
1982
.267
8-22
No
No
1979
.267
8-22
Resigned
No
1955
.267
8-22
No
No
1947
.267
8-22
No
No
A few notes on this list. First, spans don’t happen in neat 30-game intervals and the way Baseball Reference deals with that is to identify multiple spans. I sorted this query by lowest winning percentage and scanned a little over 250 individual spans to identify each year where there was a 30-game span with an 8-22 record or worse. I think I got every season, but I may have missed one or two. Additionally, a lot of the teams who had a 5-25 stretch also had a 6-24 stretch or a 7-23 stretch, you get the gist. They are represented by the worst 30-game stretch they had that season.
The years that don’t have 30 decisions in the list are stretches that had some tie games in pre-lights Wrigley Field.
All of the above notes aside, that table isn’t so much a warning bell as the Titanic hitting an iceberg. The glass isn’t half empty, it somehow evaporated after being overflowing.
No Cubs team that has ever posted a 30-game winning streak with an 8-22 record (or worse) during any stretch of the season has ever made the playoffs. Out of 23 seasons where managers experienced such a stretch, four previous Cubs managers were fired during that season, an additional three resigned.
To be clear, I’ve seen and read nothing that leads me to believe Craig Counsell or any other member of the Cubs coaching staff should be fired. The injury problems to the pitching staff combined with the offensive struggles of well over half of the lineup aren’t going to magically improve because of a new manager. Do not add my voice to the cacophony of fans who think this team will go back to winning 10 in a row with a new skipper. That said, one of the first things that jumped out at me as I scanned these seasons was that 30.4% of the managers who oversaw such a stretch were not managing the Cubs at the end of that season.
It’s bleak, to say the least.
The next team on the list of terrible, horrible, no good, 30-game spans just happens to be the first appearance of the 2026 Cubs. The Cubs entered play tonight with a 9-21 record over their last 30 games. If they can eke out a win today they will be 8-22 over their last 30 games.
We should all take some solace in yesterday being the first appearance of the 2026 Cubs on this list. They’ll have earned themselves a second appearance after tomorrow, even if they win. In an environment with expanded playoffs they may even be able to make the postseason field. But many of the teams on this list appear 5, 10, sometimes 20 or more times, and they certainly didn’t have two 10-game winning streak under their belts earlier in the season. If the Cubs are going to try for another unprecedented feat in 2026, perhaps they will become the first team to make the playoffs in a season where they posted a sub .300 winning percentage for a period of 30 games.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JULY 11: Jordan Romano #68 of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches during the 93rd MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard at T-Mobile Park on July 11, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Jordan Romano knows what it feels like to be one of the best relievers in baseball. He has been there.
Two All-Star appearances, 105 saves with the Toronto Blue Jays, and a stretch from 2021 through 2023 where he was, on most nights, simply unhittable. A 6-foot-5 right-hander from Markham, Ontario, with a fastball that backed hitters off the plate and a 2.90 ERA across his six seasons in Toronto, Romano was, for several years, one of the most reliable ninth-inning arms in the American League.
He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies for $8.5 million in 2025, trying to recapture his elite form. Romano made 49 appearances, posted an 8.23 ERA across 42.2 innings, and ended the season on the IL with right middle finger inflammation. He then signed with the Los Angeles Angels over the winter on a major league deal and made the Opening Day roster, but lasted 11 appearances before being released on April 27 with a 10.13 ERA across eight innings. The Angels chapter lasted less than a month.
Now, sitting in the Arizona heat at the Rockies’ Scottsdale facility — days before his assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque — Romano was throwing off the mound for the third time in a week and talking about energy transfer.
Choosing Colorado
The reason he chose Colorado, of all the places he could have landed, comes down to one name: Matt Buschmann.
The Rockies bullpen coach was on Romano’s staff in Toronto for several years, and Romano credits him as a significant piece of his success during that run. When the opportunity to sign with Colorado emerged, Romano called Buschmann. He liked what he heard about the people the organization had brought in. He spoke with pitching personnel — Owen Cuffee and Emilio Martinez among them — and came away convinced this was the right environment to do the work.
“I really like the stuff they’re doing, the new guys they hired,” Romano said. “I talked to Owen and Emilio — really smart guys. I decided this is probably the best fit for me to work on my stuff, get better down here, and help contribute up there.”
Rebuilding the delivery
The work, in his telling, is specific. The mechanics of how he transfers energy through his delivery — the sequencing, the timing, the feel of it translating from bullpen session to live game — is where he is spending most of his time. It is unglamorous and incremental, the kind of thing that doesn’t show up in a stat line.
Some days it clicks.
Some days it doesn’t.
“I’m trying to get to the point where my delivery is doing what I’ve been working on without really thinking about it,” he said. “Muscle memory. I feel like we’re almost there. It’s kind of exciting.”
He is also working on a new splitter grip — one he believes gives him better command of the pitch and more movement — and on generating more velocity overall. The combination of a tuned-up delivery and a sharper splitter, in his mind, is the difference between the pitcher he has been recently and the pitcher he knows he can be.
Finding joy in the process
What is striking about Romano, sitting in the ACL clubhouse in early June, is how unbothered he seems by any of it. This is his fourth organization in three years — Toronto, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and now Colorado. — and he has developed a kind of institutional fluency for the transition.
“The first two weeks, you’re kind of learning everyone’s name,” he said. “And then after two weeks, it’s kind of like — everyone’s been cool here.”
He does not come off as bitter about the way things have gone. He is not performing enthusiasm that he doesn’t feel. He genuinely seems to enjoy the process.
“The thing I like most about baseball is, like, the performing is amazing,” he said, “but the working on stuff — you’re trying to do something, and then you see it kind of click. That’s the best feeling for me.”
He paused. “Get down here, get in the trenches a little bit, work on your stuff.”
The road back to Coors
He has pitched at Coors Field before. He knows what it asks of a pitcher — the way breaking balls behave differently in thin air, the necessary adjustments in pitch locations.
“You’ve got to set your sights a little differently with your breaking balls,” he said. “But I actually enjoy it. It’s a beautiful park.”
He wants to get back there. He is not racing toward it. One step at a time, he said. Get the delivery right first. Let the rest follow.
For a pitcher who was, not long ago, one of the most reliable closers in the American League, the patience required to rebuild something from the ground up in Triple-A in June is not nothing.
But Romano doesn’t frame it as patience.
He frames it as a preference.
The work itself, he says, is that part he loves. The competing and feeling good — that’s what he’s building toward.
“Sometimes it’s not as fun competing when you know you’re a little off, or you don’t feel right,” he said. “Competing and feeling good — that’s going to be fun. That’s honestly one of the better feelings you can have.”
He’s close. He said so himself. From a guy who has had every reason to stop believing it, that counted for something.
Stop the presses, I hit a home run prop last night! The tide is turning, and now I have a small getaway slate to dig into those MLB player props for another Dinger winner.
The lefties have the hitting edge at Citi Field with winds going to right field and prime hitting conditions, while the bats at Kauffman will get an 18-mph wind boost to center field. I wrap things up with a Dodger bat this evening!
These are my favorite MLB home run props for Thursday, June 11.
UPDATE: Added another HR pick + parlay.
Best MLB home run props today
Player to hit a HR
Odds
Alec Burleson
+449
Jac Caglianone
+582
Freddie Freeman
+441
💲Today's HR parlay
+15519
Home run pick: Alec Burleson (+449)
Left-handed bats get a boost today with 10-mph winds blowing out to right field at Citi Field, and Alec Burleson is the target. He has already homered in each of the first two games of the series and has gone deep three times over his last five games.
He also owns one of the best flyball rates on the team over the last two weeks, and the lefty has one of the strongest pull rates in the lineup.
The fair price for him to go deep for a third straight game is closer to +370/+380, making him one of the better +EV dingers on the board today.
He'll face Christian Scott, who looks due for some correction in his current HR/FB rate while carrying one of the worst groundball rates in baseball.
Time: 1:10 p.m. ET
Where to watch: SNY, Cardinals.TV
Home run pick: Jac Caglianone (+582)
Kauffman Stadium is hot and humid today with 18-mph winds blowing out to center field. The Royals get Kumar Rocker, who appears to be outperforming his underlying numbers. His HR/FB rate is roughly half of what it was last season, despite carrying a worse groundball rate.
He saw Kansas City two starts ago and pitched well, but the familiarity edge shifts to the Royals hitters in today's rematch.
Jac Caglianone is swinging the fastest bat on the Royals over the last two weeks and at a Top-10 rate in all of baseball. The bat speed is turning into production, as he has three home runs over that stretch while slugging a team-best .737.
Only 15 players in baseball have posted a better slugging percentage than Caglianone over the last 14 days.
His price is still longer than some of the bigger-name Royals bats, but based on recent form and the underlying metrics, Caglianone at +450 or better is the best way to take advantage of the wind, heat, and pitching matchup.
Time: 2:10 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Royals.TV, Rangers Sports Network
Home run pick: Freddie Freeman (+441)
Mitch Keller is one of the better home run targets in the late games tonight. He has been especially vulnerable to left-handed hitters, who account for 68% of his home runs allowed since 2024.
The wind is blowing out to left field at 10 mph, which fits Freddie Freeman's profile, as only 12.2% of his balls in play are pulled.
Freeman is 9-for-18 lifetime vs. Keller, with one dinger, has three four-baggers over the last two weeks, and has the Dodgers' third-best slugging rate over that stretch — behind two guys who are 100 and 200 points shorter to go yard today.
There aren't a ton of good HR looks late today, but the righty vs. lefty of Keller vs. Freeman at +400 or better is making the card.
Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: SNP, SNLA
Josh Inglis' 2026 Transparency Record
HR picks: 14-110 SU, -36.92u
Today’s HR parlay
Alec Burleson
Bet Now +15519
Jac Caglianone
Freddie Freeman
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
COVERS INTEL: Mitch Keller leads with his four-seamer (33%) and has been fortunate with a .229 BA. The pitch’s 
Alec Burleson
Jac Caglianone
Freddie Freeman