Worldwide Sports News

Good morning.

Shawn McFarland writes about a rip-roaring, scintillating 1-0 loss from the Texas Rangers at The Shed last evening.

Jeff Wilson writes that Nathan Eovaldi was scratched pregame to set up last night’s humiliation ritual for the Texas lineup.

Kennedi Landy writes that, even with the bats flailing and failing, the bullpen turned in an excellent performance on short notice.

McFarland notes that while relievers Chris Martin and Robert Garcia are working their way back, Josh Smith — on the IL for a glute strain — has a new pain in his ass with wrist inflammation.

Evan Grant holds a Q&A to discuss Kumar Rocker and Kumar Rocker adjacent topics.

And, Layten Praytor of D Magazine writes about Eric Nadel turning his birthday into an annual fundraiser to benefit mental health.

Have a nice day!

The White Sox had a week that could very well be described as average, as they did in fact go 3-3. A closer look of the lost series to the Angels and the series victory against the Mariners will tell you a story of midweek missed opportunity capped on either end with quite the dominant efforts.

What went wrong for the Good Guys this week?

Offensively, there were far too many runners left on base. For those of us that might need a refresher after a long weekend of celebrating the moms in our lives, runners left on base do nothing for the scoreboard.

The woes started during Monday, May 4’s win in Anaheim. José Soriano is officially scared of the South Siders after getting walloped for two starts in a row. Even though the offense would score six runs and the defense shut out the Angels, the team would only go 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leave 12 runners on base. In a 6-0 win, you can afford to leave a few runners on base.

But leaving runners on base was a huge issue during a 4-3 loss, which is exactly what happened on Tuesday when the White Sox went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leave 11 on base. Wednesday’s 8-2 loss was capped by seven runners left on base. In fact, with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, the bases were loaded for Edgar Quero … before he grounded out to end the game.

Friday saw five runners stranded in a 12-8 loss to the Mariners. I have not taken a math class in 10 years, but if my math is correct, had the runners not been left on the base paths and they crossed home plate, those two losses become wins.

Contributing to the stranded runners problem is the sheer number of strikeouts this team is continuing to rack up. To date, White Sox hitters are striking out in 28% of the time. Only six teams are striking out at a higher rate, with the Rockies and the Angels leading the pack. The Toronto Blue Jays have almost 50 more at-bats on the season and still trail the White Sox by more than 100 strikeouts.

Strikeouts are a particular issue for one very powerful hitter on the South Side squad, none other than Munetaka Murakami. Fans love him for very good reason, but he also ranks second most among qualified players in strikeouts this season, with 60. He has 173 plate appearances on the year, which means he is striking out a little more than a third of the time he is up to bat. On the flip side of this, because there always must be a positive spin with stars, he has drawn 30 walks, which puts him in the Top 10 of qualified players so far this season. Home runs are fun, but it would be great if Mune could focus on putting the ball in play a tad more than he currently is.

Pitching also had its woes this week.

Erik Fedde’s record dropped to 0-4 after going just 4 2/3 innings in his start, giving up four earned runs along the way. All four runs came via the long ball, thanks to Mike Trout, Jorge Soler and Zach Neto. The righty’s last two starts in April had improved his ERA to the lower half of three, but after this latest effort Fedde is back over three and a half.

Noah Schultz entered Wednesday’s series finale with the Angels hoping to build off of his strong start in San Diego. Instead the 6´10´´ rookie was only able to get through 3 2/3 innings. He exited the game after wearing seven earned runs on seven hits.

Sean Burke was also coming off of his hottest outing of the season, and last Friday’s game was anticipated as a pitching duel. Instead, a total of 20 runs were scored in the game, Burke being on the losing side of things. His 4 1/3 innings resulted in six runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

One of these days, I will start with the good that happened in the week, but today is not that day. If you made it this far, congratulations. It is time to talk about the highlights of the week.

First and foremost, Soriano may be an ace against every other team in the league, but he is not one when he faces the White Sox. He earned his second consecutive loss on May 4 against the Pale Hose after going just four innings and giving up five runs. The final three runs came via back-to-back dingers by Murakami and Miguel Vargas. The fourth was with both of them on Star Wars Day.

Soriano followed up this loss with 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball against the Blue Jays on Sunday; he and his 1.74 ERA will be just fine for the rest of the season, especially knowing he’ll no longer have to face the fearsome White Sox.

It would not be a week if we did not also talk about Mune for more than a split second. A massive amount of strikeouts or not, the dude can rake. As if on cue in the top of the first inning of Friday’s opener against the Mariners, Munetaka hit his 15th of the season to get the scoring going. The Good Guys would not see the winning end of the slugfest, but one can appreciate a great start.

A player I would have never guessed I would be highlighting ever this season is Randal Girchuk, who hit two home runs this week. One of those was an inconsequential pinch-hit long ball in Friday’s loss, but his home run on Sunday tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning before Vargas’ sacrifice fly brought Drew Romo around to score the winning run.

While he had 10 strikeouts this week, Chase Meidroth improved his batting average by a whole 14 points. He is hitting .343 in May, and added a home run to the list in Tuesday’s loss. His middle infield counterpart, Colson Montgomery, is only hitting .176 in May, but he did homer in Saturday’s win, which was fun to watch in person.

I know you are sitting here wondering why I have yet to mention Vargas and his game on Saturday. Well, here I am saving the best for last. May 9 was Game Day for the Girls at the ballpark. It featured many wonderful opportunities for female fans to come out and enjoy a game and other activations. Vargas proved himself to be a girl’s girl and hit not just one but two home runs on Chicago’s road to victory. When the third baseman hit his second dinger of the night, Randy Arozarena didn’t even bother to move from his spot in left field. Vargas now has nine home runs on the year. As of May 10 Vargas, Murakami and Montgomery have more home runs (34) than six MLB teams.

Davis Martin. That is the pitching highlight of the week. The righthander continues to mow down batters and plow through tough lineups. In his rematch with Soriano on Monday, he went seven innings for a third time this season, giving up no runs on five hits, walking none and striking out a career high 10 batters.

Then on Sunday, Martin threw six innings of one run ball, giving up three hits, walking two, and striking out another nine hitters. His ERA is now a stunning 1.62. I really hope he is looking for hotel rooms for himself and his family in Philly for mid-July.

Also getting a nod this week for his pitching performance is Anthony Kay. Last week, there was much discussion about how he was emerging as the weakest link in the rotation. I am not saying he read my article, but Kay did have five strong innings on one run (zero earned), earning Saturday’s win.

The White Sox had an off day on May 11 but will be back at home for the entirety of the week. First up in continuing the homestand are the Kansas City Royals. And this weekends series brings the Chicago Cubs to the South Side for the Crosstown Classic, a matchup that might be more interesting than it has been in recent years.

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Let's go! We are back in the black for the first time this year after a +520 Julio Rodriguez jack last night. The train has left the station, and it's time to stack some home runs and MLB player props with the weather turning in our favor. 

When Aaron Judge is projecting +EV, he has to be added to the card early because the market is going to adjust quickly, and Andrew Vaughn is being slept on by oddsmakers since returning from the IL.

These are my favorite home run props for Tuesday, May 12. 

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Aaron Judge	+310
Andrew Vaughn	+610

Home run pick: Aaron Judge (+310)

It’s one of those days where the best hitter in baseball is projecting as +EV to go deep at +240 or better. 

Aaron Judge sits right at the top of the home run prop projections at Covers today, and he’ll either face a Baltimore Orioles bullpen game or Trevor Rogers returning from the IL. Either scenario is bad news for the Orioles’ relievers, who are likely going to have to cover plenty of innings.

Only one bullpen has thrown more innings over the last two weeks than the Orioles at 56, and they also own the ninth-worst ERA during that span at 4.66. Their co-closers, Rico Garcia and Anthony Nunez, have both pitched on back-to-back days and are likely unavailable today.

Judge should also benefit from a 7-mph wind blowing out to left field, and Camden Yards still features some of the shortest dimensions in baseball down the lines.

• Time: 6:35 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: MASN, YES

Home run pick: Andrew Vaughn (+610)

Andrew Vaughn has popped up on the projections at Covers for the first time, with a fair home run price around +480 today.

American Family Field ranks as the sixth-best home run park for right-handed hitters, and Vaughn is into his sixth game since missing most of the season, so the rust appears gone. He’s already homered, owns a .880 OPS, and his 35.3% BlastContact rate over the last 14 days ranks second in all of baseball, thanks to an absurd 47.1% SqUpContact rate.

The right-handed bat also gets to attack knuckleballs today, with San Diego Padres righty Matt Waldron on the mound. Waldron’s floater can disappear quickly, and after a strong outing last time out plus a road start here, a rough performance feels more likely than another good one for a pitcher carrying a 7.71 ERA.

• Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Brewers.TV, Padres.TV

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.

Another week on the farm is in the books, and there’s big stories at every level.

In Scranton, a talented roster tries to steady the ship after being depleted due to big league call-ups. A powerful lineup continues to mash in Somerset, while Hudson Valley’s pitching staff continues to round into form. Down at the lower levels, multiple highly-touted pitching prospects made big returns from Tommy John surgery on the road to recovery.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Record: 20-17, 1 GB in the International League East after a 2-3 week against the Worcester Red Sox (Red Sox)

Run differential: +21

Coming up: Home vs. Syracuse Mets (Mets)

It was an uneven week in Scranton as their once-stacked roster continued to be eaten away at, partially due to the MLB team needing injury reinforcements. Spencer Jones was called up mid-week to replace Jasson Domínguez (both started the year in Scranton). Multiple relievers went up and down, Brendan Beck was needed for a few innings in the majors, and Luis Gil was lost for the next six weeks due to a shoulder issue.

Saturday’s game was rained out, but they had ample opportunity to win the series otherwise. They blew a late lead on Tuesday and played an extremely bizarre 12-inning affair on Thursday, which saw emergency catcher Edinson Duran be forced to pitch extra innings due to the roster turnover. He got through 2.1 solid innings before allowing a walk-off home run in the 12th.

With some of their heavy hitters off the roster, the focus has shifted to the likes of recently promoted top prospect George Lombard Jr. and the recently demoted Anthony Volpe. On one end, Lombard is displaying some tremendous plate discipline and hitting the ball hard, but is running into some bad luck. Volpe is struggling considerably, particularly at putting the ball in the air with some mental lapses defensively and on the bases.

Carlos Rodón started on Tuesday and had a very uneven final rehab start, allowing six runs in 6.1 innings. Veterans Dom Hamel and Adam Kloffenstein struggled, while Carlos Lagrange continued an up-and-down season by striking out eight in 4.1 innings, but allowed five runs on three dingers. Elmer Rodríguez returned to the minors to make a solid start on Sunday, as he settles back into the next-man-up role.

Yovanny Cruz took the loss on Tuesday, but continued to be effective along with Bradley Hanner in the back of the bullpen. Veterans Dylan Coleman and Rafael Montero, who both started the year on the shelf, have combined to allow just two runs in 11.2 innings with 13 strikeouts. It was only four years ago when Montero was one of the best relievers in baseball for the Astros, and he could be an option at some point.

Players of Note:

Anthony Volpe: .205/.238/.333, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 XBH, 2 SB, 43 wRC+ (42 PA)
George Lombard Jr.: 6-for-34, 12 BB, 7 K, 2 SB
Brendan Beck: 2-2, 5.11 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 1.14 WHIP, 18.7 K-BB% (37 IP)
Carlos Lagrange: 0-2, 4.76 ERA, 5.63 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 16.4 K-BB% (28.1 IP)
Yovanny Cruz: 16 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 7 BB, 22 K

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Record: 15-18, 5.5 GB in the Eastern League Northeast after a 3-3 week against the Reading Fightin’ Phils (Phillies)

Run differential: +26

Coming up: Home vs. Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Mets)

It was a so-so week down in Somerset, as every single one of their games against Reading turned into a shootout. They scored at least 11 runs in each of the first three games and scored 42 runs in the series, while allowing 33. The offense cooled down towards the end of the week, but it produces some gaudy numbers.

Marco Luciano hit enough that he earned a midweek promotion. Tyler Hardman (10-for-25, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 4 2B) and Garrett Martin (10-for-28, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 BB) continued to rake, while Jace Avina (9-for-29, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 3 BB) heated up in a big way after being in a big-time slump to start the year. Jackson Castillo missed the start of the season due to injury, but has an OPS over .900 in 15 games since being activated.

In the rotation, Trent Sellers struggled badly on Tuesday, but the rest of the rotation wasn’t terrible. Cade Smith had his second straight solid start and Xavier Rivas struck out seven in 4.1 shutout innings, while Jack Cebert and Kyle Carr had inconsistent outings, with the latter striking out a career-high eight batters despite allowing four runs.

Gerrit Cole made his latest rehab start on Sunday, and he’s getting closer and closer to being ready. Despite taking the loss, he struck out eight and built up to 77 pitches in a five-inning outing while consistently flashing 96 on the radar gun.

The bullpen was rough this week. Will Brian was off to a fantastic start to the season, but had a disastrous outing in Tuesday’s 14-12 loss. Matt Keating and Michael Arias continue to struggle to put up zeroes, but the team is getting better performances from Geoff Gilbert and Kelly Austin of late. Eric Reyzelman also continues to flash his improved command with 25 strikeouts to just four walks in 13.2 innings. I truthfully think he isn’t far from a big league mound.

Players of Note:

Tyler Hardman: .306/.384/.622, 9 HR, 29 RBI, 17 XBH, 159 wRC+
Garrett Martin: .262/.321/.557, 11 HR, 22 RBI, 6 SB, 124 wRC+
Coby Morales: .293/.381/.560, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 8 SB, 144 wRC+
Eric Reyzelman: 13.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 25 K
Cade Smith: 1-1, 4.44 ERA, 6.38 FIP, 1.39 WHIP, 16.7 K-BB% (18.2 IP)

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Record: 18-14, 2.5 GB in the South Atlantic League North after a 4-2 week against the Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox)

Run differential: +32

Coming up: Home vs. Frederick Keys (Orioles)

Hudson Valley got back to its winning ways this week, rebounding after two early-week losses to win three straight to end the week, allowing just six total runs in its four victories.

Outside of Kaeden Kent, the offense has still been pretty bad. Eric Genther continued to cool off as his lack of slugging continues to be more apparent, and a lot of the 2025 draftees are inconsistent (Kyle West capped off the week with a two-homer, five-RBI day on Sunday, notably). A name to keep an eye on is Josue Gonzalez, who’s now up to a 96 wRC+ with a .221 ISO. The Yankees are really trying to replenish their minor league catching depth, and he could be a big part.

The rotation was absolutely phenomenal this week after Cole’s mediocre start on Tuesday. Luis Serna struggled with command, but worked around five walks to toss five shutout innings on Wednesday. Rory Fox (5 IP, 2 R) had a solid start on Friday, and Franyer Herrera struck out seven in five shutout innings on Sunday. The real highlight of the week, though, was Sean Paul Liñan. He made by far his best start since he was acquired in the Jorbit Vivas trade, tossing six no-hit innings with seven strikeouts in the best start of his entire pro career.

Chris Veach is up to 12.2 shutout innings with 21 strikeouts, Tony Rossi has 18 strikeouts in 11.1 innings, and the trio of Tanner Bauman, Jack Sokol, and Brady Kirtner aren’t far behind in terms of jaw-dropping numbers out of the bullpen. We’re getting to a point where some of them need to be promoted just to see if this isn’t an effect of A-ball hitting.

Players of Note:

Eric Genther: .233/.407/.291, 7 RBI, 4 XBH, 108 wRC+
Core Jackson: .248/.354/.376, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 11 SB, 99 wRC+
Kaeden Kent: .333/.406/.488, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 12 XBH, 9 SB, 138 wRC+
Luis Serna: 2-0, 1.67 ERA, 2.80 FIP, 0.93 WHIP, 19.0 K-BB% (27 IP)
Sean Paul Liñan: 1-3, 3.47 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 25.7 K-BB% (23.1 IP)

Single-A Tampa Tarpons

Record: 15-18, 5 GB in the Florida State League West after a 3-3 week against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Twins)

Run differential: -26

Coming up: Home vs. Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)

It was a much better week for the Tampa offense, as they put up at least six runs on four different occasions, but the pitching took a step back as Fort Myers secured a split with two straight wins to end the week.

The two hitters who had the best weeks were Hans Montero and Jackson Lovich, who has rebounded nicely after the first real slump of his professional career. Enmanuel Tejada continues to pace the team with a near-.400 OBP and could be in line for a promotion if Kent is pushed up to Double-A in the near future to open up a spot in the infield.

Tyler Boudreau allowed three runs in 4.1 innings to start the week on Tuesday, Mac Heuer struggled with command in an abbreviated 2.2 inning outing, Justin West struck out eight in a choppy 4.1 innings on Thursday, and both JT Etheridge and Henry Lalane struggled early in their starts over the weekend. There wasn’t much to get excited about in the rotation this week… except for one big rehab assignment.

The team’s sixth-round pick from 2022 Chase Hampton made his first start since August 10, 2024, and just his eighth since 2023. He looked great in three innings for Tampa on Friday, allowing just one hit with three strikeouts and zero walks. You could tell the organization was still high on him when he was added to the 40-man roster amidst Tommy John recovery in the offseason, so he’s a big story to watch going forward.

Players of Note:

Jackson Lovich: .277/.370/.500, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 13 XBH, 135 wRC+
JoJo Jackson: .237/.364/.351, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 7 SB, 106 wRC+
Enmanuel Tejada: .232/.392/.384, 13 XBH, 12 RBI, 12 SB, 122 wRC+
Tyler Boudreau: 18.1 IP, 14 H, 10 R, 10 BB, 24 K
Pedro Rodríguez: 9.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 15 K

FCL Yankees

Record: 5-2, 2 GB in the FCL North after a 3-2 week.

Run differential: +30

The FCL North has been an extremely funny division. So far, the FCL Blue Jays are 7-0, and the FCL Tigers are 0-7, with the FCL Phillies sitting at 2-5. Both Yankees losses are to the Blue Jays, and both Phillies wins are against the Tigers. It’s perfect balance.

The offense has been great to start the season, specifically the likes of Leni Done and Wilberson De Pena, who was acquired for Oswald Peraza from the Angels last July. Last year’s DSL darling, Richard Matic, isn’t far behind. As a note, Francisco Vilorio is currently injured.

Thatcher Hurd and Wyatt Parliament, two 2024 draftees who missed all of last season with Tommy John recovery, have made their pro debuts and look good in a limited sample. Blake Gillespie, who started the year in Tampa before being demoted, and Omar Gonzalez have 19 strikeouts in 12 innings combined.

There’s not too much to talk about yet with this team as we wait for large enough sample sizes for it to matter, but there are certainly players to watch.

Players of Note:

Wilberson De Pena: 9-for-25, HR, 8 RBI, 6 XBH, BB, SB
Leni Done: 12-for-26, HR, 11 RBI, 3 XBH, 4 BB, 4 SB
Richard Matic: 10-for-30, 3 RBI, 2 XBH, 4 BB, 4 SB
Thatcher Hurd: 7.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K
Omar Gonzalez: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K

Prospect of the Week: Marco Luciano

Weekly Stats: 8-for-20, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 3 2B, 4 BB (w/AA & AAA)
Season Stats (Combined): .324/.408/.685, 10 HR, 23 RBI, 19 XBH, 3 SB, 177 wRC+

Luciano is not legally a Yankees prospect, but considering he’s younger than multiple people we’re keeping close eyes on across the system and has only a handful of big league experience, he counts in my book.

At one point, Luciano was one of the best prospects in the world. Signed for $2.6 million out of the D.R. by the San Francisco Giants in 2018, he was a consensus top-20 prospect in baseball for three consecutive years from 2021-23, ahead of his MLB debut in July 2023 with the Giants. But over a 41-game big league sample in two years, he slashed just .217/.286/.304 with mediocre defense at both second base and shortstop, killing his hype to the point he was DFA’d this past offseason.

After being claimed off waivers by the Pirates and spending a month there before being DFA’d again, he went through the same process with Baltimore before the Yankees gave him a shot in late January. He would get DFA’d by a fourth different team a few weeks later, but he cleared waivers this time, staying in the Yankees’ organization.

After getting a good amount of reps in spring training, he was sent down to Double-A Somerset, the lowest level he’d played at since July 2023. In this situation, you’d love a guy like him to immediately show he doesn’t belong there and that’s exactly what he did.

His stats have been ludicrous to this point, and after Max Schuemann’s promotion and Paul DeJong’s release opened space in the infield, the Yankees suddenly have him one step away from the bigs once again. We’ve seen them rehabilitate former prospects in the past and tweak something with them to get them back on teams’ radars (Blake Perkins, Brennan Davis). Could Luciano be next? That’d be great to see.

Meet the Mets

The Mets are calling up A.J. Ewing, one of their top prospects.

Ewing is someone who is on everyone’s radar, and several Mets farmhands are on the horizon, writes Laura Albanese.

Beyond just promoting Ewing, Max Goodman identified four more bold moves that the club can make to save its season.

Despite a disastrous 2026 season, Joe Pantorno explained why David Stearns’ job is probably not going to be in danger any time soon.

David Lennon wrote about every bad month for the Mets feeling like an existential crisis.

Abbey Mastracco provided the good, the bad, and the ugly from the team’s 5-4 road trip.

Dan Martin sees the Mets as ‘broken’ and help likely isn’t on the way.

With trade rumors swirling amid the team’s horrid start to the season, Freddy Peralta expressed confidence in the team’s turnaround, adding ‘I love being here”.

However, a changing Mets reality puts Peralta at ‘the top of the list’ for most deadline sales.

Christian Scott’s revamped mix of pitches has led to an electric start to his 2026 campaign.

After a rocky start to his season, Devin Williams has begun settling in.

In the latest edition of “This Week In Mets”, Tim Britton implored the Mets to find their offense sooner rather than later.

With Bo Bichette as the center piece, Joel Sherman focused his latest article on the death of the big-hitting third basemen.

Chelsea Janes attempted to answer some questions around the Mets in the latest Mets Mailbag on SNY.

The Mets outrighted Eric Wagaman to Triple-A.

The Mets purchased the contract of Nick Roselli from the Long Island Ducks.

Around the National League East

The Braves activated Ha-Seong Kim and placed Eli White on the 7-day concussion list one day after his incredible, game-saving catch.

Cristopher Sánchez was named NL Player of the Week. Bobby Witt Jr. took home AL honors.

Charlotte Varnes provided some Phillies takeaways, including some bullpen updates and Kyle Schwarber’s start.

Following Justin Crawford’s first major league home run, Todd Zolecki took a trip down memory lane with the first career homer for some Phillies players.

Phillies players are excited to see Ranger Suarez, their former teammate turned rival, as they travel to Boston to face the Red Sox.

The Marlins have released Chris Paddack.

Around Major League Baseball

The Cubs surged to Number One in the latest MLB Power Rankings.

The MLB.com staff looked at one thing each club can improve in 2026.

The Dodgers activated Mookie Betts from the IL, five weeks after suffering a strained right oblique, and optioned Alex Freeland to Triple-A.

The Blue Jays made a bunch of roster moves, placing Addison Barger on the IL, recalling Yohendrick Piñango from Triple-A, selecting Yariel Rodríguez to the big league roster, and designating Eric Lauer for assignment.

The Athletics are calling up No. 5 prospect Henry Bolte, one week after recording a hit in twelve straight plate appearances.

The Yankees appear more ruthless than ever this year, despite Brian Cashman rejecting the narrative around urgency.

José Caballero of the Yankees will have an MRI on his sore right middle finger.

Scott Boras believes that Tarik Skubal will have a short rehab and could be back sooner than later.

Nathan Eovaldi was scratched from his start last night due to left side tightness. Texas turned to a bullpen game with Eovaldi sidelined.

19-year-old Padres prospect Humberto Cruz plead guilty to transporting undocumented immigrants and has self-deported amid this plea.

Coby Mayo’s three-run home run with one out in the seventh inning catapulted the Orioles past the Yankees by a 3-2 victory.

The Yankees lost despite Ryan Weathers carrying a no-hit bid into the seventh inning.

The Guardians defeated the Angels 7-2, as Travis Bazzana’s trained eye continued to aid the Guardians’ offense.

The red-hot Rays stayed…well, red-hot…with an 8-5 win over the Blue Jays. The power of friendship has helped power the Rays to one of their best 40-game starts ever. In the victory, Rays’ speedster Chandler Simpson created a run entirely with his legs.

The Mariners topped the Astros 3-1. On the evening, Julio Rodríguez answered a fan’s call with a batting practice home run, and then did the same during the game.

With the help of a surging Rafael Devers and Willy Adames, the Giants’ offense got back on track with a 9-3 over the Dodgers.

A first inning run held up in the Diamondbacks’ 1-0 victory over the Rangers, as Michael Soroka’s gem and Paul Sewald’s save gave Arizona some payback for the 2023 World Series.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Linus Lawrence provided a Monday Stat Party.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2011, Carlos Beltran became just the seventh Met to hit three home runs in a single game, accomplishing the feat in the team’s 9-5 win over the Rockies at Coors Field.

A busy Monday saw the Dodgers get Mookie Betts back from the injured list after missing five weeks, Alex Freeland got sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and the offense continued to scuffle in a blowout loss to the San Francisco Giants.

While we wait to see which day Shohei Ohtani will get a day off from hitting this week, here are some other stories of note for your Tuesday morning.

Max Muncy shares a birthday with the A’s Max Muncy, both were drafted by the A’s, and both are playing third base. As David Adler at MLB.com noted, both Maxes Muncy are also among the MLB leaders this year in hard-hit rate.

On Monday the Dodgers’ Muncy added two more hard-hit balls with a home run 104.1 mph off the bat and a 102.2-mph single.

Atlanta Braves right fielder Eli White robbed the Dodgers’ Muncy of likely a three-run double with an incredible catch at the right field wall on Sunday at Dodger Stadium. But in doing so White crashed head first into said wall, and on Monday was placed on the concussion injured list. The folks at Battery Power have more.

Eno Sarris and Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic wrote about the rarity of left-handed pitchers throwing split-fingered fastballs.

Longtime Dodgers Spanish-language broadcaster René Cárdenas died on Sunday at age 96. Here’s more on Cárdenas from Ed Guzman of the Los Angeles Times:

“He was indisputably one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball radio broadcasting, and he opened the door for other broadcasters to reach the major leagues,” Jarrín told The Times in Spanish on Monday morning. “He was a total professional, truly.”

1904
Future Hall-of-Famer Ed Walsh made his White Sox debut, pitching in relief. It happened in Philadelphia, during a 9-3 loss to the A’s. Walsh threw one inning, giving up two hits and a run. 

1915
Red Faber threw a complete game win at Comiskey Park vs. Washington, 4-1.

So what? Well, it was Faber’s sixth start of 1915, fifth win … and sixth complete game.

OK, yeah, so what? How about this:

Yes, Faber threw just 67 pitches for the win.

While there was no official pitch-counting 110 years ago, a boy-clerk in Washington, Frank Saffell, tracked each pitch for an electronic scoreboard. He telegraphed The Chicago Tribune after realizing how remarkable Faber’s efficiency was. While it’s hard to recognize the pitch count-tracking of a child not even at the park for the game, Saffell’s inning-by-inning count — adding to 50 strikes, 17 balls and two three-pitch innings — has been accepted enough into baseball lore as to be acknowledged by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Saffell had been at pitch-counting for enough time to have qualified the count to the Tribune as being five pitches better than the previous record (Christy Mathewson, 72 pitches).

Faber carried a one-hitter into the ninth, when with two outs a single, passed ball and double gave the Sens their tally when the game was no longer in doubt — or, as the Tribune accounted, at a point when “nobody cared a whoop what happened.” The game lasted just one hour, 35 minutes.

The most efficient officially-counted game at Baseball-Reference is 75 pitches, by Bob Tewksbury (1990) and Andy Ashby (1998). The unofficial but almost certain MLB record comes on Aug. 10, 1944, when Red Barrett of the Boston Braves had a 58-pitch win that was tracked by official scorer Frank Grayson.

1923
St. Louis’ haste helped the White Sox score a coup, as just two games and four innings into his professional career Hollis “Sloppy” Thurston was placed on waivers by the Browns. Chicago wasted no time in completing a purchase for the screwballer.

In 1923 Thurston would immediately fill an important role for the White Sox, throwing some starts (and complete games) but also working out of the bullpen. It was out of the pen Thurston became the fifth pitcher ever to hurl an immaculate inning, on Aug. 22, 1923. And in 1924 Thurston moved almost exclusively to the starting rotation, to great success.

In 1923-24 Thurston amassed 10.6 WAR on the South Side, topping all White Sox hurlers both seasons. His stardom was brief, but Thurston remains one of the best waiver pickups the franchise ever made.

1932
For the ninth time of the 1932 season, White Sox third baseman/second baseman Carey Selph struck out.

It is also the last time in 1932 that Selph whiffed, as he played another 89 games strikeout-free, setting a major league record.

(When was the record broken? Oh, in 1958, when another White Sox second baseman, Nellie Fox, went 98 games between strikeouts.)

Selph had a decent enough season, hitting .283/.341/.371 over 396 total at-bats tying and for seventh among position players with 1.0 WAR on the 49-102-1 White Sox. At a .325 winning percentage, 1932 was the worst White Sox team in history, although it still finished 7 1⁄2 games ahead of the cellar-dwelling Boston Red Sox.

This would be Selph’s first full, but last overall major league season. He had been plucked from St. Louis in the Rule 5 draft before the 1932 season, and was swapped back to the Cardinals in the offseason. The St. Louis system was loaded, and Selph was sent to the minors, where he played his final two pro seasons for the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League.

1953
With a 9-7 win in 10 innings at Boston, the White Sox not only climbed to 16-10, they got a monkey off of their backs: By rallying for the win in the top of the 10th, the club hung a defeat on Ellis Kinder, snapping his 18-game winning streak against the White Sox. Kinder didn’t even get a chance to “defend” his streak, as a leadoff walk to Minnie Miñoso, Jim Rivera beating out his sac bunt and Chico Carrasquel moving both runners up and prompted Bill Kennedy into the game to put out the fire — but instead serve up the eventual game-decider, an RBI double from Ferris Fain.

Kinder would come to the South Side to finish out his career, in 1956-57. Kennedy had just been traded from Sox to Sox a few months earlier, in February.

Also on this day, the White Sox purchased Sandy Consuegra from the Washington Senators. He’d make his debut in a 3-0 loss at Boston the next day, and would end up with an outstanding, career-high 3.0 WAR for the White Sox in 1953, going 7-5 with a 2.54 ERA while both starting and closing games. Consuegra, pitching for the White Sox over three more seasons to come, forged a terrific record with the team, with a career 2.85 ERA/3.28 FIP and 8.0 WAR over 140 games.

1954
For the second time in 10 days, Don Johnson tossed a two-hitter. Johnson had beaten Philadelphia on May 2 on two hits, and slid by Boston on this day, 1-0. With a low number of Ks, the righthander had a relatively low game score for a shutout (87 at Philadelphia, 86 vs. Boston, not among the 150 best games in White Sox history), but with this latest win the swingman’s record improved to 3-1 on the season.

Amazingly, Johnson was given just 14 other starts in 1954, despite excelling as both a starter and closer (seven saves, 17 finishes). His 2.0 WAR was matched just one other time in his career, one in fact that ended with him overall a sub-replacement pitcher (-1.2 WAR).

2013
Chris Sale couldn’t have picked a better time to show the baseball world what type of pitcher he was, as on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball he tossed a complete game one-hitter, beating the Angels, 3-0, at U.S. Cellular Field. Sale was dominant, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Mike Trout broke it up with a single to center. Chris would finish the night with seven strikeouts, and Trout would be the only Angels base runner. The game was scoreless until the Chicago half of the seventh, when they scored three runs. The big blow was a two-run single from Alexei Ramírez.

After his inside the park homer and a blistering offensive week overall, Bobby Witt Jr was named the AL Player of the Week.

Witt collected 11 hits during the week, which included a four-hit performance against the Guardians on Thursday. It was one of three multi-hit games last week for Witt, who raised his batting average more than 20 points last week to .302, and raised his OPS by 82 points to .847. Witt is now at 2.8 bWAR for the season, tied for the MLB lead among position players.

Tod Palmer writes about Bridget Howard’s journey as the first female full-time broadcaster for Royals TV.

She remembers watching as female broadcasters broke into the sports world and made a mark — Erin Andrews, Jenny Dell, Taylor McGregor, et al. — and that fueled her desire to do the same.

“Those were women that I looked up to, and I saw them in roles like this and was like, ‘Hey, I can do this, too,’” Bridget said.

Now, she’s one of those inspirational women whom little girls with big dreams watch during Royals games.

Baseball America has mock draft 3.0.

6. Royals — Gio Rojas, LHP, Stoneman Douglas HS, Parkland, Fla.

A high school player feels most likely for the Royals. They have been all over Rojas this spring, and he’s pitched excellently. He has terrific arm speed, a big fastball and a chance for a wipeout breaking ball. If Lombard isn’t taken by now, he probably doesn’t last much longer than this, and it’s also hard to rule out Booth and his top-of-the-scale speed.

Eno Sarris wonders why left-handers aren’t throwing splitters as much despite the pitch being more popular than ever.

One of the first things that always comes up with splitters is the impact the pitch has on a pitcher’s health. Does the split-finger grip lead to injury?

“The reason that I don’t throw the splitter anymore is I did blow out my elbow when I was throwing it,” said San Francisco Giants left-handed starter Robbie Ray. “I don’t think there’s any correlation between the two, but it just happened. I was throwing it a lot in spring training, I was working on it, and never had any issue. I think my elbow was just ready to go.”

Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs covers the Giants trade of Patrick Bailey to the Guardians.

Texas Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi was scratched from his start last night due to left side tightness.

Blue Jays outfielder Addison Barger goes right back to the IL after just returning.

Mookie Betts makes his return from the IL.

Kevin Gausman reached 2000 career strikeouts last night.

The Mets are calling up one of their top prospects, A.J. Ewing.

Batters tapping their helmets as part of their in-between pitch routine can cause accidental challenges.

A deep-dive film review of Chiefs fifth-round draft pick, RB Emmett Johnson from Nebraska.

The Milwaukee Bucks are seeking offers for star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Buffalo Bills will have the first Prime Video Thursday Night Football to open their new stadium.

The full NFL schedule release is coming later this week.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are being sued by police officers in Florida because of their movie The Rip.

J. Craig Venter, who helped decode the human genome, died at 79 years old.

Your song of the day is Typhoons by Royal Blood.

As the Orioles try to decide which direction they’re going to take their 2026 season, every week we turn our attention to the youngsters who could eventually boost the team, whether in the short term or the long term. It’s time for our recap of the last six days of minor league baseball, with a particular focus on Camden Chat’s top 20 Orioles prospects.

Triple-A Norfolk Tides

• Last week: 2-4 vs. Gwinnett Stripers (Braves)
• Coming week: at Charlotte Knights (White Sox)
• Season record: 15-24, tied for last place (10.0 GB) in International League East

We’re at a point where the pitchers are far more interesting than the hitters at Norfolk, something that hasn’t been said for the past few years. That’s partly because the Tides have very few interesting hitters currently active, and partly because some O’s pitching prospects are doing interesting things. Right-hander Nestor German (#11 prospect) had an especially eye-opening week, making two outstanding starts and allowing just one earned run in 11 innings. The 11th-round pick from 2023 racked up an impressive 16 strikeouts and just one walk.

Levi Wells (#16) also did well(s), holding Charlotte to one run in a 4.2-inning performance, with four Ks and no walks. At the rate the Orioles are losing starting pitchers to injury, don’t be surprised if German and/or Wells get a major league call-up before the All-Star break.

José Barrero and Creed Willems carried the Tides’ offense this week, mashing three home runs apiece. The rest of the team combined for two. Willems is now rocking a .265/.370/.496 slash line with eight homers this season. I’ve been skeptical of Willems as a real prospect since the O’s drafted him, perhaps because of his, let’s say, non-ballplayerish physique. But the kid can hit. Too bad he’s a catcher/first baseman, two positions at which the Orioles don’t currently have a need. Can he play third base? (The answer is no, he cannot play third base.)

The O’s could also use a capable outfielder or two, but Enrique Bradfield Jr. has been sidelined since April 21 with left hand discomfort, and Reed Trimble, who was added to the 40-man roster this offseason, is still rehabbing in the lower minors. Norfolk’s only real outfielder at the moment is Jud Fabian, whose .225 average and .784 OPS don’t exactly cry out as a solution to the Orioles’ problems.

Norfolk season stats

Double-A Chesapeake Baysox

• Last week: 3-3 vs. Altoona Curve (Pirates)
• Coming week: at Akron RubberDucks (Guardians)
• Season record: 14-18, fifth place (11.0 GB) in Eastern League Southwest

Chesapeake’s offensive numbers were boosted by a 19-4 win on Wednesday, a game in which they bashed five home runs and collected 15 hits. They didn’t top five runs in any of their other games. Catcher Ethan Anderson was their hitting star, collecting a team-high seven hits and three homers for the week. Part of a problematic 2024 draft class in which the Orioles’ top three picks (Vance Honeycutt, Griff O’Ferrall, and Anderson) all had lousy pro debuts, Anderson is the one who’s taken a step forward this year. He’s hitting .289/.407/.456 in 25 games for the Baysox and is trying to put himself back on the prospect map. No such luck for Griff O’Ferrall, who is batting .156 with a .606 OPS.

Two 21-year-old hitting prospects, Aron Estrada (#13) and Thomas Sosa (#18), are scuffling at Double-A. Estrada is slashing .231/.274/.346 and Sosa .219/.274/.381. Each had just four hits this week. Neither is ready to join Samuel Basallo on the Orioles’ list of successful international signings, at least not yet.

Two familiar Orioles, Jackson Holliday and Heston Kjerstad, began rehab assignments with Chesapeake this week. This is Kjerstad’s first field action since suffering a right hamstring strain in spring training. He’s 1-for-6 so far. Holliday, meanwhile, is taking his third crack at rehab after his first one was cut short on April 12 and his next one halted after three games. He went 0-for-6 with four walks this week and, notably, played third base for just the third time in his professional career. I’m not sure Holliday has the arm for third, but the O’s clearly are desperate for a non-Coby Mayo alternative at the hot corner.

Chesapeake’s rotation had a fine week, ERA-wise, with their six hurlers combining for a 2.42 mark. But lefty Sebastian Gongora was the only one to work six innings, delivering a quality, one-run, seven-strikeout performance. Evan Yates held Altoona to one run and one hit in 5.1 frames, while the other four didn’t make it through five. Righty Juaron Watts-Brown (#15) gave up just one run and two hits in 4.1 innings, but walked four.

Chesapeake season stats

High-A Frederick Keys

• Last week: 5-1 vs. Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)
• Coming week: at Hudson Valley Renegades (Yankees)
• Season record: 19-13, second place (1.5 GB) in South Atlantic League North

I don’t want to jinx anything, but do the Orioles have a minor league team that’s actually good? Their High-A affiliate, in their first year back in Frederick, is six games over .500 and just completed a dominant series in which they scored 56 runs in six games, including three straight 11-run performances from Wednesday to Friday. They hit 18 home runs!

Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy (#6) went absolutely bonkers. He blasted five dingers, leading all South Atlantic League hitters for the week, and went 11-for-22 with nine RBIs. The 2025 competitive balance draft pick, selected #31 overall, is hitting .306 with a .985 OPS and 10 homers in 27 games. He’s been outstanding so far. It should be mentioned that he’s struck out in 29% of his PAs, with 35 Ks and 10 walks, which he’ll probably need to address as he moves up the organizational ladder. At High-A, though, it’s not stopping him from having success.

First round pick Ike Irish (#4) hit pretty well himself, even if he was upstaged by Aloy. Irish had two homers and a double and scored seven runs. Two other Keys had three-homer weeks: shortstop Elis Cuevas and the rehabbing outfielder Reed Trimble. I think Trimble’s about ready to return to Triple-A.

It’s always a good week when Joseph Dzierwa (#14) makes two starts, and he did not disappoint. In 8.2 innings, he allowed only one run and racked up 15 strikeouts, walking just two. His first start, in which he threw five scoreless, hitless innings, was particularly dominant. He had to leave his second start after 3.2 innings following a freak play in which a bad-hop overthrow cut him above the eye. Ouch. The injury doesn’t figure to keep him sidelined, fortunately.

Among other Keys pitchers, let’s give some praise to starter Yeiber Cartaya, who tossed five shutout innings with one hit and six strikeouts. The 23-year-old righty is doing excellent things so far this year, posting a 0.68 ERA (two earned runs in 26.2 innings) with a 0.79 WHIP, a .110 batting average against, and 12.15 K/9. Cartaya has put up middling to bad numbers every year of his pro career until now, so maybe something has clicked for him. The Athletic’s Keith Law, for one, was impressed by what he saw from Cartaya this week.

Frederick season stats

Low-A Delmarva Shorebirds

• Last week: 3-3 at Salem RidgeYaks (Red Sox)
• Coming week: vs. Fayetteville Woodpeckers (Astros)
• Season record: 13-20, tied for last place (10.0 GB) in Carolina League North

The only top-20 Orioles prospect on the Shorebirds roster, Esteban Mejia (#8), continued to struggle with his control. In his lone start this week, he walked six batters, though he at least limited the damage to one run. That came three starts after an eight-walk performance on April 17. Mejia has issued 22 walks in 18.2 innings this year. It’s not what you want.

The award for Strangest Pitching Line goes to righty Brayan Orrantia, who worked 5.1 innings and gave up 10 runs — but only three were earned. Two Delmarva errors cost him a couple of runs in his first outing of the week, and another two miscues led to five more unearned runs in his second start. He certainly didn’t pitch well, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates, either. The only quality start from a Shorebird this week was righty Christian Rodriguez (six innings, one run).

The team’s best hitter of the week was outfielder Braylon Whitaker, a 19th-round pick in 2024, who reached base 14 times on six hits and eight walks. Whitaker is batting .305 this season and has more walks (19) than strikeouts (16), albeit with no power. Shortstop DJ Layton has been off to a good start in 2026 but was 5-for-20 with nine strikeouts this week.

Delmarva season stats

**

In the glorious return of the Player of the Week poll last week, Ike Irish was the winner with 63% of the vote. This week there were so many standout performances that five guys who hit three home runs each — Creed Willems, Jose Barrero, Ethan Anderson, Elis Cuevas, and Reed Trimble — didn’t even make the cut, nor did Joseph Dzierwa. Instead it’s a two-man race. Who gets your vote?