May 13, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; San Diego Padres left fielder Gavin Sheets (30) hits a three run home run in the ninth inning as Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras (24) looks on at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Gavin Sheets may soon have a warrant issued for his arrest for stealing a game from the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Wednesday. Sheets stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with the San Diego Padres trailing, 1-0. There were two on and two out and Sheets was in an 0-1 hole when Brewers reliever Abner Uribe left an 88-mph slider over the plate. Sheets turned on the pitch and hit it just beyond the outfield wall in right-center field to put the Padres in front, 3-1. Mason Miller was called on in the bottom of the ninth inning and worked around a leadoff single to secure the two-run win for San Diego.
The Padres faced Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski who was dealing for Milwaukee. He completed seven innings without allowing a run. He only allowed four hits and recorded 10 strikeouts over the seven innings. San Diego sent its ace to the mound as well in Michael King. While not as dominant as his Milwaukee counterpart, King delivered another solid start, but he failed to get run support from his offense. If not for the heroic home run by Sheets, King would be looking at another loss with his offense spinning its wheels.
San Diego was outhit by Milwaukee 9-6, but the Padres needed just two of those hits in the ninth inning to get the win. Miguel Andujar hit a two out single into center field and Xander Bogaerts followed with a walk. That set the stage for Sheets to play her0 and as we have seen before this season, Sheets came through when his team needed it most.
The win by the Padres sets up the rubber match with the Brewers on Thursday. The game is set to start at 10:40 a.m.
Padres News:
Padres first-year manager Craig Stammen has shown throughout the season he is not afraid to mix up the lineup or ride the hot hand. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball believes Stammen is still just experimenting with his lineup on a daily basis.
Ethan Salas continues to perform at a high level in the San Diego minor league system. He homered again and seems to be fully recovered from the back issue that caused him to miss all but 10 games in the 2025 season.
A roster crunch is coming for San Diego and the biggest question around the team so far is who is leaving when Lucas Giolito makes his Padres debut. The expectation is Walker Buehler, German Marquex (IL) or Matt Waldron are released.
The Knicks' offense has always been good. The club has finished in the Top 10 in offensive efficiency in the last four seasons. But, it’s always felt as if the team was leaving money on the table with a predictable offense that leaned far too heavily on isolations and one-on-one play from master shot creators Jalen Brunson and Karl-AnthonyTowns.
Though it largely worked and produced good results like two 50-win seasons and a Conference Finals appearance, New York's offense would often grind to a halt. After the Knicks fell behind 2-1 in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, a switch flipped. With their backs against the wall, Mike Brown diversified his offense, putting the ball in Towns’ hands and allowing him to make plays for teammates moving off the ball.
The results have been astonishing. New York is 7-0 since the adjustment, blitzing the Hawks and sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers rather easily in four games. At the center of the Knicks’ run is Towns, who has re-invented his game. The 7-footer is averaging 8.3 assists per 36 minutes in the postseason. That’s a stark difference from last year’s playoffs, when the big man posted just 1.4 dimes per 36 minutes through New York’s run to the ECF.
Even in the regular season, Towns was never this consistently pass-happy, averaging 3.5 assists per 36 minutes in 75 games. During this stretch, Towns has been able to give the Knicks offense some verve and a little more diversity.
It has also taken pressure off Brunson. Defenses can’t just scheme to stop the Knicks' point guard in isolation or in the pick-and-roll. They now have to worry about the All-Star point guard coming off a pindown screen, or setting a flex screen for another teammate like he’s done for OG Anunoby countless times in both the Hawks and 76ers series.
That’s all able to happen because of Towns. The All-Star is one of the best shooting big men in NBA history. When he has the ball at the top of the key, his defender has to be alert and can’t sag back into the paint. In many of New York’s lineups, there’s enough perimeter shooting to leave the paint open. It’s giving Towns great opportunities to feed his teammates.
And New York’s offense is thriving. In the last seven games, the Knicks have the top offense of all playoff teams, scoring 130.5 points per 100 possessions according to NBA Stats.
Offensively involved
Towns’ scoring and field goal attempts are down throughout the playoffs. Some of that can be attributed to his recent foul woes in the second round, as well as the fact that he has missed several fourth quarters due to blowouts becoming a regular occurrence in a Knicks game.
But it also doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of the Knicks' offense, because Towns has the ball in his hands on a regular basis. During the regular season, Towns averaged 1.15 front-court touches per minute, per NBA Stats. That number has risen to 1.29 in the playoffs and 1.42 in the seven-game win streak.
Towns' teammates are filling in the gaps. Before he went down with a hamstring injury, Anunoby was having the best moments of his career, averaging 21.4 points. After a slow start to the postseason, Mikal Bridgeshas risen like a phoenix from the ashes. Reserves Miles McBride and Landry Shamet have also shown up with big offensive nights.
Towns has always had potential as a passer. He averaged at least three assists a night the last eight seasons. But it never seemed like a realistic possibility that he could become this kind of playmaker.
Turnovers were one of the central issues with putting the ball in Towns' hands so often. He had a penchant for hooking the arm of his defender on drives, which led to a variety of offensive foul calls earlier this season. He also would wildly barrel into defenders over and over again. But now, Towns has been much more under control, both on drives and on passes.
Quietly, the Knicks' big man has also become much more stout on the defensive end. This well-rounded version of Towns has helped elevate the Knicks to a team with real championship hopes. His play on both ends has given New York a chance in any playoff series.
It's a getaway Thursday for some, but for us here, betting the MLB player prop markets and digging for dingers, and it's moving day as I'm looking to get into the black on the season once again.
Today's the day Fernando Tatis Jr. gets that home run monkey off his back, and the Athletics can turn Michael McGreevy's luck into a dinger today at Sutter Health Park.
And adding Bobby Witt Jr. to any home run card right now just makes sense, as he might be the AL MVP betting favorite by June.
These are my favorite home run props for Thursday, May 14.
UPDATE: Added another HR pick + parlay.
Best MLB home run props today
Player to hit a HR
Odds
Fernando Tatis Jr.
+525
Shea Langeliers
+350
Bobby Witt Jr.
+450
💲Today's HR parlay
+12891
Home run pick: Fernando Tatis Jr (+525)
The drought ends today for Fernando Tatis Jr., who somehow has yet to go deep this year.
He’s been one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball to this point. His xwOBA ranks second on the team despite slugging just .294. He also owns the fastest bat speed on the roster, ranks inside the Top 50 in baseball in that metric, and sits 25th in BlastContact%. Even his attack angle is in a great spot.
It’s a real head-scratcher, and it ends today against lefty Kyle Harrison, whom he’s taken deep over nine career at-bats while hitting .444.
Harrison is a fly-ball pitcher who might be pitching above expectations this season and profiles as a strong target today for a homerless Tatis, who feels more than due with the underlying metrics backing it up.
Time: 1:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Brewers.TV, Padres.TV
Home run pick: Shea Langeliers (+350)
There aren’t a lot of +EV home run props popping up in the projections today, but Shea Langeliers is one of them with a fair price around +300 against Michael McGreevy at the homer-friendly confines of Sutter Health Park, where temperatures are expected around 80 degrees with slight winds blowing out.
THE BAT ranks Langeliers as the 15th-best home run hitter in baseball, and he’s launched four longballs over his last 28 at-bats.
McGreevy owns a .200 BABIP that simply isn’t sustainable, and his xERA sits nearly three full runs higher than his actual ERA.
He’s not a strikeout pitcher and will have to pitch to contact in a difficult environment. It’s a great home run hitter in a great home run park on a slate without many strong options.
Time: 3:05 p.m. ET
Where to watch: NBCSCA, Cardinals.TV
Home run pick: Bobby Witt Jr. (+450)
It’s tough to go wrong with Bobby Witt Jr. on the home run card.
The guy can do it the conventional way or the Little League way, and +450 is a great price on a tough board against lefty Anthony Kay, whom Witt has already seen this season. He’s also hitting lefties at the best rate of his career in 2026.
Witt owns a 191 wRC+ over the last two weeks, along with the seventh-best slugging percentage in baseball. He’s gone deep five times during that stretch, entering today on a two-game home run streak.
He’s one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now and continues to climb the AL MVP odds board. I’d play Witt down to +400 in this matchup.
Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Royals.TV, CHSN
Josh Inglis' 2026 Transparency Record
HR picks: 13-71, -3.94 units
Today’s HR parlay
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Bet Now +12891
Shea Langeliers
Bobby Witt Jr.
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.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 13: Danny Jansen #9 of the Texas Rangers celebrates with teammates following a run scoring single against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field on May 13, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Rangers 6, D-Backs 5
This game shall henceforth be known as The Jake Burger Game.
I really should use “henceforth” more often. That’s a good word.
And Paul Sewald coughing up a lead at the Shed brings back good memories, doesn’t it?
If I were a D-Backs fan, I’d want to vomit.
The Rangers had no business winning that game. Kumar Rocker was not good, the offense was largely stifled, the relievers offered little relief.
When the ninth inning started, my thought was that the Rangers were in position to steal one here. Then, when Jacob Latz blew the save, my thought was that, well, this was a game the Rangers didn’t deserve to win in the first place.
And then…
And then…
The unexpected happened.
Crazy, huh?
How Kumar Rocker managed to get through five innings without allowing any runs is beyond me. He threw 97 pitches, and the D-backs hitters swung and missed at just 5 of them. He couldn’t put batters away, with his 97 pitches spanning just 21 batters. Rocker walked four batters and struck out just three. Somehow, he gave up just three hits.
Arizona starter Ryne Nelson, meanwhile, carved up the Rangers through four, with the only Ranger baserunner coming on a softly hit Evan Carter single.
The Rangers’ fifth inning started with an infield single by Carter. After Ezequiel Duran struck out, Alejandro Osuna was hit by a pitch.
Jake Burger swung at a first pitch fastball from Nelson and lofted the ball the opposite way…and it kept carrying, and carrying, and carrying until it reached the bleachers. Home run, 3-0 lead, Kumar Rocker is in line for the win.
Then the Diamondbacks scored on Cole Winn in the sixth, and got a run home in the seventh, putting them in position to make that ninth inning comeback, while the Rangers had 11 of 12 batters retired after the Burger homer, with the one baserunner being due to a Josh Jung double, because apparently Josh Jung has to have a double every game.
Come the ninth inning, Corey Seager struck out. Josh Jung singled. Evan Carter had a routine F-7.
The Rangers, per B-R, had a 4% chance of winning the game after the Carter fly out. That win probability is based on a generic model, though. It doesn’t take into account the run-dampening qualities of the Shed, or the fact that the Rangers had Duran, Osuna, Burger and Danny Jansen — not exactly a Murderer’s Row (Murderers’ Row?) — due up.
You know what happened. Duran doubled, bringing home Jung. Osuna drew a walk. Burger singled home Duran to tie the game. D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo pulled Paul Sewald for Juan Morillo, who apparently is taking a break from fronting Rage Against The Machine.
Again, think how much this game must have stung for Diamondbacks fans.
Arizona had 19 baserunners — 10 hits, 8 walks, and an E6. They left 13 runners on base. 13!
The Rangers had 8 hits in the game — half of which came in the ninth inning. They had just one walk — the Osuna 9th inning walk. 10 baserunners, half of them coming in the ninth inning, six of them scoring.
Texas was 3 for 4 with runners in scoring position in the game. You aren’t going to give up five runs, have just four at bats with runners in scoring position, and win many games.
It reminds me of the old Buddy Hackett joke:
“Ask me what the secret to comedy is.”
“Okay, what’s the secret to co-”
“TIMING!!!”
Kumar Rocker’s sinker maxed out at 96.5 mph, averaging 94.7 mph. Cole Winn reached 95.7 mph with his fastball. Jalen Beeks’ fastball touched 95.2 mph. Peyton Gray’s one fastball was 92.6 mph. Tyler Alexander’s one sinker was 90.5 mph. Jacob Latz reached 97.3 mph with his fastball. Cal Quantrill’s sinker topped out at 95.7 mph.
Evan Carter had a 103.9 mph ground out. Josh Jung had a 103.0 mph double. Ezequiel Duran had a 102.5 mph double. Joc Pederson had a 102.2 mph line out.
Heading into an off day on a win — and a series win. Feels good.
Shōta Imanaga is pitching like the ace everyone hoped he would be.
Imanaga threw seven outstanding innings (and one batter into the eighth, and that inning led to the Cubs’ undoing), the third time this year he’s thrown seven. But Phil Maton could not hold a 1-1 tie together and the Cubs lost to the Braves for the second straight night, 4-1.
It wasn’t just Maton’s failure, either. The Cubs again didn’t generate much offense, just four hits and a single run. From BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs have made a total of 13 hits in their four straight losses: five, three, one and four.
Since 1901, they have made fewer in four consecutive games only once: 12, April 4-7, 2021: three, five, one and three. They won the first two games of that span, 4-3 over the Pirates and 5-3 over the Brewers, then lost to the Brewers, 4-0 and 4-2, the last game in 10 innings.
This is just the fourth time the Cubs managed only 13 hits in four games. The earlier three all were more than a century ago: Sept. 3-4, 1905 (back-to-back doubleheaders); Sept. 28-Oct. 1, 1912; and Aug. 4-6, 1920 (doubleheader last day). The Cubs won one of the games in 1905 and lost all four in 1912 and 1920.
Let’s go back to the beginning of this frustrating loss.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Drake Baldwin homered off Imanaga. That shouldn’t be a game-killer; a solo home run that early isn’t the worst thing in the world. And in 54.1 innings this season, Imanaga has allowed only five home runs, four of them solo.
The Cubs managed to tie the game up in the top of the fifth. Carson Kelly led off with a single and advanced to second on a ground out. Dansby Swanson walked and the Braves replaced starter JR Ritchie with reliever Tyler Kinley.
That’s where the game stayed through seven innings. Imanaga was allowed to start the eighth because left-handed hitter Michael Harris II was the leadoff hitter. Imanaga ran the count to 3-1 on Harris, who then broke his bat on a weak contact grounder to Nico.
At 2-1, this game might still have been within reach, but Maton then served up a home-run ball to Mauricio Dubón to make it 4-1 and the way the Cubs bats have been going, it might as well have been 40-1. The Cubs did get a leadoff walk from Michael Busch in the ninth off Raisel Iglesias, but Iglesias then got Michael Conforto to hit into a double play, and PCA popped up to end the game.
Holding the Braves, who lead MLB in runs, to five runs Tuesday and four runs Wednesday isn’t too bad. But the Cubs offense has simply gone missing on this road trip and, well, they’re going to have to find it pretty soon. The other teams in the NL Central all lost Wednesday, so the Cubs still lead the division by 2.5 games over the Brewers and Cardinals.
A couple of notes on Imanaga’s outing from John:
Imanaga’s seven innings plus one batter is the longest start by a Cub this season.
He had pitched 7.0 twice; Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon, once.
Imanaga gave up no runs and one run in his previous two, with four and three hits. He struck out five and one. In this one: five hits, no walks, six strikeouts.
Imanaga now has six quality starts. Cabrera has four; Taillon, three; and Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton and Colin Rea, one each, for a total 15 in 43 games.
The series finale, on paper, is the toughest pitching matchup. Ben Brown will make his second start of 2026 for the Cubs. Last time out, against the Rangers last Friday, he was really good (four no-hit innings). Hopefully that continues. The Cubs will have to try to get the offense rolling against Chris Sale. Game time is again 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage wil be via Marquee Sports Network (and streaming on Peacock, the Braves broadcast, outside the Cubs and Braves market territories).
PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 23: Ranger Suarez #55 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates after taking Game 5 and winning the NLCS against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, October 23, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The day is finally upon us. Many resigned themselves to the fact that when Ranger Suárez left in free agency over the winter, there would come a day in which he would be facing the Phillies. Suárez signing with the American League Boston Red Sox lessened that possibility, but the day has come, nevertheless. Suárez has had a good first month in Boston, as he owns a 2-2 record with a 2.77 ERA through seven starts. However, he left his last start on May 3rd after just four innings due to tightness in his right hamstring.
But we’re not here to discuss what Suárez has done with the Red Sox. Instead, let’s take some time to reminisce about Suárez’ Phillies career. Signed out of his native Venezuela when he was just 16-years old, Suárez grew to be a fan favorite in Philadelphia and pitched in almost every kind of role or situation you could imagine. He appeared in 187 games as a Phillie including 119 starts and went 53-37 with a 3.38 ERA. His trademark calm, cool, collected demeanor as well as his impeccable, nonchalant fielding became hallmarks of a very successful Phillies tenure.
However, the postseason is where Suárez really shined. His 1.48 career postseason ERA is seventh best all-time among pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched. That includes two scoreless appearances in the 2022 World Series. But of course, the Phillies wouldn’t have made it to that World Series if it weren’t for Suárez entering in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the NLCS with two on and one out in a one-run game with the Phillies clinging to the lead after Bedlam at the Bank. In true Ranger Suárez fashion, it took him only two pitches to record the final two outs and seal the pennant for Philadelphia.
It’s hard to top that when it comes to memorable moments for Ranger Suárez with the Phillies, but your opinion for your favorite may vary. So, what’s your favorite memory of Ranger Suárez with the Phillies?
ATLANTA, GA - MAY 13: Mauricio Dubón #14 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning during the game against the Chicago Cubs at Truist Park on May 13, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I’m not going to argue one way or another, I’m just throwing the question out there.
The Braves got Mauricio Dubon in a salary dump. The Honduran utility man had a standout defensive year in 2025, accumulating 2.2 fWAR in just under 400 PAs, but that wasn’t enough for the Astros to be interested in retaining him for about $6 million in salary. He’d put up about 1 fWAR in 400 PAs the year before, and about 2 fWAR in 500 PAs in 2023. As he had never hit all that well, it was a defense-and-hope-the-bat-won’t-kill you profile.
Fast forward to, well, now, and Dubon has 1.0 fWAR in 165 PAs. He’s not playing defense at the same breakneck pace as last year, but it’s still good. His 108 wRC+ is a product of substantially outhitting his xwOBA (.328 wOBA, .309 xwOBA), but the xwOBA is his highest in a season since 2020, and decent in and of itself.
The Braves have benefited hugely from his versatility, as he served as the de facto starter at shortstop to help weather Ha-Seong Kim’s injury, only to shift around to the outfield to cover concerns with Michael Harris II’s quad and the seemingly-inevitable Ronald Acuña Jr. lower body injury. More to the point, unlike many “utility guys” (hi, Emilio Bonifacio, my longest-tenured enemy), Dubon has already accrued at least a run above average per Statcast’s measures at both shortstop and left field, and hasn’t been negative anywhere.
The bat continues to be a work in progress, but it really does feel like the emphasis is on the “progress” part of that idiom, after a fairly stagnant time in San Francisco and Houston. He has definitely oriented his approach to try and hit the ball harder, with the biggest change being more selective in terms of the strikes he offers at. It hasn’t been a profound shift as he still isn’t exactly clobbering the ball (.335 xwOBACON is well above his league-worst-ish marks the last two years, but still well below league average), but he’s done a good job shifting the boons available to him from his hand-eye coordination from “will make sure I make contact with everything” to “will make sure I hit everything at a productive angle, even if I don’t hit it all that hard.”
There have also been some interesting changes for him beyond that, as he’s completely remade his stance. He’s now standing further back in the box but also falling over the plate, which is letting him essentially fight the ball off to center and right, especially when he’s pitched outside. But, his stance is also much more open than before, which might help him turn on inside pitches (like he did last night), though I’m honestly not sure the exact mechanics of how an open stance helps when he’s geared a lot of his approach towards poking liners over the infield.
In any case, Dubon has been a huge part of the Braves being where they are right now — he’s filled multiple holes as they’ve arisen and come through quite a lot (11 games with 0.06 WPA or more), despite nothing particularly special in his overall WPA (it’s negative for the season) or clutch score (a very generic 0.20). (He also has 11 games with -0.06 WPA or worse. He’s been in the thick of it all year, but he’s come through as often as he hasn’t, basically.) Alex Anthopoulos has already made public statements about how depth has been huge this year while previously being a thing he ignored as somewhat of a counter-current to his former colleagues with the Dodgers/in the Andrew Friedman management tree.
So, will the Braves extend him? Or, will they let him hit free agency and re-sign him? An injury or performance decline could upend all of this, of course. But, the rest of the roster likely isn’t getting any younger or less injury prone, which means Dubon will have a clear role going forward should the Braves choose to retain him. His offensive track record suggests he won’t be in for a huge payday, but if he continues to polish himself at the plate, that might change.
Right now, I could see the Braves offering him about $15 million to hang around for next year. Dubon might try to angle for a bit more, but his camp might be better served and waiting to see how much of his current 4 fWAR-per-season pace he can sustain. The more he is able to, the larger a chance of a two-year-ish deal at league-average-regular ($20 million annually or so) that gets him to his mid-30s. But, if he really wants to stay and the keep the vibes near-immaculate, then yeah, I can see him signing something short to cover 2027.
As I write this, late at night on an irksomely chilly May 13, in a year where (like every year now) spring seems reluctant to arrive, the Chicago White Sox are a .500 ballclub. The cold, sun-shy temps can make a person think we’re just at the start of a season, where they might be sitting at 3-3 in a still-formless barely-born year, but the calendar gives lie to that.
We’re 42 games in. A bit more than a quarter-way through the 2026 season, and the Sox are officially mediocre. And that’s a cause for minor joy, which might be slightly sardonic but is neither muted nor insincere.
It’s been a long time coming. Last season, the high-point was 2-2. In 2023, they were as good as 3-3 before the wheels came off. In 2024 the White Sox started strong, at 0-0, but quickly went downhill.
In fact, the last time the Sox had a .500 record this late in the season was 2022. If you remember that year, we were perpetually .500. They hovered a game or two on either side of middling for most of the year. In a nice piece of tuneless harmony, they were never more than five games under or over .500, and even the eight-game losing streak that wrecked any hope at returning to the playoffs was balanced by going 5-2 to finish a pointless 81-81.
It is that part — the chance of returning to the playoffs, in a weak AL Central just there for the taking — that made 2022 so brutal, and so emotionally different than this by-standings unremarkable year. Despite getting trounced by Houston in the 2021 playoffs, the defending division champ White Sox were hot preseason picks to win the World Series. Injuries, bad management, regression and terrible roster construction led to a season that never got started, until it came to a thudding finish. It’s weird and unsettling to think how not very long ago there was optimism, before the bottom fell completely out.
It’s also strange to think that there have only been three years completely in the wilderness — and you might even say that we began to leave the wilderness last year. So the years of wandering weren’t that long, it is just that the wilderness was so thorny and snake-filled and parched and really not very pleasant to look at. Not a photogenic wilderness. More of a superfund site than a wilderness, really.
There’s a chance that metaphor got away from me, just like the excitement we have over a .500 club could be seen as our emotions getting away from us. After all, there are a lot of negative signs, including a run differential of -12, which leads to an x-W/L of … 20-22. So only one game. But even that minor blip can be chalked up to an early-season bout of looking really bad in losses and like a normal baseball team in the wins.
And that’s what the Sox are right now: a normal team. Not a good one, but not a bad one. Certainly not a historically bad one, as we’ve been. Not a World Series contender, but in a terrible year for the AL in general and the AL Central in particular, a goofily fringe playoff hopeful.
Being normal when you’ve been intensely abnormal is a good feeling. It’s qualitatively different from being frustrating and mediocre when you expect more. There isn’t the agony of expectation, just the silly joy of thinking that you might, one day, have those agonized expectations again.
If the season ended today, the Sox would be in the playoffs. It doesn’t end today, of course. But at the very least, it feels like something else might just be beginning. And no matter what the temperature is outside, no matter how unnatural our seasons might be, that feeling of a new bloom is proof that you can never hold back spring.
On this day nine years ago, Todd Frazier managed to score from third after tagging up on an infield fly. | (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
1907 The lead-up to the first weekend game of the new season was full of pomp and circumstance, and the White Sox celebrated their World Series win over the crosstown Cubs. But after the parade into the park, as the pennant itself was being raised, the wooden flagpole at South Side Park snapped in half.
The heavy winds that ruined the climax of the pennant ceremony portended trouble for the day’s scheduled game against the Senators, as rains washed the action out after just four Washington batter.
The ill omen did not, in fact, spell a bad season for the White Sox. While the South Siders failed to repeat their AL pennant win, they finished 87-64-6 and led the AL for the majority of the season before falling to third place. At the time of the deluge that wiped out the game after the aborted ceremony, the White Sox were 17-8 and up by three games in the pennant race.
1914 White Sox starter Jim Scott threw a no-hitter, with one problem — the game against Washington remained tied, 0-0, through nine. To start the 10th, future Black Sox ringleader Chick Gandil broke up Scott’s no-hitter with a single, and the game was lost when the next batter, Howie Shanks, tripled Gandil home.
The game marked the first of three nine-inning no-hitters Ray Schalk caught during his 17 seasons with the White Sox.
1940 For the second time, Jimmie Foxx hit a home run over the Comiskey Park roof. It was the fifth roof shot in Comiskey history, all so far coming from opponents, and Foxx became the first player to accomplish the feat twice.
Foxx had two homers in the game, the first being the roof shot, that came in the second inning. The slugger also homered in the top of the 10th inning, the eventual game-winning margin of a 7-6 Boston win. Both home runs came off of Sox starter Johnny Rigney, who went 9 1⁄3 innings and surrendered all seven Bosox runs.
Before home plate was moved up eight feet in the 1980s, only two players every put two homers over the roof: Foxx, and his teammate in this 1940 game, Ted Williams.
1943 Buck Ross threw a one-hitter at the Yankees, giving up a single to Nick Etten with one out in the second inning but shutting New York down from there. The White Sox kept the outcome in some suspense, failing to crack onto the scoreboard until the seventh inning, when Wally Moses and Jimmy Grant tapped out run-scoring singles.
Ross would end up 11-7 in 1943 — his only winning record in 10 MLB seasons. Despite seven complete games and a 3.19 ERA, the righthander would earn just 1.1 WAR in the pitching-rich 1943 season.
1963 White Sox pitcher Ray Herbert fired his fourth consecutive shutout, beating the Tigers, 3-0, at Comiskey Park. Herbert allowed six hits and struck out seven. His shutout streak began on May 1, when he blanked the Orioles. That was followed by shutouts over the Senators and the Yankees. In the shutout stretch, Herbert only allowed 15 hits in 36 innings, with 22 strikeouts.
In the previous season, Ray won 20 games and was the winning pitcher for the American League in the second 1962 All-Star Game, played at Wrigley Field.
1967 White Sox pitching great Gary Peters authored his second career one-hitter, beating the Angels, 3-1, at Comiskey Park. It was the nightcap in a doubleheader sweep. Peters allowed only a second-inning home run to former Sox first baseman Bill “Moose” Skowron (traded to California by the White Sox just eight days earlier), and struck out 10. This was also the final win of a 10-game personal winning streak for Peters.
Petersmade the All-Star team for the second time in his career that season, going 16-11 with a 2.28 ERA over 260 innings pitched.
1977 The White Sox hammered Cleveland, 18-2, in a game that started at 10:30 a.m. in connection with a promotion for the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin sandwich. First baseman Jim Spencer tied the franchise mark with eight RBIs on the day, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, including a grand slam along with a two-run shot and a two-RBI single. Spencer drove in eight runs in a game again later that season, against Minnesota.
Only four other players have driven in eight runs in a game for the White Sox, and if it needs be said, Spencer was the only one to do it twice — and fewer than two months apart, at that!
1998 Greg Norton became one of only 13 players to hit two home runs in the same game off of Randy Johnson. Norton homered in the third and fifth innings of a 5-3 win at Comiskey Park, going 2-for-3 in the game, with three RBIs.
2005 White Sox speedster Scott Podsednik became just one of eight players in White Sox history to swipe four bases in a game, doing so against the Orioles at U.S. Cellular Field. Just a week earlier, he grabbed four bases at Toronto. And in almost one year’s time, on May 1, 2006, Podsednik would accomplish the feat for a third time. Scotty Pods is the only player in franchise history to steal four bases in a game twice, much less three times.
2017 As part of an eight-run eighth inning against the Padres, White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier scored from third on an infield pop-up! Tyler Saladino popped up a bunt attempt, which was caught by San Diego’s Wil Myers near first base. Myers then turned his back and hesitated, and when Frazier saw that, he broke for the plate. The return throw was off-line and high, and Frazier slid in toscore. It delighted the White Sox home crowd, as part of a 9-3 win. Fifteen White Sox players batted in the big inning, racking up four hits, five walks, a hit batsman and an error.
Wigan have won more league titles than any other team in men’s rugby league, but their dominance in the women’s game is a recent and rapid development. They swept the board last season, winning the Challenge Cup, League Leaders Shield and their first Women’s Super League title since 2018. As Wigan begin the defence of their title against Leeds Rhinos this weekend, we take a look at the main issues facing the league.
The continued development of the league is reflected in the increase of high-profile coaches leading women’s teams. Denis Betts, the former Wigan, England and Lions player who previously coached in Super League, guided Wigan to the treble last year and has led the way for others to follow. The season opener on Saturday between York Valkyrie and Huddersfield Giants brings together two former Bradford Bulls full-backs, with Leon Pryce in charge of York and the former Scotland coach Nathan Graham now managing Huddersfield.
TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 8: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels looks on against the Toronto Blue Jays in their MLB game at Rogers Centre on May 8, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, radio ratings connoisseur Mike Felger dropped this whopper as it pertains to Mike Trout and the Red Sox:
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) May 12, 2026
The best part of the clip comes right in the middle, when Felger rattles off the reasons his slippery source believes a blockbuster trade of this magnitude is possible. All are significant enough for a bullet point:
The Red Sox think Trout’s a better leader than Bregman
When Felger mentions this nugget, he’s reading from his source, meaning somebody went out of their way to make that comparison. Is it possible they’re plugged into the Breslow side of the operation and those guys aren’t pleased they had to bend to Cora’s way of thinking for a year and a half on that front? Remember, the Red Sox were on the verge of trading for Nolan Arenado in February of 2025 when John Henry swooped in at the last moment with his cigar and ponied up the funds for Bregman. Could this have been a Cora victory over Breslow that some in the organization still aren’t happy about?
But before I get lost down that wormhole, I want to turn back and address bullet point No. 3, because that’s the one directly tied to the money, which is what really matters here.
If the Angels really are interested in Jarren Duran and Brayan Bello, then we’re well on our way to a match because those are guys with limited surplus value going forward. You need guys like this in play because the immediate issue with any Trout trade talk is the enormous negative value that comes attached with his contract. He’s getting paid $37.1 million per year all the way through the end of 2030, which means there’s about $175 million to go prorated out as of mid May 2026.
Now consider that Mike Trout’s games played over the last five seasons look like this:
2021: 36
2022: 119
2023: 82
2024: 29
2025: 130
YIKES!
In short, any deal involving Mike Trout is going to require the Angels picking up a hefty portion of his remaining contract. It’s just a matter of how much. But additionally, it’s also one of the reasons the Angels may be motivated to move Trout right now. His hot start in 2026 could easily be their last best chance to get out from under the final few seasons of his mammoth deal, which again, kind of gives the timing of this rumor legs. (The Angels having the worst record in baseball at 16-28 and just a 1.1% chance to make the playoffs according to Fangraphs should also get conversations moving.)
It gets even better, though, when you consider the Red Sox have Masataka Yoshida on their books. He not only represents dead money in the short-term, but he also happens to be one of the five players in the current outfield / DH logjam that’s making Breslow look like a fool on a daily basis. And the fact that we’re talking about the short-term here is key, as that the timeframe the Angels would be more willing to take on some dead money, while Craig Breslow needs to get rid of it on his books to improve his job security.
In other words, Yoshida represents the possibility to cut into how much money the Angels have to eat in a complex deal. And interestingly enough, the framework of this type of exchange has history. In 2015, when the Blue Jays traded for Troy Tulowitzki, all of the following factors were in play:
The Blue Jays were getting an injury prone superstar with five more years left on his contract.
Toronto demanded the Rockies take back Jose Reyes in the deal because he was dead money and that was going to offset some of Tulowitzki’s contract the Rockies didn’t want to pay. (Sound familiar?)
The 2015 Blue Jays were severely underachieving (under .500 into July) before the Tulowitzki trade helped them catch fire and win 93 games (and the AL East).
The 2015 Blue Jays were run by Alex Anthopoulos, who, like Craig Breslow, had his job on the line and needed to make a big splash to shake things up. He went after the waning superstar player who had spent his entire career in one organization, and it turned out to be a spark that helped Toronto go to the ALCS in back to back seasons.
So against that backdrop, let’s take Duran’s money, Bello’s money, and Yoshida’s money and compare it to Trout’s year by year. For the table below, I assumed a salary for Duran of $10 million in 2027 and $13 million in 2028. We don’t know those exact figures yet because of how the MLB arbitration process works, but we have to put some sort of ballpark figures in there for the exercise to work.
Anyway, here they are added up and then compared to Trout’s total each year:
For the first three years, we’re really, really close! You’re only talking a difference of about $12 million total between now and the end of 2028, which, when you’re dealing with a mega contract like Trout’s, is peanuts.
I have no idea if Felger’s source is legit, but I can tell you this much: When you add Yoshida to the conversation, they got the math right. All of this is to say, I don’t think they’re totally pulling this rumor from their rear end.
But of course, even if they’re not, there are so many other hurdles to jump through on a project like this. The Tulowitzki deal referenced above took months of discussions before the sides aligned. Any potential Trout deal would still need to iron out the money in 2029 and 2030, the exact mix of secondary players, and the fact that Trout — unlike Tulowitzki — has a no-trade clause in place.
But while we’re this deep down the rabbit hole, it’s worth it to take a moment to dream. Jumping back up to that second bullet point in Felger’s clip, Trout would indeed hit a bunch of home runs at Fenway Park. Despite those ugly games played numbers over the last handful of years, if you extrapolate out Trout’s home run totals since the start of 2020 (130 in 491 games), they average out to 43 over 162 games. He’s exactly the the type of big right-handed stick the Sox need in the middle of this lineup.
Also, take a look at these spray charts below from Fangraphs. Trout’s renaissance in 2026 has come with increased slugging to the pull side, which makes me extra curious as to how Felger’s source phrased “he will hit a bunch of home runs at Fenway Park.” Are they referring to his spray chart in 2026 in addition to his raw power? Almost all of Trout’s extra base hits in 2026 have gone to the pull side whereas he’s been more of an all fields power guy throughout his career. Here’s just 2026 compared to the last five years mixed together.
There are also other benefits to a theoretical Trout trade, including how it completely fixes the outfield / DH logjam overnight. Instead of figuring out how you get Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida all in the lineup from the left side, you all of a sudden have four guys in Trout, Abreu, Anthony and Rafaela who fit perfectly into the three outfield / one DH arrangement, and all of them are under your control for the rest of the decade. Two guys batting from the right side, two guys batting from the left side, and Trout can spend more time at DH, which will probably help prolong his career at this stage.
Then there’s the lineup. Can you imagine some combination of Anthony, Trout, Abreu and Contreras batting in the top four slots of the lineup each night? I’m sorry, but opening the first inning with Roman Anthony and Mike Trout every game would be the biggest asses-in-seats move this franchise has made this decade.
Additionally, I also believe that if Trout moves somewhere, his new team is going to to see a bump in his production. Remember how, over the last couple of offseasons, much of the fanbase bemoaned the idea of Nolan Arenado possibly coming to Boston because he bat is cooked? Well, since moving to Arizona, Nolan Arenado is hitting .274 with a .781 OPS. Both are his highest marks in four years. (He also hit a clutch double for the D-Backs in the ninth inning last night and continues to contribute in key spots.)
The point here is that both guys are veterans closer to the end than the beginning who have never seen deep playoff success. They’re going to be some of the hungriest wolves in the pack if you put them in an environment where they have a real chance to win.
Lastly, from a pure theater perspective, how awesome would it be to have Mike Trout and Aaron Judge in the same division on the Red Sox and Yankees? You’re talking about two of the greatest right handed hitters of all time who are both 34-years-old and have each never won a World Series. The sense of legacy altering urgency on the line for both guys would inject something deeply significant into the rivalry we haven’t seen in a while.
And at the end of the day, this is the magic of a Mike Trout trade fantasy. It allows John Henry and the Red Sox to move the needle with real, palpable buzz in ratings, tickets sales, and team interest while not having to part ways with any of the high upside, young whippersnappers fans are already growing quite fond of here. It’s just a matter of figuring out if this is one of those times to pull the trigger in the real world when the formula in the spreadsheet says you shouldn’t.
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 27: Ben Kindel #81 of the Pittsburgh Penguins prepares to take the ice against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game Five of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG PAINTS Arena on April 27, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Ben Kindel picked up votes and finished ninth in the Calder voting. The award was announced early and handed to the unanimous winner, Matthew Schaefer live on national television.
Considering Kindel in his draft+1 wasn’t even expected to be in the NHL until his training camp performance forced his way into the picture, it’s a nice little recognition to pickup votes. It would have required a lot more points to standout as a top-3 choice in the voting but doesn’t take anything away from the bright future that Kindel has.
While Kindel was stacked up against all rookies for this voting, for added nuance it helps to consider what playing as an 18-year old in the NHL might mean for the future. Via Sportsreference.com we looked at 18-year old forwards since 2005-06, taking out the ringers of this category like first overall picks like Sidney Crosby (102 points), Nathan MacKinnon (63), Macklin Celebrini (63) and Connor Bedard (61) who belong a notch above the ’common’ type of performers at this incredibly young age.
Kindel had the sixth most points of this group, and would rank 12th when including all age-18 forwards. Of this list, only Cole Silinger (picked 12th), Zach Benson (13th), David Pastrnak (25th) and Ryan O’Reilly (33rd) were lower draft picks in their respective drafts than Kindel was, which speaks to the rarity of a forward outside of the top-10 producing points as an 18-year old. In the last 20 years most of the draft+1 forwards are going to be top-10 picks, only a very select handful are going to be in the sample.
This chart can be useful to show areas of growth. There was once a world where Pastranak, a future 60-goal scorer, scored 10 goals in a season (albeit, in 46 games since he spent time in the AHL that season). Jack Hughes, Andrei Svechknikov, Steven Stamkos, Valeri Nichushkin, Ryan O’Reilly and Aleksander Barkov weren’t always the point-producing monsters that they turned into during their first season. There still can be a lot of growth and development for a young player that gets to the NHL on an accelerated path. What you see today isn’t the finished product, plenty of players have doubled, tripled or expanded their production to even greater heights.
Of course, on the flip side the list shows success is not guaranteed by getting to this point either. Players in this sample like Jesper Kotkaniemi, Cole Silinger and Alex Galchenyuk had wonderful rookie seasons that didn’t turn into tremendously impactful careers. Kindel’s age-18 sample doesn’t point him straight to the top, but it’s a good grouping of players to work his way into after being the 11th pick of the draft (that even many observers and experts thought was a reach on draft night, no less).
The Penguins have a lot of reason to be excited about Kindel moving forward. One reason he stuck in the NHL, beyond counting stats, was displaying a good work rate and poise away from the puck. He played center all season and was a boost to the team. The next step should come shortly to integrate him into a scoring line and an increased role on the power play so that he can keep developing his offensive game and hopefully get on the path of some of the other 18-year old NHLers who have gone onto become key players on their teams.
The results of Calder race show that Kindel still has a ways to go in that department, but it’s also worth emphasizing and remembering the rare and impressive accomplishment of sticking in the NHL and having a solid season at such a young age.
The sixth Islanders player to win the Calder: Mathew Barzal (2018, Bryan Berard (1997), Mike Bossy (1978), Bryan Trottier (1976), and Denis Potvin (1974).
The 13th first overall pick to win the Calder
The eighth player to win the award during his age-18 season
The fourth-ever defenseman to win the award
The youngest Calder winning in NHL history at 18 years, 223 days old (Nathan MacKinnon, 2013-14 was 18 years, 224 days)t
The first unanimous Calder winner since Winnipeg Jets forward Teemu Selanne in 1993
The youngest defenseman in NHL history to reach 20 goals and 50 points in a season
The first rookie defenseman to score 20 goals and just the fourth rookie defenseman to ever reach that milestone
The youngest player in league history to score an overtime goal
The youngest blueliner to record a power-play goal, game-winning goal, multi-goal game, and have a point in his NHL debut
The fifth Islanders rookie to play in all 82 games and just the third rookie defenseman in franchise history to do so
Schaefer:
Recorded the most points by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history (59)
Avegared 24:41, the most by an 18-year-old skater in NHL history
Recorded the most overtime points by a teenager (4)
Logged 31:59 TOI on March 24, the most by a teenager since TOI tracking began
Led all rookies in average time on ice, power-play goals (8), and shots on goal (222), while tying for first in goals and overtime goals (2)
Ranked second in goals (23), shots on goal (222), and power play goals (8) amongst all NHL defenseman
Ranked ninth in takeaways (38)
Drew 38 penalties, the most by a rookie defenseman since P.K. Subban (40 in 2010-11)
Set the Islanders' rookie defenseman franchise record for goals, points, power-play goals, overtime goals, and game-winning goals
Scored the sixth most goals by an Islanders defenseman in a season and the most by an Islanders blueliner since Denis Potvin (1981-1982)
Nobody will be shocked to hear that the Colorado Avalanche eliminated the Minnesota Wild last night. However, they will most probably be surprised to hear who scored the overtime goal that sent Jared Bednar’s men through. It was none other than former Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Brett Kulak.
The 32-year-old Edmonton native blueliner has had a good time in the NHL since the Canadiens traded him to the Edmonton Oilers back in the 2021-2022 season. He was signed to a four-year contract extension by his hometown team, and he also made two Stanley Cup finals playing alongside two of the best players in the world, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Earlier this season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins, along with Stuart Skinner, as the Oilers sought to address their goaltending woes by acquiring Tristan Jarry. He got to play with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang for 25 games before being sent to Colorado in exchange for Samuel Girard and a second-round pick. He’s now just one round away from another Stanley Cup final.
However, the Kulak trade was a great one for the Canadiens as well. When they flipped him to the Oilers, they received William Lagesson, a seventh-round pick in 2024 and, more importantly, a second-round pick in 2022. Who did the Canadiens land with that second-round pick? None other than Lane Hutson, who has since become a franchise cornerstone for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens’ front office won’t lose any sleep about trading Kulak, second-round winning goal or not, especially since Kent Hughes did manage to ink Hutson to a team-friendly long-term deal earlier this season. The slippery offensive blueliner will be in Montreal for another eight years or until the 2033-34 season for an $8.85 million cap hit per year.
BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 12: Will Warren #29 of the New York Yankees reacts during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 12, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We’re going to try something a little different this time around on Sequence of the Week. Normally, we select a single at-bat or plate appearance from a given game to highlight the sequencing and execution from a Yankees pitcher. However, there were two encounters from the Yankees’ most recent win against the Orioles on Tuesday that stood out as the combined most pivotal moment from that game. Will Warren Houdini’d himself out of a huge jam by getting Taylor Ward to fly out and Adley Rutschman to ground into the inning-ending double play, so I thought we could look at the back-to-back ABs in a single analysis.
We join Warren with no outs in the bottom of the third. The offense just spotted him a 6-0 lead after scoring five in the top half of the frame, but some lousy defense is on the verge of handing it all back. Coby Mayo drew a leadoff walk, and consecutive throwing errors on ground balls by Jeremiah Jackson and Gunnar Henderson resulted in the bases being loaded with no outs — Ward and Rutschman the next two batters due up. We’ll start with Ward.
After getting traded from the Angels to the Orioles in the offseason, Ward transformed from a 36 home run power hitter into the most passive hitter in MLB. He generally will not swing unless a pitch is over the middle of the plate, which has led to Ward placing in the 100th percentile in walk and chase rates. The flip side of this extreme selectivity is that you can steal quite a few called strikes on either side of the plate as the opposing pitcher. Warren tries to leverage this tendency with a first pitch sinker. If Warren can start a sinker down the middle, he should bait Ward into swinging, allowing the pitch’s break down and in to move the ball away from the barrel and induce weak contact if not a whiff.
Unfortunately for Warren, he starts this pitch too low — an aiming point that isn’t going to tempt Ward into a swing. Ward leaves the bat on his shoulder as the sinker falls harmlessly below the zone for ball one.
Warren and Wells stick with a similar process of setting up down the middle and allowing the pitch’s movement to do the work. This time, they opt for a sweeper — if Warren can adjust his aiming point a little higher, they might be able to fool Ward into swinging this time, only for the pitch to break in the opposite direction as the previous sinker.
Instead, this pitch exits Warren’s hand aimed in off the plate meaning Ward decides not to swing early, only to watch the absurd foot-and-a-half of glove-side break sweep the pitch all the way across the plate to whisper across the outside edge for a called strike.
Given the execution of the previous pitch, Warren chooses to double up on the sweeper. Perhaps if he can start this one a little more over the plate, he’ll be able to extract a very rare chase from Ward.
Warren throws a pretty similar pitch to the prior sweeper, this one just a little higher and farther outside. However, given that it exits his hand looking like a ball above the zone, Ward once again eliminates the pitch early and earns the ball two call.
By this point, it seems like Warren and Wells have caught onto the fact that Ward simply is not going to offer at anything except something down the middle. It appears they change tack from getting Ward to swing to trying to pepper the fringes of the zone for called strikes. The first selection of this new strategy is to try backdooring a four-seamer for strike two.
Warren is just a couple inches away from the perfect pitch, but this four-seamer doesn’t quite have enough arm-side run to bring it back into the zone and the result is ball three.
Warren is one ball away from walking in a run. Ward and everyone else in the ballpark know what is coming here — a fastball in the zone. However, even with the count leverage firmly in Ward’s favor, Warren knows that if he can land a heater in the zone but away from the heart, it should result in a called strike.
That’s exactly what transpires, Warren dotting the inside edge of the zone for strike two. He once again uses Ward’s selectivity against him. Whereas other hitters might look to pull this pitch, Ward leaves the bat on his shoulder as it exits Warren’s hand aimed inside rather than down the middle.
Warren has done well to work his way back to a full count. He and Wells look to replicate the previous pitch and punch Ward out looking.
Instead, Warren throws the first meatball of the encounter, and Ward finally swings. Luckily for Warren, Ward is a little late and works underneath this four-seamer, sending a lazy fly out to right too shallow to get the runner in from third. This is where Warren’s offseason work to improve the shape of his four-seamer pays off. Last season, this pitch would have fallen off its vertical plane and likely resulted in an opposite field extra-base hit. However, with Warren adding induced vertical break to the four-seamer, this pitch holds its plane above the barrel of Ward’s bat and thus avoids damaging contact.
That’s the all important first out, but Warren still has his work cut out for him. Stepping to the plate is the resurgent Rutschman, back to his best after two years in the wilderness. He’s the Orioles’ best player at the moment and spells double trouble for Warren given he can bat from the left side as a switch hitter.
The book on Rutschman says that you can reliably steal a first pitch called strike. Since his debut in 2022, Rutschman has the second-lowest first pitch swing rate in MLB behind only Steven Kwan at a paltry 12.7 percent. Particularly if you start him off with a breaking ball that begins as a ball, you’re pretty much guaranteed strike one.
Wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what Warren does here. He starts a sweeper aimed at the opposite batter’s box, Rutschman gives up early, and the glove-side movement breaks it pretty much to the middle of the zone for a backdoor called strike one.
One of the core tenets of pitching is to make strikes look like balls and balls look like strikes. Warren employed the former approach with the first pitch sweeper and now goes to the latter approach with this 0-1 changeup.
It’s a perfect pitch, looking like a fastball down Broadway before its late downward movement drops it off the table. Rutschman swings early and over the top, pounding the changeup on the ground to second for the desperately needed inning-ending double play to strand the bases loaded.
I love how these two sequences showcased the homework that Warren, Wells, and I’m sure the rest of the Yankees pitching room does before every game. They exploited the Ward’s general selectivity and Rutschman’s passivity on the first pitch to get into better counts. With Max Fried departing Wednesday’s start early with elbow discomfort and Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole coming off elbow surgery rehabs, the Yankees need all the starting pitching depth they can get. Warren has been a top-20 pitcher in the league by FIP so far, giving the Yankees not only depth but a bona fide impact starter in the rotation.
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Shea Langeliers
Bobby Witt Jr.
