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I am a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan (now in my sixth decade, thank you very much), but I’m also a baseball fan. Thanks to the massive overhaul that President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom successfully kicked off during the offseason, there are many former St. Louis Cardinals on new teams and several of them have found renewed success. The baseball fan that I am makes me want to keep up with these guys as they move forward with their careers.

A quick disclaimer: I don’t want to be like a creepy ex who just can’t stop thinking about their former partner. I briefly did a check in on most of these players very early in the season and this is my last planned revisit to see how they’re doing. I mean this to be my “fare thee well” former St. Louis Cardinals check-in finale.

Nolan Arenado – Arizona Diamondbacks

Nolan Arenado has not suddenly become the 2022 version of himself that was third place in the MVP voting. However, he’s trending back to the positive offensive contributor that he still believes he can be. Here’s his 2026 stat line as of today:

Batting Average (AVG): .273
Home Runs (HR): 6
Runs Batted In (RBI): 21
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS): .801
Games Played (G): 43

Nolan got off to a very slow start in Arizona as he was under the .200 mark for the first couple weeks of the season, but he reportedly made a pre-game adjustment to his routine and is now enjoying a mini-career renaissance. Over his last 100 plate appearances, he hit 6 home runs and posted a formidable .998 OPS. Nice. His defense has gone from being elite to just barely above average.

Willson Contreras – Boston Red Sox

Willson Contreras is his usual fiery self in Boston and his offensive numbers have been decent for the Red Sox. Here’s his 2026 stat line as of today:

Batting Average (AVG): .253
On-Base Percentage (OBP): .362
Slugging Percentage (SLG): .468
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS): .830
Home Runs (HR): 9
Runs Batted In (RBI): 25

Willson’s first base defense now ranks among the 98th percentile which has been a big boost for a Red Sox team that badly needs it. Unfortunately, Willson took a 94 mph fastball to the hand in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Red Sox are hoping he’ll avoid the injured list since the x-rays came back negative.

Brendan Donovan – Seattle Mariners

Brendan Donovan got off to a spectacular start in Seattle. Unfortunately, he’s been dealing with injuries that have limited his playing time for the Mariners. Here’s his current stat line:

Games: 25
Home Runs: 3
RBI: 8
Batting Average (AVG): .274
On-Base Percentage (OBP): .386
Slugging Percentage (SLG): .452
OPS: .839

A few days ago, Brendan went back to the IL with a groin strain just 10 days after he was activated from a previous IL stint. He’s been the Brendan Donovan we enjoyed in St. Louis…when he’s healthy which has not consistently been the case so far in 2026.

Sonny Gray – Boston Red Sox

After a poor Spring Training, Sonny Gray is off to a solid start for the Boston Red Sox. Here’s his stat line for the 2026 season so far:

Record: 4-1
ERA: 3.18
Innings Pitched (IP): 34.0
Strikeouts (SO): 21
WHIP: 1.15

There’s good news and bad news for Sonny if you look at the recent numbers. He threw 5 scoreless innings against Kansas City with 8 strikeouts and prior to that tossed 6 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies only allowing 1 run. The advanced metrics seem to reveal that Sonny has benefitted from favorable luck and strong defensive support. Considering the fact that the Red Sox are currently in the cellar of the American League East, they’ll need the best version of Sonny they can get, luck or not.

Ryan Helsley – Baltimore Orioles

If you’d like to look at Ryan’s situation as a glass-half-full type of thing, Helsley’s time with the Orioles has been much better than the second half of last season with the New York Mets. Ryan’s stat line as of today is a 2.53 ERA, 0-2 win-loss record, and 7 saves in 12 appearances. Ryan has had an injury setback which landed him on the IL on May 1, but the word is he’s started playing catch and is making progress toward getting back in the Oriole’s bullpen.

Harrison Bader – San Francisco Giants

Harrison’s bats did not successfully make the trip with him to the Bay area as his current 2026 stat line is .147 with 3 home runs, 5 RBIs, and an OPS of .478. The good news is Harrison had a strong game yesterday against the Athletics as he belted a home run. In fact, he may be trending up as 3 of his 4 home runs this season have come since May 12.

Miles Mikolas – Washington Nationals

How is Miles Mikolas faring with the Washington Nationals? The numbers show that Miles has seen better days:

Games Started: 6 (total of 9 appearances)
WHIP: 1.49
Strikeouts (K): 28
Innings Pitched (IP): 41.2

Miles has a 1-3 record with a 6.91 ERA and 28 strikeouts. His role has shifted to being an innings eater in the games he hasn’t started. I’ve seen reports that there’s been an increase to his fastball velocity recently. He tossed a season-high 5.2 innings of relief against the Baltimore Orioles about a week ago.

Andre Granillo – Washington Nationals

I decided to include Andre in this roundup although few of us Cardinals fans ever really got to know him to compare how that George Soriano trade worked out. Here are Andre’s stats for Washington so far. He has a 0-0 record with a 9.64 ERA across 8 relief appearances and has recorded 3 strikeouts, allowed 9 hits, and has a 2.25 WHIP. When you compare that to George Soriano’s 1-0 record and a 3.66 ERA across 19.2 innings pitched and a WHIP of 1.27, feeling pretty good about one of Chaim’s smaller offseason moves.

I look at many of these former St. Louis Cardinals having good fresh starts with their new teams as a win-win. The Cardinals have been able to kick the youth movement into high gear and many of the players we cheered for while wearing birds on the bat have themselves in good career situations moving forward. I wish them all well except when they’re playing us.

Major League Baseball's new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) System apparently is still working through some glitches.

Technological confusion reigned during the second inning of the Milwaukee Brewers-Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Monday, May 18.

In the bottom of the second inning, Brewers catcher William Contreras challenged a ball call on a pitch to Cubs designated hitter Michael Conforto from starting pitcher Brandon Sproat. Viewers on television saw the familiar ABS graphic confirming that the Brewers' challenge was successful. However, inside Wrigley Field, the ABS system appeared to freeze on the "MLB ABS" logo. Due to the in-stadium system malfunction, the pitch was ruled a ball and the Brewers retained their challenge.

Conforto struck out swinging as the Cubs went down 1-2-3 in a scoreless second inning.

ABS confirmed in #Brewers at #Cubs (Bot 2).
Milwaukee Brewers challenged the ball call on Brandon Sproat's pitch to Michael Conforto.
Ball confirmed.
HP: Derek Thomas | Upheld 76.3% (29/38).
Later: Michael Conforto strikes out swinging. pic.twitter.com/PtTX0ebIMa

— ABS Auditor (@ABS_Auditor) May 19, 2026

The ABS lapse meant little to the competitive phase of the game. The Brewers cruised to a 9-3 win, thanks to home runs by Christian Yelich — his second in as many days — and Jake Bauers.

Los Angeles Dodgers (29-18) at San Diego Padres (28-18), May 18, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Coming off a disappointing home stand in which the Athletics lost series against the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants, the “Green and Gold” are back on the road, set to begin a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels this evening. Leaving Sacramento may be a good thing as the A’s have played much better on the road than at home so far this season.

The A’s are on a two-game skid heading into today’s series opener against the Angels, who have lost six straight, meaning something has to give. The Angels seem destined to waste another year of future Hall of Famer Mike Trout’s career as their record (16-31) is the worst in MLB. First-year manager Kurt Suzuki, who played catcher for the Athletics from 2007 to 2013, faces a massive challenge to turn the Angels’ season around and prove he deserves another year at the helm.

Right-handed pitcher J.T. Ginn will start for the A’s, looking to continue his stellar recent run of form and get his team off to a strong start on its Southern California road swing. He enters his eighth start of 2026 with a 2-1 record, a 3.12 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 43.1 innings pitched. Ginn has pitched well in his previous two starts, picking up wins in each outing. Tonight, the 26-year-old sinkersballer looks to make it three straight winning starts against an Angels’ offense that ranks near the bottom third of the league in most offensive categories.

The Athletics’ lineup shakes out like this:

A’s manager Mark Kotsay is slightly changing his team’s lineup tonight. Right fielder Carlos Cortes will bat first, hoping to get on base to set the table for the dynamic duo of catcher Shea Langeliers and first baseman Nick Kurtz. Speaking of Kurtz, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year has a chance to extend his league-best on-base streak to an incredible 41 consecutive games. Additionally, he is the only left-handed hitter in MLB history with at least 40 home runs, 40 RBIs and 100 walks in his first 162 career games.

Outfielder Henry Bolte is back in the lineup in place of slumping Lawrence Butler. Third baseman Zack Gelof has been contributing offensively, but his limited defensive experience at the position hurt the A’s badly yesterday. His second defensive error of the game jumpstarted the Giants’ eight run eighth inning that secured their series-clinching victory. Beyond Gelof, the entire A’s defense needs to tighten up in the wake of an error-filled home stand.

These A’s hitters will be facing Angels top-20 prospect Walbert Ureña. The 22-year-old right-hander has not been fazed in his first taste of the Major Leagues. Ureña brings a 1-4 record and a 3.29 ERA into his eighth appearance and sixth start of the season. He has accumulated three straight quality starts, limiting the Cleveland Guardians to two runs on three hits over five innings in his last outing. Ureña has a 70-grade fastball, but poor control, as he has walked 17 batters in his first 27 MLB innings pitched. As a result, A’s hitters must remain patient, work counts, and pounce on any mistakes from Los Angeles’ hard-throwing rookie pitcher.

The Angels’ lineup looks like this:

Josh Lowe and Adam Frazier are the only new faces in the Angels’ lineup this season, joining a largely unchanged core. Even with the lineup scuffling, they are still capable of punishing mistakes. That means Ginn and fellow A’s pitchers cannot afford to miss spots against Trout, shortstop Zach Neto or right fielder Jo Adell.

If the Athletics want to remain in first place in the American League West, they cannot afford to lose games to last-place teams with losing records. The team needs to keep playing like road warriors and take as many games as possible in Anaheim before traveling further south to face Mason Miller and the San Diego Padres in the second leg of this road trip.

Let’s go A’s!

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The Dodgers pitching turnover the last two weeks has been quite heavy, continuing Monday with the signing of right-hander Jonathan Hernández to a major league deal ahead of their series against the San Diego Padres.

Hernández had a 4.80 ERA in 13 games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley with 22 strikeouts and five walks in 15 innings before opting out of his minor league contract with the Phillies and was released on Sunday. The 29-year-old has pitched parts of five years in the majors (2019-24) with the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners, with a 4.29 ERA and 4.45 FIP in 127 career games and 153 innings, with 150 strikeouts and 81 walks.

Last year Hernández was on a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays but did not pitch in the majors. He had a 2.25 ERA in 12 games and 12 innings for Triple-A Durham, but missed nearly five months on the minor league injured list.

Chayce McDermott was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room on the active roster for Hernández. McDermott pitched the ninth inning of Sunday’s blowout win after getting called up earlier in the day to replace left-hander Charlie Barnes, who was called up Friday and pitched both days in which he was active.

To make 40-man roster room for Hernández, the Dodgers transferred Ben Casparius to the 60-day injured list. Casparius has been sidelined since April 13 with right shoulder inflammation, and this move ensures his earliest possible return date is June 12.

On the last homestand, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Casparius was on a throwing program at Camelback Ranch in Arizona, but with no real timetable just yet.

“I don’t know when it is, but he’s on a longer timetable,” Roberts said on May 8. “Once he starts facing hitters and goes on a rehab, then it’ll be more of a conversation.”

Hernández has four years, 96 days of major league service time and his out of options, having used minor league options in 2018, 2019, and 2023 while with the Rangers. He will wear uniform number 29 with the Dodgers.

After fracturing his ankle in batting practice, Carlos Correa does not make his big return, but he’ll be felt in spirit. We’ll have to settle for Christian Vazquez instead.

Today was originally Simeon Woods Richardson’s turn through the rotation, but after a disastrous start to the season, manager Derek Shelton will go with rookie Kendry Rojas on the mound and then “we’ll see” after that, which will likely include some amount of SWR. This rotation slot is likely a placeholder until Taj Bradley makes his return later this week.

Byron Buxton, meanwhile, misses his fourth straight game with a hip issue though he is reportedly “very close” to returning. I would complain about not just putting him the IL to have another bench player, but with Alan Roden, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Walker Jenkins all hurt and Matt Wallner just demoted, the St. Paul depth is pretty thin for the time being.

Lineups!

Edit: sorry for the late thread everyone! Got my timezones mixed up.

It was a shock when Dylan Crews was demoted at the end of Spring Training, but we knew he would be back. Just over a month and a half into the season, Dylan Crews is back and has a huge opportunity to prove himself. Crews got off to a shaky start in AAA but has been rounding into form lately.

This is obviously a big moment in Crews’ career. The former second overall pick’s career has not gone according to plan so far. He has a .634 career OPS in 412 MLB at bats. When Crews was at LSU, he was seen as one of the safest draft prospects in some time. His combination of athleticism, hitting ability and power was rare.

However, that hit tool has not translated as expected. He still has fantastic tools elsewhere though. Even last season we saw some of Crews’ power and athleticism. He is a good fielder and a great base runner. The bat has lagged behind so far though.

In AAA, Crews has done what he did in previous spots at that level. He has put up good, but not great numbers. Crews has a .258 average and .777 OPS in the minors this season. However, he has really been punishing baseballs in May. His exit velocities are sky high and his strikeout rate has been going down.

I am not sure if this will actually be Dylan Crews’ last chance, but it is certainly one of his last shots to prove himself in DC. If he is going to be anything close to the player that was expected, he is going to have to start performing now. There are flashes of that outstanding talent, but it has not been consistent enough.

Crews’ pro career really has been an enigma. When you watch him play, he looks the part and exudes confidence. His energy and passion for the game can also be contagious at times. None of that matters much when you cannot hit though.

That is going to be the big question with Crews. Can he hit enough to make it work? He hits the ball as hard as anyone, but that has not translated into success yet. Crews has whiffed too much and hit too many ground balls.

Improving those two things have been key points of emphasis for him in Rochester. It is not perfect yet, but we are seeing signs of promise. During Spring Training, Crews looked completely broken and the Nats have been trying to rebuild his swing. 

We have seen some real strides from him this month. In May, he is hitting .291 with an .866 OPS. However, tomorrow is when the real challenge begins for Dylan Crews. He will be back in the majors and facing Mets ace Nolan McLean assuming he is in the lineup. It is time to see what Dylan Crews has got and if he is still a part of the Nats plans going forward.

WASHINGTON — Clay Holmes’ absence has created an opportunity for the Mets to give a highly regarded minor league pitcher a shot.

Zach Thornton will be that roster addition on Wednesday, when he is scheduled for his major league debut, either as the starting pitcher or in a bulk relief role, according to manager Carlos Mendoza.

Thornton, a 24-year-old lefty, has pitched to a 3.16 ERA in seven minor league starts this season.

He last pitched on Friday, throwing six shutout innings for Triple-A Syracuse.

That same night, Holmes took a line drive off Spencer Jones’ bat in the Subway Series and was diagnosed with a fractured right fibula that will keep him sidelined until the second half of this season.

Holmes led the Mets rotation with a 2.39 ERA over nine starts this season.

Several options were considered for Holmes’ spot — Jack Wenninger and Jonah Tong were other possibilities at Syracuse, along with Tobias Myers and Sean Manaea, both of whom have been working in long relief.

“[Thornton] earned it by the way he’s been throwing the ball, especially at the Triple-A level,” Mendoza said before the Mets opened a four-game series against the Nationals. “We like, as a lefty against this lineup, his ability to throw strikes, his pitchability. There were a lot of names, but we decided to go with Zach.”

But it’s not a given that Thornton will receive an extended run with the team, according to Mendoza, as bullpen needs might arise after his Wednesday appearance that force a roster move.

Thornton, a fifth-round selection in the 2023 draft, had two strong starts for the Mets in spring training, will need to be added to the 40-man roster.

Organizational officials are high on Thornton for his fearlessness in attacking hitters and his makeup.

“He’s unfazed, whether he struck out the side or gave up a couple of doubles and a homer,” a Mets evaluator said. “I think that is a big separator for him — his resiliency. I think the New York fans will embrace this type of personality. He just gets after it and is really impressive. He’s been outstanding this year.”

Thornton throws a low 90s fastball as part of an arsenal that also includes a cutter, slider, changeup, sweeper, curveball and two-seam fastball.

He’s considered to have one of the most complete repertoires in the Mets system.

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“He came up and made a couple of starts for us [in spring training], and that’s kind of what we were getting from player development: a guy that is going to move the ball around. He’s going to throw strikes and he’s going to continue to do that, so he’s going to get that opportunity.”

Tong has pitched to a 5.68 ERA in nine starts for Syracuse, but organizational officials remain encouraged by other factors, including his 55 strikeouts in 38 innings.

Tong pitched for the Mets last season, posting a 7.71 ERA in five starts.

Wenninger has pitched to a 1.51 ERA in eight starts for Syracuse, but his 22 walks in 35 ²/₃ innings are somewhat of a concern.

Myers has filled various roles for the Mets, but moving him into the rotation would potentially weaken the bullpen.

Myers has opened, closed, and worked in long relief for the Mets this season.

Manaea has mostly struggled in a long relief.

He owns a 6.26 ERA following his four-inning stint against the Yankees on Sunday, during which he surrendered two earned runs.