BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - MAY 11: Starting pitcher Brandon Young #63 of the Baltimore Orioles works the first inning against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 11, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Don’t look now, but the Orioles might be bad again. Or maybe they never stopped. After starting the series with a chance to build upon the momentum of their three-game sweep of the Rays, the O’s instead have sputtered, dropping two straight one-run losses to the Blue Jays. Both were eminently winnable games that the Orioles let slip away, and now they’ll have to win two in a row just to earn a split of the series.
Brandon Young will look to sustain the recent stretch of success of the Orioles’ starting rotation, Trevor Rogers’ seventh-inning collapse last night notwithstanding. Young has allowed three or fewer runs in each of his last four starts, with the O’s winning all four. The only other time he’s faced the Blue Jays, last July 29, he delivered six strong innings and two runs, one of just two quality starts for him in all of 2025.
But the O’s offense will have to contend with Jays rookie Trey Yesavage, who last year had a meteoric rise all the way from Low-A to the majors and ended up making five postseason starts in the Jays’ run to a near-championship. Yesavage started this year on the IL but has made six starts and hit the ground running, posting a 2.25 ERA and 1.063 WHIP. No current O’s batter has ever faced him, which could put them at a disadvantage.
The Orioles are mostly using their regular starters today, with the exception of right field, where Jeremiah Jackson is making his first outfield appearance of the season. So if you thought the whole infielders-in-the-outfield experiment was over, think again.
Orioles lineup:
LF Taylor Ward SS Gunnar Henderson C Adley Rutschman 1B Pete Alonso DH Samuel Basallo 3B Coby Mayo CF Leody Taveras 2B Jackson Holliday RF Jeremiah Jackson
RHP Brandon Young
Blue Jays lineup:
DH George Springer LF Nathan Lukes 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. CF Daulton Varsho 3B Kazuma Okamoto RF Jesús Sánchez 2B Ernie Clement SS Andrés Giménez C Tyler Heineman
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 29: Curtis Mead #45 of the Washington Nationals celebrates with CJ Abrams #5 and James Wood #29 at home plate after hitting a two-run home run in the first inning during the game between the San Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Friday, May 29, 2026 in Washington, District of Columbia. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Nats had chances to win last night, but they came up short. Some of the weaknesses at the back end of their roster showed up, and they lost 7-5 in a bullpen battle. Now they will look to bounce back at home against a tough Padres team.
Blake Butera has made some peculiar changes to the lineup. Clearly, he wants to go lefty heavy. The struggling Jorbit Vivas will start over Curtis Mead. Jose Tena will also be starting at DH. That means James Wood will go to right field and Dylan Crews will slide to center. Drew Millas will also be back behind the plate. Foster Griffin will be on the bump.
The Padres have a very similar lineup to last night. Rodolfo Duran will replace Freddy Fermin behind the plate. Otherwise, it is the same personnel. We saw Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis start to wake up, so hopefully that does not continue. Blake Butera’s college teammate, Michael King, will be on the mound.
The Nats will look to avoid going under .500 in this one. Michael King will be a good test, but this lineup has been resilient. Hopefully Foster Griffin can build on his strong outing against the Braves. If they don’t win today, those narratives about the poor home record will re-appear. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
KANSAS CITY, MO - MAY 18: Vinnie Pasquantino #9 of the Kansas City Royals during an MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals on May 18, 2026 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
I don’t really know what to put here anymore. I mean, sure, I can preview the pitching matchup and offer some thoughts about the lineup. And I will. But I also like to contextualize the play of the team and the importance of the game. And… there’s just no context worth offering, and there is no importance to the game. The Royals are now 11 games back of first place after they were a mere half game back just three weeks ago. I guess we’ll spend a lot of the next few weeks wondering where it all went wrong for a team that even PECOTA thought could win the AL Central. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t seem reasonable to blame injuries.
So about that pitching matchup. Seth Lugo will pitch for KC. He’s had kind of an up-and-down year that has resulted in a perfectly cromulent 3.74 ERA. Remarkably, that ties him for 11th most valuable SP in MLB by fWAR and 58th most valuable by bWAR. Both are pretty good! He had a rough patch of three pretty bad starts out of four, but he’s now on a stretch of two straight quality starts. It could have been two straight starts of 6 innings and 2 runs or less, but he tried to push into the seventh of his last start against the Mariners and ended up giving up two more runs, though the Royals did go on to win that game.
He faced the Rangers in both series last year. In the first, while he was still looking like the Lugo the Royals had had for most of his tenure, he pitched 6 innings and allowed 1 run on 9 strikeouts. In the second, in the middle of his injury-aided collapse down the stretch, he still went 6.1 innings and allowed only 2 runs. Both were Royals victories. They could use more of that tonight. Against an offense that, in the past week, had been struck out 18 times in 8 innings by Reid Detmers, and suffered a combined no-hitter by the Astros before exploding against Stephen Kolek and the Royals bullpen.
The Rangers will counter with Kumar Rocker. Rocker was once a first-round draft pick by the Mets before a physical revealed a potential injury concern. He was drafted in the first round again the following year by the Rangers, and made most top-100 prospect lists before his debut. But he has yet to live up to the hype. He has struggled to fully command his pitches or generate whiffs. The slider was once graded as an 80 by FanGraphs on the 20-80 scouting scale, but has been rated and performed just around average at the big league level. None of his other pitches has risen to the level necessary to give him a true put-away pitch, either.
Lineups
OK! Now we’re finally serious about mixing up the lineup! It only took us about a month after it had become whatever the level above obvious is that it needed to happen! Listen, I don’t know if this is going to work, but I appreciate seeing the team actually try something.
Los Angeles Lakers logo is seen on a jersey in this illustration photo taken at the store in Krakow, Poland on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
After having to buy their way into the draft in 2025, the Lakers own a first round pick in the upcoming 2026 NBA draft, giving them a chance to add a young talent at the start of the summer before an important offseason.
As a result of losing out on a coin flip, the Lakers will have the No. 25 pick in the first round. It’s been a spot in the draft that has been really hit and miss in recent seasons. Quentin Grimes (2021) and Immanuel Quickly (2020) are the most recent hits at that selection. The Lakers used the 25th pick to select Moe Wagner in 2018.
In a time in the NBA where young, cost-controlled players are at a high premium, the Lakers nailing this pick would be huge.
Predictably, they’re going to work out a whole host of prospects. While they have done so in the past, the team no longer announces the workouts, meaning finding out who the team brought in usually comes only after the prospects reveal it themselves.
With that in mind, we’ll keep this updated with the prospects the team has been linked with. As a note, HoopsHype does have a tracker of draft workouts, but do not include sources. We’ll do our best to include the source of the information on the workout.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - MAY 6: Brady Singer #51 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during the second inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 6, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There are 122 pitchers who have thrown at least 40 innings so far in 2026, and only five of them have a higher ERA than Cincinnati Reds starter Brady Singer. Two of those are members of the Colorado Rockies, though, so we’re going to go with just three.
Singer sports a 6.52 FIP throgh his 46.0 IP, and only Jameson Taillon and Jacob Lopez have higher marks. Only Taillon (2.83) owns a higher HR/9 than Singer’s 2.74. Singer has served up a trio of dingers in each of his most recent two starts.
Singer sports just a 15.7% K%, a mark that ranks 11th worst in the game among those 122 pitchers. Interestingly enough, each of Chris Paddack (13th) and Andrew Abbott (9th) rank down there, too, as does former Reds pitching stalwart Nick Martinez (now of Tampa). Is that a pattern, or a fluke?
Hitters own a .328 average off Singer’s offerings so far this year. Only Michael Lorenzen (again, of Colorado) and Simeon Woods Richardson of Minnesota have yielded higher averages.
This is not an exercise to bash. This is an exercise in identifying what we’ve seen so far this season from the guy in the heart of the rotation that was supposed to provide steady, boring, average ball once every fifth day as a stabilizer amid a rotation that had lots and lots of questions (and injuries) around him. The Reds need the Singer they knew last year, and they’ve gotten nothing close to that so far in 2026.
Singer will start for the Reds on Saturday night in GABP as they try to stave off an Atlanta Braves club that’s rolling at the moment. They ripped through Cincinnati’s patchwork staff on Friday to take the series opener, and they can claim the series victory if Singer can’t put a stop to them tonight.
First pitch is set for 7:15 PM ET as it’s going to be carried nationally on FOX. Here’s how the Reds will line up to begin this one against veteran southpaw Martin Perez, with a righty-heavy lineup on the docket:
The Hockey News released its list of the Top 100 NHL players this season in April, and four Montreal Canadiens have made the list. Earlier, we covered Juraj Slafkovsky, who’s 94th on the list, and Nick Suzuki, who landed in the 48th spot. Now, we’ll take a look at Cole Caufield, who landed in 35th place.
The sniper’s rank on the list is largely based on his knack to not only score goals but score important goals. This season, he led the league in both go-ahead goals with 29 and overtime goals with 5. While that’s a huge part of what makes Caufield a great player, it should also be mentioned that his defensive game has also improved by leaps and bounds.
Under Martin St-Louis, the diminutive winger has become a much more complete player. He’s developed good instincts on the forecheck, and while he doesn’t have the size to throw his body around much, he does have the speed and the active stick needed to cause headaches to other teams.
While Caufield doesn’t wear a letter on his jersey, he is still one of the leaders of this team. Not only does he lead by example on the ice, but he’s also a lively presence in the room and everywhere around the team. He’s got a contagious enthusiasm for the game, and the Habs brass can always count on him to lighten the mood and help the team move on from a tough loss.
Montreal’s 15th overall pick at the 2019 NHL draft, Caufield has now played 368 regular-season games in which he has put up 307 points. In the playoffs, he has skated in 44 games, picking up 29 points along the way. The sniper is under contract with the team until the end of the 2030-31 season with a $7.785 million cap hit. There’s no denying that he will play a big role for this Montreal team and for a long time.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 28: Jeremy Peña #3 of the Houston Astros hits a solo home run against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field on May 28, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
TODAY’S GAME: The Houston Astros (26-33), who are 7-3 in their last 10 games, will play the second game of their 10-day, nine-game homestand today against the NL Central division leading Milwaukee Brewers (34-20).
RHP Peter Lambert (3-4, 3.79 ERA), a free agent signing this offseason, will start for the Astros opposite the Brewers and RHP Brandon Sproat (1-3, 5.84 ERA).
DRIVING THE LAMBO: Today’s Astros starter RHP Peter Lambert has been solid in his seven starts for the Astros, going 3-4 with a 3.79 ERA (17ER/40.1IP) with 40 strikeouts and a .200 opponent average.
Lambert pitched last year for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the NPB, posting a 3.98 ERA (55ER/124.1IP) with 111 strikeouts in 23 appearances in Japan.
He began this season at Triple A Sugar Land (1.84 ERA in three appearances) before being called up to join the rotation on April 17.
FOR STARTERS: Astros starters have a combined ERA of 3.33 (30ER/81IP) over the last 14 games (since May 15) with a 1.04 WHIP. In that span, they have allowed just 47 hits in 81.0 innings for a Major League-best .168 opponent average, while also ranking second in the AL in WHIP and fourth in ERA. Astros starters have allowed one-or-fewer runs seven times in the last 14 games.
HOMER HAPPY: The Astros have slugged 17 homers in their last eight games. Houston now ranks second in the AL in homers with 77, trailing only the Yankees (86) in that category.
THE LINEUP: The Astros have yet to repeat a lineup this season, using 59 different lineups in their first 59 games. DH Yordan Alvarez has the most starts at any spot in the lineup among Astros, as he’s hit second 47 times this season.
EVERYDAY OKERT:LHP Steven Okert worked 2.0 scoreless innings last night and has now pitched in each of the last two games, giving him 28 appearances this season, which ranks tied for fourth in the Majors. The lefty has had a strong month of May, posting a 2.25 ERA (3ER/12IP) in 12 games.
ON THE MEND: RHP Hunter Brown, who’s recovering from a right shoulder sprain, made his second rehab start last night, working 3.0 innings of one run ball for Triple A Sugar Land. Brown tossed 44 pitches in the outing (33 strikes), recording five strikeouts, while allowing just one hit, a solo homer, among the 10 batters he faced.
PITCHER OF THE MONTH?: RHP Spencer Arrighetti has made a strong case for the AL Pitcher of the Month award, going 4-1 with a 0.93 ERA (3ER/29IP) and a .165 opponent average (16×97) in five starts in May. During the month, he has the lowest ERA among AL starters, while ranking tied for first in wins and second in opponent average.
ON THE LEADER BOARD: DH Yordan Alvarez currently leads the Majors in OPS (1.056) and total bases (134).
In the AL, he ranks tied for first in extra-base hits (31), tied for first in HR (20), second in SLG (.641), second in OBP (.415), tied for fourth in hits (63), tied for fourth in RBI (39), fifth in batting avg. (.301), tied for sixth in walks (38), and tied for seventh in runs (38).
HISTORIC HOMERS:DH Yordan Alvarez is off to one of the most prolific starts in franchise history. His 20 homers through the club’s first 59 games of the season match the franchise record, also reached by 1B Jeff Bagwell in the 1999 season.
WALKER, TEXAS HAMMER: 1B Christian Walker has four homers and nine RBI in his last six games.
For the season, he ranks third in the AL in RBI (40), tied for fifth in extra-base hits (25), sixth in HR (15), seventh in total bases (109), and ninth in SLG (.512).
Walker also has not committed an error in his 58 games played.
HEATING UP:RF Cam Smith has recorded a hit in eight of his last nine games, batting .333 (11×33) with two doubles, two HR, four RBI, three walks and a 1.010 OPS in that span.
OF Taylor Trammell is riding a career-high, eight-game hitting streak, batting .407 (11×27) with two doubles, one triple, two RBI and a .984 OPS within the streak.
HIT PAREDES:3B Isaac Paredes has 498 career hits and is looking to become just the 10th Mexican-born player in MLB history to reach 500 career hits. Two of those eight played portions of their careers with the Astros in 3B Vinny Castilla (1,884 hits) and C Alex Treviño (604 hits).
TODAY IN ASTROS HISTORY: 1976 – In the second game of a doubleheader at Fulton County Stadium vs. the Braves, the Astros set a franchise record with 23 singles and set the then-club record with 25 hits in a 16-5 win. Cliff Johnson leads the attack with four hits and five RBI. Enos Cabell adds three hits and three runs scored. The win completes a doubleheader sweep for Houston. Since this date, the Astros have reached 25 hits on four other occasions, but have not posted 23 singles in a game.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Saturday, May 30, 3:10 p.m. CT
Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX
TV: Space City Home Network
Streaming: SCHN+
Radio: KBME 790 AM & 94.5 FM HD2; TUDN 102.9 FM HD2 (Spanish)
May 18, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brandon Sproat (23) pitches against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images
Last night, the Brewers opened their series against the Astros with a win they had to grind out in extra innings. Today, they will go for their fifth straight win as the series continues this afternoon.
Brandon Sproat is on the mound for his ninth start (and 11th appearance) of the season. He is coming off of a four-inning start against the Dodgers where he allowed three runs in four innings. Sproat’s strikeout numbers have been good—he’s averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings—but otherwise he’s still been developing. This will be his first appearance against the Astros.
For the Astros, Peter Lambert gets the start. His last start was against the Cubs, where he allowed three runs in five innings. Lambert has spent most of his career in Colorado before signing with Houston in the offseason. He has improved with the Astros, with his ERA dropping from 5.72 to 3.79 and his FIP dropping from 4.54 to 3.36. This is his third career appearance against the Brewers, with a 5.63 ERA in his previous two.
After using the same lineup for the last three games, the Brewers are switching it up a little. The top five in the lineup remain the same, though Jake Bauers will man right field instead of first base. That allows Andrew Vaughn to get a start at first base today. Garrett Mitchell slides down to seventh, and Joey Ortiz gets a start at shortstop as David Hamilton covers third for the day. Both Sal Frelick and Luis Rengifo are getting the day off.
First pitch is at 3:10 p.m. It will be on Brewers.TV and the Brewers Radio Network.
KANSAS CITY, MO - MAY 18: Sonny Gray #54 of the Boston Red Sox walks in from the bullpen before an MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals on May 18, 2026 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Ten games under .500 just has a different feel to it, huh? Life doesn’t seem too bad at six or seven games under; it’s not hard to imagine a team ripping of seven wins out of eight and getting right back into it in those scenarios.
But ten? Ten is rough. You fall ten games under in May and you’re in serious risk of becoming one of baseball’s irrelevant teams. And while the Sox have been bad in my lifetime, they’ve never really been irrelevant.
Sonny Gray takes the hill today to get the team back to nine under. That’s not much of a goal, but it’s something.
SAN ANTONIO, TX - NOVEMBER 23: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs is greeted by Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors at the end of the game at Frost Bank Center on November 23, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There is only one team in the last eight years that has won a road Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals.
They wore blue and gold and they walked into a building where the reigning MVP was waiting with a full home crowd and nothing left to lose, and they beat him anyway. Along the way, Houston missed 27 consecutive three-pointers, which remains one of the more traumatic public events in modern Texas history. The Warriors had already decided internally what the outcome was going to be, and they spent 48 minutes informing Houston of that decision.
Tonight the San Antonio Spurs get their chance to do the same thing. To do it, they’ll have to walk into Oklahoma City and beat the back-to-back MVP in his own building. If they accomplish that, they’ll become the first team since that Warriors dynasty to win a road Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals.The last team that did it had Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.The Spurs have something the basketball world is still struggling to properly classify.
Brian Windhorst says Wemby vs. OKC reminds him of LeBron vs. the Spurs in the 2007 Finals:
“This is reminiscent to me of LeBron James in 2007 going up against the Spurs. The Spurs beating him and Tim Duncan saying, ‘This league is going to be yours someday.’ But happily taking… pic.twitter.com/TX1w7S1n3w
— Polymarket Hoops (@PolymarketHoops) May 30, 2026
I can’t wait to watch Game 7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder vs San Antonio Spurs tonight on NBC. This game is must see TV!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 30, 2026
Most rebuilding timelines do not accidentally produce a seven-foot-five basketball cryptid in the process.
Most young teams arrive by knocking politely. Wembanyama appears to have brought a battering ram and a complete indifference to anyone’s timeline for his arrival. He is 22 years old playing in his first Western Conference Finals, and he has spent this series behaving as though none of those facts are particularly relevant to what he is about to do to you.
In Game 6, facing elimination on the road, he posted 28 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals, becoming the first player in Spurs franchise history to record 25-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, 2-plus steals, and 2-plus blocks in an elimination game. That is a young player informing the moment that he will be running things from here.
The formula in this series has been consistent enough to build a thesis around: when Wembanyama has outscored SGA, the Spurs have won. When he hasn’t, they’ve lost. Tonight is where the pattern either holds or breaks, and it is happening in the loudest building Wembanyama has played in all postseason.
The Warriors in 2018 had four All-Stars, two championships, and the institutional confidence of a team that had been to this exact place so many times that the road felt like a commute. They knew exactly what they were capable of because they had already done it repeatedly. The Spurs don’t have all that veteran savvy. The head coach has never coached a team before this season. The oldest player getting key minutes turns 34 today.
NBA players are 7-0 when playing in a game 7 on their birthday
Wembanyama is 22. Stephon Castle is 21. Dylan Harper is 20. None of them have accumulated enough NBA scar tissue to understand how scared a team on the road in a Game 7 is supposed to be. That is not a disadvantage. That is what it looks like when a group of players has not yet been taught the limits of what they are allowed to accomplish.
The Warriors knew they could win that Game 7 in Houston because they had won in harder situations before. The Spurs do not know they shouldn’t win this Game 7 in Oklahoma City because nobody has shown them evidence that they can’t. Through six games of this series, every time someone handed them a reason to doubt themselves, they handed it back.
That is a specific and particular kind of dangerous that does not show up in any efficiency metric ever calculated. The Warriors showed what it looks like when a team walks into a hostile Game 7 and leaves with the conference. The Spurs have one game to show they learned something from watching. That should concern Oklahoma City.
As the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs collide in what feels like an inevitable Game 7 tonight, it’s hard to overstate the burden on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s shoulders.
The two-time MVP has had a subdued series by his high standards, dealing with a gauntlet of physical Spurs defenders, but his playmaking will be key here as the Thunder try to punch their ticket to the Finals.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander best bet: Over 7.5 assists (-130 at bet365)
One of the lasting memories of this heavyweight series will be Shai Gilgeous-Alexander navigating a sea of San Antonio Spurs jerseys for every glimpse of the rim.
With injuries to Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder desperately short of ball-handling, San Antonio has been able to sell out to force the ball out of his hands – and that makes the SGA assists tally one of the more attractive props on the board.
He’s dished 9+ dimes in all three home games in these Conference Finals, with OKC role players coming through more reliably at Paycom Center, and I expect a steady diet of Gilgeous-Alexander drives to set up 3-point looks tonight, with the potential to bet this up to 8.5 if plus odds are available.
The Spurs have consistently had a second defender lurking at the nail in those instances, but SGA has shown again in these playoffs that he trusts his teammates to knock down shots.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander same-game parlay (+480)
Ferocious perimeter defense, backed by Victor Wembanyama in the paint, has been a great formula for the Spurs, nudging Gilgeous-Alexander off his favorite spots. Even if SGA decides to call his own number more often here, I’m comfortable fading his points prop in Game 7.
After all, he’s only gone past this O/U number in one of the six contests so far in this series, and he needed 17 free throws to get there.
A hero ball effort just doesn’t feel sustainable against this San Antonio defense. Instead, the Thunder need a more balanced effort, with Gilgeous-Alexander picking his spots and putting his supporting cast in positions to make plays.
OKC would surely like to limit the wear and tear on SGA from a rebounding perspective, but this battle is for all the marbles. Shai averaged 4.3 RPG during the regular season, and his work on the boards will be especially critical when the Thunder go to lineups with just one of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein on the court.
Spurs vs Thunder SGP
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Over 7.5 assists
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Under 30.5 points
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Over 3.5 rebounds
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WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 29: Jackson Merrill #3 of the San Diego Padres runs the bases after hitting a two run home run during the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on May 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images) | Getty Images
San Diego Padres (32-24) at Washington Nationals (29-29), May 30, 2026, 1:05 p.m. PST
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May 29, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Kansas City Royals left fielder Nick Loftin (12) attempts to tag out Texas Rangers third baseman Josh Jung (6) during the fifth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 13: Mitch Keller #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the first inning during the game against the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park on May 13, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Pitching Matchup: Bailey Ober (6-2, 3.92 ERA) vs. Mitch Keller (5-2, 3.64 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home today against the Minnesota Twins looking to grab a win.
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The Buffalo Sabres have to consider themselves extremely fortunate that a great deal of NHL clubs still are hesitant to select undersized players, in spite of their speed and skill set. Such was the case at the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville, where Connor Bedard went first overall to the Chicago Blackhawks. Anaheim selected Leo Carlsson second overall, Columbus chose Adam Fantilli with the third pick, and San Jose snagged Will Smith to complete the center quartet, but that left eight picks before the Sabres selection came up.
While three seasons is not enough to determine whether the eight youngsters selected next are busts or not, there is little doubt that the Sabres are more than happy that winger Zach Benson slipped out of the top 10 and to their pick at 13th overall. It was a complete shock that the diminutive winger made the NHL right out of junior, never went back to the WHL or played a game in the American Hockey League, and after three seasons, the only two players who have played more NHL games has been Bedard and Fantilli.
Here is a quick update of some of the other players selected by the Sabres in 2023:
Anton Wahlberg – C – 39th overall
The 20-year-old came to North America to play with Rochester at the end of the 2024 season and played in the Calder Cup playoff games vs. Syracuse. The 6’4”, 205 lb. forward finished his first full season with the Amerks with 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) in 63 games, but struggled in the playoffs after recovering from illness, going pointless in six games. This season, Wahlberg’s point total was up slightly (38 points in 68 games), but his goal total declined to nine. With the potential loss of veteran forwards Alex Tuch and Beck Malenstyn in free agency, it is possible that the big forward will see some NHL opportunity this season.
Alex Tuch and his contract situation with the Sabres
Maxim Strbak – D – 45th overall
The big right-handed defenseman played for Slovakia in four World Juniors, and signed with the Sabres after his junior year at Michigan State, where the 21-year-old scored 18 points (3 goal, 15 assists) in 37 games. Strbak played two games for the Amerks at the end of the season, and is expected to be a full-time blueliner next season under Michael Leone in Rochester.
Gavin McCarthy – D – 86th overall
A Western New York native who played three seasons for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, McCarthy played two years for Muskegon before heading to Boston University. The 6’2”, 188 lb. blueliner went to the Frozen Four in his freshman year and as a sophomore, had 16 points (3 goals, 13 assists) in 39 games for the Terriers. This season, after posting a career-high 21 points (4 goals, 17 assists) in 36 games, the right-handed blueliner signed his ELC with the Sabres and played five games with Rochester.
