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The Phillies may have the best record in baseball since Don Mattingly took over as manager, but they haven’t looked particularly prepared to play the last two nights.

Philadelphia ran itself out of an inning again during this painful series against the Dodgers, with second baseman Bryson Stott running on contact with one out in the fifth inning of the 9-5 loss Wednesday.

Despite the ball being hit in front of him, Scott ran right into the waiting arms of third baseman Max Muncy for the second out in a 3-3 game.

The Phillies did not score again in the inning.

“Down to third to [Max] Muncy and Stott runs into an out,” the Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis said on the call. “What are these guys doing?”

“No clue,” color analyst Orel Hershiser responded.

The Phillies own an impressive 47-28 record since Mattingly took over as the team’s manager after Rob Thomson was fired following a 9-19 start, but this baserunning over the last two nights has cost them.

Philadelphia lost two of three from the Dodgers, and the Phillies broadcast team wasn’t happy either when they lost Tuesday’s one-run game on a game-ending 5-2-6-4 double play.

Stott normally would not be be running on contact on this play, as he’s already in scoring position, so running into an out at third base is a terrible move considering he should be able to score on a hit.

Players are also not supposed to run to third when the ball is hit in front of them.

Making it even worse for the Phillies, their best hitter, Kyle Schwarber, was on deck, although he ultimately popped out to end the threat.

Mattingly was never viewed as a bad manager with the Dodgers and Marlins for struggles with his teams on the basepaths; rather, he was known for poor bullpen management and over-reliance on small ball.

San Diego Padres (50-52) at Atlanta Braves (59-42), July 23, 2026, 9:15 a.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Truist Park – Atlanta, GA

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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The Cleveland Guardians have a good problem in a star shortstop prospect who is knocking on the door of the big leagues.

In case you’ve missed it, Angel Genao is a 22 year-old switch-hitting shortstop prospect currently in Columbus for the Guardians’ Triple-A team. In 61 games, Genao has a 130 wRC+, 14.1/12.5 K/BB%, with a .303/.391/.469 slashline and 6 stolen bases. His splits are roughly even over the past two years, with his right-handed hitting his slightly stronger side. He is also an excellent defender and at Triple-A has played 44 games at shortstop, 10 games at third base, and 6 games at second base. Also, his name is not Genoa so please update your autocorrects, accordingly.

Genao is a hot streak away from really proving he needs a major league chance, but his numbers already stand out. Since 2017, these are the top five shortstop hitting performances at Triple-A for players 22 years and younger:

JJ Wetherholt, 22 years old, 164 wRC+

Elly De La Cruz, 21-22 years old, 151 wRC+

Wander Franco, 20-21 years old, 151 wRC+

Gunnar Henderson, 21-22 years old, 140 wRC+

Angel Genao, 22 years old, 131 wRC+

Genao does hit way too many groundballs at 55%, but his 90 mph average exit velocity and 45% hard-hit rate helps minimize the launch angle issues. If you see Genao left in Columbus or traded in a big deal, it will be because he pounds the ball into the ground. But, hitting the ball hard and pulling it as he does effectively (50%) should give him a chance to make a less than ideal launch angle work if he can even see a 5-10% reduction on groundballs moved to line drives and fly balls.

I think there is a chance that bringing Genao up to play second base and temporarily moving Travis Bazzana to DH, then playing Bazzana at second base and Genao at third when Jose DH’s may become the Guardians’ ideal lineup at some point, perhaps near to today. Bazzana’s future defensive home may be in left field or at second base, but his work at second is a negative right now.

It is possible that Genao may be a piece in a big trade for a right-handed slugger or for a starting pitcher. But, given his production and age, that could be a mistake for the Guardians. They may want to try Genao in centerfield if they think Bazzana can stick at second, but some plans should be forming to get another Guardian Angel on this team soon.

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It's a small slate Thursday with fewer pitchers to fade and MLB player props to dig into, but there are certainly some dingers showing value on the board.

Shane Bieber is the best home run target today, and some left-handed bats have a big bump with no good left-handed arms in the Jays' bullpen. Bieber's reverse splits are also making Junior Caminero and that swing very appetizing at his current odds.

In the late game, there is another reverse-split matchup with Dillon Dingler that is showing legit value.

These are my favorite home run props for Thursday, July 23.

Best MLB home run props today

Player to hit a HR	Odds
Victor Mesa Jr.	+563
Junior Caminero	+245
Dillon Dingler	+569
💲Today's HR parlay	+12839

Home run pick: Victor Mesa Jr. (+563)

Eight home runs in just 38 games and 120 plate appearances is pretty impressive for the rookie outfielder, and he's heating up in a hurry with three homers since Saturday, including two in this series against Toronto.

Victor Mesa Jr. is a left-handed bat, but the pinch-hit risk is minimal today with Toronto likely having just one lefty available in the bullpen — Brendon Little and his 17.61 ERA.

He'll open the game against Shane Bieber, who is coming off a strong outing against the White Sox, but the underlying numbers are still ugly. Bieber ranks in the Bottom 10 among starters in both HR/9 and HR/FB rate, and no starter owns a worse BlastContact% this season.

Seven of the 29 hits he's allowed have left the yard through just five starts. The walks are climbing, and the meatballs keep getting crushed.

One stat that really stands out is the swing speed against Bieber. No starter has a higher average swing speed against at 74.1 mph, and 48.6% of swings against him qualify as "fast swings" of at least 75 mph. Hitters are taking absolute hacks against him.

The Tampa bats project well today, and Mesa is a buy for me down to +500.

• Time: 3:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Sportsnet, Rays.TV

Home run pick: Junior Caminero (+245)

Let's keep picking on Bieber, but this time I'm going to the right side because the reverse splits are very real.

Right-handed hitters are batting .396 against Bieber this season compared to just .208 for lefties. There are a few appealing Tampa Bay right-handed bats today, but I'm not getting cute.

Junior Caminero owns the fastest average swing speed in baseball at 79.8 mph, and 88% of his swings register at 75 mph or higher. You can't cheat that kind of bat speed, and it's a big reason why his underlying hitting metrics are among the league's best.

The matchup couldn't be much better. Bieber allows the fastest average swing speed against of any MLB starter, meaning hitters are loading up and taking full cuts against him. That's exactly the profile you want for a power hitter like Caminero.

Reverse splits aren't always fully priced into the market, so there's still value here. The break-even price should be around +225.

• Time: 3:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Sportsnet, Rays.TV

Home run pick: Dillon Dingler (+569)

Dillon Dingler continues to offer value against right-handed pitching because he's a true reverse-splits hitter who crushes righties. He owns a .928 OPS against RHPs this season, and 18 of his 22 home runs have come against them.

He's also in the middle of a power binge after launching three homers in the Cubs series while going 7-for-12 with a ridiculous 2.032 OPS at Wrigley.

Detroit gets Triple-A arm Randy Dobnak, whose 1.93 ERA paints a much prettier picture than his underlying numbers. His 5.61 xERA and 5.68 FIP suggest regression is coming, and his LOB% and BABIP have been carrying him.

This is a great home run price for a reverse-splits hitter in excellent form against a pitcher who has been living on borrowed time.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Royals.TV, DSN 

Today’s HR parlay

Victor Mesa Jr.	Bet Now +12839
Junior Caminero
Dillon Dingler

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Congratulations to Yeison Morrobel, who has been named the #12 prospect in the 2026 LSB Midseason Community Prospect Rankings, receiving a little under a quarter of the vote.

Our list so far:

1 — Sebastian Walcott

2 — Caden Scarborough

3 — Malcolm Moore

4 — A.J. Russell

5 — Yolfran Castillo

6 — Rafe Perich

7 — Dylan Dreiling

8 — Josh Owens

9 — Jose Corniell

10 — Dalton Pence

11 — David Davalillo

12 — Yeison Morrobel

13 — Hector Osorio

Moving on…

Because there has been a history of vote-spamming shenanigans in the rankings, I used Google Forms for the last several of community rankings, and it worked out well, so we will use it again. You will need to include your LSB user name when you vote. If you don’t have an LSB user name, you need to use some sort of identifier. While this won’t eliminate the possibility of vote spamming, it will make it harder.

So who is the #14 prospect in the Rangers system right now?

Cast your vote below…

This game is why games like Monday hurt. Sometimes, it just isn’t your night. Tigers pitching stifled the Cubs Wednesday night. The result was a non-competitive 5-1 loss. The Cubs managed just four hits and one walk. Unless all of those hits are home runs, that just isn’t going to win many games. They did, in fact, get one homer and a double. With a homer and a double in there, you could maybe sequence it well and get two or three runs out of that output. But it’s extremely hard to win without offensive production. And so, it frustrates you that the Monday game was winnable and it slipped away.

The Tigers are trying to save their season in a year when the American League is particularly unimpressive. The Tigers sit with just the 11th best record. They are 6.5 games out of first in the AL Central. They are 4.5 games behind the Red Sox for the last Wild Card spot. You can understand some frustration and confusion for the Tigers in that just a few weeks ago the Red Sox were one of the teams they were ahead of. Surely, they are saying why not us and hoping they can get on a bit of a roll this week and not be sellers at the deadline. In reality, they are probably in the spot where you might do a “soft” sell. Possibly trade from the fringes of the roster, particularly where you might have a prospect that would come up and fill the spot.

Regardless, this is the time of year when you can catch a team playing a little desperate. That didn’t work out particularly well for the Cubs in this series. Fortunately, they had that inspired Tuesday night first inning and got out with the one win. It ends with a 3-3 homestand which feels like a little lost opportunity against two AL Central opponents struggling to stay competitive. Ahead of a daunting 17-game stretch, it’s disappointing to be sure.

This is as good a spot as any for a perspective check. Four teams have better records than the Cubs. One team has the same record as the Cubs. The Cubs have sole possession of the first Wild Card spot. The Cubs are on pace for 90.5 wins. The Cubs are 4th in MLB in runs per game. They are 18th in runs allowed per game. That is the story of the season. The Cub offense pretty much has to show up every night or the team doesn’t win.

This next stretch will take more than a quarter of the remaining games off of the schedule.17 games in 17 days. Tough road games, daunting opposition, the heat of the summer. It’s all there. This is it really. If they can hang in there through this stretch, they should be able to get this across the finish line. Hopefully, healthy bodies start showing up during this stretch. Hopefully the front office adds meaningful depth to the roster. The Dodgers are going to look like an unclimbable mountain probably for years to come. The Brewers run a really tight ship. There aren’t going to be a ton of seasons where you are positioned better than this. Even getting into the playoffs and winning a series or two has value to the organization. You want to be one of those teams that is there every year. When it starts getting down to the final four teams every year, you want to be one of those teams. Fight the fight.

Three Positives and Pete:

• Ian Happ had two hits, one a double.
• Seiya Suzuki had a solo homer.
• Ryan Rolison threw a clean inning, striking out all three hitters.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong was hit by a pitch in four plate appearances.

Game 102, July 22: Tigers 5, Cubs 1 (57-45)

Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Ian Happ (.038). 2-3, BB, 2B
• Hero/Sidekick: Seiya Suzuki/Ryan Rolison (.025). Suzuki: 1-4, HR, RBI, R; Rolison IP, 3 BF, 3 K

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Colin Rea (-.212). 5 IP, 21 BF, 6 H, BB, 4 R, 5 K, HBP (L 7-7)
• Goat: Nico Hoerner (-.095). 0-4
• Kid: Michael Busch/Alex Bregman (-.074). Busch: 1-4, DP; Bregman: 1-4

WPA Play of the Game: Hao-Yu Lee’s three-run homer in the fourth basically put the game out of reach. (.307)

Cubs Play of the Game: Seiya Suzuki’s solo homer in the bottom of the first. (.104)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 101 Winner: David Peterson received 43 of 80 votes, nudging PCA (35 of 80).

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Pete Crow-Armstrong +21
• Carson Kelly +17.5
• Michael Busch +15.5
• Ben Brown +13.5
• Alex Bregman +13
• Jameson Taillon/Phil Maton -10
• Nico Hoerner -13
• Caleb Thielbar -14
• Dansby Swanson -16

Up Next: Game one of the 17-game gauntlet on Friday. They visit the Pirates (53-50). The Pirates swept the Brewers heading into the All-Star break and then took two of three from Cleveland coming out of it. So they’ve climbed back into the Wild Card race in the ultra-competitive NL. They sit with the eighth-best record in the NL, but that leaves them just one loss behind the Diamondbacks for the last wild card spot. So once again, the Cubs will be battling a team trying to jockey for position.

Matthew Boyd (6-1, 4.15) gets the opener of the series. He’s won his last four starts, allowing eight runs in 23.1 innings. At this point, that’s pretty much the best the Cubs have. Jared Jones (2-1, 4.05) makes his 10th start of the year for the Pirates. He’s coming off a win against Cleveland. He only threw five innings, but he struck out nine and allowed one earned run on three hits and a walk. He started four games against the Cubs back in 2024 and the Cubs hung a couple of losses on him. They posted 20 runs against him in 22.1 innings. This is a guy with only 31 starts. So, while those starts were a while ago, he doesn’t have a lot of body of work at the MLB level.

Start grinding. Start it with the win.

The Braves kick off a thin slate of games today at 12:15 pm ET. With a victory in the matinee to finish the homestand, they could:

• Reach win number 60 on the season
• Add another half game to their division lead (4 now after yesterday’s action concluded)
• Finally win a series against the San Diego Padres

The decision to make or ruin the rest of our Thursday is in the hands of the following gentlemen:

No real surprises here, even though the Padres made a last-minute change to announce Kyle Hart as their starter. Another opener? You shouldn’t have. Previously announced SP Griffin Canning is likely to follow. 

Drake Baldwin will catch for the third straight day and will keep the Ronald Acuña Jr. leadoff spot warm. Mike Yastrzemski, who served as the DH in his two games back from the IL, returns to right field and bat eighth as he seemingly does his rehab in the majors. Gwinnett’s too full of stars at the moment. Dominic Smith had a pinch-hit RBI last night and will start at DH today. 

Baby Brave Jim Jarvis rounds out the bottom of the lineup as he continues his extended run at shortstop.

For the Padres, things look similar to last night other than Xander Bogaerts moving up a couple spots in the order to hit fifth given his history against Chris Sale. Freddy Fermin will catch, Gavin Sheets will DH, and Jake Cronenworth moves down to bat ninth, which again makes sense due to his 0-for-11 streak against Sale. Last night’s DH Luis Rengifo remains in the two-hole, but he’ll get the start in left field. 

The Delta plane awaits to take the Braves up north to Baltimore and Queens – let’s make it a happy flight. First pitch is at 12:15 pm ET.

Another day of minor league baseball is in the books. See the results below. Check out yesterday’s recap here.

AAA: Sugar Land Space Cowboys (49-48) won 6-5 (BOX SCORE)

Sugar Land got on the board in the first inning on a Biggio solo home run. They got another run in the 3rd inning on a Loperfido solo home run. McPherson got the start and went 5 innings allowing 3 runs while striking out 4. Sugar Land tied it up in the 6th inning on a Diaz RBI single. The pen was solid keeping the game tied as it went to extra innings. In the 10th, the Sounds scored 2 runs to take a 5-3 lead but in the bottom of the inning Sugar Land rallied for 3 runs on a Whitcomb RBI double, Guillemette bases loaded walk and walk-off Sacco bases loaded walk as Sugar Land won 6-5.

Note: Biggio has a .905 OPS this season.

• Cavan Biggio, LF: 2-for-5, R, HR, RBI
• Joey Loperfido, RF: 2-for-5, 2 R, HR, RBI
• Shay Whitcomb, SS: 2-for-5, R, 2B, RBI
• Trenton Brooks, 1B: 2-for-5, R
• Ray Delgado, 2B: 1-for-3, 2 BB
• Garret Guillemette, C: 0-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
• Tommy Sacco, DH: 0-for-3, RBI, 2 BB
• Edwin Diaz, 3B: 1-for-2, RBI, 2 BB

• Brandon McPherson, RHP: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
• Bryan King, LHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Cody Bolton, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• Christian Roa, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
• Roddery Munoz, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Logan VanWey, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (WIN)

AA: Corpus Christi Hooks (43-49) won 10-9 (BOX SCORE)

The Hooks got on the board in the first inning scoring a run on a Bush steal of home. They scored 2 runs in the 2nd inning on a Whitaker solo home run and Hernandez solo home run. Hertzler got the start for the Hooks and struggled allowing 7 runs, though only 1 was earned. The Sod Poodles got a run in the 5th but the Hooks responded with 2 runs on an error. After the Sod Poodles scored again in the 6th, Call connected on a 3 run home run in the bottom of the inning to make it 9-8. In the 8th, Austin tied the game with a solo home run. In the 9th, the Hooks walked it off on an Encarnacion grounder as the Hooks won 10-9.

Note: Austin has a .841 OPS this season.

• Yamal Encarnacion, 2B: 1-for-6, R, 2B, RBI
• Trevor Austin, 3B: 2-for-3, R, HR, RBI, 2 BB
• Will Bush, 1B: 0-for-4, 2 R, BB, SB
• Walker Janek, C: 1-for-4, R, BB, 2 SB
• Chase Call, LF: 1-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, BB
• Cameron Sisneros, DH: 0-for-2, R, 3 BB
• Tyler Whitaker, RF: 3-for-4, R, HR, RBI, BB
• Alberto Hernandez, 2B: 2-for-5, R, HR, RBI

• Cole Hertzler, RHP: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 7 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
• Alex Santos, RHP: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• Nic Swanson, RHP: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• Hudson Leach, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• Amilcar Chirinos, RHP: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (WIN)

A+: Asheville Tourists (32-57)

Game One – lost 2-1 (BOX SCORE)

Santos started for Asheville and had a solid outing allowing 2 runs over 5 innings while striking out 9. Asheville got on the board in the top of the 6th on a Frey RBI single but that was it from the offense as they dropped game one, 2-1.

Note: Thomas has 17 doubles this season.

• Justin Thomas, CF: 1-for-3, R, 2B
• Ethan Frey, RF: 1-for-3, RBI, SB
• Anthony Huezo, LF: 1-for-3, 2B

• Yeriel Santos, RHP: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
• Raimy Rodriguez, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Game Two – lost 4-3 (BOX SCORE)

Asheville got on the board in the first inning on a Huezo RBI single. Cruz got the start in game two and allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, over 3.1 innings of work. Asheville rallied in the 6th to tie the game on a Huezo solo home run and Nunez RBI single. In the bottom of the 7th, the Hot Rods walked it off as Asheville fell 4-3.

Note: Huezo has a .945 OPS in High-A.

• Justin Thomas, RF: 1-for-4, R
• Jack Moss, 1B: 1-for-3, BB, SB
• Anthony Huezo, LF: 2-for-3, R, HR, 2 RBI
• Zach Daudet, SS: 1-for-2, R, BB, SB
• Alejandro Nunez, 3B: 1-for-3, RBI

• Anthony Cruz, RHP: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
• Conor Steinbaugh, RHP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• Joan Ogando, RHP: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

A: Fayetteville Woodpeckers (45-45) lost 9-6 (BOX SCORE)

After a scoreless inning from Smith, Forcucci came on for the second but struggled allowing 5 runs, 4 earned over 1.1 innings. The Woodpeckers got on the board in the 2nd inning on an error and then in the 5th they rallied for 4 runs to tie it on an Alvarez RBI single, Luciano 2 run double and Cauro sac fly. The Woodpeckers took the lead in the 7th on a Wakefield RBI single but the Nationals tied it at 7 in the bottom of the inning. In the 8th inning, the Nationals scored 3 runs to take the lead. The offense was unable to respond as the Woodpeckers fell 9-6.

Note: Alvarez is hitting .338 over his last 15 games.

• Josh Wakefield, DH: 0-for-4, RBI
• German Ramirez, 2B: 2-for-4, R, 2B
• Kevin Alvarez, CF: 2-for-4, 2 R, RBI
• Waner Luciano, 3B: 1-for-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI
• Jadyn Fielder, 1B: 1-for-4
• Brandon Nigh, SS: 1-for-3, BB
• DJ Newman, RF: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B

• Aubrey Smith, RHP: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• Ryan Forcucci, RHP: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 0 K
• Grayson Saunier, RHP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
• Ryan Verdugo, RHP: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Today’s minor league starters:

SL: TBD – 7:05 CT

CC: Brett Gillis – 6:35 CT

AV: Kellan Oakes – 6:35 CT

FV: TBD – 5:35 CT