Every year there’s a prospect who doesn’t make our top 40 list and makes that omission look foolish almost immediately. This year it’s Nolan Perry, who did make Matt’s pref list but whom I have to admit to whiffing on entirely. Perry got $200k in the 12th round back in 2022 out of Carlsbad, New Mexico. He looked promising in the 2023 complex league and in his full season debut in 2024, striking out about 28% of batters he faced but walking too many. As Matt noted in his write-up, he had a tendency to lose his delivery and have meltdown innings, but tended to overpower A ball hitters when things were working. Then he went down with elbow troubles in mid-August which ultimately lead to a Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss 2025 entirely.

Command is usually the last thing to come back after TJ, but having had a full 19 months to recover before returning to game action, Perry appears to have not just gotten back to where he was but taken a step forward. So far in 2026 he’s both landing more pitches in the zone overall (45% vs 41%), but when he works out of the zone placing pitches more deliberately, drawing chases and some called strikes on fastballs up and sliders and curves low. It’s still below average command, probably, but he’s improved the quality and consistency of his location enough to increase the odds that he ultimately sticks as a starter.

Perry’s stuff has also improved. In 2024 he sat 90-93 and occasionally approached 95 with his fastball. Now he’s sitting 93-95 and occasionally cresting 96. He’s further defined the shape of the heater, which in 2024 StatCast classified as a sinker about a third of the time (though the movement profile was similar enough to his four seamer that I think he was just sometimes getting on the side of the latter pitch and sailing it a little). The pitch has above average vertical carry and plus arm side run, which should allow it to play as solid average.

Two distinct breaking balls make up most of the rest of Perry’s pitches. His slider, used just under 30% of the time, varies from 82-87mph. It looks like an average pitch, with pretty typical movement although it could use a little more depth. That’s too much for A ball hitters, who’ve missed a little more than half the time when they swing. He’s located it pretty well, missing down and away when he does miss and mostly avoiding hanging anything out over the heart of the plate. The curve, used 20% of the time, comes in just under 80mph and gets big two-plane break. It’s big enough that batters tend to read it out of his hand and have swung under 30% of the time he throws it (compared to 43% for the slider and 57% for the fastball). They can’t hit it when they do, with 9 whiffs on 16 tries, but he’ll want to get better at dropping it into the bottom third of the zone for strikes to really maximize its effectiveness.

His change-up is rarely used, and only to lefties. It comes in at 86mph with good vertical drop compared to the fastball, and at least as a rare ambush weapon it’s been too much for A ball hitters, who’ve whiffed on three of four swings so far. We’ll have to see whether it remains deceptive against better hitters with a bit more of a book on Perry’s arsenal, but to my eye it has considerably more bite than in 2024 and now flashes some potential.

It’s a pretty smooth looking delivery, with a high leg kick and an average stride, and he looks like he repeats it pretty well. Perry’s listed at 6’2” and 195lbs and still looks fairly lanky, although at 22 there isn’t likely to be a ton more development physically. The steps he’s taken with his command point to continued development as a starter for the forseeable future. He has the repertoire depth to make that work, assuming continued progress on the change-up, with no monster plus pitch but at least three that look like they could be above average consistently with development.

A ball is clearly beneath Perry’s level. His 47% strikeout rate and 2.07 xFIP are both second among pitchers at the level with at least a dozen innings. At 22, even with missed development time, he’s also old for the level. I would expect a move up to Vancouver sometime soon, possibly once the weather improves in the pacific northwest. From there, if he continues to outclass hitters in the Northwest league, a cameo at New Hampshire probably isn’t out of the question. That’s the track that last year’s Dunedin breakout arm, Gage Stanifer, took, although Stanifer had a base of 60 innings in 2024 to build off of and Perry might be under a tighter usage limit.

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Ernie Clement has been raking for the battered Toronto Blue Jays, and with a lefty on the mound for the Boston Red Sox, I expect that trend to continue. 

Find out more in my Red Sox vs. Blue Jays predictions and MLB picks for this April 27 matchup.

Red Sox vs Blue Jays predictions

Red Sox vs Blue Jays best bet: Ernie Clement Over 1.5 total bases (+110)

Toronto Blue Jays batter Ernie Clement is second in the AL in hits with 36, and is on a 10-game hitting streak — with knocks in 14 of his last 15 games. 

Over that stretch, he’s hitting .359 with 10 extra-base hits. He’s also averaging 2.2 bases per game during this heater. 

He's set to face Boston Red Sox southpaw Ranger Suarez, and the infielder has found great success against lefties over the last two seasons.

Clement has a .320 average this year against them after posting a .900 OPS vs. LHP in 2025. 

COVERS INTEL: Ranger Suarez has allowed four or more runs in three of his five starts this season, while posting a 4.99 xERA that ranks in the 28th percentile.

Red Sox vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

Suarez is more of a contact pitcher than a strikeout guy, which is great for the disciplined Jays who like to see balls in the zone. 

Additionally, the Blue Jays have the lowest strikeout rate in baseball, and Suarez ranks in the 15th percentile in that category with just an 18% whiff rate, which ranks in MLB’s 8th percentile.

I’ll also take the Jays to go Over their team total at 3.5 runs tonight. Toronto has exceeded this run total in five of its last six games, while the Red Sox have allowed an average of 4.57 runs per game against them this season. 

Red Sox vs Blue Jays SGP

• Ernie Clement Over 1.5 total bases
• Ranger Suarez Under 3.5 strikeouts
• Blue Jays team total Over 3.5

Red Sox vs Blue Jays home run pick: Daulton Varsho (+790)

I’ll make this a half-unit wager.

The lefty-on-lefty matchup has to be the reason the price is so juicy for Daulton Varsho at +790, however, the outfielder has fared better at the plate against southpaws this season, posting an .815 OPS against them. 

The matchup is great for him, too, as the lefty Suarez throws his sinker at a 45% rate against left-handed hitters. Varsho owns a .412 average and a .647 slug rate against the sinker with a home run, which was hit off a lefty at that. 

Red Sox vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Boston +1.5 (-180) | Toronto -1.5 (+155)
• Run line: Boston +115 | Toronto -135
• Over/Under: Over 7 (-120) | Under 7 (+100)

Red Sox vs Blue Jays trend

Ernie Clement is currently riding a 10-game hit streak. Find more MLB betting trends for Red Sox vs. Blue Jays.

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Baseball life is good for the Atlanta Braves at the moment. They’ve already put a gap between them and the rest of the division and the gap keeps growing between them and the Phillies and the Mets as well. The vibes are very positive and the week ahead for the Braves could be a promising one if everything goes according to plan.

With that being said, there’s always reason to take any opponent seriously — and yes, that includes the Colorado Rockies, who would love nothing more than to make a statement of their own at the expense of our Braves. Before Atlanta can get to Colorado, they’ll have to deal with one of the main favorites in the AL Central and their All-World caliber pitcher in the form of two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner, Tarik Skubal. It’s time to take a look at what’s in store for the Braves for this coming week.

April 28-30: Detroit Tigers

Current Record: 15-14 Projected Record (via FanGraphs): 86-76

Don’t let Detroit’s current record fool you — this’ll likely be a tough series for the Braves and it’s mostly due to the fact that they’ll be catching three really good starters from the Tigers. Casey Mize will be entering his start on Tuesday with a very good track record so far. He’s made five starts and he’s given up one or fewer runs in four of those starts. Framber Valdez’s metrics (particularly his xERA and xBA) suggest that the Braves could do some damage against him but if they get stuck in a ground ball vortex against him on Thursday afternoon, watch out.

Tarik Skubal is, well, Tarik Skubal. Granted, he has had a couple of starts where he’s looked human but if he gets on a roll, it’ll basically just be a matter of waiting until Detroit’s currently-struggling bullpen gets involved and hoping that Bryce Elder continues to do a good job of limiting runs, himself.

When it comes to Detroit’s lineup, they’ve got a nice little core going. Kevin McGonigle is the new hotness around here and the 21-year-old has gotten off to a blazing start at the plate as a big leaguer. Riley Greene has also done his fair share of mashing as well. Kerry Carpenter leads the team in homers and Dillon Dingler is not to far behind him as well. Colt Keith has also been getting his fair share of knocks when called upon. This will be similar to what the Braves had to deal with against the Nationals, as Detroit has some eerily-similar plate numbers to what Washington is putting up right now. If that’s the case, then Elder, Martín Pérez and JR Ritchie will have their hands full trying to keep this lineup quiet.

Tuesday, April 28 at 7:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Wednesday, April 29 at 7:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision, TBS (out-of-market only))
Thursday, April 30 at 12:15 p.m. ET (BravesVision)

May 1-3: Colorado Rockies

Current Record: 13-16 Projected Record: 65-97

As usual, the Rockies are probably going to end up being not-so-good this season. With that being said, this series will take place in Colorado and whenever that’s the case, anything is on the table as far as results go. If you don’t believe me then go ask the Dodgers, who ended up leaving Denver with “just” a four-game series split — and they had to salvage that split too, as the Rockies got up 2-1 in the series on them! I’m not saying that to say that Coors Field is a fortress or anything like that but the Rockies have been playing some decent baseball at home so far and they’ll also be thrilled to be back home after a road trip sent them to New York this past weekend (thanks for the sweep, Rox) and Cincinnati in the midweek series.

With that being said, this is totally doable for the Braves to pull off a series win. So far, the Rockies have only produced a team wRC+ of 89 at Coors Field, where they’ve hit a combined .275/.334/.444 with a team wOBA of .344. Meanwhile, the Braves on the road have hit .258/.328/.458 with a .346 wOBA and a wRC+ of 117. The main difference is the power hitting — Atlanta’s carrying an Isolated Power number of .200 on the road while the Rockies have only hit for .169 Isolated Power within Coors Field. If any slugfests do break out, I’d like Atlanta’s chances in them. Still, you’d like to see the Braves make sure that guys like Mickey Moniak, Hunter Goodman and Troy Johnston stay quiet.

It’ll come down to Atlanta’s pitching staff keeping the Rockies under control and preventing Colorado from sticking around and making things interesting (in a bad way). The good news is that they’ll likely have Chris Sale going for that series and Spencer Strider’s most recent rehab start went very well so he could be activated in time for this series as well. We’ll see who is the third for that rotation since Walt Weiss has indicated that they’re essentially going on a series-by-series basis when it comes to the starting pitching but you have to like Atlanta’s chances if those two guys will be going for them this weekend. We’ll see what happens!

Friday, May 1 at 8:40 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Saturday, May 2 at 8:10 p.m. ET (BravesVision)
Sunday, May 3 at 3:10 p.m. ET (BravesVision)

Tacoma Rainiers

Tacoma took the weekly slate with a series score of 4-2, securing a heroic comeback in the final game of the six game series to secure an extra-innings W. The bats, once icy cold, have emerged from their hibernation and are looking far more like we’ve come to expect. It wouldn’t be a major shock to see some promotions in the coming month, particularly from the heart of this Tacoma lineup.

Brennen Davis has arrived. After a slower start to the season, Davis is back to pulverizing baseballs and has raised his OPS all the way up to .915, firmly leading the way in this Rainiers lineup. The righty corner-outfielder is an easy fit for the big league roster as currently constructed, and though he carries legitimate injury risk with him, his ability has never been in question. He’s graced top 100 prospect lists in years past, only removed due to the significant time he spent on the IL. Health permitting, it’s not “if”, it’s “when” he makes his big league debut with the Mariners. 

Scheduled Colt Emerson check-in: After missing a few games this week with a wrist injury, Emerson is back healthy and producing in all facets of the game. Reaching base six times across three games, Emerson yet again went oppo for his third homer of the year and looks comfortable doing damage to the opposite field. Very professional AB’s, superb defense, etc., etc. It’s been textbook Colt Emerson all around.

Arkansas Travelers

The Travs have finally started to get things moving in the right direction, capping a convincing 5-1 series victory with an extra-innings win on Sunday afternoon. The offense, while not overwhelming, has been showing signs of life as of late, and with as dominant as their pitching staff has been through the first month of the season, expect the Travelers to be in the win column more often than not.

It’s official: Kade Anderson is appointment television. Working another 4.2 scoreless innings on Friday night, the only things thwarting his excellence was a rain delay that ended his night early. Regardless of weather, Anderson racked up eight more punchouts with zero walks, lowering his season ERA to 0.48 through four starts. He’s striking out the world, walking nobody, and running a ~58% GB rate, essentially checking every single box possible as a starting pitcher bidding for a big league debut. Whether he ascends to the majors this year or not seems like it will largely be out of his hands, but he’s yet to show a hole in his repertoire and looks every bit of a top minor league arm. Should the opportunity present itself, he’ll be ready.

Ryan Sloan had his best start in Double-A this weekend, hurling 4.2 innings of two run ball, his only wart being a two run homer he surrendered in his third inning of work. Punching seven tickets and walking two, Sloan looked much more like himself on the mound, dotting up the edges of the plate and drawing a healthy amount of swing and miss. Hopefully the young 20 year old can take this start and build on it, ideally beginning a string of quality outings to put under his belt and prove he’s adjusting to Double-A successfully.

Welcome back, Ty Cummings! The return in the recent Casey Legumina trade, Cummings was drafted by the Mariners in 2023 but was shipped off as a PTBNL in the Randy Arozarena deal. Now making his return, Cummings joins an already strong Travelers staff that’s held this team together.

Everett AquaSox

Locking down a 4-2 series victory against Spokane this week, Everett’s lineup is really starting to take shape. The bats they absolutely have to have producing are finally looking like their typical selves, and even though the starting pitching has been rough thus far, they’ve got enough interesting bullpen arms to piece together something on the back end. This roster’s a super fun watch that should produce several big leaguers when it’s all said and done.

Hello, Felnin Celesten! After a cold start to the season, Celesten is on a bit of a heater at the plate as of late, reaching base 12 times in five games and striking out just twice. He’s starting to find some holes and is coming into his own in the power department, now getting to some extra-base thump that wasn’t happening early in the year. The switch-hitter still has a silky smooth glove on the dirt and a sky high ceiling if he can put it all together, but proving it has been rocky thus far. Hopefully this stretch is a sign of what’s to come for the uber-talented shortstop.

Luke Stevenson continues to be a revelation at the plate, refusing to give the opposing pitcher free strikes with chase off the plate. He’s walking as much as he’s punching out and is displaying supreme patience at the plate, consistently seeing a ton of pitches and forcing the pitcher into long at bats. Now with an OBP at .485, Stevenson seems like a strong candidate for a promotion to Double-A sometime this summer.

Axel Sanchez has had an up-and-down career in the minors, but he’s off to a torrid start to the 2026 season. Rocking an OPS north of 1.000, Sanchez deserves a ton of credit for being a run-producing force in this lineup. Somehow already in his fourth season (!!!) in Everett, the results need to be taken with a grain of salt, but the production has been a major key for this lineup regardless of any caveats attached to it.

Inland Empire 66ers

The 66ers split this week’s series with the Ports, unable to push for a victory despite some excellent starting pitching performances. This team has some incredibly compelling performers from game to game, but as a whole, the fringes of the roster have proven to be fallible thus far. The strength of the Arkansas and Everett squads had to come from somewhere, and unfortunately for the newest affiliate of the organization, the 66ers paid the price.

Jackson Steensma continues to vie for the title of “staff ace” for this 66ers ball club. Last year’s ninth rounder, the physical right hander worked another four innings of one run ball, striking out seven along the way and raising his season total to 17 through ten innings. Generating 18 whiffs across those four innings, Steensma had his entire arsenal working flawlessly on Sunday afternoon, dominating with fastballs above the top rail and sliders down and away. He’s got just one walk all year, moves well down the mound, and brings the physical frame of a prototypical starter. He checks a ton of boxes and looks like an incredibly interesting late round arm that’s worth monitoring.

After a down week last week, Korbyn Dickerson returned to form and helped carry a lackluster lineup all week. Recording at least one knock in all six games, Dickerson has cut back on the K’s and is walking at an exceptional rate, a promising sign that bodes well for his future success against better competition. He’s knocking the ball around the ballpark, swiping bases, and locking down centerfield, effectively accomplishing everything you could ask out of a player in his first full season of professional baseball. His tools alone make him a fascinating prospect to follow; if this level of production continues, don’t be shocked to see his prospect pedigree ascend a tier or two by midseason.

Ricardo Cova continues to be an optimal table setter atop this lineup. The undersized infielder has great bat-to-ball skills and is showing some better power this season, a major facet of his game that’s been missing to this point. Hopefully he’s able to keep this power stroke up and prove he’s made some tangible changes to his skillset.

The Cubs had a 5-2 week, which on its face is excellent.

The way it ended, with two losses to the Dodgers after sweeping the Phillies and mounting a stirring comeback Friday in Los Angeles, wasn’t great. But this team is still showing that it can compete with anyone, even with multiple bullpen injuries.

Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.

Three up

Seiya Suzuki is red-hot

It took a while for Suzuki to start hitting, which isn’t surprising as he missed most of Spring Training with an injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic.

Despite going 0-for-4 in Sunday’s loss, Suzuki batted .400/.483/.880 (10-for-25) over the week with four home runs, three walks and six RBI. He’s got a chance to be named NL Player of the Week later today.

In addition to his good hitting week, Suzuki also made several nice defensive plays, including two sliding grabs on Sunday. Here’s the first of those [VIDEO].

Moisés Ballesteros is a hitting machine

Craig Counsell is still protecting Ballesteros from facing left-handed pitching, for the most part, as he’s just 1-for-4 with a walk vs. LHP this year.

Overall, though, he is crushing baseballs no matter which right-hander he faces. For the week, Ballesteros batted .500/.588/1.000 (7-for-14) with four doubles, a home run and three walks.

Eventually, I suppose, the league will adjust to him. Then it will be up to Ballesteros to adjust back. I’m pretty sure he will.

Here’s the home run he hit in Los Angeles on Saturday [VIDEO].

Michael Busch finally started to hit

After being in a slump for the season’s first three-plus weeks, Busch broke out with a 333/.394/.600 week (10-for-30) against the Phillies and Dodgers, with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI.

Here’s his three-run shot against the Phillies on Thursday [VIDEO].

You knew a guy who hit 34 home runs last year couldn’t be held down too long, so hopefully this is a sign of better things to come for Busch.

H/T to Nico Hoerner and Pete Crow-Armstrong for playing strong defense all week.

Three down

Colin Rea got hit hard by the Dodgers

Rea had been really solid all year, no matter what role he was asked to perform, but the Dodgers hit him really hard — six hits, four walks and six runs over just 3.1 innings.

Hopefully, that’s just a glitch. Rea has been really good for the Cubs over the last year-plus. Assuming the rotation stays in order, his next start will be Friday at Wrigley Field against the Diamondbacks. Small sample size, but Rea has been better at home (2.79 ERA, 9.2 innings) than on the road (5.60 ERA, 17.2 innings). He was also somewhat better at Wrigley last year. Hopefully the home field will be friendly to him on Friday.

Javier Assad also had a rough time in L.A.

Assad also has a pronounced home/road split this year, again in a very small sample size, but that 10.95 ERA in 12.1 road innings is pretty ugly, and it includes six walks. He’s walked no one in 6.2 innings at Wrigley this year. Maybe try the glasses again, Javier?

The bullpen injuries are mounting

It’s getting difficult to even know who’s in the Cubs bullpen on a daily basis. Right now, only three relievers who were in the pen on Opening Day are still there — Ben Brown, Hoby Milner and Jacob Webb. (Colin Rea, who was in the Opening Day bullpen, is now in the rotation.)

Hunter Harvey, Riley Martin, Phil Maton, Daniel Palencia, Ethan Roberts and Caleb Thielbar, all guys who have contributed this year, remain on the IL, along with Jordan Wicks, who is currently on rehab assignment. Roberts’ injury was a laceration, not anything with an elbow or shoulder, and he could be back soon. Maton could be activated as soon as today. And there’s potential good news about Palencia:

So, perhaps a rehab assignment for Palencia could follow.

And even with all the injuries, the Cubs reeled off 10 straight wins. Impressive.

For the most part this season, I’ve left the monologues out of the beginning of my Minor Lines because the performance of the farm seemed pretty separate from the uninspired performance of the Boston Red Sox. But, this recent plethora of changes directly influences the farm even though the result of the games themselves are inconsequential, so here’s my unsolicited two cents.

While I think the Alex Cora firing is one of many partial solutions that don’t ultimately solve the underlying problem — the real solution being the one that rhymes with “fell the beam”— I do think that when so much of the team isn’t performing at once (even pieces of the puzzle that weren’t just tentatively jammed in) one of the things you have to look at coaching. Breslow, who’s now certainly on a shorter leash than he was two months ago, could not depart before Cora; the CBO position would be unfillable. Sure, it’s all indicative of a bigger problem of a vicious cycle of executives with their hands tied, forbidden from them spending sufficiently to improve the team, but it was time for Alex Cora.

Alex Cora recently gave a quote, perhaps taken out of context, to Ken Rosenthal on the hurried development of homegrown talent. But when 80% of the most exciting guys on the roster are homegrown talent, the context speaks for itself. You look at the backgrounds of the guys who are now on the Major League coaching staff, and the promotions make sense. Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Brayan Bello, Triston Casas, Payton Tolle, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Connelly Early (who had a longer leash Sunday then he had ever gotten with the previous coaching staff) and several more have already worked with Chad Tracy. In an environment where some of the roster is sloppily pieced together, this is an ideal guy to have in the clubhouse at the present moment. Chad Epperson coming up from Portland to be the third base coach is also a good thing for similar reasons.

Tracy winning his first game game isn’t indicative of this being a positive move. He’ll lose games too. But the way the previous manager interacted with younger talent clashed with how Craig Breslow, who remains on the Boston Red Sox payroll as of this moment, operated. More importantly, it interfered with the front office’s goal to make payroll as small as possible while fielding a team that doesn’t completely suck and lead to “sell the team” chants in April. Thus, the team is looking to Chad Tracy to be a “stabilizing” voice within the clubhouse, with the word “stabilizing” doing a lot of heavy lifting. Hopefully, the players lift, too.

Now, there was some action on the farm on Sunday, too, so let’s get into it.

Worcester: W, 6-2 (BOX SCORE)

To say “no Chad Tracy, no problem” may be oversimplifying things, but interim coach Iggy Suarez, a 2003 Red Sox draft pick who was, at one time, a member of the Triple-A Red Sox club (then in Pawtucket), capped off what I’m sure was an exhilarating Sunday by watching his team simply outplay the Syracuse Mets. Jack Anderson looked awesome through four innings. Eduardo Rivera struck out six in his three innings. These are guys who have both made their Major League debuts in recent weeks, and this was because of minor league appearances overseen by… well, I don’t want to beat the dead horse here. Speaking of guys with some time in Boston, Nate Eaton got in on the action, too, hitting a three-run shot to open the scoring up, and the WooSox held the lead for the rest of the afternoon.

Portland: W, 3-2 (BOX SCORE)

You might think that this was a close game from the score alone, and it was, due to a lack of offense. But the result of Kyle Sasala’s first game as Sea Dogs manager against the Yard Goats (Rockies AA) was actually a rarity. One day after Franklin Arias hit another home run in a pinch-hit walk-off situation, the Sea Dogs pitched a no-hitter. This is the team’s second in two years, and it was led by 25-year-old lefty Hayden Mullins, who’s had a really good season thus far, followed by relief innings by Caleb Bolden and Reidis Sena. This was actually Sena’s first appearance after being promoted from Greenville. Hartford’s runs, from runners who reached on walks, were scored off of a botched ground ball from first baseman Ronald Rosario, who normally plays catcher. Nate Baez’s home run was the sole reason this no-hitter didn’t go down as a loss until Rosario hit his redemption arc with a go-ahead RBI single. Portland is now 6-0 in one-run games in 2026.

Greenville: W, 10-7 (F/1o) (BOX SCORE)

The Drive had to rally to take this one in extras from Asheville (Astros High-A) as they entered the eighth inning down 7-3. This was no fault of starting pitching, which was solid organization-wide Sunday. But, again, Marcus Phillips couldn’t get an otherwise effective start past the fourth. But, not to worry, as the clutch trait was unlocked by the offense instead, as Justin Gonzales’ two-out grand slam to tie it up at 7 raised the Drive’s expected winning percentage from six percent all the way up to 42 percent. They’d then score three points in the tenth and Harry Blum, who was on the mound in the eighth, would pitch his third scoreless inning to slam the door.

Salem: : L, 0-7 (BOX SCORE)

After a hot start, Salem is now 4-10 in their last 14 and losers of three straight as they slide below .500. They were shut out, held to just three hits by the Fredricksburg (Nationals A), two of which came from shortstop Anderson Fermin, and stranded eleven including seven RidgeYaks that reached due to walks.

Have an investigative Monday.

Some players are remembered for elegance. Others are remembered for effort. Enos Slaughter belongs in the second category. He built a Hall of Fame career on aggression, hustle, and a willingness to play every moment at full speed, helping create the old baseball belief that the dirtier your jersey was by the end of the game, the better you had done your job.

That reputation helped define Slaughter’s legacy. Long before hustle and grit became their own baseball mythology, Slaughter was already charging through the game with a style that later influenced players like Pete Rose. Yet like many stars from earlier eras, his story is layered with championship glory and personal controversy.

Enos Bradsher Slaughter
Born: April 27, 1916 (Roxboro, NC)
Died: August 12, 2002 (Durham, NC)
Yankees Tenure: 1954-55, 1956-59

Slaughter was raised on a 90-acre farm in Allensville, where physical labor helped build the strength and toughness that would later define his playing style. However, after the family took their horse and buggy to watch the minor-league Durham Bulls play, a young Slaughter quickly began dreaming of a life beyond the farm. At Roxboro High School, Slaughter starred in both football and baseball.

Slaughter reportedly passed on a scholarship to Guilford College because professional baseball had already long been the dream. Instead of attending school, he moved to Durham to work in a textile mill by day and played semipro ball at night.

Slaughter’s play got the attention of the St. Louis Cardinals, who—thanks to pioneering executive Branch Rickey—had a farm club in Greensboro. They offered him a 10-day tryout and eventually signed him. Slaughter then spent the next several years working his way through the Cardinals’ system.

Slaughter debuted with St. Louis in 1938 and quickly became a fixture in the outfield. The Cardinals were nearing the end of the Gashouse Gang era, which won two championships in the years before his debut while valuing aggression, pressure, and emotional edge. However, Slaughter’s playing style made him a natural fit and a true bridge between that post-Depression era and the hustle era of the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1941, Slaughter made his first All-Star team while helping power one of baseball’s strongest clubs, which narrowly lost the pennant to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Coming off his first All-Star season Slaughter was even more impressive in 1942 making another Midsunner Classic and finishing second in the MVP race to teammate Mort Cooper. This time, St. Louis surpassed Brooklyn, and Cardinals would beat the Yankees in the 1942 World Series while Slaughter posted an .837 OPS in the five-game victory. That would be the first of four rings Slaughter would win and the only time that a Joe DiMaggio-led pennant winner lost the Fall Classic.

Slaughter’s first Cardinals run was interrupted by military service during World War II, costing him three prime seasons. That lost time likely kept him from even larger career milestones, as he still finished with 2,383 hits and a .300 batting average despite the interruption. Along with DiMaggio, Slaughter was among the notable figures missing from the 1943 Yankees/Cardinals World Series rematch, which went the Yankees’ way.

Slaughter’s time in the military was spent as a physical education instructor, as he was colorblind. In his last year of enlistment along with a few other big names of the era Joe Gordon, Birdie Tebbetts, and Howie Pollet were amongst a group that toured the Pacific playing games in Iwo Jima, Guam, Tinian, and Saipan.

Slaughter returned to the Cardinals in 1946. Picking up right where he left off, he had an All-Star season, finishing third in the MVP race. St. Louis won its fourth pennant in five years, and Slaughter delivered the most famous moment of his career while hitting .320/.433/.560 in the World Series. In Game 7 against the Boston Red Sox, he took advantage of a brief moment of hesitance from second baseman Johnny Pesky, scoring from first on a single in the play remembered forever as the “Mad Dash.”

That play helped secure another championship for St. Louis and it remains one of baseball’s defining hustle plays. Slaughter remained with the Cardinals through 1953, earning All-Star honors in each season and cementing himself as one of the era’s most feared and relentless players. Overall, the man was a 10-time All-Star in St. Louis. Depending how you count the three-year military gap, Slaughter either made 10 consecutive All-Star teams, or made in a row beginning in his age-30 season.

In 1954 the Cardinals traded Slaughter to the New York Yankees for Emil Tellinger, Mel Wright, and future Yankee skipper Bill Virdon. The Cardinals were making room for top prospect Wally Moon and entering a rebuild. The Yankees were hoping to get a steady veteran to keep the good times rolling — just as they had with another future Cardinals Hall of Famer in recent years with Johnny Mize. The move was made just days before the season opener, and after spending his entire career in the Cardinals organization, the move was heartbreaking for Slaughter.

This would kick off the first of his two stints with the Yankees. The 1954 campaign was less than ideal after he broke his wrist and missed over a month. Slaughter only appeared in 69 games on the season. It ended his All-Star streak, and then a few games into the 1955 season, the Yankees traded Slaughter with Johnny Sain to the Kansas City Athletics for Sonny Dixon and cash.

Slaughter got healthy and rebounded with Kansas City. Then in August of 1956 he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Yankees. This move further deepened the feelings around the country that Kansas City was simply a minor-league team for New York. Between 1955 and 1959, the two clubs made 16 trades, involving 61 players. The real outcry was the connection between Arnold Johnson, who owned the Kansas City Athletics and previously owned Yankee Stadium until he bought the then-Philadelphia Athletics, moving them to the Midwest.

Slaughter would be on the Yankees for the next three seasons. Including the Yankees championship clubs in 1956 and 1958, adding two more rings in his second chapter that connected two of baseball’s most decorated organizations. In total Slaughter was on the Yankees across six seasons, appearing in 350 games with 168 hits. He shined brightest in the 1956 World Series made famous by Don Larsen, as Slaughter hit .350/.440/.500 against Brooklyn in 25 plate appearances.

Slaughter’s legacy is also tied to more difficult conversations. He was associated with reported attempts to resist integration, including allegations that Cardinals players discussed boycotting games against Jackie Robinson and the Dodgers. Slaughter denied those reports and argued that his “Country” nickname made him an easy figure to cast in that role.

Gas was poured onto that fire in 1947 when Slaughter spiked Robinson on a play that has been debated as fair or foul ever since. Many called it a dirty slide with the intention and success of hurting Jackie. Slaughter defended his actions on the play as how he always played the game and saying it was not a dirty play. Years later, Slaughter also went as far as to defend himself legally from the allegations, furthering attempting to defend himself from the racist label.

That tension often follows discussions of stars from baseball’s earlier generations. Slaughter was unquestionably accomplished, unquestionably tough, and unquestionably important to the sport’s history. He was also a product of an era, where greatness and ugliness often sat side by side.

For what it is worth, fellow Cardinals great Lou Brock—inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Slaughter in 1985—said at his funeral, “History finds us together. That is one thing that binds me to him. And, I’ll tell you this, the name of Enos Slaughter will be spoken for generations to come. Players like Enos and Stan Musial really helped me to see what being a Cardinal meant. He’s been my friend for a long time.”

If nothing else, Enos Slaughter remains one of baseball’s original all-out players. Additionally, he lived to see himself enshrined into the Hall of Fame and have his No. 9 retired by the Cardinals. Before hustle became branding and before Rose made full-speed play iconic for another generation, Slaughter was already barreling through baseball at maximum effort and inspiring generations to come.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

Detroit Tigers infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee had a pretty rough spring. After a slow start in camp, he headed off to represent his native Taiwan in the World Baseball Classic. An oblique strain suffered before the tournament even began caused him to miss the opportunity, and then it lingered, costing him the first week of the International League season with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. After just nine games in which he didn’t do a whole lot and was busy trying to find his footing after nearly a month without any plate appearances, everything flipped as the 23-year-old suddenly got his first chance to play in the major leagues when Zach McKinstry went down with a minor injury.

No doubt his call-up was one of the best days of his life, but to much of the fanbase who don’t follow the farm system, the reaction was more like, who is this guy? He played all the 2025 season at Triple-A Toledo, and while he had a solid year at the plate, posting a 106 wRC+ with 14 home runs and 22 stolen bases, his numbers certainly don’t leap off a FanGraphs or Baseball Reference stat page. For prospect watchers, however, it was another year of solid progression for a young hitter who has always been well ahead of his age curve.

Lee was acquired by Scott Harris when he shipped starter Michael Lorenzen to Philadelphia at the 2023 trade deadline. This was one of the first trades Harris made, and it’s turning out pretty well so far. Lee conquered Double-A Erie in 2024 when he was just 21 years old. His numbers in Toledo weren’t that impressive when he jumped to Triple-A last year, but with a February birthday he had just turned 22 years old when he took on the highest level of the minor leagues, consistently competing against good prospects and veteran pitchers, many of whom have major league experience. Production is key, but without the context of age and experience, it’s easy to miss the real picture developing beneath the surface. Lee has been challenged year after year with aggressive promotions, and even in a year where he struggled at times, he still managed to hold his own in 2025.

Lee is currently ranked sixth on MLB Pipeline’s ranking of the Tigers farm system, one spot behind fellow 2B/3B right-handed hitting Max Anderson. In my view, that’s a minor mistake and Lee is pretty clearly the more talented prospect of the duo, but it is fitting in a sense to have them back-to-back on a list, because they’re both bound to play a similar role in the major leagues.

Each has plus raw power, and neither really profiles as a good defensive infielder. They both tend toward mashing left-handed pitching and just trying to hold their own against right-handers, but their profiles diverge from there. Lee is the more disciplined hitter of the two, and also the more athletic player of the duo. He has the potential to clean up his game and become an average third baseman or second baseman, whereas Anderson is very competent, but just doesn’t have the range and quickness to get much better than he is. Those traits extend to baserunning, where Lee gets the most out of his average speed by being a crafty, aggressive baserunner with some knack for reading pitchers and getting good jumps to steal second base. Anderson’s lack of speed is a real limitation on his baserunning ability that can’t really be overcome through experience. Lee’s overly aggressive style of play can cause him to make the occasional poor throw, but he also has more knack for making a tough play than Anderson does, and the mistakes of aggression may be cured by more time and experience.

Lee struck out a very reasonable 20.9 percent of the time in Triple-A last season. That’s basically league average, but he also walked 11.2 percent of the time. Much less a free swinger than Anderson, Lee is better at holding his own when he isn’t really seeing the ball well at the plate. He’ll take his walks and uses the whole field to spray singles and doubles, and as he showed against the Reds on Sunday, he has all fields pop as well. The issue for both hitters is that they tend to do most of their damage against left-handed pitching, and that will probably limit both of them to a part time role in the major leagues.

For Lee, the main issue continues to be breaking stuff from right-handed hitters. He handles fastballs well, but he can look like the bad version of Javier Báez when right-handers with good sliders start feeding him heavy doses of benders moving down and away out of the strike zone. That’s his challenge to overcome, whereas Anderson has better hands and strikes out less, but tends to swing at everything within reach rather than being patient enough to hunt for something he can drive. That can work in the minor leagues, but the lack of a strong approach also means he’s more likely to get his weaknesses exploited at the major league level. We’ll see if he can develop a little more of an approach this season, in which case he too might be a nice player to have on the roster in 2027 in the wake of Gleyber Torres holding the second base gig everyday.

The other advantage for Lee, is that he’s a year younger than Anderson. While Lee has more pro experience, there’s still more time for him to start shoring up his issues with right-handers than Anderson has to work with in trying to develop his strike zone judgement and overall swing discipline. With the benefit of better athleticism and strike zone judgement, my bet is on Lee to prove the more useful player to the Tigers in the year’s ahead, although Anderson could potentially make a decently productive first baseman with the ability to handle some second and third base as well.

McKinstry’s injury provided a perfect opportunity for Lee to come up, right as the Tigers were about to face their first sustained set of left-handed starting pitchers. It was also an opportune moment to get with him with the major league roster to forge some ties, get to know and be known by the regular roster, and get his feet wet in the major leagues. The Tigers believe in those team building aspects, and they also like to dangle the carrot a little bit to interesting prospects who aren’t of blue chip quality. After getting a taste of the major league life, Lee will be hungrier than ever when he returns to the minor leagues. Perhaps if Anderson was healthy, he would’ve gotten the call instead considering Lee’s lack of reps in spring camp, but it didn’t work out that way, and Lee has done a solid enough job with the opportunity. If a similar opportunity arises, I wouldn’t be surprised if it went to Anderson instead, because this is all about future roster building and getting these guys a little experience when the right opportunity comes along. Neither is really ready to seize a regular role just yet in my opinion.

When McKinstry returns, you can bet that Lee will return to the Toledo Mud Hens. With Colt Keith still not doing enough damage to really expand his role, and several lefty starters ahead on the docket, the Tigers had an opening for an infielder to hit left-handed pitching. Lee fits the bill. Launching a go ahead bomb against lefty reliever Sam Moll was just what AJ Hinch and the Tigers’ front office had in mind when they called him up. But the Tigers probably don’t want to convert a recently turned 23-year-old prospect into the next Andy Ibánez just yet. Lee needs more time to work against both handed pitchers to see if he can shore up his weaknesses against right-handers, and perhaps find his way to more than a weak side platoon role next season in the wake of Gleyber Torres likely departure in free agency.

Hao-Yu Lee is a reasonably talented young player, and his aggressive, bull in a china shop style is a lot of fun to watch. He’s likely to be voted first out of the dugout in a benches clearing scenario, and he runs the bases with a dynamism you might not expect for a thickly built power hitter. He’s also been ahead of the curve, tackling tough levels at an early age and generally finding his way. While he doesn’t quite profile as a future full-time player right now, the Tigers lefty heavy regular lineup will have use for him in the years ahead. If Lee can take one more step and post better numbers against right-handed pitching, while playing a bit more under control on defense, he could creep up into top 100 prospects lists by season’s end, and have an even better chance of taking a roster spot later this season, or in 2027.