Worldwide Sports News

Truly. Nothing new. Same ol’, same ol’ in this one. A 6-1 loss that felt pre-determined, or determined immediately after Pete Crow-Armstrong homered on the first pitch of the game thrown by Trevor McDonald.

PCA continued to be a menace all evening: he collected two more hits, came up a triple shy of the cycle, advanced to third on a flyout to left field, and scored two of Chicago’s six runs. 

McDonald, far removed from his early success and efficiency, has officially spent too much time with Landen Roupp and Robbie Ray. After pitching into the 7th inning in three of his first five starts, McDonald hasn’t reached the 6th in three consecutive outings. On Saturday night, 93 pitches didn’t even get him through four complete. He chucked a pair of wild pitches, walked three (his third consecutive game doing so), and hit a batter while surrendering 4 runs on 6 hits.  

Some of that ineffectiveness can be blamed on Chicago’s peskiness. They refused to be grounded by McDonald’s sinker-heavy arsenal. But mixed in with the Cubs’ professional approach was a level of Bush League-ness exhibited by the Giants. 

McDonald and reliever Reiver Sanmartin helped generate Chicago’s fourth run with this depressing sequence walk – single – HBP – walk — all started with two outs, the bases empty, and an inability to tempt the very temptable, .174 hitting Dansby Swanson to chase out of the zone. 

This was actually the second time in as many frames in which San Francisco’s generosity overfloweth. With runners at the corners, Craig Counsell signaled for Ian Happ to steal second, and like many, many Little Leaguers before him, back-up catcher, Eric Haase couldn’t resist the throw down — despite no defender covering.

The Cubs managed just one-hit in 11 at-bats with a runner in scoring position. But free gifts of 90 feet and a trio of homers paced them plenty, as the Giants offense had to play catch-up against Ben Brown. They went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and struggled to get productive outs.

Rafael Devers watched the next three hitters go down in quick succession after his lead-off double in the 2nd. Luis Arraez’s RBI triple in the 3rd (extending his hitting streak to 13 games) got the Giants on the board, but after Bryce Eldridge walked, neither runner advanced further after Casey Schmitt and Rafael Devers both struck out. Willy Adames’s late jump on a loose ball got him cut down at third for a momentum-killing second-out in the 4th.

Right after that bungled scoring opportunity, Ian Happ and Pedro Ramirez both homered off Sanmartin to extend Chicago’s lead and effectively lay the Giants down for the night.

The victory earned the Cubs their first series win since early May. The loss was a rerun for Giants fans.

It was the offensive explosion fans of the San Diego Padres have been waiting for all season. It was a glimpse at what the Friar Faithful thought this lineup could be with big-name stars scattered throughout the order. It was good to see. Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado, Gavin Sheets, Samad Taylor and Rodolfo Duran all hit home runs to lead the Padres to a 9-3 over the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Fernando Tatis Jr. opened the game with a leadoff walk but was not on base long. Merrill followed and hit the fourth pitch of his at-bat over the wall in left-center field to give San Diego a 2-0 lead. Xander Bogaerts drew a one-out walk before Sheets popped out for the second out of the inning. Taylor came to the plate and hit a two-run home run on the fifth pitch of his at-bat to give the Padres a 4-0 lead.

Randy Vasquez took the mound for San Diego and immediately surrendered two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Both runs were scored with two outs with the first Baltimore coming on a Pete Alonso home run. The Orioles scored their second run of the inning when Vasquez allowed a walk and a triple to the next two batters to make the score 4-2.

Taylor added an RBI-single in the top of the fifth inning, which scored Machado to give the Padres a 5-2 lead. Nick Solak, who was called up after Miguel Andujar was placed on the IL, hit a sacrifice fly later in the inning to extend the San Diego lead to 6-2. Gavin Sheets made the score 7-2 with a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning before the Baltimore added a run in the bottom of the seventh to make the score 7-3.

Rodolfo Duran and Manny Machado hit solo home runs in the top of the eighth and top of the ninth innings to make the final score 9-3 and give the Padres a chance to win the series in the final game against the Orioles.

Vasquez completed five innings and allowed two runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Yuki Matsui pitched a scoreless sixth, Bradgley Rodriguez allowed a run in the seventh, Jason Adam pitched a scoreless eighth and Ron Marinaccio pitched 0.2 innings before being ejected following a hit batter, which led to manager Craig Stammen being ejected and Adrian Morejon got the final out of the game for the Padres.

San Diego takes on Baltimore in the rubber match today at 10:35 a.m.

Padres News:

• The Padres got beat up in the win. Xander Bogaerts was hit in the head by a pitch in his first game back from paternity leave and was later taken out of the game and Freddy Fermin was hit on the side of his head behind his ear while warming up Yuki Matsui before the sixth inning and he too left the game early with an injury.

• German Marquez had another scoreless outing his latest rehab start and will be ready soon to contribute to San Diego’s succes.

Baseball News:

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto was almost perfect for the Los Angeles Dodgers in their 7-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.

• The Detroit Tigers suffered a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians in Tarik Skubal’s return to the mound. But it was not all good news for the Guardians as they saw their third baseman Jose Ramirez end up on the IL with an injury to his hamate bone.

• The Philadelphia Phillies took advantage of not facing Jacob Misiorowski and beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-8.

• The Atlanta Braves bounced back to beat the New York Mets, 3-1.

• The Cincinnati Reds slipped past the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-1.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The New York Mets will try to claim a series win when they host the Atlanta Braves in a rubber game this afternoon.

Atlanta pitcher Bryce Elder has been among the best in the majors this year, and I like him to lead his team to victory in my Braves vs. Mets predictions.

Keep reading to see my full analysis and to get my free MLB picks for Sunday, June 14.

Who will win Braves vs Mets today: Braves moneyline (+102)

Bryce Elder’s analytics look as good as any pitcher in the majors this year, rating in the 99th percentile for pitching run value. He’s been especially good at preventing hitters from getting all of his pitches, allowing barrels on just 3.7% of batted balls.

The Atlanta Braves should hit New York Mets starter Freddy Peralta well. He relies heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it 54% of the time, while the Braves are pulling that pitch in the air 18.5% of the time off righties. I see Atlanta as a favorite and would bet them at -120 or better.

COVERS INTEL: Bryce Elder throws four-seamers, sinkers, and sliders for 79% of his pitches. The Mets hit just 21.5% of those pitches for line drives off righties, the third-lowest rate in the majors.

Braves vs Mets Over/Under pick: Over 8.5 (-110)

I like this Braves offense to carry this total. Atlanta has a wOBA of .330 and is barreling up 9.5% of their batted balls, which will play well on a hot day in New York. Peralta has been particularly poor as of late, throwing to an ERA of 5.65 over his last five starts.

While New York may not get a lot of balls in the air off Elder’s arsenal, they do have a solid 17.2% air pull rate off those pitches. With reasons to expect runs on both sides, I like the Over at 8.5 runs or less.

Braves vs Mets odds

• Moneyline: Braves +100 | Mets -120
• Run line: Braves +1.5 (-205) | Mets -1.5 (+170)
• Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5

Braves vs Mets trend

The Braves are 5-2 in Bryce Elder's last seven starts. Find more MLB betting trends for Braves vs. Mets.

How to watch Braves vs Mets and game info

Braves vs Mets latest injuries

Braves vs Mets weather

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.

Derek McInnes is a logical appointment who will thrive on the challenge of rebuilding Rangers, says Dave McPherson.

The Hearts head coach is being strongly linked with a move to Ibrox, with Danny Rohl expected to depart for RB Salzburg.

"Rangers need a bit of stability," said former Scotland defender McPherson, who had two spells with the club, along with two stints with Hearts.

"Derek's proved – not just at Hearts, but in previous clubs he's been at – that he can build a good team, get the best out of players, and get results, and that's what Rangers need at the moment.

"He'd have been my choice as Rangers manager way back, but I think he's proved even more at Hearts how good a manager he is.

"Rangers are there to be rebuilt and I think it's a good time for a Scottish manager and a guy that's played for Rangers to go in there and say, 'right, I can start from the bottom up and build something big here'.

"He's going to have some funds behind him but it will still come down to recruitment. You have to recruit the right players, and I think that's where Rangers have failed in the past.

"If you think of the job that was done at Hearts last year, it was a fantastic set-up, and everybody wanted to play for Hearts. He got the best out of the players, and I think if he can transfer that to the Rangers job, then it'll be a good Rangers team to watch next season."

McInnes moved to Tynecastle from Kilmarnock last summer, with Hearts going so close to a first title in 66 years.

Defeat at Celtic Park on the final day left the Edinburgh side two points behind the defending champions and eight points in front of Rangers.

Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland has already made the switch from Tynecastle to Ibrox and McInnes taking the same path would be "a massive blow", according to McPherson, although he is confident the club is can cope without the key duo.

"I don't have any idea who they're going to go for, but there's big shoes to fill there," he said.

"Having spoken to a lot of people at Hearts last season, they've got a really good set-up. They're built in such a way that if they do lose somebody, then they've got things in the background that's going to be able to replace a player or a manager, so I've got every confidence in Hearts doing really, really well next year again."

BALTIMORE — Manny Machado would like to keep it simple.

He knows he’s having the worst season of his career. Is well aware he’s among the worst hitters in all the major leagues this year.

And would rather the ugly truth be told in the language of baseball’s traditional markers of futility.

The Mendoza Line? Machado knows all about it – and that he’s well beneath it.

The interstate? Manny’s been riding it all year, hitting a buck-something as his San Diego Padres fell from the depths of a 19-9 start, now fighting to stay above .500.

A miserable Manny, entering June 13 batting .178, on track for a career low in homers, his WAR 1.4 in the red?

Hold up.

Even as he closes in on his 34^th birthday, this is still Machado – chest out, taking the punches, ready to counter.

“This is why we love baseball. Us baseball players are masochists. We love being tortured,” Machado tells USA TODAY Sports. “It’s a failing game. We obviously don’t want to be in this position. But that’s the beauty of playing the game – the rollercoaster. It’s a lot of ups and downs.

“You kind of gotta ride that wave and really enjoy every moment of it. The bad, the good, the ugly that comes with it.

“I think it’s why I love the game. Because once you come out of it, once you get going, you remember all those bad times and remember all the good times and get to enjoy the full season of it.”

That season is starting to shrivel, down to 93 games for the Padres and their third baseman whose decision to come to San Diego jarred awake a slumbering franchise that’s now Exhibit A for investing in the product and reaping the rewards.

The 2026 MLB amateur draft is now less than a month away. After all the preseason chatter and rise and fall of hot draft prospects, we are finally getting down to the point where draft board start to firm up. At the same time, this is when the gamesmanship really picks up, with teams hiding their interest in certain players and talking up others, all while trying to feel out signing prices for their favorite overslot bonus candidates.

MLB Pipeline’s most recent mock draft still has the Tigers selecting Georgia prep standout Trevor Condon with the 22nd overall pick. The outfielder clearly fits the Tigers established preference for left-handed hitting prep players who can play up the middle and have good contact skills. The only time the Tigers have deviated from this with first round and competetitive balance A round picks was when they selected Bryce Rainer in 2024 in the first round. Rainer checks all the boxes except the high contact hitter requirement, but his developing 70 grade power and huge arm strength made him well worth the pick despite the higher risk profile.

Condon has double plus speed and should stick in center field and plays with an aggressive style both in the outfield and on the bases. He reminds me of Max Clark, playing with a lot of intensity and flair, without quite the high-end contact ability the Tigers’ current top prospect possesses. Baseball America likes the Cincinnati Reds to take Condon with the 18th overall pick, so we’ll have to see if the Tigers even get a crack at him.

Pipeline mentions alternatives like prep 3B Bo Lowrance out of Greenville, South Carolina, or Mississippi prep 3B/C Cole Prosek. Of those two, Prosek seems the more likely choice, especially if the Tigers believe he can stick as a catcher. Finally, prep switch-hitting shortstop Aiden Ruiz is also mentioned, and frankly if Condon is gone, an underslot deal for Ruiz might be most likely. Ruiz makes a lot of contact and has the skills to stick as a plus defensive shortstop, though he’s probably going to top out a little short of average power.

Baseball America, expecting Condon to be gone already, projects the Tigers to take Ruiz at 22nd overall. They also mention Prosek, and fellow prep left-handed hitters Connor Comeau and London Thome as alternatives.

Comeau is a 6’4” shortstop with a pretty good hit tool despite his lanky, long-limbed frame, who is committed to Texas A&M. He lacks speed, and may be better suited at third base. The hit tool is appealing, and he should have at least average power.

Thome, son of Jim, is also a left-handed hitting shortstop. The bat is more of selling point here as he has good recognition and bat-to-ball skills already. He also has a little more power potential than Comeau due to his demonstrated ability to pull a lot of balls in the air, though he’s probably even more likely to move to third base.

Another interesting wild card in the mix is Stanford commit Tyler Spangler. The northern California prep shortstop played for Concord De La Salle. He has an advanced eye and makes a lot of quality contact, and his 6’3” frame has plenty of room to add muscle and get to eventual plus power. That would alleviate concerns if he loses some quickness and has to move to third base. His swing could probably use a little work, as he has a little of Bryce Rainer’s tendency toward bottom hand dominance, lagging the barrel a little excessively.

Spangler barely played this season due to a back injury, and he’s expected to be tough to sign if he doesn’t go pretty early in the draft, as Stanford can throw some real NIL money at him. There are some who think Spangler is still one of the top prospects in this draft, however, and he does fit the Tigers type both as a player, and in terms of being a bit more of a risk/reward play due to the injury and lack of exposure this spring.

Of course, the Scott Harris front office, led in the draft by assistant GM Rob Metzler and amateur scouting director Mark Connor, have avoided pitchers in the first round, but it’s not impossible that this could change. Their strategy of concentrating much of their bonus pool beyond the top round into prep pitching talent has been a failure so far, and the upper levels of the Tigers’ system are decidedly lacking in pitching talent. Perhaps they’ll change gears, but more likely they’ll continue their pivot toward JUCO and college arms beyond the first round, taking RHP Malachi Witherspoon in the second round last year, while continuing to snipe prep pitchers a little later on.

Meet the Mets

Sean Manaea had his best start of the season, keeping the Braves mostly at bay over six solid innings, but the Mets still fell to Atlanta 3-1 to even up the series, as the bats went silent.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, Faith and Fear in Flushing, MLB.com, Newsday, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Athletic

Bo Bichette’s big night on Friday night gives the Mets maybe a little reason to hope, writes Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Per Anthony DiComo, the Spiderman mask behind the Mets’ new home run celebration was a gift to Juan Soto from a fan that Carson Benge suggested the Mets start using in their celebrations.

Both the Mets and Braves let their accomplished franchise first baseman walk. But it has only worked out for one of those teams, writes Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

In the aftermath of the worst start as a Met on Thursday, Freddy Peralta said yesterday that he identified a mechanical adjustment that could help him fix things for today’s outing in the Mets’ series finale against the Braves.

Around the National League East

The morning after his early exit on Friday night, the Braves placed Spencer Strider on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation.

The Nationals routed the Mariners 8-3, as C.J. Abrams had another big night at the plate for Washington.

The Marlins lost a close one to the Pirates 3-2, as Anthony Bender hit Spencer Horwitz with a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth to plate the go-ahead run. Miami rallied in the ninth, but could not manage to pull this one out.

A five-run sixth inning propelled the Phillies to a 9-8 victory over the Brewers, as they held on to win despite a late-inning comeback effort from Milwaukee.

Around Major League Baseball

McCovey Chronicles called out the bigoted and tone deaf display some Giants pitchers chose to partake in during the team’s Pride Night.

Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton experienced a setback in his recovery from a left calf strain and could undergo additional imaging.

Injury woes continue for the Yankees, as they placed Trent Grisham on the 10-day injured list yesterday with a right hamstring strain.

Speaking of which, Aaron Judge’s injury leaves the AL MVP race wide open.

Guardians third baseman José Ramírez suffered a fractured left hamate bone on Saturday, in the Guardians’ 3-1 win over the Tigers.

In that same game, Tigers ace Tarik Skubal took the loss in his return from surgery to remove a loose body in his elbow. He pitched well, but was done no favors by his defense nor given much run support.

MLB.com runs down seven potential landing spots for Skubal if he is dealt at the deadline.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto narrowly missed out on both a perfect game and a no-hitter in the Dodgers’ 7-1 win over the White Sox.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

In a new episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series, Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane discuss the one step forward, two steps back nature of the 2026 season for the Mets.

This Date in Mets History

Duke Snider hit his 400th career home run at the Polo Grounds on this date in 1963.

SAN FRANCISCO — It started right from the first pitch of the game, which Pete Crow-Armstrong deposited into the seats at Oracle Park.

And it continued through nine innings of the Cubs putting together the sort of offense we saw during the two 10-game winning streaks. Not that another one’s necessarily going to follow, but I have always believed that these Cubs hitters were too good to have slumps like this for much longer.

Ian Happ and Pedro Ramirez added homers and Ben Brown threw five solid innings and hey, look! The Cubs extended their winning streak to three with a 6-1 win over the Giants.

Let’s begin at the beginning, because PCA did [VIDEO].

About that first batter of the game homer, from BCB’s JohnW53:

PCA’s homer was the Cubs’ second this season by their first batter of a game on the road. Nico Hoerner did it at Tampa on April 8.

They did it four times last season: three by Michael Busch and one by Ian Happ.

PCA is the 61st Cub to turn the trick since 1910. They have done it 116 times. Alfonso Soriano is the leader, with 12. Dexter Fowler hit seven; Happ, Brian McRae and Rick Monday, five. PCA is the 37th with one.

The Cubs got a couple more men on base in the first, but Happ hit into a double play to end the inning.

Ben Brown was once again solid through two innings, allowing a hit in each, but no runs.

Then the Cubs extended their lead in the third. PCA led off with a double. One out later, Michael Busch walked. Seiya Suzuki drove in PCA with this single [VIDEO].

Busch went to third on that hit. Then this happened [VIDEO].

Both Happ and Busch were credited with stolen bases on that play — I’m not sure what Giants catcher Eric Haase was thinking, or what the Giants infielders were doing, because no one was covering second base. So Busch, a very unlikely stolen-base guy in the first place, gets a steal of home. More from John:

The last Cub before Michael Busch to steal home was Kyle Tucker, on a double steal with Seiya Suzuki, on July 22 of last year, at Kansas City, with two outs in the seventh inning and the Cubs ahead, 5-0.

The last Cubs first baseman to do it was Lloyd McClendon, on a double steal with Damon Berryhill on May 19, 1989, at Cincinnati, with one out in the fifth inning and the Cubs ahead, 5-2. Busch’s was the Cubs’ 16th steal of home since then.

McClendon stole seven bases in his 141 games as a Cub over two seasons. Busch now has swiped eight in 377 games as a Cub over three seasons.

So it’s 3-0 Cubs. The Giants got one run back off Brown in the third, and then the Cubs made the lead three runs again in the fourth, all with two out and no one on base. The first two Cubs, Ramirez and Miguel Amaya, struck out. Dansby Swanson followed with a walk and went to third on a single by PCA, his third hit of the game. Alex Bregman was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Busch walked, scoring Swanson [VIDEO].

In the bottom of the fourth with one out and a runner on first, Matt Chapman hit a sinking liner to right. Suzuki made an awkward attempt to catch it and Chapman wound up with a single [VIDEO].

Suzuki left the game and Matt Shaw took over in right. Here’s what we know as of now:

Let’s hope this is nothing serious. I’d think Michael Conforto would likely start in right field Sunday, though.

The Cubs made it 6-1 in the fifth on a pair of solo homers.

First, Happ [VIDEO].

One out later, Ramirez, his first big league homer [VIDEO].

Hopefully, they got that ball back for Ramirez. And for the record, it went a long way [VIDEO].

Brown was lifted after five innings and 86 pitches. It wasn’t quite as dominant as his previous recent outings, but it was certainly good enough. Here’s more on Brown’s game [VIDEO].

Three Cubs relievers, Ethan Roberts, Caleb Thielbar and Phil Maton, threw four no-hit innings in relief of Brown, issuing one walk and striking out four. Maton, in particular, is digging himself out of the big hole he found himself in earlier this year. Since allowing three runs to the White Sox May 17, Maton has a 2.45 ERA and 1.454 WHIP in 12 appearances covering 11 innings, and a FIP of 2.89. That’s certainly an improvement. Perhaps he’ll be a useful reliever after all.

Here’s the final out [VIDEO].

So, three in a row! From John:

The Cubs’ three-game winning streak is their third-longest of the season, after their two 10-game streaks. They won back-to-back games three times, then lost the third.

The offense appears solid looking at the box score, but I’m going to open the complaint department door just a little. The Cubs had 11 hits, four walks, two men hit by a pitch and another hitter reaching on an error, with Giants pitchers throwing a huge number of pitches, 187 in all. That’s a lot of traffic on the bases for only six runs. They went 1-for-11 with RISP and left 12 runners on base. Since they won the game convincingly this is only a minor thing, but… gotta be better in those situations.

Back to happier things — here’s Ramirez on his home run [VIDEO].

PCA’s season OPS is now up to .803 after his three-hit game. He was NL Player of the Week last week and who knows, he might do it again — in the five games on the trip he’s batting .318/.348/.682 (7-for-22) with three doubles, a triple, a home run and five runs scored.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are Swanson, who is 2-for-16 (.125) with eight strikeouts on the road trip, and Nico Hoerner, who went 0-for-5 and is 3-for-20 (.150) in the five games in Colorado and San Francisco and over his last 21 games is batting .183/.244/.207 (15-for-82). I’d think Craig Counsell will sit at least one of those two players Sunday afternoon, just for a reset, likely Nico.

The Cubs will try for a series sweep Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park. It will not be easy, as the Giants’ best starter, Logan Webb, will take the mound. Colin Rea will go for the Cubs after Ryan Rolison is the opener. Game time is 2:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via ABC (full national broadcast, no blackouts), and streaming on the ESPN app. Announcers: Jon Sciambi, David Ross and Buster Olney.

Midway through June, I believe it is time we can all believe that the postseason is a real possibility for the St. Louis Cardinals this year. FanGraphs agrees, putting the Cardinals above a 50% chance to play in October, but we would still be smart to temper overall expectations for this season. The overall strategy remains to build towards the future and Chaim Bloom has been clear that the team is more likely to subtract than add to the major league roster at the Trade Deadline.

Even though Bloom will still look to deal from the active roster, he has not been shy to shake things up as he has gone a different direction in recent weeks. Beyond the promotion of Blaze Jordan for a tough-to-watch Nolan Gorman, he called up Jimmy Crooks and demoted Victor Scott II in order to stay competitive but future-focused. Rather than dumpster dive on the waiver wire, Bloom has used upper minors talent to supplant the major league roster in order to evaluate yet still hope to catch lightning in a bottle.

Since expiring contracts like Dustin May and JoJo Romero could (should?) be traded regardless of postseason position, Bloom would likely be searching for prospect return rather than big league talent back. If it were a major league player, I would think it would be similar to Hunter Dobbins or Richard Fitts in terms of team control. Because the Cardinals minor league system is so talented, I would prefer this way of dealing as 26-man trades open up spots for the organization’s guys to get their chance.

In a big league sell-off, opportunity awaits for Cardinals prospects

Out: Dustin May

In: Hunter Dobbins

Duh. Let’s get this one out of the way. It may not be the coolest, but it is the simplest and cleanest move for a guy like Dobbins to get his extended look. Another righty with lower strikeout rates, yes, but he can also touch 97mph with a solid splitter and breaking ball that could be further unlocked for more whiff.

If an extension could be worked out with May, I would be open to that conversation. The questions around the 2027 season make me wary of a one-year addition, but anything going into his age-30 season and beyond is also a yellow flag for me. I had hoped for a two-year deal at the time of signing, but in this mutual option reality, it makes the most sense to get decent return for a solid rental starter.

Honorable mentions for this spot would be Brycen Mautz (seen later) and Quinn Mathews. I would like to see Mathews get his shot since he will have to be added to the 40-man this offseason anyway. In a May to Dobbins scenario, Mathews or Mautz could end up taking on the Dobbins spot starter role until something more long-term opens up.

Out: JoJo Romero

In: Brycen Mautz

I am still not sure if the Cardinals held onto Romero too long or if his value is just what it is as a solid backend lefty reliever. However, he is still in St. Louis and pitching fine but is on the expiring deal that makes him expendable, even if the team remains competitive. Rather than replace him with a waiver wire lefty, Mautz could make his return to the majors in a relief role.

After getting his first start wiped out by rain, the Cardinals kept him active for a bulk relief role before sending him back to Memphis. He has remained in the rotation since the demotion and has kept his strikeout stuff in his shorter outings. Mautz has not gone over five innings in a month, so a bullpen role is an easy way to manage his workload but give him more major league experience.

The left-handed relief options have been thin for the Cardinals, seemingly by design in recent years. When they return to consistent relevance, I would hope a high-leverage lefty would be priority, either through development, trade, or with the pocketbook.

Out: Ryne Stanek

In: Tink Hence

Unlike May, Ryne Stanek actually got a more realistic two-year deal, with the Cardinals holding a $6 million club option for the question mark of a 2027 season. They could realistically hold onto him if he becomes a lockdown eighth inning guy, especially if Bloom cashes out on Riley O’Brien as he could then slide into the closer role for a team still holding a postseason spot. After that blowup against Minnesota, though, I think we are all on the train of finding Stanek somewhere to go besides St. Louis.

Assuming he is dealt somewhere desperate for an experienced bullpen arm, I am giving Tink Hence his opportunity to crack the majors. It may be the plethora of Bowman 1st cards talking, but the Cardinals need to give Hence his shot at the big league level before fully throwing in the towel on the former top prospect. He is working in the minors still and has flashed mid-90s on his fastball while coming out the bullpen. Like the others, Tink is on the 40-man so, if healthy, give him his shot.

After getting his feet wet as a reliever this year and assuming he stays healthy through the season, Tink could then shift his focus back to the starting rotation or stay in a consistent reliever work pattern if he was effective in relief.

Out: Riley O’Brien

In: Max Rajcic

In the season’s first two months, if you mentioned trading Riley O’Brien you were an uneducated baseball person because there is no way you trade the best closer in baseball. Well, the 31-year-old with health and consistency issues has demonstrated some of his tight-roping tendencies in recent weeks as his effectiveness waned. Even with four years of control remaining, taking advantage of O’Brien being on the mound and performing at a high level is the best move.

Assuming Bloom will not be able to get a major-league ready closer in return and if Stanek gets traded, the ninth inning is questionable at best. In the best case scenario, Matt Svanson is back to form and can slide into the closer role to end the year, thus leaving the middle innings open for a revolving door of tryouts. Getting one of those spots for me is starter turned reliever Max Rajcic.

Like Mathews, Rajcic could be selected in the Rule 5 draft if he is not added to the 40-man roster this offseason so, if you are following along, my wish is to give him that shot now and see if he is worth the protection in the winter. The righty has seen a massive jump in his stuff across the board this year, commanding the strike zone better than before while striking out over a batter an inning. Racjic has hit a blip in the past couple outings, but his overall body of work is worthy of a deeper look.

My honorable mention here goes to Luis Gastelum. The righty also needs to be added to the 40-man this offseason and has a devastating changeup that can be used against righties or lefties, allowing Marmol to play matchups despite the handedness. Gastelum has been trending in a better direction lately than Rajcic, but I could see both of these guys making their debuts at some point later this season.

Out: Lars Nootbaar

In: Joshua Baez

My article on Lars Nootbaar last Sunday went a few different directions and I am ultimately settled on whatever Chaim does involving Noot, I’ll just nod my head and say okay. In the winter, I needed Noot healthy so the Cardinals could trade him ASAP. Now that he IS healthy, he is mashing baseballs like his peripheral stats always said he could. He has only been back for a few games so far, but we know more about Nootbaar than we do say… Joshua Baez.

Even though he is the oldest on the team, Noot is only 28-years-old and has a year of control remaining. His veteran leadership is a 180 compared to that of Arenado and Goldschmidt, so Noot’s personality figures to play well with the young clubhouse if Bloom decides to keep him around for this year and into next. Should Bloom go the other way, though, Joshua Baez is as close to knocking on the door to the majors as anyone with his seemingly daily Memphis moonshots.

The 22-year-old Baez completely transformed his offensive approach last season and bolted into top prospect lists after maintaining those changes in the 2026 season. After hitting 24 homers in his first 232 games, Baez has smoked 38 homers in the 177 game since while also wreaking havoc on the bases. He trimmed his K-rate to 20% last season, but it has trickled back into the 30% range, although that has not sapped Baez from his power stroke. As of Saturday morning, Baez has 19 homers to tie him for the lead in all of Triple-A. He also has another 12 stolen bases and has generally graded as a solid defender in the corner outfield. Memphis has been deploying him in centerfield more often lately, so Baez could become a major league outfielder even if Noot is held onto.

Out: Justin Bruihl

In: Cooper Hjerpe

This last one is a cheapie because the article title is trade chips and Justin Bruihl is more of a cut candidate unless another team gets desperate for lefty help. I know Justin Bruihl has “done well lately” but I agreed to a point. In our VEB group text, Jake said “Justin Bruihl has a 2.70 ERA since May 3rd”, which is correct. The Cardinals have been playing well since then, so I looked at his outings. My response, “Not by accident for Bruihl. The only close games were extra innings in Cincy and Friday Cubs game. Their record in his games 3-10.”

No slight to Bruihl as he has done his job and was helped by the team giving him the best opportunity to succeed. He is like a referee or umpire: you don’t notice them unless they really mess up. When the Cardinals are consistently in close games, Bruihl has to pitch in those spots more often. In order to prevent that from happening, I decided to promote Cooper Hjerpe to the bigs to give the Cardinals a chance to stay competitive even while using their youngsters.

I am on the record as not being as high on Hjerpe as others, and that is mostly due to his unorthodox delivery that yes, Chris Sale can do, but few others replicate. The lefty was durable in college but has missed significant time with different arm injuries these past couple seasons. Hjerpe is now rehabbing and while he has not pitched above Double-A, he is, again, on the 40-man roster so move him on up.

I did not include any catchers because I do not know the interest around the league in Pedro Pages or Yohel Pozo, nor do I see the Cardinals moving on from Ivan Herrera and Jimmy Crooks for the rest of the season, barring injury. If they do, then Leo Bernal will move on up and then the catching freight train continues rolling. I believe Bloom will avoid dealing from the catching depth this season and will let the backstops sort themselves out throughout the year.

I still expect the Cardinals to remain competitive throughout the rest of this season and even make slight additions on the waiver wire as the year goes on. I do not necessarily see all the above trade candidates as locks to be moved, but I do believe Bloom will make a move or two. In those trades, I foresee prospects as being priority, so the replacements on the roster will have to come from within.

Did I miss any trade candidates? Any non-roster guys you believe should get a shake?

Thanks as always!