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The 2026 Minnesota Twins bullpen is markedly different than those of past years. Obviously, there’s a clear talent gap, but beyond that, the arms are being deployed in a seemingly inconsistent manner. Minor-league veteran Luis García threw two innings of 9th-inning mop-up to begin his Twins career (allowing two runs in two innings across two games), and the next day, he was trusted to throw the 8th inning of a 4-3 game that the Twins were winning. In April, the Twins had back-to-back games (which they won) that required four relievers to record eight outs and five relievers to record 10. Justin Topa and Kody Funderburk both picked up saves, despite neither pitcher starting the 9th inning. To date, eight Twins have a save on their ledger, with none having more than two (Topa, García). As stated, this pattern is a far cry from the typical usage in prior seasons. It’s much easier to set it and forget it when the backend contains Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, and Brock Stewart. Sure, there may be some shuffling required, but whatever day-to-day usage variance existed with a more structured pen, it doesn’t hold a candle to what we’ve seen from Derek Shelton’s relief corps. From the outside, this seems like the Twins are relying on gut instinct and hot hands to try to find a way through the late innings of every ballgame. (So up yours, analytics wonks!) However, it’s a bit naïve to believe that Shelton’s ability to white-knuckle his way through ballgames can all be chalked up to his baseball acumen and willingness to switch to another arm as soon as things start to skid. Before every game, professional scouts and analysts prepare game plans and scouting reports to prepare players for action. They also prepare material for coaches, and Shelton has confirmed that he has long meetings about the best possible plans to get through a game with his coaching staff, just as Rocco Baldelli did. Most teams have some hierarchy in the bullpen, all things being equal. But part of a pro scout's or analyst's role is helping managers make informed decisions within that hierarchy. One of the tools many organizations make available to managers is an in-game bullpen hierarchy. This tool might come in several forms. Many teams use a (close your ears if you hate nerds) laminated notecard listing the opposing team’s lineup. For each spot in the lineup, relievers are organized one through eight, based on the quality of the matchup with that specific hitter. Last season, that hierarchy might not have seen much variation. The best matchup against any hitter was Durán. After that, it was Jax. If the hitter was a lefty, third might be Danny Coulombe, but otherwise it’d be Stewart and Varland, in some order. Given the caliber of arms we’re talking about, throw the best one available. If pitchers are more evenly matched, though, that hitter-to-hitter differentiation might be more obvious. Naturally, there are platoon splits to be aware of—a guy like Taylor Rogers or Anthony Banda will get the nod against a lefty over someone like Cody Laweryson or Yoendrys Gómez. But there are also more idiosyncratic factors to consider. For instance, arm angle, pitch mix, velocity, swing trajectory and/or plate discipline can come into play. With a bunch of pitchers who can charitably be called “fine,” chasing the matchups becomes more useful and necessary. Take Topa (who has been designated for assignment since the writing of this piece, but who knows, he may remain in the organization) and Eric Orze. Both pitchers are righties who throw their fastball in the low 90s, but they have very different profiles. Topa is a sinker-sweeper/cutter pitcher who throws sidearm and mostly operates east-west. Orze has a much higher arm angle, and over half of his pitches are splitters. When he’s not throwing a splitter, you’ll probably see a fastball, giving him a much more distinct north-south profile. You should be able to see where I’m going here. Some hitters struggle more with north-south, and others struggle with east-west. There will be righties in an opposing lineup who should have Orze deployed against them, and others whom Topa would best match. Tyler Duffey referenced this type of system in a Twin Cities Territory episode last month, relaying how, when he was with the Twins, relievers would be prepped before each game on which part of the opposing lineup they would likely be deployed against. This scouting seems even more vital when the bullpen has to fight and claw for every advantage possible. So, in practice, to an outsider, that can look like Shelton pushing buttons at random. Topa may be trusted to close one day and throw the sixth the next, based on where his advantage is in the opponent’s lineup. And that quick hook for relievers may be a jumpy manager, or it might be that Cole Sands had the best matchup for the previous three batters, but Andrew Morris’s pitch mix is a better matchup for the next two, and Shelton wants to take advantage of that. Don't forget to factor recent workload in, too! There are always more layers to these decisions than meet the eye; teams work hard to keep it that way. Of course, there will still be stuff thrown at the wall to see what sticks. They don’t know what they have in John Klein or Kody Funderburk until they’ve been tested, and Shelton can also do a little Minnesota politicking (that is, passive aggression) if he believes it will compel the front office to make a roster move he feels is overdue. All told, though, the method is probably outweighing the madness in this regard. They have a plan, even if they’re working with lesser material. One fun way to pass the next month might be to figure out what patterns we can spot in that plan, as a few pitchers settle into their roles with the club. View the full article

For roughly the first half of what has been the 2026 season to date, Nico Hoerner was a dynamo. In fact, the Cubs have played 48 games, and in their first 24, Hoerner batted .320/.393/.515. He had several outlets—including this one, of course, but even nationally—singing his praises. He continued to play excellent defense and run the bases well. Along the way, of course, he signed a six-year deal with the Cubs, making him a long-term part of the team's plans and heading off his free agency, which had loomed over him and the team until that point. It looked like everything was lining up for Hoerner to be the face of the Cubs for the balance of this decade and beyond. Then, the second half of this season happened. Sure, it's only 24 games, but so was that remarkable start. In this segment of the year, he's hitting .194/.290/.247. In 107 plate appearances, he's walked 12 times and struck out just five times, but he also has just five extra-base hits (all doubles) and has become a problem at the top of the team's batting order, rather than a source of stability and electricity. Before he signed his extension, if Hoerner had gone through a prolonged slump this ugly, the Cubs would have had to seriously consider changing their tack for the future. After all, there's always been a ceiling here. Hoerner's lack of bat speed and over-the-fence power make him a risky proposition, in terms of the aging curve. In the short term, though, he was always going to be allowed to keep hitting high in the lineup and try to get right, because for this season (at the very least), he's a good player whom the team needs badly. The stakes, then, weren't whether or not to play Hoerner, anyway, but those stakes nonetheless feel higher now. This guy is locked into the team's lineup for the next half-decade. It's crucially important, now, to know this: How can Hoerner get right? What's going wrong, and what will fix it? Firstly, it might be wise to take him out of the leadoff spot. While his skill set begs to be used that way, his approach since being thus elevated has ended up being detrimental. Hoerner is swinging at the first pitch just 16.4% of the time this year. For any player whose game is more about singles and doubles than walks, that's far too little. Patience is a virtue, but Hoerner has tipped over that line into passivity. He's swinging at just 54.3% of pitches inside the zone, down from roughly 63.5% over the last two years. He's still avoiding strikeouts exceptionally well, which traces to his almost unbelievable 98.5% contact rate on swings within the zone. However, he's not making solid enough contact, because he's often working from behind in counts. None of Hoerner's essential public-facing bat-tracking data are meaningfully changed during this slump. His bat speed, swing tilt, attack angle and attack direction are all virtually identical to what they were when he was red-hot. Ditto for his average contact point. The problems, then, lie in what he's swinging (or not swinging) at, and on where the ball is going when he hits it. Here's where Hoerner's batted balls were going through April 23. Here's where they've gone since then: All the plaudits we've given Hoerner over the last year have been about how, since the middle of 2024, he steadfastly and smartly reoriented his approach to produce more pulled line drives. Right now, he's back to "using the big part of the field," old-school baseball advice that sounds good but results in nothing but heartache. Again, the swing is fundamentally unchanged in both its timing and its shape, so the key reasons for this are: Pitchers are pitching Hoerner differently; and He's not reacting properly to it. Here's the FanGraphs heat map for Hoerner's swing rate through April 23: Here's the same graphic for the games since: If Hoerner's passivity in the zone had taken the form of only swinging at pitches from the middle of the plate in, he might have remained productive even as the league adjusted to him. Instead, he's falling behind by taking too many pitches, then being forced to go after pitcher-friendly offerings low and away. His swing is better geared to produce those pulled batted balls than it used to be, but if he's consistently putting balls in the lower and outer thirds of the zone in play, he's going to end up hitting them up the middle—and not as sharply. Hoerner does still seem to have the knack for keeping the ball off the ground, but lately, even his liners are finding gloves. That's only partially bad luck. It's also the product of a flawed approach, leading to swings at the wrong pitches to match a consciously reengineered swing. The good news, here, is that Hoerner isn't permanently broken. He's just responded badly to the league's latest round of adjustments to him. He has to get back to being more aggressive early in counts. He has to occasionally anticipate the pitch away and look to shoot it down the right-field line, but otherwise be more selective on the outer third and punishy pitchers who miss over the middle or inner lanes. If he does all of that, he'll be back to batting .300 with gap power in no time. That might not be permanent, either, but maybe the next round of adjustment and counter-adjustment can be a bit less painful than this one has been. View the full article

Tuesday afternoon at loanDepot park, on the verge of making history, Anthony Bender's fate was in his hands. Atlanta Braves shortstop Ha-Seong Kim chopped a 1-2 sinker back to the mound. Bender carefully tossed it to Christopher Morel at first base, completing a perfect fourth inning for the Miami Marlins...and a ninth consecutive perfect inning for himself. The veteran right-hander, spread out across nine separate relief appearances, retired 27 batters in a row. Let's call it a "hidden perfect game." The 28th batter, Ronald Acuña Jr., snapped the streak when he led off Tuesday's fifth inning with a double. The streak began against Willy Adames in San Francisco. Here is the full play-by-play account of Bender's pitching beginning then and continuing up until the Acuña double: Strikeout on April 25 Groundout, lineout, flyout on April 26 Popout, flyout, groundout on April 28 Strikeout, strikeout, flyout on May 2 Forceout, groundout on May 5 Groundout, flyout, strikeout on May 8 Groundout, groundout, strikeout, groundout, flyout, groundout on May 14 Groundout, strikeout, lineout on May 16 Strikeout, groundout, groundout on May 19 Even in such a small sample, this degree of dominance is incredibly rare. There are more than 400 MLB pitchers, according to FanGraphs, who logged at least five innings from April 26 through Monday. Bender was the only one of them who didn't allow any baserunners during that span. Across parts of five MLB seasons, he had never previously made it more than halfway to a hidden perfect game until now. I do not have sufficient research tools to verify it, but this is probably the first hidden perfecto in Marlins history. I ran several queries with the Stathead streak finder looking for comparable performances and couldn't find any instances of more than 24 straight batters retired. Bender achieved his perfect results even without perfect execution. He hung sweepers to J.T. Realmuto (May 2) and Luke Keaschall (May 14) that were hammered 353 feet and 356 feet, respectively. Both fly balls were caught on the warning track. But those were the only mistakes that had the potential to go for extra-base hits. That Keaschall matchup was also the only three-ball count any opponent worked against Bender during the streak. That's remarkable for a pitcher whose lifetime walk rate is slightly worse than the MLB average. One limitation of Bender's game is his inability to entice batters to offer at pitches outside the strike zone. He ranked in the seventh percentile among MLB pitchers in chase rate last season, per Baseball Savant, and similarly resides in the fifth percentile in 2026. It's crucial for him to trust his stuff in the zone, and he's been doing much more of that as this year has progressed. Bender has always had huge platoon splits. Entering Tuesday, his career OPS allowed to right-handed batters was .528 compared to .755 to left-handed batters. In limited exposure to lefties this season, he's been better than ever (.644 OPS). The only extra-base hit has been a double off the bat of Jazz Chisholm Jr. way back on April 5. Very similar to teammate John King, he's leaning into unpredictability when at a platoon disadvantage—his sweeper, sinker and slider usage rates have been nearly identical against lefties. Aside from pending free agent Pete Fairbanks, Bender is the Marlins' most obvious midseason trade candidate. He's earning a $2.81 million salary with one more year of arbitration eligibility remaining. The bullpen is a strength for the Fish, ranking ninth among MLB teams in fWAR and sixth in ERA, with plenty of intriguing depth at Triple-A. Regardless of where they stand in the postseason race a couple months from now, they could move the 31-year-old and promote from within and not necessarily hurt their competitive chances in the process. While it's premature to discuss potential suitors in depth, the Chicago Cubs are a logical landing spot for Bender. They whiffed on a pair of free agent reliever signings last offseason—Hunter Harvey and Phil Maton due to injury and ineffectiveness, respectively. Additionally, their pitching staff has allowed homers at the second-highest rate in the league, whereas Bender is consistently stingy in that department (including 0 HR in 18.2 IP this season). View the full article

The Chicago Cubs are getting an important piece of their bullpen back. Left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar was activated from the 15-day injured list Tuesday by the Cubs. Left-handed reliever Ty Blach was designated for assignment after making his team debut Monday. Thielbar has been on the injured list since April 24 with a strained left hamstring. He made one rehab appearance with High-A South Bend over the weekend, pitching one scoreless inning with a hit, a walk and two strikeouts. With the Cubs, Thielbar has made 11 appearances covering 8⅔ innings, walking five and striking out 11. Blach pitched three scoreless innings in Monday's 9-3 blowout loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, allowing one hit and no walks with two strikeouts. View the full article

The Toronto Blue Jays' injured list just got a little bit longer. Left-handed reliever Joe Mantiply was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday by the Blue Jays, who called up right-handed reliever Chase Lee from Triple-A Buffalo. Mantiply has inflammation in his left knee. A reliable member of the Jays' bullpen, Mantiply is the ninth Jays pitcher currently on either the 15- or 60-day injured list. In 17 appearances during his first year with the Jays, Mantiply has pitched 17⅔ innings with four runs allowed on 16 hits and four walks with 16 strikeouts. Lee, acquired in an offseason trade from the Detroit Tigers, is up for the second time this season. He had a brief call-up at the end of April, appearing in one game in which he allowed a solo homer in 1⅓ innings with a strikeout. View the full article

Alex and Maddie sit down and review the weekend Braves series, along with a brief recap of the first Royals game. They provide an update on the team’s injured players from Roman Anthony to Garrett Crochet to Triston Casas. They discuss the ripple effect of Trevor Story’s sports hernia injury and potential need for surgery. Finally, they break down the team’s imbalance of strong pitching and weak hitting aside from Ceddanne Rafaela, Willson Contreras, and Wilyer Abreu. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talk-sox-podcast/id1783204104 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qPrPXEngu0CxgTmlf0ynm Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-talk-sox-podcast-244591331/ Listen on Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/4tmd121v Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@talksox View the full article

For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the third May edition of our Fish On First Prospects Report, which includes several important injury updates near the bottom of the page. This report covers the games played from May 12-18. Triple-A Jacksonville Fish On First Prospect of the Week Matthew Etzel had gotten off to a rough start in 2026, but now through 35 games, his production is close to his career average. Etzel was incredible in the most recent series against the Memphis Redbirds, recording at least one RBI in five of the six games and hitting home runs in each of the first four games. He is currently riding a 10-game hitting streak. His overall season slash line is up to .227/.313/.391/.703 with five home runs, 21 RBI and an 88 wRC+. The Marlins acquired Etzel right before last year's trade deadline from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for longtime catcher Nick Fortes. The Rays are satisfied with their side of the deal as Fortes is contributing to a club with the best record in Major League Baseball, but Etzel could potentially be called up at some point this season to give the Marlins a left-handed bat off the bench. Fish On First Prospects (@fofprospects) • Instagram photos and videos WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM 40 likes, 1 comments - fofprospects on May 17, 2026: "Fear the beard! 🧔‍♂️data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== By way of a 9-25 series in which he hit homers in four straight games and in which he raised his OPS by over 100... Kemp Alderman continues to mash in Jacksonville, now slashing .303/.376/.526/.903 with nine home runs, 23 RBI and a 137 wRC+. The 2023 second-round pick has been playing some first base recently, increasing his defensive versatility. He currently leads the Marlins farm system in hits (46) and runs scored (29). The main concern with Alderman is the jump in his strikeout rate, going from 23.1% in 2025 to 31.2% this season. Although a much different type of hitter, Jacob Berry has been equally successful in Jacksonville, now slashing .317/.419/.455/.874 with two home runs, 16 RBI, 13 stolen bases and a 138 wRC+. He is walking (14.2 BB%) more often than he's striking out (12.2 K%). Berry has gotten reps at five different defensive positions this season, most recently second base. It's getting hard to justify keeping him down while the Marlins receive minimal contributions from the likes of Christopher Morel and Heriberto Hernández. It's been an up-and-down ride for top prospect Thomas White since coming off the IL and going to Triple-A. In seven starts, White has a 4.01 ERA, 4.93 FIP, 12.77 K/9 and 5.47 BB/9. In his most recent start against Memphis, White allowed four runs on seven hits (two home runs). White's fastball currently is averaging 94.9 mph and generating a 32.0% whiff rate, but is getting hit extremely hard (55.5% hard-hit rate). It's also below league average with a stuff plus grade of 91 (100 is league average). The breaking pitches have been a bit better, primarily the sweeper, generating 34% whiff and a 97 stuff plus. He is throwing that pitch 30.6% of the time, his second-most-used pitch. Still only 21 years old, there is no rush with White, but Chris Paddack's departure and Robby Snelling's injury have moved him up the depth chart. In the bullpen, Jack Ralston and Josh White continue to dominate. Ralston has a 1.11 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 12.21 K/9 and 4.81 BB/9 in 15 appearances. As for White, he has a 1.61 ERA, 4.95 FIP, 9.27 K/9 and 4.84 BB/9 in 14 appearances (one start). William Kempner made his MLB debut with the Marlins on May 5, then quickly returned to the Jumbo Shrimp. He has not allowed a hit since then in seven innings pitched. Double-A Pensacola The Wahoos put on a power display in their series in Chattanooga. The beneficiaries of 13 total home runs over the week, Pensacola slugged their way to four wins in six games. They will head back home to take on Columbus with the chance to get back over .500 in the tightly-contested Southern League South division. Once again leading the offensive charge was 22-year-old slugger Dillon Lewis, who went 5-for-21 with four of his hits visiting areas beyond fences. In the second game of the series, Lewis hit two home runs marking his first multi-homer game of the season and second of his career. On the season, he’s slugging .481, which ties him for 11th-best SLG in the Southern League. He’s on pace to be the first Marlins minor leaguer since Griffin Conine (2021) to reach 30 homers. Lewis has immense raw power. With a seemingly gentle flick of the bat, Lewis is generating average exit velocities in the mid-to-upper 90s all the way up to the 110s. He is a pure pull hitter, smashing the ball to left field and in the air 17.9% of the time, in the 80th percentile in the Southern League. He turns on almost everything he touches with amazing strength. On the flip side, working to Lewis’ disadvantage is his extremely low percentage of swings at pitches in the strike zone and his relatively high amount of swings outside the zone. With a 40-point difference between his Z-Swing and O-swing, this is a clear point of emphasis for Lewis to hone in on as he continues to progress. Because of his current gaps, the offensive floor is a bit volatile, but with improved plate vision and better swing decisions, there is a path to Lewis developing into a 40+ home run threat. He raises his overall floor a bit thanks to great athleticism and plus speed. Lewis is under the radar nationally, but that could change in short order later this year. Are you not entertained? At this point, every Karson Milbrandt start is a must-watch event. His latest movie from this past week: six shutout innings on three hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts. That earned him Southern League Pitcher of the Week honors. In his past three starts, Milbrandt has a 0.50 ERA with a 28/3 K/BB. On Tuesday, the 22-year-old was deservedly added to Baseball America's Top 100 prospects list. The Marlins now have five players on the list, with Milbrandt joining Thomas White, Robby Snelling, Aiva Arquette and Joe Mack. High-A Beloit It was also a good week for the Sky Carp who shook off a series loss by taking four out of six from Peoria. The series was highlighted by an explosive 17-run performance on Saturday followed by a walk-off win on Sunday. Beloit’s offense scored a whopping 40 runs over the week (plus-10 run differential). It was refreshing to see from a squad who is still hitting just .220/.356/.375 as cold air and dreary weather start to finally dissipate in the region. A Marlins’ 2024 14th-rounder, Cam Clayton enjoyed a solid week at the plate, recording a bit in each game including two home runs. His second homer came Sunday and served as Beloit’s walk-off salvo. The 4-for-15 series came on the heels of a three-hit game on May 9. Overall, Clayton is 7 for his last 18 with six RBI. Clayton was drafted as a shortstop, but has since transitioned to corner infielder spots. This season with Beloit, he’s primarily played first base and slotted in as their DH. To reach an MLB ceiling, his bat will need to play consistently. It’s only showed up in spurts so far this season in High-A: before this current stretch, he was mired in an 0-for-21 spell before spending time on the development list. Clayton is walking at a tremendous rate and he is not swinging at bad pitches often, but he may be being a bit too timid at the plate: his zone swing percentage on the year is just 50.5%, one of the lowest in the High-A ranks. If Clayton, who sports a decent swing, can shake off some of his stoicism in the box without fully sacrificing his walk rate, he will improve his stock as a prospect. As the weather improves, so does Eliazar Dishmey's control and command. After tossing five shutty last time out, the 21-year-old turned in his first quality start of the year against Peoria, going six innings of one-run ball on just two hits and three walks while striking out six. His only charged run came on a solo home run. By way of one of the deeper arsenals in the Marlins’ organization, Dishmey continues to trend in the right direction. His 2.57 ERA this season is 11th-best in the Midwest League among pitchers with at least 20 IP. Transparently, Dishmey’s BABIP is an extremely low and unsustainable .189 and his 4.09 FIP is two runs higher than his ERA. As the BABIP normalizes over a larger sample of frames, Dishmey’s ERA will rise. Dishmey won’t overpower with fastball velo which usually sits 92-94, but he throws the fastball two different ways and keeps hitters off balance with both rise and sink. His best breaker is a hard slider in the mid-upper 80s and he also owns a slow loopy curveball in the low 80s. Lack of shape on his changeup has caused it to morph more so into a cutter recently—that pitch sits 88-90 plays as a better mix-in offering. Ryan Ignoffo (Pensacola) is expected to miss at least a week after injuring the popliteofibular ligament in his knee. Ignoffo has been the primary catcher for the Blue Wahoos, slashing .250/.308/.396 with seven stolen bases but only one home run. Cam Cannarella (Beloit) made his return to the diamond after missing the previous five weeks due to a wrist injury. The 2025 draft pick is slashing .364/.429/.545 in eight games played this season. Keyner Benitez (Jupiter), who made five appearances and posted a 2.79 ERA, is done for the season as he will undergo surgery on his left arm. This week's schedule Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Norfolk Double-A Pensacola vs. Columbus High-A Beloit at Quad Cities Low-A Jupiter vs. Daytona FCL Marlins vs. FCL Cardinals, FCL Nationals, FCL Astros and FCL Mets View the full article

The New York Mets are bringing yet another prospect outfielder. Speedy outfielder Nick Morabito, Grand Central Mets' No. 7 prospect, was called up from Triple-A Syracuse to make his MLB debut. To make room for the right-handed hitter, veteran outfielder Austin Slater was designated for assignment. Also, right-handed starter Clay Holmes (fractured right fibula) was transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day IL. Morabito joins fellow outfielders Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing as coming up this year to make their MLB debuts. Benge made the Opening Day roster and Ewing was called up last week. At Triple-A this year, Morabito had a slash line of .253/.364/.390 with four homers, 17 RBIs and 14 steals in 41 games. He was a second-round draft pick in 2022 out of Gonzaga and slashed .273/.348/.385 in 2025 with six homers, 59 RBIs and 49 stolen bases in 118 games. The Mets were Slater's second MLB team this year after being DFA'd by the Miami Marlins. In nine games with the Mets, Slater was 5-for-20 with no homers and one RBI. View the full article

Entering their series with the Milwaukee Brewers, the Chicago Cubs woke up once again atop the National League Central at 29-18. On the surface, they look exactly like what every contender hopes to be in May: an explosive offense, a division lead, and enough margin for error to survive imperfect stretches. But underneath the record lives a far more uncomfortable reality. This pitching staff has just produced the most home run–vulnerable start any Cubs team has had this century. The historical numbers are no longer ignorable. And on Sunday, on the South Side, the problem exploded in plain sight again. The Cubs let another chaotic Crosstown Classic slip away, stranded 13 runners, finished just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position, and ultimately watched Edgar Quero end the game with a two-run walk-off homer in the 10th inning to seal a 9-8 White Sox victory. The last time a White Sox hitter delivered an extra-inning walk-off homer against the Cubs was Carlos Lee’s grand slam off Courtney Duncan in the bottom of the 10th on June 8, 2001, at Comiskey Park II. This time, the image felt impossible to ignore: another lead gone, another decisive swing, another baseball disappearing beyond the wall. Through their first 47 games, no Cubs team this century had allowed more home runs than this 2026 group. Season HR Final Record 2026 64 ??? 2017 58 92-70 2006 58 66-96 2025 57 92-70 2022 57 74-88 2020 57 34-26 2021 56 71-91 And that is the truly unsettling part. Chicago is not simply enduring a bad week. It is building the kind of statistical profile that usually belongs to unstable, inconsistent, or fundamentally vulnerable teams. And yet the Cubs keep winning, even while allowing 49.7% of their runs via the home run. That contradiction has become the defining tension of their season. The Cubs Are Surviving Devastating Contact The staff ERA does not look catastrophic. Even some surface-level bullpen metrics remain competitive. But the issue is not how many runs they allow. The issue is how they allow them. Because this staff keeps failing in exactly the situations where good pitching staffs are supposed to impose control. Chicago leads MLB in: 27 HR allowed after getting ahead 0-1. 18 HR allowed the second time through the order by starting pitchers. 10 HR allowed on changeups. 7 HR allowed on curveballs. That combination tells a brutal story. An 0-1 count should belong to the pitcher. It should open the door to expanding the zone, generating defensive swings, and ending plate appearances quickly. Instead, Chicago is allowing more damage than any team in baseball after getting ahead in the count. Perhaps the most revealing data point of the season is this: Situation HR Allowed MLB Ranking 2nd PA in G, as SP 18 Worst in MLB After 0-1 27 Worst in MLB Innings 7-9 21 Bottom 5 in MLB That explains why so many Cubs games feel fragile even when they hold leads. Lineups are adjusting quickly to Chicago’s pitching staff. The damage begins once hitters recognize patterns, sequencing, and velocity shapes. And when the Cubs fail, the damage almost always arrives explosively. Not singles nor long rallies, but rather swings that instantly change games. A look at the heat map reveals some of the staff’s worst command mistakes. Forty-four percent of the home runs allowed have come against pitches left in the heart of the zone throughout the vertical plane. Only 19% of those command mistakes occurred while the hitter was behind in the count. Jameson Taillon Has Become the Symbol of the Problem No pitcher better reflects this vulnerability than Jameson Taillon. Home Runs Allowed by Taillon in 2026 Four-Seam Fastball: 5 Cutter: 4 Changeup: 4 Sinker: 2 Sweeper: 1 And that is exactly what makes this alarming. There is no single pitch collapsing under pressure. The entire arsenal is getting punished. Taillon has allowed 16 home runs in nine starts, which is 25% of the 64 home runs surrendered by the Cubs as a team. His recent outing against the White Sox became a near-perfect representation of what is happening to Chicago’s entire pitching staff: five home runs allowed in just five innings, with damage arriving against multiple pitch types. Taillon joined a list no Cubs pitcher wants to join: pitchers who have allowed at least five home runs in a game. Player HR Date Age Team Opp Result IP H R ER BF Warren Hacker 5 11/8/1954 29-263 CHC @ CIN L, 1-8 5 6 5 5 23 Steve Stone 5 9/7/1974 26-360 CHC CIN L, 5-8 2.1 5 5 5 13 Ismael Valdéz 5 11/6/2000 26-295 CHC @ CHW W, 6-5 5.2 10 5 5 29 Carlos Zambrano 5 12/8/2011 30-072 CHC @ ATL L, 4-10 4.1 8 8 8 22 Travis Wood 5 27/7/2012 25-172 CHC STL L, 6-9 5 7 8 8 24 Jason Hammel 5 1/7/2016 33-303 CHC @ NYM L, 2-10 4 9 10 10 23 Matt Swarmer 6 11/6/2022 28-259 CHC @ NYY L, 0-8 5 7 6 6 22 Jameson Taillon 5 16/5/2026 34-179 CHC @ CHW L, 3-8 5 8 8 8 24 This was not one isolated mistake in location. It was structural demolition. The Cubs Are Losing Stability And here comes the most important question of all: How does this team keep winning? The answer is probably the offense. The Cubs have been explosive enough to absorb mistakes that normally sink contenders. But the home run problem injects constant volatility into the team’s identity. No lead feels entirely safe. No inning feels completely under control. Because this staff lives dangerously close to long-ball damage. Chicago’s starters are tied for the most home runs allowed in MLB with 39. The bullpen ranks fifth-worst with 25. October rarely forgives this kind of profile. Yes, it is still May. Less than 50 games have been played. It would be excessive to declare this a final verdict on the Cubs. Explosive offensive teams can survive for months while hiding cracks on the mound. Chicago is doing exactly that right now. Their lineup produces enough damage to erase mistakes, rescue uncomfortable nights, and keep the club atop the division even while the pitching staff continues allowing dangerous contact. But trends matter, especially the ones that repeat this consistently. The vulnerability runs through nearly the entire staff structure: starters getting punished the second time through the order, relievers allowing decisive late-game swings, and far too many favorable counts ending in catastrophic damage. That is what makes this otherwise impressive start feel uncomfortable. Chicago still looks like a first-place team., but it is also beginning to look like a team playing on an extremely thin margin every single night. View the full article

Although his debut in Boston went pear-shaped, Shane Drohan has been pretty darn good ever since. He got the win after pitching 4 1/3 strong innings of relief Monday night at Wrigley Field, and now has a 1.47 ERA in seven appearances since his return to the majors on April 24. In that span, he's faced 72 batters, fanned 18, and walked just two, He hasn't given up a home run in the majors yet. Most of that is attributable to the stuff and the maturity that Drohan brought with him from the Boston organization, whence the Brewers acquired him in February's Caleb Durbin trade. The team took an interest in his mid-90s heat from the left side and a compelling array of pitch shapes, and they had him stay ready to work as a starter this spring despite some temptation to move him into a relief role like the one in which DL Hall is now toiling. Ultimately, of course, Drohan landed in a role much like Hall's, but he's been a weapon for manager Pat Murphy, deployable in a variety of ways. Drohan's main stuff is unchanged. He's slightly altered the movement profile on his four-seamer, but his high-riding cutter remains intact. His slider and curveball, like the cutter, have an unusual shape for his arm slot, which the team was bound to love. Milwaukee has helped Drohan add a sinker to his mix, and it shows modest promise, but it's a complementary piece. He's a three-fastball guy now, but not a materially different one than the hurler who was racking up whiffs in the high minors for the Red Sox last summer. There is, however, one pitch I haven't mentioned yet: the changeup. Therein, as Josh Bard would say, lies the rub. When Drohan made his debut on April 8 against the Red Sox, his changeup had some potential. On balance, though, it deviated too much from his fastball to be useful. This is an underdiscussed danger for guys who want to throw a good cambio: You might create so much of a gap in velocity and movement that, despite your best efforts to use the same arm slot and mimic the arm speed of the fastball, the hitter is able to tell the difference early and can spit on a pitch you'd rather he tried to hit. Pitchers who are excellent at manipulating the spin of the ball can sometimes work around the problem of spinning it the opposite way from their breaking balls, but find that the resulting offering moves too much because of its active spin. YVl4djdfVjBZQUhRPT1fVWxkV1YxVlNWUXNBQ0FFQ1hnQUhDQWRVQUZrTVVBVUFCd01GVlFRSFVsWlJWQVJV.mp4 That's not a bad pitch, and had the Brewers challenged it, it would have resulted in Strike 3. Overall, though, the changeup didn't fool the Red Sox. Drohan needed something different to round out his arsenal. During his time back in Nashville, he seems to have found it. Here's the (Statcast-labeled) changeup on which he struck out Nico Hoerner during Monday's victory: RDFkS25fVjBZQUhRPT1fVTFSWlZWQUVVRkVBWGdRQUFBQUhWQVpTQUZrQlV3UUFCVkJUQkFNQkFBTUdWZ0pU.mp4 That pitch is much firmer, and it has more vertical depth, but it doesn't run to the arm side nearly as much as his old one. It shouldn't necessarily work well, but because of his slot and the array of other looks he gives batters, it does. How did the change happen? It's hard to tell for certain on video, but it's pretty clear that Drohan is now throwing some version of a splitter or split-change, rather than the circle-change he was throwing before. His average changeup spin rate in Boston over a month ago was 1,590 RPM. In every outing since returning to the bigs, Drohan has averaged under 1,200 RPM with that pitch, and it's sometimes been under 1,000. The splitter works because a pitcher's grip kills the spin on the ball as it leaves their hand, giving the pitch its trademark tumble. It also tends not to run as much to the arm side as other changeups. Drohan has moved to a splitter (or splitter variant), and the results are excellent. He hasn't given up a hit on the changeup, and it's earning plenty of whiffs, even from great contact hitters like Hoerner. This is not the defining pitch for Drohan. He's a spin-and-speed artist, and overpowered the Cubs with a heater that touched the high side of 96 MPH and sat around 95 Monday night. The changeup is a spare part, at least unless and until he returns to a true starting role. This is an important adjustment, though, in that it testifies to Drohan's coachability (a key trait for any Brewers contributor) and to the sense on the part of the coaching staff that all they needed to do was add the finishing touches for him. He's a valuable arm with big upside. This change to his change is a capstone to a career of adjustment and progress; the Brewers just helped him identify the best version of himself. View the full article

The Toronto Blue Jays' third-ranked prospect, Johnny King, is off to a remarkable start to the season with the High-A Vancouver Canadians. In this video, we'll dive into his remarkable K-per-9 mark, a lively fastball, and what King needs to hone in on as his opposition only grows tougher along with his progression through the farm system ladder. View the full article

In addition to the major news of former first-round pick Royce Lewis being sent to Triple-A St. Paul, the Minnesota Twins made more than a handful of other moves Tuesday ahead of the second game of the series against the Houston Astros. The most noteworthy of those moves is catcher Ryan Jeffers going on the 10-day injured list with a broken left hamate bone, which could sideline him anywhere from one to two months. Here is the complete list of moves: Optioned third baseman Royce Lewis to the Triple-A St. Paul Saints. Placed catcher Ryan Jeffers on the 10-day injured list with a left hamate bone fracture. Designated right-handed reliever Justin Topa for assignment. Selected the contract of catcher Alex Jackson from the Triple-A St. Paul Saints. Selected the contract of shortstop Orlando Arcia from the Triple-A St. Paul Saints. Recalled right-handed reliever Travis Adams from the Triple-A St. Paul Saints. Transferred right-handed reliever Garrett Acton (strained right shoulder) from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. In other words, Lewis, Jeffers and Topa off the Twins' 26-man roster, with Arcia, Jackson and Adams now on the 26-man roster. Acton was moved to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster. There does appear to be one more 40-man move coming as FanGraphs lists the Twins with 41 players on the 40. View the full article

Leading up to the 2026 MLB Draft, Fish On First brings you a series of scouting reports on top prospects in this draft class who could realistically wind up in Miami. Overview Position: LHP Height: 6’4″ Weight: 190 pounds School: Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS (FL) Commitment: Miami Gio Rojas is a 6’4”, 190-pound left-handed pitcher who plays at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Rojas is one of the top pitching prospects in this draft class. He’s also considered one of the top high school prospects in the class. Rojas is signed to play college baseball at the University of Miami. Rojas comes from one of the best high school baseball factories in the country. Stoneman Douglas has produced seven MLB players, including Anthony Rizzo, Jesús Luzardo, and Roman Anthony. Rojas is expected to become the first Stoneman Douglas player to be selected in the first round of the MLB Draft. On the mound, Rojas possesses a three-pitch mix including his fastball, slider, and changeup. Rojas’s fastball sits 92-96 mph and tops out at 98 mph. His fastball has plus spin that normally ranges from 2,500 to 2,700 RPM. Rojas’s slider is his best secondary pitch, sitting in the low 80s with 2,600-2,800 RPM of spin and sweeper movement. He has a good feel for his low-80s changeup and it has proven to be effective against right-handed batters. During his senior season, Rojas helped Marjory Stoneman Douglas High secure their seventh consecutive state title. He posted an 11-1 record in thirteen starts with a 0.59 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, seventeen walks, and 124 strikeouts in 71 innings pitched. Strengths Plus fastball Good spin rate and feel on all of his pitches Pounds the strike zone Projectable body frame Frontline starter upside Weaknesses Needs to throw his changeup with more consistency Struggles to repeat his delivery Pro Comparison: Cole Ragans Projection: Top 15 pick Bottom Line Gio Rojas is a blue-chip prospect with a high floor and still has room to develop into a better pitching prospect. On MLB Pipeline, Rojas is the tenth-ranked draft prospect. He’s also the fourteenth-ranked draft prospect on ESPN. On Perfect Game, Rojas is the third-ranked prospect and the top-ranked pitcher in the Class of 2026. He’s also the second-ranked prospect in the Sunshine State, only behind Jacob Lombard. The Marlins will have the 14th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. They have had mixed results historically when taking prep pitchers in the first round. Josh Beckett (1999) became a World Series hero and Trevor Rogers (2017) peaked as an All-Star, but the likes of Jeff Allison (2003), Chad James (2009) and Tyler Kolek (2014) never even reached the big leagues. Most recently, Noble Meyer (2023) has fallen short of expectations thus far. If Miami can land the hometown kid, Rojas would be an excellent addition to their farm system. More 2026 MLB draft profiles RHP Cameron Flukey OF Eric Booth Jr. 3B Ace Reese LHP Carson Bolemon RHP Jackson Flora INF Jacob Lombard OF AJ Gracia View the full article

Royce Lewis is on the struggle bus and has been for the majority of the last three seasons. Whether it's a demotion to Triple-A Saint Paul for a reset or a trade, Royce Lewis is in desperate need of a change of scenery. View the full article

Without Tyrone Taylor and his heroic swing in the bottom of the ninth, the narrative of the game would have been one of continued defensive mishaps and disappointing at-bats with runs in scoring position. Luckily, the New York Mets don't have to live in that reality, as Taylor completely erased the New York Yankees' lead in the ninth inning of the rubber match of the Subway Series. To the naked eye, the at-bat was cut and dry; Taylor received a first-pitch curveball that deserved to be hit over the fence and then some. But there was some intuition and baseball IQ shown by Taylor before and during that at-bat that should get a lot of props. ckR3QXlfWGw0TUFRPT1fVlFSU1hWTlFYd29BRFFkWFZnQUhWVk5VQUZnTlZ3QUFCMUpXQlFWV0JWSlRDRlJm.mp4 In Taylor's at bat in the seventh inning, he hit a fastball at 104 mph straight to the left fielder Max Schuemann. Coming into his at-bat against a fastball-heavy closer in David Bednar, he knew there was a likelihood he would not get one on the first pitch. Bednar’s curveball is the pitch he uses the least and feels the least confident in. The pitch this season has a .412 batting average against. However, Bednar threw a curveball to the prior hitter Mark Vientos. So, with that knowledge, Taylor came up with a plan to anticipate on Bednar’s curveball on the first pitch and sure enough, it came. An 80 mph curveball hanging in the middle of the plate came and went 404 feet to left field. A questionable call from catcher Austin Wells to call his closer’s worst pitch in such a big moment. Taylor in one swing took a 6-3 Mets deficit to a tie game. Famously, the Mets had not won a game they were trailing after the eighth inning since 2024. Thanks to Taylor’s swing and Carson Benge’s walk off, that streak is now broken. View the full article

Checking in on the San Diego Padres prospects who made a mark in the last week: Kash Mayfield, LHP, High-A Fort Wayne Season stats: 3-1, 1.52 ERA, 7 games (all starts), 29⅔ IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 13 BB, 35 K, Just a few months after turning 21 years old, the 2024 first-round draft choice (25th overall) out of Elk City High School in Oklahoma is seeing his star rise in the early stages of 2026. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound left-hander allowed one hit and struck out a career-high nine with no walks over five shutout innings as the Fort Wayne TinCaps beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels 12-3 Friday. He threw just 56 pitches, including 43 strikes. Mayfield hasn't allowed a run in five of his seven starts this year and currently has a 12-inning scoreless streak. If that sounds like a remarkable performance, it is. The only thing is that Mayfield has three other five-inning, one-hit outings this year, which have contributed to his 1.52 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and 0.99 opponent batting average, all of which lead the Midwest League. His latest outing earned Mayfield, Padres Mission's No. 2 prospect, the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week award. Against the Kernels, Mayfield retired the first 13 batters of the game and struck out nine of the 16 batters he faced. He also induced 16 swinging strikes. He has a 32.7% strikeout rate and 12.1% walk rate. Of his 13 walks, five came in one game. The MLB averages for both are 22.2% and 8.6%. Mayfield has also excelled at limiting contact. While his four-seamer velocity is low (91 mph range), his ability to locate the ball, along with an excellent slider and changeup, helps with the strikeout and contact success. In his seven starts, he has allowed three hits twice. In the other five, Mayfield allowed one hit in three and no hits in the other two, with both of those coming in his first two starts of the season. In his pro debut last year at Low-A Lake Elsinore, Mayfield made 19 starts and had a 2.97 ERA in 60⅔ innings. He had a 34.1% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate. Mayfield's domination, thanks to his ability to pitch and not just throw the ball past hitters, at High-A could lead to a quick promotion to Double-A San Antonio, where he could work with catcher Ethan Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect. Not that he isn't working with a good catcher currently (see next item). Lamar King Jr., C, High-A Fort Wayne Season stats: .278/.399/.400, 34 games, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 20 BB, 29 K, 8 SB, 1 CS The fourth-round draft pick in 2022 out of Calvert Hall College High School in Maryland has been an on-base machine. The right-handed hitter, son of former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Lamar King, currently has a 27-game on-base streak going, needing an infield single in the ninth inning Saturday to keep that streak alive. Over five games last week against the Kernels, King had three straight multi-hit games and went a combined 7-for-22 with three RBIs. While King—Padres Mission's No. 10 prospect—only drew one walk last week, he has 10 already in May after having 10 through the entire month of April, which has helped build a very nice .399 on-base percentage. After going 0-for-3 Tuesday, King went 2-for-5 in each of his next three games, scoring a run each game. He hit his first triple of the season Wednesday. His three multi-hit games last week gave him eight for the season. Since April 14, King ranks fifth in the Midwest League with a .341 batting average and 10th with a .434 OBP. King's pro debut was delayed until late 2024 by shoulder surgery. He played in 62 games between the Arizona Complex League and Low-A Lake Elsinore, putting up a .271/.379/.421 slash line with two homers and 32 RBIs. He spent 84 games back at Lake Elsinore in 2025 and was a bit better offensively, registering a slash line of .286/.370/.408 with four homers, 37 homers and 18 stolen bases. That earned him a promotion to Fort Wayne, where he appeared in 34 games with a .233/.289/.300. He didn't homer and drove in seven with three steals. That led him to a return to the TinCaps this year and he is thriving. His hit tool has developed quite a bit since being drafted, while the power has yet to follow. King has just two homers this year to go along with six doubles and that triple. He figures to stay at Fort Wayne until at least Salas is promoted to Triple-A, depending on how the Padres see his progress behind the plate. His shoulder injury has some seeing him moving to first base. Jesus Castro, RHP, Low-A Lake Elsinore Season stats: 0-1, 3.55 ERA, 6 games (all starts), 25⅓ IP, 26 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 1 HR, 10 BB, 25 K Just a few weeks shy of turning 19, the right-handed starter turned in his best performance of the season in the Storm's 4-0 shutout of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. Castro struck out a career-high nine while going 5⅔ innings for the second consecutive start. His nine strikeouts were two better than his previous game and one more than he had last year in a Dominican Summer League game that was his previous career best. The younger brother of another Padres pitching prospect, San Antonio Missions right-hander Manuel Castro, hasn't allowed more than three runs in any of his six starts this year and blanked the Quakes despite allowing a season-high seven hits. He also fell an out shy of matching his career high for innings (six), which he did twice last year in the DSL. While he has walked 10, four of those came in a single game. He didn't walk anyone in his previous start. Castro hasn't popped up on national top-30 lists for the Padres, but could by the end of the year if he continues these types of performances. Kerrington Cross, 1B-3B, Low-A Lake Elsinore Season stats: .288/.464/.507, 29 games, 6 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 21 BB, 22 K, 3 SB, 0 CS Back for a second stint with the Storm after a 14-game cameo in his pro debut a year ago, the 24-year-old was the Padres' seventh-round draft choice in 2025 out of Cincinnati. He has been in the middle of a fun Storm offense and last week went 8-for-17 with three doubles, a homer and eight RBIs. He also drew six walks. His best game against the Quakes was Friday, when he came off the bench and went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer in a 14-0 victory. Cross also had the tie-breaking two-run double in Saturday's 4-2 win. The Honolulu native posted a .190/.433/.214 slash line in his brief time with Lake Elsinore last year, but that has changed in a big way this time around. He has shown an ability to get on base as he drew 14 walks last year and has 21 in 29 games this year. He spent all four years in college at Cincinnati, putting up a .396/.526/.647 slash line as a senior with 12 homers, 50 RBIs and 15 steals in 56 games and was named Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. During his career with the Bearcats, he finished third in runs scored and fourth in hits, homers and triples, while winding up fifth in RBIs. The positional versatility on the infield corners should serve him well, but he will have to continue to hit in order to keep progressing in the system. A move to the outfield, at least to increase his defensive value, isn't out of the question, either. Victor Lizarraga, RHP, Double-A San Antonio Season stats: 2-4, 6.37 ERA, 8 games (6 starts), 29⅔ IP, 29 H, 24 R, 21 ER, 3 HR, 20 BB, 24 K The 22-year-old right-hander was born in San Diego but signed with the Padres in 2021 as an international free agent out of Mexico. He climbed the system to reach Double-A San Antonio as a 20-year-old in 2024, but has stayed with the Missions each of the next two years. His 2026 got off to a rocky start as he allowed seven runs while getting just one out in his second start of the season, then followed that with six runs in 1⅓ innings. But since then, he has been much better. That includes his start Saturday against the Wichita Wind Surge in which he went six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits with no walks and a season-high eight strikeouts, just two K's shy of his career high set in 2024 with the Missions. Lizarraga has had an issue with control as shown by his 20 walks (14.8% walk rate) this year and five hit batters while not having big strikeout stuff. This start followed two appearances out of the bullpen the previous week against the Midland RockHounds in which he pitched a total of eight innings, allowing one run on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts. In his last five games, he has allowed a much-improve .225 opponent batting average (.271 for the season). Perhaps those relief outings against the RockHounds could be a sign of a better role for him down the line if his numbers as a starter don't improve. View the full article

Here we are, a little more than one month into the minor league season, and we have made our first in-season update to the Jays Centre Top 20 Prospect rankings. It has been a roaring start for some and a slow crawl for others. Let's check out a few of our prospects that moved up and down the rankings, as well as a couple of new entries to the list altogether. Blue Jays Top 20 Prospects: Key Risers No. 3 Johnny King, SP - Vancouver Canadians Johnny King has been a force to be reckoned with down in High A for the Vancouver Canadians. At just 19 years old, he has been slowly ramping up his pitch count and innings over the first month of the season, but those innings have been fantastic. He currently has an ERA of 0.81 to go with a sparkling batting average against of just .130. He is not allowing many hits at all, just 10 in seven games and 22.1 innings pitched. He is still excelling with some great swing and miss numbers, striking out 35.9% of hitters, but the walks have seen a jump up to 15.2% so far this season. Fastball command may be a key factor in the walk rate rising, and it could be because his fastball now sits in the mid-to-upper 90s at times, which is a great sign for his overall stuff. He just needs to control it more frequently, which he should, with more experience. No. 10 Sean Keys, 1B/3B - New Hampshire Fisher Cats Sean Keys has taken the Double-A world by storm in the first month-plus of the season. At one point, he was the hottest and best hitter at the level, launching 10 home runs in just 36 games played, to go with a slash line of .290/.413/.581 and a wRC+ of 155. He has been getting on base, taking walks, hitting for power, and limiting the whiffs some. He has a walk rate of 12.7% and a strikeout rate of 26.0%. If he keeps going at this pace, he could see the bump up to Triple-A Buffalo sooner rather than later. No. 8 Yohendrick Piñango, OF - Buffalo Bisons/Toronto Blue Jays Yohendrick Piñango was enjoying a solid beginning to his year at Triple-A Buffalo, slashing .288/.370/.488, with three home runs, two stolen bases, and a wRC+ of 122 over 22 games. His jump in the rankings, though, largely comes from his first 16 games as a Toronto Blue Jay. He has hit .333/.373/.438, launching one home run with three walks and just six strikeouts. There may not be enough room in the Blue Jays’ outfield for playing time when everyone is healthy, but he is certainly making a case for more at-bats at the moment. Blue Jays Top 20 Prospects: Key Fallers Landen Maroudis, SP - Vancouver Canadians Landen Maroudis has actually pitched well at times this season, and his velocity has started to return to its 2024 level. Over eight games and 27.1 innings pitched, he has a 4.61 ERA and a 3.93 FIP. His walk rate is down considerably this season at 9.6%, but his strikeout rate is only 20.8%. He has been getting outs, but he needs to see his swing and miss stuff tick back up. Brandon Barriera, SP - Dunedin Blue Jays Brandon Barriera had put together a couple of good starts before the injury bug again landed him on the IL. The numbers weren't great as a whole this season (5.29 ERA, 5.43 FIP), but four of his last five games saw him give up no runs or one run. Hopefully, he returns soon and gets back in a groove on the mound. Yeuni Munoz, OF - Released Yeuni Munoz didn't play a lot of games with the Blue Jays organization due to injuries, but he did show a good ability to hit the ball hard and often. Toronto released the outfielder before the season. Blue Jays Top 20 Prospects: Newcomers No. 17 Nolan Perry, SP - Dunedin Blue Jays/Vancouver Canadians Nolan Perry began the season with Single-A Dunedin and has been making up for lost time quickly. He missed the 2025 season with Tommy John surgery, but you wouldn't know it by watching him this year; he has been one of the best pitchers in the minor leagues. Over five games and 22 innings with Dunedin, he pitched to a 1.71 ERA and 2.50 FIP, with a strikeout rate of 41% and a walk rate of just 7.7%. Single-A hitters couldn't get much contact against him, and when they did, it wasn't very good either, with his batting average against coming in at .114. After a promotion to High-A Vancouver, Perry hasn't lost a step, as his numbers have gotten even better. In two games, he has pitched 10 innings with 18 strikeouts (47% strikeout rate), only allowing one run (0.90 ERA). This season, Perry has been using a deep pitch mix when he attacks hitters and does so with a good deal of command on all of his pitches. The fastball is in the mid-90s and occasionally has gotten into the upper 90s, with good ride up in the zone. The pitch comes with a very good amount of induced vertical break as well (averaging 18 inches at Dunedin). His slider and curveball are fantastic pitches with sharp break and tunnel well off of his four-seam fastball. Perry also has above-average extension on his pitches at 6.5 feet. His fourth pitch, a changeup, needs some more work, but it could be a good pitch down the line as well. Perry currently ranks in the 92nd percentile or better in strikeout rate (98th), K-BB% (98th), BAA (97th), SwStr% (94th), WHIP (99th), ERA (93rd), FIP (92nd), and xFIP (97th). This is all in his first season back after Tommy John surgery. Assuming he keeps improving and his command gets even better, we could see him make the jump up to Double-A New Hampshire at some point and cement himself as one of the best pitching prospects in the Blue Jays organization. No. 20 Dylan Watts, SP - Dunedin Blue Jays Dylan Watts has pitched in eight games for Dunedin and has thrown 23.1 innings. Currently, he has a 4.63 ERA and a 4.57 FIP, with a 26.2% strikeout rate, a 9.7% walk rate, and a batting average against of .272. Watts has five pitches he can control effectively, and that deep pitch mix has done well at generating swing and misses so far this season. He has a mid-90s four-seam fastball, which has great ride up in the zone, with 17.5 inches of induced vertical break and 10 inches of horizontal break. His sinker can be the reverse of his four-seam fastball, with more horizontal break than induced vertical break. His strikeout pitches are his cutter and changeup, coming in at whiff rates above 40% and 60%. His last pitch is a slider, and it generates a high percentage of whiffs, but he currently doesn't throw it much. Look for Watts to keep working on his pitch mix and finding a way to minimize contact from hitters. If he can get into a good spot and string together some better games, he could get the bump up to High-A Vancouver come June or July when the next wave of promotions is likely to happen. View the full article

Farming out outfielder Matt Wallner was never going to be the last of the Twins' major moves, as the team shakes up its roster and tries to accelerate its move toward a new core and away from the bitter failures of the last season and a half. Monday night saw Kendry Rojas take (at least for now) Simeon Woods Richardson's place in the starting rotation. On Tuesday, the club optioned Royce Lewis to the minors and designated reliever Justin Topa for assignment. Dan Hayes of The Athletic broke the news on Twitter. Topa, 35, fell off the ledge after clinging to it all season, never quite able to clamber to a safer perch. He made 23 appearances and gutted out a pair of saves, but he only made it through 19 innings and finishes his Twins tenure with an 8.05 ERA. He struck out 12 and walked 11, and a wobbly showing in which he let the Astros back into the game Monday night was the final straw. With Lewis, the story is much longer and more interesting, but much more of it has already been told. He can't get on time right now. His winter work with a private hitting coach has borne no fruit, making him less unorthodox but no more effective than he was in his lost 2025 campaign. When his at-bats remained uncompetitive after a two-day benching to reset and refocus, the writing was on the wall, just as it was for Wallner earlier this month. Replacing Lewis on the roster will be veteran utility infielder Orlando Arcia, who signed a minor-league deal with the team in the spring and stayed with the club despite not making the 26-man roster in March. Arcia, 31, offers steady (though no longer rangy) defense for an infield that needed help on that front. He's also hit very well for Triple-A St. Paul this season, with a .318/.376/.556 line in over 160 plate appearances. Arcia and Tristan Gray are expected to serve as a modified platoon at third base for the short term, according to a source briefed on the team's thinking, though Derek Shelton will have some discretion in which way to tip the greater share of playing time and whether to include Ryan Kreidler in that rotation. For the Twins, it's still worth hoping for and trying to engender a Lewis rebound, but that can no longer be Plan A. Like Wallner, Lewis heads to the minors without a guarantee of a return trip, and with the team's plans rapidly shifting in another direction. For now, top infield prospect Kaelen Culpepper will remain with the Saints, but he's knocking on the door to the majors. An infield that includes (in whichever alignment) Brooks Lee and Culpepper is now more likely to be the team's medium-term plan than is anything that involves Lewis. Cutting Topa creates a spot for Arcia on the 40-man roster, but there might be more shuffling ahead, as the team awaits more information on the injured wrist of catcher Ryan Jeffers. With Jeffers in limbo, Gray set to welcome a new child to his family and two veteran relievers (Matt Bowman and John Brebbia) eligible to become free agents Tuesday if not added to the roster. there are still moving pieces here. If the team wants to call up either Bowman or Brebbia, they'd need to create a second opening on the 40-man. A third spot could be needed for catcher Alex Jackson, should Jeffers land on the IL. It's even possible Lewis will go to Ft. Myers for a more complete reset, rather than to St. Paul. For now, though, it's clear that another phase of a longer-running shakeup is underway. This piece will be updated as the details of the roster moves are announced. View the full article

The Twins' farm system is in good health, with several top-100 prospects, depending on your list of choice. It's also top-heavy, in a good way: the best of their talent is clustered in the upper minors or has already touched the brass ring that is the majors. Connor Prielipp has looked excellent in his first five big-league starts, while Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Kaelen Culpepper are all playing (or injured) in Lowertown. Who are the next prospects knocking on the door of industry-wide top-100 prospect lists? Let’s dig in. For the purpose of this thought exercise, I omitted anyone who has appeared on a top-100 prospect list in the last 12 months. That includes Eduardo Tait, Dasan Hill, and Charlee Soto. Here are the next three prospects who could soon garner such consideration. Marek Houston, SS, Cedar Rapids 32 G, 149 PA, .295/.358/.417 (.775), 3 HR (9 XBH), 8.1 BB%, 20.1 K%, 8SB (89%), 102 wRC+ Houston was the 16th overall pick in the 2025 draft and entered pro ball with a reputation as a truly exceptional defensive shortstop. The question about his profile has been ‘will he hit’? So far, he’s held serve. It’s been solid, if unspectacular. After an initial 12-game stretch at Cedar Rapids in 2025 in which he looked tired, Houston returned in 2026, looking much more ready for the challenge. Through 32 games, he’s been a contact-driven league-average hitter. Houston makes good swing decisions. He doesn’t chase much (around 23%) and makes contact frequently. His patient approach hasn’t translated into free passes, though. In college, Houston walked 13-15% of the time. As a pro, it's just 8.1% so far. This is an area of his game that, if improved, would mitigate some of the worries about a dearth of power. Still, Houston is off to a much better start in 2026. He may never be an impact bat, but the glove is so good, it might not matter. If he continues to be an above-average hitter for the level, he’ll start earning top-100 consideration due to the value of his defense in a premium position. Yasser Mercedes, OF, Cedar Rapids 26 G, 119 PA, .333/.445/.657 (1.102), 7 HR (16 XBH), 16.8 BB%, 21 K%, 15 SB (88%), 187 wRC+ You know what the Twins could really use? A win on the international market. It’s been pretty barren the past few years, while the Brewers are seemingly unearthing top prospects the world over on a regular basis. Enter Yasser Mercedes, a 21-year-old born in Puerto Rico who was part of the 2022 international free agent class because his family later moved to the Dominican Republic. He's returning to Fort Myers at the beginning of 2026 for his third stint at the level. It all came together rather quickly this year. Mercedes looked like a different player at Fort Myers, putting up a 107.4 mph EV90 with vastly improved bat-to-ball skills and a much better approach. He’s already stolen 72 bases in his last three campaigns, so there’s another useful facet of his game. Mercedes is a little passive in the zone, so he’ll need to pick his moments to attack pitches he can do damage on, but if his remarkable improvements continue, he’ll be rocketing up lists by midseason. Riley Quick, RHP, Cedar Rapids 17.2 IP, 1.53 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 40.9 K%, 12.1 BB% When interviewed immediately after the 2025 draft, Sean Johnson described Riley Quick as ‘a prospect we had a first-round grade on’. So it has proven to be. Quick left his last start at Cedar Rapids with thumb cramps, struggling to throw strikes. That’s about as difficult as his life has been in 18 pro innings to date. He’s already put Fort Myers in the rear-view mirror, and the stuff looks just as dominant at Cedar Rapids. Quick already has a diverse arsenal. While his fastballs (four-seam and two-seam) aren’t elite shape-wise, they have enough velocity behind them (sitting 96 mph) to be effective in the lower minors. The Twins have ramped up Quick’s cutter usage, and his slider and changeup are both rocking chase rates north of 50%. On top of all this, it’s around seven feet of extension for the 22-year-old. Quick will be in Double-A before the end of the season, at least. If the quality of the strikes remains solid, he’ll continue to fly through the minors and be a top-100 prospect before the end of the season. View the full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 16-May 18) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox): 4-2: Season Record: 23-22 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Reading Fighting Phils (Philadelphia Phillies): 3-4 Season Record: 22-15 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners): 3-3 Season Record: 16-23 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees): 2-4 Season Record: 15-24 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 4-1 Season Record: 11-1 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 23-22 Series vs Worcester Red Sox May 16: Buffalo got a little bit of a gift on Saturday, as it seemed the good karma they have built up by enduring an endless amount of postponed games the last two seasons was cashed in. Josh Fleming was on the mound and was excellent. Over five innings, he kept Worcester to only one extra-base hit and three singles, while only walking one. At the plate, Buffalo had the power swing going early in this one. In the second inning, Josh Rivera launched his sixth home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. The blast had an exit velocity of 103.1 mph and went over the fence, landing 391 feet from home plate. Two batters later, Je'Von Ward smacked his second home run in as many games. His was nearly identical off of the bat, 103.9 mph, and it went 383 feet. After a 31-minute rain delay, the game was called after Worcester hit in the top of the fifth, giving Buffalo the 2-0 win and moving them to two games above .500. May 17: After a decent streak of games where the bats couldn't miss the ball, Buffalo went cold on Sunday and didn't get anything going at the plate. They were able to get three singles and four doubles, but nothing would come of it, as they were shut out in the game. Josh Kasevich had one of the hits and one of the walks, raising his batting average for the season to .293. Austin Voth pitched rather well, throwing five innings, only surrendering four baserunners (three hits and one walk). He did give up one run, a solo blast in the third to Nathan Hickey. Pat Gallagher came in for Voth to start the sixth inning, and things went south fast for Buffalo. Gallagher coughed up three runs on a single, triple, and a double to the three batters he faced, handing it off to Hayden Juenger. Juenger would not fare much better, giving up another run on an RBI single, before he loaded the bases up with a walk to Hickey. Braiden Ward would ground out and let Buffalo off the hook of a massive inning. With Buffalo down 4-0, they would go down in order the remainder of the game, 12 up and 12 down. The loss brought the Bisons back to the edge of .500 for the season. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 22-15 Series vs Reading Fighting Phils (Philadelphia Phillies) May 16: The Saturday tilt between the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Reading Fightin Phils was one to forget for New Hampshire. From the start of the game, things went south for the Fisher Cats. Starting pitcher Jackson Wentworth only went one inning and gave up an unearned run. After that the relievers were pile driven into submission. Reading ended the game with 22 hits, seven walks, and the Fisher Cats had three errors. That is 32 baserunners. On the other side, New Hampshire couldn't get on base, only managing four singles and one walk. New Hampshire lost this one 20-0. May 17, Game 1: In the first game of the Sunday doubleheader, Chris McElvain was on the mound for New Hampshire against Reading and had one of his best starts. He went six innings, only allowed two hits, didn't give up a run, and only walked two batters. He struck out four hitters. Conor Larkin came on for the seventh and pitched a clean inning with a strikeout to finish off the seven-inning shutout. The New Hampshire offense was not its usual dominating self, but they did manage five hits and two runs. Victor Arias had an RBI single in the third, and Eddie Micheletti Jr. launched his sixth home run of the year in the sixth inning. New Hampshire would win game one 2-0. Game 2: Game two of the doubleheader was just as lacking in the hitting department for both teams. New Hampshire managed just four hits, and only two hitters (Jay Harry and Nick Goodwin) collected those four hits. Goodwin had an RBI single and an RBI double, with Victor Arias adding an RBI groundout. It wasn't enough, as Reading managed five runs on five hits, and New Hampshire lost 5-3 High-A Vancouver Season Record: 16-23 Series vs Everett AquaSox (Seattle Mariners) May 16, Game 1: Landen Maroudis had his first blow-up start for the Canadians, as he gave up eight hits, a walk and six runs in a little over three innings of work. That raised his season ERA to 4.61 and earned him his first loss of the season. The offense tried to catch up, with Tucker Toman leading the charge with a three-RBI night, but the AquaSox got up to a 7-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning after Reece Wissinger replaced Maroudis and gave up a two-run double. An error from Peyton Williams made the lead even bigger in the sixth inning, and although the Canadians scored two more runs off of a bases-loaded walk from Williams and a sac fly from Dub Gleed, that was the closest it got, as they couldn’t hit Brock Moore, who took the win for Everett. Game 2: Gilberto Batista started for the Canadians in the second game of the doubleheader and gave up an RBI double in the first inning with two outs. Kendry Chirinos tied it up with an RBI double of his own, and it remained tied until the fourth inning, when Batista’s shaky command led to a bases-loaded walk to lose the lead for Vancouver. Kelena Sauer took over in the fifth inning for Vancouver and faced trouble himself, with a leadoff triple setting up the inning for failure. He allowed two runs in two innings, while giving up three hits and two walks, despite striking out four batters. Matt Scannell’s first homer of the season brought the lead to two, but Jonathan Todd gave up two more runs in the seventh, for another disappointing Vancouver loss. May 17: The Canadians were able to turn it around on the last game of the series, as an Alexis Hernandez solo shot and a two-RBI Peyton Williams double made it an early 3-0 lead. Daniel Guerra’s newfound velocity has led him to be a breakout pitching prospect for the Jays, as he had his second double-digit strikeout game of the season. He allowed a single run in the third on a triple to Josh Caron but was able to limit damage other than that. Danny Thompson Jr. relieved Guerra in the fourth inning, and although he immediately gave up a solo shot, he also pitched well despite some shaky command, striking out four batters in 2.1 innings. The Canadians' offense also took those runs right back, as after Peyton Williams hit a triple, Carter Cunningham hit a two-run homer to bring the lead back to three. Another two-run homer, this time from Manuel Beltre, gave the Canadians their seventh run of the game and gave them insurance for a shaky Trace Baker appearance, who came in after Juanmi Vasquez pitched two scoreless innings, allowing the Canadians to win at least the last game of the series. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 15-24 Series vs Tampa Tarpons (New York Yankees) May 16: The Dunedin Blue Jays got 12 hits on the night, but were outhit by the Tarpons in a near blowout. Eric Snow got it going for the Jays with an early RBI single to score Blaine Bullard, but starter Dylan Watts gave up the first run for the Tarpons in the first after two errors were committed in a row. Watts gave up four singles in the second inning to allow another two runs. The Jays were able to get to Henry Lalane again in the fifth inning with two RBI doubles from Snow and Juan Sanchez, to even up the game. Eduar Gonzalez replaced Watts in the fourth inning, and in the fifth inning loaded the bases, before walking in a run. Franly Urena was able to replace him and get out of the inning, however. A David Beckles double tied it up once again for the Jays, but Urena gave up four runs in the seventh inning, and Luis Victorino gave up two more runs, putting the Jays in a big hole that they couldn’t recover from. May 17: Jack Nedrow’s second professional appearance and first start was another scoreless one; this time, Nedrow had his first quality start and first win. Dariel Ramon was able to get on through a fielding error to the pitcher and stole second, and Jake Cook moved him over to third on a single. Blaine Bullard grounded into a force out, but Ramon was able to score. Bullard stole second base and after Parker struck out, Juan Sanchez just missed a homer off the top of the wall for a booming RBI double to give the Jays a two-run lead. The Tarpons could not touch Nedrow, who only gave up four hits and a walk all day, and after he was replaced by Edgar Gallegos, they still couldn’t get anything going off him either, as he went three innings with only one hit given up for his first save of the season. Aldo Gaxiola had the cherry on top with a two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning to end the series off with a bang. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 11-1 May 16: In the Saturday FCL matchup for the Blue Jays squad, Seojun Moon was on the mound to start against the FCL Yankees. Moon pitched well again, going two innings and allowing just an infield single, to go with three walks, and no runs. He struck out three batters. Miguel Pantoja came in after him and was equally as good. He threw three innings, allowing just one hit; he struck out six, didn't give up a run, but did surrender four walks. On the offensive side, Sam White drove in a run in the first, as did Brock Tibbitts. A couple of bases-loaded walks, a wild pitch, and a Kennew Blanco single put the Blue Jays team up six in the sixth. The Yankees got things going in the bottom of the seventh, putting up six runs to push the game into extra innings. In the seventh, Tim Piasentin doubled in a run, Owen Gregg tripled in three runs, and Angel Guzman had an RBI single. The Blue Jays won this one, 11-7. May 18: Jake Bloss started this one for the FCL Blue Jays and pitched 2.1 clean innings, only allowing one hit and striking out three batters. Tim Piasentin drove in a run when the Yankees team committed an error in the second inning. A double steal for the Yankees tied the game in the third inning. Sam Shaw would quickly break the tie with a two-run blast to right field. In the sixth, five runs would score for the Blue Jays, this time on an Owen Gregg single, a Brock Tibbitts single, and a Pascual Archila bases-loaded walk. The Blue Jays would go on to win this one, 8-4. View the full article

When the Twins traded Jhoan Duran at last summer’s trade deadline, many fans may have focused their attention on Mick Abel, since he was considered big-league ready. However, the return package also included one of the more fascinating catching prospects in the minors. Eduardo Tait’s professional journey began quietly when he signed with the Phillies out of Panama for just $90,000 in January 2023. It did not take long for evaluators to notice him. A .917 OPS during his debut in the Dominican Summer League helped him to pop on the prospect radar, and he backed up the excitement in 2024 by hitting .302 with an .842 OPS while reaching full-season ball before his 18th birthday. By the middle of last summer, Tait had climbed from Single- A to High-A, earned a Futures Game appearance, and eventually landed in the Twins organization as part of the Duran trade. He closed the season with a playoff push in the High-A Midwest League and entered 2026 as one of the youngest and most intriguing catching prospects in a Twins system that has lacked catchers in recent years. The Twins elected to send Tait back to the Midwest League to begin the 2026 season, and the early results have been something of a mixed bag. Through his first 34 games, the left-handed hitting catcher owns a .227/.308/.430 (.738) slash line with six home runs and eight doubles. The raw power production has remained encouraging, but his overall offensive value has dipped slightly, with his wRC+ falling from 103 last season to 87 this year. At first glance, that might appear disappointing. Context matters heavily here. Tait is still just 19 years old and has faced older pitchers in all but five of his plate appearances this season. He is more than three years younger than the average Midwest League player, with only Rainiel Rodriguez and Luis Pena younger among position players in the league. That age gap is significant, especially for a catcher handling the physical and mental demands of the position while also trying to develop offensively. The Twins are also experimenting with having pitching coaches call pitches from the dugout at lower levels of the minors, a practice already common in college baseball. In this setup, coaches have real-time information available during the game, which can streamline pitch selection. The catcher, meanwhile, relies on recall and memory, which can become challenging amid constant in-game adjustments, matchup changes, and pinch hitters. For Tait, it adds another layer of development to work through as he continues to adjust to the demands of professional catching. The tools that made Tait intriguing in the first place remain very visible. His bat-to-ball skills are impressive for a player this young, and he consistently produces loud contact when he squares baseballs up. He has shown the ability to drive the ball to all fields for extra bases, although much of his home run power still comes to the pull side. The six early-season home runs are an encouraging sign that his power continues to trend upward against more advanced pitching. At the same time, his strengths and weaknesses are closely connected. Tait makes contact so frequently that he often expands the strike zone too aggressively. His 41% chase rate in 2025 highlighted that issue, and while his walk rate has improved modestly from 7.4% to 8.2% this season, the approach still needs refinement. Pitchers are increasingly willing to challenge him outside the zone because they know he is capable of putting almost anything in play. There are signs of growth beneath the surface, though. Even with the increased strikeout rate, the improved walk rate suggests Tait is at least beginning to work deeper counts and identify pitches he can damage. For a teenage hitter facing much older competition, developmental progress often matters more than the surface slash line. Defensively, Tait’s long-term outlook behind the plate continues to improve as well. He has plenty of arm strength and has made encouraging strides with his receiving and blocking. Evaluators may never project him as a plus defensive catcher, but he has shown enough improvement to believe he can remain at the position long term. That matters immensely for his overall value because his offensive profile becomes much more impactful if he stays behind the plate. The Twins do not need Tait to dominate the Midwest League at 19 years old. What they need is continued development in his approach, continued defensive growth, and evidence that the power can translate consistently against advanced pitching. So far, there are still plenty of reasons to believe in that trajectory. Catching prospects often develop more slowly than players at other positions because of the workload and complexity of the job. Tait is already holding his own offensively while being one of the youngest everyday players in the league. Even with some statistical regression, the combination of age, contact ability, raw power, and defensive progress still gives him the look of a potential long-term major league catcher. The next step in his development is less about raw production and more about refinement. If Tait can continue improving his swing decisions without sacrificing his natural contact ability, the offensive upside becomes much more substantial. Pair that with adequate defense behind the plate, and the Twins may have landed one of the more underrated catching prospects in baseball when they acquired him last summer. What stands out about Tait’s performance so far this year? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

After back-to-back impressive seasons with at least 15 home runs, 20 stolen bases, and a batting average above .250, Jarren Duran is struggling mightily out of the gates to start the 2026 season. In this video, we'll dive into the reason behind his spike in strikeout rate and dampened exit velocity. Does the 29-year-old still have what it takes to be a high-level bat in the Red Sox lineup? We break it all down here! View the full article

Nolan McLean is one of baseball's biggest and brightest young talents. The former two-way prospect out of Oklahoma State is sporting a winning MLB record, an earned run average hovering around two, and looks untouchable when he's on. What separates him from the pack? We break it all down in this video about the New York Mets' starter! View the full article

You could forgive Jackson Merrill for a sophomore slump in 2025. It would even be tough to label it such. The San Diego Padres' young star dealt with a variety of injuries seemingly from the jump, facing a hamstring strain, a concussion, and an ankle injury before the season reached its end, to say nothing of the lingering effects in between. As a result, he experienced a decline just about everywhere on the stat sheet. Yet even clear of such health woes, things have only gotten worse thus far in 2026. As he approaches 200 plate appearances for the year, Merrill is bogged down in a .206/.274/.329 line. He's striking out at a 26.1 percent clip and has a wRC+ of 72. His power has waned, with a .124 isolated power number that represents a 69-point drop from even last year's 15-point decline in that regard. Just about the only positives to emerge to this point in the year are an increased walk rate (8.0 percent) and eight steals that put him halfway to his career-high. As the Padres struggle to find sustained production on offense, Merrill's early struggles have been right at the forefront with no such injury excuses on which to fall back. The issue with Merrill's early performance this year isn't even in the performance itself. It's the absence of an obvious explanation for why he's underperforming. Generally, one can look at a player's underlying trends and find a catalyst that speaks to the origins of the struggle. Matters of the approach are a particularly notable factor in performance variance. Merrill's case isn't so apparent, however. For example, here are his swing trends over the course of his three years in the league: 2024: 34.3 O-Swing%, 79.8 Z-Swing%, 56.7 Swing% 2025: 37.8 O-Swing%, 79.1 Z-Swing%, 58.3 Swing% 2026: 36.3 O-Swing%, 80.6 Z-Swing%, 56.1 Swing% There isn't anything remarkably different in the approach there. Even his swing distribution against different pitch types has remained within three percent over that stretch of time. Instead of the issue being in the approach, Merrill's problem lies in the execution. He's just not making enough contact. Here are those trends over three years: 2024: 66.0 O-Contact%, 87.6 Z-Contact%, 81.0 Contact%, 10.8 SwStr% 2025: 58.6 O-Contact%, 83.7 Z-Contact%, 75.5 Contact%, 14.1 SwStr% 2026: 60.3 O-Contact%, 83.4 Z-Contact%, 75.1 Contact%, 14.0 SwStr% That's a pretty cut-and-dry case right there. Even though his swing rate is at the lowest point of his career, he's not managing to translate that into anything meaningful. This is especially true against off-speed pitches. The rate of swings against that pitch type has only increased by a single percentage point, but his whiff rate against off-speed offerings has jumped from 26.0 percent in 2024 to 34.8 percent in 2026. It's possible that some of this, especially the off-speed element, is due to an increased swing speed. At 73.3 MPH, Merrill's swing is harder than ever. Conventional baseball wisdom, however, indicates that you don't need to swing hard to make meaningful contact. Is it possible that Merrill is simply swinging too hard in a way that's stifling his ability to make contact? It would represent an obvious connection between an approach that has stayed the same despite contact metrics that have dropped off since his rookie season. He's also been coming in with a steeper swing in the last two years than in the first. His attack angle in 2024 was just six degrees against a 10-degree angle in 2025 and a nine-degree angle thus far in 2026. A faster, steeper swing occurring alongside wilting contact numbers seems to be where we may find the root of the issue for Merrill. Especially with a hard contact rate that sits up in the 84th percentile (48.3 percent). That's our intersection. The approach has been steady, but the swing has become more aggressive and, at the same time, steeper. That means when contact is there, it's of a harder variety, but we also see less of it. That's also why the biggest issue in his contact has been with the off-speed, which feeds off a hitter's aggression. It's not that Merrill is swinging at the wrong pitches. He's swinging at them in the wrong manner. Whether or not this is something fixable within the confines of a baseball season remains to be seen. It's not a pure mechanical tweak like footwork but something that manifests more out of mindset or instruction. That means an adjustment will have to come courtesy of Merrill's own fix or from hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. Doing so in the midst of a 162-game grind is far easier said than done. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins earned a 6-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday night, but the win came with an unsettling development behind the plate. Catcher Ryan Jeffers exited the game late after suffering what the club is calling a left wrist sprain. Jeffers will undergo an MRI on Tuesday morning after leaving during the middle of an at-bat in the eighth inning. The injury occurred after he fouled off the first pitch from Astros reliever AJ Blubaugh and shattered his bat. Jeffers initially stayed in the box and took two pitches for balls before calling timeout and signaling that something was wrong. “I was kind of going through the mental battle of whether I could swing or not, and then made the decision,” Jeffers said after the game. “We’ll know more tomorrow.” Manager Derek Shelton and athletic trainer Masa Abe came out to check on Jeffers before he walked off the field and headed to the clubhouse. Veteran catcher Victor Caratini entered as a pinch hitter and remained in the game behind the plate. The timing could not be worse for the Twins because Jeffers has been playing the best baseball of his career. He finished Monday’s game 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored, continuing a scorching start to the season. Through his first stretch of games in 2026, Jeffers is slashing .295/.408/.541 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs while emerging as one of the most productive offensive catchers in baseball. For a Twins lineup that has dealt with inconsistency throughout the year, Jeffers has been one of the few dependable middle-of-the-order bats. His combination of patience, power, and quality contact has elevated his value significantly as he approaches free agency following the season. If the MRI reveals a more serious injury, Minnesota may need to make a roster move quickly. Jeffers and Caratini are currently the only catchers on the Twins’ 40-man roster, leaving the organization thin on immediate depth. That situation would likely open the door for Alex Jackson to return to the major leagues. The veteran backstop has quietly put together a strong offensive season at Triple-A St. Paul, hitting .239/.295/.511 (.806) with notable power production across 95 plate appearances. The Twins can survive injuries at several positions because of their organizational depth, but catcher is not one of them. Losing Jeffers for any extended period would remove one of the club’s best hitters and force Minnesota to rely heavily on Caratini while searching for additional help. For now, the organization and its fans will wait for Tuesday’s MRI results, hoping that one awkward swing did not sideline one of the most important players in Minnesota’s lineup. View the full article