DiamondCentric

If you're a Miami Marlins fan, you'd be forgiven for thinking the franchise is cursed right about now. Well, that thought has probably occurred to you before—there's been ample evidence over the years from countless other calamities. Mostly, this is in response to last week's gut-wrenching news that Robby Snelling is sidelined with a UCL sprain. Snelling is meeting with a surgeon on Thursday. This could just as easily be about fellow top prospect Kevin Defrank's biceps injury. Or Aiva Arquette's struggles to stay on the field. Or the fact the Marlins seem to have a better chance of winning a Super Bowl than winning a series at Tropicana Field. Then again, it could be the fact that so many of the players Miami has chosen to move on from recently are doing well. Troy Johnston is a .300 hitter. Dane Myers and Joey Weimer have been better than any of the new faces manning Miami's bench, all while former first-round pick JJ Bleday continues to look like a stud. Proof after proof that the Marlins just can't have nice things. Most bemoaned of all among many fans right now, though? The trading of Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers. Chiefly, the focus there has been on Weathers; Cabrera at least netted an active member of the 26-man roster in Owen Caissie. Meanwhile, Weathers has been worth nearly as much as Sandy Alcantara WAR-wise while producing a career best 3.58 ERA so far this season, yet was traded for a package that won't help at all in 2026. That certainly proved tough to swallow during the Chris Paddack era, as Weathers obviously could have helped flip the M on a couple of those early Marlins losses, and has continued to gnaw as other starters have struggled. While Caissie did single-handedly win a couple games for Miami early on, he's struggled mightily as of late while Cabrera has been a consistent source of production for the Cubs. There has been a fair bit of dismay about the fact the Marlins might have been able to do better in terms of trade return if they had waited. Much like the time when the Marlins chose to move on from Jesús Luzardo—a trade that looked reasonable enough, until it didn't. However, during a tough stretch like this one, it's important to remember that not every decision the Marlins make is the wrong one. That's especially so for when it comes to the cases where a mountain of evidence suggests Miami is selling high on a player. Given the financial constraints ownership chooses to operate the team under (no quarrel from this author if you want to view that as a mistake), they had to move some of their pitching depth this offseason in order to fill out the roster. Years of injury history suggested that the Marlins were picking the right elbows to trade when they opted to move Cabrera and Weathers. In Cabrera's case, in addition to the injury history, there was also a years-long Jekyll and Hyde pattern of production where it was anyone's guess whether he would toss six strong innings or try to walk six within a single frame. In short, if the Marlins were going to trade two pitchers this winter, the only two choices were the ones that were moved. Unfortunately for the Marlins front office, the last two weeks have made both deals look foolish. The Weathers one is an outright travesty from a "competing in 2026" mindset. There's no question that having even one more arrow in the MLB-ready pitching quiver would make a world of difference to Miami right about now. So while it may come as small comfort to fans, it just seemed like a good time to remind folks to continue to trust the process. Sometimes it goes south, sometimes it works out in a big way, as it has with many members of this current Marlins roster. It's also a long season. Plenty of time for more data to come in and change the perception here. Yet the fact that there is a clear, consistent process for the Marlins? It remains a refreshing change of pace. View the full article

Entering his start against the Brewers on May 29, 2024, Shota Imanaga had a 0.84 ERA in his first ride of the MLB circuit. That didn't last. Milwaukee put a hurt on him, scoring seven runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Ever since, the team has been Imanaga's bugaboo—just as they have been for the Cubs, as a whole. Last May 4, Imanaga had a very good start going at Uecker Field in Milwaukee, before he pulled up lame while covering first base. The hamstring strain sidelined him for the better part of two months, and he wasn't the same down the stretch. However, last August 21, he did have a great start: seven innings of two-run ball (albeit in a disappointing 4-1 loss) against the then-rolling Brewers, at Wrigley Field. That was a brilliant piece of pitchcraft, too, because it came via a major departure from his usual plan of attack. Here are all of Imanaga's starts from last season (including the playoffs), by pitch mix: In only one regular-season game did his splitter usage dip beneath 20%: August 21. Imanaga felt that the Brewers had a tell they were using to sit on his splitter, going back to 2024, so he shoved that pitch to the back burner and went after them another way. It wasn't enough to win, because of a lack of run support, but it was a great tactic. It worked, in that he pitched deep into the game and kept Milwaukee from breaking away. When the two teams met again in October, though, the magic ran out. Imanaga tried to lean on his fastball and away from the splitter again, but this time, the Brewers punished him. Coming into 2026, he knew he'd need a new wrinkle against the Cubs' top rivals. Suffice it to say, the one he tried did not work. Here's the same chart as above, but for 2026. This year, Imanaga has had good feel for the splitter, and he's trusted it as much as ever. He still doesn't think he can sneak it past the Brewers, thouygh, so he tried something truly novel: going to his sinker a lot. Having multiple lefties in the Milwaukee batting order (Brice Turang, Jake Bauers, Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick) made that more viable, but it's clear that Imanaga would have done something different even if he'd faced a righty-loaded version of the Crew. He threw 11 of his 16 sinkers to righties. Clearly, he was hoping to give his toughest opponents a look so different that it would take them aback. Just as clearly, it didn't work. The Brewers tagged him for eight runs, this time, and he didn't escape the fifth inning. One way or another, for the Cubs to get where they want to go this season, they'll need to beat the Brewers. Right now, one of their few remaining reliable starters doesn't have a roadmap in which he's confident against that team. That's bad news, and Monday's was a bad game—but Imanaga is a master of adjustments, and might have a better plan next time he runs into Milwaukee. View the full article

Jacob Misiorowski took over baseball headlines last year by being a flamethrowing rookie who was controversially nominated to the All-Star game after just five career games. At the time, his numbers looked good, but things deteriorated in the second half, during which he posted a 5.36 ERA over 40 ⅓ innings. Now, he has recaptured the attention of fans across the sport—not because of some gimmick or contentious award, but because he has simply been dominant. He's currently tied with Cristopher Sánchez for the most strikeouts in MLB (80) and has absurd Statcast numbers, landing in the top decile for several statistics, including whiff rate (39.5%) and barrel rate (3.0%). He’s just nine starts into the season, but after 51 innings, how do his other rate stats compare to some of the best pitching seasons in Brewers history? Here are the top five single-season performances by descending fWAR and how Misiorowski’s current numbers stack up. fWAR IP ERA FIP K% BB% Ben Sheets (2004) 8.0 237.0 2.70 2.65 28.2% 3.4% Corbin Burnes (2021) 7.5 167.0 2.43 1.63 35.6% 5.2% Teddy Higuera (1987) 6.7 261.2 3.85 3.25 22.1% 8.0% Mike Caldwell (1978) 6.3 293.1 2.36 2.94 11.1% 4.6% Teddy Higuera (1988) 5.9 227.1 2.45 2.80 21.5% 6.6% Jacob Misiorowski (2026) 1.9 51.0 2.12 2.27 39.6% 8.4% Because nearly five decades separate Caldwell’s 1978 campaign and Misiorowski’s current work, there are quite a few differences that jump out almost immediately, with pitcher workload being perhaps the most notable. Caldwell’s workload in 1978 was already a Herculean task by his standards, but the culture of the modern game likely means that no Brewer will ever get anywhere close to that number of innings again. In fact, the only player to pitch more than 200 innings for Milwaukee since 2012 was Corbin Burnes in 2022. Burnes just barely crossed the milestone marker, logging 202 innings of work. Another key difference is strikeout rates, which have steadily climbed over the years. While Caldwell managed to accumulate 6.3 fWAR with a strikeout rate that would’ve been the worst among qualified pitchers in 2025, the team’s modern aces (Burnes and Misiorowski) have thrived by punching as many tickets as they could. Misiorowski is the most extreme example of this contemporary pitching philosophy, which seems to prioritize dominance in shorter spans over longevity. Of his nine starts so far, only one has been more than six innings. It doesn’t help that he has been exiting games early due to cramping in his legs, but those injuries are a side effect of averaging 92 pitches per start, 61% of which are fastballs that average nearly 100 mph. To some, this may seem like a problem, but to the Brewers, this is sort of the desired outcome. So while he might not be able to reach the counting-stat excellence of preceding franchise greats, he has a solid chance of having one of the most impressive rate-stat seasons in Milwaukee history. Assuming he maintains his current rate stats for the remainder of the year, this is where he’d stand compared to every other qualified pitching season for the Brewers. ERA 2.12 (1st) FIP 2.27 (2nd) K% 35.6% (1st) AVG .161 (1st) WHIP 0.90 (1st) Figures like SIERA and expected statistics are excluded because we don’t have data for earlier seasons. Naturally, maintaining this torrid pace is much easier said than done. There’s still a chance that, like last year, the wheels of his season start to fall off once we approach the dog days of summer. Conversely, a year of working with Chris Hook and the Brewers’ pitching development program can do wonders for a young baseball talent, and there’s good reason to believe that he’s much closer to his true potential than he was as a rookie. Strikeouts and whiffs are up, walks are down, and he’s no longer solely reliant on his fastball to get through at-bats. There are still plenty of things to nitpick, like how inefficient his outings can be or what things will look like if he does experience diminished velocity in later innings, especially since he opts to fill up the zone. Can he continue to get away with a three-pitch arsenal that’s really more like a two-pitch arsenal? Maybe, but it’d be nice to have some more fun offerings. The question of where this season by Misiorowski will land in the history of all-time great campaigns by Brewers pitchers is one worth revisiting at the end of the season, even if it’s not the only year we’ll be on watch. In fact, it’d be quite surprising for a player to peak at just 24 years old, so his best years may even be ahead of him. The organization has had no shortage of premier pitching talent over the years, but finding someone of his caliber may be a first. This season should be the first of many to prove it. View the full article

The quote “distance makes the heart grow fonder” is about how separation from a loved one can make the love for them greater. With how the Royals are playing on the road, that quote could not be more true. To put it bluntly, the Royals are the worst team in baseball when it comes to playing on the road. They’ve gone a measly 7-17 while away from the K, which is the worst road record in all of MLB. They’re also on the longest losing streak of any team in the majors, losing all six of their road games so far. But the question is, why are the Royals losing so much on the road, and is there any way to fix it? Bad Against Righties, But Inexplicably Only On The Road Let’s start off with the offense, which has been the main problem for the Royals away from home. Looking at the stats while at the K, the Royals are hitting .265/.349/.436, which are not bad numbers, especially at home. But those numbers take an absolute nosedive when the Royals play anywhere else. The Royals have a league-worst batting average of .213 to go along with a .286 OBP and .336 slugging. Those numbers are abysmal, especially for a team with one of MLB’s biggest stars in Bobby Witt Jr. in the lineup. It gets even worse when you dive deeper. Against right-handed pitchers, the Royals are hitting a league-worst .211, which is the exact opposite of what the team is hitting at home, as they are hitting .279 at home against righties, which is a league-best. The Royals' offense has struggled with scoring runs throughout the season, and that struggle could not be more apparent in their recent road games. On the road so far, the Royals have a league-worst batting average of .174 with runners in scoring position and are hitting .100 with the bases loaded. Those numbers are ridiculously low, and it shows that the Royals’ hitters are anti-clutch in moments like this. The Pitching Fares Better, But Just Barely Pitching, on the other hand, is not as bad as the hitting, but it is certainly not helping the Royals win ballgames. The team has an ERA of 4.63 on the road, which isn’t terrible, but compared to their home ERA of 3.84, it certainly could be better. The pitching staff is also allowing a triple slash of .263/.347/.448, which is not enough to help a struggling offense. What makes this situation worse is that the Royals have relied on their pitching to get them through rough patches like this, but now that the pitching is struggling, the Royals don’t really have that to lean on. With Cole Ragans and Ryan Bergert both out, the Royals' pitching depth certainly hasn’t panned out the way that they had hoped. The only starting pitchers who have had success this season are Michael Wacha and Stephen Kolek, but that success won’t last. The bullpen has seen success from Daniel Lynch IV, Lucas Erceg, and Eli Morgan, but everyone else hasn’t really stepped up like they did last season. So where do the Royals go from here? There are a few options that the Royals could go with. The first, and the one that seems the most likely, is to keep things where they are and just trust that the players you have now will improve over the course of the season. This plan has a better chance of not working than working, but the roster is what it is, and the fans will have to put up with it for the foreseeable future. Another option is to make some moves at the deadline. JJ Piccolo can use some of the pitching depth he has at his disposal and trade it for a reliable bat who excels in driving in runs or more bullpen arms. The third, and most drastic option, is to blow it all up and trade players who could give you the most value (Wacha, Ragans, Witt, Kyle Isbel, etc.) This option would make more sense if the woes for the Royals were to continue, but we’re still in May, so the chances of this happening are slim to none. However, there is a lot of value you could get by making big trades like this. Hopefully, the Royals won’t get to that point and that this team will improve as the season goes on, but only time will tell. View the full article

The Kansas City Royals' offense has been a frustrating dilemma this year. On one end, the Royals rank decently in some categories. According to Fangraphs, they rank 15th in batting average, 15th in OPS, and 18th in OBP. Those are serviceable numbers, especially given where they were as an offense at the beginning of the season. Conversely, Kansas City ranks 23rd in runs scored, 19th in ISO, and 19th in wRC+. Thus, it's no surprise that the Royals are 20-27 heading into Monday's home game against the Boston Red Sox (Update: they lost 3-1 and are now 20-28). They just have not gotten enough consistent production to be a winning ballclub at this time. Many different solutions have been proposed by Royals fans: Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez hitting lower in the order, more at-bats for Jac Caglianone, and Maikel Garcia out of the leadoff spot are a few that make a lot of sense. However, one intriguing idea that hasn't been thrown out too much is giving more at-bats to veteran outfielder Starling Marte. The Royals signed Marte late in Spring Training, and he's primarily been utilized as a bench player by manager Matt Quatraro. Marte has only played in 18 games and accumulated 48 plate appearances this season. That said, when he has played, the 37-year-old outfielder has been productive. He's slashing .302/.354/.372 with a .726 OPS and 104 wRC+ this season. He hasn't hit a home run, and his ISO and BB/K ratio are paltry at .070 and 0.23, respectively. However, he has shown the ability to make effective, hard contact this year, as reflected in his Statcast percentiles via TJ Stats. Could Marte provide the Royals the spark they need with more regular at-bats? Or is Marte's stat line just a product of a hot start that is due for regression soon? Marte Hitting Better Against Righties Than Lefties This Year (But Has That Been Typical?) With only 48 plate appearances this year, Marte doesn't have a huge sample size to work with. However, it's been interesting to see his splits this year, as they contrast with how Quatraro has utilized him. Of his 48 plate appearances, 34 of them have come against lefties. He typically has been the right fielder against left-handed starting pitchers, with Caglianone getting the day off in right field against southpaws. However, while Marte is hitting .300 against lefties, his OPS is only .686. Conversely, his OPS against righties is .819 (albeit in just 14 plate appearances). When looking at his Statcast percentile splits via TJ Stats, he also seems to be hitting the ball harder and with more exit velocity against lefties than righties as well. Against righties, Marte chases less (20.8% O-Swing% against righties; 37.3% O-Swing% against lefties), launches the ball better (44.4% LA Sweet-Spot% against righties; 33.3% LA Sweet-Spot% against lefties), has a better hard-hit rate (55.6% hard-hit rate against righties; 23.8% hard-hit rate against lefties), and barrels the ball more as well (22.2% barrel rate against righties; 4.8% against lefties). Thus, Marte may not exactly be the platoon "bat" that Quatraro thinks that he is, based on the various levels of splits data. What's also interesting about Marte is that he was better against lefties last year, and we're seeing an inverse of what he did against pitchers splits-wise with the Mets. That is evident in his Statcast splits percentiles from 2025 via TJ Stats. Against lefties, Marte had a better hard-hit rate (50.5% to 32.8%), a better pull air% (14.4% to 9.5%), and a better xwOBA (.324 to .301). That said, it wasn't like the difference between Marte's performance against righties and lefties was dramatic (like Vinnie Pasquantino this year, for example). Marte's wOBA was .321 against lefties and .329 against righties, and his barrel rate was 6.8% against lefties and 8.0% against righties. Thus, I am not sure Marte should be seen as simply a hitter who should only hit against lefties, like a Lane Thomas, for example. Here's a look at Thomas' Statcast splits this season with the Royals, and the difference in his performance against lefties and righties is quite dramatic. Thus, based on the data, one could argue that Marte deserves more at-bats this season. For him to do that, he needs to get more plate appearances against righties and shouldn't be seen as just a left-handed pitcher's only option, whether that's in the starting lineup or off the bench in key pinch-hitting spots. Marte Showing Positive Bat Speed and Exit Velocity Trends This Year There's no question that at 37 years old, the Dominican-born native is showing some declining skills. According to Baseball Savant, Marte ranks in the 8th percentile for sprint speed. That said, bat speed, which can decline with age, has actually been pretty decent. Marte is averaging 72.5 MPH on his swings, which ranks in the 60th percentile and is only 0.1 MPH lower than a season ago. His fast-swing rate, which measures swings of 75 MPH or higher, is down over 10 percent from a year ago. It was 33.2% in 2025 with the Mets, and it's 23.1% this year with the Royals. However, he's been showing a positive trend in bat speed over the course of the 2026 season, despite a tough stretch, as shown below in his bat-speed rolling chart. He saw a decline from his 35th competitive swing to roughly his 50th competitive swing. After his 50th swing, he's seen that bat speed increase, and he's been above the MLB average in bat speed since the 57th-58th competitive swing. In addition to better bat speed as he has gained more at-bats, the same could be said of his exit velocity on batted balls, which has spiked as well after some initial valleys at the beginning of the season. Marte started the year well with his first 14 batted balls being above-average in terms of exit velocity. However, that exit velocity declined dramatically from the 14th batted-ball mark to the 22nd batted-ball mark. He's turned things around since that 22nd batted-ball mark and has now been back above league average in terms of exit velocity. That's a sign that he's not only swinging the bat faster, but squaring up and making better contact as well, with more plate appearances. As a result, his xwOBA rolling trend, which is a better indicator for future success than wOBA, is moving up in the right direction, showing that he could only be more productive with more games played. Here's a look at Marte's xwOBA rolling chart this year, via Savant. Granted, Marte didn't do well in his lone pinch-hit at-bat on Monday night in the Royals' 3-1 loss, as he struck out against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman. That lowered his batting average to .295 and his OPS to .711. Still, despite that strikeout, his xwOBA chart is trending in the right direction and has sat well above the league average since his 35th plate appearance this year. Who Does Marte Take At-Bats Away From? If Marte is going to receive more at-bats, who sits as a result? I would argue that Salvador Perez and Isaac Collins should be the main ones affected by an increase in Marte's at-bats. The latter makes the most sense when looking at how Royals outfielders have performed this year so far. In terms of Perez, Marte would make sense as a guy who can be in the DH spot and give Salvy a night off against righties with Jensen behind the plate. Salvy is struggling this year with a .201 average and .590 OPS in 192 plate appearances. Conversely, Salvy's splits against lefties have been way better than against righties. He is hitting .227 with a .709 OPS against lefties. Against righties? He's only hitting .197 with a .556 OPS. The Statcast splits share a similar story, as shown below. I think it's perfectly reasonable for Marte to replace Perez at DH once a week, at the very least, maybe two, depending on the pitching matchups that particular week. That preserves Salvy's stamina and gives Marte more opportunities for at-bats against righties. Another option would be to replace Collins once a week with Marte in left field. Marte may be a riskier defensive option (though Collins' -3 OAA this year is pretty brutal), but Collins has been a mixed bag against righties this year. The .244 average and .740 OPS against righties are great, especially compared to his .178 average and .512 OPS against lefties. However, the Statcast percentiles show that Collins is a little more strikeout-prone against righties than lefties. His whiff rate against lefties is five percent lower, and his Z-Contact% is 6.7% higher as well. He also has a 50% hard-hit rate against lefties compared to 40.7% hard-hit rate against righties, as well as a 91.1 MPH average EV against lefties, which is 2.5 MPH higher. I'm not saying Marte should completely replace Collins. However, once a week seems sufficient, especially since Collins can be very hot and cold at times at the plate. He is hitting .130 with a .174 slugging percentage in his last 24 at-bats. The former Brewers outfielder could use a day off, with Marte taking his place in the lineup and in left field. It's not a major change, which is what the Royals need, especially with Vinnie and Salvy not looking dramatically better at the plate lately. Kansas City needs an impact hitter, and that likely will have to come through the trade market. That said, the Royals need all the positive production they can get on their active roster, especially since it's too early to make a trade. Quatraro might as well roll the dice and see what else Marte has left in the tank, especially against right-handed starting pitchers. View the full article

Box Score: Starting Pitcher: Kendry Rojas: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO - 46 Pitches, 31 Strikes, 10 Whiffs = Average 4-Seam Velo: 96.0 MPH Home Runs: Josh Bell 2 (5) Top 3 WPA: Bell (0.30), Rojas (0.22), Eric Orze (0.09) Win Probability Chart (Via BaseballSavant): You Win Some... The Twins got some really encouraging performances Monday night. Josh Bell hadn't homered in over a month and was doing a frighteningly good impression of a player who's completely cooked. He entered the game batting .176/.176/.235 for the month of May, with 20 strikeouts and zero walks in 51 plate appearances. Bell has always been a streaky hitter, but that level of lostness is uncharted territory. Were it not for the concurrent death spirals of the careers of Matt Wallner and Royce Lewis, Bell might have been a focus of more conversation in recent days as someone who could lose their roster spot, or at least be placed on the IL with some semi-phantom injury. Almost any time such a thing is happening, though, there is at least some reason for it behind the scenes—and, therefore, more hope than you might guess, at a glance. In Bell's case, the mitigating circumstance is that he's been sick for much of this month, dealing with fluid loss and sapped strength. Players play through illness all the time, and it can't be used as an excuse for poor performance, so they'll rarely even admit to the issue. It does affect performance, though, just as it affects anyone else when they try to slog through a workday with a head cold or a stomach virus. Beginning to feel like himself again, perhaps, Bell broke out of his funk in a huge way Monday night. He hit two homers that were relatively low liners, but on which there was still no doubt of the outcome off the bat, and he lashed what turned out to be an important RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. A better Bell would go a long way to getting this Twins offense into the consistent groove they've sought all year. Meanwhile, Kendry Rojas put on an equally impressive show. His command was better than it's been in any of his other big-league outings, as he hammered away on the glove side of the plate with his four-seamer and showed the ability to drop in his changeup for strikes. He pitched just four innings, but only needed 46 pitches to do it and induced 10 whiffs by the visiting Astros. Though he'll have to find more consistency with his slider to replicate this in the future, Monday was a big step in his development as a potential starter. ... You Lose Some... It was inevitable, and is inarguably what's best for the team, but that probably won't give Simeon Woods Richardson a great deal of solace. He's (semi-)officially out of the starting rotation now, after the team plainly planned a piggyback of Rojas and Woods Richardson Monday night. Rojas left after four frames so that Woods Richardson could make a multi-inning appearance in relief, and it was nice that he was protecting a lead when he came in—but that's the kind of thing you do to emphasize how important a guy's new role is, when both you and he know his new role is a smaller and less important one. Woods Richardson only got one inning in, as it happened, because of the weather's disruptive influence on the game. He stayed on the plate, though he didn't have command of his curveball. Clearly pacing himself for an almost-normal outing, he didn't tap into the extra velocity the team surely hopes he might access as a reliever, but it was a first appearance in what's likely to be his new standard gig. It went fairly well, and Woods Richardson took the right attitude. Far, far more worrisome for the Twins than Woods Richardson's loss of a job is the danger that they might have lost their best player for a little while, on about as innocuous a play as you can imagine. After fouling off a pitch on which his bat broke, Ryan Jeffers initially stayed in the game—but two pitches later, he called for the trainer and departed. After the game, the team said Jeffers was being evaluated for a left wrist sprain. Though catchers play through dings that bad and worse, this figures to sideline Jeffers for at least a short time. If it's any more than a very mild sprain, it could (and probably should) land him on the injured list; no one's wrist ever got better by catching 120 pitches a day averaging 90 miles per hour. The truth, though, is that losing Jeffers for any meaningful stretch would mark the end of even half-hearted hopes of the Twins competing this season. He has a team-best .949 OPS. He's garnered the respect and trust of the pitching staff, thin though that group might be. Without Jeffers, even a hot streak from Bell wouldn't make this a very robust offense, and (despite Victor Caratini's ABS wizardry) they'll probably lose a bit on the run prevention side, too. It's breath-holding time—although, come to think of it, you were probably already holding your breath while you waited to see how long Byron Buxton will be sidelined by his hip flexor problem. Ok, let it out. Catch a few deep gulps of air. Now: hold your breath again. ... And Some Days it Rains. The game was delayed by nearly two hours right at its midpoint, with the Twins up 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth. You can make a pretty strong case that it just should have been banged, and the Twins declared the winners; it was official once they got through the top of the fifth. In some future version of the league, mid-game rain delays of more than 90 minutes will probably be banned, and we'll all be better for it. Baseball is an outdoor game, which is a wonderful thing. We're meant to live in contact and conversation with nature, and not to conquer it outright. Sometimes, it's ok to let Mother Nature win. This is a level of philosophizing that would make both Rob Manfred and whoever's running the MLB Players Association these days puke, but it's also pragmatic. Neither fans nor players benefit from long rain delays, and despite your wisecracks to the contrary, they're not moneymakers for teams, either. What's Next The Astros and Twins continue their three-game set Tuesday night, under clearer skies—but it's going to get chilly, with temperatures dipping into the 40s by the late innings. Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3, 6.86) gets the ball for the visitors, while Zebby Matthews (1-0, 0.00) makes his second start of the year for the Twins. First pitch is at 6:40 PM CT. Bullpen Usage Chart THURS FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Morris 0 24 0 12 16 52 Orze 0 0 26 0 19 45 Topa 0 0 0 11 31 42 Rogers 0 23 0 8 11 42 Gómez 0 7 11 0 11 29 Banda 0 8 0 18 0 26 Garcia 0 0 0 22 0 22 Woods-Richardson 0 0 0 0 18 18 Adams 0 0 0 0 0 0 View the full article

Transactions: Biloxi Shuckers released RHP Joe Corbett. RHP Joshua Quezada assigned to Wilson Warbirds from Nashville Sounds. Corbett, 29 years old, was signed in February and had split 2026 between Nashville and Biloxi. A 10th round pick by the Rangers in 2019, some background on that winter signing by the Crew can be found here. As for Quezada, it was quite a week, and we spotlighted that within our Minor League Forum's Transaction Thread. It's not a new transaction, but we are blessed to have a source to provide various Brewers organizational injury-related updates, and we learn more about Nashville corner infielder Luke Adams' still-pending status here. Each day, we kick off a discussion thread, almost an "as it happens" thread, on our Minor League Forum. With the usual light Monday schedule of only rookie-level games (Dominican Summer League yet to begin), that thread is often brief. The latest Monday thread contained updates on the Nashville stolen gloves situation, and yes, even pre-season Dominican action. Final: ACL Mariners 11, ACL Brewers 8 Box Score and Game Log The 4-8 Maryvale club scored eight runs for a consecutive game, both losses, though it was a lovely 84-degree evening temperature at first pitch, It was an interesting pairing to begin the game on the mound, two 20-year-old's working their way back from summer 2024 Tommy John surgeries. RHP Hayden Robinson, drafted in the 14th round in 2023 out of a Louisiana high school, dazzled in six Maryvale appearances in 2024 before suffering his elbow injury, and somewhat remarkably was pitching again for the A-Crew just a touch over 12 months later, leading us to believe that he underwent the still very serious but less invasive internal brace form of TJ, making seven brief starts in 2025. This was his second start this summer, and the stat line shows Robinson will need to push forward past early results, as assuredly he will. LHP Joey Broughton tore his UCL just prior to the 2024 draft, allowing the Brewers to pluck him with a 13th round pick out of a Michigan high school and ink him to a well over-slot $535,000 bonus away from a University of Pittsburgh commitment. Broughton, unlike Robinson, did not pitch in the regular season last summer, making his pro debut on May 5th. This was his 3rd appearance. After a superb pro debut, 19-year-old RHP Ma'Kale Holden has walked eight and plunked another one over 6.2 innings in his two follow-up appearances. 20-year-old Venezuelan RHP Ismael Yanez is a 4th year pro and a rare 3rd-year Arizona League Brewer. The pair wrapped up mound work in this game, as your box score review showed. Maryvale baserunners were successful on seven of eight SB attempts, with RF Alexander Frias leading the way with three without being caught. Frias was able to run wild because of a double, single, and two walks. Frias was replaced defensively in the bottom of the 8th, after he had just contributed in a three-run Maryvale top of the inning that closed the gap to what would be the final 11-8 score. No indication in the game log that this was injury related. Nine of Frias' 17 hits thus far have gone for extra bases; he'll be playing in this beast mode all season at just 18 years old. It's notable that Frias' mid-level bonus of $350,000 is shaping up as a bargain. More expensive to sign, CF Brailyn Antunez ($900,000) and LF Kenny Fenelon ($1.3 million) each had two base knocks that included a double, for Antunez, his 1st two-bagger (his other two XBH's are home runs), 4th double for Fenelon (6th XBH). $1.1 million infielder Cristopher Acosta shifted from short to third base, he singled and walked as he tries to overcome a dreadful start at the plate. Review the error section of the box. Both teams were sloppy leading to unearned runs, with the Crew more heavily penalized. The team is in action again Tuesday evening, along with the rest of the organization. Both the Sounds and Timber Rattlers play at 10:05 Central on Tuesday, so I'll be sampling some Jeff Hem and Chris Mehring during my four-hour drive to a New Hampshire getaway this morning. Hoping you all enjoy your week, thanks for making the Link Report part of your day. Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

It probably shouldn’t be a shock to anyone to be hearing this, especially after how he looked last year, but Nolan McLean is off to a remarkable start in 2026. Let’s take a deep dive into his advanced analytics to break down why he is giving hitters such fits, as the 24-year-old does have a unique aspect that not many others possess. Nolan McLean’s Background Nolan McLean was originally a two-way prospect out of Oklahoma State. He actually held the bat over his shoulder until he broke into the upper ranks of the Mets’ farm system, too. The guy had a decent amount of power, but he struck out a lot and started hanging out below the Mendoza line a little too much. Once he started focusing on just pitching, his stuff elevated to a whole new level. An Otherworldly Strikeout Rate McLean broke out last year, logging a 2.06 earned run average and a 5-1 record over eight starts and 41 innings. Bridging the gap between last season and this time around, the 24-year-old righty competed at the World Baseball Classic and once again looks dominant. What makes him such a promising young star? It starts with every pitcher’s favorite stat: the strikeout rate. McLean is living well above the league average, punching out 31.5 percent of the hitters he’s faced to this point. A fastball riding in at an average of just over 95 miles per hour helps, as it has plenty of arm-side movement to go with a sinker that he can break off as well. McLean sports a 32 degree arm angle, meaning he can push plenty of horizontal movement on those primary pitches. Generating Soft Contact McLean may have a high strikeout rate, but it’s no secret that everyone allows contact from time to time. Even some pitchers with high punchout totals get hit around, but does McLean? No. His average exit velocity allowed is one of the better rates in all of baseball at just 86 miles per hour. That puts him in the top 10 percent of all pitchers. He also allows a relatively low barrel percentage, and his hard-hit rate is lower than the league average to complement his assortment of proof that he knows how to control the contact game. Pitch Variety But what’s the weapon that most 24-year-old hurlers don’t have? Along with having a high-octane fastball/sinker combo, McLean is sporting a six-pitch arsenal. He spins that sinker in at 37% of the time, and then it’s a gradual decrease from using the four-seamer 18% of the time to a changeup that gets utilized on just 8% of his offerings. This is the type of arsenal you’ll see some of the elite pitchers build out as they get into their primes. Seth Lugo with the Kansas City Royals is a prime example of someone who developed a deeper arsenal as he got older. But, sometimes, you’ll get the occasional starter who has the velocity AND the mix, like a Paul Skenes or in this case, Nolan McLean. So far, the curveball is his most dangerous offering, as McLean has 22 strikeouts in 29 at-bats finished and has allowed just one hit off of it. That’s a ridiculous .034 batting average against for McLean’s curve. Four of his six offerings have an opposing batting average south of the Mendoza line. Keeping the Ball Out of the Air Is there anything to tweak with McLean’s game? You’d really have to nitpick to do it, but one thing I’ve noticed over a small sample size is a spike in line drive rate. It’s up to 29% from just 20% a season ago. Consequently, the righty has forced just a 42% ground ball rate, so opposing hitters are elevating off of him, but he has so many options and so much movement on his pitches that it still isn’t quality contact. As long as that average exit velocity stays down, he’ll continue to be one of the more dominant pitchers in today’s game. View the full article

Hitting major league pitching is hard. Hitting major league pitching as a rookie is even harder. Pitchers routinely throw 100+ mph, breaking pitches move just a little bit more, and the challenge extends beyond the batter's box. Even if traditional rookie hazing has mostly disappeared, first-year players still have to adjust to heavier travel schedules, heightened expectations, and performing in front of millions of eyes every night. Kazuma Okamoto is different from your typical rookie. Not only is he dealing with all the aforementioned rookie struggles, but he’s also doing it all while making an adjustment from Japan to North America. That can be a significant adjustment of its own, and it wouldn’t have been a surprise at all to see Okamoto struggle in his first go-around in the big leagues. Not only has Okamoto been impressive, but he’s also already on the shortlist for one of the best rookie seasons in Blue Jays history. The Blue Jays have only had one player in franchise history to win the Rookie of the Year Award (Eric Hinske, 2002), and if Kazuma keeps up his start to the season, he has a real chance to win the award in what is a crowded AL rookie class. Coming into the series against the Yankees, Okamoto is hitting .233/.319/.448, with 38 hits, 10 home runs, and 27 RBI in 44 games played. Good enough for a 116 wRC+ and 1.0 fWAR. Pace that out over the rest of the regular season, he’d be on pace for 134 hits, 35 home runs, 95 RBI, and 3.6 fWAR. Of course, projecting full-season totals in May comes with caveats. Pace assumes health, consistency, and the absence of a prolonged slump, all things that can easily happen over a 162-game season. But just for fun, what would it look like if Okamoto did maintain his current pace? Where would he rank among the best Blue Jays rookies of all time? Let’s take a look. (Note: Rookie status is based on a player’s final rookie-eligible season.) Power Production Home Runs 1. Kazuma Okamoto, 2026 - 35 2. Eric Hinske, 2002 - 24 3. J.P. Arencibia, 2011 - 23 ISO (min. 400 PA) 1. Shawn Green, 1995 - .222 2. Rowdy Tellez, 2019 - .222 3. J.P. Arencibia, 2011 - .219 4. Kazuma Okamoto, 2026 - .215 Hard-Hit Rate* 1. Kazuma Okamoto, 2026 - 54.1% 2. Alejandro Kirk, 2021 - 46.9% 3. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., 2018 - 45.1% *Exit velocity data only goes back to 2015 The home run pace is the obvious headline. Hinske’s franchise record of 24 suddenly looks very reachable, and Okamoto could easily become the first Blue Jays rookie to eclipse 30 home runs. What makes the power production especially believable is that the underlying quality of contact supports it. Okamoto’s hard-hit rate isn’t just good for a rookie; it’s elite by any standard. Overall Production wRC+ (min. 400 PA) 1. John Olerud, 1990 - 122 2. Eric Hinske, 2002 - 121 3. Kazuma Okamoto, 2026 - 116 fWAR (position players) 1. Eric Hinske, 2002 - 4.8 2. Kazuma Okamoto, 2026 - 3.6 3. Cavan Biggio, 2019 - 2.6 The power numbers grab the headlines, but Okamoto has been productive across the board. The 3.6 fWAR he's on pace for would rank as the second-best rookie campaign by a Blue Jays position player. Traditional Stats Hits 1. Alfredo Griffin, 1979 - 179 2. Eric Hinske, 2002 - 158 3. Dámaso García, 1980 - 151 4. Kazuma Okamoto, 2026 - 134 RBI 1. Kazuma Okamoto, 2026 - 95 2. Eric Hinske, 2002 - 84 3. J.P. Arencibia, 2011 - 78 Strikeouts 1. Kazuma Okamoto, 2026 - 187 2. Eric Hinske, 2002 - 138 3. J.P. Arencibia, 2011 - 133 The swing and miss is still present, and with it, the strikeout total will likely be a rookie record. But in the modern game, that trade-off becomes easier to live with, given elite power production. And Okamoto has provided plenty of that this season. Historically, the Blue Jays haven’t produced many offensive debut seasons at this level. Hinske remains the franchise’s only Rookie of the Year winner, and even some of the organization's best homegrown hitters (Olerud, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Jesse Barfield, George Bell) didn't immediately produce at this level. If Okamoto simply maintains his current level of production, he’ll have a case for one of the best rookie seasons in franchise history. There is also reason to believe that Okamoto’s numbers could be even better. On pace numbers take his 44-game season so far and project them over the rest of the season, but Okamoto’s season can look incredibly different depending on where you split it. Despite a strong showing in his first week, Okamoto's season started relatively poorly. He was chasing too much, and by April 17, he was hitting just .188/.263/.290 with two home runs and four RBI. The following day, Okamoto made some changes at the plate, including moving farther back in the batter’s box (more on the adjustment here). That tweak has given him more time to catch up to velocity and recognize breaking balls while also helping him cover pitches on the outer half more effectively. From that point on, he started raking. Okamoto has hit .266/.358/.564 with eight home runs and 24 RBI since he made that change. The real answer is that Okamoto is probably not the player he’s been post-stance change, and he’s probably not the player he was before; the true talent lies somewhere in the middle. But if you believe that Okamoto is closer to the latter than the former, then those Blue Jays rookie records could be even more in reach. Now, as challenging as it is to be a rookie, Okamoto was expected to be an impact offensive player off the bat. He’s 30 years old, and unlike a typical 22-year-old rookie, he has eight seasons of professional baseball under his belt. Beyond the individual accomplishments, Okamoto’s success could have broader implications for the organization. Their recent success could make the organization more comfortable shopping in the NPB market, and the Blue Jays have already ramped up their overseas scouting in recent offseasons. It may lead to increased interest in players like Hiromi Itoh and Teruaki Sato, who seem likely to be posted for the 2027 season. Kazuma Okamoto has already put together an outstanding start to his MLB career, and if he can keep this up, Blue Jays fans may be witnessing one of the greatest rookie seasons in franchise history. Stats, rankings, and paces updated prior to games on May 18. View the full article

The Boston Red Sox have all the makings of a strong foundation on the 2026 roster, they just need everything to come together. Roman Anthony was playing well below his ability when a right wrist sprain sidelined him on May 7; Marcelo Mayer has been playing Gold Glove-caliber defense at second and his bat seems to be slowly heating up; Wilyer Abreu has been the best offensive player on the team and is squarely in the conversion to take home a third straight Gold Glove in right field. The name flying under the radar when it comes to foundational pieces, though, is Ceddanne Rafaela. He signed an eight-year, $50 million contract before the 2024 season that will keep him around through 2031 and is only paying out an average annual value of $6.25 million a season. Talk about an absolute steal. The player he’s most consistently compared to, the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong, signed a six-year, $115 million contract before the 2026 season. If Rafaela keeps playing like he currently is, his contract could be the steal of the league and he should be viewed as a major building block for this franchise moving forward. In the easiest of all discussions, Rafaela’s defense is arguably second to none in Major League Baseball. He’s as sure of a thing as you can be in center field and the discussion about moving him to second base ever again needs to be over. According to Baseball Savant, Rafaela currently is in the 99th percentile with an astonishing +6 Outs Above Average and the 81st percentile in Arm Strength. His expected catch percentage is at 87%, but his actual catch percentage outpaces that at 93%. If there’s a ball hit to center field, you can just feel that Rafaela is going to be able to track it down in a way that looks routine but is often anything but. The start of the season was flukey, and he misplayed a few balls that tanked his defensive metrics, but he’s shined since then and has all but completely righted the ship. I had the opportunity to see this catch in St. Louis in person and no one in the stadium believed he’d actually get to this ball, let alone make the catch. Even Cardinals fans gave him a standing ovation as he ran off the field at the end of the inning. What’s been most surprising for Rafaela though, is his offense has finally come around. He’s currently slashing .284/.354/.432 with a .352 wOBA, 120 wRC+, and 1.4 fWAR. Interim manager Chad Tracy has moved Rafaela up in the lineup since Alex Cora was fired, but the center fielder has stayed solid and produced from any position in the lineup he’s been asked to hit in. What is arguably more impressive is that the swing-and-miss has started to leave his profile; his strikeout percentage is 22% so far this season, but his walk rate is the highest it’s been in his career at 6.1%. While that’s not an ideal figure, you’ll take it on a guy who, up to this point, was willing to swing at anything that was thrown his way at the plate. His plate discipline has been so much better in 2026 and no matter which manager has been calling the shots, it’s obvious that they trust him to come through when it matters most. Plus, his clutch gene has been on display again this season. With incredible defense and an improved offensive profile, Ceddanne Rafaela may be the biggest bargain on the roster right now. His contract is incredibly team friendly and he’s playing way above how much money he’s making. Don’t be surprised if Craig Breslow receives calls around Rafaela if the team continues this downward trajectory, but it would be foolish for the front office to circle him as a piece worth moving. Ceddanne Rafaela will likely be an All-Star for the Red Sox this year and for good reason. He’s been showing out in all facets of the game in 2026. He’s a foundational piece as the team starts to turn their attention to 2027 and beyond, and his contract means the team has more money to allocate for other names to bring in to help make the team better and, hopefully, compete for a World Series championship in the near future. View the full article

MIAMI, FL — The mighty Atlanta Braves weren't so mighty on Monday night against the Miami Marlins, slaughtered by a final score of 12-0. For the Marlins, it was their highest-scoring game of the 2026 season and they produced all of that offense within the first five innings. They accomplished this against a Braves team that holds a huge lead on top of the National League East and entered the game with Major League Baseball's highest winning percentage. "A lot of really good at-bats today," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. "It was nice to see us string a bunch of them together to create traffic, and then be able to cash in. (Javier) Sanoja's grand slam was probably the icing on that. Those couple innings I think as a group we really just put together high-quality at-bats." Javier Sanoja, who going into the previous series against the Tampa Bay Rays had only two hits during the month of May, came out of the Trop with a multi-hit game, both doubles, now followed by his first career grand slam. "You get off to a nice start during the year, then you hit a rough patch," McCullough said. "I think that's what Javi is getting back to, not try to swing yourself out of every plate appearance to make up for a previous plate appearance or a previous stretch of at-bats. The ability to like make contact is always there, and at times, it can be a detriment where you get yourself out." Sanoja became the ninth player in Marlins history and the first since Justin Bour (June 10, 2016 at Arizona) to hit a grand slam while batting ninth in the lineup. He also became the fourth non-pinch-hitter to hit a grand slam while batting ninth in the lineup, joining Enrique Hernández, Dontrelle Willis and Chris Hammond. Xavier Edwards followed Sanoja and hit his fifth home run of the season, marking back-to-back homers for the Marlins in the bottom of the fifth inning, making it a 12-0 game. His homer was off left-handed pitcher Aaron Bummer, marking his third home run off a left-handed pitcher. Sanoja and Edwards became the second pair of Marlins teammates in franchise history to hit back-to-back home runs with the first homer being a grand slam, joining Derrek Lee and Charles Johnson (April 7, 1998 at PHI). Rookie catcher Joe Mack enjoyed his best night at the plate since being recalled by the Marlins earlier this month. His RBI groundout opened the scoring in the second inning. Including a single and a bases-loaded walk later on, he drove in four total runs after entering Monday with only two through 12 career games. McCullough called it "his best collection of at-bats in a game." "Today was actually was pretty good," Mack said. "Having that good lead allowed me to slow it down, but the game really hasn't sped up on me all too much. Just being able to control it and kind of take a deep breath when you need to is definitely a big help." Mack is now slashing .225/.262/.300/.562 with six RBI and a 56 wRC+. It's been his defense that has certainly impressed, but the bat seems to be coming around as he has a hit in three straight games. Provided with plenty of run support, Max Meyer showed no mercy against the Braves. He tossed six innings of two-hit ball, striking out six. His season ERA is now down to 2.85 through 10 starts this season. Although he threw his fastball more than any other pitch (31%), it is his slider and sweeper that continues to be dominant. He had six whiffs on the slider and four of his six strikeouts came on the sweeper. Meyer through 10 starts now has a 2.85 ERA, 3.06 FIP, 10.06 K/9 and 3.19 BB/9. He is the only qualified starter in baseball who has yet to suffer a loss this season. He is also the sixth pitcher in Marlins history to not be charged with a loss through 10 starts to begin a season. The Marlins are now 7-3 when Meyer takes the mound for the Marlins. "He just continues to show the pitches and how his mix and everything has really come together," McCullough said. "He's such a better pitcher on the mound, but I think even the maturity was obscene from him, and he's just able to handle anything that comes his way during a game and just kind of put it behind him and keep going." Nearly six years removed from being selected with the third overall pick of the 2020 MLB Draft, Meyer is truly beginning to live up to the hype. This was the first time since 9/17/23 that the Marlins have defeated a team by 12 runs or more. It also marked the first 12-0 win in franchise history. With the win, the Marlins are now 22-26, four games under .500 and with a chance for a series split on Tuesday with Braxton Garrett taking the mound. For the Braves, it'll be Martin Pérez. First pitch is at 4:10 pm on Marlins.TV. View the full article

Ian Happ is off to a strange start in 2026. There's more power than we've come to expect, and even more strikeouts. In fact, there's something about this iteration of Happ that looks similar to one we might have seen in 2017 or 2018. Whether or not that's a good thing for the Chicago Cubs, however, is certainly up for debate. When Happ was a rookie in 2017, he struck out more than 30 percent of the time, with a walk rate that just barely scratched above 9%. He followed that up with an even higher strikeout figure (36.1%) in 2018. The difference was that he was able to drive up the walk rate to what, up until this season, had served as a career-high (15.2%). There was also one other notable element that fluctuated between the two seasons: the power. In his rookie year, Happ hit 24 home runs. He's since exceeded that number twice, with 25-homer campaigns in 2021 and 2024. But permeating throughout all of those strikeouts, all of those walks, and all of those home runs in 2017 was regular impact contact. He posted a .261 isolated power that he's never come close to replicating over a full season. The next season, his ISO fell to .176. He was able to reach .209 in 2021, but has otherwise sat between a .169 and .199 ISO in the years following that rookie outburst. More recent years have seen Happ settle into a base where his patience is the pillar. He's exceeded the 20-homer threshold a handful of times, but that ISO has never climbed back to the second-year heights he reached. Instead, he's relied on his discipline. From 2021 to 2025, Happ's 45.3% swing rate ranked 102nd out of 360 qualifying position players. His 27.0% chase rate sat 67th. Each of those elements contributed to a walk rate that came in 23rd out of that whole group (12.1%). He was a remarkably consistent, if unspectacular, player over that stretch. Happ's line in those five seasons read .247/.343/.433, for a 117 wRC+. His strikeout rate came in at 24.4%, alongside that notable walk rate. His ISO read .187. It's an output that seems wholly appropriate for a player who has been steady more than he's been a star. However, something different is happening in 2026. His early 2026 line reads .228/.368/.455. In general, that wouldn't seem to represent a stark departure for what we've come to expect from him. However, a number of other areas on the stat sheet have spiked. His walk rate has climbed to over 17%, with a .228 ISO. The former would be the best rate of his career; the latter checks in as the best outside of that 2018 season. His wRC+, at 134, would also sit atop his career outputs. So we have a player who has lingered on the edge of being a "three-true-outcomes" guy diving even further into those waters. It's not obvious how Happ's doing it. Sometimes, you see a player trying to tap into more power by selling out for it. That might mean an increased swing rate or a harder swing. Happ is doing neither. His 40.9% swing rate is actually the lowest of his career, by a decent margin. His bat speed hasn't changed in any discernible fashion from either side, coming in slightly slower as a left-handed swinger and slightly faster as a righty. Neither has changed in a way that would speak to such a drastic jump in power. What Happ is doing is taking more chances. His overall swing rate has dropped by about three percentage points from last year, but the chase rate has also risen by about that much. He's making less contact overall, by a significant margin, but he's also making more impactful contact. Happ's barrel rate (17.5% of his balls in play) is not only in the 95th percentile, but sits well above any previous rate he's posted. There isn't any major mechanical shift happening here. It's in Happ making active choices to seek damage. That type of philosophical shift does have to show up in your body at some point. Rather than being in the swing itself, though, it appears to be in his setup, from the right side. From the left side, he's always had power. His career ISO against right-handed pitchers is .217. It's a bit exaggerated this year, but only a bit. The big difference has come as a righty, where he made over his game and became much more of a contact-oriented, ground-ball guy in 2023 and 2024, but started to find his power again in 2025. This year, he already has three homers from the right side, and his ISO is .212, against a career mark of .154. To get to that pop, he's opened his stance over the last two seasons. Here, from left to right, are pitches Happ saw against lefties in 2024, 2025, and last month. Why does this matter? After all, as hitting coaches love to remark, great hitters all get to fairly similar points by the time they make contact. Here's why: All swings have a certain natural directionality and timing. Barring a full-fledged swing overhaul, hitters will generally find their best contact in the same range and (therefore) with their bat in the same positions and on the same trajectories. One way to tweak that is the stance. We don't yet have Statcast visualizations of Happ's swing for 2026, because switch-hitting keeps his sample smaller than for batters who only hit from one side. But here, side-by-side, are the moments when his barrel first enters the back of the hitting zone by crossing the back tip of home plate, for 2024 and 2025. In 2024, his stance was 8° closed from the right side. Last season, it was neutral (0°). Look at the difference that made in where his bat is in its (otherwise little-changed) path when he gets to that same early juncture in the swing. Notice, too, that his front hip is a bit more open in the image on the right, without his hands being materially farther in front of his body or his front shoulder leaking out. He slightly reoriented a swing with which he'd begun to find success (but only on the ground), and unlocked something more. This year, a further tweak in the same direction has exaggerated that—with some costs, as the strategy approaches an extreme, but also with big benefits. Happ's attack angle (the upward angle of the barrel at the instant of contact) was 5° in 2024; it's now 10°. His attack direction (the horizontal angle of the barrel at that same moment) was 3° toward his pull side two years ago; it's now 7°. Happ has a good command of the strike zone. One could make the argument that he's spent the last handful of years being too patient. This year, he's deploying that patience toward attempting to create power for himself, especially from the right side. It hasn't come at the expense of his ability to draw a walk, just in his ability to make contact as consistently. Are the Cubs better for it, though? There's an argument to be made that they are. Under Craig Counsell, the Cubs have been a team that operates with efficiency at the plate. They're approach-oriented, with slower swings that generate quality contact via the barrel more than aggressive ones that maximize power potential. The issue with that ideology is that it doesn't always beget consistent offense. The walks are always there, but the actual output occasionally suffers as players enter periods of bad timing, bad luck, or a temporary deviation from their typical approach. Happ, in his current form, appears to be a benefit for the Cubs, in that he's still generating the on-base presence via the walk but is also creating more in a way that we don't always see from him—or anyone in the lineup. If the Cubs were a bad team in the OBP department, perhaps one could argue that Happ needs to retreat back into his typical modus operandi. Given their collective ability to do that, though, there's a real case that Happ taking more chances is something that can benefit the Cubs. View the full article

We've been here before. Garrett Mitchell may be one of the most polarizing players in the Brewers organization, combining tantalizing upside with glaring weaknesses. He's the type of player capable of dominating a playoff series matchup, or draining offensive momentum. We saw the Pirates destroy him with high fastballs a few weeks ago, and the results haven't been pretty overall. Including yesterday's home run, Mitchell has hit .281/.284/.303 over the last 30 days, with a 35,2% strikeout rate. Combined with Mitchell scuffling in the outfield (-5 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS), according to Sports Info Solutions) while trying to be careful to avoid diving on his weak shoulder, there has been a justifiably loud murmuring about whether Mitchell is fit to be an almost everyday player in the major leagues. Despite that, there has been some data to suggest that Mitchell has been improving, without the results to show for it. If we look at his rolling swing and miss rate on pitches inside the strike zone, there's some clear progress being made: We can see a steady trendline in the above graph, culminating in Mitchell (over his last 60 in-zone swings) being in the 50th percentile in MLB for contact rate. At points in the season, Mitchell's in-zone contact rate dropped below 60%, so to see it now approaching 85% marks an extreme transformation. Why hasn't this translated to results? Well, the problem is two-fold. Mitchell's strikeout rate has always garnered a lot of attention, but his ground ball rate has historically been a cause for concern, as well. He had a 55.8% ground ball rate in 2024, dropped to 46.5% in 2025, and is currently at 51.5% this year. No matter how hard you hit the ball, if you're hitting the majority of balls on the ground or low line drives, you will be susceptible to bad luck and rely on finding holes. Those holes are bigger if you hit a ball 115 MPH, but major-league infields are so good that you need to find the outfield grass to be consistent in this game. It should come as no surprise, then, that Mitchell's sweet-spot rate (the rate at which he finds ideal launch angles on his batted balls) almost perfectly mirrors his overall production: Mitchell got off to a rip-roaring start, before finding himself in a funk as he tried to cut down on the swing-and-miss. He was late on a lot of balls and pounding them into the ground, before recently making some better contact and seeing some extra bases as a result. There's one other problem. Mitchell is still striking out an awful lot despite the reduced whiff rate, with his 40-plate appearance rolling average sitting exactly on his season average of 37%: So, how has the zone contact improved to this extent and his chase rates also improved, but his actual strikeouts haven't changed? There are a couple of ways. Perhaps Mitchell is just not swinging as much? Or perhaps he's lasting longer in at-bats, fouling off pitches before eventually whiffing? Let's take a look! Up to April 19, Mitchell had swung at 25 high fastballs. He fouled off 13 of those pitches and whiffed on the other 12. In a two-strike count, you could force Mitchell into a swing, and he wasn't doing any damage in those locations. The ball wasn't even being put in play. Over the last month, he's swung at a lot more fastballs, and been targeted more heavily, but the whiff hasn't been as bad as we thought: Out of 91 high four-seam fastballs, Mitchell has swung and missed on just 20 of them, good for a 21.9% whiff rate. Initially, these resulted in more foul balls, and, when he did put the ball in play (note the numbers below the EVs are not balls in play, just the pitches located to that section), he's been hitting rockets: The problem is, while Mitchell has been getting his bat to the high fastball more often, he's being forced to do so more often. Pitchers (especially righties, working up and away) have worked him there more frequently. Mitchell hasn't whiffed in the last month on a lefty's four-seam fastball, but right-handers have found it easier to pound that spot. On top of that, Mitchell appears to have been so dialed into the high fastball that he's struggled against his bread-and-butter breaking pitches, with skyrocketing ground ball rates and high whiff rates against changeups and sliders. There's an implied question to parse here. Is Mitchell getting a hold of the high fastball only because he's expecting it on each and every pitch? Or can he find a balance where he can handle breaking pitches and off-speed offerings, while still managing the fastball? Hitting at the highest level of the sport is a chess match, and Mitchell showing off on Sunday with his home run against Bailey Ober is one way to place doubt in a pitcher's mind. If he can continue to progress against the high fastball and force pitchers into a more nuanced approach, that bodes well for him, but to avoid the streaky results, he will need to be capable of more than just selling out for one particular offering at a time. After all, everyone else in the league throws harder than Ober, which makes it easier for them to put Mitchell in the rocking chair. The initial signs are good. He's making more contact than ever, and he's not doing it by just stopping himself from swinging. There are more foul balls, and he'll need to turn those into actual balls in play more often, but the trend lines are pointing upward across the last month, and a little confidence can go a long way. If he can find that adjustability to cover more than just one offering at a time, the second half of 2026 could be a very fun time for Mitchell. View the full article

The Kansas City Royals have lost another valuable member of their starting rotation. Left-handed starter Kris Bubic was placed on the 15-day injured list Monday by the Royals with a soreness in his left elbow. Right-handed reliever Eli Morgan was called up from Triple-A Omaha. Bubic joins ace left-hander Cole Ragans on the injured list. Ragans went on the 15-day IL May 8 with an impingement in his left elbow. Ragans did throw a 30-pitch bullpen session Sunday, but still needs to go through steps before returning to the rotation. Bubic started Thursday and gave up five runs in just four innings on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts in a 6-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox. For the season, Bubic has a 4.11 ERA over nine starts, with four homers allowed in 50⅓ innings, a 12.6% walk rate and a 24.6% strikeout rate. Morgan is making his third trip up from the minors this year. He has appeared in seven games with a 2.61 ERA in 10⅓ innings, allowing eight hits and six walks with nine strikeouts. The Royals will still have to find a starter to fill Bubic's spot in the rotation. View the full article

The New York Mets swapped out an arm in the bullpen, selecting the contract of right-hander Daniel Duarte from Triple-A Syracuse and sending down right-hander Joey Gerber. Duarte is back in the majors for the first time since 2024, when he was with the Minnesota Twins. He made two appearances that year with the Twins after 34 games with the Cincinnati Reds the previous two seasons. Duarte has a 3.99 ERA in 36 games. He had a 14.5% walk rate and 17% strikeout rate, both below average with the bases on balls more concerning as the MLB average is 22.6%. At Triple-A this year, Duarte has appeared in 12 games with four starts, giving up five runs on 13 hits in 17⅓ innings, with nine walks and 14 strikeouts. Gerber has been up twice this year, appearing in one game with a trip to the 15-day injured list. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins continue to battle through injuries as the calendar pushes deeper into May. With the season past the quarter mark, staying healthy becomes even more important for a club trying to get closer to a .500 record. Some updates offered optimism this weekend, while others created additional uncertainty. Byron Buxton appears close to returning after progressing through baseball activities, but Taj Bradley’s rehab outing at Triple-A St. Paul raised more questions about his timeline. Minnesota also provided updates on several pitchers working their way back from arm injuries. Byron Buxton Progressing Toward Return Buxton continues to trend in the right direction after dealing with right hip flexor soreness. The Twins consider him day to day, and the recent updates suggest a return may not be far away. Buxton reportedly came through a workout on May 16 without issues and returned to on-field work before the game again on May 17. That is an encouraging sign considering how important he has been to Minnesota’s lineup this season. When healthy, Buxton changes the complexion of the roster. His defense in center field remains above-average, and his power production has helped stabilize the middle of the lineup. Minnesota has understandably taken a cautious approach because hip and lower body injuries can quickly become lingering concerns for a player whose game depends heavily on explosiveness. The fact that he continues to increase baseball activities is a positive development for the Twins moving forward. Taj Bradley’s Rehab Outing Raises Concerns Bradley remains on the 15-day injured list with right pectoralis muscle inflammation after being placed there retroactive to May 6. The Twins hoped Bradley would take a significant step forward during his rehab start with Triple-A St. Paul on Sunday. Instead, the outing ended much earlier than anticipated. Bradley failed to make it out of the second inning after throwing 31 pitches in the frame before being removed from the game. On Sunday’s episode of Inside Twins, general manager Jeremy Zoll explained that the organization wanted Bradley to complete roughly four innings while staying near 65 pitches. Because he was unable to reach those benchmarks, his timetable for returning to Minnesota remains unclear. That development is notable because the Twins have leaned heavily on their rotation early in the season. Bradley was expected to play a meaningful role for the pitching staff, but the club now appears likely to proceed carefully until he demonstrates he can handle a normal workload again. Cody Laweryson Takes Another Step Forward Laweryson continues progressing in his recovery from a right forearm strain that landed him on the injured list back on April 9. Laweryson made a rehab appearance with Triple-A St. Paul on Saturday and delivered a clean inning. He allowed no hits, walked one batter, and did not record a strikeout. For a pitcher returning from a forearm issue, simply getting through an outing healthy is often the biggest objective. The Twins will likely continue gradually increasing his workload before considering him for activation. According to Zoll, he is expected to make at least two more rehab appearances this week. Minnesota’s bullpen depth has been tested throughout the season, so getting another healthy arm back into the mix would provide needed reinforcement. Cole Sands Beginning Throwing Progression Sands remains sidelined with a mild right forearm strain after going on the injured list retroactive to April 29. The good news is that Sands resumed playing catch on May 12 and May 13 as the Twins began building him back up. At this stage, the organization appears focused on making sure he progresses slowly over the next week before advancing to more intense throwing sessions. Forearm injuries always create some level of concern for pitchers, which explains why Minnesota has emphasized patience with Sands. Before the injury, he had become an increasingly important option for the Twins in middle relief situations. If his throwing progression continues without setbacks, he could eventually begin mound work later this month. Mick Abel Receives Encouraging Evaluation One of the more encouraging updates involved Abel, who has been sidelined with right elbow inflammation since April 17. Abel was evaluated by noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, who agreed with previous evaluations that the issue stems from posterior elbow impingement. Most importantly for the Twins, there were reportedly no concerns involving the forearm or the ulnar collateral ligament. That distinction matters significantly because UCL damage often carries the possibility of Tommy John surgery. Instead, Abel has already resumed light throwing and started playing catch on Wednesday. Minnesota can now focus on rebuilding his arm strength rather than worrying about a more serious structural issue. Injuries remain one of the defining storylines for the Twins during the opening months of the season. The organization received positive news regarding Byron Buxton and Mick Abel, while Taj Bradley’s shortened rehab outing introduced additional uncertainty to the pitching staff picture. As Minnesota attempts to stay competitive through the middle months of the season, getting healthy contributors back on the field could be a major factor in whether the club can gain momentum in the standings. View the full article

Chicago Cubs Minor League Report - May 17 Affiliate Overview Triple-A Iowa Cubs Series at Nashville Sounds (Milwaukee Brewers): Sounds win, 6-0 Season Record: 18–26 Double-A Knoxville Smokies Series at Columbus Clingstones (Atlanta Braves): Tied, 3-3 Season Record: 21–18 High-A South Bend Cubs Series at Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee Brewers): Cubs win, 4-1 Season Record: 20–15 Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Series vs. Augusta GreenJackets (Atlanta Braves): GreenJackets win, 4-2 Season Record: 18–19 Affiliate Highlights Triple-A: Iowa Cubs Season Record: 18–26 Series Opponent: Nashville Sounds (26–19) Series Standing: Lose, 6-0 May 17: The Iowa Cubs saw their losing streak reach seven games as they fell, 4-3, to the Nashville Sounds on Sunday at First Horizon Park. This marks the first time this season that the Cubs have been swept in a series. Scott Kingery (1-for-3) put Iowa on the board first with a sacrifice fly in the second. Paul Campbell, who did not factor in the decision, turned in his best start of the season, firing five innings of scoreless ball, allowing two hits and striking out four. The Sounds evened the contest in the sixth but Kingery gave the Cubs the lead right back with an RBI-double in the seventh. James Triantos (3-for-4) delivered what looked to be an important insurance run in the ninth when he singled home Justin Dean, but Nashville would score three times in the home half of the inning to hand Iowa the 4-3 defeat in walk-off fashion. Double-A: Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 21–18 Series Opponent: Columbus Clingstones (19–19) Series Standing: Tied, 3-3 May 17: The Knoxville Smokies earned a series split with a 4-3 triumph over the Columbus Clingstones on Sunday at Synovus Park. Alex Ramírez (2-for-4) gave the Smokies the lead in the third with an RBI-single but the Clingstones would go ahead in the fourth by scoring twice. Columbus would then make it a 3-1 game through an inside-the-park home run in the eighth. In the ninth, Knoxville had its first two batters retired quickly but Jordan Nwogu (0-for-3) and Ariel Armas (0-for-3) were able to draw back-to-back walks. Edgar Alvarez (1-for-3) would then club his fourth home run of the season to give the Smokies a 4-3 lead. Marino Santy earned his first save of the season by turning in a scoreless ninth, whiffing two, to seal the comeback victory for Knoxville. High-A: South Bend Cubs Season Record: 20–15 Series Opponent: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (20–16) Series Standing: Win, 4-1 May 17: The South Bend Cubs had their series finale at the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers canceled due to rain. The contest will not be rescheduled. Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 18–19 Series Opponent: Augusta GreenJackets (21–18) Series Standing: Lose, 4-2 May 17: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans dropped their series to the Augusta GreenJackets following Sunday’s 7-4 defeat at Pelicans Ballpark. The GreenJackets scored twice in their first trip to the plate but the Pelicans were able to level the contest with two runs in the third thanks to Alexis Hernandez’ (1-for-3) first home run of the season. Both teams would score twice in the fifth, with Myrtle Beach getting its runs through an RBI-single from Edward Vargas (2-for-3) and a sacrifice fly from Darlyn De Leon (0-for-3). Augusta would make it 7-4 with three runs in the seventh and kept the Pelican bats quiet for the rest of the ballgame to hand Myrtle Beach the loss. David Bracho started for the Pelicans but did not factor into the decision. He allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits over four innings of work to go along with a pair of strikeouts. View the full article

Throwing the way Andrew Morris comes with some limitations. At 61°, he has one of the league's highest arm angles; few pitchers have a truer over-the-top motion than his. That can be good—it's deceptive, and it gives him easy access to the top of the strike zone with his riding four-seam fastball—but it can also be bad. Most pitchers who operate from a high slot struggle to consistently generate much horizontal movement. Most of them struggle to target the bottom of the zone or to get out of it and induce chases, except with steep breaking balls that can be hard to command and/or easy for opposing batters to spot. Throwing overhand helps you stay over the 17-inch plate and can be the most natural movement for some pitchers, but the league is trending toward lower slots for a reason: it's easier to tinker from there. It's easier to manipulate the ball and challenge hitters with unusual angles. For all those reasons and more, it made sense for the Twins to move Morris to the bullpen when they needed help there earlier this season. He's made 62 starts across parts of five minor-league seasons, and he began the year as a starter with Triple-A St. Paul. Quickly, though, the Twins' historic, insupportable lack of hard throwers or bat-missers in the bullpen became a problem they had to solve, and Morris was the sensible solution. Called up to pitch in multi-inning relief, Morris has rarely opened the tank and fired with reckless abandon. When he has, though, his fastball has touched 99 miles per hour. It's averaging 96, and he can live there, comfortably. His movement—a little more carry than one would expect (but only a little, because of the high arm slot), but very straight horizontally and very true to the spin direction of the pitch—is unexceptional, so he has to throw hard to succeed; it's easier to do that in short bursts. The heater has worked fine so far, and in this role, that's sustainable. His sweeper is also working well. Few pitchers can create so much sweep from that high slot, so he's not only getting a good whiff rate on it, but inducing weak contact when batters do meet the ball. His pitch mix has consisted mostly of the four-seamer and the sweeper against righties, and it's worked pretty well. He's only fanned six of the 41 right-handed batters he's faced, which is a problem, but he's also only walked three of them, and he's yet to surrender an extra-base hit to a righty. With the right sequencing and the command he's already shown, he'll miss a few more bats and benefit from some better defensive support; those two pitches can get righties out for him. Lefties are a different story. Morris has already allowed six extra-base hits to left-handed batters this season, and it's not a coincidence. The sweeper really doesn't work against them, so the converted starter has tried a kitchen-sink approach. His four-seamer is the main offering, but otherwise, he's mixing his sweeper, cutter, sinker, curveball and changeup in, trying to find something that will flummox opposite-handed batters. So far, that's been elusive. His walk rate is excellent against them, too, and he has 10 strikeouts in 44 plate appearances—but missing bats isn't enough to make up for how hard he's getting blistered when he fails to do so. To fix that, the Twins and Morris need to find a third pitch that works for him—or, rather, a second truly functional offering against lefties. It's not going to be the current version of his changeup. He kills spin relatively well on that pitch, but again, most pitchers struggle to generate depth on a changeup from that high arm slot—and Morris is no exception. His change has a decent amount of run, relative to his four-seamer, but it comes from noticeably lowering his arm angle. There's a decent velocity gap (around 10 MPH), but that's partially because he doesn't use the same arm speed on the changeup as on the fastball. Worst of all, he can't get to the bottom of the zone or below with it; the pitch hangs in hittable regions. Right now, Morris uses a version of a circle-change grip. That's ill-suited to his motor preference and to his arm angle. The team does have a ready-made model Morris can emulate in the pursuit of a better fit, though: Taj Bradley. Like Morris, Bradley throws from an exceptionally high arm angle. His splitter has been the key to his success this season. One path forward is to have Morris try a splitter instead of this unusable changeup. Another option is his unique cutter. The spin direction and movement on his cutter make Morris very unusual. His cutter has a good mix of carry and glove-side movement, and it's something hitters hardly ever see from this arm slot. Guys who achieve that shape on the cutter tend to have much lower arm angles and less ride on their four-seamers. The one guy who matches Morris well, in terms of spin direction and actual movement direction from such a high angle, is Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee, but his has a bit more depth and acts as his main breaking ball. Morris's could best be used another way. Its spin makes it easy to distinguish from his four-seamer early, but it moves deceptively after that. He could use the cutter to force lefties to cover the inner half and be more defensive, the better to set them up for a four-seamer that they'd then be less likely to hit hard. His curveball (so far, not especially polished) could factor in, too, as the pitch the hitter chases because they're locked in on the four-seamer and cutter and the curve looks enough like the four-seamer to earn the bad swing. Morris is learning on the fly, not only because he had a change in role sooner than the team initially envisioned but because injuries have interrupted his development since the team selected him in the 4th round in 2022. He isn't yet dominating hitters, though he's been able to work out of some jams and did a marvelous job to strand two Brewers runners in the top of the 7th inning Sunday. The sheer stuff will be good enough to make him a high-leverage arm, but Morris and the Twins have to make a few more adjustments first. It might mean letting go of the idea that he will ever be a big-league starter—but that's the right choice for the player and the team, right now. View the full article

These three Milwaukee Brewers hitters mashed against Chicago Cubs pitching in 2025. Brice Turang led all Brewers batters with 16 hits, Andrew Vaughn had some clutch home runs to lift Milwaukee over Chicago, and William Contreras drew a team-best 10 walks in last year's rivalry showdowns while possessing a cannon of an arm to start this year. View the full article

Boston Red Sox Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 2-4 Runs Scored Last Week: 11 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 19 Standings: 5th in AL East 11.5 GB First Place Transactions: 05/15/26: Red Sox sent LHP Danny Coulombe on a rehab assignment to Portland Sea Dogs. 05/15/26: Red Sox recalled 1B Nick Sogard from Worcester Red Sox. 05/15/26: Red Sox placed SS Trevor Story on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 15, 2026. Sports hernia. Scores: Game 40 (05/12): BOS 1, PHI 2 Game 41 (05/13): BOS 3, PHI 1 Game 42 (05/14): BOS 1, PHI 3 Game 43 (05/15): BOS 2, ATL 3 Game 44 (05/16): BOS 3, ATL 2 Game 45 (05/17): BOS 1, ATL 8 Series Breakdown/Highlights Phillies Series: Much like every other series this season, the Phillies series was defined by stellar starts from the Red Sox that couldn’t be backed up with any sort of offense. Time and time again, Boston had opposing pitchers on the ropes with runners in scoring position and they failed to capitalize. Maybe the biggest flaw in the Red Sox’s offensive approach is that they can’t get deep into counts. In the first game of this series they saw a combined 16 pitches through the first three innings against Zack Wheeler, who is still working his way back from a medical procedure and isn’t quite the pitcher the Phillies need him to be. In game two, the Red Sox managed to ride Sonny Gray’s best start of the season to a win, thanks in large part to some excellent defense from Willson Contreras and Marcelo Mayer. Ranger Suarez shoved in his return to action against his former club, tossing 5 ⅓ innings with eight strikeouts, one walk, and zero earned runs. Wilyer Abreu also kept his hot streak against left-handed pitching going against the Phillies. Maybe the best thing to happen during this part of the week was when Garrett Crochet began throwing off a mound. Braves Series: The series against the Braves was more of the same, except for terrible starting pitching in the rubber match on Sunday. Why the decision to abandon the opener for Brayan Bello was made is something that will be discussed for the next few days as the club looks to rebound, but it’s obvious he’s not cut out for a full starter’s role at this point in the season. Connelly Early and Payton Tolle both got tagged by Drake Baldwin to start games one and two, but they settled in nicely. As it currently stands, the two rookies are the brightest spots of the Red Sox’s rotation. They carry themselves like veterans and have an infectious energy each time they step on the mound. Game one ended in an extra-inning walk-off for the Braves, but the Red Sox were mostly in it despite some defensive miscues from Caleb Durbin at the hot corner. Game two saw Tolle toss eight innings of three strikeout baseball, but the defense behind him picked him up and made sure he secured the win. Game three was over by the end of the first inning. In other news, Trevor Story landed on the injured list with a sports hernia during this series. Website Highlights Payton Tolle Has Earned A Long-Term Spot In the Red Sox’s Rotation by Nick John The Red Sox Are One of Baseball’s Fastest Teams, but Gosh Are They Bad At Manufacturing Runs by Maddie Landis Red Sox must Balance Andruw Monasterio’s Bat & Glove Following Trevor Story’s Injury by Gottie Chavez Wilyer Abreu Has Covered Up His Greatest Weakness This Season by Alex Mayes Looking Ahead May 18: Red Sox (Sonny Gray) @ Royals (Seth Lugo): 7:40 PM EDT May 19: Red Sox (Ranger Suarez) @ Royals (Kris Bubic): 7:40 PM EDT May 20: Red Sox (Connelly Early) @ Royals (Michael Wacha): 7:40 PM EDT May 22: Twins @ Red Sox: 7:10 PM EDT May 23: Twins @ Red Sox: 4:10 PM EDT May 24: Twins @ Red Sox: 1:35 PM EDT View the full article

A few notable prospect names have moved up the Twins system over the last week. One of note is Yasser Mercedes, who finally moved on from Single-A to High-A Cedar Rapids after two full seasons in Fort Myers. Jamie and Jeremy break down his hot start and ask if it can be sustained with the Kernels. View the full article

San Diego Padres Weekly Snapshot Record last week: 4-2 Runs scored last week: 25 Runs allowed last week: 21 Standings Scores Off Game 41 (Tuesday): Brewers 6, Padres 4 Game 42 (Wednesday): Padres 3, Brewers 1 Game 43 (Thursday): Brewers 7, Padres 1 Game 44 (Friday): Padres 2, Mariners 0 Game 45 (Saturday): Padres 7, Mariners 4 Game 46 (Sunday): Padres 8, Mariners 3 Week in Review and Highlights Brewers series Game 1: It what could very well be his last game in a Padres uniform, right-hander Matt Waldron didn't make a very strong statement to keep him around. In fact, it was just the opposite. Waldron coughed up six runs in 2⅔ innings as the Padres fell to the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4. With Lucas Giolito set to join the roster this weekend, Waldron is the easy choice to be replaced in the rotation. In five games, including three starts and following an opener the last two outings, Waldron has amassed a 9.28 ERA. Waldron has no minor-league options remaining, which means he is likely to be designated for assignment and potentially be claimed by another team. He could stick around if he goes unclaimed and accepts being outrighted to the minors. Coming in after right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez served as his opener again, Waldron pitched a scoreless second and gave up a run in the third on a rare Joey Ortiz homer. But it was the fourth inning where Waldron came undone. After the Friars took a 2-1 lead in the top half on a two-run Nick Castellanos single, the Brewers pieced together a five-run outburst via hard hits, soft hits, a walk and pressuring Waldron into a fielding faux pas en route to a 6-2 lead. Meanwhile, the Padres' bats were kept off-balance by Brewers rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat, who allowed three runs on six hits in 5⅓ innings, striking out six and walking two. Sproat was lifted after giving up a solo homer to Miguel Andujar, his third of the season, and a single to Xander Bogaerts. The Padres put together a rally in the eighth inning as Fernando Tatis Jr. had a leadoff single and went to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Andujar doubled home Tatis, but Bogaerts and Ty France struck out to and the threat. Game 2: For the second time in three games, the Padres entered the ninth inning with zero runs. And for the second time in three games, the Padres were victorious because of ninth-inning rallies. After scoring twice in the bottom of the ninth Sunday and winning in the 10th vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, the Padres turned to late-inning hero Gavin Sheets once again and he delivered a dramatic three-run homer with two outs in the top of the ninth for a 3-1 victory. For Sheets, it was his third homer in the ninth inning of at least three runs that put his team ahead. There have only been a total of four in all of MLB, including Sheets' trio. It was the 13th comeback win in 42 games, including an MLB-best five from a deficit of four or more runs, and 25th win of the season, keeping the Friars atop the NL West. In the ninth, Tatis and Manny Machado were retired by Brewers closer Abner Uribe to begin the frame. Andujar got things going with a single to center and was replaced by pinch-runner Bryce Johnson. Bogaerts drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch, bringing up Sheets, who went out an got an 87.6 mph slider on the outside corner and at the top of the zone, yanking it into the right-field stands for the go-ahead homer and his sixth blast of the year. The Padres have scored 38 runs in the ninth inning or later, the most in MLB. Before the ninth, it was a pitching duel. Michael King kept the Brewers off the board until an RBI groundout in the fifth inning. King would finish with 5⅔ innings, allowing six hits and two runs with five strikeouts. It was King's fifth start this year (nine total) of allowing one or fewer runs. But as good as King was, Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski was even better. The flamethrower struck out 10 in seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits. Misiorowski threw 40 pitches at more than 100 mph. Sheets' blast gave Mason Miller a save opportunity. Following scoreless outings by right-handers Jeremiah Estrada and Jason Adam, Miller gave up a hit, but struck out two to secure his 13th save in as many chances. Game 3: The Padres have come back so many times this season that when the Friars fell behind 6-0 after two innings in the series finale, you had to think there was plenty of time to erase that deficit. But not on this occasion. Right-handed starter Griffin Canning struggled for the first time in his three starts since joining the Padres, who dropped the series with a 7-1 setback. Canning only got five outs and allowed six runs to the Brewers, who like to nickel-and-dime teams to death. Canning, who threw 43 pitches in the first inning, walked four and gave up five hits, while notching a pair of strikeouts. That put the onus on the bullpen, which once again came through, but could use a few quality starts from the rotation. Included in that bullpen effort was a surprise appearance by Waldron, the starter just two days prior. Waldron allowed one hit and struck out four in two scoreless innings. Manager Craig Stammen said postgame that Waldron would be joining the bullpen this weekend for the Mariners series, giving the relievers another multi-inning arm. Meanwhile, the Padres' offense was stifled again. Left-hander Kyle Harrison spun five shutout innings, striking out seven with no walks and five hits. The Padres couldn't break into the scoring column until the ninth inning. Castellanos reached on a one-out error by the first baseman, went to second on Freddy Fermin's single and to third on Johnson's walk that loaded the bases. Sung-Mun Song hit an RBI grounder to short, easily beating the relay to first to prevent a game-ending double play. Mariners series Game 1: The evolution of Randy Vasquez from questionable back-end starter to an extremely reliable No. 3-type took another big step. The right-hander turned in his third shutout outing, allowing four hits and striking out three while not issuing a walk paved the way for a 2-0 victory to open the second leg of the Vedder Cup. The Padres improved to 8-1 in Vasquez starts as he lowered his ERA to 2.68 (3.30 FIP). This one got at little sticky at the end. After a scoreless seventh from left-hander Adrian Morejon, Adam came on for the eighth with a 2-0 lead. After a strikeout, Morejon gave up a single to Brendan Donovan and a walk to Julio Rodriguez before Josh Naylor flew out to center. With Randy Arozarena due up, Stammen summoned Miller for a four-out save. Arozarena reached on an infield single when he threw the bat at one of Miller's wicked sliders and the bat shattered into a gazillion pieces as no play was able to be made on the ball, loading the bases. But Miller escaped by winning a seven-pitch battle with Connor Joe, who looked at a center-cut slider for strike three to end the eighth. In the ninth, Miller walked J.P. Crawford on five pitches and struck our Rob Refsnyder on six pitches. Cole Young singled Crawford to second before Miller struck out Mitch Garver and Donovan to end the inning. It was Miller's third four-out save of the season and second in six days. Offense is always at a premium when playing at T-Mobile Park and this day was no exception. Andujar continued his recent hot run in the fourth when he doubled home Sheets, who had walked with one out stole second with two outs. Andujar was in the middle of things in the seventh, too. He had a one-out single and moved to third on Laureano's single, with Song driving him in with a groundout to first. Three of the Padres' four shutouts this year have come in Vasquez starts. The victory also clinched the Vedder Cup for the Padres, who swept the Mariners in the earlier series. Game 2: The Rodolfo Duran game. After spending 11 seasons in the minor leagues, Duran finally got a call-up May 7, but had yet to get a hit. That changed in his fourth game and in his 11th plate appearance when he not only got his first MLB hit, but he did it by smacking a first-pitch fastball for a two-run homer in the seventh inning that helped the Padres to a 7-4 triumph. Duran has hit 81 homers in 631 career minor-league games, including 20 at Triple-A El Paso as he has spent the last two seasons in the Padres' organization. Now he has one in the majors, coming on national television, after lining one out to left off right-handed starter Logan Gilbert. He should have had a second, but his ninth-inning drive to center was snared by Julio Rodriguez, who reached over the wall to bring it back. Duran's blast was the third by the Friars in the game. Sheets hit a solo shot in the second inning, his seventh this year, while Castellanos drilled a three-run homer in a four-run fourth. It was Castellanos' third homer of the season and second in his last five games, with this one putting the Padres up 5-0. Andujar drove in a run with an RBI groundout following walks to Machado and Sheets and a single by Bogaerts. Padres right-handed starter Walker Buehler was solid and threw a season-high 101 pitches to make it through five innings. He surrendered two runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. He gave up an RBI single in the fourth and Crawford's solo homer in the fifth. Five relievers were needed to finish this one out, with right-hander Alek Jacob, called up Friday, when Waldron went on the 15-day injured list, providing the only blemish by allowing two runs without getting an out in the eighth. That made it a 7-4 game. With Miller unavailable, Stammen turned to Estrada to get the save, which he did despite giving up a single and a walk. That was Estrada's five career save and gave the Padres a series win in Seattle for the first time since 2018. Game 3: Lucas Giolito's much-anticipated debut went about as well as he could have imagined, albeit the finish could have been better. And thanks to two more Sheets homers, it was a victorious first game with the Padres, too. Giolito took a shutout into the sixth inning and Sheets went 3-for-3 and drove in four as the Padres swept the Mariners for the second time with an 8-3 win in the finale of this year's Vedder Cup. Giolito allowed just one hit in five-plus innings, striking out three, but he walked three straight to open the sixth inning to end his day. He threw 78 pitches, 44 for strikes, and looked in control until the sixth. After walking the bases loaded, left-hander Yuki Matsui came on to face Josh Naylor, a left-handed hitter whom he walked to trim the Padres' lead to 7-1. Two sacrifice flies followed, meaning all three of Giolito's runners that Matsui inherited scored. Meanwhile, thanks to Sheets, the Friars had a big offensive day against an ace-quality opponent. Sheets cranked a solo homer against Mariners right-hander George Kirby with two outs in the first, then a two-run shot in a five-run sixth inning as the Padres took a 7-0 lead. France, who has a team-high nine homers, had an RBI single in the fifth, with Merrill an run-scoring double and France another single to bring home the final two in the top of the sixth. After the Mariners got their three runs in the bottom of the sixth, Sheets got one back when he rifled an RBI double down the right-field line to score Tatis, who hit leadoff in this game. Sheets was on base in all five plate appearances as he also drew a pair of walks. Now the Padres have their first series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, separated by just half a game atop the NL West standings. Marvelous Mason Miller Some of the amazing stats for the Padres' closer: Season stats: 20 games, 1-0, 14 saves in 14 chances, 0.86 ERA, 21 innings, 10 hits, two runs, six walks, 44 strikeouts. In May, has four saves with 15 of 17 outs via strikeout. Struck out the side seven times this year, including in five straight appearances. Random Stats Gavin Sheets became the first player in MLB history to hit a three-run homer or grand slam in the ninth inning to put his team ahead three times in a full season, according to OptaStats. The Padres are 13-5 this year in games decided by two runs or less. Miguel Andujar's double Friday vs. the Mariners was his ninth on the road this year, which were the second-most in MLB. He has only one double at home and leads the team with 10. Randy Vasquez is now tied with Michael King for the team lead in quality starts with four. Walker Buehler has the other two. Adrian Morejon has held left-handed hitters hitless in 13 of his last 14 appearances when facing at least one lefty hitter, including 0-for-16 in the last eight instances. Fernando Tatis Jr.'s season power outage reached 193 plate appearances. Only three other players with enough plate appearances to qualify for hitting leaders have yet to hit a homer: Nick Gonzales of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Nasim Nunez of the Washington Nationals and Luis Rengifo of the Milwaukee Brewers. Transactions Friday: Placed RHP Matt Waldron on the 15-day injured list with a right brachialis muscle injury. Friday: Recalled RHP Alek Jacob from Triple-A El Paso. Sunday: recalled RHP Lucas Giolito from Double-A San Antonio. Sunday: Optioned RHP Alek Jacob to Triple-A El Paso. Sunday: Sent RHP Jhony Brito on a rehab assignment to Double-A San Antonio. Website Highlights Bogaerts' improvements are the result of one hilariously simple root cause — Randy Holt Laureano suddenly can't turn left — N.B. Lindberg Is Salas suddenly an untouchable prospect again for the Padres? — Randy Holt Don't sleep on Miranda: Why the former top prospect is the ultimate Padres depth piece — Taylor Leonard What Andujar lacks in patience, he makes up for in contact — Tom Gatto Padres' farm system update: Breaking down Padres Mission's new Top 20 list — Steve Drumwright Looking Ahead Monday: Dodgers (Yoshinobu Yamamoto) at Padres (Michael King), 6:40 p.m. Tuesday: Dodgers (Emmet Sheehan) at Padres (Griffin Canning), 6:40 p.m. Wednesday: Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani) at Padres (Randy Vasquez), 5:40 p.m. Thursday: Off Friday: A's at Padres (German Marquez), 6:40 p.m. Saturday: A's at Padres (Lucas Giolito), 6:40 p.m. Sunday: A's at Padres (Michael King), 1:10 p.m. View the full article

New York Mets Weekly Snapshot Record Last Week: 5-1 Runs Scored Last Week: 27 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 22 Standings: 5th in NL East (15-25) 8.0 GB of 1st Place Transactions: 5/10 New York Mets sent 1B Eric Wagaman outright to Syracuse Mets. 5/10 New York Mets optioned RHP Joey Gerber to Syracuse Mets. 5/12 New York Mets designated 2B Andy Ibáñez for assignment. 5/12 New York Mets selected the contract of LF A.J. Ewing from Syracuse Mets. 5/13 New York Mets placed C Francisco Alvarez on the 10-day injured list. Right meniscus tear. 5/13 New York Mets recalled C Hayden Senger from Syracuse Mets. 5/15 New York Mets sent 1B Jared Young on a rehab assignment to St. Lucie Mets. 5/15 New York Mets sent 2B Andy Ibáñez outright to Syracuse Mets. 5/16 New York Mets placed RHP Clay Holmes on the 15-day injured list. Right fibula fracture. 5/16 New York Mets recalled RHP Joey Gerber from Syracuse Mets. Scores: Game 40: NYM 10, DET 2 Game 41: NYM 3, DET 2 (10) Game 42: NYM 9, DET 4 Game 43: NYM 2, NYY 5 Game 44: NYM 6, NYY 3 Game 45: NYM 7, NYY 6 (10) Series Breakdown/Highlights Tigers Series: The flood of youth gave the Mets some new life. AJ Ewing made his MLB debut on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers, collecting his first MLB hit and RBI – a triple – and getting on base four times in five at-bats. This game saw every Met in the starting lineup besides Austin Slater reach base as the offense scored 10 runs. Freddy Peralta turned in six solid innings against a struggling Tigers lineup on their way to a nice 10-2 win. On Wednesday, Christian Scott turned in another solid outing for the Mets, surrendering two first-inning runs, both a result of a dropped pop-up from Carson Benge. Benge would pay him back later as the Mets were able to get two runs off Framber Valdez and keep the game tied going to extras, where the rookie outfielder hit a walk-off, RBI single, scoring Ewing to win the game, and series, for the Mets. In the series finale with Nolan McLean on the bump, the Mets fell behind 3-0 early. It was far from McLean’s best start of the season, but he kept the Mets in the game, enough for his offense to get to Keider Montero. McLean went seven innings, earning the win as homers from AJ Ewing, Juan Soto, and Marcus Semien lifted the Mets to their first series sweep of 2026. Yankees Series: Game one of the 2026 subway series was no easy task. The Mets were going against the AL Cy Young leader Cam Schlittler, with former Yankee Clay Holmes on the other side. Holmes struggled, giving up four runs in 4.2 innings of work. The worst part about Holmes’ outing was that he was hit on the leg with a line drive off the bat of Spencer Jones, which fractured his fibula, and landed him on the IL. The only blemish on the line of Schlittler was a Juan Soto solo home run in the seventh inning. The Mets did not go quietly in the ninth, a theme in this series, making it 5-2 Yankees, and that would be your final. In game two, the Mets pitched a bullpen game, and it worked. Huascar Brazobán, David Peterson, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver, and Devin Williams held the Yankees offense to just three runs. Weaver was the most impressive, entering the game with the bases loaded and no outs and escaping without a run scoring. The floodgate of Mets runs opened when Carlos Rodon spiked a pitch in the dirt for a wild pitch in the third inning, then attempted to make a throw that got away and allowed another run to score. The Mets took the middle game 6-3. In the series finale, the Mets got very little going against Yankees rookie Elmer Rodriguez in his 4.1 innings of work. Freddy Peralta was only able to go five-plus innings, leaving runners on first and second, no outs for Sean Manea. The Yankees would score four runs in the frame, helped out by a dropped pop-up by Bo Bichette that would have ended the inning. The Yankees handed their closer, David Bednar, a three-run lead. Two singles opened the bottom of the ninth, and the Mets had hope. They were 0-90 in these situations dating back to the 2024 ALWCS. After Bednar got Soto to ground out and Vientos to strike out, Tyrone Taylor took a first pitch curveball off Bednar into the left field seats and tied the game. The Yankees did not score in the top of the 10th and an RBI infield single by Carson Benge walked-off the crosstown set. Website Highlights Carson Benge Is Finding His Rhythm After A Turbulent Start Mets Farm System Updates: Breaking Down Grand Central Mets’ New Top 20 Prospect List Austin Slater Isn't Living Up to His Reputation With the Mets Looking Ahead May 18th: at WAS (6:45pm) May 19th: at WAS (6:45pm) May 20th: at WAS (6:45pm) May 21st: at WAS (4:05pm) May 22nd: at MIA (7:10pm) May 23rd: at MIA (4:10pm) May 24th: at MIA (1:40pm) View the full article

The North Siders' three biggest pillars of success in 2026 — clutch situational hitting, baserunning, and sparkling defense — all but dried up in the most frustrating week of the season. We had alluded to the fact that it doesn't get easier, but with the Cubs' warts put on full display, their ability to right the ship will determine whether or not the squad's larger aspirations are attainable. A day off this past Monday allowed the Cubbies to settle into the accommodations at Truist Park as they set to do battle for three games with the dreaded Atlanta Braves. The two clubs briefly traded places, boasting the best record in baseball. By the end of their three-game tilt, Atlanta presented as the real cream of the crop. The consistently average Colin Rea took the ball for the North Siders opposite Grant Holmes in the opener. A seesaw defensive struggle turned in the fourth inning as the home team put up a four-run tally on the Cubs, including a two-run blast off the bat of Mike Yastrzemski. Holmes and the Atlanta pitching staff silenced Chicago's bats, with a solo shot from the ascending Alex Bregman providing the only hit of the contest for the Cubs in a 5-2 loss. Squandering an absolute gem from the southpaw Shota Imanaga, a dormant offense hamstrung the Cubbies once again in the middle game of this matchup. The de facto ace of this club was as sharp as we've come to expect this season, striking out six batters and surrendering just five hits. His impressive effort set his team up nicely heading into a tied eighth inning, where, in relief of Imanaga, the beleaguered Phil Maton sank the visiting team's hopes for a series-tying victory. The little things in this game make the biggest difference, and this rang painfully true in the Cubbies' 4-1 defeat. The margins between these two clubs are slim yet pronounced. When clicking, the Cubs have one of the most fearsome offenses in all of the majors. Squaring off against a Cy Young-caliber hurler in Chris Sale, the North Siders rose to the level of their competition. Ben Brown matched Sale stride for stride in the early going. Brown threw four remarkably efficient innings, allowing only a run and striking out seven Braves. His mastery on the mound gave Ian Happ and an opportunistic offense a chance to secure their 28th win of the season in the series' finale. With that consolation prize in hand, the Cubs arrived in the neighborhood of Bridgeport for the renewal of the Crosstown Classic. While still not among baseball's elite, Will Venable's White Sox are heading in the right direction faster than an express train leaving the Sox/35th station. This truth notwithstanding, the North Siders slugged their way to a late, convincing victory in the opener. The cathartic offensive output came from batters throughout this lineup, especially Carson Kelly, who bashed his way to a 3-for-5, four-RBI day. The rally turned a nip-and-tuck, tie game into a cakewalk for the visiting team, earning them a 10-5 triumph. Starting pitcher Jameson Taillon has earned his fair share of criticism for lacking control, mental stamina, and giving up too many home runs. Those criticisms roared louder than ever on the veteran's worst start of the season. Jamo was pelted, surrendering eight earned runs and five long balls, raising his ERA to an alarming 4.97. He is a glaring liability in this rotation, putting the onus for improvement not just on the pitching staff, but the front office as well. Pete Crow-Armstrong provided a silver lining in the ninth, blasting a two-run bomb, his fifth long fly of the year in the losing effort. "Summer Time Chi" was in full swing this past weekend on the South Side. For a fleeting, tantalizing time, it looked like the North Siders would board the team bus with bragging rights in tow. But it was the fans from the part of town that gave us Grammy award-winning rapper Common, who ran back to their fantasy, a win over their hated rivals in extra innings. Knotted at four, Phil Maton coughed up a three-run blast to the Sox Tristan Peters. The homer completed the rally for the South Siders, who erased a 4-1 deficit. The thunderous bomb from Peters had all but sealed the fate of Craig Counsell's squad, until the scorching-hot Michael Conforto crushed a dramatic, game-tying home run off of SerAnthony Dominguez. The Cubs took the lead in the tenth yet failed to tack on insurance, making way for Edgar Quero's cinematic two-run walk-off blast, silencing the raucous Cubs fans in attendance. The loss marked the North Siders' third straight series loss. No reprieve will come to this struggling Cubs squad as it heads back to Wrigley for a six-game homestand. Up next, the Cubbies host Christian Yelich and the defending NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers. This upcoming weekend sees the Houston Astros paying a visit to the North Side of Chicago. No ardent supporter of this Chicago Cubs team should situate themselves too close to the panic button, but this week, with a chance to either cushion or relinquish their division lead, stands to shed light on where this club is right now. View the full article

Welcome back to Blue Jays Clutch Plays, a recurring post that highlights the six most pivotal plays (three pitching, three hitting) from the past week of Blue Jays baseball, according to MLB's win probability model. Click here to read last week's edition. The Toronto Blue Jays remained a tough watch for most of the past week, but after a couple more losing efforts against the Rays, a walk-off grand slam from Daulton Varsho prevented another sweep before the Jays prevailed in a three-day war of attrition in Detroit. It hasn't been a pretty month, but the AL is such a logjam that the Blue Jays' 21-25 record puts them only one game back of the final Wild Card spot. Opportunity awaits in the form of their upcoming four-game set versus the Yankees, who are 6.5 games up on the Jays after dropping a series against their crosstown rival Mets over the weekend. Pitching 3. Louis Varland: Cedric Mullins Popout, Top 9, 5/12 (+15.0% wPA) Tuesday night's loss to Tampa Bay was a 10-inning nailbiter, and Louis Varland's scoreless ninth didn't come easy. With the go-ahead run at third and two outs in the frame, Varland went with a 98-mph fastball as his payoff pitch to Cedric Mullins and elevated it enough that Mullins skied it harmlessly to shallow center. Daulton Varsho had a lot of ground to cover, but he got there in time to make a sliding backhanded catch. 2. Louis Varland: Jake Rogers Groundout, Bot 10, 5/16 (+15.8% wPA) Varland's biggest performance of the year came on Saturday afternoon as he authored a six-out save on 26 pitches to steal a victory on a bullpen day. The offense didn't manage to score anyone besides the ghost-runner in the top half, but "The Committee" needed just one pitch to start closing the door in the bottom half as this outside fastball incinerated Jake Rogers's bat before rolling slowly into Ernie Clement's glove at shortstop. 1. Louis Varland: Dillon Dingler Strikeout, Bot 10, 5/16 (+16.8% wPA) The final punch from Varland's latest herculean effort was a tumbling knuckle curve to get Dillon Dingler swinging after the tying run had moved up 90 feet. Following this week, Varland now has the eighth, ninth, and 10th-most clutch plays of the season amongst Blue Jay pitchers, which are worth a combined 47.6% wPA on their own...and don't even include the plays at No. 1, 4, and 7 on that list, for which he was also on the mound. If this team rights the ship, we may talk about this Varland performance alongside the Mason Fluharty game at Dodger Stadium from last August. Hitters 3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Reached on Error, Bot 7, 5/12 (+22.1% wPA) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. finally broke out of his weeks-long home run drought on Sunday, but early in the week, he was still searching for that big break. Junior Caminero gifted it to him with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and the Jays down by one on Tuesday, failing to come up with the groundball to his left. Yohendrick Piñango scored from second, and for a moment, the baseball gods smiled upon the Blue Jays instead of their rivals to the south. 2. Daulton Varsho: RBI Single, Top 10, 5/16 (+25.2% wPA) For the second time in three games, Varsho delivered the decisive blow in extra innings for an otherwise struggling offense. In a lefty-lefty matchup with Detroit reliever Tyler Holton, Varsho got a pitch in his wheelhouse down in the zone and stayed on it long enough to line it up the middle and score Guerrero from second. Toronto's center fielder has had an inconsistent year, but his timely hits last week have helped his wRC+ tilt back to the right side of league average. 1. Daulton Varsho: Walk-Off Grand Slam, Bot 10, 5/13 (+68.4% wPA) It doesn't get much more dramatic than a come-from-behind victory on a walk-off slam. The Jays would be incredibly fortunate if one of their hitters comes up with another swing as big as this at any point the rest of the season. At the time, it was the ninth-biggest single-play change in wPA in the major leagues in 2026. The Blue Jays have only had eight offensive plays worth at least a 60% jump in wPA since the start of 2021. Here's an eerie fun fact: The team's most clutch play of 2025? A go-ahead home run by Varsho in the eighth inning...also against the Rays at the Rogers Centre...exactly one year before this grand slam on May 13. View the full article