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Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 9-May 11) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies): 4-2 Season Record: 19-20 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox): 4-1 Season Record: 19-11 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants): 2-4 Season Record: 13-20 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates): 2-4 Season Record: 13-20 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 5-0 Season Record: 7-0 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 19-20 Series Opponent: Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies) May 9: RJ Schreck continued his torrid stretch in May, collecting four more hits on his way to leading Buffalo to a victory Saturday. He smashed his second home run of the series with Lehigh Valley and hit another double, bringing that total to five for the week as well. Buffalo kicked the scoring off with two bases-loaded walks in the second inning, one each by Carlos Mendoza and William Simoneit. In the third inning, Josh Kasevich added a run with an RBI single, scoring Jonatan Clase. Then, after a Charles McAdoo walk, Riley Tirotta smoked a ball 108.1 mph over the left field fence for a three-run home run. The lead didn't last long, as CJ Van Eyk coughed up four unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning and Devereaux Harrison surrendered three more runs in the fifth. With Buffalo now trailing by a run, Josh Rivera squeaked a ball over the left field fence at just 93.1 mph for a solo shot. The next inning, Schreck came to the plate and pummeled a ball 104.1 mph for a two-run home run and gave Buffalo the lead for good. Tanner Andrews pitched the ninth and struck out two. Earning the save and the win for Buffalo, 9-7. May 10: On Sunday, Buffalo put an exclamation point on the week-long series with Lehigh Valley, as the bats were sizzling hot. Four players had multiple hits, and three of them had at least three hits, including RJ Schreck. He will surely be disappointed when Buffalo leaves Lehigh. He tallied 15 hits in the series, six doubles, two home runs, and 16 RBI. In the game Sunday, he had four of the RBI, one on an RBI single in the first inning, two from a two-RBI double in the fifth, and the last one on an RBI single in the eighth. While Schreck was a big performer in the game, Willie MacIver had an even bigger day. He had himself a 4-for-5 day, with four RBI, a double, and a home run. The home run was a three-run blast that went just over 400 feet to right-center field. Ismael Munguia stayed hot at the plate as well, collecting three hits in the game and raising his batting average at Triple-A to .359. On the mound, Josh Fleming pitched five innings of one-run ball and handed it over to the bullpen with a big lead. The bullpen did its job and finished the game, only allowing one unearned run. Brendon Little continues to push for a promotion back to the big league club. He pitched another scoreless inning and struck out one. Buffalo ran away with this game and won 11-2, pulling to within one game of their kryptonite .500 record. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 19-11 Series vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox) May 9: Postponed May 10: In the Sunday finale between New Hampshire and Portland, the Fisher Cats got to see one of the top breakout starting pitchers in the minor leagues, Anthony Eyanson. New Hampshire struggled with him in his Double-A debut, only managing four hits off of him in four innings. Victor Arias did launch a home run in the second inning. Jace Bohrofen added a two-run home run in the sixth, and Jorge Burgos brought in a run with a groundout in the seventh. Franklin Arias and Brooks Brannon carried the Portland offense to a big day, as the Fisher Cats lost 12-4. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 13-20 Series vs Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants) May 9, Game 1: The Canadians had a doubleheader against the Emeralds, and Dub Gleed got them on the board in the first at-bat of the game with a homer off of Yunior Marte. Landen Maroudis was the starter for this game and dealt with shaky command, walking four batters in four innings. He allowed the Emeralds to tie it up in the second inning, but in the fourth inning, the Canadians pulled ahead with a J.R. Freethy two-RBI single. Maroudis had a scoreless fourth inning, but in the fifth inning walked the leadoff batter and was pulled for Eminen Flores. Flores walked the next batter, then gave up a three-run homer to give the lead back to the Emeralds. Trace Baker struggled as well, as after a Maddox Latta error, he allowed three more runs to score, putting the Canadians down four. In the seventh inning, Peyton Williams walked and Alexis Hernandez hit his first homer of the season to bring it back within two runs, but the Canadians couldn’t capitalize, losing the first game of the doubleheader. May 9, Game 2: The offense sputtered for the Canadians after a relatively high-scoring first game, as Vancouver only had four hits against the Emeralds. On the other hand, Gilberto Batista gave up five runs, with four of them coming in the second inning, as his ERA climbed to 8.46 on the season and he earned his second loss of the season. The Canadians got one run after Carter Cunningham tripled and Manuel Beltre then drove him in with a single, but that was all they could do against the domineering Emeralds. May 10: The Canadians put up a fight in the last game of the series. Although Daniel Guerra struggled for the first time this season, giving up seven runs in just over three innings, Vancouver didn’t give up. The Canadians were able to get a couple of runs in on a Hayden Gilliland double, but were down 12-2 after Juanmi Vasquez gave up five more runs once Guerra was taken out. Carter Cunningham started the comeback with his seventh homer of the year, scoring Williams and himself, and after a Gleed sac fly in the ninth, Alexis Hernandez hit his second homer in two games to bring it within four runs. Sadly, the lead was insurmountable, and the Canadians fell short once again against Eugene. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 13-20 Series vs Bradenton Marauders (Pittsburgh Pirates) May 9: After a dominating start in his first rehab game, Silvano Hechavarria could not get out of the first inning. He got two quick outs immediately, but then allowed a hit, walk and another hit for the first run of the game. Juan Sanchez then committed a fielding error, and Hechavarria lost all control, with three wild pitches in a row leading to four runs scored in the first. Diego Dominguez replaced him and got out of the first inning, but in the second inning, disaster struck once again for Dunedin. Dominguez allowed the first four hitters on base, and after an RBI groundout, allowed a three-run homer for another big inning for Bradenton. The Jays got on board with a Dariel Ramon double leading to a JoJo Parker RBI single, but the Marauders got that run back the inning after. Yorman Licourt hit a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth, but it was much too little and too late. May 10: Dylan Watts took the bump for the last game of the series and didn’t have his best stuff or command. He allowed two hits and a walk right away in the first inning, with the Jays going down early. Yorman Licourt answered back in the second inning, however, as the Cuban outfielder hit a 102.1 mph homer to left center to take the lead. Watts allowed his second run of the game right after in the third inning, as he walked three more batters and allowed a game-tying single. Once again, the Jays got the run back; this time, Owen Gregg and Blaine Bullard got on base, and after Eric Snow moved the runners over, JoJo Parker hit a sac fly. Franly Urena and Carson Myers pitched well in relief for the Jays after the lead was taken back, as they combined for five scoreless innings while striking out five batters. The Jays also got some insurance runs, as they hit three doubles in a row from Bullard, Snow, and Parker to make it 5-2. Jack Eshleman got his fifth save of the season despite allowing another run, but the Jays ended the series on a high note after struggling against Bradenton. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 7-0 May 9: The FCL Blue Jays faced off against the FCL Yankees on Saturday. It was the minor league debut on the mound for Toronto Blue Jays prospect Seojun Moon. He had a shaky first inning, giving up a single and a walk, but gathered himself and finished the inning with three groundouts between the baserunners. In the second inning, Moon started strong, getting two strikeouts, one swinging and one looking, before a popout ended the inning and his debut. Next up was Miguel Pantoja, who fired off four innings and struck out six, only allowing two hits. On the offensive side of the ball, the Blue Jays took an early lead in the second inning on a Pascual Archila two-run single. A sacrifice fly from Sam White, a wild pitch, and a bases-loaded walk scored three more the next inning. A groundout and an error allowed two more to score for the Blue Jays in the seventh, as they went on to win 7-4. They had only managed four hits, but 10 walks (three by Tim Piasentin) carried them to victory. May 11: It was another banner day for the Toronto Blue Jays' FCL pitching on Monday. Four pitchers combined for nine innings of one-run ball, which was unearned. Giacomo Taschin went three innings with five strikeouts, and Deiker Pineda matched the five strikeouts and went two innings. On offense, the second innings saw the Blue Jays score three runs: one on a Kennew Blanco groundout, and then one each on RBI singles from Rafael Flores and Angel Guzman. Later in the game, Tim Piasentin added an RBI single, and so did Pascual Archila. The FCL Blue Jays would beat the FCL Phillies 7-1. View the full article

After two inconsistent seasons, plenty of people were starting to question whether Brooks Lee would ever live up to the hype. Now in year three, the former first-round pick is beginning to prove a lot of doubters wrong. View the full article

Alex and Maddie sit down to recap the Tigers and Rays series. They dive into why Payton Tolle and Connelly Early both deserve to stay in the rotation even as other starters get healthy. Next, they preview the upcoming Phillies series and talk through why the Red Sox have a good chance to win the series, especially if Wilyer Abreu keeps hitting against left-handed pitching. They talk through Jarren Duran’s decision to delete his Instagram account and why his immaturity is likely the biggest thing holding him back. Finally, they discuss the likely upcoming Giants fire sale to see if there are any possible targets on that roster, besides Rafael Devers, before wrapping up with a discussion about what a possible Trevor Story trade to the Mets could look like. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talk-sox-podcast/id1783204104 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qPrPXEngu0CxgTmlf0ynm Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-talk-sox-podcast-244591331/ Listen on Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/4tmd121v Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@talksox View the full article

The Blue Jays have placed an emphasis on defense when it comes to roster building for years now. They’ve gone out of their way to trade for notoriously good defenders like Matt Chapman, Daulton Varsho, Myles Straw, and Andrés Giménez. They’ve found value in defensive-minded free agents like Kevin Kiermaier and even turned fringe roster pickups like Ernie Clement, Tyler Heineman, and Nathan Lukes into important pieces on winning teams, each of them with high defensive floors as essential skills. The Jays have long understood that preventing the other team from scoring a run is just as good as scoring one of your own. This philosophy has paid off, because the Jays have been one of baseball’s best defensive organizations in recent seasons. Baseball Savant explains Fielding Run Value (FRV) as, “Statcast’s metric for capturing a player’s measurable defensive performance by converting all of Statcast’s individual defensive metrics from different scales onto the same run-based scale, which can then be read as a player being worth X runs above or Y runs below average.” That’s baseball nerd for “Fielding Run Value is a statistic that takes into account a bunch of different defensive stats and combines them into one number.” Similar to WAR, players accumulate FRV throughout a season, they can gain both positive and negative fielding runs, and the larger the sample we’re working with, the more we can read into it. Blue Jays players accumulated more FRV than any other team in both 2024 and ‘25. And if you’re more of a traditionalist, and analytics aren’t for you, just take the fact that the Jays also won back-to-back American League Team Gold Glove awards in 2023 and ‘24 and enjoy the rest of the article. Defense is obviously something the organization has taken a lot of pride in, which is why the errors piling up early in 2026 feels so uncharacteristic. Errors are back-breaking plays. Best case scenario, they allow a runner to advance a base, and at their worst, they allow a runner that should have been out to reach base, or score a run. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Jays have been one of the worst defending teams in baseball this season when it comes to errors, yet they remain near the top of the leaderboard when it comes to total FRV. There could be a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, errors are as subjective as they’ve ever been. An official scorer watches the game and determines how to “score” each play. If you’re a long-time fan, you may have heard or noticed that fewer and fewer plays are being scored as errors, and you’d be right. In the 2000 season, players accumulated 3447 errors, compared to 2451 in 2025. That’s almost 1000 more errors over the same number of games, or a 29% decrease in the number of errors just 25 years later. Without having gone through all of the plays, there’s a chance that official scorers have been particularly tough on the Jays' fielders compared to those on other teams when it comes to determining what’s an error and what isn’t. Errors, as we understand them, also don’t tell the full story. For example, it’s more than possible that a good defender with great range gets to a ball and then makes an error that a slower defender wouldn’t have even had the chance to make a play on. The other, much more concrete explanation is that the Blue Jays have remained close to the top of the FRV leaderboard because their catchers are elite. It’s well known that Alejandro Kirk is one of the best defensive catchers in the sport. Since 2022, he’s accumulated the second most fielding run value of any player in baseball, behind only Patrick Bailey of the Giants. But he’s been hurt since early April! This year, the Jays’ backstops – Tyler Heineman, Brandon Valenzuela, and Kirk (before his injury) – have combined to lead catching groups in fielding run value. Catchers are unique when it comes to FRV because they have way more opportunities to collect it. Blocking, framing, and throwing are weighed heavily in the formula, which is why we often see catchers separated from the other positions when it comes to tracking their defensive value. If we sort FRV by infielders and outfielders, excluding catchers, we can see that the Jays are still good, with a top 10 ranking, but not nearly as elite on the whole. So, what can we take away from this when it comes to the Jays and their defense? Well, if you’re a Jays fan, feel comforted that during the years they were considered one of the best defensive teams in baseball, total errors and fielding percentage saw them more as an average team anyway. There’s a lot more to baseball defense than these traditional stats take into account. You can also feel comforted that defensive statistics are among those that take the longest to normalize. Small samples can throw them out of whack very quickly. Fielders have far fewer opportunities than hitters or pitchers, so one or two weird or unlucky plays can make a great defender look average when it comes to advanced defensive metrics, especially this early in the season. At the same time, what has happened on the field has had consequences for the Blue Jays’ actual record. Ernie Clement, who was elite as a defender in 2025, with +10 fielding runs as a utility infielder, has been worth -2 as a defender so far in 2026. Daulton Varsho and Andrés Giménez are regarded as two of the game’s best up-the-middle defenders, but they’ve also fallen behind the pace, having been worth just +1 and +2 defensive runs, respectively, after being worth +6 apiece in injury-shortened 2025 seasons. The Jays are off to a disappointing start to a season that they entered with very high expectations, so keep an eye on their defensive statistics going forward. Once they start to improve, expect their record to improve along with it. View the full article

If Colin Rea pitches six innings Tuesday night in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta, he'll reach 650 for his career. That's not exactly a significant milestone, in the historical context of the big leagues. It's remarkable, however, because Rea is less than two months shy of his 36th birthday, and almost exactly half of his career frames have come in the last two years. On May 13, 2024, Rea threw an unremarkable quality start: 6 innings, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts against the Pirates. To that point in his career, 'unremarkable' had been a pretty good encapsulation of Rea. He'd finally gotten some traction in the majors the previous year, with the Brewers, but before that, injuries had slowed his long ascent to the majors—so much so that he spent time pitching in Japan before coming back and finding a new toehold Stateside. He finished the night with 323 1/3 innings pitched in the majors, over the nearly 13 full years since he was drafted in June 2011, and a 4.56 ERA. Since then, though, Rea has spent almost all his time in the starting rotation of either Milwaukee or the Cubs. No, that wasn't quite the plan, in either place, but one way or another, Rea keeps being needed—and he keeps meeting the need. Over the last two years, 'quality' has been the word that best defines him, and there's nothing unremarkable about his career, anymore. In addition to doubling his career volume in his mid-30s, he's posted a 4.21 ERA in the last 320-plus frames. Born Jul. 1, 1990, Rea is the oldest possible person who could be listed at age 35 for this season at Baseball Reference; the baseball age convention is to give the player's age on June 30 of the season in question. If he were born one day earlier, he'd be listed as 36, instead. Nonetheless, he has more innings pitched since the start of his age-33 season (365, since 2024) than he had before that. More importantly, he's become so established that it's relatively easy to see him pitching another 350 innings or more—something that would have been almost unthinkable when he turned 33, in the middle of a 2023 season in which he was an up-and-down swing man for the Brewers. Among pitchers whose age-33 season came in 2005 or later, 34 have pitched at least 700 innings from that point to the end of their career. Mostly, though, those are long-time stars and potential Hall of Famers. Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and Roy Halladay are on the list. So are slightly lesser workhorses like Adam Wainwright, Tim Hudson and Mark Buehrle. There are several guys who pitched that much because that's just what you did back then—soak up innings at the back of a rotation throughout your mid-30s: Aaron Harang, Kyle Lohse, Ryan Dempster, Jeremy Guthrie. Only six of those hurlers actually pitched more after the start of their age-33 campaign than they did before it. Two guys (Jose Contreras and Hiroki Kuroda) pitched more in MLB after 33 than before, but they'd had long careers in Cuba and Japan, respectively, before coming to the United States. The main six—the six pitchers of this century whom we might call real comps for Rea, if he can turn in another couple of seasons like his last three—are: Chris Bassitt Rich Hill Derek Lowe Miles Mikolas Charlie Morton Ryan Vogelsong Two of these guys (Hill and Morton) are heroes of the player development revolution; they became stars late in careers that started out seemingly doomed by injury trouble or extreme hittability. Unlike them, though, Rea has no high-spin curveball story, and no multi-year, eight-figure contracts await him. Bassitt was in the same draft class as Rea, but is 16 months his senior, which means he's listed as two years older than Rea. Like Rea, he was a late-round pick, but unlike Rea, he gained a modicum of prospect buzz and reached the bigs on a normal trajectory; he was waylaid almost solely by injuries. Morton and Lowe each pitched fairly big numbers of innings before turning 33; they just stuck around long enough to be more voluminous in their old age than in their younger days. Bassitt and Mikolas had each thrown more than 500 innings before their age-33 seasons, so even though Bassitt shares that draft history with Rea and Mikolas went overseas like Rea did, each was much more established much earlier than Rea was. Remember, at the beginning of his age-33 campaign, Rea had only amassed 279 innings in the bigs. That really only leaves Ryan Vogelsong as a true match for what Rea went through, and what he might hope to achieve. Vogelsong is a fascinating case, too. He had some injuries—you really can't end up on this kind of list without some—but that wasn't his main problem. His main problem was that he was bad. After being a fifth-round pick in 1998, Vogelsong pretty quickly proved he was too good for the minors, but he wasn't good enough for the majors in any of his first seven seasons there. At almost the same age Rea did, though, he went to Japan, and he came back as something a whole lot like what Rea is now. Vogelsong came back from NPB to the team who had initially drafted him: the Giants. With them, from ages 33-37, he had a 3.89 ERA and pitched almost 800 innings. He was even useful (and occasionally heroic) in the postseason, en route to the team's 2012 and 2014 World Series rings. Baseball Prospectus still runs a regular feature called the Vogelsong Awards, honoring players who weren't in their annual preview book but end up having a significant impact in the majors. Rea hasn't ever been quite as good as Vogelsong was in 2011 and 2012, but he's already showing more staying power than Vogelsong did. At age 35, Vogelsong went over a cliff. His velocity dipped from 91-92 MPH to 89-90, and the rest of his stuff couldn't make up for the loss. Rea, by contrast, is sitting just under 94 MPH in average velocity, virtually exactly where he was last year and harder than he'd ever thrown before that. He's also using seven different pitches, including a slider and a splitter that each miss bats at above-average rates. In a perfect world, the Cubs would have Rea working in long relief. We know that for sure, because they came into the season planning on that. It was never all that likely to stay that way for long, though, and now, it looks like Rea will be in their rotation all season. He should be. He's earned it. And if he keeps doing this much longer, he'll be the best virtually anonymous late-blooming pitcher in recent memory. It's not enough to earn him a chapter in the next book about tech in baseball or to make his grandkids ultra-rich, but Rea is a shining example of persistence, resiliency, and having your best years just when everyone else is hanging them up. View the full article

When Ethan Salas burst onto the Single-A scene as a 17-year-old back in 2023, it might’ve been easy to expect to see him playing home games at the top level for the San Diego Padres by now. Especially when he was up a level with Double-A San Antonio at the same age. Between injuries and subsequent uneven performance in the years since, however, he remains a catcher for… Double-A San Antonio. Perhaps not for long, however. Clear of a 2025 back injury that limited him to only 10 games, Salas has come out of the gates scorching for the Missions. As of mid-May, he’s slashing .320/.396/.546 with a 151 wRC+. His 23.4 percent strikeout rate sits around his career norm in the minor leagues, while his 11.7 percent walk rate is indicative of the improved discipline he demonstrated in his minuscule sample last season. What’s more impressive is the rate at which he’s performed over this last stretch of games. Salas has recorded hits in 11 of his last 15 contests. Eight of those outings have featured multiple hits. All of his home runs have come in that stretch, with nine total walks against 12 total strikeouts. It’s resulted in a percentile distribution that looks rather visually appealing: This isn’t a matter of a hitter finding a random hot stretch. He’s making a ton of contact and elevating the ball to the pull side. When those two things are working in conjunction with one another, good things tend to happen. Hence, the gaudy line you see before you through his first 110-ish plate appearances of 2026. The question is whether any of this will actually matter to A.J. Preller. Last year, we saw Preller trade his No. 1 prospect in Leo De Vries for a relief pitcher. Of course, Mason Miller isn’t just any relief pitcher (especially not thus far in 2026), but moving a middle infield prospect of his caliber amid the context of an aging group of veterans on the major-league roster still raises questions about how much value is placed on prospects for this organization and its leader. As Salas now begins to recoup his value, both in trade and in future projection for the Padres, is there a chance he’s the next marquee prospect to land with a new organization? This one is a bit more difficult to envision than the trade of De Vries. Don’t get it twisted. De Vries’ upside is massive. The Padres also have Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, and Jake Cronenworth around the infield in the long-term. Only Cronenworth is a viable trade candidate among that group, and the organization has been inclined to hold onto him through multiple bouts of trade rumors. On paper, there is personnel in place at a position which De Vries would be likely to occupy (with the “on paper” phrasing doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence). Salas faces much softer obstacles on his path to the big leagues. Sure, the Padres have two catchers with multiple years of team control in place; Freddy Fermin is arbitration-eligible through 2029 and Luis Campusano carries his through 2028. Fermin is a defensive-forward backstop without much to speak of in the bat. Campusano represents the inverse, with the organization demonstrating a prior reluctance to even allow him to catch given what some of his defensive metrics looked like. There are no established veterans on long-term deals standing in Ethan Salas’ way. And if he’s going to continue to look like he has this year, his promotion to the next level could be aggressive. It wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable to expect to see him in San Diego before year’s end if the current trajectory is even remotely maintained. When one factors in the positional context, trading Salas in the same way that De Vries was shipped out would be a really tough sell for Preller. Luckily, it’s one that he may not feel as inclined to make now that Salas has trended back toward ascent rather than spending time in Stagnation City. View the full article

Sweet Lou, Comrade Cody, and Ol Gregg discuss a rare series win in Cleveland and a series loss against the Nationals. I'm sure Victor Wembanyama will also be mentioned. Listen using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twins-off-daily-podcast/id1741266056 Listen using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4tb78XlurcPTYYSsARdbD7 Listen using iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-twins-off-daily-podcas-167548600/ Listen using Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/nvclbt0w Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twinsdaily View the full article

The early returns on the Minnesota Twins bullpen have been exactly what everyone expected and somehow still worse. After shipping out reliable arms at last year’s deadline and following it up with an offseason spending plan best described as aggressively nonexistent, the front office entered the season with a relief corps held together by hope, minor league options, and a few guys who threw hard in a previous life. Through the first stretch of games, that theory has been put to the test. Leads have vanished quickly. Tie games have turned into deficits before the broadcast team can finish reading the pitching change graphic. Somewhere, a whiteboard labeled “Bullpen Plan” has simply been erased and replaced with a shrug emoji. For one Minnesota family, those late-inning adventures have become a weekly concern. “He just sits there in his chair and starts whispering things like ‘just throw a strike’ over and over,” said his daughter, Shannon. “At first, we thought he was talking to us. Then we realized he was addressing someone named Eric, who definitely could not hear him.” George Williams, the grandfather and a lifelong Twins fan, has reportedly developed a routine. When the starter exits the game, he leans forward. When the first reliever allows a baserunner, he exhales sharply. When the inherited runners score, he begins what family members have described as “low volume negotiations with the universe.” “It’s not yelling,” said his grandson, Tyler. “It’s worse. It’s like he’s trying to reason with the bullpen. Like if he explains it calmly enough, they’ll stop giving up doubles.” Concern reached a new level last Tuesday when the grandchildren attempted an intervention. With their grandfather briefly stepping away, they quickly inserted a DVD of the 1991 World Series, hoping to redirect the evening toward a happier memory. “We thought if he came back and saw Kirby Puckett rounding the bases, it might reset things,” said granddaughter Emma. “Instead, he looked at the TV, looked at us, and said ‘nice try’ before switching it back just in time to watch another walk.” Family members have begun discussing long-term solutions. “We’ve talked about limiting his exposure to innings seven through nine,” Shannon said. “Maybe just telling him games end after six now. He doesn’t check the standings as much as he used to. It might work.” There have also been attempts to reframe the experience. “I told him it’s about the journey, not the result,” said his son-in-law Mark. “He asked me to leave.” Neighbors have taken notice as well. One reported hearing faint commentary drifting through an open window. “It sounded like someone calmly listing every available bullpen arm in Triple A,” the neighbor said. “Then there was a long pause and a sigh. I’ve never heard a sigh like that.” Despite everything, the grandfather remains committed. “He won’t turn it off,” Emma said. “We’ve tried. He says if he’s watched this long, he’s going to see how it ends.” For now, the family has adjusted. They keep the remote nearby. The 1991 DVD remains on standby. And when the bullpen door opens, they give him space, knowing that what follows is less a baseball game and more a test of endurance. “He’ll be back tomorrow,” Shannon said. “He always is. He says maybe this time will be different.” No one in the room has the heart to argue. View the full article

Drafted in the seventh round in 2019 out of UCLA, Jack Ralston has spent his entire professional career as a reliever. After signing with the Miami Marlins as a minor league free agent this offseason, he is quickly becoming the latest example of the organization finding value in overlooked arms. Through 13 appearances this season with Triple-A Jacksonville, he owns a 1.27 ERA with a 0.98 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in just 21 ⅓ innings. The walks are still a little high at 4.64 BB/9, but compared to last season’s 6.75 BB/9, that's a significant improvement. The Marlins bullpen has been pretty effective overall in 2026, but Ralston can help them reach even greater heights. One adjustment has changed everything With the AAA data we have from last season, it is easy to see what has changed for Ralston this year. In 2025, he threw all three of his pitches over 29% of the time (fastball 37.8%, splitter 32.3%, slider 29.8%). In 2026, everything has changed tremendously. His splitter usage has jumped all the way to 52.1% while his fastball usage has dropped to just 21.5%. His slider usage has stayed relatively similar at 26.3%. Everything has followed with this adjustment. Ralston has done a tremendous job limiting damage this season, allowing just 0.42 home runs per nine while opponents are averaging only 4.22 hits per nine compared to 8.16 last year. The swing-and-miss has taken a huge step forward as well as he is now striking hitters out at a 13.08 K/9 clip, up from last season's 11.30. Additionally, the quality of contact against him has dropped as opponents are slugging just .173 after posting a .376 SLG last season. While Ralston's walk rate is still a little high, hitters still have not been able to consistently reach base against him as opponents own just a .244 OBP against Ralston this season compared to a .371 OBP last year. Overall, hitters own just a .417 OPS against him this year. Compared to a .747 OPS last season, it's clear just how effective the adjustments to his pitch mix have been. When could we see him? It is always tougher to determine sustainability with relievers as their results can fluctuate heavily from year to year, but through a 13-game sample, it is clear the adjustments Ralston and the Marlins made over the offseason have paid off. The 28-year-old doesn't need to be waiting by his phone quite yet. The Marlins 40-man roster is currently full and Ralston isn't on it. However, this team has shown a willingness to demote struggling players and cycle through fresh arms when needed. During this current stretch of 26 games in 27 days, pitching depth will inevitably be leaned on. Ralston could be next in line to debut. View the full article

Today's video is a roundup of all this weekend's action across the system. Among the top performers were Zebby Matthews, Brandon Winokur, Dasan Hill, Matthew Dalquist, and Jaime Ferrer. View the full article

If the Triple-A season were a round of golf, Kaelen Culpepper might be two under par through the first five holes. It’s not been a scorching start, but he’s within touching distance of a great front nine. Botched metaphor aside, Culpepper has surpassed 30 games at St. Paul, so it’s time to dig into his numbers and make some initial assessments of his performance. Upon first glance, it’s a solid start. Through 34 games, Culpepper is hitting .250/.335/.465, with 8 home runs among 15 extra-base hits. He’s walking a healthy 10.4% of the time, and striking out just 20.1% of the time, good for a 103 wRC+ through the first month-plus of games. Not bad. Let’s start with Culpepper’s bat-to-ball skills. Is he making enough contact? Definitely. Culpepper is running an overall contact rate of 79.2% (on the high end of average for a big leaguer). His in-zone contact rate is 89.5% (an average big-leaguer hovers around 85%). Why is this significant? Well, Culpepper’s data hasn’t been widely publicly available since he debuted in 2024. Additionally, before 2026, he hadn’t played a game at the Triple-A level. This is his first month at the doorstep of the majors, which makes what we've seen so far really encouraging stuff. Coming out of college, scouting reports had mixed reviews on Culpepper’s ability to hit for power. He wasn’t a prolific power hitter in college, maxing out at 11 home runs in his junior season in an environment that maximizes offensive production. Conversely, it was a pretty right-handed swing with good bat speed that looked geared towards maximizing pull-side loft. How is all that playing out in Lowertown? Pretty well, so far. After clubbing 20 home runs in 113 MiLB games in 2025, Culpepper has 8 more through 31 in 2026, with those 15 extra-base hits overall. His exit velocity numbers look solid, too. He’s currently running an average EV of 91 mph, with a MaxEV of 110.2 mph. We can shoehorn those numbers confidently into a 50-55 power grade, good for somewhere in the range of 20-26 home runs in a given season. Culpepper is hitting the ball hard with regularity, running a hard-hit rate of 48.2%, well above the major-league average of around 38%. Ok, so far, so good. What about that pesky ground ball rate though? Culpepper ran a ground ball percentage of 50% in 2025—problematically high, no matter how hard you hit the ball or how solid your bat-to-ball skills are. He’s cut that significantly in the early going in 2026. It’s currently sitting at 43.2%, in the region of where it should be, with an average launch angle of 12.4°. Far too rosy a picture so far, right? There has to be a bugaboo in this increasingly solid-looking offensive profile? Well, there is. Culpepper chases a lot. His current rate sits at 31.1%, which is high enough that it could expose him a bit in the majors. It’s not crippling, though. For context, there are around 100 big-league hitters who currently have a higher chase rate. Culpepper has always chased. He was an aggressive swinger in college. That’s a trait the Twins aren’t afraid of drafting. It’ll likely always be part of his game. How he’s chased has changed, though, which is a development worth spending a moment on. The scouting report is out on Culpepper. Breaking and off-speed stuff, down and away. Here’s the simplest visual possible, the number of pitches he’s been thrown at Triple-A to date, by zone location. That’s a lot down and away. Here’s the good news, though. While Culpepper is still chasing a lot, he’s chasing less down and away, and more inside. Why is that helpful? Inside is Culpepper’s nitro zone. Peep the visual below, which shows Culpepper’s slugging percentage by zone location. If you’re going to chase, chase where you can do damage, and show that it's a result of having honed your focus on one productive part of the strike zone, rather than a result of being defensive or deceived. Through the end of the week-long series in Vegas, Culpepper was running a .269 BABIP. There’s not much about his contact skills, quality of contact, or batted-ball profile to suggest there’s some underlying issue here. In short, despite his solid 103 wRC+, I think Culpepper is about to heat up and produce more. The Twins are encouraged by Culpepper’s play at shortstop. He’d easily be the Twins' best defensive infielder right now. I feel relatively confident calling him likely to be an average big-league shortstop (complimentary), if not slightly better. His arm will allow the skill set to work excellently at third base, too (don’t tell Royce, anyone). If his first 34 games at Triple-A can be relied on, Culpepper can soon fill several voids the Twins desperately need him to. An above-average defensive infielder, and at the very least, a solid, two-win, everyday player. In another 30 games or so, I expect him to be knocking on the door a little more loudly. View the full article

After his struggles reached their apex in a blown save on April 14, Trevor Megill’s results have flipped for the better. Megill has allowed just one earned run in his last nine outings, picking up four holds and an extra-innings save while settling in as a productive setup man ahead of Abner Uribe. It hasn’t been a run of favorable luck, either. Megill has been legitimately dominant during this stretch, missing barrels and posting excellent strikeout and walk rates. Most of his major ERA estimators since April 16 are below 2.50. {C}%3C!%2D%2Dtd%20%7Bborder%3A%201px%20solid%20%23cccccc%3B%7Dbr%20%7Bmso-data-placement%3Asame-cell%3B%7D%2D%2D%3E--> Date BF ERA xERA FIP SIERA Hard Hit K% BB% K-BB% Through 4/14 29 14.40 7.90 4.12 5.00 52.6% 17.2% 13.8% 3.4% Since 4/16 33 1.00 1.75 1.34 2.21 35.0% 33.3% 6.1% 27.3% The turnaround has not come from Megill rediscovering the lost fastball velocity that plagued him in his first several outings. In fact, his velocity has continued to decrease ever so slightly, even at the time of year when he starts rounding into form. His heater averaged 99 mph last May, but it’s at just 96.9 mph this month. Sitting 96-to-98 now looks even more like his new normal than an early-season blip on the radar. At that velocity, Megill’s fastball remains a magnet for loud contact instead of the overpowering pitch it was when it regularly touched triple digits. It’s performed more reliably during this stretch, though, largely because Megill has used it more strategically. {C}%3C!%2D%2Dtd%20%7Bborder%3A%201px%20solid%20%23cccccc%3B%7Dbr%20%7Bmso-data-placement%3Asame-cell%3B%7D%2D%2D%3E--> Date FB MPH FB Exit Velo FB Hard Hit FB wOBA FB xwOBA FB Whiff% Through 4/14 97.5 98.7 77.8% .520 .595 16.7% Since 4/16 97.2 91.0 57.1% .299 .402 22.9% For starters, Megill has made his pitch mix far less predictable. Here’s how he attacked hitters through that blown save: Since that outing, Megill has not only decreased his overall fastball usage and thrown more curveballs, but also mixed those pitches more evenly in most count situations. It’s become harder for hitters to pick up on patterns and sit on a certain pitch. As a fireballing late-inning reliever, Megill has never needed to be a command pitcher. His breakout with the Brewers stemmed mostly from throwing more pitches in the strike zone, not locating them in perfect spots. With reduced velocity, his old approach of trying to throw every pitch down the middle—knowing his fastball would stay true through the zone, while his curveball would drop below the knees—is no longer viable. Instead, Megill appears to be targeting more specific locations when playing his fastball and curve (which is essentially a short, tight gyrospin slider at this point) off one another. In those early weeks of the season, his command was sporadic, but the middle of the zone still looked like his focal point. Lately, his location has looked more deliberate. Megill is keeping his fastball around the top of the zone to righties, allowing him to land more in-zone curveballs out of the same tunnel for takes and weak contact. Against lefties, he’s setting up chases on back-foot breaking balls with low fastballs shaded inside. In addition to throwing more high fastballs, Megill is also backspinning them a bit more, and his release height is slightly higher. Those changes have increased the carry on his heater, improving its induced vertical break from 19.1 inches to 20 inches during this stretch. Small improvements like that can be the difference between a barreled ball and a swing slightly underneath his fastball. Without its best velocity, Megill needed new strategies to keep hitters from timing it up. He’s made some impressive progress on the fly in response to his struggles, allowing him to remain a key piece in the Brewers’ bullpen—for now. View the full article

We have finished the first month of play, and it is time to update the Royals Top 20 Prospects List over at Royals Keep. Both staff and readers voted, and after the results were calculated, the list is now ready to be revealed. The Royals' Top 20 Prospects List saw some notable changes from the preseason, including the addition of two new prospects, which we will break down. Let’s jump into it below. Kansas City Royals Top 20 Prospect List Kendry Chourio RHP A (Previously #4) David Shields LHP A+ (Previously #3) Sean Gamble OF/2B A (Previously #6) Blake Mitchell C A+ (Previously #2) Josh Hammond SS A (Previously #7) Ramon Ramirez C A+ (Previously #8) Drew Beam RHP AA (Previously #9) Asbel Gonzalez CF A+ (Previously #10) Ben Kudrna RHP AAA (40-Man) (Previously #5) Carson Roccaforte CF AA (Previously #16) Yandel Ricardo SS A (Previously #11) Felix Arronde RHP AA (Previously #12) Blake Wolters RHP A+ (Previously #17) Michael Lombardi RHP A (Previously #18) Luinder Avila RHP MLB (40-Man) (Previously #12) Steven Zobac RHP AA (40-Man) (Previously #15) Frank Mozzicato LHP AA (Previously #20) Daniel Vazquez SS AA (Previously #14) Warren Calcaño SS DSL (Previously #19) Shane Panzini RHP AAA (Previously Unranked) In this new list, 19 of our 20 from our preseason rankings remain, with former top prospect Carter Jensen being the only one graduating from the list after starting the 2026 season on the MLB roster. Pitcher Panzini joins the list after pitching primarily in Triple-A Omaha. The biggest risers in the farm system were pitchers. Chourio ascended to the No. 1 prospect in the Royals system while Shields rose to No. 2. Wolters and Lombardi had the biggest rises in terms of rankings, as they both ascended four spots each to No. 13 and No. 14, respectively. Lombardi has been one of the best strikeout pitchers in the Fireflies rotation, while Wolters recently earned a promotion from Low-A to High-A Quad Cities this past week. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Mozzicato rose from No. 20 in the preseason rankings to No. 17 in our latest update. The ERA is brutal at 6.65, but he has a 21.7% K% and has shown some intriguing stuff on his pitches, though control and command have been less than stellar to begin the year. The sooner Kansas City moves Mozzicato to the bullpen full-time (he's made six starts), the better his outlook (and current statline in Double-A) will be. Also in Double-A, Beam rose from No. 9 to No. 7, despite sporting a 4.88 ERA and 6.63 FIP in 27.2 IP. The strikeouts haven't been there for Beam to begin the year, as illustrated by a 13.6% K%. However, he could be due for a positive bounce-back when the weather heats up, and he gets more settled against Texas League hitting. Roccaforte saw the biggest rise of position players, going from No. 16 to No. 10 in our updated rankings. The former University of Louisiana-Lafayette product is hitting only .240 and has a 31.4% strikeout rate. However, he has an .889 OPS and nine home runs for the year, putting him on pace for 20+ home runs this season. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== The first two selections of the 2025 MLB Draft also saw rises in the rankings, with Gamble moving from No. 6 to No. 3 and Hammond moving from No. 7 to No. 5. Quad Cities prospects Ramirez and Gonzalez also moved up to No. 6 and No. 8, respectively, two spots up from their preseason rankings. Gonzalez is hitting .287 with a .772 OPS and has three home runs, while Ramirez is hitting .305 with a .916 OPS and six home runs. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== While the Royals' farm system rankings saw some rises from pitchers in the lower levels, it seemed like arms in the upper levels saw drops in the rankings in this latest edition. Kudrna, who made the 40-man roster this offseason and started in Triple-A, dropped from No. 5 to No. 9, and he could see an even bigger drop in our next rankings, especially with him likely out for the year due to elbow surgery. Avila dropped from No. 12 to No. 15, mostly due to an uneven start in the Majors this year. Furthermore, it seems the Royals are committed to him as a reliever for now, which lowers his ceiling and, thus, his prospect ranking. Zobac hasn't pitched this year due to injury, and that explains why he dropped one spot in this updated edition. The biggest position player drop was Mitchell, who went from No. 2 to No. 4 in the updated rankings. The former first-round pick has six home runs and a walk rate of 30.6% in 121 plate appearances. However, he has a strikeout rate of 32.2% and is hitting just .200. It seems hard to believe that the 30% K rate in High-A will decline in Double-A and beyond. Vazquez also saw a dip, going from No. 14 to No. 18 in these latest rankings. Hopes were high with Vazquez going into the year after a strong Arizona Fall League campaign, and he is hitting .273 with a .360 OPS in 128 plate appearances. However, he has not shown much power, as evidenced by a .696 OPS. Ricardo and Arronde stayed pat after up-and-down campaigns in Columbia and Northwest Arkansas, though they have been playing better recently. Calcano hasn't played in the States yet, which explains why he's remained stagnant in the rankings. He is still 19 years old and should matriculate to the Arizona Complex League at some point. New Addition: Shane Panzini, RHP, Triple-A Omaha, No. 20 Panzini joins the list after missing out on the preseason list. The numbers haven't been great for Panzini in Omaha so far. The former Northeast prep pitcher is posting an ERA of 11.42 and a WHIP of 2.25 in 17.1 IP. His FIP isn't much better at 8.45, and he is also sporting a 4.5% K-BB%. Thus, there's some argument to be made that Panzini isn't a Top-30 prospect in the Royals system, let alone a Top-20 one. However, with some proper tweaks, Panzini could develop into a pretty good reliever at the Major League level, especially if he can get through the rough park factors of Werner Park in Omaha and Triple-A in general. According to TJ Stats, his four-seamer (57.1% usage) and curveball (25.7% usage) are his most utilized pitches. That said, they are also his weakest pitches in terms of TJ Stuff+, with marks of 91 and 96, respectively. On the other hand, his secondary pitches, including his slider (7.5% usage), cutter (5.1% usage), and changeup (4.6% usage), all have a TJ Stuff+ mark of 100 or better, as seen below via his TJ Stuff+ Season Summary. Panzini isn't generating much chase (19.5%) or whiff (20.8%) and is getting hit hard, as evidenced by his .451 xwOBACON. However, some modifications in pitch mix could do wonders for his results. A higher usage of the cutter and slider and a lower usage of the four-seamer and curveball could help make all four of those pitches more effective and his line better overall. I do think Panzini pitches better when the weather improves, as his stuff has been a bit stunted by the rough weather in Omaha and other Midwestern cities where the Storm Chasers have played this year. Despite those velocity issues with the conditions, he has produced some intriguing movement, especially on his four-seamer, which has a 17.6 iVB. Jared Perkins of Just Baseball and Royals Pipeline Podcast (on KC Sports Network) pointed out the iVB on Panzini during an early Omaha outing this year. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== The numbers aren't good, and Panzini is trending toward being another Chandler Champlain, who is no longer in the Royals organization after two rough seasons in Omaha. However, I think Panzini deserves some patience and time to work through things on the mound in Omaha. The seeds are there to be a successful MLB reliever. He just needs to adjust his pitch mix and try to get more on his four-seamer, which has a great foundation for vertical movement (velocity is the issue). View the full article

Christopher Morel just had his best moment as a Miami Marlin. Frankly, there aren't any other nominees. Sunday afternoon against the Washington Nationals, with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and the game tied 2-2, Morel stepped up to the plate. His task: drive the ball deep enough to score Esteury Ruiz from third base. Morel delivered, getting just enough of Gus Varland's 0-2 slider to bloop a single into center field. His first RBI of the 2026 season was a game-winner. The 26-year-old free agent acquisition has been limited to nine games thus far due to an oblique strain that he suffered on Opening Day. It's unreasonable to hold that against him—oblique injuries have become increasingly prevalent in baseball, impacting even the best-conditioned athletes. That being said, Morel has blatantly failed the eye test both before and after his absence, with discouraging results to boot. In the meantime, other internal options have emerged as better candidates to fill the role that was originally envisioned for him. How much more of this are the Marlins willing to tolerate? There are several different tiers of major league free agent signings. Morel is an example from the lowest tier—talented enough to receive guaranteed money, but so unproductive that the team had all the leverage. On the heels of back-to-back sub-replacement-level seasons, the burden of proof has been on him from the beginning to demonstrate that things would be different this time. The only consistent aspect of Morel's game through the years has been elite bat speed. That remains intact. Since comprehensive tracking began in 2023, his career average has been approximately 76 mph; in 2026, he's averaging 75.7 mph (second-highest among Marlins players). However, Morel is not generating any in-game power whatsoever. During spring training, he registered one measly extra-base hit in 46 plate appearances. In 47 additional opportunities across minor league rehab and MLB regular season action, he hasn't increased that total. Combining all of those reps, he is slugging .195 in 2026. If Morel is not bringing the threat of homering to the table, he doesn't belong at the table. He has always and will always strike out in abundance, perennially ranking below the 10th percentile in whiff rate. And he is the epitome of the word "positionless." The Marlins have prepared him primarily at first base since signing him because he has proven to be a liability at every other infield and outfield spot during his career. By all accounts, that transition has gone poorly. Half of his starts since being reinstated from the IL have come as Miami's designated hitter. Morel was supposed to have an outsized importance to the Marlins at the beginning of the season while some of their top hitting prospects incubated at Triple-A Jacksonville. But now, Joe Mack has joined the big league club. The Marlins have (appropriately) thrown him in the deep end, starting him behind the plate in six of his first seven games on the active roster. That has freed up their leading run producer, Liam Hicks, to primarily play first base. Connor Norby, who entered this year in a similar situation as Morel, has looked far more adept at his new position while tightening up his plate discipline. There is no case for either of them to sacrifice playing time in favor of Morel. Plus, reinforcements are on the way. Griffin Conine on track to return from the injured list by month's end and Kemp Alderman is learning the position with Triple-A Jacksonville, starting at 1B three times in his last eight games View the full article

“Just be ready.” Those were the words former Worcester manager Chad Tracy kept telling Payton Tolle as he waited to step on the mound again. The last time the young left-hander had pitched was April 12 when he tossed five shutout innings against the Columbus Clippers. In that game Tolle was dominant, tossing five shutout innings while striking out six. The left-hander being a force in Triple-A was nothing new, but how he’s handled his secondary pitches showed he was a different pitcher from 2025. “He landed his off-speed for strikes and when he lands his off-speed for strikes and then runs it up to 98 with that big extension, he’s very difficult to deal with. That was the biggest focus with Dan and Noah [pitching and bullpen coaches]. Let’s not get too fine about it, let’s land it, it’s like we need the breaking ball over the plate for a strike. We need the changeup in the zone for a strike. And then it plays even more and they can’t just sit on a fastball,” Tracy explained when asked on April 21 about when asked by the media what Tolle had shown to begin the season for a call-up to make sense. Tolle would indeed be recalled on April 23 to pitch against the New York Yankees and showed he was ready. While the Red Sox would ultimately lose the game 4-2, Tolle gave the team everything he had by pitching six innings and allowing just one earned run on three hits and a walk. He also struck out 11 batters including five straight to begin his outing. His fastball topped out at 99.5 mph during the outing, and he managed to generate 18 whiffs. The Yankees as a team have handled fastballs extremely well in 2026 with Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Austin Wells all having a run value of three or greater. Run Value is a metric that helps measure the impact a hitter has on run scoring with a positive value indicating runs created. Rice, who leads the team against fastballs with a Run Value of nine, has a .400 batting average and a 1.240 slugging percentage against fastballs in 2026. Against Tolle he went 1-for-3, his lone hit coming off of the sinker while being struck out on a fastball. And just as Tracy had stated about what made Tolle ready for the major leagues, the left-hander went out and did just that. Leading with his fastball for 49% of his pitches, his best weapon was supplemented by mainly his sinker and curveball as the latter generated seven whiffs and was a strike 80% of the time it was thrown. Thanks to that, Tolle was able to get eight whiffs with his fastball, the pitch being put in play just five times while only one ended up as a hit. The sinker was just as useful despite not generating any whiffs. Instead, Tolle was able to land it for a strike 61% of the time including for five first pitch strikes. His cutter was just as effective, using it 12% of the time and getting two whiffs on it while landing it for a strike 73% of the time. The pitch was used against both right-handed and left-handed batters. Overall, he tossed 93 pitches on the evening with 68% of them going for strikes. But unlike in 2025 where his first start was his best performance, Tolle continued to pitch well and in his third start against the Detroit Tigers, the left-hander dominated even when mother nature looked to create chaos. Tossing seven innings, Tolle cruised against the Tigers’ lineup as he allowed just one hit and one walk to the Tigers offense while striking out eight. He also allowed two unearned runs to score during a very wet sixth inning. Tolle’s night began by retiring the first 12 batters he faced until Riley Greene led off the fifth inning with a double. Then the sixth inning came. As the weather worsened and fans were told to take shelter, Tolle remained on the mound throughout the downpour. The weather situation played a role in a rough sixth inning as Tolle hit the first batter and with one out allowed his lone walk of the evening. With two on and one out, Carlos Narváez attempted to pick off the runner on first base only to throw the baseball into right field and allow both runners to advance. Then Matt Vierling stepped to the plate and hit a ground ball at Andruw Monasterio at third base who attempted to throw home. It was offline and got past Narváez, allowing both runners to score. Despite that, Tolle remained poised on the mound, striking out the next two batters and getting the team out of the inning without any more damage being done. When looking at the pitch usage, it was very similar to the Yankees outing where he led with his four-seam fastball with a 36% usage rate while the sinker and curveball both supplemented it as they were used 23% and 18%, respectively. His cutter and changeup saw a tick in increased usage at 16% and 7%. Overall Tolle managed to generate nine whiffs, with eight of them coming between the fastball and curveball. Just like with the Yankees, Tolle was often in the strike zone, getting a strike with his fastball 77% of the time including six first-pitch strikes. And just like the Yankees, the Tigers are also a good fastball hitting team with seven players having a Run Value of at least one, with three of them having a value of three. Of those seven players, only Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, and Dillon Dingler were in the lineup. The three of them went a combined 1-for-9 against Tolle and the only hit was off a sinker. Since returning to the majors, Tolle has been throwing strikes and utilizing the strike zone with all of his pitches. His fastball has mostly been in the upper-two-thirds of the strike zone or in the bottom left of the strike zone from the catcher’s perspective. Compared to 2025 where it was mainly located on the upper half of the strike zone and towards the left-handed batter’s box, the pitch has been located better. The curveball has also seen an improvement, not just in pitch usage but where he’s landing it. During his time in the majors last season, Tolle used it just 18 times with it mostly landing on the upper inside portion of the plate if you were a left-handed batter. Now, the pitch has a more varied location. Most of the time Tolle seems to be landing it in the upper third of the strike zone or at the bottom of the zone with it occasionally hitting the inside corner of the left-handed batter’s box. It has seen a vast improvement in missing bats, being whiffed on 52.4% of the time. His sinker on the other hand has the most varied locations when you look at his pitch contour. The pitch has had a few locations he frequents with it, being mostly the inside portion of the plate to left-handed hitters. The pitch has mostly been up and in or down and in with the occasional down and away from the left-handed batter’s box (though if you’re to look at it from the right-handed box it would be the opposite). With his sinker and curveball able to change the vertical eye level of a hitter, Tolle has been able to make hitters guess with his cutter. When thrown up in the zone, the pitch has been in a similar location to the curveball only a bit more inside if you’re a right-handed hitter. The pitch has also been thrown down and away from left-handed hitters (or down and inside to a right-handed hitter), helping him to generate a chase rate of 29.7% All of this has allowed his fastball to be even better. So far in 2026, the pitch has been thrown 113 times and batters are hitting .063 against it and slugging just .156 and whiffing on it 30.5% of the time. Batters are just 2-for-32 against the pitch this season, having struck out 15 times against it. Prior to his most recent start against the Tampa Bay Rays, Tolle had yet to give up a hit with his cutter, curveball and changeup as batters are a combined 0-for-16 against them. In 2025 batters, went 4-for-11 against those same three pitches. The Red Sox will now be faced with a difficult decision once the rotation returns to full strength: Do they option Tolle back to Triple-A to gain an extra year of control, or do they keep him in the rotation? Should the team want to win every night and get back into playoff contention, the answer should be obvious after Tolle’s display of dominance during his time in the majors. Since being recalled, he’s looked like the ace many envisioned, having allowed just seven earned runs across his 22 2/3 innings. View the full article

Facing Hunter Feduccia to lead off the fourth inning and throwing a four-seam fastball on a 2-2 pitch, Kevin Gausman notched the 2000th strikeout of his career. Of those 2000, 510 have come in that count. It also marked the 468th time that Gausman had sat down the leadoff hitter of an inning on strikes. Since joining the Blue Jays in 2022, Gausman has recorded 839 of his strikeouts. That total has him sitting seventh all-time with the Jays. Another 105 this season and he’ll catch Jimmy Key for sixth place. Gausman is a free agent at the end of this season, so if he has plans on cracking the top five, he’ll likely need to sign an extension. In 2023, Gausman notched 237 strikeouts, leading the AL and marking the fourth-highest single-season total ever for a Blue Jays pitcher. It was most by a Jays pitcher who didn’t go on to win the Cy Young Award. His 205 Ks in 2022 and 189 Ks in 2025 sit as the eighth and 13th best seasons in franchise history. Gausman was the Opening Day starter for Toronto this season and came out of the gates flying, chalking up 11 strikeouts against a free-swinging Athletics team and setting his high-water mark for the season (so far). He had 10 Ks in his next start, making it the 21st time Gausman notched double-digit strikeouts in a game with Toronto. His career best mark is 13 strikeouts in a game, a feat he achieved twice in Toronto, both in 2023. In one of those games, against Seattle, Gausman struck out Cal Raleigh and Teoscar Hernández three times each (Jordan Romano would face them later in the game and secure golden sombreros for both hitters). After those two starts, Gausman has cooled off some and hasn’t had more than five strikeouts in a game since (he would leave the milestone game with five Ks). In fact, in his last three starts going into the milestone game, he’d had three or fewer Ks, his lowest for a three-game stretch in Toronto. Not since 2014 in Baltimore has Gausman had a three-start stretch with so few strikeouts (he went 3-2-3 then too). Having spent the bulk of his career in the AL East, it should be no surprise that each of the three active players Gausman has struck out the most also spent a chunk of time here. Xander Bogaerts has gone down on strikes against him 13 times, while Trevor Story represents 15 of Gausman’s career Ks. No one is close to Aaron Judge’s 20, though. Just over 1.4% of the time when Judge has struck out in his career, he’s looked at the mound and seen Gausman standing there. Ahead of this season, we had Gausman as the 25th best Blue Jay of all time and the only active pitcher to make the Top 50. If we made a list of the Top 50 Contracts in Blue Jays History, there’s a fair shot that Gausman would have placed even higher. His five-year, $110 million deal was notably $5 million less than the deal Robbie Ray would get on his way out of Toronto. Gausman stepped into that ace role and earned a spot as one of the franchise’s greats. Here’s to 2000 more! View the full article

The New York Mets entered the week of May 11 as the worst team in the league with a 15-25 record and a .375 winning percentage. That’s certainly not where owner Steven Cohen, president of baseball operations David Stearns, and manager Carlos Mendoza wanted to be after almost a month and a half into the season. The offense has been the main culprit of the mediocre Mets season, as they are dead last in wRC+ with an 81 mark. It’s baffling how a team with such a talented collection of hitters manages to underperform almost on a daily basis. In fact, things have been so bad that MJ Melendez leads the Mets in wRC+ among hitters with at least 50 plate appearances, with a 143 mark. He has played almost exclusively against right-handers, which is why he isn’t quite an everyday guy, but who knows where New York would be without him? Understanding MJ Melendez's Jekyll-and-Hyde Season Melendez is slashing a solid .271/.352/.500 with two home runs in 55 trips to the plate. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it doesn’t look all that sustainable if we look at his plate discipline profile. An accurate way to put Melendez’s current stat line would be a savage fight between his quality of contact and his plate discipline metrics. The former is aided by a 63.3 percent hard-hit rate, a 95.7 mph average exit velocity, and a 16.7 percent barrel rate. The latter, however, paints a grim picture. Melendez’s 30.8 percent chase rate is below-average, but it’s not nearly as problematic as his horrible 37.1 percent whiff rate, which would be among the league’s worst if he were a qualified hitter. The situation results in a 34.5 percent strikeout rate, which certainly doesn’t portend a continuation of his .271 batting average. You can tell that Melendez has been getting away with some luck, judging by his .407 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) and his .290 xwOBA, which pales in comparison to his .374 wOBA. Expected stats say that the lefty-hitting slugger should have a .191 batting average and a .372 slugging percentage. So, yes, Melendez is punishing the ball when he hits it, but in reality, that hasn’t happened that often. In fact, he hasn’t swung that often, with his 47.9 percent swing rate qualifying as his lowest mark since 2023. He is trying to be ‘patient’ at the plate, as his 27.3 percent first-pitch swing rate is the lowest of his career. In the process, he has been letting a lot of hittable balls go by, as his 69.2 percent meatball swing rate is considerably lower than the league average of 76.2 percent and his career mark of 82.7 percent. Melendez’s 33.3 pull air percentage, however, is one of the highest in the league. To sum up, he often takes pitches, trying to find the right one, and when he does, his intention is to put up a powerful swing to his pull side. It seems that, in the process, he has lost a lot of his contact skills, which weren’t great to begin with. Of course, these are all conclusions based on a limited sample, so it might as well just be some unfiltered noise. But it will be interesting to see where Melendez’s 2026 tendencies take him, and if he can keep thriving with such a selective approach at the plate. View the full article

Linescores are underrated. You know, the top part of those box scores we scour listing the inning-by-inning tallies. Alone, linescores let our imaginations picture the flow of a contest, and depending on our rooting interest, the unmitigated highs and deflating lows. We glance at the hit and error totals on the far right and determine if those figures make sense. Linescores allow us to ever so briefly ask questions like "what?", "how?", and "really?" before we lower our eyes and dig into all the minutia within the actual box. Here's to you, Mr. Linescore. Thanks for all your daily contributions to our baseball fandom. Transaction: SS Tyler Rodriguez assigned to Wilson Warbirds from ACL Brewers. Rodriguez, now in his age 20 season, is a Dominican native who was part of the January 2023 international class. So, he's already in his 4th season. This isn't the RH-hitting utilityman's first Carolina League rodeo. Rodriguez, who has seen action at every position but the pitcher-catcher battery and has managed a .400 OBP in his career despite light batting average and slugging figures, is a bit of a manager's secret weapon. Rodriguez spent all of 2025 with the Mudcats and had to exit the September 3rd game at the season's tail end. He left after grounding out in the 2nd inning and was placed on the 60-day injured list the very next day. To open 2026, Rodriguez was placed on the seven-day IL and has appeared in three rehab games with Maryvale. He's ready for a return to action in Wilson despite an 0-for-10 mark (one BB, five K's). Thanks to the magic of what yours truly saw and then typed last September, well, you'll see: "19-year-old Tyler Rodriguez, in an attempt to reach for the first base bag on an infield grounder, went tumbling in the worst way. He was lifted onto a cart and taken off the field in what would be a miracle if it's not a devastating long-term lower body injury." Thus, in some ways, Rodriguez playing eight months later should be deemed very much a positive. Best wishes, Tyler! NOTE: Many of us picture an overflowing, even bloated roster at the rookie level. Heck, you have two Dominican Summer League teams feeding graduates each spring, plus prior year's high school draft picks yet to debut, and players repeating the level needing to show more before entering full-season ball. But to be honest, on the position player side, the current Maryvale squad is relatively lean at 14 active players (15 if you count catcher Luis Corobo, who was sent to Maryvale from Wilson after his own early exit from a game on April 24th and has yet to play since). You may wish to bookmark this sortable page for position players for the Maryvale club, this one for pitchers; the pages will give you a sense of who is getting the most action on a daily basis, and of course, their bottom-line stats. Final: ACL Reds 8, ACL Brewers 7 Box Score and Game Log Well, lo and behold, it's an actual nine-inning game, it's been over a week since we could say that. That being said, we've seen rather moderate and reasonable temperatures at first pitch during these early-season Arizona contests, while on Monday night we read: Weather: 105 degrees, Clear. Wind: 6 mph, Varies. So sure, let's now decide to play nine! Five of the seven Arizona Complex League games Monday were scheduled for nine innings, the most we've seen in a while. It's a guess that the two organizations facing off have discussions earlier in the day to determine the status of their squads, the need to have pitchers work innings (or not), etc. If this had been a seven-inning game, as our afore-mentioned friend Mr. Linescore tells us, this affair would have been much less exciting. As the game was about to begin, my Link Report co-worker Daniel provided these insights: "19-year-old RHP Ma’Kale Holden gets the start for the ACL Brewers (3-3), who play at the ACL Reds (3-2). Holden was dominant in his professional debut a week ago (5 IP, 0 R, 6 Ks). The position player pattern has the squad prioritizing 8 players (Acosta, Antunez, Fenelon, Frias, Mills, Hughes, Martinez, Rangel), 1 of whom rests per game (Martinez tonight), thus allowing 2 other players to get periodic starts (C Malachai Halterman, 2B Moises Polanco tonight)." Oh my, hasn't the guaranteed Statcast data at all complex league level games created quite the buzz. If you didn't already know, you can click on the game log "event oval" via the link above for any batted ball in play, and get info on exit velocity, launch angle and more. For a BrewerFanatic Link Reporter, it's valuable but just adds to the analysis workload to get these reports to you, with most nights featuring five games (soon to be seven with the Dominican League in a few weeks). A series of social media posts led to this summary via our own @Spencer Michaelis (by the way, consider membership options at his "Backfield Brew" Patreon): Incredible, but accurate? I was also monitoring early in this game, and it all just seemed to be too off-the-charts. I was tempted to dig into other games played by Reds and Guardians teams in that ballpark this spring, but that can be tasked to others for now. Later in the evening we learn that yes indeed, we can be skeptical, thanks to our dedicated Brewers fan in Taiwan, Terry. For that matter, was it really 105 degrees outside? C'mon, Goodyear. There's no reason to believe that these top two power prospects in Frias and Antunez didn't hit the ball hard Monday, very hard, in fact. Let's just be careful to read too much into those figures. Mr. Linescore told us each team made three errors (throw in a passed ball for the Crew). Ms. Box Score (yes, Ms., as she's more thorough) indicates that Cleveland arms did a better job at working around those miscues: Guardians - Zero unearned runs allowed Brewers - Seven unearned runs allowed The Maryvale five-run 9th inning rally was: Walk Cristopher Acosta double (he really needed that) Antunez HBP Kenny Fenelon double Frias double Ryan Mills groundout (an unusually quiet 0-for-5 evening) CJ Hughes strikeout (oh no, one out left and still one run short) Walk Walk Balk (tie game, thank you, Guardians!) Walk to reload the bases Acosta strikeout (on to the fateful bottom of the frame) The game ended unceremoniously with no outs after RHP Argenis Aparicio, who has been in a bit of a closer's role, walked the leadoff man. An error by first baseman Jonathan Rangel followed, then a wild pitch, and subsequently a game-ending single. With it being the lone game of the evening, I'll allow you to dig any deeper into Ma'Kale Holden's start, LHP Joey Broughton's second appearance of the young season, and more via your box score review. Tuesday the 3-4 A-Crew continues a road trip to Mesa (thankfully not Goodyear) to face the 2-4 Athletics' youngsters. As for the full-season clubs, Nashville, Wisconsin and Wilson all return to their home ballparks (with the Warbirds beginning a sweet two-week homestand), while Biloxi hits the road, all in evening starts. Have a fine Tuesday, everyone! 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

In nearly three and a half decades as a franchise, the Florida/Miami Marlins have had six different pitchers throw a no-hitter. Perhaps the most bizarre came on this day 25 years ago. For the Florida Marlins at Qualcomm Park on May 12, 2001, pitcher A.J. Burnett walked nine batters, hit another and barely threw more strikes than balls. In the end, however, he became the third pitcher in Marlins history to toss a no-no in a 3-0 win over the San Diego Padres. For the night, Burnett threw 129 pitches—65 strikes and 64 balls. After Burnett pitched around a two-out walk in the first inning, the Padres had perhaps their best scoring chance in the second. Ben Davis and Bubba Trammell drew back-to-back walks to open the frame. A flyout by Damian Jackson moved Davis to third with one out, but two pitches later, Burnett was able to get Donaldo Méndez to ground into a double play to end the threat. In the top of the third, Florida gave Burnett all the offense he would need. Charles Johnson’s two-run double scored Eric Owens and Preston Wilson to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead. In the third, San Diego threatened again. Two walks and a wild pitch put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out, but Burnett again hunkered down. Burnett struck out Ryan Klesko swinging before getting Dave Magadan to fly out to centerfield. The fourth required another Houdini act from Burnett. After a second walk to Trammell and hitting Jackson, Burnett again got out of the inning unscathed following consecutive strikeouts of Méndez and opposing pitcher Wascar Serrano. Florida added to its lead with a run in the top of the fifth. Burnett followed with consecutive 1-2-3 innings. The right-hander worked around a one-out walk in the seventh. After a pair of walks brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the eighth, Burnett inducted consecutive pop-outs from Davis and Trammell. The bottom of the ninth would be one of Burnett’s most economical innings of the evening. After getting Alex Arias to fly out, Burnett fanned pinch hitter Santiago Pérez for his seventh and final strikeout of the night. Three pitches later, Phil Nevin popped out to Florida shortstop Álex González to complete the wild no-hitter. While Burnett kept San Diego without a hit, the Marlins finished with seven. Wilson had three of those knocks. Serrano took the loss for the Padres despite allowing just one earned run in seven innings. Burnett’s no-hitter served as the first for the Marlins since Kevin Brown no-hit the San Francisco Giants in June 1997. In baseball history, only Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds in 1965 had more walks in a no-hitter than Burnett’s nine. Burnett’s lone career no-no came on this day a quarter-century ago. View the full article

Fish On First staffers react to the latest Miami Marlins series and prepare you for what lies ahead. Monday's show was hosted by Alex Carver and featured panelists Ely Sussman, Kevin Barral, Jeremiah Geiger and Nate Karzmer. The following topics were covered: Marlins releasing (rather than outrighting) Chris Paddack Unusual pitch usage for Sandy Alcantara Esteury Ruiz thriving in his role What Joe Mack and Robby Snelling have shown us so far First-inning pitching struggles for the whole staff Eury Pérez underperforming his immense talent Who gets sent down to make room for Pete Fairbanks? Previewing and predicting the next series against the Minnesota Twins You can find Fish Unfiltered and Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our next FOF LIVE episode will be Thursday at approximately 6:00 p.m. ET the day after the Marlins-Twins series finale. View the full article

The Omaha Storm Chasers cruised to a 9-0 win behind Kameron Misner's three-hit, three-RBI night, Drew Waters' five-RBI effort that included a home run, and 3 2/3 hitless innings from starter Ethan Bosacker. Jordan Woods struck out 14 across six no-hit innings of work, but the Columbia Fireflies lost 3-2 after the bullpen surrendered a three-run homer. Quad Cities rallied from a 5-0 deficit but ultimately fell 10-5 to Cedar Rapids. Northwest Arkansas was postponed. Royals Transactions No Roster Moves Storm Chasers Cruise Past Indianapolis Behind Misner And Waters The Omaha Storm Chasers blanked the Indianapolis Indians 9-0, racking up 13 hits and nine scoreless innings of pitching. Kameron Misner went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple, three runs scored, three RBI, a walk, and a stolen base. Drew Waters added a 3-for-4 night with a double, a home run, five RBI, and a walk. Gavin Cross collected two hits, stole a base, and scored a run. John Rave chipped in two hits and an RBI. Starter Ethan Bosacker tossed 3 2/3 hitless innings, walking two and striking out four. Bailey Falter took over and earned the win, working 2 1/3 innings of two-hit ball without a walk and striking out five. Helcris Olivárez, Anthony Gose, and Jose Cuas combined for the final three frames without allowing a run. Omaha jumped ahead in the first when Waters singled in Misner. The lineup blew it open in the fifth: Colton Becker and Rave singled, Abraham Toro reached on a fielder's choice, Misner laced a two-run double to push the lead to 3-0, and Waters followed with an RBI double for a 4-0 cushion. The Storm Chasers tacked on two more in the sixth on bases-loaded walks by Misner and Waters, another in the seventh on a Rave single that scored Cross, and two more in the eighth on Waters' two-run home run. Omaha stranded 10 baserunners but never allowed the Indians to threaten the shutout. Player AB R H RBI BB K John Rave 5 0 2 1 0 2 Abraham Toro 4 1 0 0 1 2 Kameron Misner 4 3 3 3 1 0 Drew Waters 4 1 3 5 1 0 Josh Rojas 5 0 0 0 0 0 Gavin Cross 5 1 2 0 0 0 Dustin Dickerson 5 1 1 0 0 3 Luke Maile 3 1 1 0 2 2 Colton Becker 4 1 1 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Ethan Bosacker 3.2 0 0 0 2 4 0 Bailey Falter (W, 1-0) 2.1 2 0 0 0 5 0 Helcris Olivárez 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Anthony Gose 1.0 0 0 0 2 2 0 Jose Cuas 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Naturals Game Postponed The Northwest Arkansas Naturals' scheduled game was postponed. River Bandits' Late Rally Falls Short Against Cedar Rapids The Quad Cities River Bandits rallied to tie Cedar Rapids in the sixth inning but allowed five unanswered runs late and dropped a 10-5 decision. Ramon Ramirez powered the home offense with a three-run homer in the fifth, finishing 1-for-4 with a run scored, a walk, and a strikeout. Luke Pelzer went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and two stolen bases. Leadoff hitter Nolan Sailors collected two hits, scored a run, and swiped two bases. Erick Torres added two hits, a double, a walk, and scored a run. Blake Mitchell drew a walk, scored a run, and drove in another with a sacrifice fly. Starter Aiden Jimenez was tagged for five earned runs on five hits across 3 2/3 innings, surrendering three home runs while walking two and striking out one. Kamden Edge recorded a strikeout in 1/3 of an inning. Mason Miller followed with 2 2/3 hitless, scoreless innings, walking three and striking out three. Nick Conte was charged with the loss (0-1) after allowing two earned runs across 1 1/3 innings, and Yimi Presinal surrendered three runs on one hit, two walks, and a home run in one inning. Down 5-0 after three innings, Quad Cities answered in the fifth when Ramirez's blast scored Sailors and Mitchell to make it 5-3, then Austin Charles brought Pelzer home on a sacrifice fly. Mitchell's sixth-inning sacrifice fly to score Torres tied the game at 5-5. Cedar Rapids regained the lead with two runs in the eighth and pulled away with three more in the ninth. Player AB R H RBI BB K Nolan Sailors 5 1 2 0 0 0 Blake Mitchell 3 1 0 1 1 3 Ramon Ramirez 4 1 1 3 1 1 Luke Pelzer 4 1 2 0 0 0 Jose Cerice 4 0 1 0 0 1 Austin Charles 3 0 0 1 0 1 Derlin Figueroa 2 0 0 0 2 0 Erick Torres 3 1 2 0 1 1 Tyriq Kemp 4 0 1 0 0 2 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Aiden Jimenez 3.2 5 5 5 2 1 3 Kamden Edge 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Mason Miller 2.2 1 0 0 3 3 0 Nick Conte (L, 0-1) 1.1 1 2 2 2 1 1 Yimi Presinal 1.0 1 3 3 2 2 1 Jordan Woods Strikes Out 14, but Fireflies Fall To Kannapolis The Columbia Fireflies dropped a 3-2 decision to the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers despite a dominant performance from starter Jordan Woods, who struck out 14 over six no-hit innings on 76 pitches without issuing a walk. The quality start was not enough as Columbia's offense managed just six hits. Josh Hammond led the offense, going 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and a strikeout. Roni Cabrera added two hits and a run scored. Brooks Bryan collected a hit and an RBI on a sixth-inning double. Jhosmmel Zue went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Yandel Ricardo finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. The bullpen could not preserve the lead. Dash Albus was charged with the loss (0-1) and a blown save after allowing three earned runs on three hits, including a home run, with three strikeouts in one inning of work. Andy Basora followed with a scoreless eighth, surrendering one hit while striking out one. Columbia broke through in the sixth when Hammond doubled and came around to score on Bryan's two-out RBI double, putting the Fireflies on top 1-0. In the seventh, Cabrera singled and scored on Zue's run-scoring double for a 2-0 cushion. Kannapolis answered in the bottom of the inning with a three-run home run off Albus, providing the difference. The Fireflies left six runners on base, and Woods' no-hit bid through six was the night's defining performance, even in defeat. Player AB R H RBI BB K Henry Ramos 3 0 0 0 1 1 Yandel Ricardo 4 0 0 0 0 2 Josh Hammond 4 1 2 0 0 1 Brooks Bryan 4 0 1 1 0 0 Sean Gamble 4 0 0 0 0 0 Stone Russell 3 0 0 0 0 1 Roni Cabrera 4 1 2 0 0 2 Daniel Lopez 4 0 0 0 0 2 Jhosmmel Zue 3 0 1 1 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jordan Woods 6.0 0 0 0 0 14 0 Dash Albus (L, 0-1)(BS, 1) 1.0 3 3 3 0 3 1 Andy Basora 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Top-20 Prospect Performance Carter Jensen: DNP Blake Mitchell: 0-for-3, R, RBI, BB, 3 K David Shields: DNP Kendry Chourio: DNP Ben Kudrna: DNP Sean Gamble: 0-for-4 Josh Hammond: 2-for-4, R, 2B, K Ramon Ramirez: 1-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, BB, K Drew Beam: DNP Asbel Gonzalez: DNP Yandel Ricardo: 0-for-4, 2 K Felix Arronde: DNP Luinder Avila: DNP Daniel Vázquez: DNP Steven Zobac: DNP Carson Roccaforte: DNP Blake Wolters: DNP Michael Lombardi: DNP Warren Calcaño: DNP Frank Mozzicato: DNP View the full article

The desperation is real, which is why the New York Mets are turning to a player with a grand total of 12 games above the Double-A level. Outfielder A.J. Ewing, Grand Central Mets' No. 3 prospect, will be promoted by the Mets to make his MLB debut, according to a report Monday by Will Sammon of The Athletic. The 21-year-old Ewing has played 12 games at Triple-A Syracuse this year after starting the season at Double-A Binghamton. Even at Binghamton, Ewing had played just 48 games—28 last year and 18 this year. The Mets entered play Monday with the worst record in MLB at 15-25, already 12½ games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East. At least one move will need to be made to get Ewing on the 40-man and 26-man rosters before Tuesday's series opener vs. the Detroit Tigers at Citi Field. One possibility is outfielder Austin Slater being designated for assignment. Still, Ewing, a fourth-round draft choice in 2023 out of Springboro (Ohio) High School, has been tearing the cover off the ball the last two years regardless of the level. In his dozen games at Syracuse, the left-handed-hitting Ewing had a slash line of .326/.392/.435 with no homers, four RBIs and five stolen bases. That came after posting a .339/.447/.514 slash line at Binghamton with two homers, 11 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He also has shown patience at the plate, drawing 17 walks in those 18 games at Binghamton. In 2025, between the rookie-level Florida Complex League, High-A St. Lucie and Double-A, Ewing had a combined slash line of .315/.401/.429 with three homers, 55 RBIs and 70 stolen bases in 124 games. Ewing is a contact-minded hitter with superb defense in center field. He has also played left field and a little second base. View the full article

Once again in 2026, I will be monitoring Miami Marlins predictions from our valued SuperSubs, Fish On First staffers and livestream guests. Individual article pages like this one will be created prior to every Marlins series and featured prominently on the FOF site. Consistent participation is key if you want to win this annual contest. Submissions only take a few seconds. Scoring system A "perfect" series is worth three points: Earn one point for predicting which team will win the upcoming series Earn one point for predicting the precise number of victories for each team Earn one point for predicting the “Series MVP” who accumulated the highest win probability added (WPA) during the series as calculated by FanGraphs (could pick a player from either team) FOF staffer Sean McCormack currently sits atop the 2026 season leaderboard, which will be updated between every Marlins series. If you are a SuperSub, leave a comment with your Prediction Time picks on this page, or join the Marlins Discord Server and submit there. We'll feature them on the upcoming Fish On First LIVE episode and track your points throughout the season! Any picks submitted prior to the first pitch of the series opener will be counted. If you are not a SuperSub, please consider signing up here to support the FOF staff. Series preview notes Probable starting pitchers: RHP Eury Pérez (MIA) vs. RHP Bailey Ober (MIN) on Tuesday RHP Max Meyer (MIA) vs. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (MIN) on Wednesday LHP Robby Snelling (MIA) vs. TBD (MIN) on Thursday The Marlins rank 13th in MLB with a 100 wRC+ and 10th in MLB with a 3.82 FIP. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games and have a 5-10 record on the road this season. The following Marlins players are on the injured list: Griffin Conine (10-day IL), Pete Fairbanks (15-day IL), Ronny Henriquez (60-day IL) and Adam Mazur (60-day IL). Fairbanks is expected to be reinstated during this series. The Twins rank 15th in MLB with a 100 wRC+ and 20th in MLB with a 4.31 FIP. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games and have a 10-10 record at home this season. The following Twins players are on the injured list: Mick Abel (15-day IL), Garrett Acton (15-day IL), Taj Bradley (15-day IL), David Festa (60-day IL), Cody Laweryson (15-day IL), Pablo López (60-day IL) and Cole Sands (15-day IL). View the full article

Weekly Snapshot: Record Last Week: 4-1 (Overall: 22-16) Run Scored Last Week: 23 Runs Surrendered Last Week: 14 Standing: 2nd in NL Central *** Game 34 (5/4) | Cardinals 6, Brewers 3 Game 35* (5/5) | Game Postponed, Makeup scheduled for 7/7 Game 35 (5/6) | Brewers 6, Cardinals 2 Game 36 (5/8) | Brewers 6, Yankees 0 Game 37 (5/9) | Brewers 4, Yankees 3 Game 38 (5/10) | Brewers 4, Yankees 3 *** Game 34 | Cardinals 6, Brewers 3 MIL Starter: Chad Patrick (3.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K) Top Performers: Jackson Chourio (4 H, 2 2B, BB) Brice Turang (3 H, HR, 2 RBI) DL Hall (1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 2 K) The Brewers were in St. Louis on Monday to face off against the red-hot Cardinals, with Chad Patrick taking the ball for the first game of the series. It was Patrick’s weakest start of the season, allowing 10 baserunners and four runs over his 3.1 innings of work. On the other side, the Redbird Kyle Leahy turned in his best start of the season, quieting the Brewer offense despite multi-hit days from Jackson Chourio and Brice Turang. Brice Turang’s 2-run home run (+0.8 WP%) Game 35 | Brewers 6, Cardinals 2 MIL Starter: Brandon Sproat (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) Top Performers: Aaron Ashby (2.0 IP, 0 H, BB, 0 ER, K) Andrew Vaughn (2 H, HR, 3 RBI) Jake Bauers (2 H, BB, RBI) A rainout shortened the Brewers' trip to Missouri to just two games, and in that second game, the Brewers would get the split. That was on the back of Brandon Sproat’s strong outing, twirling four scoreless. With the bats, it was Andrew Vaughn announcing his return to the lineup, blasting a 3-run home run in the first inning en route to a 6-2 Brewer victory. Andrew Vaughn goes deep (+21.8 WP%) Game 36 | Brewers 6, Yankees 0 MIL Starter: Jacob Misiorowski (6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 ER, 11 K) Top Performers: Brandon Lockridge (2 H, 2 RBI) Shane Drohan (3.0 IP, H, 0 ER, 3 K, SV) Andrew Vaughn (H, 2 B, BB) The series opener against the Yankees may have appeared as a marquee pitching matchup, but the actual events on Friday were nothing but the Jacob Misiorowski show. In just his 22nd major league start, The Miz threw his first 10 pitches of the ball game all over 102 mph, and never looked back. Things fell apart for Max Fried on the other side, as a brief loss of command in the 2nd inning plated four Brewers, and with his opposing hurler pitching lights out of the other side, the Brewers would waltz away with a dominant 6-0 win. Jacob Misiorowski’s dominant outing Game 37 | Brewers 4, Yankees 3 MIL Starter: Kyle Harrison (4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 BB, 2 ER, 6 K) Top Performers: William Contreras (2 H, 2 RBI) Chad Patrick (3.0 IP, 2 H, BB, 0 ER, 5 K) Aaron Ashby (2.0 IP, H, R, BB, 3 K) It was the Yankees' turn to send out their young phenom for game 2, with Cam Schlittler outdueling Kyle Harrison, where he proved why he’s the league-wide leader in ERA, tossing six scoreless innings in his American Family Field debut. Still, Harrison and then Chad Patrick, behind him, fought through the potent Yankees offense before a solo homerun from Jake Bauers in the 7th, and a game-tying single from William Contreras knotted the game. Then, in extras, a game-tying single from Jackson Chourio and a walk-off Wild Bill sac fly gave the Brewers the series. William Contreras sends ‘em home happy (+16.3 WP%) Game 38 | Brewers 4, Yankees 3 MIL Starter: Logan Henderson (5.0 IP, 4 H, BB, 2 ER, 5 K) Top Performers: Brice Turang (2 H, HR, RBI) Blake Perkins (H, 2 RBI) Aaron Ashby (1.0 IP, 0 H, BB, 3 K) The Brewers, a historically dominant team on Mother's Day, did it again. It looked as if the Yankees had gotten to Logan Henderson early in the contest, but he settled in to get through five, while on the other side, a big 2-run single from Blake Perkins gave the Brewers the lead. New York did eventually battle back to tie the game after an RBI double from Jazz Chisholm, but that just set the table for a dramatic, 2-out walk-off home run ala Brice Turang, in the 9th. Happy Mother's Day! Brice Turang walks it off (+46.4 WP%) WERaMGFfWGw0TUFRPT1fQVZkU0JsZFFBMUVBRGxWUkJBQUhDQUlDQUZnR1VGUUFBZ01CQ1FJRVVnUlVWQXBS.mp4 Transactions: 05/09/26 - Placed LF Brandon Lockridge on the 10-day injured list with a right knee laceration and contusion. 05/09/26 - Recalled LF Blake Perkins from AAA Nashville. 05/08/26 - Sent LF Greg Jones outright to AAA Nashville. 05/04/26 - Activated CF Jackson Chourio from the 10-day injured list. 05/04/26 - Designated LF Greg Jones for assignment. 05/04/26 - Activated 1B Andrew Vaughn from the 10-day injured list. 05/04/26 - Optioned LF Blake Perkins to AAA Nashville. Notes Brandon Lockridge’s knee injury stemming from Friday's game is believed to keep him out of action for at least 4 weeks. Blake Perkins took Lockridge’s spot on the roster. While there is no tentative date for a return, Christian Yelich has been taking BP and running the bases, signalling a return could be close Looking Ahead: Tuesday, 5/12 - Padres @ Brewers - 6:40 PM CDT Wednesday, 5/13 - Padres @ Brewers - 6:40 PM CDT Thursday, 5/14 - Padres @ Brewers - 12:40 PM CDT Friday, 5/15 - Brewers @ Twins - 7:10 PM CDT Saturday, 5/16 - Brewers @ Twins - 6:10 PM CDT Sunday, 5/17 - Brewers @ Twins - 1:10 PM CDT View the full article

As they begin a new week, the Chicago Cubs sit at 27-14, leading the NL Central by 3.5 games. Only the team from the suburbs northwest of Atlanta has a better record. The devastating pitching injury news keeps on coming—last week, 2025 All-Star Matthew Boyd hit the injured list for the second time this season. Despite that, the Cubs are in the midst of a 15-game winning streak at home, and are 8-2 in their last 10 games. This season marks the first time since 2016 that the Cubs are at least 10 games over .500 this early in the season. That's not to say that the 2026 Cubs are on the path to a similar destiny; these are different rosters with varying strengths and weaknesses. Nonetheless, fans are feeling good about this team that finds ways to win while starring down injuries. Here we are going to go position by position, comparing how the starters have fared through the first quarter of the season. (For what it's worth, those Cubs were 29-12 at this same juncture.) Catcher 2016: Miguel Montero/David Ross 2026: Carson Kelly/ Miguel Amaya Before (and after) Willson Contreras held down the position from 2017-2022, the Cubs favored the tandem catcher approach. Montero was penciled in as the starter, but the 39-year-old Ross found himself starting over a third of the team’s games due to his chemistry with the veteran starters and Montero's brutal follow-up to what had been a very strong 2015 campaign. Although Montero hit the team’s first home run of the season, he was largely a non-factor at the plate, hitting .208 with four extra base hits through May 6. Ross was hitting a little bit better, but the two of them together had a combined FanGraphs WAR of 0.7. Ten years later, Carson Kelly’s breakout 2025 is carrying over tolerably well into 2026. Even after going 0-for-Arlington, he's hitting .283/.377/.384 on the campaign. Amaya got off to s slower start, but he's thrived in lighter duty and is now hitting .228/.371/.351. This year's group is certainly out-hitting the 2016 duo, though Ross and Montero were better behind the plate. First Base 2016: Anthony Rizzo 2026: Michael Busch Anthony Rizzo loved life in the middle of a high-octane lineup to start 2016. Through 41 games (a point that came 10 days later that year than this year), he was batting .245/.382/.536, with 11 home runs, 34 RBIs and more walks than strikeouts. This was Peak Rizzo: a Gold Glover, a Silver Slugger, a multi-time All-Star and the heartbeat of the team. Fast-forward to today, and the Cubs have their most prolific first baseman since Rizzo in Michael Busch, but he has not yet found his footing completely. The rust is shaking off nicely as the weather warms, and Busch is now batting .238/.349/.367, but Rizzo was obviously a better player that year than Busch is, at least right now. Second Base 2016: Ben Zobrist 2026: Nico Hoerner Fresh off a 2015 World Series MVP award with the Royals, Zobrist signed a four-year deal as a veteran complement to the Cubs' young offensive core. He was the primary second baseman early in the 2016 season, although he did log nearly 190 innings in the outfield, as needs arose. He hit the ground running for his new team, and the 40-game mark found him flirting with a 1.000 OPS. He wasn't a dazzling defender, but he was good enough. When the first pitch of 2026 was thrown, Nico Hoerner was entering a contract year. By the time the second game of the season started, he had agreed to a six-year extension. Through May 10, Hoerner is showing why he was deserving of this deal. His defense is exceptional, and even mired in a 3-for-22 slump, he's currently hitting .278/.351/.426, with plus baserunning, to boot. This is the first position where one can make a strong case for the 2026 Cubs to top the 2016 crew, so let's give them the nod. Third Base 2016: Kris Bryant 2026: Alex Bregman Here's a question that can sound fun or cursed, depending on your mood: When Bregman's time in Chicago is over, whose impact will have been greater? Bryant ascended from being a top draft choice to the status of the sport's top prospect. He won a Rookie of the Year Award and an MVP Award for the Cubs, and was instrumental in their winning the World Series. Thereafter, though, his career was often disrupted by injuries. Bregman is already past his peak, but is he past his prime—or is this just a standard-issue slow start from a veteran whom you can trust to get untracked any minute? Either way, Bryant then was a much better player than Bregman now, but the skills and the gravitas of the veteran at this moment give him a chance to carve a legacy just as rich as Bryant's before he's done as a Cub. Shortstop 2016: Addison Russell 2026: Dansby Swanson I am tempted to just call this for Swanson and move on, but Russell was another bright spot for the 2016 Cubs. He would end up having an All-Star season and some huge playoff moments, but he started off slowly in April. His .225/.352/.337 slash line does not jump off the page, but as a staple in the bottom of the lineup, he was not counted on to carry much of the offense. His defense was dazzling, though a bit unconventional at times. What he did off the field forever stains his place in the team's history, but he was a linchpin of (arguably) the best defense in baseball history. Swanson is off to a peculiar start to 2026. He's only batting .201, but he's shown power, and he's walking enough to keep his OBP respectable, at .313. Russell was a better defender, but on intangibles on and off the field, it's fair to say Swanson is a better contributor to wins right now than Russell was even then. Left Field 2016: Various 2026: Ian Happ When Kyle Schwarber collided with Dexter Fowler in the first week of the season, the 2016 Cubs' plans for left field were scuppered. That was the Cade Horton injury of the 2016 club. Jorge Soler started 51 games at the position, which led the team, but Bryant made 36 starts there as well, with Willson Contreras and Chris Coghlan also starting over 20 games each. Bryant was the best player who played left in 2016, but none of the players mentioned got off to as hot a start as Ian Happ is having right now. He leads the Cubs with nine homers, and is on pace to surpass his career high of 25. He's also walking at a very high rate, adjusting as well as anyone to the ABS system and the smaller zone that comes with it. The 31-year-old is entering a contract year, and is certainly performing well enough to earn a multi-year deal, but it remains to be seen if the Cubs will be the ones offering it to him. The longest-tenured Chicago athlete gives the 2026 Cubs the advantage in left over the rotation of solid players that Joe Maddon used in 2016, though to be fair, Maddon was scrambling a bit—and he got to backfill a lot of the playing time he gave to others in left by slotting Javier Báez into the lineup. Center Field 2016: Dexter Fowler 2026: Pete Crow-Armstrong Fowler had been a dynamic leadoff man for the 2015 Cubs, but looked poised to leave via free agency—until, suddenly, he showed up at Cubs camp after all. He then got off to a much better start than he'd enjoyed in his first year on the North Side; mid-May found him batting .324/.445/.547. Maddon rightly dubbed him the catalyst of the offense, and he kept their engine firing until more of the sparks caught and his teammates heated up come summer. In the present, Crow-Armstrong is the most exciting center fielder in baseball, but the jury is still out on what kind of hitter he will be. He has one of the lowest walk percentages on the team, and he's pairing it with one of the highest strikeout percentages. He still has the speed to steal bases and stretch hits into extra bases, but he hasn't put that on full display this year. After a Reds series in which he was the game-breaking force the Cubs so often benefited from last season, maybe his bat is warming up in its own right. Either way, his elite defense makes him valuable—but that 2016 version of Fowler was a more complete player. Right Field 2016: Jason Heyward 2026: Seiya Suzuki The top outfielder on the market joined the Cubs on an eight-year prior to 2016, famously taking less money than he was offered by the Nationals. The recipient of the largest free-agent contract in Cubs history struggled to hit throughout the seven seasons he played in Chicago, and was granted his release before the eighth year. If you want to believe the players, it was Heyward’s rally cry during the Game 7 rain delay that ignited the Cubs offense en route to the World Series win, but there sadly isn’t a “speeches given” section on the back of his baseball card. Heyward struggled immediately in 2016, posting a .581 OPS through early May, redeemed only by the respect of his teammates and his sparkling play in right field. Heyward will always have the defensive chops that Suzuki lacks, but Suzuki is a middle of the order hitter who has done nothing but hit since his return from the IL. In 27 games, he’s slashing .293/.403/.535 with 7 homers, anchoring the middle of a lineup that has not gotten much from Crow-Armstrong, Busch, or Bregman yet. Suzuki turned into one of the better hitters in baseball last season, after being more good than great in his first three MLB seasons. Like Happ, the 31-year-old is in a contract year, and could see another large payday if he continues to be a dependable middle-of-the-order bat. The Suzuki over Heyward choice is one of the easiest on this list. Utility 2016: Javier Báez 2026: Matt Shaw Since there was no DH in the NL 10 years ago (and Báez had to make this list somewhere), let's compare him to Shaw as a utility player. Before taking the everyday shortstop job, Báez bounced around the infield in 2016. He played over 300 innings at second and third base, nearly 200 at shortstop, and a few more innings in left field and first base. The 23-year-old had a walkoff home run on Mothers Day, although he fell into a slump thereafter and had just a .277 OBP through 41 Cubs games. He was already showing the ability to make a huge impact defensively. This isn’t a dig on Shaw, as he has seemed to turn a corner with the bat this season while handling multiple positions. After a mixed bag of results in 2025, he is hitting .271 with a .755 OPS this season. The underlying metrics suggest Shaw has made improvements to his hit tool and that should become more apparent as the season goes on, but at this point, the edge is still going to Baez. Starting Rotation 2016: Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, John Lackey, Kyle Hendricks, Jason Hammel 2026: Shota Imanaga, Edward Cabrera, Colin Rea, Jameson Taillon, Ben Brown/Javier Assad The aspect that sets the 2016 team apart from the 2026 team is the starting pitching. Currently, the rotation has some bright spots and some not-so-bright spots. A healthy Imanaga is leading the bunch, with a 2.28 ERA over eight starts and a high strikeout rate to go with restored velocity. Imanaga always seems to start the season hot, so right now, he is the Cubs’ best starter. Trade addition Edward Cabrera has been as good as advertised, at times—but we've also seen what it looks like when his strange changeup-first arsenal isn't in sync. Colin Rea is back in the rotation due to the Cade Horton injury and has been a solid back-end contributor. Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd (who is now hurt again) have not been as sharp as they were last season, though. It’s really unfair to compare the current bunch to their 2016 counterparts, who were one of the most dominant single-season Cubs rotations ever. Lester and Hendricks finished second and third in the NL Cy Young Award voting, with Arrieta also getting support after winning the prize the previous year. Arrieta had already thrown a no-hitter by this time that year. The magnitude of difference here is much larger than between, say, Fowler and Crow-Armstrong or the respective catcher tandems. Closer/Bullpen 2016: Héctor Rondón 2026: Daniel Palencia Led by Rondón and fellow righty Pedro Strop, the 2016 Cubs pen got off to a hot start. Like any contender, they sought to reinforce that group as the summer wore on, but they had depth and high-velocity strikeout options in that group even in April and May. The 2026 bullpen needs reinforcements now, as all of their high-leverage arms outside of Hoby Milner and Brown have spent time on the IL. Current closer and WBC champion Daniel Palencia is a more electric arm than Rondón, but at least Rondón was healthy. There are glimpses of hope for breakout years from just enough guys, but right now, it's easy to pick this part of the 2016 pitching staff over the 2026 version, too. The Verdict C; Carson Kelly/Miguel Amaya 1B: Anthony Rizzo 2B: Nico Hoerner 3B: Kris Bryant SS: Dansby Swanson LF: Ian Happ CF: Dexter Fowler RF: Seiya Suzuki UTL: Javier Báez Rotation: 2016 Bullpen: 2016 In 11 categories, the 2016 Cubs have the advantage in six of them, making this a bit closer of a race than some might have thought. On the other hand, some of the 2016 group's advantages are much greater than those for the 2026 team. This group also doesn't have a farm system likely to yield either a Contreras-caliber midseason boost or a trade package like the one that brought the team Aroldis Chapman in 2016. These are two very different teams, and the game has changed immensely over the past decade, so this is not to say the 2026 team can’t experience the same fate. They are the hottest team in baseball right now, and are still finding ways to win despite their injuries. It will be a fun summer in Chicago, but there probably won’t ever be a Cubs team like the one we saw 10 years ago. View the full article