DiamondCentric

Last week, the Blue Jays designated Tyler Heineman for assignment when they activated Alejandro Kirk from the injured list. Today, they traded him to the Angels for cash considerations. Heineman, 34, spent parts of the past five seasons with Toronto. In that time, he played 126 games over numerous stints with the Jays, hitting .242 with a .663 OPS, while consistently playing superb defense. He was a surprisingly important contributor to the 2025 AL pennant-winning team, enjoying an unusually productive season for a backup catcher. While his defense in 2026 has been as excellent as ever, his offense has been poor. Considering Brandon Valenzuela's success on both sides of the ball, it wasn't surprising when the Blue Jays decided to DFA Heineman last Friday. However, considering how many times they have re-acquired Heineman in the past, it also wouldn't be surprising to see the journeyman backstop back in a Blue Jays uniform someday. View the full article

TRANSACTIONS LHP Kendry Rojas sent to AAA St. Paul on rehab. Saints Sentinel The 1952 film with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds taught us that one can sing in the rain; however, the movie mentions nothing about the impossibility of playing baseball in it. Indeed, the Saints learned this the hard way, and will play a doubleheader on Thursday because of the precipitation. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 10, Springfield 9 Box Score SP: Cory Lewis: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K HR: Kala’i Rosario (11) Multi-hit games: Andrew Cossetti (3-for-4, 3B, R, 3 RBI, BB), Kala’i Rosario (2-for-4, HR, R, 3 RBI, BB), Khadim Diaw (2-for-4, 2 R, BB) The Wind Surge won a thriller on Wednesday. The typical wasn’t cutting it, so why not try the atypical? Cory Lewis dabbled in effectively wild territory, walking three while allowing four hits. That’s almost a 2.00 WHIP—deadly endeavors for any pitcher. Yet, Lewis walked away without an earned run to his name and given the season he was having coming into the game, he’ll certainly take it. The “zero-earned runs” thing befalls a terrible truth of this game: the Wind Surge couldn’t field for squat. They committed four errors. A particularly brutal stretch occurred in the fifth when a Quinn McDaniel mishap added a second runner to the bases, a Jaime Ferrer botch scored a run and put men on the corners, and an Andrew Cossetti throwing error turned a double steal attempt into a run. That’s how poor Ruddy Gomez could only be credited with one earned run while five scored in the inning. Fortunately, the bats were ready to make up for what the gloves couldn’t do. Wichita was in a hitting mood. Shoot, they were in a walking mood, too. They collected 10 knocks and nine free passes; everyone outside Garrett Spain reached base at least once. Two touched home in the third off an Andrew Cossetti triple. A third arrived in the fifth when McDaniel cleverly dashed home on the front-end of a strikeout/double-steal attempt. Then the point became moot when Kala’i Rosario clobbered a homer one batter later. At least McDaniel has bragging rights. Springfield swapped pitchers and did nothing to stop the run avalanche started by the Wind Surge in the fifth. A lineup-wide flurry—the kind of piranha production that would make Ron Gardenhire smile—ambushed the new hurler for three more runs. RBIs went to McDaniel, Billy Amick, and Rosario. Unsatisfied and ravenous proved to be a Wichita lineup dead-set on swooning ERAs and bludgeoning pitcher egos: they once-again loaded the bases in the seventh and pushed a pair of runs across thanks to a hit by pitch and a walk. A good day indeed when a lineup plates a run four separate times without needing a hit. Khadim Diaw singled twice and walked in his AA debut. Springfield’s unique “switch-pitcher” started on Wednesday. Jurrangelo Cijntje, ranked as the 84th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com, tossed 4 2/3 innings, allowing five earned runs. He only pitched right-handed. Life is often boring. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 4, Beloit 8 Box Score Riley Quick: 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K HR: Miguel Briceno (5) Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 BB), Miguel Briceno (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI) The Kernels were solidly bested on Wednesday. Riley Quick’s regal dominance at Fort Myers has dissipated into an ordinary muck. The righty who once appeared incapable of allowing runs has not only surrendered them at consistent rate, but he’s also allowed free passes far more often than one would expect given his raw ability. These are the common traits of a player figuring things out, learning more about himself as an athlete. He’s less than 40 innings into his professional career, after all. It seems inevitable he’ll figure it out. Marek Houston has commanded his level. It’s too easy for him now. The 2025 first round pick is slashing an unbelievable .442/.561/.651 since June started with 13 walks to six strikeouts. That’s dominance. He also stole two bases. That’s dominance. He should be driving to Wichita soon. Miguel Briceno provided the lone big blast for Cedar Rapids, homering in the fourth. The infielder was a Minor League Rule-5 pick before the 2025 season, a fact you may need to know as he’s now slashing .324/.380/.577 with the Kernels. OF Brandon Compton slots in as the 12th-best prospect in the Marlins system, and he collected three hits, including two homers. Perhaps he’s ranked too low. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 9, Tampa 7 Box Score Justin Mitrovich: 4 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K HR: Quentin Young (7) Multi-hit games: Quentin Young (2-for-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, RBI), Byron Chourio (2-for-4, 3B, 2R, RBI) The Mighty Mussels hit their way to a win on Wednesday. “It’s about scoring them in bunches,” espoused Fort Myers, probably. They only scored in three frames, but made them worth their while, plating a trio in the fifth thanks to a rally started by a Jayson Bass hit by pitch turned not-pickoff when the second baseman dropped the ball that should have nabbed the running Bass. So it goes. And so it be, sometimes. Byron Chourio and Ryan Sprock reaped the rewards with RBI knocks later in the inning. We do it again. This time in the seventh. Chourio tripled. Ricardo Pena walked. Dameury Pena singled. Two outs nearly neutered the rally. Then, an error on a Quentin Young batted ball. Floodgates and such. The error, a wild pitch, and oncoming singles by Luis Fragoza and Merphy Hernandez put a five-run capitalization on the matter. And, for good measure, Young returned in the ninth to pop an opposite-field moonball that may have punctured a cloud before returning to land. Callan Fang—which sounds like the name of a horror movie villain from the 90s—debuted for the Mighty Mussels, tossing 2 2/3 effective innings with zero earned runs and three strikeouts. He looks to join the fraternity of the 35 Harvard men who have become big leaguers. The Tarpons are an affiliate of the nefarious—yet undeniably awesome—Yankees farm system. They sent forward their ninth-ranked prospect, starter Thatcher Hurd, who racked up eight strikeouts across 4 1/3 innings while allowing just one earned run. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cory Lewis Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Quentin Young PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #5 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, 3 K #7 – Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) - 2-3, 2 2B, 2 R, 2 BB #8 – Riley Quick (Cedar Rapids) - 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K #10 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 1-3, 2 RBI #14 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 2-5, HR, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 K #15 – Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) - 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB, K #19 – Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 2-4, 2 R, BB MONDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Omaha @ St. Paul (5:07 PM) - RHP Ricky Castro Omaha @ St. Paul (Game Two) - TBD Springfield @ Wichita (6:35 PM) - RHP Preston Johnon Beloit @ Cedar Rapids (6:35 PM) - LHP Cesar Lares Fort Myers @ Tampa (10:00 AM) - RHP Charlee Soto FCL Twins @ FCL Rays (11:00 AM) - TBD DSL Arizona Red @ DSL Twins (10:00 AM) - TBD View the full article

When Pat Murphy and the Brewers staff sits down to fill out the lineup card each day, they have a wealth of good options. Frustrating though it might be for fans to watch some of the weak hitters at the bottom of the order bat, Joey Ortiz, David Hamilton, Cooper Pratt and Blake Perkins each have considerable defensive and baserunning value. Ditto for Sal Frelick, when he's right. And even among their more offense-focused personnel, they have several good guys from whom to choose. Murphy has loved having such flexibility all season. Even during spring training, he was effusive about the improved depth of his team. It does make the choices on which they settle more interesting, though. For instance, against a starter without stark platoon splits—and with different approaches based on the handedness of the opposing batter—how do you choose between Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn at first base? Earlier this week, our Jack Stern wrote about the team's tendency to default to Bauers, even since Vaughn returned from the injured list at the beginning of May. Jack couched that daily dilemma largely in terms of the platoon advantage, and indeed, with right-handed starter Gavin Williams taking the ball for Cleveland on Wednesday night, it's Bauers starting over Vaughn. But there's a bit more to that decision, too. Firstly, Williams is one of an increasingly common breed of pitcher who essentiually workessentially from two distinct arsenals. Against righties, he leans heavily on a sinker and sweeper, moving east and west to find outs. Against lefties, he switches gears, going mostly with a four-seamer and a curveball and mixing in a cutter. Thus, when evaluating which hitters match up best against him, the Brewers almost have to ask which hitter they trust against the type of pitcher Williams is in those specific matchups—while baking in the demonstrated value of having at least a couple of same-handed batters in a lineup to force a pitcher to switch back and forth between approaches or pitch mixes. Because of the way the team's lineup works right now, this means assessing Vaughn, Bauers, Jackson Chourio, William Contreras and Frelick. In theory, the Brewers could sit any of them, or start all five, but mostly, Contreras's days at catcher and the imperative to use Christian Yelich when he's available will set up a short series of real dilemmas: Is Bauers or Vaughn better-suited to hit the opponent? If it's Bauers, should he go play the outfield for the night, at the expense of either Chourio or Frelick, making way for Vaughn? The Brewers gave us their answer when they issued the night's lineup card. Bauers is in there. So are Frelick, Garrett Mitchell and David Hamilton, over possible right-handed alternatives like Gary Sánchez and Joey Ortiz. Contreras and Chourio made the cut from the right side, but Vaughn didn't. The interesting question is: Why those guys? And now, we can furnish some answers to ourselves, using new Statcast data. Simply put, Vaughn struggles with the sinker-sweeper righty. That might be his toughest matchup. Looking at the distributions of his swing timing in all three dimensions against sinkers and sweepers from right-handed hurlers, you can see that Vaughn is often off the center of the barrel, often early or late, and unable to line up the barrel with the ball vertically as much as the average batter. This data is quite new, so I'm not expecting you to have contextualized the above already. Hopefully, though, you can see the difference between those distributions and these, for Chourio: Chourio can cover both pitches from a righty much better than Vaughn can. Even some of the times on which he's slightly off—early on the sweeper, for instance—result in hard contact in the air, because of his bat path and the way he adapts based on what he sees. Vaughn's best swing takes him through the ball on the inner third, and he struggles to connect cleanly if a pitch appears to be headed there and then ends up on the outer edge, instead. Chourio is much better at it. Starting Chourio over Vaughn, then, would be an easy choice, but that's not really the choice the Brewers faced. They first had to decide whether to give the nod to Vaughn or Bauers at first base, and that meant evaluating Bauers's ability to handle a righty who throws a four-seamer, a curveball and a cutter. The curve is awfully tough on Bauers, truth be told, but he's unexpectedly excellent at covering the four-seamer from a righty—especially up, His ability to line up the barrel with the ball vertically is far superior to that of the average batter, and with his elite bat speed, he's able to punish mistakes on either the cutter or the curve. In the past, we could have shrugged and said that a lefty is likely to hit a righty better than a righty is. Now, we can see clearly that Bauers is better able to stay on time and make solid contact against a pitcher like Williams than Vaughn is. The final option for the team would be to bench Frelick at Vaughn's expense, by moving Bauers out to right field. That's a decision they need to weigh a bit more seriously, unless and until Frelick shows more than he has of late either at bat or in the field. When it comes to hitting a righty like Williams, though, Frelick is much better equipped to make solid contact than is Vaughn. Frelick is superb at staying on time and finding the barrel against this suite of pitches, in this kind of matchup. His very low bat speed and tendency to let the ball get too deep on him are real concerns, but he's still much better against this type of pitcher than Vaughn is against the type of pitcher Williams is against righties. That's not to mention that a defensive configuration with Frelick in right field and Bauers at first is more robust than one with Vaughn at first and Bauers in right. Not all starting pitchers pose such interesting problems. Not all teams have such an array of possibilities when building a lineup. Thankfully, though, we now have some insight into how the Brewers can choose between those options on a fascinating night like Wednesday. Vaughn doesn't belong in the lineup initially, but that doesn't mean there won't be a pitcher later in the game against whom he's the right bat. And the Brewers are armed with terrific data to tell when and whether that moment comes. View the full article

On Wednesday afternoon, the MLB insider Jeff Passan reported that the Royals would be acquiring right-handed pitcher Randy Dobnak from the Seattle Mariners. Dobnak has not pitched with the Mariners and has spent the entirety of the season in Triple-A Tacoma. The 31-year-old pitcher is expected to be added to the 40-man roster. Dobnak should be familiar with Royals fans as he spent most of his career with the Minnesota Twins prior to this season. Last year, he only made one 5.1 IP appearance with the Twins and posted a 1.69 ERA. This year, with the Tacoma Rainiers, the Mariners' Triple-A team, he posted a 4.24 ERA and 1.44 WHIP in 70 IP. He also has a 4.06 FIP and 4.9% K-BB%. While he doesn't generate a ton of whiffs or strikeouts, Donbnak minimizes hard contact and is a groundball machine, as evidenced by his 66.5% groundball rate and .334 xwOBACON. The move has not been made official, and no word has been mentioned about who Dobnak would replace on the 40-man roster. One possibility could be moving Cole Ragans to the 60-Day IL, as he has not been progressing well with his injury since being added to the 15-Day IL, according to recent reports. The Royals come back home to Kauffman Stadium on Thursday to begin a three-game series against the I-70 rival, the St. Louis Cardinals. They will play on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. There will be no game on Saturday due to the World Cup match between Ecuador and Curacao at Kansas City Stadium (i.e., Arrowhead Stadium). View the full article

In the long run, the Cubs need Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner to hit. They can't trade either player. They can't cut either player. They certainly can't permanently bench either player, having invested roughly $50 million a year in them for each of the next four seasons. Nor can they afford for Moisés Ballesteros not to pan out at the plate, after they effectively chose him over Owen Caissie when they traded the latter to Miami this winter. Swanson, Hoerner and Ballesteros are indispensable pieces of the team's present and future. That's one reality. Another, grimmer one is that: Swanson is batting .145/.228/.206 since the start of May; Hoerner is batting .190/.269/.231 since April 21, the day on which he hit his last home run; and Ballesteros is batting .128/.217/.170 in 106 plate appearances since the final days of April. Swanson is being eaten alive by a league force-feeding him breaking balls. Hoerner keeps hitting the ball squarely, in theory, but unproductively in practice. Ballesteros got squeezed a bit positionally amid the red-hot start of Michael Conforto, and has run into some major problems related to his bat path as the league has made their adjustments to him. The three have combined for over 450 plate appearances in these spans, and they're the most hideous black holes imaginable on the lineup card. The Cubs continue to try to develop Ballesteros into a catcher even while easing him into full-time duty as a hitter in the majors, which has probably contributed to his poor showing on offense. Unfortunately, because he's still not an adequate receiver at this point in his career, that makes him a net negative on both sides of the runs ledger. Swanson and Hoerner still have great defensive and positional value, but the team can't afford to keep running them both out everyday unless and until at least one of them gets right. That brings the conversation around to two players who have found their way into more games (and even the starting lineup, now and then) lately, and whom the Cubs also need to be developing, anyway: Matt Shaw, and Pedro Ramírez. Shaw has manned right field in three of the team's last four games, as Seiya Suzuki deals with a balky right knee. Ramírez has rotated in at both second and third base, with Alex Bregman getting some half-days-off as the designated hitter and Hoerner and Swanson getting turns on the bench to reset. As the Cubs' season spirals out of control, Shaw and Ramírez have been rare bright spots. Shaw has four hits, a walk and a base via being hit by a pitch since coming off the injured list earlier this month, in just 12 plate appearances. Ramírez has only made eight starts among the 15 games in which he's appeared and has only 38 plate appearances, but he's hitting a respectable .257/.316/.400. Shaw has come along faster than expected as a right fielder, although the back strain that shelved him for a few weeks will bear monitoring. Ramírez has been relentlessly impressive in the field and at the plate, never awing you with his tools but making the right play consistently and well. For the balance of June, the Cubs should be playing Shaw and Ramírez as much as anyone on the team, save Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ. Ramírez's combination of versatility and reliability means that Swanson, Hoerner and Bregman can be taken off the diamond on any given day without the team missing a beat defensively. He's also shown above-average bat speed and a good feel for contact, though he'll have to make a round of adjustments himself as the league learns not to throw him changeups. Shaw is consistenly under four-seam fastballs, but because Swanson is drawing a lot of sinkerballers who are throwing their heaters right under his bat, that creates a natural timeshare. Shaw can take plate appearances for which Swanson is ill-suited for a while, so the veteran can continue working on the needed tweaks. He can play second base, sliding Hoerner over to shortstop. He also offers the only real backup to Crow-Armstrong, Happ and Suzuki, now that Conforto is showing his decrepitude again. It wouldn't be fair to expect Shaw and Ramírez to be above-average players for the rest of this season. They're better off in smaller roles; neither profiles as a future star. But they're exactly the kind of sparky young players a team often needs when they struggle, and the Cubs should embrace the fact that they have them. Awkward though it might be at first, Swanson, Hoerner, Bregman and Ballesteros need to be told that their playing time will be curtailed while they work behind the scenes to get right; they've each had more than enough chances to work their way out of their current funks via everyday game reps. Shaw and Ramírez won't save Chicago's season, but for the highly-paid stars to do so, the youngsters will have to keep them afloat for a while first. View the full article

The Royals launched home runs early and held on for a 6-2 win at Nationals Park, getting a four-hit afternoon from Carter Jensen, who finished 4-for-4 with a home run and a double. Three other Royals went deep — John Rave, Lane Thomas, and Michael Massey — to build the lead. Starter Luinder Avila handled the rest, working 5 1/3 innings and allowing one run on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts. The bullpen covered the final innings to close out the four-run margin. Here are all four home runs the Royals hit in the game: Michael Massey Homers to Center (+0.068 Win Expectancy) Massey batted in the top of the third inning with the Royals already ahead 3-0 and one out. Facing Zack Littell with a 1-1 count, he turned on an 87.7 mph slider and drove it to center field. The ball left the bat at 105.6 mph and traveled 430 feet for his seventh home run of the season, pushing the lead to 4-0. It was the second Royals home run of the inning and was the second of consecutive long balls against the Washington starter. Lane Thomas Homers to Center (+0.087 Win Expectancy) Thomas came up in the top of the third with the Royals leading 2-0 and one out. He worked the count to 2-2 against Zack Littell and connected on a 92.5 mph sinker, sending it to center field. The ball came off the bat at 100.8 mph and carried 411 feet for his fifth home run of the year, extending the lead to 3-0. It set the stage for back-to-back Royals home runs in the inning. Carter Jensen Homers to Right (+0.096 Win Expectancy) Jensen led off the game in the top of the first against Zack Littell. Down 1-2 in the count, he got an 82 mph splitter and lifted it to right field. The ball traveled 366 feet for his ninth home run of the season and opened the scoring at 1-0. The leadoff shot was the first of his four hits on the day and set the tone for the Royals' early offense. John Rave Homers to Center (+0.098 Win Expectancy) Rave batted in the top of the second inning with the Royals up 1-0 and one out. He jumped on the first pitch from Zack Littell, a 92.1 mph four-seam fastball, and lined it to center field. The ball left the bat at 106.3 mph and traveled 402 feet for his first home run of the 2026 season, increasing the lead to 2-0. It was the hardest-hit of the Royals' four home runs on the afternoon. The Royals return home Thursday to open a series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 PM CT. Kansas City is expected to start Noah Cameron (4.11 ERA), with St. Louis countering with left-hander Matthew Liberatore (4.71 ERA). View the full article

The return of right-hander Max Scherzer to the Toronto Blue Jays' starting rotation lasted one week. Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, went back on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with back spasms. Right-hander Chad Dallas was called up from Triple-A Buffalo. Scherzer, 41, came off the 15-day IL a week ago Wednesday after missing more than a month with right forearm tendinitis, but lasted just 3⅓ innings and gave up five runs in a 7-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. He would have been in line to start Wednesday, but right-handed reliever Braydon Fisher got the call as an opener. Dallas is back with the Jays after making his MLB debut June 4. In that 7-2 win over Atlanta, Dallas was the bulk guy after Mason Fluharty opened. Dallas went 3⅔ with one run on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Eight of his 11 appearances with Buffalo have been as a starter. Whether he sticks around is another issue. Right-hander Shane Bieber had a rehab start Wednesday and could be ready to return to the rotation. Bieber has not pitched for the Jays this season after coming down with right elbow inflammation in spring training. View the full article

After entering spring training as a serious option to make the back end of the San Diego Padres' starting rotation, left-hander Marco Gonzales has been released while with the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas. The 34-year-old Gonzales missed the entire 2025 season after having flexor tendon surgery in September 2024. In the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, Gonzales had 12 starts and one relief appearance, posting a 7.99 ERA over 47⅓ innings, with 18 walks and 36 strikeouts. His last outing came Saturday and was one of his best of the season. He gave up three runs, but only one earned, in four innings on a season-low three hits with one walk and two strikeouts. He also had four starts where he gave up six or more runs. View the full article

Sometimes, our experiences become our prison wardens, rather than our teachers. Every player we don’t like is “just another Miguel Sanó.” When Derek Shelton manages the bullpen well, he “reminds me of Tom Kelly.” When the bullpen blows up, Shelton “has too much Rocco Baldelli in him.” One such trope is figuring out who The Next Willi Castro is. If you don’t believe me when I say people are hung up on the idea of finding the Next Willi Castro, a couple of quick Twitter searches showed me that the following players have been called the Next Willi Castro or the New Willi Castro: Kody Clemens, Austin Martin, Vidal Bruján, Tristan Gray, Dan Altavilla, and Ryan Kreidler. Our own Eric Blonigen asked last year if Thomas Hatch was the Next Willi Castro. To paraphrase the honorable Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, I don’t know how to define a Willi Castro, but I know one when I see one, and it is hot, hot, HOT! Well, I lied. I think I’ve defined a Willi Castro. Or at least I’ve tried to. In the never-ending search to find the Next Willi Castro, it’s important to know what we’re looking for. What is a Willi Castro? Willi Castro played two and a half seasons for the Minnesota Twins. He was a roughly league-average hitter; he played every position except first base and catcher; and he stole a handful of bases. Prior to coming to Minnesota, he was an exciting prospect for the Tigers who fizzled out and was released. Minnesota signed him to a minor-league contract, but gave him $1.8 million when he made the team. Given this, he would probably be classified as a late bloomer. He was traded at the 2025 trade deadline for Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong. Obviously, no current Twins are going to map perfectly onto that. But if we’re going to continue to ask “is Mickey Gasper the Next Willi Castro??”, the least we can do is try to attack this scientifically. Positional Flexibility Love it or hate it, the Twins prefer players who can play multiple positions. That’s probably the most obvious place to start the Willi Castro discussion. It’s probably his most notable feature (though not the only Willi Castro feature). The Twins have several players with positional flexibility. Ryan Kreidler has played short, third, center, and left, and he can also play second and right, essentially matching Castro’s flexibility, though with better fielding. Kody Clemens has played all three outfield spots, second, and first. He can also be an emergency option at third. Austin Martin has lost positional flexibility over the years, and is now mostly confined to right field. Royce Lewis can play first, second, and third, and he’s allegedly asked to play the outfield as well—probably in an effort to establish himself as the Next Willi Castro. Orlando Arcia is technically still in the system, and he played all four infield positions and pitched. The newest Twin, Kyler Fedko, can play all three outfield positions and first base, and he’s also played a little second base in the minors. Luke Keaschall is a second baseman, but he’s played first and outfield in the minors, so maybe someday he’ll be in the running. I’m giving Willi Castro points to Kreidler, Clemens, Arcia, and Fedko, because they all have at least five positions in their bag. Speed The Twins haven’t been very fast in a long time. But Castro was. Anyone on the team who has a red bubble (anything over league-average) for sprint speed wins a Willi Castro point here. Byron Buxton, Keaschall, Kreidler, Martin, Clemens, Lewis. Fedko doesn’t have a competitive sprint in the majors yet, but I’ll add him in. Late Blooming Castro had a rough first four seasons in the major leagues, playing at roughly replacement level. He wasn’t old when he joined the Twins, but he was 26 with little MLB success. Clemens certainly fits this criterion, as he seems to have finally become an everyday-caliber player in his late 20s. Martin is trending in that direction, as well. Fedko went from being a non-prospect to being on an MLB roster at 26. Trevor Larnach might fit the bill, too, but he’s basically been who he’s always been this year. Kreidler has played well, but probably not enough to have “bloomed” yet. But let’s not forget the pitchers. Yoendrys Gómez is 26 and might be developing into a real late-inning arm. Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober were both old when they debuted (25), but only Ober was surprising, performance-wise. I’ll give points to Clemens, Martin, Fedko, Gómez, and Ober. Average or Better Hitter This is pretty easy. If your OPS+ is 100 or higher this season, you get a point: Buxton, Clemens, Kreidler, Larnach, Gabriel González, and Ryan Jeffers. Signed to a Minor League Contract The Twins got Castro as a 26-year-old MiLB free agent. What a steal! Other players on the team to have been acquired as such are: John Klein, Cody Laweryson, and I guess Emmanuel Rodriguez, if you wanna get technical. I’d also give a point here to players purchased or claimed on waivers: Clemens, Kreidler, Gómez, Justin Lawrence, Anthony Banda, and Taylor Rashi (I bet you didn’t expect Taylor Rashi to score a Next Willi Castro point). Half-points to Gray, Alex Jackson, Eric Orze, and Garrett Acton for being acquired in unremarkable trades. Played for the Tigers Yes, we’re getting this granular. The funny thing is, though, the top candidates for the role, Clemens and Kreidler, both played for Detroit. They’re the only two guys on the current roster to have done so. Traded at the Deadline Castro was part of the 2025 selloff. Now this hasn’t happened yet, but I’m gonna boldly predict who it’ll be this year: Josh Bell, Matt Wallner, Larnach, Banda, Lewis, Ryan, and Clemens. If you disagree, argue with the wall. Final Tally .5 Willi Castro points: Acton, Gray, Jackson, Orze 1 Willi Castro point: Arcia, Bell, Gonzalez, Jeffers, Keaschall, Klein, Laweryson, Lawrence, Ober, Rashi, Rodriguez, Ryan, Wallner 2 Willi Castro points: Banda, Buxton, Fedko, Gómez, Larnach, Lewis, Martin 5 Willi Castro points: Kredlier 7 Willi Castro points: Clemens Kody Clemens went seven-for-seven in this very scientific, peer-reviewed analysis (Matthew Trueblood is, after all, a peer who reviewed this before publication). Congratulations, Kody. You are the Next Willi Castro. View the full article

Marek Houston's breakout season is accelerating a roster puzzle that the Twins may have to solve much earlier than anticipated. View the full article

As the MLB trade deadline inches closer, Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers continues to appear on more and more national trade boards. While much of the focus around the Twins has centered on potential blockbuster conversations involving bigger names, Jeffers may quietly be one of the organization's most valuable short-term trade chips. Three prominent MLB insiders recently connected Jeffers to the New York Yankees, a team that entered 2026 believing it had enough catching depth but has instead watched the position become a significant weakness. From Minnesota's perspective, the situation warrants close monitoring. The Twins have a difficult decision looming with Jeffers. He is set to reach free agency after the 2026 season, and it seems unlikely for the Twins to extend him. Before landing on the injured list with a broken hamate bone, Jeffers was enjoying arguably the best offensive stretch of his career, batting .295 with seven home runs and 26 RBI in 122 at-bats while posting a remarkable .949 OPS. For a catcher with a career .755 OPS and 75 major league home runs, that production represents a substantial jump. National evaluators have taken notice. As part of a recent piece discussing front offices facing pressure, ESPN insider Buster Olney identified Jeffers as a potential target for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. "(Brian) Cashman might also have to deal for one of the better relievers available -- as well as a right-handed hitter, such as Twins catcher Jeffers." The Yankees' interest makes plenty of sense. New York expected Austin Wells to take another step forward offensively this season while J.C. Escarra emerged as a capable complementary option. Instead, injuries and underperformance have left the Yankees searching for answers. Wells has struggled to provide consistent production, Escarra remains better suited for a supporting role, and the organization lacks a proven right-handed bat behind the plate. Jeffers checks every box. Sports Illustrated's Karl Rasmussen recently argued that the Yankees should aggressively pursue the Twins catcher. "The Yankees should look no further than Minnesota's Ryan Jeffers, who has had an excellent season. Jeffers, 29, is a right-handed batter and boasts a .949 OPS and a superb 163 wRC+. He's hit seven home runs—more than Wells and Escarra combined—and is a solid framer behind the plate. A tandem of Jeffers and Wells would be a major upgrade over the current setup in the Bronx, and with Jeffers set to be a free agent this offseason, the Twins should be looking to deal him." Rasmussen hits on the main points that the Yankees need offensive help at catcher, and few available options can match Jeffers' combination of power, experience, and defensive competence. Former MLB executive Jim Bowden of The Athletic reached a similar conclusion while discussing potential catching upgrades for contenders. "However, I think more realistic options include Ryan Jeffers of the Twins (once he gets healthy), Agustín Ramírez of the Marlins, Joey Bart of the Pirates, Carson Kelly of the Cubs, Gabriel Moreno of the Diamondbacks and Keibert Ruiz of the Nationals." Bowden's mention of Jeffers comes with an important caveat. The Twins catcher is currently on the injured list, meaning any trade discussions will likely remain preliminary until clubs can evaluate his health upon returning to action. That timing could work in Minnesota's favor. If Jeffers returns and continues hitting anywhere near his current pace, the Twins could find themselves with multiple interested suitors. Catching is one of the thinnest positions across baseball, and contenders are always willing to pay a premium for offensive production behind the plate. The Yankees are simply the most obvious fit. Beyond their catching concerns, New York is expected to pursue infield upgrades and bullpen help before the deadline. Still, catcher may be the organization's clearest weakness. A healthy Jeffers would immediately become the club's best right-handed catching option and provide lineup balance against left-handed pitching. For the Twins, the calculus is more complicated. Minnesota must decide whether they are buyers or sellers. The organization has received strong production from Jeffers throughout his career, but with free agency approaching and catching depth developing throughout the system, moving him could become a realistic consideration if the Twins find themselves in sell mode. Whether a deal ultimately materializes remains to be seen. What is increasingly clear, however, is that national insiders continue to arrive at the same conclusion. If the Yankees are shopping for a catcher this summer, Jeffers appears to be near the top of their list. And if the Twins decide to listen, New York may be waiting with the strongest offer. View the full article

Chicago Cubs Minor League Report - June 17 Affiliate Overview Triple-A Iowa Cubs Series vs. Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates): Cubs lead, 1-0 Season Record: 28–39-1 Double-A Knoxville Smokies Series vs. Chattanooga Lookouts (Cincinnati Reds): Lookouts lead, 1-0 Season Record: 35–29 High-A South Bend Cubs Series at Fort Wayne TinCaps (San Diego Padres): Cubs lead, 1-0 Season Record: 39–21 Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Series at Delmarva Shorebirds (Baltimore Orioles): Pelicans lead, 1-0 Season Record: 25–37 Affiliate Highlights Triple-A: Iowa Cubs Season Record: 28–39-1 Series Opponent: Indianapolis Indians (28-42) Series Standing: Lead, 1-0 June 16: The Iowa Cubs opened their 12-game homestand with a 13-7 victory over the Indianapolis Indians on Tuesday night at Principal Park. Kevin Alcántara (3-for-3) gave the Cubs the lead in the first with an RBI-single but the Indians put up three in the second to take their first lead of the game. In the home half of the second, Christian Bethancourt (3-for-4) doubled home a run and Justin Dean (0-for-3) tied the game at 3-3 with a sacrifice fly. Another three-spot from Indianapolis in the third put the visitors ahead 6-3 but Iowa was able to pull one back in the bottom of the inning on Alcántara’s solo shot, his 16th of the season. Bethancourt launched a two-run shot in the fourth to knot the contest at 6-6, his sixth homer of the season. The I-Cubs plated three in the fifth to take the lead for good in the ballgame, with Owen Miller (1-for-4) giving the club the lead with a sacrifice fly followed by an RBI-double from Jonathan Long (2-for-5) and an RBI-single from Chas McCormick (2-for-4) to make it 9-6. Miller brought his RBI total to three with a two-run single in the seventh and Bethancourt picked up his fourth RBI of the night later in the frame on a single. BJ Murray’s (1-for-4) RBI-double capped the scoring for the Cubs before the Indians pushed one more across in the ninth to make it 13-7. Jordan Wicks got the start for Iowa and took no decision. Wicks allowed six runs on nine hits over three innings of work, picking up four strikeouts. Tyler Beede picked up the win in relief after tossing two scoreless frames, yielding no hits to go along with three strikeouts and a walk. Offensively, eight of the nine Cubs starters hit safely in the ballgame, with six batters tallying multi-hit efforts. Double-A: Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 35–29 Series Opponent: Chattanooga Lookouts (35–29) Series Standing: Trail, 1-0 June 16: With a first-half division title on the line, the Knoxville Smokies opened this vital series vs. the Chattanooga Lookouts with a 5-3 defeat. The two teams are now tied for first in the Southern League North Division with five games remaining. The Smokies’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot remains at four. The Lookouts plated two runs in their first trip to the plate and eventually would make it a 5-0 game after adding one run in the fifth and two in the sixth. Knoxville scored all three of their runs in the home half of the sixth, with Alex Ramírez (1-for-3) launched a solo shot, his eighth of the season, and Ariel Armas (1-for-4) bringing home two with a single. The Smokies were unable to mount a rally over the final three frames, ultimately dropping the opener 5-3. Connor Schultz got the start on the mound for Knoxville and took the loss, falling to 0-3 on the season. Schultz allowed three runs, one earned, on six hits over 4 2/3 innings of work, striking out six and walking one. Tyler Ras turned in 2 1/3 scoreless frames out of the bullpen, allowing two hits to go along with one walk and two strikeouts. Jefferson Rojas went 2-for-4 with a run and double at the dish, extending his hitting streak to five games. Rojas has tallied a multi-hit effort in each of those contests and is now slashing .424/.453/.712 through 14 games in June. High-A: South Bend Cubs Season Record: 39–21 Series Opponent: Fort Fayne TinCaps (25–39) Series Standing: Lead, 1-0 June 16: The South Bend Cubs opened their series at the Fort Wayne TinCaps with a narrow 4-3 victory on Tuesday night at Parkview Field. The Cubs enter the final series of the first half having already clinched the Midwest League West Division crown. South Bend took a 1-0 lead in the second on Alex Madera’s (2-for-4) but Fort Wayne hit back with three runs in the bottom of the inning to go in front. Miguel Useche (2-for-4) picked up an RBI in the fourth to make it 3-2 and Matt Halbach (3-for-4) made it 3-3 with a solo shot in the sixth, his fifth long ball of the season. Ben Johnson turned in three scoreless innings in relief to help the Cubs come back in the ballgame and he would eventually pick up the win to improve to 2-1 on the season. Johnson did not allow a hit and whiffed one batter, retiring all nine that he faced. He was rewarded for his stellar outing in the eighth when Useche singled in the go-ahead run to make it 4-3. Grayson Moore earned his second save of the campaign by firing 1 1/3 shutout frames to end the game, retiring all four batters he faced, with three coming via a strikeout. Four South Bend hitters would tally multi-hit efforts. Josiah Hartshorn went 0-for-3 with a run, which snapped his 12-game hitting streak. Hartshorn was hit by a pitch, which extended his on-base streak to 19. Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 25–37 Series Opponent: Delmarva Shorebirds (23–41) Series Standing: Lead, 1-0 June 16: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans opened their series at the Delmarva Shorebirds with an emphatic 12-4 victory on Tuesday night at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Pelicans took a 1-0 lead in the second thanks to Yahil Melendez’ (1-for-2) RBI-double and later made it 3-0 in the fourth, plating runs on a passed ball and a wild pitch. The Shorebirds made it 3-3 with three in the fifth but Myrtle Beach responded with four in the sixth to re-take the lead for good. After opening the scoring in the frame with two runs on an error, Alexey Lumpuy (2-for-5) doubled in two, his seventh of the campaign, to make it 7-3. The Pelicans then added five in the seventh to put the contest well out of reach. Delmarva would score later in the inning to make it 12-4 but the visitors would cruise to the series-opening win. Braylon Myers got the start for Myrtle Beach and took no decision. Myers spun four shutout innings, allowing just three hits to go along with one walk and two strikeouts. Daniel Avitia picked up the win to improve to 1-1 on the season. Avitia allowed four runs, three earned, over three innings of work, walking three and whiffing two. Henry Cone worked two scoreless frames in relief and did not allow a hit, walking one and shifting one. Four Pelican hitters would tally two-hit performances on the night, with five of the team’s 10 hits going for extra bases. View the full article

The New York Mets have had to navigate through injuries and unexpected circumstances all year. Even though they have gotten Kodai Senga back from the injured list, they are still dealing with a whole lot of absences. We have listed them all here, sorted by expected timeline. New York Mets' Updated Injury Report: Expected Timelines for Return We'll start with players who should return to Queens before or around the All-Star break, though note that any setbacks can obviously shift these timelines in the wrong direction. Mets Players Who Should Return Soon SS Francisco Lindor The Mets shortstop has been out since April 22 with a calf strain, but is finally starting to turn a corner in his rehab. He played three innings in a simulated game on Monday and could be days away from starting a rehab assignment in the minor leagues, per MLB.com, should additional sim games go well. He had a 93 wRC+ with two homers and two steals in 24 games before hitting the injured list. His return would definitely represent a boost for the Mets. SP Christian Scott On Monday, the Mets placed Scott on the 15-day injured list with a right hip impingement. The move is retroactive to June 12, and it’s seen as a minor issue, so there is a very good chance he makes it back before the end of the month. With a 3.10 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP, Scott had been one of the best and hottest starters on the roster for the Mets. Before allowing four runs in his most recent turn last week, he had an impressive streak of eight consecutive starts with three runs or fewer. IF Jorge Polanco Achilles issues have derailed Polanco’s season to this point. Just when he was getting ready to return, he suffered a difficult setback on June 5 and hasn’t played ever since. In fact, he has been transferred to the 60-day injured list. That, however, was seen as a procedural move. As manager Carlos Mendoza said this week, there’s still a chance Polanco resumes his rehab assignment in a matter of days, not weeks. "I heard he had a good day today, as far as like swinging the bat and all that," the manager said on Monday. "This is a day-to-day type deal." In 14 games at the MLB level this season, the infielder has a .179 batting average and a .532 OPS. IF Ronny Mauricio Mauricio is dealing with a fractured left thumb that he sustained while sliding into first base in early May. He could start a rehab assignment later this week and should be able to return this month if everything goes according to plan. The talented but inconsistent infielder was hitting .219 with a 45 wRC+ in 10 games with New York before hitting the injured list. OF Tyrone Taylor The defensive wizard in center field hit the shelf on May 26, nursing a right hip flexor strain. He resumed running on June 4 and is now performing all baseball activities, so his return is just a matter of getting back into baseball shape. Mendoza said this week that he’s already sprinting at 90 percent effort and making steady progress. Late June seems like a realistic return date for Taylor, who had a disappointing 45 wRC+ at the moment of the injury. Mets Player Who Will Be Out A While Longer OF Luis Robert Jr. Robert has been on the shelf since April 30, nursing a lumbar spine disc herniation. Last week, the outfielder said he hopes to begin running on the field this month. He still has a long way to go before he can be an option to help the Mets, because he needs to run without restrictions, face live pitching, and then go on a rehab assignment. August seems like a good bet for him if there aren’t any setbacks along the way. P Justin Hagenman Hagenman has been a valuable swingman for the Mets since 2025. Unfortunately for him, he went down during a spring training game on March 5 when he fractured a rib. The initial timeline was 4-8 weeks, so he should have returned by now. Instead, he wasn’t even throwing in early June and could be looking at next month in an absolute best-case scenario. August seems more likely, if he returns at all in 2026. SP Clay Holmes Holmes fractured his right fibula on May 16 after being hit by a comebacker. Back then, he was told he needed 6-8 weeks for the injury to heal and another six weeks to build up strength and stamina, so he’s looking at 12-14 weeks since the moment of getting hurt. That makes August a likely return target. The right-hander, owner of a 2.39 ERA in nine starts this year with the Mets, started playing light catch in June so he still has a long way to go. Mets Players Facing Long-term Absences P Tylor Megill Megill underwent Tommy John surgery in September and is already out for the entire 2026 campaign. He is under team control through 2027, so he’s focusing on having a clean, setback-free rehab in order to return to full strength next season. RP Reed Garrett Just like Megill, Garrett underwent Tommy John surgery in October and won’t be an option to return to the Mets until 2027. The steady veteran is under team control through the 2029 campaign. RP Dedniel Nunez Nunez underwent Tommy John surgery last July, so he is highly unlikely to return in 2026. View the full article

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap (June 16) Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Season Record: 34-32 A ninth-inning rally propelled the WooSox to a 5-3 road victory over the IronPigs (Philadelphia Phillies). Worcester erased the IronPigs' lead twice. The first time it happened was in the third inning when Mikey Romero singled home Anthony Siegler to put them up 1-0. Afterward, in the bottom half, Lehigh Valley went up 3-1 on a two-run homer and an RBI double. The WooSox answered in the fifth: Tsung-Che Cheng led the inning off with a lead-off homer, and a run came across on a perfect steal from Siegler on a pickoff attempt that led to Vinny Capra stealing home, knotting it 3-3. Nothing much happened up until the ninth, with one out, Braiden Ward was plunked by a pitch then stole his 30th base of the season, Vinny Capra walked to put two runners aboard, Seigler punched a go-ahead RBI single on a fly-ball to right field that the fielder read terribly, then Romero followed with another RBI single (his third hit of the game) to make it 5-3, giving Worcester the best chance to take control of the first game of the series. On the mound, opener Jack Anderson started and went three innings with two runs allowed. Tyler Uberstine pitched well in his four-inning long-relief appearance with four strikeouts and just one earned run on two hits. Tyler Samaniego worked a scoreless eighth to earn the win, and Angel Bastardo closed it out in the ninth for his first save of the season, despite walking two. Standout Performances: Mikey Romero: 3-for-4, 2 RBI, BB Vinny Capra: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, BB, SB Anthony Seigler: 2-for-4, R, RBI, BB, SB Tyler Uberstine: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K Double-A Portland Sea Dogs Season Record: 32-31 Portland scored two runs to pull out a two-out walk-off 7-6 victory against Somerset (New York Yankees). Nate Baez led off the scoring in the first inning with a solo home run to right field. Somerset tied it up in the second with an RBI groundout, Portland took back the lead in the bottom half after Miguel Bleis roped a double to set up Marvin Alcantara to hit him home with a single, 2-1. The Patriots blew it open in the third inning. Blake Wehunt loaded the bases after allowing a couple of walks and a single. A potential double-play ball went to waste, leading to a run and tying the game after Ronald Rosario muffed a tough hop grounder. Somerset extended their lead after launching a grand slam to make it 6-2. Portland started clawing back in the bottom of the third. Franklin Arias drew a lead-off walk. Romy Gonzalez, a key contributor from the Boston Red Sox 2025 season, made his first 2026 season appearance on a rehab assignment. He came up to the plate and crushed a two-run homer to left-center to make it a 6-4 game. The next four innings were scoreless until the eighth inning. Stanley Tucker was aboard after a fielding error, after stealing second and third base, he scored on a Rosario sacrifice fly, pulling the Sea Dogs within one, 6-5. The bottom of the ninth inning was magical. With one out, Marvin Alcantara caught the Patriots by surprise after blasting a homer to left, tying it 6-6. Now with two outs, Abraham Liendo lined a double to keep the inning alive, Arias was intentionally walked, bringing up Tucker. He made them pay after smacking a double to right, bringing in Liendo for the winning run, 7-6. Blake Wehunt started on the mound for the Sea Dogs and did not have his best stuff, giving up six runs, though only two earned due to the error that led to a grand slam in 3 ⅔ innings. The bullpen was locked in: Caleb Bolden was dominant, tossing 3 ⅓ scoreless one-hit innings with five strikeouts. Patrick Halligan tossed two scoreless for the win, including a scoreless ninth to set up the walk-off. Standout Performances: Romy Gonzalez: 1-for-2, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB Marvin Alcantara: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI Nate Baez: 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI Stanley Tucker: 1-for-2, 2B, R, RBI, 2 SB (hit a walk-off double) Caleb Bolden: 3 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 5 K Patrick Halligan: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 K High-A Greenville Drive Season Record: 26-35 A pitchers' duel led to a close 2-1 victory for Greenville, facing the BlueClaws (Philadelphia Phillies). The story was Greenville's pitching. Devin Futrell was incredible, throwing seven shutout innings, just two hits allowed, no walks, and five strikeouts to pick up the win. Other than the one mistake pitch that led to a homer, Steven Brooks pitched great as well, closing it out with two innings, allowing one run on three strikeouts for the save. The first runs of the game came in the fifth inning when Greenville star outfielder Enddy Azocar doubled to left to bring in their first run, then a second came across the plate when Mason White came home due to a wild pitch during Justin Gonzales' at-bat to make it 2-0. Jersey Shore got one back in the eighth after they homered, making it a 2-1 game, but that was as close as they'd come. At the plate for Greenville, Jack Winnay had the standout night, going 3-for-3 with a double and a walk, reaching base all four times and scoring the game's first run. Enddy Azocar drove in the key run with his double despite a 1-for-5 night. Both hitters combined for four of the Drive's six hits. Standout Performances: Devin Futrell: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K Steven Brooks: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K Jack Winnay: 3-for-3, 2B, R, BB Enddy Azocar: 1-for-5, 2B, RBI Low-A Salem RidgeYaks Season Record: 24-39 An all-around bad performance by the RidgeYaks led to a 7-2 loss to Fredericksburg (Washington Nationals). Salem actually out-hit Fredericksburg eight to five, but could not punch in runs due to some bad errors; the Nationals scored in pairs across three different innings. The Nationals jumped out early in the first inning, scoring a run with a single and a second run scored after a passed ball from Kleyver Salazar, 2-0. Salem got on the board in the third when Andrews Opata doubled to center, bringing in Ilan Fernandez, 2-1, then tied the game up 2-2 in the fourth after D’Angelo Ortiz singled home, Skylar King. The game seemed tight, and Salem looked like they had a chance to come out with a win, but that was not the case. The RidgeYaks bullpen fell apart in the later innings. A three-run inning from the Nationals in the sixth put them up 5-2, then increased their lead more in the eighth, bringing in two more runs to put the game out of reach, 7-2. For Salem at the plate, King had the best night, going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Opata (1-for-4, RBI double) and D'Angelo Ortiz (1-for-3, RBI single) drove in the runs, and the lineup spread eight hits around but went hitless in too many key spots. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins have no shortage of pitching depth, and that's a great problem to have—especially when situations like the one they're dealing with right now pop up. At the moment, the Twins essentially have two starting rotations: a healthy one and an injured one. Their current major-league rotation consists of Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Connor Prielipp, Zebby Matthews, and Mike Paredes. Despite some inconsistencies, that group has managed to keep the Twins afloat while the organization waits for reinforcements. Those reinforcements are significant, too. Pablo López, Mick Abel, Bailey Ober, David Festa, and Kendry Rojas are all currently on the injured list. Assuming they return fully healthy, that's five additional starting pitching options already in the organization. Add those names to the current group, and suddenly you're looking at 10 pitchers who could realistically make a case for a rotation spot in 2027, before considering any more young arms who progress to readiness for the bigs or the possibility that the club takes a starter with the No. 3 overall pick in next month's MLB Draft. Having too many options is a good problem to have, but 10 starters fighting for five or six rotation spots feels a little excessive. So, what moves or decisions could the Twins make to clear up the picture? And more importantly, what could their 2027 starting rotation actually look like? The first place to start is with the pitchers who may ultimately fit better in hybrid roles. Festa and Paredes have both given us reasons to remain intrigued. But if we're projecting forward, each may ultimately provide more value as a long reliever or spot starter, rather than full-time rotation pieces. For Festa, the stuff is intriguing, but he hasn't consistently worked deep into games. The same can be said for Paredes, who has largely been developed as a length reliever. Both pitchers have averaged fewer than five innings per start, neither has an extensive major-league track record as a starter, and both have seen their numbers worsen significantly once opposing lineups get a second or third look at them. That's not necessarily a knock on either pitcher. Plenty of valuable arms have carved out successful careers in bullpen roles. But for the sake of this exercise, let's move Festa and Paredes out of the rotation conversation and into bullpen roles. That brings us down from 10 names to eight. I still believe Joe Ryan will not be a member of the Twins by the start of next season. Ryan has been outstanding this year. In fact, that's part of the reason why moving him makes so much sense. The Twins entered the season with expectations of competing, but if they ultimately fall short, Ryan could become one of the most valuable starting pitchers available on the trade market. He's performing at an extremely high level. Contenders would line up for his services, and Minnesota has enough pitching depth behind him to at least entertain the possibility. Surely, such a deal would bring back a potential starter, too, so that player could go into the mix for the moment when injuries force the team to turn to its store of prospect arms. Bailey Ober is another name worth discussing. If the Twins decide to make additional trades, Ober could certainly generate interest. He's proven he can be a reliable major-league starter despite lackluster velocity, and teams are always looking for affordable pitching. That said, given his current injury situation and the uncertainty that comes with it, I'd lean toward him remaining with the organization through the start of 2027 in what would be a contract year for him. Matthews has had an up-and-down professional career. At times, he's looked like a potential mid-rotation starter with excellent control of the strike zone and swing-and-miss ability. At other times, he's struggled to put hitters away consistently and has been prone to giving up damaging contact. Because of that, he feels like another pitcher who could attract interest from other organizations. A team looking to buy low on upside might view Matthews as an ideal trade target. Still, if I'm making a prediction today, I think he sticks around. That brings us to the actual projection. If I had to guess what the Twins' 2027 starting rotation looks like right now, I don't think it'll be a traditional five-man group. Given the injury history throughout this staff and the direction major-league pitching continues to trend, a six-man rotation feels increasingly likely. And if that's the route the Twins take, here's how I see it shaping up. López would headline the group. Assuming he's healthy—and all indications suggest he should be—he remains the most accomplished starter in the organization and the obvious choice to lead the staff. Behind him, Bradley slots in as the No. 2 starter. Bradley's power arsenal and ability to miss bats give him frontline upside, and he's already shown stretches where he looks capable of dominating major-league hitters. Another offseason of development could take him to that full-on frontline starter. Abel would follow. He has flashed the raw stuff to become a major factor in the rotation if he can stay healthy and continue refining his command. Prielipp comes next. Injuries have always been the biggest question mark, but the talent has never been in doubt. Few pitchers in the organization possess his combination of stuff and upside, and he would give opposing teams a different look from the left side in the middle of the rotation. Ober would occupy the fifth spot, giving the rotation a unit different look from the harder-throwing arms ahead of him. And finally, Matthews rounds out the six-man unit. When he's right, Matthews has shown enough to justify continued opportunities as a starter, and the Twins may ultimately decide his upside is worth betting on. That leaves Rojas as the odd man out in my book (for now). What makes this group particularly interesting is the variety it offers. You have power arms and control specialists. You have different pitch mixes, different release points, and different ways of attacking hitters. And perhaps most importantly, you'd still have additional depth waiting in the wings. Festa, Rojas, and Paredes could all serve as bullpen weapons, spot starters, or emergency rotation options when injuries inevitably arise. Because if there's one thing we've learned over the past few years, it's that you can never have too much pitching. The Twins may soon find themselves in a situation where they have more viable starters than available rotation spots. And while that could force some difficult decisions, it's ultimately the kind of problem every organization would love to have. That's how I see the Twins' 2027 rotation shaping up right now. But what do you think? Which names would you keep, and which ones would you move? Let me know in the comments! View the full article

Last week, Baseball Savant released a new subset of bat tracking data to the public for the first time. MLB teams have had access to this kind of information for years, but now, fans everywhere can find out the exact distance between the ball and the bat on every single swing and miss since the 2023 All-Star Game. At the player level, it's also possible to determine the vertical and horizontal position of the bat relative to the ball at intercept, as well as the timing of the swing down to the millisecond. Owen Hill recently did a wonderful job providing a primer on these metrics here at Jays Centre. With the Blue Jays offense down in the dumps so far in 2026, I felt it was worth a deeper look at what the new data can tell us about the position players in particular. As a certified baseball nerd, I was excited to see these numbers come out, but I've been struggling more than I had hoped to best understand how to use them. Most of the content that's been posted about them has had to do with pitchers, and I feel like that might be by design. They don't appear to be correlated with any results at the hitter level, and while having access to bat position and timing helps strengthen our knowledge of swing geography and everything that goes into getting bat on ball, these data points tell us absolutely nothing about a hitter's ability to drive the ball. Pitchers inherently have way less control over how hard or far the ball goes than hitters do, so this new info accounts for a larger portion of the things that are directly within their control compared to the hitters. Still, it's part of the "why" for both sides, and there's still utility for these numbers on the hitter side on a case-by-case basis. Here are the things you need to know about bat positioning, timing, and the Toronto Blue Jays' offense in 2026. Team Before I get to individual players, there are a couple year-over-year trends I wanted to highlight at the team level. Jays hitters' miss distance is up this year on off-speed pitches (changeups & splitters) compared to 2025, meaning that on average, they're missing them by more when they swing. They made a killing in October by damaging fastballs, but they were the best offense in the league against secondary pitches in the regular season, and their regression on that front has contributed to their hitting woes this year. Blue Jays Bat Positioning vs Off-Speed, 2025-26 (Statcast) Year Miss Distance (in.) Miss Distance MLB Rank Flailed% Flailed% MLB Rank Avg. Flail Distance (in.) Flail Distance MLB Rank 2025 3.5 5 42% 4 8.3 9 2026 3.9 20 44% 9 8.8 21 As a squad, flailing at these pitches has been the main problem (ideally, they'd be centered, with the other end of the extreme being tied up). It's not so much that they're flailing more, but the distance they're missing by when they do is higher. Blue Jays Bat Positioning vs Breaking, 2025-26 (Statcast) Year Miss Distance (in.) Miss Distance MLB Rank Perfect Contact% Perfect Contact% MLB Rank 2025 4.4 6 23% 1 2026 4.7 21 20% 14 Their miss distance is also up against breaking balls – that is, sliders, sweepers, curveballs, and anything else with spin. As part of this rollout, MLB introduced a stat called perfect contact rate. A perfect swing is centered both horizontally (between tied up and flailed) and vertically (between over and under), as well as on time. A season ago, the Blue Jays had the very best perfect contact rate of any team in baseball against breaking pitches. This year, they've fallen to the middle of the pack. In all three dimensions, their swings against breaking balls have gotten worse. Players George Springer has been turning a corner in his past 25 at-bats or so, but his OPS is still in the mid-.600s, a steep drop from where he was in 2025. Breaking it down by pitch type shows he's been late more often on fastballs (four-seamers, sinkers and cutters), specifically on 20% of his swings, up from 17%. That's a difference of only 3%, but the distribution in many of these categories is quite small. If he maintained his late swing rate of 17% this year, for example, he'd be about 80 spots and 20 percentiles farther toward the other side of the leaderboard. Simultaneously, Springer's early swing rate on off-speed pitches has increased from 35% to 38%. He's later on fastballs and earlier on off-speed stuff, a classic example of that "in-between" phrase we hear hitters and broadcasters use so often to describe timing issues. George Springer Swing Timing, 2025-26 (Statcast) Year Late% Fastballs Early% Off-speed 2025 17% 35% 2026 20% 38% Meanwhile, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been getting under fastballs at a higher clip (28%) than last year (22%). I first mentioned this in last week's Shape of the Blue Jays column: For all the issues Guerrero has had consistently lifting the ball over the years, his 8.2% popup rate would be the highest of his career, and his popup rate against fastballs specifically hasn't been this high since 2023. It's important to remember that pure home run-hitting sluggers are trying to get a little under the ball because damage is not possible without lift. For instance, Aaron Judge and Yordan Alvarez get under fastballs more than almost every hitter in the game. Despite that, I don't think Guerrero is better when he's under the ball, given his unique high-raw power, high-contact, low-launch angle profile. Tampa's Yandy Díaz is his closest comp in that respect, and he is among the league laggards in under percentage against the fastball. The Cubs' Nico Hoerner doesn't have anything close to Guerrero's bat speed, but he's another bat-to-ball guy with a low attack angle that is almost never under fastballs and has been a consistently productive hitter for years. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Vertical Bat Position on Fastballs, 2025-26 (Statcast) Year Under% Fastballs Popup% Fastballs 2025 22% 4.9% 2026 28% 6.1% Only 14 qualified hitters in the majors have swung over top of breaking balls more frequently than Davis Schneider this season (45% of swings). Some of the most extreme swing-and-miss guys across the league are ahead of him on that list, including Will Benson, James Outman, and Matt Wallner, while Munetaka Murakami is right behind him. This trend probably warrants further investigation, although not all the hitters on that list are over by an egregious distance on average. Schneider's under percentage on fastballs is also up from 40% to 49%, which aptly summarizes how the swing-and-miss issues have bottomed out for him. As I'm writing this, he's currently laying waste to the Red Sox, so hopefully he continues to make good on his second chance at the big leagues in 2026. Davis Schneider Vertical Bat Position, 2025-26 (Statcast) Year Under% Fastballs Over% Breaking 2025 40% 37% 2026 49% 45% The advent of precise miss distance tracking illustrates what Nathan Lukes does so well at the plate. In 2026, his average miss distance on fastballs is the lowest of any current Blue Jay at 0.8". Against off-speed pitches, it's somehow even lower at 0.7", which is quite impressive considering that the average miss distance on off-speed stuff is about 2" more than on fastballs. It will probably regress toward the mean once he plays more games, but it's a feat nonetheless. Only Myles Straw and Lenyn Sosa have a smaller miss distance against breaking balls. This all indicates that his contact ability might be the most sustainable of the many bat-to-ball weapons the Blue Jays have and speaks to the quality of at-bats he puts together for this lineup. Nathan Lukes Miss Distance, 2025-26 (Statcast) Focus Group Miss Dist. Fastballs Miss Dist. Offspeed Miss Dist. Breaking Nathan Lukes 0.8" 0.7" 2.8" MLB Average 1.3" 3.7" 4.7" I was initially surprised to see that Ernie Clement currently ranks inside the top 40 qualified hitters in terms of the percentage of swings he takes against off-speed pitches that are vertically lined up (the sweet spot between over and under). This happens on 81% of his swings on those pitches. The fact that he loves to hunt fastballs to pull in the air while also getting on plane so well against changeups and splitters, which are often used to neutralize hitters looking for velocity, is another example of what makes him such a tough out. He also does a great job minimizing flawed swings against the off-speed, which can often make hitters look silly. Flawed swings are the antithesis of perfect contact: Not centered horizontally, lined up vertically, or on time. Ernie Clement vs Off-Speed Pitches, 2025-26 (Statcast) Focus Group Lined Up% Miss Distance (in.) Flawed Swing% Ernie Clement 81% 3.2" 4% MLB Average 67% 3.7" 12% Another way to use this data is as an additional point of reference to evaluate the swing quality of switch-hitters by handedness. Brandon Valenzuela, for example, has a long swing geared for pull-side power from the left side while being a little more compact from the right side. Both versions of him have been above-average at the plate overall, and when judging his swing based on bat position and timing, it's interesting to see how his left-handed swing is quite vulnerable to breaking balls, while he doesn't seem to have that problem from the right side. Given his success against changeups this year, I wonder if righty pitchers will try to surprise him with more breaking balls than we've seen thus far. Brandon Valenzuela Swing Quality by Handedness (Statcast) Handedness Perfect Contact% Fastballs Flawed Swing% Fastballs Perfect Contact% Breaking Flawed Swing% Breaking L 25% 1% 18% 20% R 28% 2% 7% 4% I'm tempted to take matters into my own hands and take a more extensive look at how these numbers translate to results for both hitters and pitchers, given the depth of the data. The quality of publicly available information on Baseball Savant continues to impress, and it's never been a better time to be a statistically informed fan. All the metrics cited in this article can be found here. All stats entering June 16, 2026. View the full article

Patrick Sandoval & Romy Gonzalez are both in Double-A Portland for their rehab assignments. Once they return, what type of impact will they have on the roster? Also, Roman Anthony & Garrett Crochet injury updates! View the full article

Less than three weeks ago, the Brewers looked like a below-average offense searching for answers. Today, they're producing runs at a pace no team in baseball has matched during the first half of June. The transformation wasn't driven by a single superstar or an unsustainable hot streak. Instead, it has come from a collective surge that has reshaped the identity of Milwaukee's lineup. A jump from a 90 wRC+ to a 156 wRC+ doesn't happen by accident. If that kind of improvement played out over a full season, we'd be talking about one of the most dramatic offensive turnarounds in recent baseball history. Milwaukee pulled it off in a matter of weeks, evolving from a below-average offense into the most productive lineup in the majors during the opening weeks of June. The contrast between those two versions of the lineup is impossible to miss. By the end of May, Milwaukee was hitting just .242/.316/.354 as a team, posting a .112 ISO and launching only 18 home runs across 26 games. The Brewers rarely generated consistent damage and often depended on stringing together multiple baserunners to manufacture runs. When timely contact failed to arrive, the lineup had few ways to compensate. Two weeks later, the picture looks entirely different. The Brewers have slashed .309/.392/.529 in June, hitting 21 home runs in just 12 games while producing a 156 wRC+, the best mark in Major League Baseball during that span. One important piece of context is Milwaukee's recent schedule. The Brewers spent part of this surge on the road in Colorado and Las Vegas, two of the most favorable offensive environments in professional baseball. Those conditions likely contributed to some of the eye-catching traditional numbers, particularly the club's .529 slugging percentage and .220 ISO during the month. However, the park-adjusted production suggests the breakout was not driven solely by those environments. Milwaukee posted a 155 wRC+ during the Colorado and Athletics portions of the road trip, but also recorded a 145 wRC+ in seven games against San Francisco and Philadelphia during the same stretch. While Colorado and Las Vegas may have amplified some of the raw offensive totals, the difference in park-adjusted production was relatively modest. The Brewers remained one of baseball's most productive offenses regardless of venue, and the underlying gains in walk rate, strikeout rate, power production, and individual hitter performance point toward a broader offensive improvement rather than a surge created primarily by ballpark conditions. Month wRC+ BB% K% ISO May 90 9.2% 21.4% .112 June 156 12.2% 19.1% .220 The improvement extends well beyond a single category. Milwaukee is drawing more walks, striking out less often, and generating far more power than it did a month ago. Offensive breakouts of this magnitude are often accompanied by rising strikeout rates or an overwhelming dependence on home runs. Instead, the Brewers have paired better swing decisions with louder contact, creating the kind of impact that was missing throughout much of May. The team-wide numbers, however, tell only part of the story. Surges like this are always driven by individual players changing the equation, and in Milwaukee, several hitters began doing exactly that at the same time. Player May wRC+ June wRC+ Change Jackson Chourio 102 244 142 Garrett Mitchell 82 177 95 Sal Frelick 40 125 85 Jake Bauers 159 208 49 Andrew Vaughn 171 207 36 Christian Yelich 96 128 32 William Contreras 104 96 -8 The numbers point to something larger than a few players getting hot. Chourio, Mitchell, and Frelick entered June from very different positions, yet all three found another gear almost simultaneously. Just as important, Bauers and Vaughn avoided the regression that often accompanies team-wide offensive explosions, allowing Milwaukee's gains to compound rather than merely offset declines elsewhere in the lineup. The most dramatic transformation belongs to Jackson Chourio. Although he finished May with a respectable 102 wRC+, he still wasn't delivering the level of impact Milwaukee envisioned. In June, his ISO has skyrocketed from .138 to .407, his strikeout rate has fallen from 28.7% to 18.3%, and his slugging percentage has climbed to .815. This isn't a hot streak. It's a completely different hitter profile. Yet the Brewers' breakout can't be explained through Chourio alone. Garrett Mitchell has gone from an 82 wRC+ to a 177 mark behind a .286 ISO and a .440 BABIP. Sal Frelick, after enduring a miserable May that produced a 40 wRC+, has raised his walk rate to 14% while hitting .297 in June. Both have gone from offensive weak spots to productive pieces of the lineup. While several hitters were rediscovering their form, Jake Bauers and Andrew Vaughn kept the engine running. Bauers has walked in 28.6% of his plate appearances this month, pushing his OBP to .469. Vaughn has nearly eliminated strikeouts altogether, carrying a 5.6% strikeout rate while hitting .406. That consistency helps explain why Milwaukee's offensive leap has been so dramatic. The best offense in baseball didn't emerge because one of its stars suddenly entered MVP mode. Milwaukee has reached this level while receiving meaningful contributions from virtually every corner of the lineup, a far more encouraging sign than relying on an extraordinary individual performance. That doesn't mean the Brewers will maintain a 156 wRC+ for the rest of the season. No team does. What matters is that June's surge is built on tangible foundations: Bauers's improved plate discipline, Vaughn's elite contact skills, legitimate power growth from Chourio and Mitchell, and quieter but meaningful rebounds from players like Frelick. A few weeks ago, Milwaukee looked like an offense trying to survive. Today, it looks like a lineup capable of creating damage from multiple spots in the batting order. Whether the Brewers remain baseball's most productive offense for the rest of the summer is almost beside the point. More important is how they've reached this level. This isn't a lineup being carried by a single superstar. It's a lineup getting meaningful production from nearly every spot in the order. The Brewers who finished May searching for answers and the Brewers who have spent June overwhelming opposing pitching barely resemble the same team. View the full article

Bo Bichette has some decisions to make at season's end. The Mets have a decision to make on Bo Bichette before the trade deadline. In this video, we will explore these scenarios & would LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments section on what you feel is best for Bichette and/or the Mets. View the full article

In two starts since he came off the injured list, Dylan Cease has given up seven hits and one run in 11 innings, striking out 18. He's doing everything he can to finally earn his first All-Star selection and get back in the AL Cy Young race. The Blue Jays couldn't be more grateful. Alejandro Kirk was behind the plate for Cease's most recent gem, marking the first time the two have worked together since April 3. In three games since his own return from the IL, Kirk is hitting .364 (4-for-11) with a .916 OPS. Slowly but surely, the Blue Jays are getting healthier, and the team's outlook is growing brighter. Just don't ask me about Max Scherzer's first start back from the IL. Instead, we can talk about some of the other reinforcements on the way. Shane Bieber (Elbow) Shane Bieber is making another rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo today. According to Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling, the goal is about 75 pitches. The team has not confirmed that this will be the last rehab appearance for Bieber, but John Schneider suggested as much last week, telling Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith that Bieber needed one more rehab outing before the righty could make his way back to Toronto. Bieber's return can't come soon enough for a Blue Jays team fighting to get back above .500. In fact, I recently named him one of the three biggest X-factors for the Jays as they try to get back in the playoff picture. However, his return could also force a difficult decision: Who will lose their spot in the rotation to make room for the 2020 AL Cy Young winner? Yimi García (Elbow) Yimi García hasn't pitched in the majors since last July, but he has now made six appearances during his latest rehab stint. In his most recent outing, he struck out all three Triple-A batters he faced. While his stuff has been looking better, The Athletic's Mitch Bannon suggested recovery time might still be a concern. As Bannon pointed out, García has had at least three days of rest between all his rehab outings. If he's going to be of help to the Jays' bullpen, he needs to be able to pitch more frequently. Whichever of Bieber or García comes back second is going to force the harder roster decision. Presumably, Simeon Woods Richardson is the first to go when Toronto needs an active roster spot. It's a lot harder to figure out how the team will find a second opening on the 26-man. Ricky Tiedemann (Elbow) We were supposed to see Ricky Tiedemann pitch in spring training this year, but a bout of elbow soreness dashed those hopes. Last night, Jays Centre's No. 5 prospect finally made his 2026 debut, tossing an inning for the Florida Complex League team. Although he gave up two hits and a run, the outing was a huge step in the right direction for the promising young lefty. Tiedemann's long-term future is still as a starting pitcher, but he'll probably be limited to shorter outings this year. The silver lining to that is it could accelerate his MLB debut. As long as he keeps making progress, it's a very real possibility that Tiedemann joins the Blue Jays' bullpen down the stretch this season. More Blue Jays Injury Updates Addison Barger (elbow) could begin a rehab assignment later this week (per Sportsnet). There is no timeline yet for Daulton Varsho (wrist), but the center fielder has resumed hitting drills. According to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi, Varsho's wrist is feeling "much better" than it did last week. Lazaro Estrada is technically still on a rehab assignment, even though he's pitching for Triple-A Buffalo, which is likely where he'll stay when he's reinstated. He made his fifth rehab appearance yesterday, giving up two runs in 2.2 innings. Arjun Nimmala remains on the minor league injured list with a hamstring strain. Jays Centre's No. 3 prospect hasn't played since May 27, and unfortunately, there's no word yet on when he'll return. View the full article

Sweet Lou, Comrade Cody, and Ol Gregg discuss a frisky Twins team. Love for Byron Buxton and Mike Paredes. A Jimmie Hall history lesson. A triple gripe. Can we go back to making fun of Royce Lewis? Is Twins Daily going on strike? And is Trevor Larnach still a Twin? 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

Unlike other publications, Grand Central Mets enables all users to contribute to our top prospect rankings. Anyone with a DiamondCentric account can participate and give their input on who they think should be in the Mets' top prospects list. Before you vote, you can hit our top prospects page for the latest stats and news on Mets prospects, while on the voting page, every name is a clickable link that brings up their current stat card. Voting is simple, just follow the instructions below! Here's the rundown on how to participate: 1. You must have an account and be logged in to vote. If you don't have an account, click here. It requires only 60 seconds to create an account. 2. Review our current top 20 prospect list, catch up on stats, rankings, etc. (you can do so from the voting page link below) 3. Have your prospect list in your filthy little paws? Then flip on over to the new prospect voting page (after reading the rest of this, please). https://grandcentralmets.com/prospect-voting 4. Voting is super simple; you drag and drop players in the order you wish them to be. After you move a prospect, the list automatically renumbers so you don't lose track of the order. This works on mobile devices, but it's a *vastly* better experience on desktop. Sorry, that's just how this kind of thing works. There's no excellent way to make something like this as awesome on a phone screen. 5. Each prospect has a comment section where you can add any commentary you have on that player. At the bottom of the list, there is a general comment section to explain over-arching things you'd like to mention. 6. Don't see a prospect you want to put on the list? Just pop back here and give me a mention (in a comment, start typing @Brock Beauchamp and select my name after it appears). Please mention the prospect you would like added, and I will do so as soon as possible. 7. Once you're done with all of it, click Save. You've now voted! 8. When the voting closes, a new thread will automatically generate in the Mets forum with all of your rankings and comments for everyone to read and talk about. 9. You can only vote once. If you have voted in error, pop back here and tag Brock to ask to have your vote deleted. It will be removed, and you can vote again. Voting closes Friday, June 19. View the full article

Unlike other publications, Padres Mission enables all users to contribute to our top prospect rankings. Anyone with a DiamondCentric account can participate and give their input on who they think should be in the Padres' top prospects list. Before you vote, you can hit our top prospects page for the latest stats and news on Padres prospects, while on the voting page, every name is a clickable link that brings up their current stat card. Voting is simple, just follow the instructions below! Here's the rundown on how to participate: 1. You must have an account and be logged in to vote. If you don't have an account, click here. It requires only 60 seconds to create an account. 2. Review our current top 20 prospect list, catch up on stats, rankings, etc. (you can do so from the voting page link below) 3. Have your prospect list in your filthy little paws? Then flip on over to the new prospect voting page (after reading the rest of this, please). https://padresmission.com/prospect-voting 4. Voting is super simple; you drag and drop players in the order you wish them to be. After you move a prospect, the list automatically renumbers so you don't lose track of the order. This works on mobile devices, but it's a *vastly* better experience on desktop. Sorry, that's just how this kind of thing works. There's no excellent way to make something like this as awesome on a phone screen. 5. Each prospect has a comment section where you can add any commentary you have on that player. At the bottom of the list, there is a general comment section to explain over-arching things you'd like to mention. 6. Don't see a prospect you want to put on the list? Just pop back here and give me a mention (in a comment, start typing @Brock Beauchamp and select my name after it appears). Please mention the prospect you would like added, and I will do so as soon as possible. 7. Once you're done with all of it, click Save. You've now voted! 8. When the voting closes, a new thread will automatically generate in the minor league forum with all of your rankings and comments for everyone to read and talk about. 9. You can only vote once. If you have voted in error, pop back here and tag Brock to ask to have your vote deleted. It will be removed, and you can vote again. Voting closes Friday, June 19.. View the full article

Daniel Palencia understands how much is on the line right now—how fragile things really are in Wrigleyville. That's why he shook off a twinge in his elbow Monday night to pitch to the end of a scoreless top of the ninth inning, setting up the Cubs' walkoff win to open a homestand. It couldn't be ignored any longer than that, though, and now, Palencia is back on the injured list for the second time this season. Last time, he had a lat strain. This time, it's elbow inflammation. Expect a longer absence than the fortnight he missed in April—and expect, therefore, a real scramble to cover the innings for a team trying to stay in contention. That will only be worsened if Edward Cabrera follows Palencia to the injured list, for what would also be his second stint this season. Cabrera wasn't effective Tuesday night, anyway, but he left in the fifth inning because of a cramp in his right hand, adding injury to insult. Cabrera's previous trip to the shelf was prompted by a blister, which proved a minor problem, and this could be a similar situation. The bigger problem is that Cabrera hasn't been able to rediscover his form from the first handful of starts this year—although, if the cramping turns out to be linked to any other problem farther up the kinetic chain, that could become the main issue in a hurry. Matthew Boyd is, once again, heading out on a rehab assignment, so the Cubs anticipate some relief in their rotation soon. For the moment, though, this team is limping around, hampered by a series of injuries that have been far too damaging for their thin organizational depth to withstand—and by the failures of Colin Rea and Shota Imanaga to keep the ball in the park of late. It's not at all clear what the team can do about this, though. Jaxon Wiggins has a great arm, but is hurt. Brandon Birdsell has had his career utterly derailed by injuries, and hasn't pitched at all in 2026. Brody McCullough is on the injured list for Triple-A Iowa, too. The best healthy starters the team's top farm team could offer them right now are Jordan Wicks (which the team has already tried, despite the experiment obviously being doomed to failure), Will Sanders, Connor Noland and Ty Blach. None of those three guys has an ERA under 5.00, and that's against Triple-A hitters. The Cubs do have six healthy relievers currently on optional assignment with Iowa, even after recalling Gavin Hollowell to replace Palencia on the roster. But the upside in that group is incredibly thin. Ditto for the handful of non-roster relievers also waiting for a chance. With Phil Maton seemingly having a lost season and Hunter Harvey nowhere near a return to the mound, a Palencia-less Cubs pen is as weak as their injury-ravaged rotation. Light on farm system depth, the Cubs will have few options for making a splashy trade over the next month and a half. Instead, they'll have to ride this out and try to find a little bit of help—to stabilize this roster and try to sneak into the postseason, rather than to make any serious challenge to the Brewers for the NL Central crown. There are plenty of problems on the position-player front, but all of those could be survived. The pitching injury crisis, by contrast, is reaching a critical level that looks like it will torpedo the team's season. They don't develop pitching well enough to win without a bit of luck on the health front. Right now, they're getting no such luck. View the full article

In Mason Miller, the San Diego Padres have the best relief arm in baseball coming out of their bullpen. The wild thing is that the above sentiment isn't opinion. It's as objective an idea as possible considering his blend of velocity, strikeouts, and overall ability to prevent runs. As the calendar hits the middle of June, Miller is one of the only certainties the Padres possess on a roster full of questions. Miller's 1.9 fWAR through his first 29 appearances leads all qualifying relievers. As does his remarkable 51.8 percent strikeout rate (Miller has faced 114 hitters as of this writing and struck out 59 of them). His 0.90 ERA ranks fifth among that group, but he's also allowing the least amount of hard contact by a wide margin (14.0 percent) in those rare instances in which a hitter even gets a bat on the ball. Miller's 51.9 percent contact rate is the best in the sport by more than seven percent. His 101.3 MPH fastball velocity also sits at the top of the leaderboard. For an illustrated indicator of just how good he's been, take his Baseball Savant percentile chart. He ranks in the 100th percentile for (i.e., he's the best in baseball at) the following: xERA, xBA, fastball velocity, average exit velocity allowed, barrel rate allowed, hard-hit rate, whiff rate, and strikeout rate. Oh, and his chase rate and ground-ball rate also rank in the top 10 perecent among all pitchers league-wide. Given all of that, we didn't necessarily need new reasons to be impressed by Miller. He was already one of the game's top closers upon his arrival in San Diego and has only increased in his dominance in the trips he's taken to the mound since. However, Statcast's new data has given us even more ways in which that dominance can be quantified. The introduction of the swing timing and the miss distance leaderboard unlocks additional insight into the impact of pitches. We now have more of a tangible means to describe just how much certain pitchers can overwhelm the average hitter. The miss distance helps to indicate just that; it's the closest distance (in inches) between the top half of the bat and the ball over the course of a swing. Swing timing, meanwhile, helps to indicate how in front of or behind, above or below, and horizontally centered a swing ends up on a given pitch or pitch type. In Miller's case, that data is illustrated below in a couple of different ways. The red curve is his fastball; the yellow curve is his slider. Let's talk about the fastball first. Hitters are able to keep it centered, sure. A four-seam isn't liable to feature too much horizontal movement to it, after all. What's more notable is in the timing and the vertical components. Hitters are much more liable to be behind. They're not getting completely overpowered given the overall velocity present in the game, but they're much more likely to be behind than directly on time, and they're certainly not going to be early. When you factor in the vertical movement in which a four-seamer moves upward — Miller gets 16.9 inches of induced break — it becomes nearly impossible for a hitter to make quality contact. In Miller's case, the 22.7 percent hard-hit rate he's allowing is more than 25 percent lower than it was last year. The slider is, perhaps, an even more impressive picture. In each of the three areas of the swing, hitters are all over the map. They're off the end of the bat, they're swinging early, and they're swinging over it. A "flawed" swing in the eyes of this new data is a swing in which a hitter fails on all three fronts. Miller's 37 percent rate of flawed swings with his slider isn't just the highest rate among any individual pitch type for any Padres pitcher, but the highest of any individual pitch for any pitcher in the sport. The 60 percent whiff rate with the slider is also atop the leaderboard, while his 67 percent rate of competitive swings is the lowest for any pitch. It's not just that Mason Miller is likely the most dominant reliever in the sport. He also possesses its most dominant pitch in his slider. That four-seam/slider combination is not a modern invention in baseball, but Miller is executing it as well as anybody we've seen in recent memory. The idea itself is not revelatory; Miller was already having an elite season by just about any measure. Statcast's new data is just another perspective to reinforce it. View the full article