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Brooklyn led the night with a clean 6-0 combined shutout over Wilmington, Daviel Hurtado tossing four scoreless innings to start the effort. St. Lucie pounded out three home runs in an 8-2 win at Bradenton, with Julio Zayas, AJ Salgado, and Simon Juan all going deep, while Miguel Mejias struck out six over two perfect relief innings. Binghamton fell 7-3 in 10 innings to Portland despite Jonathan Santucci's seven-strikeout outing. The Syracuse Mets were idle. Mets Transactions Transferred CF Luis Robert Jr. from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Lumbar spine disc herniation. Placed CF Tyrone Taylor on the 10-day injured list. Right hip flexor strain. Activated LHP A.J. Minter from the 60-day injured list. Activated 1B Jared Young from the 10-day injured list. Optioned LF Nick Morabito to Syracuse Mets. Optioned RHP Jonathan Pintaro to Syracuse Mets. Selected the contract of 1B Eric Wagaman from Syracuse Mets. Late Runs Sink Rumble Ponies In Extras The Rumble Ponies fell 7-3 to the Sea Dogs in 10 innings on Tuesday night at Mirabito Stadium, undone by a four-run top of the 10th. Binghamton struck out 13 times at the plate, stranded eight runners, and saw a late lead slip away. Jonathan Santucci handled the bulk of the starting work, going 4 2/3 innings on 84 pitches. He gave up four hits and two earned runs, walked two, and struck out seven, the most by any pitcher in the game on either side. Max Green followed with 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief, fanning three without issuing a walk. Binghamton turned things around in the bottom of the third. With one out, JT Schwartz launched his third home run of the season to tie the game at one. Two batters later, Marco Vargas drew a walk and came around to score on a Chris Suero double to left, giving Binghamton a 2-1 lead. The lead lasted only into the fifth, when Portland evened it before a Jacob Reimer sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning put the Rumble Ponies back ahead 3-2. Portland pushed across the tying run in the eighth, then broke through against Jefry Yan in extras. With the zombie runner aboard, the Sea Dogs strung together a triple, a double, a single, and another double to plate four. Yan was charged with the loss after surrendering four runs, three earned, in his one inning of work. Schwartz finished 1-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and two runs scored. Wyatt Young added two hits and two stolen bases. Player AB R H RBI BB K Marco Vargas, SS 3 1 0 0 2 1 Chris Suero, C 4 0 1 1 1 2 Jacob Reimer, 3B 4 0 0 1 0 2 Eli Serrano III, LF 5 0 1 0 0 1 Jose Ramos, RF 3 0 0 0 1 2 D'Andre Smith, CF 4 0 1 0 0 1 Nick Lorusso, DH 4 0 0 0 0 3 JT Schwartz, 1B 3 2 1 1 1 0 Wyatt Young, 2B 3 0 2 0 1 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jonathan Santucci 4 2/3 4 2 2 2 7 0 Max Green 2 1/3 1 0 0 0 3 0 Guillo Zuñiga (BS, 1) 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 Saul Garcia 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Jefry Yan (L, 0-1) 1 4 4 3 0 3 0 Cyclones Combine For Shutout Over Wilmington Brooklyn blanked the Blue Rocks 6-0 at Maimonides Park behind a five-pitcher combined shutout, scattering four hits over nine innings while striking out 10 and walking just one. Daviel Hurtado set the tone, working four scoreless innings with three strikeouts and no walks while allowing only two hits. Joe Jacques picked up the win with a strikeout in a clean fifth, Ryan Dollar followed with a hitless sixth, and Garrett Stratton fired two shutout frames in the seventh and eighth, striking out three. Cristofer Gomez closed it out with a one-hit, two-strikeout ninth. The Cyclones broke through in the second. Colin Houck and Trace Willhoite drew back-to-back walks before Sam Biller punched a single up the middle, scoring Houck for a 1-0 lead. Brooklyn doubled the margin in the third when Mitch Voit worked a walk and John Bay followed by lining his sixth home run of the season to left field, pushing the lead to 3-0. Biller stayed busy in the fourth, lacing a double to right that scored Trace Willhoite from first and making it 4-0. Yonatan Henriquez added a run-scoring single in the seventh, and Voit capped the scoring in the eighth with a base hit to left that brought home Nick Roselli. Biller finished 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a walk, while Voit reached safely three times with two walks, a single, and a run scored. Bay's homer and two-RBI night anchored the middle of the order. Ronald Hernandez chipped in with a triple in the third. Player AB R H RBI BB K Mitch Voit, SS 3 1 1 1 2 1 John Bay, RF 4 1 1 2 0 1 Corey Collins, DH 2 1 0 0 2 1 Ronald Hernandez, C 3 0 1 0 1 1 Yonatan Henriquez, CF 4 0 1 1 0 1 Colin Houck, 2B 3 1 0 0 1 1 Trace Willhoite, 1B 3 1 1 0 1 2 Nick Roselli, 3B 4 1 1 0 0 2 Sam Biller, LF 3 0 2 2 1 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Daviel Hurtado 4 2 0 0 0 3 0 Joe Jacques (W, 1-0) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Ryan Dollar 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 Garrett Stratton 2 1 0 0 0 3 0 Cristofer Gomez 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 Three Homers Lift St. Lucie To Win Over Bradenton The St. Lucie Mets bashed three home runs and rolled to an 8-2 win over the Marauders at LECOM Park, racking up 10 hits and 10 walks while their pitching staff held Bradenton to two unearned runs over nine innings. Jonathan Jimenez opened on the mound and gave the Mets 2 1/3 innings, allowing two hits and one unearned run while walking and striking out none. Christian Rodriguez followed and picked up the win with 2 2/3 innings, surrendering two hits and one unearned run while fanning two. Miguel Mejias was the standout out of the bullpen, striking out six over two perfect innings. St. Lucie struck quickly in the second. Julio Zayas led off the inning with his third home run of the year, and Chase Meggers later doubled to center to bring home AJ Salgado for a 2-0 lead. The Mets tacked on in the third when Antonio Jimenez walked, moved to third on a Randy Guzman double, and scored on a Zayas groundout. The fifth was the back-breaker. With Zayas aboard on a walk, Salgado launched his eighth home run of the year to make it 5-1. Simon Juan followed in the sixth with a two-run shot to left that brought Antonio Jimenez home, and Elian Peña tacked on an RBI single in the eighth to close out the scoring. Peña reached base three times with a hit and two walks. Antonio Jimenez was on base in all five trips with a single, three walks, a hit-by-pitch, two stolen bases, and two runs scored. Player AB R H RBI BB K Elian Peña, SS 3 0 1 1 2 2 Antonio Jimenez, 3B 1 2 1 0 3 0 Randy Guzman, 1B 3 0 1 0 0 0 Simon Juan, RF 2 1 1 2 0 0 Yohairo Cuevas, CF 4 0 1 0 1 3 Julio Zayas, DH 4 2 1 2 1 1 AJ Salgado, 1B 4 2 1 2 1 0 Branny De Oleo, LF 1 0 0 0 0 0 Sam Robertson, LF 3 0 1 0 1 1 Chase Meggers, C 5 0 1 1 0 2 Jeremy Rodriguez, 2B 4 1 1 0 1 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jonathan Jimenez 2 1/3 2 1 0 0 0 0 Christian Rodriguez (W, 2-0) 2 2/3 2 1 0 0 2 0 Luis Alvarez 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 Miguel Mejias 2 0 0 0 0 6 0 Joe Charles 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 Top-20 Prospect Performance Carson Benge: DNP A.J. Ewing: DNP Jonah Tong: DNP Elian Pena: 1-for-3, RBI, 2 BB, 2 K Jack Wenninger: DNP Ryan Clifford: DNP Jacob Reimer: 0-for-4, RBI, 2 K Nick Morabito: DNP Mitch Voit: 1-for-3, R, RBI, 2 BB, K Jonathan Santucci: 4 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K Chris Suero: 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB, 2 K Zach Thornton: DNP Wandy Asigen: DNP Will Watson: DNP Eli Serrano III: 1-for-5, K Randy Guzman: 1-for-3, 2B Ryan Lambert: DNP Dylan Ross: DNP Antonio Jimenez: 1-for-1, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SB R.J. Gordon: DNP View the full article

The San Diego Padres improbably find themselves at 31-22 and keeping pace with the reigning champions in the National League West. It’s not that the Padres being one of the best teams in the league is wholly surprising; it is how they’ve gotten there that is. At the beginning of the season, if someone had told you that the Padres were challenging the Dodgers for the division title, your first thought would have likely been that Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and Jackson Merrill had played at an MVP level, but you’d be wrong. The Padres have gotten here despite their star trio. Machado has a wRC+ of 76, Tatis clocks in at 77, and Merrill sits at a lowly 74. Thankfully, their defensive abilities have prevented them from being complete negatives, but that trio's underperformance is the primary reason the Padres own the league’s 27th-ranked offense by wRC+ at 90. While Tatis’ continued home run drought, despite excellent hard hit rates, is well chronicled, as is Machado’s perplexing brand of flaccid patience, Merrill’s struggles have flown a bit under the radar. Jackson Merrill, Future Star Bursting onto the scene as a 21-year-old rookie, Merrill looked like a future star and potential perennial MVP candidate. His 130 wRC+ as a rookie, while performing admirably in center field, a position he had never played as a prospect, led to an incredible 5.3 fWAR season, and saw him finish second in Rookie of the Year voting to Paul Skenes. It was enough to get the Padres to offer him a nine-year, $135 million extension that no one batted an eye at. Early in his career, the game plan for Merrill was simple. In possession of an incredibly variable swing, he could square the ball up anywhere in the zone for doubles damage. His blend of contact volume with above-average pop formed the foundation of an incredibly enticing profile. If either his plate discipline or power trended up, two traits that usually improve as a hitter matures, he would instantly become one of the game’s elite hitters, but after a slight backslide in his second season, he has completely fallen off in year three. So, what’s exactly befuddling such a talented hitter that he could go from being an All-Star as a rookie to one of the league’s worst non-catcher hitters? Well, he isn’t getting results in the heart of the zone. Finding Love in the Heart of the Zone The dirty secret of hitting is that the pitcher is in almost complete control. The vast majority of extra-base damage is done on pitches the pitcher would like back, and no one tries to throw balls. Even a mediocre fastball, if well executed, is going to give the best hitter fits, which is why the best hitters excel at taking advantage of mistakes, either through slugging pitches down the middle or spitting on pitches off the plate. Merrill isn’t blessed with an elite batting eye, but early in his career, it didn’t matter. He offered at pitches outside of the zone infrequently enough that it didn’t detract from his ability to square up balls in the zone. The trade-off as a hitter he was making made sense. Yes, he’d swing at some bad pitches, but he’d rarely fail to offer at ones he could drive. The result was a lower walk and strikeout rate, but a higher batting average and slugging percentage. Unfortunately, the entire operation has gone backwards this season. Through 50 games and more than 200 plate appearances, Merrill’s contact ability has continued to erode, and he’s offering at pitches outside of the zone more than ever. However, that isn’t what’s really troubling him. Plenty of hitters can succeed with this approach as long as they punish the mistakes in the heart of the zone. The problem is that Merrill hasn’t done enough with those crushable mistakes. Compared to 2025, Merrill has seen a concerning drop in his production in the dead center of the strike zone. *Stats as of the week of May 25 It’s still early, but Merrill is whiffing more and hitting for a worse average and slugging percentage on pitches down the middle. If he were still using the same approach as his rookie season, his overall production would probably still be fine, but because his approach has shifted to take advantage of those exact pitches at the cost of plate coverage, it’s a serious problem. Now, it would be fine if Merrill’s plate discipline and in-zone contact figures declined if it came with a corresponding bump in production right down the middle, but right now, everything is coming up snake eyes. However, there is some good news. Process Over Results in the Heart of the Zone Whether or not you think Merrill changing his approach from being a plate coverage monster to a home run-seeking slugger is a positive development, it appears to be the choice he has made. The good news is that while his surface numbers in the heart of the plate have declined, the underlying batted ball data suggest he has been incredibly unlucky. By and large, Merrill’s new approach has been working from a process standpoint. He has sacrificed his ability to cover the entire plate to improve his contact in the heart of the zone. However, one of the problems when you make this decision is that you’re at greater mercy of batted ball luck and the unknowable location of each pitch. A two-percent drop in pitches down the middle doesn’t seem like much, but for a hitter it’s massive. Merrill has swung at 92% of pitches down the middle this season and made contact at an 84% clip. This season, he has faced 797 pitches. At an 8% dead center rate, that’d equal 63.76 total pitches, but at 6%, it drops to 47.82. That’s 15.94, let’s say 16, fewer pitches where Merrill would swing 92% of the time, equaling 14.72 more swings and 12.36 more times where he makes contact. Considering his expected slugging is 0.943, that’s an incredible loss in potential production. In all likelihood, Merrill will see his metrics regress towards his expected stats in the heart of the zone, and it’ll pull his offensive production out of the red. While we can expect better days for Merrill ahead, it’s another matter if this evolution was the right one to take. He’s walking and striking out more because pitchers are throwing him fewer strikes, even though he’s chasing more than ever. On pitches not down the middle, his underlying production has mostly declined. While you can get the most bang for your buck on dead-red fastballs, Merrill’s superpower was his ability to get plenty of bang on pitches throughout the zone. This new approach will probably lead to Merrill being far streakier, as we’ve seen in the bad way, to start the season. Now, it’s not like Merrill has to abandon his new approach for it to be worthwhile, but he does need to refine it. If he can rein in the chase and continue to aggressively hunt middle-middle pitches, he’ll be fine. But if the chase is the cost of doing business, he might be better off covering the whole plate. The good news for the Padres is that they’re well above .500 and better days are likely ahead for their youngest star. His new approach might not be optimal long-term, but he has executed it far better than his current production would suggest. As the summer starts to heat up and he gets an unusually high number of middle-middle pitches, don’t be surprised if he goes on a surge, but also don’t be surprised when he comes crashing back to Earth. Merrill is still a good hitter, but he is fundamentally a different one than the star we knew. View the full article

Emmanuel Rodriguez is once again out for a significant amount of time due to injury. The Twins' top prospect had a UCL tear in his left thumb after a headfirst slide into first base on May 1, and only after the inflammation went down was the UCL tear revealed. With an estimated timeline of recovery around three months, will he make his MLB debut before the 2026 season is over? View the full article

Carson Benge is quickly turning into one of the brighter young stars in the 2026 MLB rookie class. The New York Mets' right fielder is hitting just over .250 and is hitting the ball relatively hard. In this video, we will dive into his average exit velocity and overall approach to start off the season. View the full article

After a shaky season at the plate in 2025, the Royals have not made substantial progress offensively in 2026. Right now, the Royals sit at a wRC+ of 93, which is tied with the San Francisco Giants for 23rd in MLB. Alec Zumwalt has been the Royals’ Major League hitting coach and Senior Director of Hitting Performance since May 2022. Since 2021, the Royals’ team wRC+ has not been above league average, and excluding the playoff season in 2024, that mark has not risen above 93. The Royals also currently rank 26th in runs scored, and their runs per game average is down 3% from 2025, with the team averaging only 3.91 runs per game. Entering 2026, the Royals had aspirations of making the playoffs and pushing for the division title. After 53 games, roughly a third of the way through the season, the Royals sit nine games below .500 and nine games back in the AL Central. While the Royals’ situation is not great, there is still hope, as they are only four games back in the Wild Card race. Now could be the time to make a change to turn the season around. While many players have struggled to reach their expectations this season, there are a few metrics that could highlight the Royals' struggles could be rooted in hitting philosophy rather than poor individual performance. When looking at hitting performance in high-leverage situations, the Royals currently rank last with a wRC+ of 60. With runners in scoring position, the Royals also rank last with a wRC+ of 80. Since teams do not necessarily need power to drive in runs with runners in scoring position, it is also worth looking at runs per plate appearance in those situations, where the Royals rank 22nd. This offseason, the Royals also specifically targeted players with good plate discipline. Acquisitions Isaac Collins and Lane Thomas, in particular, graded well above-average in chase and walk rates. Those additions have helped the Royals improve their overall walk rate to 9.2% in 2026 from 7.2% in 2025, but that mark is still only the 17th-best in MLB this year. However, the Royals rank 12th in strikeout rate at 21.5%, which is notably up from last year’s mark of 18.2%. Another change that the Royals made this offseason was bringing in the fences by 10 feet in left and right fields. Have the Royals taken advantage of the shorter fences? The Royals this season rank 18th in home runs per plate appearance at home, which is up from ranking 27th last season. This is a notable improvement, which perhaps adds some perspective to the team’s lack of run creation. The Royals are still struggling to generate runs despite hitting more home runs at home. Right now, Bobby Witt Jr. is at his absolute peak and is having an MVP-level season. He currently leads MLB in both bWAR and fWAR. However, if you combine all Royals hitters, they equal Witt’s bWAR mark of 3.4. The Royals need to take better advantage of Witt during his prime, and a change in hitting philosophy could help spark that improvement. While it is difficult to place all of the blame on Zumwalt, it is definitely tough to see former Royals prospects like Ryan O’Hearn and Brent Rooker become all-star caliber players after struggling to make an imprint at the major league level in Kansas City. It is easy to come to the conclusion that the Royals are to blame for these players’ initial struggles in MLB. Ultimately, it is easier to fire a coach than replace multiple struggling players in the lineup, and a change in philosophy and perspective could be what this lineup needs to find its footing and turn the season around. With the Royals' offense remaining stagnant year-over-year, the Royals continue to risk wasting another precious year of Witt’s prime if they don't make a change soon. View the full article

Turn on a Cubs game, lately, and you won't have to wait long for confirmation that the team is fighting it—not only losing, but panicking about it, and trying to turn a losing streak into their next winning streak in a way that's only pushing them deeper into the losing spiral. At this point, you almost—almost—can't even blame them. The predicament they face is very real. This is a team built to win now, if ever, and it doesn't look like they're built to win now, after all. In a highly competitive NL Central, they're dead last, and the only team they really need to worry about (the perennial, inevitable Central champions, the Brewers) sits comfortably in first, even if it's only 4.5 games from penthouse to cellar right now. They're in scramble mode, because they really can't afford the way things have gone, and they certainly can't allow it to go on any longer. No one ever got out of a hole by digging frantically, though, and that's what the Cubs have been doing lately. Injuries and a collective slump by half their lineup have played big roles in throwing them into this pit of despair, but their desperation to escape is increasingly counterproductive. Nowhere is that more clear than in center field, where Pete Crow-Armstrong has lost it and is playing like an extremely talented, extremely dysregulated fool. Because Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd and Edward Cabrera are all on the injured list, Jordan Wicks was recalled from Triple-A Iowa to take Cabrera's turn in the rotation Tuesday night. That was an utterly doomed endeavor, and Wicks wasted no time proving that. However, his woes were exacerbated just moments after he toed the rubber. That Wicks gave up hits to the first two batters he faced can hardly have surprised anyone. Unfortunately, it also didn't come as any surprise when Crow-Armstrong tried to do way too much and wound up making the situation instantly worse. He had no hope of throwing out Konnor Griffin at third base on this line-drive single, but because he's become convinced that he needs to lift the team out of its torpor through the sheer force of his will, he tried, anyway. His errant throw gave Brandon Lowe a free base and made Wicks's job harder, rather than easier. Crow-Armstrong is very lucky, too, that the ball didn't sail or skip a bit higher, landing in the Pirates dugout. He gave away one base (though, unaccountably, he wasn't charged with an error on the play), but it could easily have been more. To call this a pattern would, by now, be an understatement. Crow-Armstrong should have come into this season with a certain measure of security and comfort, after a breakout 2025 season and a strong showing in the World Baseball Classic. Instead, he's played all year like a starving man forever trying to start a brawl over half a rotisserie chicken. So insatiable is Crow-Armstrong's appetite for greatness and championship glory that it's eating him, from the inside out. Lamentably, the final note in the stirring song of Crow-Armstrong's 2025 was a pair of plays on which he tried to scale the center-field wall in Milwaukee to pull back clutch homers by the Brewers in the NLDS—despite each ball clearing the fence by dozens of feet. One image summed up the futility especially tidily, and seemed like the universe itself taunting Crow-Armstrong for his unbridled ambition. Maybe he stewed on that more over the winter than he let on. Maybe he so hated losing that playoff series that he lost all sense of patience or perspective as he looked forward to beating the Brewers this year. Whatever the reason, Crow-Armstrong has showed up this year with exactly the same energy with which he finished last year—and that's a problem. We've already talked about the drawbacks of Crow-Armstrong's huge increase in bat speed this year. It's a change that has the chance to make him a lethal slugger, but so far, it's mostly produced more pop-ups and rolled-over grounders, however sharply hit. You'd like to see him swinging more under control. To his credit, though, he has at least swung less often, by a considerable margin. In the past, his difficulty harnessing his immense talent has mostly taken the form of chasing everything. This year, though his swing is faster than he can handle and isn't generating the right kind of contact, he's found a bit of restraint about when to swing. Even when that falters, sometimes, good things can happen. He swung at a 3-1 pitch he absolutely should not have chased in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Reds on May 6. It was a dumb, overcooked swing, at a moment when reaching base would have meant bringing the winning run to the plate and having Crow-Armstrong's speed carrying the tying one. On the next pitch, he chased outside the zone again, but he connected on a low-flying missile of an opposite-field homer, tying the game. He was playing out of control, governed only by adrenaline. That's how he's looked at all big moments this year. On that pitch, though, that adrenaline and his remarkable talent created an explosive play. All year, Crow-Armstrong's bat speed has climbed. It's still climbing. Five of the six fastest swings of his career have come since April 27, peaking with this pass at a Jacob deGrom slider on Mothers Day. WU9WMzdfVjBZQUhRPT1fQUFCWlYxeFhVRlFBQVZWVEFBQUhBUVlGQUFNREJ3Y0FCMU5SQUFzQ0JRRmNBRkJR.mp4 The Statcast-reported swing speed on this was 87.9 MPH, the only time Crow-Armstrong has reached the maximum value the system spits out for public data purposes. As you can see, though, the result was another mishit, and watching the swing leaves one wondering more why he traded so much barrel accuracy for sheer swing speed on a two-strike count than how he can achieve such a thing. On balance. you'd like to see Crow-Armstrong rein all that in, because the lineup needs him badly and he can't be his best self until he regains control of his swing. However, being slightly out of control in the batter's box is normal for Crow-Armstrong; he's just doing it in a different way this year. You can live with his indiscretions at bat. You can't live with that throw we saw above. You can't live with this one, either, from April 13. a0R2Uk9fWGw0TUFRPT1fVWdsVUFsY0hVVmNBV3dFRVZRQUhBUTVmQUFBRlVWUUFDbE1DQVF0UVVBWlVDUUJU.mp4 It's a testament to Crow-Armstrong's brilliance as a fielder that Brandon Marsh actually waited before heading home on this play. If The Flash had a jetpack, he still couldn't have caught that ball, but Crow-Armstrong got such a great jump and sold it so well that Marsh held at third a bit. That Crow-Armstrong then airmailed his cutoff men and fired all the way home, however, testifies only to his erratic mindset in the field this year. This throw, too, cost the Cubs a base. It left his hand at over 101 miles per hour, the hardest throw of his career. His form in charging and firing was, as always, superb. But the decision was dreadful—a bit of hubris that the Phillies easily punished. Almost every mistake Crow-Armstrong has made this season has come because he was trying to do way, way too much. He wants to be the best player in the sport, and to take over the game and will the Cubs to win. Instead, he's willing them closer to losses, at times. On the David Hamilton single which Crow-Armstrong played into a three-run round-tripper last week against Milwaukee, Crow-Armstrong was plotting another heroic bit of scoop-and-fire. He's trying to make up for the failure of his teammates to score runs in bunches. He's trying to mitigate his pitching staff's inability to rack up enough strikeouts. He's trying to deal with the fact that they keep giving up long fly balls, by hunting outs even when there are none to be found. His wild desire for excellence has positives in the field, too. We've never seen a player get jumps on fly balls as good as Crow-Armstrong's. He's devised a pre-pitch setup and movement unique to him, which almost pushes him into some kind of magnetic suspension as he reads contact and begins to chase fly balls. He's dedicated himself to his craft, and he's doing some freakish things, in the field and at the plate. At too many crucial moments—within games, but even within swings or just when he gets to the ball after some blindingly fast, arrow-straight route—he's way out of control, and it shows. That was more apparent than ever when he collided with the fence at Rate Field after a valiant but ludicrous attempt to catch something uncatchable. Taunted by a fan who'd ragged on him all game, he lashed out with profane and offensive ferocity. It was ugly, and Crow-Armstrong has been appropriately remorseful. It was also very real. That's where he is right now, mentally—on such a sharp, fine edge that any tip off the right track will leave someone wounded. He's too good to be making the mistakes he's making this year, just as the Cubs are too good to have lost 14 of 16 games and be getting their doors blown off in most of those contests. As baseball people always say, though, you are what your record says you are after 162 games. The Cubs haven't played that many in 2026. They have time to get right. So does Crow-Armstrong. To begin fixing the problems at hand, though, both the team and the player have to reckon with an excruciating dual truth: their margin for error is gone, but they must stop playing like it. Their sense of urgency has become its own emergency. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins entered this season with the deck stacked against them. They were a 70-win team that made few meaningful upgrades during the offseason. Minnesota's new manager brought with him the worst career winning percentages in history; their new ownership chair had no baseball experience. The Twins' long-tenured and highly-respected baseball ops leader resigned just before spring training, leaving untested Jeremy Zoll in charge of the front office. The infrastructure was already quite questionable. Then, on the first official day of spring training, the Twins lost Pablo López, their highest paid and arguably most important player, for the season. None of their big bullpen gambles in camp (e.g. Liam Hendriks and Andrew Chafin) paid off. The team started the season 3-6. Everything was seemingly moving along as one would expect. But from there, the Twins won eight of nine, vaulting above the .500 mark. This was followed by a prolonged "back to reality" slump, with a 9-19 record over the next 28 games putting Minnesota back underwater by six games. But now they've pulled together another hot streak, winning seven of their last nine to get back within a game of .500 and into the thick of the AL Wild Card picture. Through these first 55 games, in addition to being without López entirely, the Twins have: Gotten zero appearances from David Festa, and just four from Mick Abel. Received sub-replacement level performance from their two biggest offseason signings, Josh Bell and Victor Caratini. Seen hopeful lineup cornerstone Luke Keaschall go from promising #3 hitter on opponent day to floundering #8 hitter two months later. Sent down key players Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner after several weeks of immense and relentless struggle. Demoted Simeon Woods Richardson to the bullpen after he posted a league-worst 7.71 ERA through nine starts. You look at this series of developments all together, and you'd assume the Twins were 10 games below .500. At times, they've been trending in that direction. But so far they've been able to pull out of their tailspins with winning bursts, and as we pass the one-third milestone in the schedule, they are on pace for 80 wins. That's on the higher end of general expectations and well within range of Tom Pohlad's "We will be competitive in 2026" edict. I don't want to heap too much praise on a losing team that's hanging around in a very underwhelming American League, but, it's impressive! How have the Twins managed to overcome their shortcomings and tribulations to reach this point? What's Gone Right? For all that has gone amiss in the past few months, there are a number of important things that have gone swimmingly. And while it's fair to debate the sustainability in some cases, there's no denying the impact up until now. (The following stats were entering play on Tuesday.) The starting rotation has been (mostly) fantastic. Twins starters are on pace for 14.1 fWAR, which would be the highest in the last decade aside from their division-winning campaigns in 2019 and '23. The collective 3.82 ERA from Minnesota's rotation is dragged down by Woods Richardson; if you remove his contributions from the mix that figure drops to 3.15, which would rank third in the AL behind the Rays and Yankees, owners of the two best records in the league. Byron Buxton is as good as ever. He's on pace for 48 home runs and 6.0 fWAR, which would both represent new career highs. Having such an offensive force at the top of the your lineup who can also play a solid center field is just such a big competitive advantage. Ryan Jeffers was building toward a career year. He was neck-and-neck with Buxton in WAR before going down with a hamate fracture last week, and that probably understates the impact of his prolific ABS-challenging success. Jeffers will be out until around the All-Star break, which is one major factor standing in the way of sustained success for the Twins, but he's been integral to getting them here. Austin Martin and Trevor Larnach are taking big steps forward. They rank third and fourth Twins among position players in WAR after Buxton and Jeffers. Not long ago, it was unclear whether either of them would even be in the team's plans for this season. They're excelling with a similar formula: good plate approaches yielding low-power, high-OBP production that nets out at roughly 25% of above league average. The bullpen has been shockingly effective. At least lately, anyway. Through 39 games, Twins relievers had the second-worst ERA in baseball (5.81). Since then, in their past 15 games, they have the fourth-best ERA (2.05), and they lead the majors in WPA, helping them go 9-6 over this stretch. It's been a stunning turnaround and while I struggle to convince myself it's going to stay this way, they did just part ways with their two worst bullpen arms (Justin Topa and Luis García) in the past week. Derek Shelton seems to be resonating. I don't want to blow this out of proportion — especially because, this time last year, the Twins were five games over .500 and fresh off a 13-game winning streak under Rocco Baldelli. That's easy to forget now because of how the rest of the season went, and there's plenty of season left this year. We've seen this Twins team play some bad ball under Shelton. But we've also seen them generally respond well to his presence, and they're now on their second run of scrappy winning baseball in two months. There's a lot that's gone wrong with this team, and a lot that still could go wrong. But to be within spitting distance of a winning record as the summer gets going in earnest is about all I could have realistically ask for, so I'm going to savor it while I can. What are you biggest impressions of the 2026 Twins through one-third of the season? Is it a bad team that's riding a temporary hot streak? A mediocre team that matches its record? Or a potentially good team with more in the tank? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

On Tuesday, the New York Yankees absolutely thrashed the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. The Yankees not only scored 15 runs, but also collected 24 hits in a 14-run win over the Boys in Blue. Safe to say, it was one of the worst losses of the season, especially at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals had a bullpen game on Tuesday against the Yankees, and unfortunately, the strategy blew up in Kansas City's face early. Bailey Falter opened the game for the Royals, and the Yankees got after him early. They scored four runs against him in the top of the first, and in 2.1 IP, he allowed seven runs on nine hits. He didn't allow a walk, but he didn't strike out anyone either, and he gave up three home runs. Two of those home runs came in the first inning, including one from Cody Bellinger, who hit his second home run of the series. When looking at his TJ Stuff+ summary from Tuesday's game, not much went right for Falter, though his TJ Stuff+ actually wasn't as bad as the results illustrated. He struggled to generate whiffs, and the Yankees hit him hard in his 2.1 innings of work. However, the TJ Stuff+ and chase were actually pretty decent, especially for his standards. Falter posted an overall TJ Stuff+ of 100 with his four-seamer being his best pitch in terms of TJ Stuff+. Not only did it have a 106 mark, but it also sported a 64 grade, a 55.6% zone rate, and a 25% chase rate, all of which are average to above-average marks. However, he didn't generate a single whiff with the pitch, and his .639 xwOBACON was the second-worst mark in that category of the four pitches he threw on Tuesday. Ironically, his splitter, which was his second-best pitch in terms of TJ Stuff+ (103), had the worst xwOBACON at .901. Tuesday was another frustrating outing for Falter, who just hasn't put it together in his time in Kansas City. In 9.2 IP this year, he has a 13.97 ERA with a 3.10 WHIP, which includes 24 hits allowed in less than 10 innings of work this season. Last year, after he came over from Pittsburgh at the Trade Deadline, he had an 11.25 ERA and 2.25 WHIP with 20 hits allowed in 12 IP with the Royals. Therefore, even though the TJ Stuff+ hints at a better pitcher than his results show, it may be time for the Royals to part ways with Falter. Command Remains a Problem for Falter (Especially on Fastball) When it comes to what Falter has done in terms of Statcast percentiles, he's actually limited barrels and hard contact, but has struggled to generate whiffs and strikes in general. Here's a look at Statcast summary this season after Tuesday's game, via TJ Stats. Falter actually does a good job of limiting that "productive" contact. He has limited barrels and hard hits, and kept the average exit velocity manageable. Furthermore, his Z-Contact% allowed is actually pretty good (80.5%), considering his struggles with whiffs and CSW. Unfortunately, it's hard to ignore those "strike-generating" categories. His whiff rate ranks in the 39th percentile, his CSW ranks in the 15th percentile, and his O-Swing% ranks in the third percentile. That's not a recipe for success, especially for a pitcher with a subpar fastball (21st percentile fastball velocity). An issue for Falter that has limited his ability to throw strikes this year is subpar command. Even though his extension and TJ Stuff+ metrics are encouraging, he leaves pitches in hittable areas of the strike zone far too much. That was on prime display on Tuesday against the Yankees. Here's his pitch type chart against the Bronx Bombers in his latest outing on May 26th. Frankly, that's not a good-looking chart, simply because he's leaving way too many pitches in the middle-middle areas of the strike zone. The Yankees teed off on Falter's pitches as well, as evidenced by his pitch-description chart, which shows the results. As Royals fans can see above, there are a lot of "In Play, No Out" and "In Play, Runs" dots in that pitch chart above. All on pitches thrown in the middle-middle areas of the strike zone. In fact, below is an example of Falter hanging a curveball right in the middle of the strike zone to Amed Rosario, and the journeyman utility player launches it like he's Aaron Judge. While the curveball was an example of a command "mistake" of Falter in this outing, the fastball command has been a problem this year. That's disappointing considering that his four-seamer has been his best pitch on a TJ Stuff+ end this season, as illustrated in his TJ Stuff+ summary below. Falter relies heavily on the four-seamer, as illustrated by his 61.5% usage rate on the pitch. It makes sense, since it sports a 102 TJ Stuff+, 57 grade, and .303 xwOBACON. Unfortunately, it's been a poor-performing pitch in terms of zone rate, chase rate, and whiff rate. Here's a heatmap breakdown of Falter's four-seamer below. Notice how often the pitch sits in the strike zone and how few whiffs it generates. With a four-seamer, it's more ideal for a pitcher to locate it in the upper edges of the strike zone. Unfortunately, that's just not where Falter's pitch sits against lefties or righties. Against lefties, it tends to be in the lower middle of the strike zone. As a result, it has a 27.3% CSW, which is good, but all those strikes are called, not whiffs. His whiff rate with the four-seamer against lefties is zero. Against righties, he elevates it a little more, but it still sits more in the middle of the zone (though more inside to righties). The whiff rate is a little better at 14.3%, but the CSW is lower at 23.5%. Thus, it's not a great tradeoff for Falter, and his .383 xwOBACON against righties and .436 xwOBACON against lefties with the four-seamer illustrates that it's just not an effective offering overall. To be successful, Falter needs to be a pitcher who can command the four-seamer effectively. That isn't happening, and it doesn't seem like it's going to turn around anytime soon either. What's the Next Move? The Royals don't have a lot of options right now on the 40-man roster to straight-up replace Falter. Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic are still on the IL, and their return timetable is unknown. Furthermore, the pitching options for guys who can go multiple innings in Omaha are thin, with Mitch Spence having the most MLB experience. If the Royals are looking for another option who can go multiple innings and is a lefty, Ryan Ramsey could be an option. The 25-year-old former 13th-round pick doesn't have great stuff, and his ERA and FIP are high. However, he generates groundballs well and could be crafty in a reliever role, much like Sam Long, who made the transition from spot starter to reliever. The best option to replace Falter may be Beck Way, who needs to be added to the 40-man roster to make his Royals debut. Way was acquired from the Yankees in 2022 in the Andrew Benintendi trade, along with Chandler Champlain and T.J. Sikkema. Only Way remains in the Royals organization, but rightfully so, as Way has demonstrated a strong ability to generate whiffs and strikeouts in Omaha, something that evaded him a year ago. In 29.1 IP, Way has a 3.68 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 2.91 FIP, 32.8% K%, and 24.6% K-BB%. He also demonstrates excellent TJ Stuff+, whiff, and xwOBACON metrics, according to TJ Stats. Now 11 games under .500 and June about to be here next week, the Royals need to start thinking long-term with their roster, especially the bullpen. Kansas City's bullpen ranks 24th in ERA, 26th in WHIP, and 27th in BB/9. Thus, they need to find pitchers who can not just help those meager stat lines, but also provide upside beyond this season as well. Way certainly can do that, and since he's Rule 5 eligible, he likely will be swooped up in the December draft if he's not added to the Royals' 40-man roster soon. At this point, the Royals don't have anything to lose by replacing Falter with Way on the 40-man roster. View the full article

Enddy Azocar has been on a heater to begin his 2026 campaign for the Salem RidgeYaks, while also getting recognized as the Carolina League Player of the Week for going 9-for-21 (.429) with a homer, three doubles, four RBIs, three runs scored, and one stolen base in that span. Azocar was part of the Boston Red Sox's 2024 international class, signing for $40,000 out of Venezuela as a 16-year-old outfielder, the 20th-highest-paid player out of the Sox's class that year. He was seen as a very athletic player who moved well and had a lot of raw power for his age, but making consistent contact with the ball was a work in progress. In 2024, he turned 17 years old a month after he was signed and made his debut on June 3 in the Dominican Summer League. He played well for his first season, slashing .266/.397/.309 with 11 RBIs and a 15.5% walk rate while striking out 12.9% of the time. Azocar had a tough time finding his footing in his 2025 season. The outfielder showed flashes in the Red Sox Florida Complex League, posting a .385 batting average and 1.006 OPS in 14 games, thus deserving a promotion to Salem. Unfortunately, he struggled mightily against older competition in his first taste of Single-A ball. In 71 games, he slashed .202/.273/.314 with a strikeout percentage of 23.3%. He was only 18 years old at the time; he was still ahead of his development, as the average age in Low-A is 21. Now 19 years old, 2026 so far has been Azocar’s year. Adding weight and muscle seems to be the key to his success; while being listed at 170 LBS, he now weighs closer to 190 LBS. He displayed his defensive ability in the outfield during spring training and the spring breakout game, showing off his range and making some highlight reel catches. Azocar has shown five-tool potential, forcing the Red Sox front office to finally promote him. To begin the year, he was not ranked among the top 20 prospects on TalkSox and many other lists; now he is the 15th-ranked Red Sox prospect on TalkSox, and (spoiler alert) his rank will continue to rise. Although he has struck out just as much as in 2025 (22.2%), he has been crushing the ball, either matching or surpassing a lot of stat categories from last season in Salem. Through just 39 games, the 19-year-old has slashed .295/.344/.530 with six home runs, 26 RBIs, 15 doubles, three triples, and seven stolen bases, while also posting a .235 ISO, 125 wRC+, and an outstanding .394 wOBA. To put how good he's been in perspective, this is how he compared to other Low-A players before his promotion: In all of Low-A, he was tied in first with the most doubles and tied in second with the most extra-base hits. For all of the Carolina League, Azocar led in total bases and was top ten in triples, runs, hits, home runs, ISO, and SLG. Also, noting that the Carolina League is mostly pitcher-friendly, that makes what he has done this season even more impressive. Another big part of his game he improved in was elevating the ball and not hitting it on the ground. In 2025, nearly half the balls he hit in play were on the ground, a 44.3% ground ball rate and a 22.8% line drive rate. So far in 2026, he has lowered the ground-ball percentage to 35.2% and improved the line-drive rate to 28.7%. The only major hole in Azocar’s game is his plate discipline and making consistent contact, but he has shown that when he makes contact with the ball, great things happen. A 19-year-old dominated in Low-A, where the average player is significantly older than him. Now, he'll be entering a very pitcher-friendly league in Greenville, the South Atlantic League. He will be facing older competition than he did in Low-A and will also have to deal with better pitching prospects and the bizarre field dimensions that make it pitcher-friendly. Anyone doubting him, though, may be in for a rude awakening. View the full article

He’s been hitting the cover off the ball and has looked like he was ready for the majors since his first call-up, but Yohendrick Piñango’s defense, or lack thereof, is putting his near-term future in doubt. Maybe it started in Detroit, when he nearly put Andrés Giménez out of action with a failure to call him off as they both chased a shallow fly ball. Then, on Monday night, two miscues in a three-run sixth inning effectively put the game out of reach and might have shifted the overall perception of him. Piñango has done almost everything right at the plate. Since his call-up, he has been one of the team’s most dangerous hitters, driving the ball with authority, showing advanced plate discipline, and looking every bit like a player ready for major league pitching. In a lineup that has struggled for consistency and production, his bat has been a welcome spark, arguably one of the few reliable sources of offense the team has had during a frustrating stretch. Through his first stretch of games, his hard-hit rate has hovered around 40 percent, slightly above the MLB average that typically sits around 39 percent. While Piñango's offense has impressed, his defense has done the opposite, and it may now be threatening his place on the roster. Mistakes happen. Even elite defenders have rough nights. But for a player already viewed as a below-average defender, these lapses don’t help his case. Piñango's MO is pretty simple. He is an impactful hitter with an adequate glove. Under general manager Ross Atkins, the Blue Jays have built a roster with an identity rooted in defense. The organization has emphasized strong fielding, solid pitching and enough offense to support that foundation. The approach, on paper, makes sense. Over recent seasons, many of the league’s top defensive teams, as measured by metrics like Defensive Runs Saved, have consistently been in the playoff mix. But that approach only works if the offense holds up its end of the bargain. So far this season, the offense just hasn’t consistently shown up. The league-wide average sits around the 4.3 runs per game range, while the Blue Jays have spent long stretches below that mark, a gap that becomes difficult to overcome even with strong pitching. The Blue Jays are not giving up many runs. Their pitching staff has largely done its job, and defensively, outside of isolated issues, they have adhered to their philosophy. So, if you need offense, then Piñango's worth increases. Across MLB, outfielders typically post fielding percentages in the high .980s to low .990s, meaning mistakes are relatively rare at the highest level. Whatever offensive value Piñango provides has to outweigh the runs he gives back defensively. Complicating matters is the current roster situation. The decision to demote Davis Schneider when Nathan Lukes returned was not seen as particularly controversial. It was largely a numbers game, and Piñango's bat made him the logical choice to stay. At the time, it was hard to argue against keeping one of the few hitters producing consistent quality at-bats. With Addison Barger nearing a return, the Blue Jays will soon have to make another move. This time, the decision may be far less forgiving. Piñango is the most flexible option in a logistical sense because he still has minor league options. That alone makes him vulnerable. Teams often protect players they cannot easily replace or risk losing, and that reality matters just as much as performance. If Piñango were even a passable defender at multiple positions, his case would be significantly stronger. He is not a player who can shift around easily or provide late-inning stability with his glove. When he is in the lineup, it is almost entirely because of his bat, and that places immense pressure on him to keep producing offensively. Compare that to someone like Lenyn Sosa. Sosa started strong with the Jays, though he has gone cold since. The difference between Piñango and Sosa is that the latter offers defensive versatility and does not have minor league options. If Sosa’s bat shows even modest improvement, the decision becomes easier. At that point, the team would be choosing between a versatile player they might lose and a one-dimensional player they can send down. Then there is Jesús Sánchez. Unlike Piñango, Sánchez provides a more balanced profile. He is not an elite defender, but he is serviceable in the outfield, which is often enough when paired with offensive production. More importantly, he has been one of the team’s most consistent hitters with runners on base, which is a critical need for a lineup that has struggled to convert scoring opportunities. Right now, Sánchez is delivering in situations where the team needs production the most. That makes him far less likely to be the odd man out, and he, too, is out of options. So the question becomes whether the Blue Jays will stick with their defense-first philosophy or adjust based on current offensive struggles. If run scoring continues to lag, there may be more tolerance for defensive shortcomings, but only to a point. Piñango has the kind of bat that can change a game, and that is not something the Blue Jays have had consistently this season. Power and extra-base production remain some of the most efficient ways to create runs. At the same time, he has shown that defensive lapses can undo things in a hurry. A catch here and a better route to the ball there, and Piñango might be able to make the front office reconsider. Defensive improvement does not require perfection, just reliability. Small gains could have a significant impact on how he is viewed internally. However, the way things have been going for Piñango in the outfield, that next route might be a trip to Buffalo. Stats updated prior to games on May 26. View the full article

Luke Weaver, one of the New York Mets’ stellar relief pitching signings in the offseason, allowed two runs in an April 30 outing against the Washington Nationals, completing a seven-game stretch in which he allowed eight earned runs in seven frames, for a 10.29 ERA. After that, however, his improvement has been undeniable. Following that rough stretch that started on April 9 and finished at the end of the month, Weaver has been excellent and has managed to lower his season ERA to a fine 3.22 (with a 3.38 FIP) in 22.1 innings. That’s certainly an improvement over the 3.62 ERA he had last season, one that masked a rough September in which he posted a 9.64 ERA. As you can see, the lack of a reliable breaking ball might always result in some inconsistency, but the right-hander has been able to right the ship in recent weeks for the Mets and he deserves credit for it. A Perfect Stretch Since that April 30 outing, the changeup artist has been perfect in May. This month, he has an immaculate 0.00 ERA in 10.1 innings, with six hits allowed, four walks, and a whopping 15 strikeouts. His 1.63 FIP over that span suggests that it has been more skill than luck, too. We can divide Weaver’s 2026 campaign so far into three parts: a successful start in which he posted five straight scoreless appearances until April 7, the aforementioned struggles between April 9 and 30, and his most recent stretch of dominance. Again, consistency might not be his middle name, but when Weaver is healthy and has gotten into a nice rhythm, he is a solid setup man, even if his repertoire is a bit unorthodox. If he can somehow make enough strides with his cutter, he might be able to increase his ceiling. It’s much easier said than done, though. Weaver’s four-seam fastball and changeup have returned a .269 and a .228 xwOBA, respectively. The cutter, on the other hand, has a much worse .536 xwOBA. This metric tries to describe performance based on quantity and quality of contact, which suggests that this specific pitch has lacked command and has been rocked by hitters. Luke Weaver Has His Limitations The problem with Weaver is that while his changeup has some filthy movement, we have seen what hitters can do to it when they are sitting on it. So, he needs elite fastball command or for that cutter to improve if he’s going to hit his ceiling. Despite having stretches in which he looks borderline unplayable, Weaver has certainly salvaged his career with his move to the bullpen. The Mets decided to invest, and all things considered, it’s fair to say their faith has been rewarded with his performance so far. Even with the occasional meltdown, Weaver has proven he can be a solid eighth-inning guy or a high-leverage weapon for the Mets. He has certainly been on a nice run in May, and for the sake of the team, they should hope that it continues. View the full article

Ethan Salas crushed a two-run homer and Jagger Haynes spun six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts as the Double-A San Antonio Missions edged the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-2. Ryan Wideman went 3-for-5 with a homer in the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm's 7-6 walk-off win, capped by Jorge Quintana's RBI single. Nick Solak's homer wasn't enough in the Triple-A San Antonio Missions' 5-3 loss. Jake Cunningham homered twice, but the Fort Wayne TinCaps fell 5-2. Padres Minor-League Transactions Lake Elsinore Storm placed C Ty Harvey on the 7-day injured list. C Alcides Hernandez assigned to Lake Elsinore Storm from ACL Padres. IF Yimy Tovar assigned to Lake Elsinore Storm from ACL Padres. Nick Solak Stays Hot, But Chihuahuas Bow To Isotopes Nick Solak homered for the third time in four games, but the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas fell to the host Albuquerque Isotopes 5-3. The Isotopes scored all of their runs in the second inning. Solak had his third straight two-hit game and fifth in eight games. He hit his homer, a two-out solo shot, in the top of the first inning for his fifth of the season. He was the only Chihuahua with more than one hit. After Solak's homer and the Isotopes' five-run outburst, the Chihuahuas continued to chip away in the fourth inning. Jase Bowen had a leadoff double and went to third on Solak's flyout to center. Will Wagner then hit a two-out single to plate Bowen. Mason McCoy walked and Nate Mondou singled to right to score Wagner and make it a 5-3 game. Chihuahuas left-handed starter Fernando Sanchez, in his third Triple-A start, gave up all five runs in five innings, allowing six hits and five runs with seven strikeouts. Right-hander Sean Boyle pitched three scoreless innings, with no walks, three hits and two strikeouts. El Paso's Marcos Castanon went 0-for-4 to snap his 10-game hitting streak. EP_0526.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Samad Taylor 4 0 1 0 0 2 Jase Bowen 3 1 1 0 0 1 Nick Solak 4 1 2 1 0 0 Marcos Castañon 4 0 0 0 0 0 Will Wagner 4 1 1 1 0 0 Mason McCoy 3 0 0 0 1 1 Nate Mondou 4 0 1 1 0 3 Victor Duarte 3 0 0 0 0 0 Nick Schnell 3 0 1 0 0 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Fernando Sanchez (L) 5 6 5 5 5 7 1 Sean Boyle 3 3 0 0 0 2 0 Ethan Salas' HR, Jagger Haynes' 6 Shutout Innings Spark Missions Ethan Salas smashed his seventh homer of the season and left-handed starter Jagger Haynes struck out seven over six shutout innings as the host Double-A San Antonio Missions edged the Corpus Christi Hooks 3-2. The game was called after eight innings due to thunderstorms. Haynes, Padres Mission's No. 11 prospect, yielded just four hits while walking three. His seven strikeouts matched a season high accomplished two starts ago. This was his first scoreless outing of the season. Haynes also picked two runners off first. It was a 0-0 game entering the bottom of the sixth. Kai Roberts drew a leadoff walk and, one out later, Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect, crushed the first pitch he saw deep over the right-field wall for his seventh homer of the year and fourth in May. With Haynes out of the game, Corpus Christi scored in the top of the seventh off left-hander Harry Gustin. But the Missions got that run back in the bottom half when Braedon Karpathios doubled to right, went to third on Ryan Jackson's sacrifice bunt and easily scored on Albert Fabian's sac fly to center for a 3-1 lead. The Hooks took advantage of three walks by right-hander Sadrac Franco to score in the top of the eighth, but right-hander Josh Mallitz earned his first save of the season by retiring the only batter he faced. SA_0526.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Carson Tucker 4 0 0 0 0 2 Ethan Salas 4 1 2 2 0 0 Romeo Sanabria 3 0 0 0 0 2 Tirso Ornelas 3 0 0 0 0 1 Braedon Karpathios 3 1 2 0 0 1 Ryan Jackson 2 0 1 0 0 1 Albert Fabian 2 0 0 1 0 0 Francisco Acuna 3 0 0 0 0 2 Kai Roberts 2 1 0 0 1 0 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Jagger Haynes (W) 6 4 0 0 3 7 0 Harry Gustin 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Sadrac Franco 2/3 0 1 1 3 1 0 Josh Mallitz (S) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jake Cunningham Goes Deep Twice, But TinCaps Fall To Cubs Despite a pair of home runs by Jake Cunningham, the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps dropped a 5-2 decision to the host South Bend Cubs. Cunningham hit solo homers in the second and ninth innings, giving him nine for the season. He also hit two homers on April 19 vs. Lake County, the only two multihomer games for the TinCaps this season. Cunningham, who also walked, is tied with Alex McCoy for the team lead. Lamar King Jr., Padres Mission's No. 10 prospect, also had two of the TinCaps' seven hits, including a double, for his 10th multihit game of the season. TinCaps right-handed starter Matthew Watson went five innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with no walks and a strikeout. The bullpen of right-hander Isaiah Lowe, left-hander Igor Gil and left-hander Braian Salazar combined for the final three innings, giving up just one run on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts. South Bend scored twice in the first, another in the second and one more in each of the fifth and eighth innings. FW1_0526.mp4 FW2_0526.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Justin DeCriscio 3 0 0 0 1 0 Zach Evans 4 0 1 0 0 0 Lamar King Jr. 4 0 2 0 0 1 Alex McCoy 3 0 0 0 1 0 Carlos Rodriguez 4 0 0 0 0 2 Jake Cunningham 3 2 2 2 1 1 Rosman Verdugo 4 0 1 0 0 2 Kavares Tears 4 0 1 0 0 2 Kasen Wells 4 0 0 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Matthew Watson (L) 5 6 4 3 0 1 0 Isaiah Lowe 1 1/3 1 0 0 0 1 0 Igor Gil 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 Braian Salazar 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 Yimy Tovar Helps Storm Walk Off 66ers In Season Debut Newcomer Yimy Tovar singled home the tying and scored the winner when Jorge Quintana grounded a single past the second baseman with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the host Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm pulled out a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Inland Empire 66ers. Tovar, who went 2-for-5 with two RBIs, a steal and a run scored, was called up before the game from the Arizona Complex League, where he had a .345/.406/.527 slash line in 16 games with a homer, 11 RBIs and nine steals. The 20-year-old middle infielder actually played in eight games for the Storm last year with a .409/.435/.545 slash line, but was back in the ACL to begin 2026. Ryan Wideman, Padres Mission's No. 5 prospect, went 3-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Quintana and Conner Westenburg each had two hits. Kerrington Cross scored twice without recording a hit, but he did walk once. Wideman's homer leading off the bottom of the third cut the Storm's deficit to 2-1 and he had an RBI single to tie the game as part of a three-run fourth, which included a two-run error, that made it 4-2. The 66ers scored three of their own in the fifth to go up 5-4. In the seventh, the Storm tied it on Tovar's single to center that scored Cross, who had reached on an error. But the 66ers countered once again with a run in the top of the eighth to tie it. In the bottom of the ninth, Cross again reached on an error. A two-out balk put Cross at second and Tovar lined an opposite-field single to right to score Cross and tie the game. Tovar stole second and Quintana, Padres Mission's No. 6 prospect, sent his walk-off single up the middle. Storm right-handed starter Winyer Chourio allowed two runs in four innings on three hits and four walks with five strikeouts. LE_0526.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Ryan Wideman 5 2 3 2 0 0 Kerrington Cross 4 2 0 0 1 0 Bradley Frye 4 0 0 0 0 0 Truitt Madonna 5 0 1 0 0 2 Yimy Tovar 5 1 2 2 0 0 Jorge Quintana 5 0 2 1 0 3 Qrey Lott 4 0 0 0 0 1 George Bilecki 2 1 0 0 2 1 Conner Westenburg 4 1 2 0 0 1 Player IP H R ER BB K HR Winyer Chourio 4 3 2 2 4 5 0 Nick Falter 3 5 3 3 0 3 0 Rordy Mejia (W) 2 1 1 0 0 1 0 Top 20 Prospect Performance Ethan Salas: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, R Kash Mayfield: DNP Miguel Mendez: DNP Kruz Schoolcraft: DNP Ryan Wideman: 3-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R Jorge Quintana: 2-for-5, 2B, RBI, 3 K Ty Harvey: Injured Kale Fountain: Injured, out for season Braedon Karpathios: 2-for-3, 2B, R, SB, K Lamar King Jr.: 2-for-4, 2B, K Jagger Haynes: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K, W Alex McCoy: 0-for-3, BB Truitt Madonna: 1-for-5, 2 K Tucker Musgrove: DNP Garrett Hawkins: DNP Michael Salina: DNP Eric Yost: DNP Rosman Verdugo: 1-for-4, 2 K Bryan Balzer: DNP Deivid Coronil: DNP View the full article

Transactions: Milwaukee Brewers recalled RHP Coleman Crow from Nashville Sounds. Nashville Sounds sent 3B Luke Adams on a rehab assignment to ACL Brewers. Nashville Sounds released CF Jordyn Adams. RHP Yorman Galindez assigned to Biloxi Shuckers from Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. RHP Tanner Perry assigned to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from Wilson Warbirds. Wilson Warbirds placed LHP Anfernny Reyes on the 7-day injured list. RHP Hayden Robinson assigned to Wilson Warbirds from ACL Brewers. Game Action: Nashville pre-game media notes Nashville 5, Gwinnett (Braves) 4 Box Score As always, you are encouraged to read the official round-up from the team’s site: Sounds Shut Down Late-Inning Threat from Gwinnett The Sounds jumped out to an early lead in their 5-4 victory on Tuesday and then held on thanks in large part to their relief corps. Luis Matos extended his hitting streak to eight games with a two-run single to open the scoring in the first, which you can find here courtesy of Nashville’s X account: Jeferson Quero later added a sac fly to make it 3-0 before Gwinnett rallied to tie it at three in the fourth. Cooper Pratt immediately responded for Nashville with an RBI single in the bottom half of the fourth, before Brock Wilken gave the Sounds insurance with an RBI ground out in the following inning. Wilken, who was dropped to the eighth spot in the lineup on Tuesday, could be fighting for playing time when Luke Adams returns from rehab. Luis Lara added another three hits, and this catch on defense: Lara is now second in the league in hits and has been the model of consistency all season long. Since March 31, Lara has carried a batting average above .324 for all but four days of the season. The Nashville rotation is suddenly looking a bit thin with recent call-ups of Robert Gasser and Coleman Crow. It was a team effort out of the pen with Brian Fitzpatrick earning the win in relief. The rehabbing Rob Zastryzny now has 5.1 IP clean at Nashville this month, with six strikeouts, one hit, and one walk allowed. Craig Yoho earned the save, and has not allowed an earned run since April 25, a string of 11.2IP. In that stretch, Yoho has a 13:4 K:BB ratio with only five hits allowed. Nashville, now 31-21 on the season and half a game out of first in the International League, has yet to name a starter for Wednesday’s game. Biloxi pre-game media notes The Shuckers were rained out on Tuesday and will make the game up as part of a doubleheader on Wednesday. Tanner Gillis (0-1, 3.95 ERA) was slated to start Tuesday’s game while Bishop Letson (0-3, 6.66 ERA) was originally scheduled for Wednesday’s game. Wisconsin pre-game media notes Peoria (Cardinals) 5, Wisconsin 2, F/7 Box Score Peoria Beats Rattlers to Open Series Wisconsin lost their series opener to Peoria in a soggy, rain-shortened affair on Tuesday night. Despite the wind and the rain, Andrew Fischer shot a lightning bolt through the air with his league-leading 14th home run of the season, courtesy of the Wisconsin X account: Not much left to say about Fischer at this point. The power is incredible, but the whiffs and strikeouts are still a bit problematic. Will we see Fischer in Biloxi soon, or does the organization want to see him improve more on his swing and miss before awarding a promotion? Marco Dinges accounted for the other run with a moon shot of his own: Not many other superlatives for Wisconsin on this night, but you can find the rest of the “highlights” below. The well-travelled Andrick Nava had two hits. Josiah Ragsdale had a double. Starter Wande Torres (5IP 8H 4R 4ER 2B 6K) labored through another tough outing and took the loss. If you're looking for a silver lining on this cloudy night, it sounds like Luis Pena's rehab assignment is complete and we will see him back in Appleton this week. 2025 59th overall pick J.D. Thompson (0-0, 5.68 ERA) will take the mound in game two on Wednesday. Wilson pre-game media notes Wilson 4, Myrtle Beach (Cubs) 1 Box Score Renz Mows Down Myrtle Beach in Series Opener The Wilson Warbirds pulled out a 4-1 victory over Myrtle Beach on Tuesday night despite striking out a whopping 16 times as a team and being outhit 9-6. Brady Ebel was once again the sparkplug of the Wilson offense as he had two doubles and drove in two runs. The 18 year-old Ebel earned Player of the Week honors for his stellar performance last week and now a .993 OPS with 16 runs, 16 RBI and a perfect 13/13 on steals in the month of May. Find the videos of the double here and here. Leadoff man Juan Ortuno was the only Warbird who didn’t strike out in the game. Ortuno was on base four times with a pair of walks and a pair of singles. Ortuno also scored twice and swiped his 15th bag of the season. Pedro Ibarguen provided the big blast of the day with his third homer of the year which you can see here, via the Wilson X account: Ibarguen will carry an eight-game hit streak into Wednesday’s game and for the month of May, the soon-to-be 20-year-old sports a 1.078 OPS. Rylan Mills also had an RBI double and now has six RBI in just four games in the Carolina League: On the mound for Wilson, Tyler Renz had his best outing of the season. In his first scoreless outing since April 14, Renz matched a season-high in innings (five) and strikeouts (six). After 11 walks in his last 12 innings, Renz only walked two on the night, throwing 52 of 73 pitches for strikes. @Spencer Michaelis captured some of Renz’s stuff here: Enniel Cortez (3IP 3H 1R 1ER 0BB 3K) picked up where Renz left off in one of his better showings on the season. Peyton Niksch picked up his second save of the season with a scoreless final frame. Jayden Dubanewicz (0-0, 2.53 ERA) will look to keep things rolling for Wilson (22-20) when he takes the mound on Wednesday. After a rough start to their inaugural season, Wilson suddenly feels like they're rounding into form, as the Warbirds have won 9 of their last 11 games. ACL Brewers 10, ACL Cubs 6 Box Score It is beginning to feel like the next wave of Brewers hitting prospects is breaking out in the Arizona Complex League. That was on full display in Tuesday’s drubbing 10-6 of the Cubs. Kenny Fenelon, the highest paid signing at $1.3M in the 2025 international class, had a inside-the-park home run, a double and steal. Brailyn Antunez had a 109.6 MPH exit velocity home run. Alexander Frias had two more hits and now leads the team with a 1.126 OPS. Luke Adams made his first appearance since early April and hit a home run and a double. Juan Martinez replaced Adams and stole two bases and is now 10/10 on the season in steals. The Brewers as a team went 8/8 on steals in the game. Cristopher Acosta, another million dollar bonus baby from the 2025 class, knocked in two runs on the night, which doubled his RBI total for the season. On the mound, starter Joey Broughton had his best professional outing. Broughton struck out six in four innings of one-run ball. The innings and strikeouts totals were personal bests for Broughton, who now has a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 IP in ACL play. Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

TRANSACTIONS IF Harry Genth was assigned to Cedar Rapids from Wichita. OF Kala’i Rosario was activated off Wichita’s injured list. OF Graham Brown was signed as a free agent and joined Fort Myers. He had been playing for the Washington Wild Things of the independent Frontier League. C Ian Daugherty was placed on the developmental list. SAINTS SENTINEL St. Paul 6, Louisville 4 Box Score SP: John Klein (3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K) HR: Kaelen Culpepper (11) Multi-hit games: Hendry Mendez (4-for-4, BB, 2 2B), Matt Wallner (2-for-5, 2 2B) The Saints lineup steadily piled up runs, tacking on a pair in the first, third and sixth innings. Hendry Mendez was a menace. He went 4-for-4 with a walk and a pair of doubles. All four of his batted balls were hard hit, registering exit velos of 104.2 mph, 103.7 mph, 100.6 mph and 95.7 mph. In 17 games with St. Paul, Mendez is hitting .400/.513/.600 (1.113 OPS). He also has more walks (18.8 BB%) than strikeouts (12.5 K%) so far is his first taste of Triple A. The Saints lineup combined to record 11 batted balls hit in excess of 100 mph. Matt Wallner led the way with both of his doubles clocked at 109.1 mph. Wallner and catcher Richardo Olivar had two RBIs each. Kaelen Culpepper led off the game by hitting a low 82 mph curveball out for his 11th home run of the season. He’s hitting .266/.392/.557 (.949 OPS) so far in May. John Klein had a rocky first inning that featured two hits, two walks, a stolen base and a run-scoring wild pitch. After surrendering two runs in that first frame, Klein retired six of the next seven batters he faced. He topped out at 95.8 mph and got 10 swinging strikes on his 60 total pitches. The only two runs the bullpen surrendered were unearned. Grant Hartwig and Cody Laweryson provided an inning each before both Marco Raya and Raul Brito went two frames. Royce Lewis was 0-for-4, was hit by a pitch and drove in a run. WIND SURGE WISDOM Springfield 8, Wichita 5 Box Score SP: Eli Jones (2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Kyle DeBarge (2-for-5, 2 2B), Jaime Ferrer (2-for-4, 3B, BB) Since this game was delayed and the first pitch wasn’t thrown until after 8 p.m. CT, you just knew the final innings were destined to drag on. Seven of the game’s 13 runs were scored in the final inning and a half. The final out was recorded at 11 p.m. Wichita starter Eli Jones gave up a lot of traffic and surrendered a pair of runs before exiting with an injury in the bottom of the third inning. The Wind Surge could never climb out of that hole. Not only did Kyle DeBarge and Jaime Ferrer carry the offense, but the rest of the lineup struggled to just make contact, going 2-for-21 with 13 strikeouts. KERNELS NUGGETS Cedar Rapids 9, Quand Cities 8 Box Score SP: Michael Ross (3 1/3 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 K) HR: Yasser Mercedes (2) Multi-hit games: Yasser Mercedes (2-for-4, HR, BB), Eduardo Tait (2-for-4, 2B, BB), Khadim Diaw (2-for-4, 2B, BB) What a comeback! The Kernels entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 8-5. Brandon Winokur provided the spark, leading things off with a walk and then stealing second base. Eduardo Tait capped an eight-pitch at bat by hitting a double into the gap to plate Winokur. Back-to-back singles followed from Khadim Diaw and Yasser Mercedes that brought Tait around to score, putting Cedar Rapids within a run of tying the game. Mercedes stole second to put two runners in scoring position, but Quinn McDaniel went down swinging for the first out of the inning. Next, Jacob McCombs was intentionally walked to load the bases. Rayne Doncon managed to foul off two two-strike pitches in an eight-pitch battle that resulted in him drawing a bases-loaded walk to score the game-tying run. Jay Thomason came up with the opportunity to play the hero, and he was perfect for the role. Thomason chased a pitch away that was nearly in the opposite batter’s box but was able to get a bat on it. He swatted the pitch the other way, sending a soft liner through the drawn in infield to deliver a walk-off win. MUSSEL MATTERS Jupiter 9, Fort Myers 7 Box Score SP: Ramiro Villanueva (3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K) HR: Luis Fragoza (2) Multi-hit games: Dameury Pena (2-for-5) The Mussels led 7-3 heading into the seventh inning, but the Hammerheads, well, kept hammering ... ahead. Things really unraveled in the top of the ninth for Fort Myers, as some poor defense contributed to what ended up being a three-run inning. Starter Ramiro Villanueva tallied another solid start. Over 3 2/3 innings, the 20-year-old surrendered one run on two hits. He did walk three batters, though. Villanueva struck out three batters, got eight swinging strikes and topped out at 96 mph. He has a 2.66 ERA through 20 1/3 innings but his 16 walks are cause for some concern. Matthew Dalquist had been among the many pitching bright spots for Fort Myers, but he was rocked for five runs (four earned) while only recording four outs. Luis Fragoza, a 19-year-old playing in his fifth game with the Mussels, hit a two-run homer. He was in center field tonight and has played all three outfield positions in addition to first base in his handful of games with Fort Myers. Enrique Jimenez had a pesky day at the plate. He went 1-for-1 with a two-run double and three walks. One of his free passes was thanks to a successful check swing challenge, which is something that’s being tested in some of the lower levels. Unfortunately, Jimenez also exited this game early. In that messy ninth inning, there was a play at the plate that put Jimenez in a tough position to both catch the throw and apply the tag at the same time. Though he couldn’t corral the throw, he managed to get through that unscathed. He actually appeared to suffer the injury retrieving the ball. He took an awkward step and came up limping. COMPLEX CHRONICLES FCL Twins 1, FCL Orioles 0 (8 innings) Box Score SP: Cristian Hernandez (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K) HR: None Multi-hit games: Miguel Caraballo (2-for-2, BB) The Baby Twins finally broke through in the top of the eighth (which is an extra inning in the FCL) when Yovanny Duran drove in Jose Barrios on a single. That’s right, Duran driving in Barrios. It’s like we’re in the year 2057 in an OOTP simulation or something. Pitching was the standout in this one, with Cristian Hernandez delivering five shutout frames of two-hit ball. Geremy Villoria, who was acquired alongside Hendry Mendez in the Harrison Bader trade, followed with a perfect inning. Villoria, 17, has now logged 5 2/3 scoreless innings to start his season. Carter Holjes held off the O’s in both the seventh and eighth innings TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY Pitcher of the Day: Cristian Hernandez, FCL Twins (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K) Hitter of the Day: Hendry Mendez, St. Paul (4-for-4, BB, 2 2B) PROSPECT SUMMARY Check out the Prospect Tracker for more. 2. Kaelen Culpepper (St. Paul) 1-for-4, HR, BB, 2 R, RBI, K 5. Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) 2-for-4, 2B, BB, 2 R, RBI, K and threw out one of three attempted base stealers 7. Marek Houston (Cedar Rapids) 0-for-4, BB 10. Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) 1-for-4, 2B, R 12. Andrew Morris (Twins) 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K 13. Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) 4-for-4, 2B, BB, 2 R, CS 14. Quentin Young (Fort Myers) 0-for-2, 2 BB, 2 K 15. Brandon Winokur (Cedar Rapids) 1-for-3, 2B, BB, HBP, SB, 3 R 19. Khadim Diaw (Cedar Rapids) 2-for-4, 2B, BB, R, RBI 20. Kyle DeBarge (Wichita) 2-for-5, 2 2B, R, RBI TOMORROW’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul: Mike Paredes Wichita: Off Cedar Rapids: Jason Doktorczyk Fort Myers: Merit Jones CURRENT W-L RECORDS Minnesota Twins: 27-28 St. Paul Saints: 26-25 Wichita Wind Surge: 21-25 Cedar Rapids Kernels: 24-22 Fort Myers Mighty Mussels: 24-22 FCL Twins: 10-8 DSL Twins: (season begins Monday, June 1) View the full article

Box Score SP: Joe Ryan 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K (98 pitches, 77 strikes (79%)) Home Runs: N/A Top 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (0.29), Luke Keaschall (0.24), Kody Clemens & Taylor Rogers (0.14) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) On Memorial Day afternoon, the Twins discovered that the White Sox are a solid baseball team. Joe Ryan got the call to face the South Side Mashers on Tuesday, in hopes of inching his squad back toward the .500 mark, while Chicago sent young righty Sean Burke out to keep the Twinkies in their third place. PItchers Dominate, but Twins Break Through The first three innings started where Monday night's game left off, with pitchers dominating the game and no hits to be found. Burke had failed to finish five full innings in each of his last three starts, so his success appeared to be fool's gold. In the top of the fourth, the Twins mined two runs on three straight hits. First, Trevor Larnach put a ball in play to right, and Rikuu Nishida couldn't come up with the diving catch in his second career start in right field. Larnach took the double on his stat sheet, and he quickly scampered home when Kody Clemens laced a slump-breaker off the right-field line for a rolling triple to put the Twins up 1-0. With Clemens at third and nobody out, Austin Martin looked to keep Burke and the White Sox on the ropes. He laced a single up the middle to make it 2-0. What happened next didn't appear to be a game-wrecker at the time, but it would loom large as the pitching duel continued. Martin attempted to steal second base with offensive wet blanket Victor Caratini at the plate. Drew Romo threw a perfect strike to second to nab Martin, and the Twins didn't taste the bases again against Burke. The Experience Dominates Early and Often Joe Ryan took this early lead and immediately faced a test in the bottom of the fourth. Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth hit a couple of two-out singles to put Ryan on the ropes. Ryan swept out perennial Twins pest and phonics experiment Andrew Benintendi by inducing a harmless grounder to get his squad back into the dugout. Burke found his groove again, and took care of the Twins in order in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. When the White Sox took on Ryan in the bottom of the seventh, they again made some noise with two outs. A single off second base by Benintendi and a questionable hit by pitch to the light-hitting Tristan Peters got Ryan ranting and raving and throwing his glove around. Caratini went to the mound, settled down his ace, and the duo struck out Romo to again keep the zeros coming. But the Murakami Experience is Inevitable Derek Shelton let Ryan take the hill in the eighth with 88 pitches already thrown, with the top of the order (and power) looming. Nishida immediately put Twins Territory on edge with a leadoff single. While he danced the night away off first, Ryan managed to come back to strike out Sam Antonacci for his ninth of the night. American League-leading home run phenom Munetaka Murakami stepped to the plate, and this time, Ryan's attempt to sweep away the threat landed far out in the right field seats for Murakami's 19th of the year. Ryan pitched at a remarkable 76% strike rate, but it was just one too many. Once the sadness settled in, Ryan managed to get one more out before Shelton brought in Anthony Banda to face the lefty Montgomery. Banda immediately gave up a blast to the wall... but not over it. With the go-ahead run now at second base, Banda faced Meidroth with everything on the line. Meidroth beat out a grounder to Luke Keaschall, but luckily, the umpires took the initiative to examine the play more closely because the Twins were all out of challenges. The call was overturned, and we headed to the ninth all square at 2-2. Who Will Enjoy How This Experience Ends? Brooks Lee got himself on first base to start the ninth by hustling out an infield hit. Josh Bell came in to replace Larnach against the lefty Sean Newcomb. That was a poor decision, as Bell grounded into a double play via the usual 5-4-1-Slide Rule review route, as Lee slid wildly past second base, wiping out the fact that Bell beat out the relay. Banda stayed in to start the ninth, and Will Venable took charge by pinch-hitting Randal Grichuk for Benintendi. Banda made that move look foolish with a strikeout. Venable came out yet again to pinch-hit Derek Hill for Peters, and Shelton countered by bringing in the roller coaster that is the Andrew Morris save experience. Morris got the final two outs on quality plays from Keaschall, and bonus baseball would decide tonight's experience. Clemens started out the 10th as the Twins' placed runner, and Martin struck out on a highly questionable check swing to leave him right there. This placed the pressure on the previously mentioned Caratini, who kept the offensive offense narrative going with a strikeout of his own. Shelton went to the Orlando Arcia experience for a pinch-hit in this crucial moment, with the White Sox's big guns waiting at the bottom of the inning. Arcia delivered with a hit, but Nishida made Ramon Borrego look foolish, as he threw out Clemens by a mile at the plate. Unlike Shelton, Venable switched out his zombie runner for a faster option in Luisangel Acuña. Taylor Rogers had no margin for error with Nishida at the plate. While his throw home might have saved the top of the inning, Nishida foul bunted himself on out of the bottom of the 10th. Antonacci bounced a ball off of Rogers' leg, but Arcia held it in the infield to put runners at the corners for Murakami. This had to be how the experience ends right? Wrong! Rogers swept away Murakami on a grounder to Bell, who tagged Antonacci somewhere near Lake Michigan for a double play! Or, if you believe the actual call, he lined out to Bell who then doubled up Antonacci. Either way, the Taylor Rogers Experience sends us to the 11th! Every Experience Needs to End The game's goofy vibe rolled right on into the top of the 11th and off of third baseman Miguel Vargas's leg for a Keaschall leadoff single. This advanced new Manfred Man Ryan Kreidler to third base, and brought up the much-maligned James Outman for a potential hero moment. Outman, predictably, struck out instead, and it was left up to Byron Buxton to break the seal that had paralyzed the Twins' side of the scoreboard since the fourth inning. On a 3-1 pitch, home plate umpire Adam Beck called strike two, but Buxton challenged—and won a walk to load the bases. The newest man of the hour was Lee. New pitcher Tyler Davis got Lee to foul off two straight fastballs. Davis then slowed things down a bit, and Lee sped them back up with a bases-clearing double!!! The Twins left Lee on the bases, and Yoendrys Gómez allowed the Sox's automatic runner to score in the bottom half of the frame to add some angst to the evening once again. But once a Grichuk grounder found its way from Kreidler's arm to Bell's glove, Twins Territory could exhale and soak in the experience in victorious style. What’s Next? The Twins look to keep the momentum rolling against Chicago in the third game of the four-game series. Twins rookie Connor Prielipp (1-2, 4.03 ERA) will make his first start on the South Side, and will face rising ace righty Davis Martin (7-1, 2.04 ERA). On paper, this looks like another big blast-or-bust kind of evening, First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 pm CDT. Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Spreadsheet FRI SAT SUN MON TUE TOT Gómez 13 0 22 0 18 53 Rojas 0 45 0 0 0 45 Morris 0 32 0 0 8 40 Rogers 0 6 13 0 16 35 Woods Richardson 0 0 0 35 0 35 Banda 14 0 10 0 10 34 Adams 29 0 1 0 0 30 Orze 14 0 10 0 0 24 View the full article

The Miami Marlins looked to make it five-straight wins, and unlike Monday night's game, odds were in Miami's favor with Sandy Alcantara on the mound and what looked to be a bullpen game for the Toronto Blue Jays. Alcantara had his worst start of the season and the offense wasn't able to get anything going as the Marlins win-streak was snapped, falling by a final score of 8-1. Alcantara had his worst start of the season, allowing eight runs on 10 hits (three home runs); he allowed one walk and struck out four. He also hit four batters. It marked the first time in franchise history that a Marlins pitcher hit four batters in a single-start. "I think every start, whether it's veteran or not, Daniel (Moskos) and company get with him and it's discussed," Manager Clayton McCullough said. "The things that went well, the things that we're going to look to improve on moving forward and try to get some of the pitches with two strikes in better spots. Just had some pitches leak today over the plate that they put good swings on them." The Blue Jays got to Alcantara right away in the bottom of the first inning, as Ernie Clement took him deep for his fifth home run of the season, taking an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the third, Kazuma Okamoto smacked an RBI single, extending the lead, 2-0. The homer that Alcantara surrendered to Clement was off a high sinker, 3.71 feet above the ground, making it the highest pitch he has allowed a home run on in his career. Everything would come crashing down in the bottom of the sixth, as Alcantara surrendered his second home run of the night, this time to Yohendrick Piñango, making it 3-0. A George Springer RBI single made it 4-0 and with the bases loaded, former Marlin Jesus Sanchez took his former teammate deep. Sanchez's first career grand slam was his sixth home run of the season, making it 8-1. Alcantara went on to be taken out of the game after hitting his fourth batter of the night, Okamoto, in the next at-bat. "We just couldn't find a way to finish that inning," McCullough said. "I'm sure the Otto (Lopez) play he makes often, and just wasn't able to there. We weren't able to stop the bleeding and they were able to put up a big number." Through 12 starts this season, Alcantara finds himself with a 4.66 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 6.21 K/9 and 2.51 BB/9. His start on Tuesday marked the third time this season that he allowed more than five runs and it's now back-to-back starts that the he has done so. Miami's offense didn't back up their longtime starter, only putting up one run on five hits and were one for seven with runners in scoring position. With the loss, the Marlins drop to four games below .500 but hope to take the series Wednesday afternoon with Eury Pérez on the mound. First pitch is at 1:07 pm EST. View the full article

For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the final May edition of our Fish On First Prospects Report, which includes several important injury updates near the bottom of the page. This report covers the games played from May 19-25. Triple-A Jacksonville This week, the Miami Marlins acquired outfielder Rece Hinds from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for reliever Zach McCambley. In 24 games this season in Triple-A, Hinds is slashing .303/.422/.618/1.040 with seven home runs, 20 RBI and a 164 wRC+. In his Jacksonville debut, Hinds went 1-for-4 with a walk. His lone hit of the game came in the bottom of the ninth inning with an exit velocity of 109.5 mph. McCambley, who was a member of Miami's all-pitcher 2020 draft class, was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. He was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies, but after not making the team, he was sent back to the Marlins and assigned to Triple-A. In 13 appearances (two starts), McCambley posted a 2.36 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 10.80 K/9 and 5.74 BB/9. He has yet to debut for his new organization. The trade does come as a surprise given that there wasn't a clear need for an outfielder, unless the Marlins plan to make some moves with the 26-man roster. As for McCambley, it didn't seem like he was going to get an opportunity to make the Majors with Miami, so he is shipped off to a place where he may have a better chance. Jacob Berry continues to rake in Jacksonville, now slashing .309/.426/.434/.860 with two home runs, 17 RBI and a career-high 137 wRC+. Berry's walk rate was at 14.2% the last time we posted this article. It has only gone up since, now at 16.6% and striking out 13.0% of the time, both career-best marks for him. Since being optioned to Jacksonville, Agustín Ramírez is slashing .240/.339/.420/.759 with two home runs, seven RBI and a 103 wRC+. Defensively, he has made three errors, allowed nine stolen bases compared to three caught stealings. He is playing almost everyday, serving as the designated hitter when he isn't behind the plate. In limited action so far, 2021 second-round pick Cody Morissette is off to a strong start in Triple-A. He is slashing .286/.359/.429/.788 with one home run, eight RBI and a 113 wRC+. His lone home run of the season came on Saturday, a walk-off grand slam. Then on Sunday, he was the walk-off hero again with an RBI single. A fun note from this past week was that reliever Jack Ralston threw an immaculate inning. It came in Tuesday's game against the Norfolk Tide. He struck out Heston Kjerstad, Johnathan Rodríguez and Christian Encarnacion-Strand all swinging. It was the first immaculate inning of the season for the Jumbo Shrimp. On the season, Ralston now has a 1.03 ERA, 2.61 FIP, 12.99 K/9 and a 4.44 BB/9 in 26 1/3 innings pitched. Double-A Pensacola Pitching led the way for the Wahoos en route to a series victory over Columbus. Pensacola starting pitchers gave up just 11 runs over the course of the week. The offense rewarded them nicely, scoring 31 runs, pacing the way to a plus-10 run differential. Pensacola is now one game over .500 at 23-22, and they have just received some considerable reinforcements. Aiva Arquette, Eliazar Dishmey, Juan Matheus, Connor Caskenette and Holt Jones were officially promoted from High-A Beloit on Tuesday. More on Dishmey and Caskenette in the Beloit section of this report. We are running out of adjectives to describe what Karson Milbrandt is doing. Every week, the righty goes out and ups the bar again in terms of his dominance against Double-A hitters. This week, it showed up in the form of him collecting a career high 12 strikeouts over six shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and two walks. Milbrandt is now riding a streak of five straight quality starts, including 23 straight scoreless innings. He’s eight scoreless frames away from tying the Blue Wahoos’ all time franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings set in 2013 by Lee Hyde. Deservedly so, the accolades keep coming for Milbrant: he was once again named Southern League Pitcher of the Week by the league and Baseball America has labeled him the hottest pitcher in all of Minor League Baseball. Because of the veracity at which he is dominating and overwhelming Double-A hitters, questions have arisen about Milbrandt being promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville and when that will happen with the big league team struggling for starting pitching. However, remaining in Double-A is probably the safest play for Milbrandt’s continued development. Before this year, Milbrandt had only pitched two games at the Double-A level. Also, he’s not yet thrown more than 90 innings in a single season. As innings pile ip on his arm, staying where he’s comfortable will aid Milbrandt’s confidence. The alternative is going to a very bitter friendly environment in the International League where he would play against competition four-plus years his elder on average. With depthy arms for the big league team still to draw from already on the 40-man roster, the safest play for Milbrandt, who is now a top 100 prospect, would be to keep him in Double-A for most of 2026. Fenwick Trimble, the Marlins’ fourth-rounder from 2024, had a slow start to the year. He progressively picked things up, and lately, Trimble has taken the next step and strung together multiple hits in many games that he's played. That was prevalent in this series against the Clingstones as Trimble went 7-for-23. He recorded two hits in each of the final three games of the series, including his seventh home run. Trimble has put a .680 OPS April behind him by slashing .288/.337/.513 in May. Trimble has tapped more into his contact-oriented approach by way of swinging at more quality pitches. He owns 31.1% whiff (36th percentile), but his swings-and-misses have consistently become less frequent as he gets fully acclimated to Double-A pitching. Trimble has also looked the part at all three outfield spots. Reps and time: that is all Trimble will need as he attempts to approach the ceiling of a speedy, gap-hitting, contact-oriented starting outfielder. He is locked into a starting outfield spot with the Wahoos for the rest of the season. High-A Beloit It was another successful week for the Carp who hit the road again and came out with a 4-2 series victory against Quad Cities. The Beloit bats awoke for one of their better all-around offensive showings of the season so far as they scored 52 total runs and held a whopping +29 run differential. When the Sky Carp resume play on Tuesday, though, their lineup will look much different without Arquette, Matheus and Caskenette. With Otto Lopez and Liam Hicks on potential All-Star trajectories and with top prospect Owen Caissie beginning to riddle it out at the plate, it’s been quite the year for Canadians at the big league level. Connor Caskenette is making that trend matriculate to the minors because he is absolutely raking. He continued to demolish High-A pitching this past week by going 6-for-19 with a double and two homers, bringing his season total to seven. Caskenette’s 166 wRC+ not only leads the Marlins system, it’s second-highest in the Midwest League among qualified hitters. At High-A, Caskenette showed a fantastic approach, walking at a 13% clip while keeping strikeouts to a manageable 22%. He selects swings well, rarely chasing out of the strike zone and making contact at pitches within it at an 85% rate. Caskenette’s solid raw strength and great barrel control stemming from quick hands allows him to go to all fields, though he has slightly favored the pull side. Limited defensively, Caskenette has done exactly what he needs to do so far in his development to reach his ceiling of an every day starter at the next level: hit consistently and hit well. We are about to find out if that can sustain against upper minors competition. Long term, it may behoove the Marlins to teach Caskenette a position other than catcher, possibly first base or left field. The glove has severely lagged behind the offensive production, namely in the area of controlling the running game where Caskenette has caught just 18% of base-stealers this season. While still very low, that is an improvement so far over the 10% marker he posted in 2025. Additionally, as catcher-only, Caskenette would be blocked by the defensively gifted Joe Mack. Overall, a bat-first and potentially bat-only prospect, there’s a low floor here, but the ceiling is enticing. Eliazar Dishmey continues to turn in solid outings. On the heels of a quality start in which he allowed just one run on a homer, the righty tossed 5 ⅔ innings worth of shutout ball on just three hits and one walk. Narrowly missing a second straight QS, Dishmey struck out nine, his most in a start since setting a career high with 10 last August. His ERA shrunk to a minuscule 2.14, sixth-lowest in the Midwest League (min. 20 IP). Dishmey continues to shine by way of a fastball that is one of the better heaters in the Marlins’ organization. Throwing the pitch with both four seam rise and two seam sink, Dishmey is showing enhanced command as well as an enhanced ability and confidence to throw the pitch up in the zone for whiffs. He can also bury it with lower velocity, attributing to a 44% ground ball rate this season. Along with his primary breaker, a slow, looping 12-6 curve which shows great velo separation from the heat, his slider has been his separating point this season. Better feel and control over the frisbee-style third pitch with late tilt and run to his spot has been the primary reason for his stark increase in K rate (35%) and decrease in contact rate (68%). He can also still mix in a show-me changeup. There’s still some reliever risk to Dishmey due to historical command concerns, limited size, and throwing with effort, but he’s already raised his floor so far this season. Still just 21, there’s plenty of time for him to continue to develop and fully iron out his craft at the upper minors. He’s well ahead of schedule. Colby Shade had another standout week offensively for Beloit and is proving how impressive he can be when he’s consistently getting on base. Slotting into four games in the series, the 24-year-old went 9-for-17 with a triple and stole three bags, bringing him up to 10 on the season. Not only did Shade show off his plus speed, he’s also continuing to tap into more power. On Thursday, Shade hit his seventh home run which already brings him to within one of tying his career high from two seasons ago. His exports earned him our Prospect of the Week honors. Shade, a ninth-rounder from 2023, has stayed consistent through the entire month of May, slashing .362/.413/.741 with nine extra base hits, including six home runs. After being limited by injury last season and after getting challenged to Double-A out of necessity, he’s showing what he can do as he gets consistent reps at the same level. A good mix of plus-plus speed, solid patince and whiff avoidance, and now budding power with the tools to hold down any outfield spot, he is beginning to raise his floor despite being slightly behind schedule in his development. As the Marlins continue to carve out the reputation as being aggressive with how and when they challenge their prospects, we should see Shade, who has a 144 wRC+, at the upper levels in short order before he becomes Rule 5-eligible this winter. Low-A Jupiter Abrahan Ramírez was one of the three players acquired in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade from the New York Yankees. He is slashing .274/.394/.462/.856 with five home runs, 26 RBI and 11 stolen bases. Emilio Barreras continues to be the Hammerheads' best hitter this season, now slashing .333/.477/.455/.931 with two home runs, 21 RBI and a 165 wRC+. He was selected in the eighth round of the 2025 MLB Draft. Ramírez and Barreras are leading candidates to be promoted to High-A whenever another infield spot opens up. Andres Valor continues to rebound from his early-season slump, now hitting .213/.342/.329/.671 with three home runs, 12 RBI, 22 stolen bases and a 94 wRC+. Although he is walking more (14.4%), the strikeouts remain an issue (29.4%), which is what is holding him back from truly making strides. Carter Johnson seems to have found a nice rhythm offensively. Even during a week where he totaled only two hits, he drew five walks. Overall, Johnson is hitting .219/.361/.370/.731 with five home runs and 20 RBI, marking a dramatic improvement from last season. Despite being shutout on Saturday, Wailin Castillo went 5 ⅔ innings, allowing one run on four hits, one walk and struck out six. Through eight starts this season, Castillo has a 2.55 ERA, 4.83 ERA, 7.39 K/9 and 4.08 BB/9. Julio Mendez continues to put up strong starts in Jupiter, most recently tossing 5 ⅔ innings, allowing two runs on three hits, no walk and struck out nine, two shy of his season-high. Mendez now has a 4.26 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 13.36 K/9 and 3.69 BB/9 in seven starts. FCL Marlins Another week down in the FCL means seeing things you do not see every day. The FCL Marlins threw a combined no-hitter while walking seven and allowing three runs. The offense was quiet for most of the week, but headlining this week is a player who got off to a slow start and has now hit safely in 10 straight games. FOF #12 prospect Luis Cova started the season 2-for-16 (.125). Since then, he has gone 14-for-36 (.388) and has put together a 10-game hitting streak. In his last two games, he has three RBIs, and while the power has not arrived yet, it is very reassuring to see the Luis Cova we saw last year. Just like a majority of the FCL roster that came from the DSL this year to make their stateside debut, Victor Rodriguez made his stateside debut this year as well. In six innings, he has posted a 3.00 ERA with seven strikeouts compared to just two walks. Walks have been the main issue for Rodriguez over the last two years in the DSL, so this is a very good sign. Another guy who falls into that category is Jonathan Rosario. Coming over from the DSL this year, he has looked dominant when he is in the zone. Through nine innings, he has 13 strikeouts. However, he has also walked 11. The stuff is definitely there, as opponents are hitting just .133 against him this year, but command will dictate how well the stuff plays. Jonas Uzcategui is a repeat from last week, and rightfully so. This week, he went 2 ⅔ innings without allowing a hit while striking out four and walking two. His updated stats this season: a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings with 18 strikeouts compared to just four walks. Injuries/Rehab The following prospects were all activated from the injured list on Tuesday: Ryan Ignoffo (Pensacola), Drew Faurot (Beloit), Chase Jaworsky (Beloit), Wilson Weber (Beloit) and Jacob Jenkins-Cowart (Beloit). FOF #1 prospect Thomas White is expected to be sidelined for at least one more week. President of baseball operations Peter Bendix told SiriusXM Radio that White's issue is shoulder-related. This week's schedule Triple-A Jacksonville at Charlotte Double-A Pensacola at Birmingham High-A Beloit vs. Lake County Low-A Jupiter at Fort Myers FCL Marlins vs. FCL Nationals, FCL Cardinals, FCL Mets and FCL Astros View the full article

Capping a terrible series in Miami, a reserve Mets outfielder gets hurt. It shouldn't have been the worst news, but ... as this outfielder was perhaps the most recent hero the Mets have known in a season where heroes have been few, a tremendous game-tying home run against the Yankees nine days ago is suddenly seeming like ten years in the rearview mirror Transactions, 5/25/2026 GOING Refused Minor-League Assignment and Opted for Free Agency Relief Pitchers Craig Kimbrel R/R DoB: 1988-05-28 High Level: MLB (2026) Craig Kimbrel refusing a minor-league assignment should come as no surprise. The bearded, man-bunned purveyor of the crane position brought more style than substance to his Mets tenure, but he has spent the last few seasons in a race against time, trying to add something — anything — to his borderline Hall of Fame case, jumping from team to team, with little time to linger. The man can still pitch a little, but is stuff is such that you don't want to see him in a position where he has to throw a strike. Transactions, 5/26/2026 GOING NEUTRAL Signed away by TBR to Minor League Contract Demoted to Syracuse Demoted to Syracuse Placed on 10-Day Injured List with Strained Right Hip Flexor Transferred from Infield Relief Pitchers Outfielders Craig Kimbrel Jonathan Pintaro Nick Morabito Tyrone Taylor MJ Melendez R/R DoB: 1988-05-28 High Level: MLB (2026) R/R DoB: 1997-11-07 High Level: MLB (2026) R/R DoB: 2003-05-07 High Level: MLB (2026) R/R DoB: 1994-01-22 High Level: MLB (2026) L/R DoB: 1993-11-29 High Level: MLB (2026) COMING Activated from 60-Day Injured List Added to Roster and Promoted from Syracuse Relief Pitchers Infielders A.J. Minter Eric Wagaman L/L DoB: 1993-09-02 High Level: MLB (2025) R/R DoB: 1997-08-14 High Level: MLB (2026) When Tyrone Taylor pulled up short on the way to first, it was unfortunate, but losing a reserve outfielder with a .530 OPS for a few weeks shouldn't be a roster-cripping exercise. But what shouldn't be and what is are on pretty friendly terms when it comes to these 2026 Mets. Taylor's immediate replacement is, as expected, fellow reserve outfielder Jared Young, returning from a leg injury, but that transaction left the Mets with four of their five outfielders being exclusive lefthanded hitters, and the lone righthanded batter still looking for his first MLB hit. Pinch-running specialists (particularly pinch-running specialists who get thrown out on the first pitch) are simply not a luxury that teams in the offensive position of the Mets can afford to retain, but as Nick Morabito's initial Mets tenure comes to a close, let it not be overlooked that the Mets chose to open it by un-necessarily throwing the rookie into the heat of a stupid near-40-year-old number controversy, and then not having their guy's back when the **** predictably hit the fan. So Morabito is out, the more seasoned righthanded bat of Eric Wagaman is back in the fold (and hopefully shedding his phantom Met status), and the Mets are no longer operating with an infield/outfield imbalance that had caused Vientos-Semien-Baty-Bichette to play 99% of the innings in recent weeks. The long rehab of AJ Minter comes to an end, and if he gives the Mets a second lefty half as effective as Brooks Raley has been, they will be a blessed team on the bullpen side of things, but that is not the side where the pain has been, as can be seen by their rewarding Jonathan Pintaro for his 3 1/3 hitless/one walk innings with a ticket to Syracuse. Dominoes. Your 2026 New York Mets Starting Pitchers Nolan McLean Freddy Peralta David Peterson Christian Scott Jonah Tong R/R DoB: 2001-07-24 R/R DoB: 2996-06-04 L/L DoB: 1995-09-03 R/R DoB: 1999-06-15 R/R DoB: 2003-06-19 Relief Pitchers Huascar Brazobán Sean Manaea A.J. Minter Tobias Myers Brooks Raley Austin Warren Luke Weaver R/R DoB: 1989-10-15 R/L DoB: 1992-02-01 L/L DoB: 1993-09-02 R/R DoB: 1998-08-05 L/L DoB: 1988-06-29 R/R DoB: 1996-02-05 R/R DoB: 1993-08-21 Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders Devin Williams Hayden Senger Luís Torrens Bo Bichette Brett Baty Vidal Brujan Marcus Semien R/R DoB: 1994-09-21 R/R DoB: 1997-04-03 R/R DoB: 1996-05-02 R/R DoB: 1998-03-05 L/R DoB: 1999-11-13 S/R DoB: 1998-02-09 R/R DoB: 1990-09-17 Infielders Outfielders Mark Vientos Eric Wagaman Carson Benge A.J. Ewing MJ Melendez Juan Soto Jared Young R/R DoB: 1993-12-11 R/R DoB: 1997-08-14 L/R DoB: 2003-01-20 L/R DoB: 2004-08-10 L/R DoB: 1993-11-29 L/L DoB: 1998-10-25 L/R DoB: 1995-07-09 Also on 40-Player Roster Starting Pitchers Relief Pitchers Clay Holmes Tylor Megill Kodai Senga Zach Thornton Alex Carrillo Daniel Duarte Reed Garrett R/R DoB: 1993-03-27 R/R DoB: 1995-07-28 L/R DoB: 1993-01-30 L/L DoB: 2002-01-17 R/R DoB: 1997-06-06 R/R DoB: 1996-12-04 R/R DoB: 1993-01-02 Relief Pitchers Catchers Infielders Justin Hagenman Dedniel Núñez Jonathan Pintaro Dylan Ross Francisco Alvarez Francisco Lindor Ronny Mauricio R/R DoB: 1996-10-07 R/R DoB: 1996-06-05 R/R DoB: 1997-11-07 R/R DoB: 2000-09-01 R/R DoB: 2001-11-01 S/R DoB: 1993-11-14 S/R DoB: 2001-04-04 Infielders Outfielders Jorge Polanco Luis Robert, Jr. Nick Morabito Tyrone Taylor S/R DoB: 1999-11-13 R/R DoB: 1997-08-03 R/R DoB: 2003-05-07 R/R DoB: 1994-01-22 Your Mets Coaching Staff Manager Bench Coach Pitching Coach Hitting Coordinator Third Base Coach First Base Coach Bullpen Coach Ass't Pitching Coach Carlos Mendoza Kai Correa Justin Willard Jeff Albert Tim Leiper Gilbert Gomez José Rosado Dan McKinney DoB: 1979-11-27 DoB: 1989-07-14 DoB: 1990-09-09 DoB: 1992-08-16 DoB: 1996-07-19 DoB: 1992-03-08 DoB: 1974-11-09 DoB: 1989-06-06 Hitting Coach Strategy Coach Catching Coach Coaching Assistant Bat'g Practice Pitcher Equipment Manager Bullpen Catchers Bullpen Catchers Troy Snitker Danny Barnes J.P. Arencibia Rafael Fernandez Kevin Mahoney Kevin Kierst Eric Langill Dave Racaniello DoB: 1988-12-05 DoB: 1989-10021 DoB: 1986-01-05 DoB: 1988-08-03 DoB: 1987-05-11 DoB: 1964-07-09 DoB: 1979-04-09 DoB: 1978-06-03 Your Mets Training Staff Director of Player Health Head Athletic Trainer Assistant Athletic Trainer Reconditioning Coordinator Reconditioning Therapist Head Performance Coach Assistant Performance Coach Performance Coordinator Soft Tissue Specialist Brian Chicklo Joseph Golia Bryan Baca Sean Bardanett Josh Bickel Dustin Clarke Tanner Miracle Jeremy Chiang Hiroto Kawamura DoB: 1972-07-17 DoB: 1978-??-?? DoB: Circa 1980 DoB: 1988-06-23 DoB: 1996-??-?? DoB: 1987-??-?? DoB: 1991-??-?? DoB: ????-??-?? DoB: 22846 View the full article

It was May 8, and Anthony Banda had a problem. He stood on the mound in Cleveland, a journeyman: the common clay of MLB relievers. Guys like him barnstorm across the league, offering their services in low-leverage situations for a relative pittance—in this case, $1.625 million and whatever future considerations the Twins gave to the Dodgers in exchange for the lefty hurler. The problem? Banda entered the game with an 8.04 ERA, and would crank it up to 8.27 following this outing. Something had to change. And so it did. Banda pitched 1 ⅓ scoreless innings two days after that appearance at Progressive Field, with a pair of strikeouts. Can you spot the adjustment Banda made between outings? dnZ3REtfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1V3UlpCVmRSWDFjQVhGVURWd0FIVndFQ0FGaFdBRmdBQTFJTkJRRUhCZ05jVXdOVQ==.mp4 bGJ3TDdfVjBZQUhRPT1fQXdSUVVsY0dBd0FBQ0ZGUlVnQUhBMVVGQUFOUUJ3SUFVRkpSVXdCWEJ3UmRCMVpW.mp4 Instead of the high-leg kick he’s used since his second season in MLB, Banda switched to a simple slide-step, and the results so far have been promising. He has since experimented with a modified, medium-sized leg kick, starting with the Astros series, but May 10 remains a sharp line between his old style and his new one, given that the new leg kick isn’t as extreme as the previous one. Banda’s main issue early in the season was a ghastly lack of control. He had already plunked six batters and uncorked four wild pitches as of May 8, pushing previously shaky command to untenable levels. Nor was it just one offering suffering: he hit three batters each with his heater and slider. After that last brutal outing, his rate of pitches in the “waste zone”—the part of the strike zone so utterly out of the way that it rarely ever results in a positive outcome for the pitcher—was 12.4%, the 4th-highest total in the league among hurlers who had thrown at least 400 pitches. Life is hard when an eighth of your pitches are uncompetitive. Since the switch, his waste rate hasn’t improved. It actually crept up a little, to 12.9%, though no pitch (save a back-foot slider to Rhys Hoskins) came close to hitting someone. Is the mechanical change a red herring? Is the sample too small? Five of those misses came on the day he made the change—perhaps a sign of growing pains—and two came in the rain-soaked Boston game on Sunday. Perhaps this is simply something that should be earmarked to return to at a later date. Not all pitches to the waste zone are created equal, though. The real difference, it appears, is part mechanical, and part managerial. Before May 10, 40% of Banda’s pitches came against lefties, but since then, 55% of his offerings have come with the platoon advantage. As a result, he’s been able to pitch more against lefties. Unsurprisingly, he's been better against them throughout his career. You can also live a bit more in the waste zone left-on-left, with the slider that makes Banda good when he's right moving well out of the zone but inducing chases. What else happened on May 10? Travis Adams re-joined the Twins bullpen, giving them more relief depth against right-handed hitters. To this author, the change in usage goes hand in hand with the adjustment Banda made: seven of the awry balls from the lefty since he cut down on his leg kick have been sliders against lefties, pitches that will almost never result in a hit by pitch. It appears he’s gripping and ripping at the same rate as before, but with better matchups, he's able to do without fear of plunking batters and with a better chance of getting a hopeless swing from an opponent. In conceiving of and writing this story, the conclusion changed a few times. Obviously, something had happened to unlock a better version of Banda, but what was it? The slide step sparked the notion, but the numbers don’t lie: Derek Shelton simply has been able to find better spots to use his lefty hurler. His cobbling of loose pieces and unrefined goods early in the season resulted in awkward fits—pushing guys into situations they don’t excel in—which likely resulted in Banda’s ugly stats. Since then, though, Banda has culled two runs off his ERA, and he now looks like a somewhat reliable arm, given the right context. As long as his save Friday isn't indicative of a future as the team's closer, Banda appears to have found his way back to a successful groove. View the full article

When Shohei Ohtani took off for second base Friday night, it was hard to like William Contreras's chances. Ohtani has proved to be a very efficient basestealer, and he's very fast. On the mound, rookie Logan Henderson was focused on executing a good pitch, and wasn't very quick to the plate. Given Ohtani's speed and his jump by the time Contreras caught the ball, Statcast estimated that the Brewers' catcher had just an 18% chance to gun down the reigning two-time National League MVP. Then he did it. MTZOYlZfWGw0TUFRPT1fQndJSFhRRUZYd0lBQzFFRVZ3QUhBVk5mQUZnTlZWSUFCZ05VVlFaWEJnZGNCVlJW.mp4 Contreras's throw was slightly high, but Ohtani saw the reach of Joey Ortiz's glove and pulled his own hand down to protect it from the ball, slowing him down a bit as he slid into second. Ortiz had time to snatch the throw and sweep the tag downward, and although Ohtani was initially called safe, that call would be overturned on review. This has become a common sight this season: a runner goes, and they seem to have a good jump and an easy steal before them. Contreras flips the script. For a player who's always been known as a dynamic athlete for a catcher, this aspect of his game took a long time to develop. It's in full bloom now, though. In fact, it's the best in baseball. When Contreras first came to Milwaukee, he had a strong arm, but no good ideas about how to use it. His footwork was too slow. Relatively quickly, under the guidance of the Brewers' vaunted corps of catching instructors, he improved in that regard, but two years ago, his accuracy consistently did him in. He was getting rid of the ball pretty fast, but not putting his throws where they needed to be. That, too, has now been fixed. NnlNcWRfWGw0TUFRPT1fQTFRREFRVlhBZ29BWFFNREJ3QUhBUU1EQUFBTUFGUUFDMUFGQWxVSEJRQUFVMUFG.mp4 As manager Pat Murphy loves to remind folks, this is the very model of a modern throw to second base. The way it requires Ortiz to move as he receives it almost makes the ball look off-target, but in reality, this is where every team wants their catchers throwing on steal attempts. The infielder should set up right above the bag, to give the catcher a good target, but the throw should take them to the first-base side of second. That optimizes the chances of a tag before the runner slides into the base. Contreras has gotten very good at that. In fact, though, he's simply gotten good at everything involved in the throws to nail runners from behind home. His exchange from glove to hand is much smoother than in the past; he doesn't pause or hitch to reorient the seams as he gets into a throwing position. Two years ago, I wrote about Contreras needing the pitch to come to the first-base side of the plate in order to get set well and make a strong throw; it was part of his broader accuracy issues. By last season, he had fixed that problem, and now he thrives on throws from that side of the plate. This year, the improvement has come from slightly better awareness—he always seems ready, and isn't geting caught unprepared or poorly positioned on any steal attempts—and from that quicker exchange. It helps that his hands work better than they did a year ago. Here's a side-by-side look at one play from 2025 and one from this month, right as Contreras's front foot (the left) touches the dirt for the first time as he sets to throw. Look how much more in position to fire he is this year. However, he's also doing something important with his lower half. Here are two fastballs up, on which the runner tried to steal. This is the last frame before Contreras caught each pitch. He's geting up out of his crouch well as he receives the ball, whenever he's able. He was doing that last year, too, though. In fact, though this wasn't one of those times, last year, Contreras often used what catchers call the "cheat stance," whereby he would pop up from one knee down to a standard crouch as the pitcher began his delivery, getting into throwing motion before the ball even got on its way to him. The key difference in the images above is that, this year, Contreras is turning his body better. As he comes out of his kneeling stance, he's not squaring up to the ball, which he often did last year and which forced him to turn his shoulders more as he made the transfer from glove to hand. Now, by changing the set of his hips and the angle at which he pushes upward with his legs, he's getting his chest facing toward first base earlier, setting him up for an easier transfer and throw. WERaME5fWGw0TUFRPT1fQkFVQUJsRUVBMVFBRHdGWEF3QUhWRkJRQUZrRFVWVUFCd1lCQVF0VVZBRlZWZ2RT.mp4 Officially, runners are 12-for-26 stealing bases against Contreras, according to Baseball Reference. That gives him credit for a few times caught stealing that were actually pickoffs by the pitchers and infielders, but it also gives runners credit for a couple of steals that were utterly indefensible from Contreras's perspective. When he's had any kind of chance at all, he's been phenomenal. According to Baseball Savant, he's already been worth 4 Catcher Stealing Runs this year. If he keeps up at this pace, he'll become the new record holder in that stat—though, admittedly, it's only been tracked since 2016. No catcher with at least 10 attempts against them has ever dealt with faster average runners in a season than Contreras has had to deal with so far, at 29.2 feet per second. Runners are getting better jumps against Brewers pitchers this year than at any time in Contreras's tenure with the team. None of it matters. He's become the best possible form of himself as a thrower and running-game stopper, and arguably the best catcher in the sport at that skill. For the Brewers, it's just one more developmental win involving a player whom they've systematically unlocked over almost half a decade, now. View the full article

The roster churn continues for the New York Mets. Outfielder Tyrone Taylor was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained right hip flexor. Rookie outfielder Nick Morabito and right-handed reliever Jonathan Pintaro were optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. Replacing them are first baseman-outfielder Jared Young, who was activated from the 10-day injured list following a torn left meniscus, with infielder Eric Wagaman called up from Triple-A and left-handed reliever A.J. Minter activated off the 60-day injured list after surgery on his left lat. The Mets had openings on their 40-man roster to accommodate Wagaman's addition and Minter's activation. Taylor was injured during Monday's 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds during a groundout in the sixth inning. The demotion of Morabito, Grand Central Mets' No. 7 prospect, comes after he went 0-for-11 with nine strikeouts after his first MLB call-up. Pintaro made two appearances covering 3⅔ innings over the weekend. Minter has been out since April of last season with his lat injury, which eventually required surgery. He will be a big left-handed presence in the bullpen. Wagaman is up for the second time this season after being claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Twins in April. He came up April 30 and was designated for assignment the next day. But he survived waivers and went back to Syracuse, where Wagaman was slashing .372/.462/.581 in 13 games with two homers and 12 RBIs. View the full article

Coming off his best start of the season, it will be at least another two weeks before Logan Henderson takes the mound again. The Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday placed Henderson, a right-handed starter, on the 15-day injured list with a strained lower back and called up right-handed starter Coleman Crow. Last week against the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, Henderson struck out seven over five shutout innings, allowing two hits and walking three. He has allowed two runs or less in all five of his starts, including just one in that start before facing the Dodgers. That was another five-inning, seven-strikeout performance. Henderson has a 6.7% walk rate and 33.3% strikeout rate in 23 innings this year. Crow is likely to start in Wednesday's series finale vs. the St. Louis Cardinals, with the Brewers as of this moment not yet announcing a starter. He has done very well in his first two MLB starts this year, allowing a total of three hits over 10⅓ innings with one walk and seven strikeouts. With Henderson on the shelf, Crow could be up for multiple starts, although veteran right-hander Brandon Woodruff is inching closer to a return to the rotation. View the full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (May 23-May 25) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets): 2-4 Season Record: 25-26 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies): 1-4 Season Record: 23-19 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Spokane (Colorado Rockies): 2-4 Season Record: 18-27 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins): 4-2 Season Record: 19-26 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 3-2 Season Record: 14-3 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 24-25 Series vs Syracuse Mets (New York Mets) May 23: Postponed May 24, Game 1: It was another doubleheader for Buffalo on Sunday afternoon, and at least the weather cooperated for the teams to get both games in. Grant Rogers was on the mound for the first game, and he would take care of most of the innings for Buffalo. He made it through the fifth, but again pitched mostly to contact. At this point in his career, a contact pitcher is really all he ever will be. He makes it work for most starts, just like he did on Sunday. He allowed three runs, only two earned, while only giving up four hits and one walk. Syracuse got to him in the bottom of the third inning with an RBI single, then again in the bottom of the fifth on a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly. During this game, he threw a heavy dose of sinkers and splitters, which drives the high contact rates against him. Luckily for Buffalo, RJ Schreck was in the lineup, and he really carried the bats. Schreck got the scoring started for Buffalo in the first inning, a missile that shot off the bat at 107.2 mph and went over the right field fence for a solo home run. The blast was Schreck's sixth of the season and went 372 feet. In the third inning, it was Schreck again. This time, it was a three-run home run. With the lead at just one in the sixth inning, Schreck was yet again in the middle of the action for Buffalo. He walked and then came in to score a few batters later on Willie MacIver's sacrifice fly. Je'Von Ward then added another run with an RBI single. In the bottom half of the sixth, Ryan Clifford got ahold of a pitch from Brendan Cellucci to lead off the inning with a solo home run. It was the closest Syracuse would get, as Hayden Juenger came into the game in the ninth and recorded two strikeouts on his way to earning the save. Buffalo won 6-4. May 24, Game 2: For Buffalo, the bats decided that their performance in game one of the doubleheader was enough and stayed holstered for the entirety of the second contest. They only recorded two hits, singles from William Simoneit and Ryan McCarty. While the bats played peekaboo, the pitching was locked in. Austin Voth got the start and pitched into the fourth inning. He only surrendered one run, walked none, and gave up just three hits. Brendon Little came into the game in the fifth inning and pitched two perfect frames, six up and six down. Syracuse only had three hits in the game, scoring their lone run in the fourth inning on Ryan Clifford's 10th home run of the season. Buffalo fell 1-0. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 23-19 Series vs Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) May 23: Jackson Wentworth was on the mound for the Saturday game between New Hampshire and Hartford. He pitched well this time around, going five innings, only allowing one run, giving up four hits, and striking out two. New Hampshire took the lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single to center field from Sean Keys, on which Arjun Nimmala and Jace Bohrofen scored. In the top of the second, Dyan Jorge brought in a run for Hartford on a sacrifice fly. That is where the game remained until the ninth inning. Conner Capel launched a game-tying home run to right field. Then, GJ Hill smacked an RBI single to right field, which gave Hartford a one-run lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Jay Harry would knock a single to left field, but he would be stranded on base when Jackson Hornung grounded out to end the game. New Hampshire lost 3-2. May 24: Postponed High-A Vancouver Season Record: 18-27 Series vs Spokane (Colorado Rockies) May 23: With the series tied up two apiece, the Canadians had a chance to win the series with two straight wins. Danny Thompson Jr. was once again the starter for Vancouver, but he had a tough third inning, giving up a walk and three hits, which resulted in three earned runs. The Canadians offense tied it up, scoring two runs in the fourth off a Maddox Latta single and a Carter Cunningham sac fly. Then Alexis Hernandez continued his hot hitting, knocking in J.R. Freethy with a double. The game went back and forth as Jay Schueler replaced Thompson, and gave up two solo home runs in the sixth inning, but the Canadians came back with Freethy’s first homer of the year in the seventh and Hernandez's second RBI double of the night. An error from Peyton Williams turned into the third homer given up by Schueler on the night, and Reece Wissinger allowed two doubles, leading to two more runs scoring for Spokane. He then gave up another homer in the eighth inning, which was the fourth homer given up by the bullpen on the night. Down four in the ninth inning, Williams hit a double with no outs, but all Vancouver could do was drive him in with a groundout, spoiling a chance at another comeback victory. May 24: It was Johnny King day, and it seemed very likely that Vancouver could earn the series split with who was on the mound. Alexis Hernandez is a doubles machine, as he hit his third in two games to give Vancouver an early lead. Things did not go to plan in the bottom of the inning, as King raised his ERA to 2.60, not being able to get out of the first inning and giving up five runs with three walks and four hits. The Canadians slowly clawed their way back, with Hayden Gilliland recording an RBI in the second. A wild pitch made it 5-3 in the third inning, and Gilliland had a solo shot in the fourth inning to make it a one-run lead. J.R. Freethy tied it up in the fifth inning with a double, and then the Canadians took the lead when Spokane’s third baseman threw it away on a grounder to third on a throw to second. Holden Wilkerson came in after Carson Pierce replaced King, and he pitched well, going four innings with four strikeouts, but in the sixth inning, he took the loss as he gave up three hits and two runs, which ultimately became the last runs of the game as the Canadians could not get on base after that. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 19-26 Series vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Minnesota Twins) May 23: The Jays’ plundering of independent ball seems to have been paying off, as Jack Nedrow had his third straight great appearance in a row, with his second straight quality start. The offense supported his good start, as they took advantage of some shaky defense. Yorman Licourt got an RBI single in the bottom of the second, then scored in the bottom of the fourth on a dropped third strike. The Jays got their third run of the night on a passed ball, then their fourth unanswered run with an Eric Snow single. Nedrow gave up the first runs of his professional career in the seventh inning with a two-run homer, but Eduar Gonzalez came in and continued pitching well with two scoreless innings. JoJo Parker gave the Jays much-needed insurance with a two-run single in the eighth, which ended up mattering, as in the ninth, Lluveres Severino gave up what would have been the game-tying runs without Parker’s clutch hitting. May 24: Jake Bloss looked great in his first game back in Dunedin on a rehab assignment. The righty sat 95.8 mph on his fastball, topping out at 97 mph. He went four strong innings, with his only blemish being a solo shot in the fourth inning. The Jays were able to get a run in on a balk in the first inning, so the game was tied. The Jays' bullpen was solid, as Ramon Suarez kept it tied into the sixth inning. Blaine Bullard then hit a two-run homer, scoring Jake Cook and giving the Jays a two-run lead. Franly Urena gave up a run on an RBI groundout in the eighth inning, but Jack Eshleman got save number six to shut the door and give the Jays another win. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 14-3 May 23: Miguel Pantoja was on the mound to begin the Saturday FCL game between the Blue Jays' and Tigers' squads. He again went over four innings, this time 4.1. He gave up three hits, three runs, a walk, and struck out two. The big hit for the Tigers was a home run in the fourth by Cris Rodriguez. It was another good outing from Pantoja, one of the youngest players in Rookie ball. On offense, the top of the order did the damage for the Blue Jays. Angel Guzman tripled in a run in the first inning and would score later himself on an RBI single from Franklin Rojas. Sam White would have a big day, going 3-for-3, with two singles, three RBI, a home run, and a stolen base. His home run in the bottom of the sixth scored two runs and gave the Blue Jays team the lead for good, as they went on to win 5-4. May 26: Shane Bieber started the Monday FCL game between the Blue Jays and the Yankees. He went two innings, allowing just three hits, and didn't give up a run. He would strike out three batters and not walk a batter. Seojun Moon came in next, but didn't have a good start in his first game out of the bullpen. After a double and two walks, Moon would allow a run on a wild pitch and two more on an RBI single. He would settle in and almost get through two innings overall. An error would extend the inning, and he finished his day with another walk and a hit-by-pitch. Overall, he seemed to be a bit wild on the day. The Blue Jays team took the lead in the second inning on an Andres Arias home run. In the fifth inning, Brock Tibbitts would cap off a five-run inning with a three-run home run to right field. The Blue Jays team would win again, this time 8-3. View the full article

Alex and Maddie sit down and discuss the fleeting joy of the Red Sox’s sweep of the Royals and then the immediate whiplash after the team got dunked on by the Twins. They review how the lackluster offense at Fenway isn’t instilling much hope (Willson Contreras and Ceddanne Rafaela are excluded here). They break down potential trade scenarios for a right-handed bat (the options are limited) and discuss what an Aroldis Chapman trade would look like with the Padres. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-talk-sox-podcast/id1783204104 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3qPrPXEngu0CxgTmlf0ynm Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-talk-sox-podcast-244591331/ Listen on Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/4tmd121v Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@talksox View the full article

When the Minnesota Twins traded Griffin Jax to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Taj Bradley, the move immediately sparked debate about upside versus certainty. At the time, the Twins appeared to be dealing from a position of strength. Jax had become one of the most reliable relievers in the American League, while Bradley looked like the type of high-upside starter Minnesota’s rotation desperately needed. Early returns made the deal appear heavily tilted in the Twins’ favor. Bradley pitched like the club’s ace before a right pectoral injury landed him on the injured list. Still, baseball trades have a funny way of evolving over time, especially when pitchers are involved. Now, the Rays are attempting something Minnesota talked about and quickly abandoned: turning Jax back into a starting pitcher. The funny part is, it might actually work. Twins fans probably remember Jax’s rookie season well enough to understand why the organization gave up on the idea initially. During the 2021 campaign, Minnesota used him in 18 games, including 14 starts. The results were ugly. Jax posted a 6.37 ERA with a 67 ERA+ and a 1.35 WHIP while allowing nearly a hit per inning. Too often, lineups punished him the second and third time through the order. At the time, he looked like a pitcher without a clear identity. His fastball command wavered, the secondary stuff lacked consistency, and he simply did not miss enough bats to survive in a rotation role. Then everything changed. Beginning in 2022, the Twins shifted Jax into the bullpen full-time, and suddenly, he became one of the best relief weapons in baseball. From 2022 through 2024, he posted a 3.06 ERA with a sparkling 2.77 FIP while striking out 241 batters across 208 2/3 innings. The transformation was dramatic. His slider became a legitimate wipeout pitch. The fastball played up significantly in shorter outings. More importantly, Jax started attacking hitters with confidence, rather than simply trying to survive. By the time the 2025 season rolled around, there was legitimate discussion about whether Minnesota should revisit the starter experiment. Unlike his rookie self, the more seasoned Jax actually looked equipped for it. His pitch mix had evolved considerably since moving to relief. He had sharpened his command, developed swing-and-miss stuff, and learned how to sequence hitters far more effectively. Frankly, he barely resembled the pitcher who struggled through 2021. The idea made sense on paper. Unfortunately for Jax, the Twins needed him too badly in the bullpen. Minnesota entered 2025 leaning heavily on him as a high-leverage weapon, and the organization ultimately decided stability in relief outweighed the risk of another rotation conversion. Then the season unraveled. The Twins collapsed under the weight of injuries, inconsistent pitching, and mounting clubhouse frustration. Jax’s final chapter with the organization included a tense interaction with former manager Rocco Baldelli on the mound at Target Field. Shortly afterward, his representation informed the club that a trade would be preferred. A few days later, he was headed to Tampa Bay. Naturally, the Rays decided to get weird with it. Rather than fully stretching Jax out during spring training and immediately placing him into the rotation, Tampa Bay spent the early portion of 2026 using him in relief appearances, while gradually increasing his workload. It is a very Rays approach to pitcher development. Recently, however, the Rays have started letting Jax work deeper into games. Across five starts, he has allowed only three earned runs over 19 innings with a 14-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His most recent outing against the Baltimore Orioles may have been his most encouraging yet. Jax tossed five innings, allowed three hits, surrendered just one earned run on a solo homer, struck out six, and walked only one batter. Equally importantly, his workload continues to climb. Over his last three starts, he has averaged just over 60 pitches per outing, suggesting Tampa Bay is slowly removing the training wheels. It's difficult not to play revisionist history with the trade. Earlier in the 2026 season, the Twins looked like clear winners. Bradley emerged as Minnesota’s top starter before his injury, while Jax remained somewhat of a question mark as a long-term rotation candidate. But that equation may no longer be so simple. If Bradley’s injury impacts his long-term durability, while Jax successfully transitions into even a mid-rotation starter, the narrative around this deal could shift dramatically. Starting pitching carries far more value than relief pitching, even elite relief pitching. The Rays know that better than almost anyone. Bradley is back, and he looked like himself in his first appearance after the stint on the shelf, but it won't feel like he's out of the woods until he gets back to throwing full starts and puts that injury scare in the rearview mirror. There's also an uncomfortable reality attached to all of this from Minnesota’s perspective. The Twins may have actually developed Jax into a starter without ever getting to enjoy the payoff themselves. His failed rookie stint likely came too early in his development. By the time he became polished enough to handle a rotation role, the Twins were too reliant on him in relief to make the switch. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, inherited the finished version of the pitcher and now gets to test the final stage of the experiment. That does not make the trade a mistake. Bradley still has front-line starter upside when healthy, and the Twins desperately needed rotation help. Still, Jax’s resurgence as a starter adds an entirely new layer to the conversation. If he keeps pitching like this, Twins fans may soon find themselves wondering what could have been—although so far, Bradley is pitching well enough in his own right to deter those intrustive thoughts. What sticks out about Jax’s transition back to a starter? How should the Twins view this trade? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article