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For the 2026 season, Fish On First will provide weekly reports on the Miami Marlins farm system, covering all levels. Here's the second June edition of our Fish On First Prospects Report, which includes a full week of Dominican Summer League observations. This report covers the games played from June 2-8. Triple-A Jacksonville You couldn't have asked for a better start to Gage Miller's Triple-A stint. Through his first seven games, Miller is hitting .409/.536/.636/1.172 with one home run, eight RBI and a 215 wRC+. Between Double-A and Triple-A, Miller is slashing .301/.403/.478/.881 with five home runs, 30 RBI and a 140 wRC+. Miller, a third-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, got off to a slow start to his professional career, but has really turned it around this season. Never say never, but if he keeps hitting the way he is and the Marlins cannot solve their short-term issue at third base, maybe he can be a late-season call-up. The Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp held a bobblehead night for Jacob Berry. So far in 49 games, he is slashing .278/.400/.385/.785 with two home runs, 21 RBI, 16 stolen bases and a 119 wRC+. Defensively, it has been an adventure, but has primarily split time between third base and right field. The Marlins promoted right-handed pitcher and Fish On First No. 10 prospect Karson Milbrandt to Triple-A Jacksonville. His first start with the Jumbo Shrimp came on Saturday, where he tossed six shutout innings, allowing two hits and walking three. His lone strikeout of the night came in the top of the third inning when he got Brock Wilken with a called strike three. Milbrandt's fastball topped out at 96.5 mph and averaged 95.2 mph. He also threw his slider, sweeper and curveball. Where he did struggle was landing first-pitch strikes, only having a 55% success rate. Opposing hitters averaged an exit velocity of 83.0 mph. On the injury front, we now have clearly timelines for the returns of three FOF Top 30 talents Kemp Alderman (left elbow sprain) should be back by the end of June. Maximo Acosta (right thumb UCL sprain) underwent surgery on May 19. He's due to return shortly after the All-Star break. Finally, FOF #1 prospect Thomas White suffered a left shoulder capsular sprain on May 17. The team announced a recovery timeline of 12-16 weeks, but the expectation internally is that he will likely miss the remainder of the regular season. If that is the case, White will finish his 2026 season posting a 4.34 ERA, 4.70 FIP, 12.05 K/9 and 4.34 BB/9 in five AAA starts. Double-A Pensacola Following a good ending to May, the Wahoos got off a sluggish start in June dropping four of six to Chattanooga and squandering an opportunity take over their division lead. The team’s bats were particularly asleep: Pensacola scored just 13 runs in the entire series. In many cases, the initial promotion and significant leap from the lower minors to the upper minors is a rude wake-up call for prospects. That was no such thing this past week for Eliazar Dishmey. The 21-year-old righty came out of the gates firing on all cylinders in his new Blue Wahoos threads, completely shutting down the Lookouts for five innings, disallowing a hit. Ultimately, he worked a quality start, going six innings and allowing one run on just one hit while walking one and striking out nine. Dishmey topped out at 94 and dipped to 74 mph. He recorded strikeouts with three different pitches. The Southern League acknowledged his excellence by honoring him as their Pitcher of the Week. The opportunity to play every day in the FCL appears to be helping his confidence. If he continues performing like this, a return to Jupiter could come sooner rather than later. Edgardo De Leon has become a weekly fixture in these recaps, and for good reason. So far in June, he is hitting .538 (7-for-13) with two home runs. He has also drawn four walks compared to just two strikeouts. On the bases, he has stolen six bags, including a three-steal game. For the season, De Leon is slashing .351 with five doubles and four home runs. Of his 20 hits, nine have gone for extra bases. He has more walks than strikeouts, is 7-for-8 in stolen base attempts, and owns a .649 slugging percentage, the third-highest mark in the FCL. His time in the FCL fittingly has come to an end. He earned a promotion to Jupiter on Tuesday. Through the first week of June, Breyias Dean is hitting .364 (4-for-11) with a pair of home runs. On the season, he owns a .362 batting average with nine extra-base hits, including four doubles, one triple, and four home runs. His .672 slugging percentage ranks second in the FCL. Perhaps most impressively, he has already surpassed his walk total from all of last season. While his .425 BABIP suggests some regression is likely coming, his improved plate discipline gives reason to believe much of the breakout is legitimate. The numbers may come down slightly, but Dean appears to have made real adjustments at the plate. DSL Marlins & DSL Miami Santiago Solarte, Fish On First's No. 18 prospect, wasted little time making an impact, recording two multi-hit games during his first week of professional baseball. The Marlins were thrilled to sign him for $1 million. While the power has yet to show up, Solarte has already stolen five bases. His ability to get on base has been impressive, drawing two walks and getting hit by four pitches. Through his first week, he is hitting .263 with a .440 OBP and .316 SLG. He has struck out nine times in 19 at-bats, but as he continues to acclimate to professional baseball, those numbers should improve. Listed at 6-foot-1 and just 142 pounds, Justin Batista has not let his frame hold him back. Through seven innings, he owns a 1.29 ERA with 11 strikeouts, a 0.71 WHIP, and only two hits allowed. On Monday afternoon, Batista threw four hitless innings while striking out seven and walking two, giving the bullpen plenty of room to finish off the organization's first no-hitter of the season. While the DSL is often considered pitcher-friendly because of inconsistent command and limited offensive environments, Daniel Pire has been one of the league's better hitters early on. Through 20 at-bats, he is hitting .350 with a double and a triple while striking out just once and drawing two walks. One area to monitor is his 2.0 GO/AO ratio, which suggests he is putting the ball on the ground more often than ideal. Like many young hitters, the numbers will likely level out as the sample size grows, but the early plate discipline has been encouraging. This week's schedule Triple-A Jacksonville vs. Gwinnett Double-A Pensacola at Columbus High-A Beloit vs. Quad Cities Low-A Jupiter at Daytona FCL Marlins, DSL Marlins and DSL Miami vs. various opponents View the full article

After making a handful of moves before Tuesday's series opener against the Colorado Rockies, the Chicago Cubs tacked on another in what has been a revolving door in the bullpen. The Cubs placed Trent Thornton on the paternity list and called up fellow right-handed reliever Tyler Ferguson from Triple-A Iowa. Thornton can be away from the club for up to three days for the birth of his child. Thornton has a 5.30 FIP (1.69 ERA) in 12 appearances and 16 innings. He has a rather high 11.3% walk rate and a very below average 9.7% strikeout rate. Ferguson is up for the second time this season with Chicago, but has yet to make his Cubs debut. He was acquired from the A's on May 7 after he had been designated for assignment after giving up four runs in 1⅓ innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. He had been called up last week, but didn't pitch and was optioned back to Iowa. View the full article

It may seem like wishful thinking for the Chicago Cubs to be buyers at this point, but a lot can change between now and the trade deadline on August 3. Pete Crow-Armstrong's bat is starting to heat up since he’s been moved to the leadoff spot. Ian Happ is barreling toward his first 30 home run campaign of his career. Edward Cabrera and Matthew Boyd are (or nearly are) back. Though they have had their struggles this year, they were some of the team’s better projected options coming into the season. Plus, this is a team that made the playoffs a season ago with many of the same key players intact. They’re still over .500, and until they fall well below that mark, you can bet that the front office will not punt on the season. Though the Brewers have once again proved to be the class of the NL Central, the rest of the division is imperfect and could conceivably be steamrolled by this Cubs team... albeit when everything is clicking. The Cubs need to target pitching, some more pitching, and probably an extra pitcher or two just to be safe. Even with the return of Cabrera and Boyd, and the emergence of Ben Brown, they will likely need two dependable starting pitchers. Every contender shops for relievers at the deadline, but the Cubs need about half a bullpen’s worth of them. Southpaws Hoby Milner and Ryan Rolison have been serviceable, but they, combined with the 39-year-old Caleb Thielbar (who has spent time on the IL already), cannot be the top lefty options in the postseason. Daniel Palencia looks great when he pitches, but he has dealt with injuries this year and it looks like Counsell is hesitant to use him too much. Ethan Roberts and Jacob Webb have pitched well from an ERA standpoint, but they aren’t high-leverage guys. The “big” free-agent addition, Phil Maton, has an ERA over seven. If the Cubs intend to make a deep run in the postseason, they probably need another two or even three relievers, with at least one being a bankable high leverage option. On the offensive side, they need to improve internally because there isn’t anywhere to play a new bat unless they want to get really creative. You may see a utility player or a bench bat join the squad, but the Cubs won’t be in on any of the big-name bats on the market. Here are some of the names being mentioned in rumors you won’t see on the list below: Gleyber Torres, Mike Trout, Luis Arraez, C.J. Abrams, Jarren Duran, Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers, or any of the Astros’ bats. Chicago Cubs Top Trade Deadline Targets Without further ado, let's get into the players the front office is most likely to (or should be planning to) target this trade season. The Grand Prize: Tarik Skubal Skubal’s return from his loose bodies procedure is seemingly going to happen sooner rather than later, but the Tigers have been one of baseball’s worst teams and are sitting in the cellar of the AL Central. Even the two-time reigning AL Cy Young winner is not going to help this team unless he starts every other game. Skubal is also an impending free agent, and he will certainly test the market to attempt to earn the largest contract for a free-agent pitcher in MLB history. Other teams can easily strong-arm the Tigers into moving him, since they aren’t contending and don’t seem to have much of a shot at re-signing him. It would be in the best interest of the team to move him, but they won’t get anything close to the return they could have gotten if he was moved before the season. If we see the Cubs revert to their April ways on offense, there are no excuses as to why they shouldn’t be right in the middle of the Skubal conversations. The Tigers might ask for Shaw or Ballesteros as the headliner, but that’s just the price of doing business. Again, Skubal is only a feasible target if the Cubs start hitting like one of the best in baseball again and have a clear path to the playoffs. The Big Fish: Starters & Relievers Freddy Peralta While it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for the Mets to gain ground in the wild-card race, they are currently at the bottom of the division and a whopping 15 games behind the Braves. Should Peralta, who is another impending free agent, become available, he would be the number two option on the market after Skubal. The 30-year-old has been more good than great this season with a 3.80 xERA, accumulating 1.0 fWAR over 13 starts. The Cubs should be able to acquire Peralta without moving anyone off their major-league roster, but Jefferson Rojas, or last year’s first-round pick Ethan Conrad, could be on the table. Reid Detmers The Angels have been one of the worst teams in baseball, but they never want to embrace a full rebuild. Their M.O. for the past decade and a half has been to get Mike Trout to the playoffs, but that goal seems as far away as it’s ever been. Detmers is currently in his second year of arbitration while making a modest $2.6 million (and, as a Super Two player, he has two more years of team control remaining). He is now back in the rotation after spending all of last season in the bullpen. His xERA is 2.92 and he’s accumulated 2.2 fWAR. He ranks fifth in the AL in strikeouts with 88 across 74 innings. If the Cubs continue to meddle in mediocrity this season, Detmers is a great addition for the future. If they bounce back, he is a great addition for right now. The Angels should be listening on Detmers, but his contract status gives them a ton of leverage in negotiations. Joe Ryan The Cubs have been a logical landing spot for Ryan for some time now, but Minnesota did not want to waive the white flag yet. After a hot start to 2026, the Twins have faded as anticipated, and should be open for business. Byron Buxton and Ryan are their biggest trade chips, and should both be in high demand this summer. Ryan is having an excellent year where he has firmly taken over the best pitcher in the Twin Cities title with Pablo Lopez out for the year; he has a 3.06 xERA and 84 strikeouts. Eight of his 14 starts have been quality starts, and he has already reached 2.1 fWAR. Ryan would be the right-handed starter the Cubs desperately need, but if the Twins view Ballesteros as a catcher long term, that might be their non-negotiable ask, because their current starting catcher Ryan Jeffers could also be out the door. Antonio Senzatela Senzatela was one of the more consistent Rockies starters since he broke into the league in 2017, but dealt with injuries after signing a five-year extension, completely breaking down last season with a 6.97 xERA in 30 games (23 starts). He’s made the transition to the bullpen this year and is finding success with a 3.05 xERA over 36.1 innings. The right-hander is posting the highest K/9 of his career at 7.43, and will certainly be one of the most available relievers this July. He comes with a club option for next season too, which is an added bonus. Senzatela isn’t going to single-handedly fix the Cubs' bullpen, but would be a perfect secondary move if they take a bigger swing on one of these next names. Aroldis Chapman This would be a real fun move. Ten years after the Cubs acquired Chapman from the Yankees, he once again fits their needs almost perfectly. With the American League in shambles as a whole, it is far from certain that Boston is going to sell, but if they do, Chapman would be their most in-demand trade chip. The 38-year-old is showing no signs of slowing down, and has cemented himself back in the best reliever in baseball conversation. He has a 0.46 ERA in 19.2 innings while striking out 26. Should he reach 40 innings pitched, a mutual option worth $13 million would kick in for 2027. Who knows if a reunion is on the table all these years later, but it would make for a fun storyline to follow. Josh Hader Houston may decide to sell at the deadline, which, like Boston, is far from a certainty; it would be marking their first deadline as sellers since the 2016 season. The hot names on the market are SS Jeremy Pena, 1B Christian Walker, and 3B Isaac Parades (with some light mentioning of MVP candidate Yordan Alvarez). The reason why Hader hasn’t been mentioned as much as those other guys is because he just started the season earlier this month. Left bicep tendinitis caused him to miss April and May, and upon returning, he has thrown two scoreless frames so far. Hader is currently in the third year of a five year, $95 million contract that represents the largest present-day value for a reliever ever. The Cubs will have some money coming off the books after this season with Jameson Taillon, Shota Imanaga, Seiya Suzuki and Ian Happ all entering free agency. It's likely they try to bring back either or both of Suzuki and Happ, but the pitchers should be gone. Using some of that money to reunite Hader with his first big-league skipper would be a move for both the present and future. Sandy Alcantara In my opinion, the Cubs should stay far away from Alcantara negotiations unless the Marlins would give him away for a few ballpark hot dogs, but he has been one of the more talked about trade candidates of the last few seasons, so I wouldn’t be doing my job if he didn’t get a mention. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner is on the last season of a five-year extension, but there is a club option for next season worth $21 million. Alcantara has made 14 starts this season and has allowed two or less earned runs in eight of them. He also has four starts where he has given up six or more runs. His xERA on the season is 4.05 and he has been worth 1.3 fWAR, but the Marlins have been reluctant to trade him to this point, and it might not make sense for the Cubs to meet a high asking price for a guy who blows up this frequently. The Role Players: Lesser Pitchers Robbie Ray Buster POBO-sey and the Giants seem to be punting on this season already after they fell flat on their face early on. Starting catcher Patrick Bailey was already moved to Cleveland in a rare May trade. They’ve also announced a willingness to move SS Willy Adames, 3B Matt Chapman and OF Jung-Hoo Lee. Don't doubt that they would be happy to move the 34-year-old Ray as well, as he is in his last year of the five-year deal he signed with the Mariners after the 2021 season. The 2021 AL Cy Young winner is not having a great campaign, but at least he is healthy and making his starts. The 4.12 ERA and 1.40 WHIP is not going to scare teams in the playoffs, but this move would make sense for a team like the Cubs, who have been losing starting pitchers to the IL all season. Michael Wacha The Royals and Tigers were supposed to be right up there with the Guardians in the fight for the AL Central. Baseball is a weird sport, so naturally the White Sox are in second place behind the Guardians, while the Royals and Tigers are hanging out in the cellar. The 34-year-old is having another productive season with a 4.19 xERA and 1.2 fWAR. This is another arm that isn’t going to propel the Cubs to the playoffs, but he should provide quality innings at the back of the rotation. If they add a Joe Ryan, Freddy Peralta, or even a Tarik Skubal, Wacha would be a great secondary move. Pete Fairbanks The Cubs might be wary of taking on another struggling arm, especially with the performance of Phil Maton, who was supposed to be one of their dependable, late-inning options. Fairbanks has a 7.41 ERA, but a 3.59 xERA. He has the highest BB/9 of his career so far, and has the second-highest homer rate trailing only his rookie season. He is on a one-year deal and it shouldn’t take much for the Marlins to move him. This addition would not solve the bullpen crisis, but it would give them another major-league arm to play with. A Mets Reliever or Two If the Mets sell, they could accumulate a real asset or two for some of their relievers. Lefties David Peterson, Brooks Raley, and A.J. Minter should all be available. Righties Huascar Brazoban and Luke Weaver could also find themselves on the trade block. To maximize value, David Stearns likely won’t bundle these pitchers together or package one with Peralta, but there is plenty of value here for the Mets to cash in on. Gus Varland Tier: Gus Varland The Cubs can bring Varland home to Chicago and give him a pretty easy red-line commute to Wrigley Field. After missing the entire 2025 season, Varland is quietly putting together a solid season in the Nationals' pen. His 25 appearances lead the team, and his 3.27 FIP show he is a bit better of a pitcher than his 5.14 xERA indicates. Though the Nationals are flirting with a .500 record, they will certainly be selling off some pieces. After joining the Nats as a waiver claim, he has given them enough value to become an under-the-radar trade chip. Plus, some less knowledgeable fans may think they acquired his brother. View the full article

Just when you think the Chicago Cubs' pitching staff is getting healthier, another injury strikes. Right-handed starter Jameson Taillon was put on the 15-day injured list Tuesday by the Cubs due to a strained left hamstring. In good news, utilityman Matt Shaw was activated from the 10-day IL after battling midback tightness. Right-handed reliever Ethan Roberts was recalled from Triple-A Iowa, while outfielder Kevin Alcantara was optioned to Triple-A. Taillon was injured in his start Sunday in a 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants in 10 innings. He threw a pitch for ball four to Matt Chapman in the second inning and immediately waved to the dugout for medical attention. The Cubs currently have seven pitchers in the IL, with five on the 60-day IL. One of those, left-hander Matthew Boyd, could be on the verge of returning to the rotation. Through 13 starts this season, Taillon had struggled his way to a 6.31 FIP (5.19 ERA) in 67⅔ innings. He has given up an MLB-worst 20 homers while posting an 8% walk rate and 20.6% strikeout rate. Shaw returns to the roster after being placed on the IL May 22. In 42 games before then, Shaw was slashing .242/.291/.400, hitting three homers and driving in 12 while bouncing around the diamond defensively. Roberts came off the 15-day IL himself May 8 following a right middle finger laceration that sidelined him for about three weeks. In 14 appearances and 18⅓ innings, Roberts has a 3.76 FIP (1.96 ERA), with a 9.7% walk rate and 19.4% strikeout rate. Alcantara produced a .111/.200/.111 slash line in just 12 games (10 plate appearances) since coming up May 23. View the full article

Throughout the offseason, Trevor Larnach worked to refine his approach at the plate, focusing on making more consistent contact and becoming a more complete offensive contributor. While that adjustment has shown some positive results, it has also coincided with a noticeable shift in his power profile. Manager Derek Shelton pointed to several hard-hit balls during the Twins' recent road trip as evidence that better results could be on the horizon. However, Larnach's underlying metrics suggest a more significant change may be taking place. Since early May, he has increased his contact rate, but it appears to have come at the expense of the impact that made him one of Minnesota's most dangerous left-handed hitters. Beginning with the road series against Washington and Cleveland, Larnach posted a .241/.320/.368 slash line, while averaging just 85.2 mph in exit velocity. His contact point has also moved significantly farther out in front of the plate compared to 2025. Ordinarily, hitting the ball out in front gives a player more power, but that hasn't happened for Larnach. Instead, he's become much less likely to drive the ball. That trend is particularly noteworthy considering the adjustments he has already made to his swing. Twins Daily reported in 2025 that Larnach had flattened his bat path, reducing his swing angle from 40 degrees to 34°. This season, that figure has dipped again, to 33°. The flatter swing has his contact point sliding forward, as you'd expect given that change in bat path. Now, he has to be early to do any damage—and he's managed to be early even on fastballs, at times. The clearest example came during his home run against Pittsburgh. Larnach turned on a 98-mph fastball and made contact approximately 40.5 inches in front of his body—an unusually aggressive contact point against that velocity. The result was a home run, but the swing also raised an important question: Is Larnach intentionally moving his contact point forward, even more than the swing change would predict? And if so, how does that square with his apparent efforts to sacrifice power for contact? The data suggests this may be less about timing and more about approach. In short, Larnach is selling out for the fastball. He's significantly increased the frequency with which he's on time against heaters this year (from 76% in 2025 to 81%), according to new data from Statcast, but because he's working hard to be there, he's also been early more often than ever against both offspeed (67% vs. 53%) and breaking (70% vs. 51%) offerings. His plan gives him a chance to hit fastballs hard, but he hasn't been accurate enough with his barrel to actually produce that result as often as in the past. Here are three images for his 2025 season, showing how often he was horizontally (left) and vertically (right) on or off the barrel for each pitch group type, along with (center) how often he was on time, early or late. Now, here's the same set of images for 2026. You can see that he's more on time against fastballs, but he's less likely to have centered the ball well on his barrel, horizontally. That's led to weaker contact against heaters, even though he's actually hit the ball more often. Despite the decline in power production, there are encouraging signs. Larnach has become considerably more selective at the plate, increasing his walk rate to a career-best 13.7%. He lost that patience for a bit, but has regained it of late. He's also hitting the ball in the air (and, specifically, both more line drives and more balls in the air to the pull field) more than ever. In many ways, Larnach's evolution reflects a hitter continuing to make adjustments. While the power numbers have suffered, the improved discipline has counterbalanced it, and he's staying afloat so far. Whether this shift is the result of an organizational emphasis or simply a hitter searching for a more sustainable approach remains unclear. What is evident, however, is that the version of Larnach the Twins are seeing today looks different from the one who generated much of his power a season ago. Larnach has been open about his struggles, as well as his growth. At the beginning of the season, it was obvious that he was confident in his process and that his commitment to the game was a priority. As he's found out the hard way, that's not enough. Baseball is still gut-wrenchingly hard, and hitting is the hardest part of the game. He's made an adjustment that has sort of worked, but the cost of it has been high. To be a viable, valuable corner outfielder for a team trying to claw its way back into contention in the American League Central, he might need to make another adjustment—another plan, another tweak of the approach that has yielded the results he's achieved so far. View the full article

The Kansas City Royals have gotten back a member of their starting rotation. Right-hander Stephen Kolek was activated from the family medical emergency leave list and will start Tuesday's game against the Texas Rangers. Infielder Josh Rojas was optioned to Triple-A Omaha. Details behind Kolek's placement on the list, which happened Thursday, have not been disclosed. That could be cleared up following the game when the media has a chance to interview Kolek. In six starts covering 38 innings this year, Kolek has a 4.11 FIP (3.32 ERA) to go along with an excellent 5.4% walk rate and subpar 18.1% strikeout rate. He has had an issue giving up homers, with five so far this season. He does have a shutout, blanking the Seattle Mariners 3-0 on May 23. Rojas came up to replace Kolek on Thursday and appeared in two games, going 1-for-5 with two RBIs. View the full article

The return of Dylan Cease is official. The right-handed starter was activated from the 15-day injured list Tuesday by the Toronto Blue Jays, who optioned left-handed reliever Adam Macko to Triple-A Buffalo. Cease, who has been out since March 25 with a strained right hamstring, is scheduled to start Tuesday against the Philadelphia Phillies. Cease, who signed a seven-year, $210 million contract as a free agent this offseason, has a 2.59 FIP (3.05 ERA) in 11 starts over 62 innings, with a 10.1% walk rate and a career-best 35.7% strikeout rate before being injured. Macko has made 12 appearances, including his MLB debut, over 12 innings, with a 2.94 FIP (1.50 ERA), posting an excellent 4.2% walk rate to go along with an above-average 25% strikeout rate. His demotion leaves Mason Fluharty as the only left-hander in the bullpen and just one of two lefties on the staff (starter Patrick Corbin is the other). View the full article

A big piece of the Boston Red Sox's bullpen is back. Right-handed reliever Garrett Whitlock was activated off the 15-day injured list Tuesday by the Red Sox, who optioned infielder Anthony Seigler back to Triple-A Worcester. Whitlock had been out since May 28 (retroactive to May 25) with inflammation in his right knee, meaning this was a minimum IL stint. Whitlock, one of the top setup men in MLB, has a 2.80 FIP (3.20 ERA) over 20 appearances and 19⅔ innings with a 7.4% walk rate and 30.9% strikeout rate. Seigler was called up Wednesday and played in two goings, going 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a strikeout. At Triple-A, Seigler is slashing .298/.425/.471. View the full article

Blue Jays Affiliate Overview (June 6-8) Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox): 1-5 Season Record: 28-35 Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats Series vs Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates): 3-3 Season Record: 29-25 High-A Vancouver Canadians Series vs Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels): 3-3 Season Record: 23-34 Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays Series vs Daytona Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds): 5-1 Season Record: 25-32 FCL Blue Jays Week Record: 3-2 Season Record: 20-7 DSL Blue Jays Blue Week Record: 3-2 Season Record: 3-3 DSL Blue Jays Red Week Record: 1-4 Season Record: 1-5 Triple-A Buffalo Bisons Season Record: 28-35 Series vs Worcester Red Sox (Boston Red Sox) June 6: Saturday's game against Worcester would feature the third straight major league arm pitching on a rehab assignment for Buffalo. While optimism was high for Buffalo, the results were not as encouraging. Shane Bieber was touched up almost immediately, as he gave up runs in the first and second innings. In the first, back-to-back RBI doubles would give the early lead to Worcester. Bieber left a changeup and fastball over the middle of the plate, and both pitches were hit hard (over 100 mph on the exit velocities). It was another fastball that Bieber left middle-in to Tyler McDonough that he crushed 409 feet to right field for a solo home run in the second inning. For the game, Bieber pitched 2.2 innings, gave up six hits and three runs, while striking out three. He didn't walk anyone, which was the bright spot, but he couldn't locate his 92 mph fastball at all. With the Bisons down three, Jonatan Clase knocked in a run in the fourth, with an RBI double, scoring William Simoneit. In the fifth, Davis Schneider finally got a hit, an RBI single. Clase would again be in the middle of the action in the sixth, scoring the game-tying run on a throwing error. Conor Larkin took over on the mound for Buffalo in the bottom of the sixth, and he was off the mark to say the least. An error by Sean Keys helped Worcester out, but Larkin gave up a two-RBI double, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI single. Buffalo attempted a miracle comeback in the top of the ninth, they loaded the bases up, and Simoneit drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the deficit to three. Unfortunately for Buffalo, Clase flew out to end the game, as the Bisons fell 7-4. June 7: Grant Rogers took the mound on Sunday with one goal in mind: to help end Buffalo's losing streak. The bottom of the first inning was not the start he wanted. He gave up three hits and a walk to open the frame, which would put Buffalo down 1-0. Later in the inning, Matt Lloyd added two more runs to Worcester's lead with a two-RBI single. Willie MacIver cut into the Red Sox's lead in the top of the second inning. He crushed a ball 407 feet for a solo home run. Carlos Mendoza added an RBI single in the inning as well, further decreasing Worcester's lead. Worcester was just too much for Rogers and his pitch-to-contact style; they added a run from a sacrifice fly and an RBI double before he was removed from the game in the fifth. Josh Rivera hit his eighth home run of the season, a solo shot in the seventh to cut the lead to two. It would be the closest Buffalo would get, as Worcester won again, this time 5-3. Double-A New Hampshire Season Record: 29-25 Series vs Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates) June 6: It was a back-and-forth game on Saturday for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Altoona Curve. In the first inning, Altoona took a one-run lead when Callan Moss doubled in a run. The Fisher Cats answered in the third inning, aided by some wildness from Altoona. Three walks loaded the bases to begin the inning, and then Carter Cunningham cleared them with a three-run double. The top of the fourth saw the reverse, though, with Altoona getting on base via a few walks and a hit-by-pitch. In the inning, they had two RBI singles and an RBI double to bring in six runs total. They added another RBI in the sixth inning before New Hampshire started their comeback. In the bottom of the inning, Jorge Burgos doubled in a run, followed by Nick Goodwin doubling in two more. A wild pitch scored their seventh run, and Aaron Parker doubled in the tying run in the eighth inning. In extras, Eddie Micheletti Jr. came to the plate in the bottom of the 11th inning and walked off the game with another RBI double for New Hampshire, who won 9-8. June 7: The Sunday game between New Hampshire and Altoona was a tough one all around for the Fisher Cats. Gage Stanifer was on the mound facing the Curve for the second time in the week, and his command wasn't there with the fastball or split. In the first, Stanifer walked the first batter and fell behind 3-0 to Titus Dumitru, who hit a fastball over the plate for a home run. After that, he pitched mainly with his slider, which was his best pitch of the day. He got eight straight outs with six of them coming on the ground. In the fourth, though, he hung a split over the middle of the plate again for a home run. He would rebound and finish the inning. On the offensive side, New Hampshire managed just one hit in the game, a double from Jay Harry. New Hampshire lost this one 4-0. High-A Vancouver Season Record: 23-34 Series vs Tri-City Dust Devils (Los Angeles Angels) June 6: Holden Wilkerson had his first start of the season, as previously he’s been piggybacking after Johnny King throughout the season. He tied his season high in innings pitched, but the righty struggled, giving up nine hits, six runs, and two walks, raising his season ERA to 5.14. The offense similarly struggled as well, as although J.R. Freethy got an early run in with a double in the second, the Canadians had a scoring drought until the eighth inning, with Dub Gleed hitting a two-run homer to make it 7-3. Jonathan Todd pitched three solid innings in relief, but Ryan Nicholson hit his second homer of the night in the eighth inning to put the Canadians away for good, as they lost 8-3. June 7: Landen Maroudis seems to have taken a step back after his first few strong starts in Vancouver, as he’s now earned his fifth loss and his fifth start in a row with three or more runs given up. Jacob Sharp hit his sixth homer of the season in the first for the only run of the game for Vancouver, but the rest of the game was all Tri-City. They scored four runs off of Maroudis, and although there were 2.2 innings of reprieve when Jack Eshleman allowed zero runs, Gilberto Batista gave up a two-run homer in the seventh as he also continued to struggle this season, to make it 6-1 for the Dust Devils. Single-A Dunedin Season Record: 25-32 Series vs Daytona Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds) June 6: It took Alejandro Kirk rehabbing with the D-Jays and a series against the worst team in the Florida State League, but the D-Jays are on a winning streak. After losing the first game of the series, they have now rattled off four straight wins, thanks to a great pitching performance from Blake Purnell, who earned his first professional win, pitching five innings with six strikeouts, allowing only one run in the second inning. The Jays didn’t score a run until the fourth inning, where Raimundo De Los Santos had his first homer as a D-Jay to even it up. Eric Snow hit an RBI single in the fifth inning on a night he was DHing, to give the Jays the lead, and in the sixth inning, the Tortugas committed two errors, which led to a run scoring, then Yorman Licourt cleared the bases with a three-run homer for a four-run inning, taking advantage of some shoddy defense. The Jays' bullpen pitched well, allowing only a single run, and the D-Jays won 6-2. June 7: The Jays looked to take their win streak to five, and Silvano Hechavarria finally had himself a good start since getting back in Dunedin, going a season-high five innings. He gave up a couple of doubles in the third for the first run of the game, but that was the only run that he let up, striking out five batters on the night. The Jays got that run right back as well, with Jake Cook hitting his first triple of the season before getting driven in by Blaine Bullard. Adam Hackenberg crossed home plate after hitting a single, moving to third after a double from Raimundo De Los Santos, then going home on a wild pitch. Juan Sanchez hit a big double in the fifth inning for an extra insurance run, and Cook had his second extra-base hit of the night in the sixth inning to make it a 4-1 lead. Yimi García had another scoreless inning, and although Bradley Wilson allowed a run, he got his first hold, and Angel Obando pitched a scoreless ninth for the save, allowing the Jays to win their fifth straight. FCL Blue Jays Season Record: 20-7 June 6: Giacomo Taschin was on the mound for the FCL Blue Jays and set the tone against the FCL Phillies team. He went four innings and only allowed one hit. He didn't give up a run or a walk and struck out seven. The offense for the Blue Jays squad was destroying the baseball again. They hit four home runs in the game, one each from Giaconino Lasaracina, Jean Joseph, Hedbert Perez, Owen Gregg, and Renyel Campos. Gregg was 4-for-5 on the day, with three runs and three RBI. The Blue Jays team had 15 hits and 16 runs on their way to a big 16-3 win. June 8: On Monday against the FCL Tigers, the FCL Blue Jays didn't fare as well with the bats. Angel Guzman continued his hot stretch, hitting his fourth home run in a week in the fifth inning. The second run of the game for the Blue Jays came from a double by Franklin Rojas in the third inning. Those two runs were enough, though, as the Tigers team scored six in the first inning, with the big hit coming from Steven Madero on a grand slam. The FCL Blue Jays lost this one 8-2. DSL Blue Jays Blue Season Record: 3-3 June 8: Roberto Castellanos made his second appearance in a game for BJB this season, and he was dialed in. He pitched five innings, only gave up one hit, didn't allow a run to score, and struck out four. For the offense, they were keen to be thieves on the basepaths, swiping five bags, which included two double steals of second and home. BJV scored six runs in the game, two off the steals, two from sacrifice flies (one by Samuel Orellana and the other by Michael Mesa), a run from a wild pitch, and the last when the opposing catcher threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt. BJB won this one 6-0. DSL Blue Jays Red Season Record: 1-5 June 6: BJR was a hot mess on the field Saturday down on the island. They committed three errors, their pitchers walked 11 batters, and their bats only managed six hits in the game. Aneudi Severino was one of the bright spots for BJR; he had a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning, a single in the third, and walked in the fifth. Another standout was Luis Nunez, who had a double, a walk, and a run scored for the game. There wasn't much else worthy to note, as BJR was burdened by bad pitching and fielding, losing 9-3. June 8: On Monday, BJR was again inundated with error after error, four in total. The errors led to six unearned runs for the opposing team. Just like on Saturday, Aneudi Severino was the standout player of the game for BJR, and it might have been one of the better days for any player on either Blue Jays team down on the island this year. Severino smacked his second home run of the early season, as well as walked once and stole two bases. The team has shown a propensity to not strike out, only two times on Saturday and just four times on Monday. The pitching just hasn't been able to overcome the errors, with BJR losing again, this time 6-3. View the full article

In a much quicker timeline than anticipated, Francisco Alvarez is back. The New York Mets on Tuesday activated the catcher from the 10-day injured list. He tore his right meniscus May 12. Just less than a month later, he has returned to the active roster. Catcher Hayden Senger was sent back to Triple-A Syracuse. Alvarez, who was expected to be out until the end of the month, had a brief rehab assignment, catching four games last week at Syracuse to make sure his knee was good to go. Before hitting the IL, Alvarez was slashing .241/.317/.393 with four homers and 10 RBIs. Senger saw action in seven games, going 2-for-15 (.133) with a homer and two RBIs. View the full article

The Milwaukee Brewers have locked up another one of their top prospects. Center fielder Luis Lara, Brewer Fanatic's No. 5 prospect, has agreed to an eight-year, $30 million contract, according to Brewer Fanatic's Spencer Michaelis. The deal, which includes two team options as well as incentives, is not official. Once signed, the 21-year-old Lara must be added to the 40-man roster due to the deal being a major-league contract. This also does not mean Lara will be immediately promoted, although that could happen. Brewer Fanatic's own Spencer Michaelis was first to report the news. Lara is the second prospect to receive an extension since the beginning of the season. Shortstop Cooper Pratt, Brewer Fanatic's No. 4 prospect, also signed for eight years, but is receiving $50 million. Lara has taken a big step offensively this season. In his first season at Triple-A Nashville, Lara is slashing .338/.447/.500 with seven homers and 27 RBIs to go along with 18 steals in 22 attempts. Lara is also a standout defender in center field, even at 5-foot-7. His previous best season came in 2023, when he had a slash line of .286/.373/.359 between Low-A Carolina and High-A Wisconsin. His seven home runs this season are already a career high, beating the four he had in a full season at Wisconsin in 2024. View the full article

The San Diego Padres will be without their starting shortstop for the next few days. Xander Bogaerts was placed on the paternity list Tuesday, with the Padres calling up infielder Will Wagner from Triple-A El Paso. The paternity list allows a player to miss up to three days due to the birth of their child. The Padres continue their series against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday and Wednesday, then are off Thursday before beginning a road trip Friday against the Baltimore Orioles. It is likely Bogaerts will rejoin the team Friday. In 63 games, Bogaerts has a slash line of .231/.303/.356 with eight homers, 27 RBIs and nine stolen bases. Wagner, acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays at last year's trade deadline, has slashed .255/.381/.382 for El Paso with three homers and 12 RBIs in 30 games. The start of his season was delayed due to an oblique injury. In 79 MLB games with the Jays and Padres the last two seasons, the son of Hall of Famer Billy Wagner has a .256/.329/.346 slash line with no homers and seven RBIs. Sung-Mun Song is likely to start at shortstop with Bogaerts out. View the full article

Honorable Mentions Brice Turang 111 PA, .231/.355/.363, 21 H, 3 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 18 BB, 2 SB, 107 wRC+ Turang slowed down a bit in the month of May, especially when it came to hitting for power, but his walk rate remained exceptional. His walk rate of 17.0% is exceptional and has helped keep his offensive production afloat even when the power has slipped. Luckily, things began turning around toward the end of the month, and June is off to a great start. He has slugged an impressive .778 in 27 at-bats so far and is doing plenty of damage once again, as noted by our very own Matt Trueblood. Statistical Nugget: Turang’s average exit velocity this season is 91.3 mph, the highest mark in his career so far. His average exit velocity as a rookie was 85.5 mph. William Contreras 106 PA, .302/.358/.365, 29 H, 3 2B, 1 HR, 14 RBI, 8 BB, 1 SB, 106 wRC+ Turang isn’t the only person who suffered from an apparent power outage last month. Contreras has been on a steady decline when it comes to his pop, which isn’t unexpected for a catcher who slugged .506 in his final season with his old team. The silver lining is that he has been hitting for a higher average and striking out far less. This has spurred some questions as to whether his power production and bat speed have declined as a result of the physical toll of playing as frequently as he does, given the grueling mental and physical demands of being a big-league catcher. While he hasn’t been able to do it consistently, he has shown occasional glimpses of being able to punish baseballs just as much as he did in his slightly younger days. Statistical Nugget: This season, Contreras is averaging .462 and slugging .731 against cutters. Andrew Vaughn 65 PA, .351/.431/.526, 20 H, 7 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 6 BB, 173 wRC+ Although he started the year on the injured list due to surgery on his left hamate bone, Vaughn wasted no time getting to work after returning to the team. He has been on an absolute tear and was one of the few truly standout bats in the lineup last month. Milwaukee’s ability to hit the ball into the stands is worse than one might assume. The Brewers’ combined 54 home runs are 28th in MLB. They haven’t really needed it, as shown by them being third in MLB for runs scored (344), but having a bat with real power potential like Vaughn will (if nothing else) give fans a few more long balls to admire than they would’ve had otherwise. Statistical Nugget: This season, Vaughn has a .692 OPS with runners in scoring position and a 1.016 OPS with the bases empty. Hitter of the Month – Jake Bauers 85 PA, .307/.388/.533, 23 H, 5 2B, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 8 BB, 1 SB, 160 wRC+ When Bauers first joined the team, it was assumed that he would be the latest in a long line of disappointing talent at first base, and there wasn’t much of a reason to believe otherwise. Prior to 2024, he had accumulated -1.4 fWAR and had never posted a wRC+ of 100 or higher. His first year as a Brewer was more of the same, but 2025 seemed to be an inflection point in his career. Now, at 30 years old in his seventh big-league season, Bauers has arguably been the best hitter on the team, and his numbers are in elite territory. In baseball, regression to the norm is always one freezing-cold month away, but the same was said about Vaughn after he was acquired from the White Sox. Vaughn has remained productive ever since. Milwaukee has become known for reviving the careers of pitchers, but they may have cracked the hitter puzzle, too. Bauers is a prime example of what’s now possible. Statistical Nugget: Jake Bauers’s 148 wRC+ this year is fifth among qualified first basemen and is higher than Bryce Harper (141) and Matt Olson (140). View the full article

Yoendrys Gómez was claimed off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays in early May, and since arriving in Minnesota, he has been sensational. Through 16 appearances, he owns a 0.64 ERA (2.25 FIP), and eight holds plus saves while allowing just one earned run in 14 innings. Those numbers would be impressive for anyone, but are even more so given the backstory of Gómez, who is now with his fifth organization in just over a year. Before landing with the Twins, he went from the New York Yankees to the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Chicago White Sox to the Tampa Bay Rays. Three of those teams have excellent reputations for pitching development and acquisitional acuity, but that's not exactly a trajectory that screams “high-leverage reliever". However, that's what he's become since donning the navy and red. His time in Tampa was rough. He posted a 6.23 ERA across 17 1/3 innings, with a 13:10 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The command seemed to be the culprit; the "stuff" was always there. This is precisely what the Twins saw when nobody else did—or at least, what the Twins have been able to unlock, partially thanks to the others running out of patience with the project. To understand why Gómez has been baffling hitters, you have to start with his sweeper. The pitch sits at 84 miles per hour and has generated an elite 39.3% whiff rate. The shape and spin rates seem to be pretty similar to previous season. Instead of those characteristics transforming, it's been a change in pitch mix that has unlocked Gómez’s next level. It's become his second-most-leaned-on offering and his go-to pitch in two-strike counts. What makes the pitch especially dangerous is how it pairs with his fastball. Gómez’s four-seamer runs at 95 miles per hour, which on its own would be a solid offering. But when you stack it with a sweeper with glove side-run and a sinker with arm-side run, hitters face a serious problem. He’s able to tunnel the three offerings, meaning opposing batters have a hard time identifying each. By the time the break of the sweeper (or sinker) happens, it's too late to adjust. While the sinker hasn't been nearly as effective, opponents have a combined sub-.200 batting average against the other two offerings. He rounds out his arsenal with a cutter at 91 miles per hour (less glove-side action than the sweeper) and keeps hitters guessing by mixing in a changeup 2.4 percent of the time. That is four distinct weapons, which gives Gómez the ability to attack hitters differently at every count and in every situation. The sweeper is the headliner, but the depth of his arsenal is what makes him a legitimate weapon out of the bullpen. The Twins have leaned on Gómez heavily, and he has been one of the more reliable arms in the bullpen. As much as Twins fans can grumble about the player development on the offensive side of the ball, Minnesota identified the stuff and acquired one of their most valuable bullpen pieces for “cash considerations.” His overall 2026 ERA across both teams has dropped from 6.23 with Tampa to 3.73. In Minnesota alone, the numbers look like those of an elite high-leverage reliever. The question worth asking at this point is whether Gómez can sustain the success over a larger sample. There's no doubt he’ll get that opportunity in 2026, but with five additional years of team control, we could be looking at the Twins' next great closer. Have the Twins found a diamond in the rough? Let us know what you think in the comments. View the full article

A little over a week has passed since Blake Mitchell almost single-handedly pounded Quad Cities, the Kansas City Royals’ High-A affiliate, past Midwest League rival Cedar Rapids. Mitchell slammed two homers and drove in seven runs as the River Bandits won 11-6 on May 29. Just a night later, though, Mitchell went 0-for-4 and struck out three times. He fanned twice in another hitless, four at-bat night in the Bandits’ next game. In a sense, it’s been that kind of season — and career —for Mitchell, an obviously gifted young catcher the Royals hope someday vindicates the big gamble they took on him in the 2023 amateur draft, when they spent the eighth overall pick to get the fresh-out-of-high-school catcher. The risky move defied the conventional wisdom that prep catchers aren’t good high draft choices. Whether Mitchell has, or will, prove the Royals’ dice roll was worth it remains to be seen. His minor league numbers reflect alluring tendencies to get on base and hit home runs, but also striking statistical inconsistencies. The question for Mitchell and the franchise is thus this: Will he make it? Royals Prospect Blake Mitchell is a Statistical Paradox That Mitchell is talented is indisputable. Even the Royals, with their checkered draft history, don't pick obvious clunkers in the first round. Only later, after they fail for reasons often unrelated to talent, are high picks declared sunk costs. And while Mitchell doesn’t seem destined for such a fate, his hasn’t been a trouble-free progression through the Kansas City farm system. One concern is his conspicuously low batting average. Including an ugly .143 in the post-draft 2023 Arizona Complex League, and the .207 he was hitting through Thursday, he entered Friday batting just .220 for his career. Batting average’s importance has diminished, but .220 for a first-rounder in his third full professional season is a red flag. Mitchell also strikes out too much — 34.8% of the time this season (a number probably explained in no small part by a 63.9 Z-Swing%), and 32.9% last year for his first full High-A campaign, although a broken hamate bone sidelined him for all but 48 games. Mitchell’s subpar Whiff rates (44.2% through Thursday this season, 35.5 last year, and 36% in 2024) and this season's third-percentile Z-Contact mark (67%) aren't good at all. But Mitchell’s overall professional performance is far from negative. Take, for example, his 131 wRC+ through Thursday, which compares favorably with his 111 last season and his 131 split between Columbia and Quad Cities the year before. Elite walk rates drive his excellent OBP marks of .419 this year, .390 in 2025, and .368 in 2024. His OPS numbers, which stood at .872 entering Friday, and were .710 for his injury-shortened 2025 campaign and .793 the year before, leave little room for criticism. And power he has. Mitchell homered for the 10th time this season on Wednesday, putting him well on the path to better the career-high 18 he hit in 2024. He’s also a competent baserunner with 50 steals since turning pro. Not bad for a catcher. The unusually strong-armed Mitchell can also be decent behind the plate. He caught 31% of would-be base stealers in High-A last season. Is There a Realistic Path to the Royals for Blake Mitchell? Not this season, and probably not next unless Salvador Perez foregoes the final year of his newest contract and retires. Mitchell has, after all, not faced Triple-A pitching, and won’t until late this year at the earliest. And even then, he’ll likely require a full season at that level before moving up to the majors. What now seems an inevitable arrival in the big leagues won’t be without some uncertainty, though, especially if it comes with the Royals. He may be too gifted to be a part-time backup, which means the Royals might need to prepare Carter Jensen for another position — or do the same with Mitchell. Or is a trade possible? Plenty of teams would be interested in Mitchell, and he might net a nice return. What Kansas City ultimately does with Mitchell is hard to predict. But they and he have plenty of time — he’s only 21, which leaves a lot of room and time for KC's top 2023 draft pick to refine and blossom. View the full article

When the New York Mets brought in Marcus Semien, the expectation was never that he would carry the offense by himself. They also didn't need him to immediately replicate his MVP-caliber seasons. What they wanted was stability: a hitter capable of controlling the strike zone, producing quality contact, and delivering the consistency that has defined much of his career. For the first five weeks of the season, that version of Semien seemed nowhere to be found. His .218/.291/.257 slash line and 64 wRC+ through his first 34 games ranked among the least productive performances from any regular in the Mets' lineup. More concerning was the near-complete disappearance of his power. For a hitter who has built much of his value on a combination of solid contact and extra-base production, a .291 slugging percentage inevitably raised questions about whether age-related decline was beginning to surface. A deeper look at his last 31 games, however, tells a very different story. Marcus Semien's Results Are Finally Catching Up to the Process On the surface, the improvement is easy to spot. Period PA AVG SLG wOBA xBA xSLG xwOBA First 34 games 121 .218 .291 .257 .232 .363 .289 Last 31 games 136 .232 .424 .306 .292 .497 .357 His batting average has increased by only 14 points, which might not seem particularly significant at first glance. The slugging percentage, however, has jumped by more than 130 points, while his expected slugging percentage has risen from .363 to .497. That number matters. Expected metrics are designed to separate contact quality from actual results. In other words, they attempt to answer a simple question: what should have happened based on how the ball came off the bat? During his first 34 games, Semien produced contact quality consistent with a .363 xSlG. Over his last 31 games, that figure has climbed to .497. That's an absurd jump more in line with the superstar he once was rather than the role player he seemed to become in recent years. His current batting average may even be understating the improvement. While he hit .232 during this stretch, his expected batting average reached .292. That 60-point gap suggests there could still be positive regression ahead. Fewer empty swings, more productive contact The most meaningful adjustments don’t necessarily show up in the traditional production numbers. When a veteran struggles early in a season, conversations often focus on dramatic changes in approach. That hasn’t really been the case for Semien. His chase rate has barely moved, increasing from 29.8% to 30.3%. His overall swing rate has actually declined slightly from 51.8% to 50.6%. What has changed is his ability to connect when he swings. Period O-Contact% Z-Contact% Contact% Barrel% Hard Hit% First 34 games 54.2% 88.6% 79.6% 6.8% 34.1% Last 31 games 59.1% 90.2% 81.6% 9.9% 37.6% His contact rate on pitches outside the zone has increased by nearly five percentage points. Contact within the strike zone has improved as well. The result has been fewer whiffs and more balls put in play. But the story doesn't stop there. If a hitter simply makes more contact without increasing the damage, the outcome is usually more weakly hit balls. That's not what's happening here; Semien is making more contact while simultaneously producing better contact. His barrel rate has climbed from 6.8% to 9.9%, an increase of 3.1 percentage points (roughly 46%). His hard-hit rate has risen by more than three percentage points. Even his 90th-percentile exit velocity has improved from 101.7 mph to 102.5 mph. That means his best contact is now more dangerous than it was during the season's opening month. There's also another number that helps explain the transformation: Semien's average launch angle has dropped from 19.2 degrees to 17.7 degrees. That may not sound like a dramatic adjustment, but it is significant. During the first stretch of the season, Semien was frequently lifting balls that weren't struck with enough authority to become extra-base hits. Many of those balls ended up as relatively routine fly-outs. A slightly lower launch angle combined with better contact quality is often a favorable combination. It creates more productive batted-ball trajectories and allows a greater percentage of hard-hit balls to find gaps instead of gloves. The simultaneous increases in Barrel%, Hard-Hit%, and xSLG point directly toward that conclusion. Yes, it's still too early to know how far Semien's resurgence can go. What the last 31 games show, however, is a hitter generating more quality contact and producing the kind of underlying metrics the Mets expected from the beginning. After a difficult first month, that's a trend that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. View the full article

Let's check in on the San Diego Padres prospects who made a mark in the last week (check out Padres Mission's latest Top 20 rankings as well!): Jake Cunningham, OF, High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps Season stats: .295/.383/.628, 46 games, 32 R, 10 2B, 0 3B, 14 HR, 32 RBI, 21 BB, 56 K, 5 SB, 2 CS Hit three home runs in a single game and you make a hot list. Cunningham did just that Friday, when he went deep in his first three plate appearances against the Lake County Captains. The right-handed-hitting outfielder mashed a three-run homer in his first-inning at-bat, a two-run blast in the third inning and a solo shot in the fifth. That means he had two more shots at breaking the franchise record for homers in a game and joining the exclusive four-homer club. But he struck out in the seventh with a runner on first, then popped out to first base with two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth in an 11-8 loss. In an unusual quirk, another Midwest League player hit three homers in a game that same day (Carlos Sanchez of the Beloit Sky Carp). Both teams lost, the first time in affiliated ball since that info began being tracked in 2005 that two players hit three or more homers on the same day for losing teams, according to a note from the TinCaps. Cunningham, a month shy of turning 24, became the fourth player in franchise history to have a three-homer game. That three-homer game was part of a 6-for-23 week (.261/.320/.826) with four homers (he went deep again Sunday) and eight RBIs. He did strike out nine times in six games, a problem throughout his career. He has a 31.1% strikeout rate and 11.7% walk rate this year. Not only was Friday a remarkable day for Cunningham, it is a remarkable season. Cunningham, a fifth-round draft in 2023 out of North Carolina-Charlotte by the Baltimore Orioles, was released at the end of January and signed with the Padres a week later. Cunningham was coming off a .206/.295/.303 slash line in 2025 at High-A. In three seasons and 182 games, Cunningham had just eight homers, including only three last year. Now, he has discovered a power tool that has him leading the TinCaps with 14 homers, which is second in the Midwest League. CUNNINGHAM_0608.mp4 Miguel Mendez, RHP, Double-A San Antonio Missions Season stats: 2-1, 3.90 ERA, 9 games (all starts), 27⅔ IP, 25 H, 12 R, 12 ER, 13 BB, 32 K, .243 opponent average Since coming back from a brief stint on the injured list with a neck strain, the right-handed starter has mostly been really good. He had his best start of the season Friday, matching his season high with five innings and allowing just two hits and two walks with four strikeouts. He faced the minimum over the first four innings (although he needed some help to make that happen). It was his second straight shutout outing after going three innings and giving up two hits and a walk while punching out four. Mendez, Padres Mission's No. 3 prospect, has been a promising arm for the Padres since signing in 2021 as an 18-year-old. At the time, he had only been pitching six months. Now 23, Mendez had to be added to the 40-man roster this past offseason or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft. Since Mendez was a late signer in terms of international players, he spent all of 2023 and 2024 at Low-A Lake Elsinore before sprinting up three levels in 2025, going from Lake Elsinore to High-A Fort Wayne to Double-A San Antonio. He put together a combined stat line of 3.90 ERA in 21 starts and 95 innings, 45 walks (10.9% rate) and 118 strikeouts (26.9%). His potential was on full display when he made his Double-A debut Aug. 7 as he struck out 11 in six innings. There has been debate on whether Mendez remains a starter as he progresses or whether he is better-suited for the bullpen once he reaches the majors. Regardless, if he continues to perform like he did in his last two starts, he could possibly make his MLB debut this year if injuries peck away further at the Padres' depth. Romeo Sanabria, 1B, Double-A San Antonio Missions Season stats: .244/.345/.385, 54 games, 27 R, 11 2B, 0 3B, 6 HR, 25 RBI, 30 BB, 57 K After finishing 2024 with 32 games at Double-A San Antonio, the left-handed-hitting first baseman played all of 2025 with the Missions. That could have led to a promotion to Triple-A El Paso for 2026, especially considering Sanabria was named MLB Pipeline's Padres Hitter of the Year following his .257/.309/.376 slash line with 12 homers and 56 RBIs last year. But here he is, back in Double-A in 2026. Maybe he needed to work through some feelings after having a decent showing during big-league spring training, In the Cactus League, Sanabria put up a .333/.385/.833 slash line with three homers and a team-leading 15 RBIs in 20 games. His dazzling 1.218 OPS also led the Padres. Last week, Sanabria broke out with a 9-for-28 performance (.321), including two homers and five RBIs. To be fair, it could benefit Sanabria that he is back in San Antonio instead of the hitters' paradise that is the Pacific Coast League. His two homers this week gave him six for the season, which is half of his career high set last year. More importantly, Sanabria is walking more this season. He has a 12.6% walk rate this year after a 7.6% mark in 2025. His strikeouts are up a bit at 23.9% from 21.4%. Sanabria has been an underdog, drafted in the 18th round out of Indian River State College in 2022. A big season this year could land him on the 40-man roster or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft. As strictly a first baseman, he needs to continue to prove himself offensively. SANABRIA_0608.mp4 Andrew Moore, RHP, Double-A San Antonio Missions Season stats: 0-1, 2.29 ERA, 16 games (all in relief), 3 holds, 1 save (2 chances), 19⅔ IP, 9 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 18 BB, 37 K, .141 opponent average The right-handed reliever is on quite a roll. Last week, he appeared in two games and all six outs he recorded were via strikeout, while giving up just one hit and a walk. That came after a May in which 22 of the 29 outs he got were punchouts. He allowed just two hits and also walked 10 in 9⅔ innings in May. Moore has a spectacular 44.6% strikeout rate (Mason Miller's is 49%), but his issue is walks with a 21.7% rate this year. He had a 19.5% walk rate in 2025 after a 16.1% mark in 2024. The MLB average is 8.5%. Originally a 14th-round draft choice of the Seattle Mariners in 2021, Moore was the return the Padres got when they shipped Connor Joe (Poway High School) to the Cincinnati Reds a year ago. He was also included in the trade that sent right-hander Luis Castillo from the Reds to the Mariners in 2022. His second game last week against Wichita was just his second save situation this year and he finished off a three-strikeout performance with a 100 mph heater. Over his last 11⅔ innings, Moore has 28 strikeouts and an .079 opponent batting average. He has especially neutralized left-handed hitters, limiting them to .097 average (3-for-31). He has multiple strikeouts in nine of his last 10 appearances, including a five-K performance May 8 vs. Midland. In those same 10 games, he has allowed five runs (three earned), with those coming in back-to-back games. Jesus Castro, RHP, Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm Season stats: 0-1, 3.05 ERA, 9 games (all starts), 38⅓ IP, 39 H, 14 R, 13 ER, 14 BB, 41 K, .267 opponent average The end result overshadowed what Castro did last week. The right-handed starter tossed five shutout innings, striking out five and walking two while giving up three hits. Despite the Storm jumping out to a 5-0 lead, they lost the game as Fresno scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off victory. Still, this is about Castro, who has not allowed a run in three of his last four outings (14⅔ innings). In the other, he gave up three runs in four innings. Castro just turned 19 Monday and is the younger brother of Padres prospect right-hander Manuel Castro, who is on Double-A San Antonio's injured list, is turning heads with his outings. He has struck out 32 in his last five starts (24⅓ innings), allowing five runs in that span. He has also shown good command, issuing five walks in those five starts after beginning the year with nine walks in 14 innings. This is his first season in the U.S. after pitching in the Dominican Summer League last year. There, he posted a 2.91 ERA in 11 games (eight starts) and 43⅓ innings, walking 10 and striking out 46. He had a .196 opponent average. View the full article

The Boston Red Sox arrived in the Bronx needing answers. They left with more questions. Following Sunday’s 6–1 loss to the Yankees, the Red Sox now sit at 27–36 and occupy last place in the American League East. They have lost four of five games against New York this season. Still, even in the middle of another difficult afternoon for Boston, one familiar constant stood out: Willson Contreras kept producing. The veteran first baseman lined a 110-mph RBI double to drive in Boston’s only run. It was far from an ordinary hit. Of the six runs the Red Sox scored across the entire series in New York, four were driven in by Contreras. And that small sample tells much of the story of his season. While the Red Sox continue searching for collective solutions, Contreras has become one of the team’s few certainties. More than that, he is putting together the best offensive season of his career and, quietly, has placed himself among the best first basemen in Major League Baseball. When Boston targeted Contreras over the winter, the expectation was stability, experience, and power in the middle of the lineup. What they have gotten is much more than that. Among first basemen with at least 200 plate appearances, Contreras is firmly in every relevant conversation. Metric Value MLB Rank wRC+ 155 4th wOBA .405 T-2nd xwOBA .400 T-2nd OBP .394 2nd SLG .540 4th WAR 2.2 4th The only first basemen ahead of him in WAR entering Sunday were Ben Rice, Matt Olson, and Nick Kurtz. That means Contreras has been more valuable overall than names like Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Pete Alonso, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Christian Walker. On its own, that is striking. But in Boston’s context, it is even more significant. A look at the Red Sox offense makes that reality impossible to ignore: Contreras is operating in a completely different tier than the rest of the roster. Red Sox Offensive Leaders (Entering Week of June 8) Player wRC+ Willson Contreras 155 Ceddanne Rafaela 115 Wilyer Abreu 113 Nick Sogard 102 Mickey Gasper 104 Connor Wong 99 Roman Anthony 93 Jarren Duran 84 The gap between Contreras and Boston’s second-best regular hitter is 40 points of wRC+. That is massive. Even more revealing are the offensive metrics that best capture run creation. Player OBP SLG wOBA Willson Contreras .394 .540 .405 Ceddanne Rafaela .345 .431 .345 Wilyer Abreu .346 .430 .342 Jarren Duran .278 .401 .299 No other Sox hitter is even close to those numbers. While much of the lineup has gone through ups and downs, Contreras has maintained consistent, All-Star level production. That helps explain why he comfortably leads the team in offensive value. Player FanGraphs Offensive Runs (Off) Willson Contreras 15.3 Ceddanne Rafaela 3.9 Wilyer Abreu 3.3 Jarren Duran -2.1 Contreras has generated nearly four times the offensive value of any other Boston hitter. That is not a normal gap — it is the kind that usually exists between a star and the rest of the roster. The most interesting part: it is not about better discipline. When a 34-year-old produces the best offensive season of his career, the usual explanation points to improved pitch selection or better plate discipline. But the numbers tell a different story. Contreras is not chasing fewer pitches outside the strike zone. In fact, he is swinging at more pitches outside the zone than last year. He is also striking out slightly more. On the surface, that should be a negative trend. But what has changed is not how often he swings, it is what happens when he makes contact. Let's look at this graph showing the average exit speeds in different parts of the area: His average exit velocity across different parts of the zone shows real damage: over 102 mph in the inner lower-outside area, and consistently above 92 mph across all in-zone locations. That level of impact explains why his barrel rate has climbed to 15.1%, the best mark of his career. His .242 ISO is also his highest in recent seasons. And perhaps most importantly, the expected metrics fully support the results. Metric Value wOBA .405 xwOBA .400 SLG .540 xSLG .537 Barrel Rate 15.10% ISO .242 Perhaps the most telling number is strike rate. In 2025, Contreras saw strikes on 50.8% of pitches. In 2026, that number has dropped to 44.8%. Pitchers are attacking him differently, giving him fewer opportunities to do damage. He is being shown more respect and he is still producing. That is what happens when a hitter crosses the line between dangerous and unavoidable — someone who forces opposing teams to change their entire approach. Boston’s first two months of the season have been defined by losses, inconsistency, and unanswered questions. Willson Contreras’ season has been the opposite. If anyone is keeping this team afloat, it's him. View the full article

One of the New York Mets' top pitching prospects, Jonathan Santucci, is making serious strides as we hit the middle third of the 2026 minor league baseball season. In this video, we'll break down Santucci's strengths, a wicked slider, and what he needs to do to break into the major leagues before this year's conclusion. View the full article

The gang checks in with Zone Coverage's Theo Tollefson to talk about the last two weeks of Twins baseball, what moves could be coming next, fun behind-the-scenes tidbits from the clubhouse, and more. Listen using Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-twins-off-daily-podcast/id1741266056 Listen using Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4tb78XlurcPTYYSsARdbD7 Listen using iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-twins-off-daily-podcas-167548600/ Listen using Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/nvclbt0w Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@twinsdaily View the full article

A year ago, Kody Clemens looked like organizational depth. Now he's become one of the Twins' most attractive trade assets heading into deadline season. View the full article

Pete Crow-Armstrong is one of the most talented center fielders in Major League Baseball, but there’s no doubt that he has his fair share of components to improve on. Whether it’s making the routine plays in the field or having a more mature approach at the plate, the 2025 All-Star is polishing his game. Let’s dive into the areas where the Chicago Cubs’ starting center fielder is making key strides. Reevaluating Pete Crow-Armstrong's Standing With Cubs Crow-Armstrong was originally a first-round draft pick back in 2020, when the New York Mets selected him at 19 overall. A standout prep product, Crow-Armstrong’s reputation for being able to use his blistering speed both on the bases and in the outfield to close gaps made him a hot commodity in that year’s draft class. Shortly after joining the Mets’ pipeline, New York dealt him to the Cubs in a trade that involved former 2016 World Champion Javier Baez. Crow-Armstrong immediately became one of the North Siders’ top up-and-coming talents before being tabbed as the team’s top farmhand in both 2023 and 2024. After making his MLB debut down the home stretch of the 2023 season, Crow-Armstrong became an everyday starter the following campaign and has held his spot ever since. The Magical Year of 2025 The now-24-year-old made significant strides last year, enjoying a decorated season that included first career honors with an All-Star selection and a Gold Glove Award. The Cubs’ center fielder had plenty to be proud of, logging 31 home runs, 95 runs batted in and 35 stolen bases, allowing the young superstar to join the coveted 30-30 club. Crow-Armstrong’s barrel percentage ballooned above the league average, allowing him to be a more effective slugger, and in turn, clocking career bests in slugging percentage (.481) and OPS (.768). That barrel rate sat at 13.1%, nestling him into the 82nd percentile. His bat speed also skyrocketed, starting from 70.6 miles per hour (26th percentile) in 2025 to 72.7 miles her hour (61st percentile). His fielding attributes, which are really the reason he was such a highly touted prospect in the first place, were also off the charts. HIS range (24 OAA, 100th percentile), arm value (+2, 88th percentile) and arm strength (92.3 mph, 94th percentile) were on full display in his coming out year. Consequential Holes In His Game While 2025 was a banner year, Crow-Armstrong still had plenty of components to improve on. His chase percentage was one of the worst in the game, riding in at 41.7% (2nd percentile). His plate discipline was a main struggle point, and that high chase rate led to a very low walk rate of 4.5% (4th percentile). Therefore, even though he hit .247, his on-base percentage finished below the .300 mark for the second straight year at just .287. Crow-Armstrong’s strikeout rate was also well below the league average at 24% (33rd percentile). Overall, this is someone who had some electric moment and gained confidence in his ability to generate power, but much like the man he was traded for in Baez, he had trouble with balls out of the zone. Turning A New Leaf? The 2026 campaign has become another stepping stone for Crow-Armstrong, and while he still lacks day-to-day consistency, the overall trends are pointing towards a vast improvement for the Harvard-Westlake High School alum. His maturity at the plate has skyrocketed, yielding an 8.3% walk rate. It’s a rate that’s still below league average, but it’s in a much more promising spot at the 40th percentile. His chase rate of 38.5% is in the 8th percentile, which is well below the league average but still an improvement upon his 2025 mark. Even with this mild improvement, the 2025 All-Star has a career-best .343 on-base percentage, a whole 57 points clear of last year’s number. This is already one of the most talented players in the league. If he can continue to develop his plate discipline and take on a more mature play-style, the sky is truly the limit. View the full article

The San Diego Padres were never going to be players in the deep end of the spending pool over the winter of 2025-2026. Their stack of long-term position player contracts worked in conjunction with an uncertain ownership future to limit any sort of financial flexibility. The sliver of it that remained went out the window when the team elected to bring back Michael King on a three-year deal. At this point, we know how the remainder of the offseason played out. With the additional exception of Sung Mun Song, A.J. Preller was forced into a smattering of one-year and minor-league pacts. Despite glaring needs in both the rotation and in the lineup, no positional group was immune to the approach. Each area of need was filled out with a little bit of each, with the hope being that enough volume would lead to striking somewhere. Unfortunately for Preller and the Padres, that's not really how it's played out. The following is how the team's offseason played out on the mound, particularly in the starting rotation: Kyle Hart: One-year deal Sean Boyle: Minor-league deal Ty Adcock: One-year deal Triston McKenzie: Minor-league deal Marco Gonzales: Minor-league deal Griffin Canning: One-year deal Germán Márquez: One-year deal Walker Buehler: Minor-league deal While the bullpen was an enduring area of strength, the rotation was to be filled out largely from this group. The names of particular intrigue were those with prior success at the top level: McKenzie, Gonzales, Canning, Márquez, and Buehler. With Canning starting the season on the Injured List as he worked back from an Achilles injury sustained in 2025, the early starting roles went to Márquez and Buehler. Márquez pitched to a 5.76 ERA and 6.64 FIP before hitting the IL on May 1. He hasn't been seen since. Buehler has survived a dozen starts thus far, with a 4.53 ERA to his name despite whiff and contact metrics well into the bottom half of the league rankings. Canning, since his return, has an ERA of 6.34 through six starts (and a FIP over five). In El Paso, meanwhile, Gonzales has an ERA over nine. McKenzie is rolling with a 14.85 figure through nine appearances (only three of which were starts). Boyle's is over six while Adcock has only pitched one-third of an inning due to injury. Even adding Lucas Giolito in late April hasn't done much to stabilize things in the way the Padres might have hoped after his first couple of outings. Through four starts, he's working with an ERA near five (4.86) and a FIP that looks much worse (6.64). He's averaging barely more than four innings per start after working just over six across his last pair of outings. And it's not as if it gets much better once you look on the offensive side of things: Nick Solak: Minor-league deal Sung Mun Song: Three-year deal José Miranda: Minor-league deal Samad Taylor: Minor-league deal Miguel Andujar: One-year deal Nick Castellanos: One-year deal Ty France: Minor-league deal With the Padres needing to improve their bench and discover some supplemental power, the hope here was much the same in the rotation. Even if it meant limiting the dynamic quality of the roster by filling it out with first base/corner outfield types. After a strong spring, though, Miranda never reached the top level for the Padres before he was released. Castellanos wRC+'d a meager 53 before his designation for assignment last week. Song got off to a late start due to an oblique injury but has been quite bad in his transition to the U.S.; despite nearly parallel strikeout and walk rates, he's hitting just .194 (72 wRC+) through roughly 40 plate appearances. Solak remains in El Paso while Taylor has just two plate appearances to his name after his contract selection. That leaves only Andujar and France as saving graces on the positional side. Andujar has been almost exactly league average (98 wRC+) but has provided very little power (.168 ISO). He's also reaching base at just a .285 clip thanks heavily to a brutal 3.1 percent walk rate. France, however, has slashed .277/.323/.504 with a 133 wRC+. He's offered some stability at what was a relatively vacant first base spot expected to be assumed by Gavin Sheets ahead of 2026. With injuries and production issues in the outfield, though, France's output has at least allowed Sheets to be utilized elsewhere. However, when you're looking at Ty France as the lone clear victory out of essentially 15 different contracts, it's clear that the way in which the roster was constructed this past winter constitutes an objective failure. It's difficult to lay that entirely at the feet of the front office given the strict financial straits which Preller and company were forced to navigate. However, there's also an onus on the coaching staff to maximize player production. The inability of this staff to extract any value from more than 90 percent of their signings from this winter, non-guaranteed pact or not, represents real shortcomings manifesting on that side of things as well. It's not that one expects a team to extract value from players who are past their prime or have dealt with too many injuries to be effective. That would be unrealistic and unfair. It's just the rate of failures that is hard to make peace with. When you compound that with the struggles of the established names on the roster — some of which could also be due to factors on the coaching side of things — you get the 2026 San Diego Padres: a team floundering after a strong start that was never going to be sustainable. Not all of this is within the control of brass considering where those restrictions came from in the first place, but it's a place with which the Padres may have to familiarize themselves until the core begins emerging from their collective slump or new ownership is able to inject additional means of adding impact. View the full article

On Monday, the International League announced that Omaha outfielder Kameron Misner was Player of the Week after a strong series in Columbus against the Clippers, the Triple-A organization of the Guardians. In addition to five home runs, Misner also hit .417, scored eight runs, and collected 10 RBI in the past week. Misner was acquired by the Royals this offseason after he was designated for assignment by the Rays in November. Kansas City traded a player to be named later in exchange for the former 2019 competitive round pick, and he's on the 40-man roster. That said, despite playing in 71 games with the Rays a season ago, Misner has only played with the Omaha Storm Chasers this season. That said, Misner has been excellent in Omaha at the plate, with his strong performance going beyond this past week in Columbus. In 58 games and 249 plate appearances, the former Miami Marlins draft pick is slashing .278/.373/.552 with 13 home runs, 39 runs scored, 51 RBI, and 11 stolen bases on 12 attempts. He also has a .925 OPS, a .274 ISO, and 103 TJ Bat+. Safe to say, Misner has been the most complete hitter in Omaha, surpassing other more familiar names like John Rave, Abraham Toro, and Drew Waters. That said, Royals fans have seen hitters succeed in Omaha, only to struggle in their transition to Kansas City. Last season, in 217 plate appearances with the Tampa Bay Rays, Misner slashed .213/.273/.345 with a .618 OPS and had five home runs, 27 runs scored, 22 RBI, and eight stolen bases. An Achilles' heel for Misner was his strikeout rate, as he struck out 31.8% of the time and only walked 7.4% of the time. That produced a TJ Bat+ of 72, which was pretty below average. Hence, is Misner just a good Four-A player? Or is he a late bloomer who could provide a spark to a Royals lineup that has been better recently, but still ranks 27th in OPS and 28th in runs scored? Let's dive deeper into what Misner is doing in Omaha, what he did last year in Tampa Bay, and what his role could be with the Royals, if given the opportunity. Misner Showing Power, Patience, and Speed With Storm Chasers When looking at Misner's stat line, there's a lot to be encouraged about. Not only is he hitting for power, but he's showing plate patience and better contact ability than he did a year ago. That is evident in his Statcast percentile summary below via TJ Stats. What has made Misner so effective in Omaha is his ability not just to launch the ball (99th percentile LA Sweet-Spot%), but to pull the ball in the air as well. That ability has helped him overcome an inconsistent hard-hit rate (52nd percentile) and still produce strong barrel rates (82nd percentile) and wOBA numbers (84th percentile). In addition, the 28-year-old outfielder has been particularly hot at the plate since May 20th, as Baseball Unstitched pointed out on Twitter on Sunday. The main issue with Misner's profile in Omaha is that he's still chasing and whiffing a lot in Triple-A. According to TJ Stats, his 29.8% O-Swing% ranks in the 26th percentile, and his 26.8% K% ranks in the 16th percentile. His whiff% and Z-contact% rank in the 38th and 39th percentile, which is better than his O-Swing% and K% rankings. That said, they are still below-average marks and areas of concern that could get exposed when facing better pitching at the Major League level. A surprising trait of Misner's game this year has been his baserunning, especially when it comes to stolen bases. In 58 games, the former Mizzou Tiger has 11 stolen bases on 12 attempts, which shows how efficient he's been when it comes to swiping bases. While Bobby Witt Jr. has 23 stolen bases, no other Royals player has more than five (which is Kyle Isbel). Thus, Misner could provide some sneaky speed on the basepaths if allowed to play in Kansas City this year. Misner Struggled in His Extended Stint With the Rays Last Year While Misner has demonstrated that he can master the Triple-A level, it's been a different story for him at the Major League level. After playing only 8 games in 2024, Misner played 71 games and had 217 plate appearances with Tampa Bay after making the Opening Day roster a season ago. He got off to a hot start with Tampa Bay in 2025. In 84 plate appearances in March/April, he hit .320 with a .929 OPS and 153 wRC+. He also hit three home runs, including this one below against Boston on April 14th. Unfortunately, he tailed off after a strong month of play. In May, he hit .138 with a 15 wRC+, and in June, he hit .167 with a 26 wRC+. As a result, he was optioned to Triple-A Durham and didn't return to Tampa Bay for the remainder of the season. When looking at his TJ Statcast Summary last year, Misner struggled in most categories and seemed overwhelmed by Major League pitching once they adjusted to him, as illustrated in his K% and Whiff%, just to name a couple. Misner ranked below the 10th percentile in the following categories: K%, Z-Contact%, whiff%, LA Sweet-Spot%, Hard-Hit%, and xwOBA. It's hard for a player to stay up at the Major League level with poor rankings like that in so many key categories. Furthermore, when looking at his spray chart from last year, a lot of batted balls to the outfield were hit to the center and center-left gap, as seen below. That typically shows that a hitter is not "locked in" on a pitcher and is late to the ball. Furthermore, so many of those gray dots mean that many of the batted balls to the center or opposite field were outs, which also indicates a lack of quality contact on those pitches. A big change for Misner in Triple-A this year is that his LA Sweet-Spot% is 17.5% higher, and his Pull Air% is 7.7% higher. While that's comparing Triple-A to MLB at-bats, it's still encouraging that Misner is at least making adjustments in his new surroundings with the Royals organization. Does Misner Fit in the Royals' Outfield Right Now? The main issue with Misner is that he's left-handed, and the Royals have a plethora of left-handed bats. Misner is also better utilized as a corner outfielder, and he's blocked by Isaac Collins and Jac Caglianone, who have been two of the better-performing outfielders this year, as illustrated by wRC+. Caglianone has been the best-performing regular outfielder by both fWAR (0.5) and wRC+ (108) standards. Marte has been great by wRC+ standards, but his sample size is small, with only 42 plate appearances. Lastly, Collins has been decent offensively with a 93 wRC+, but his lackluster defense (though better lately) is one reason his -0.2 fWAR is the worst mark among Royals outfielders with 10 or more plate appearances this year. An opportunity that could open up a spot for Misner is if Cags goes on the IL or needs some extended time at DH due to a shoulder injury. The former Florida product was pulled from Saturday's game and didn't play Sunday due to a minor shoulder injury suffered in Friday night's game, as reported by Anne Rogers of MLB.com. Moving Cags to DH and giving Misner some time in the outfield could make sense, though it does seem like manager Matt Quatraro prefers Lane Thomas in right field in those games when Cags is not in the lineup against righties. While Thomas' 90 wRC+ isn't great, he's hitting better recently, and he's a walk machine (16.3% BB%). Thus, the most likely scenario for a Misner call-up would be if Cags moves to the IL, which doesn't seem likely but could happen if his shoulder doesn't improve in time by Tuesday's game. Cags' injury status will be worth watching out for on Tuesday. If he does get added to the IL, do not be surprised if Misner, who's already on the 40-man roster, gets the promotion from Omaha. View the full article

As temperatures rise across the Midwest, several Twins prospects are heating up, too. From dominant pitching performances in Fort Myers to power surges in Wichita, these players are making compelling cases for promotions. This week, we have a pleasing variety of prospects to highlight, in terms of amateur and early professional background and in terms of future role. RHP Justin Mitrovich– Fort Myers Mighty Mussels How He Got Here: The Twins selected Mitrovich in the ninth round of the 2025 MLB Draft, after he had a successful collegiate career at Elon University. He spent all three seasons with the Phoenix and emerged as the club's Friday night starter during his junior campaign. Across 15 starts, he logged 89 1/3 innings with a 4.23 ERA while striking out 81 hitters. Mitrovich entered professional baseball with one of the better changeups in his draft class. Minnesota opted to delay his professional debut until the start of the 2026 season—a decision that appears to be paying dividends, as he has quickly established himself as one of the most effective pitchers in the Florida State League. Hitting the Hot Button: Mitrovich turned in another outstanding outing this week, tossing five shutout innings while striking out five hitters. He surrendered only two hits and two walks while throwing a season-high 71 pitches. After retiring 10 consecutive Flying Tigers hitters from the end of the first inning into the fourth, he lowered his season ERA to an eye-popping 0.87. The numbers continue to jump off the page. Through six starts, Mitrovich has 27 strikeouts and eight walks across 27 2/3 innings. Opposing hitters have struggled to square him up all season. His average exit velocity allowed sits at just 85.5 mph, and he has yet to allow a barreled ball. With performances like these, it may not be long before he earns a chance to test himself at the next level. As a college draftee, he needs that challenge soon. C/1B Andrew Cossetti– Wichita Wind Surge How He Got Here: Cossetti was selected by Minnesota in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Saint Joseph's University. Since reaching Double A during the 2024 season, he has remained one of the more productive hitters in Wichita's lineup. Last year, he appeared in 84 games for the Wind Surge and posted a .798 OPS with a 123 wRC+. He added 14 home runs and 15 doubles while continuing to show the offensive approach that has carried him through the system. Now 26 years old, Cossetti is one of the older regulars in the Texas League and knows that continued production is the quickest path toward Triple A. Hitting the Hot Button: Few hitters in the organization enjoyed a better day than Cossetti this week. In one game, he drove in six runs and launched a pair of home runs, including a towering 452-foot grand slam. The performance marked his first multi-homer game of the season and extended his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games. His recent production has remained steady. Over the past week, Cossetti has hit .308 while posting a 1.077 OPS. Looking back over the last month, he owns an .871 OPS with four home runs and two doubles in 18 games. Perhaps just as encouraging is the progress he has shown behind the plate. After throwing out only 13% of attempted base stealers last season, Cossetti has improved that figure to 22% while handling the majority of his defensive work at catcher. The combination of offense and defensive growth is strengthening his case for a promotion. RHP Riley Quick– Fort Myers Mighty Mussels How He Got Here: The Twins used the 36th overall selection in the 2025 MLB Draft to bring Quick into the organization. The Alabama product became one of the fastest-rising pitchers in his draft class after returning from Tommy John surgery and showcasing premium velocity and swing-and-miss stuff. Minnesota assigned him to Fort Myers to begin his professional career, and it quickly became clear that Low-A hitters were overmatched. Across three starts, Quick fired eight scoreless innings while striking out 13 batters and allowing only one hit. That dominant stretch earned him a promotion to Cedar Rapids, where he is now facing older, more advanced competition. Hitting the Hot Button: The transition to High-A has provided more challenges, but Quick continues to show why the Twins invested a first-round pick in him. The 22-year-old took the ball against Wisconsin on Friday and delivered four innings of one-run ball. He allowed just two hits, did not issue a walk, and struck out six hitters. Over his last two starts, Quick has worked eight innings with nine strikeouts and only two walks, while allowing three earned runs. The results may not be quite as overwhelming as they were in Fort Myers, but that's part of the developmental process. The encouraging signs remain the same. His strikeout rate continues to be strong (37.5%), he is limiting contact (.186 BA), and he's proving capable of competing against more advanced hitters. If those trends continue, Quick could find himself moving quickly through the system. Mitrovich has emerged as one of the biggest surprises in the system, Cossetti continues to make noise with his bat while improving defensively, and Quick is showing why many evaluators believed he had first-round talent. As the calendar turns deeper into summer, promotions will become a major storyline throughout the organization. Based on their recent performances, these three players appear determined to force Minnesota's hand. What stands out about this trio of prospects? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article