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With the deadline looming on August 3rd, the baseball trade winds are starting to blow, and Michael Wacha’s name continues to be floated on those winds. The Royals workhorse just threw his 13th quality start in 20 outings this season, ranks 3rd in MLB with 125 1/3 innings pitched, and has an affordable contract for 2027 at $14 million and a club option for 2028 also at $14 million. In his 125 innings pitched, Wacha has posted a 1.17 WHIP, allowing 111 hits, 36 walks, and 5 batters hit by pitch. His ERA is 3.66, and his FIP trails closely at 4.03. Those factors make him a target for almost any contender's rotation. Who could be a good fit for Michael Wacha at the deadline? Why The Braves Would Want To Trade For Michael Wacha The Braves sit at 58-42 and are currently atop the National League East. The trio of Chris Sale, Bryce Elder, and Grant Holmes have all been good this year. Sale has been excellent, posting a 2.06 ERA in 18 starts with 11 quality starts. After those three, the rotation gets sketchy. Reynaldo Lopez has averaged a little over four innings per start in his last five starts. Martin Perez is back in the rotation after a recent stint on the IL. Lopez and Perez have combined for a grand total of three quality starts. That just isn’t giving Atlanta the length it needs to keep its outstanding bullpen fresh. Lopez has appeared in 23 games with 10 starts, so it seems he would be the logical candidate to move back to the pen if Atlanta made a move for a starting pitcher. Lopez sports an ERA of 3.95 and a FIP of 4.57. Wacha currently outpaces Lopez in both categories. Why The White Sox Would Want To Trade For Michael Wacha In what would be a rare interdivisional trade, the White Sox stand out as another starting pitching-deprived team. In a surprise on the South Side, the Sox are currently tied for first place in the American League Central while also being plus 1 game up in the wild card standings. Wacha could easily slide into the number three spot in the rotation ahead of Anthony Kay and Eric Fedde. In fact, the White Sox have a dramatic drop-off in innings pitched after Fedde. Fedde has thrown 93 innings, and the next closest player has just 56 innings pitched. Wacha is an innings eater and would give the bullpen a chance to catch their breath. Why The Cubs Would Want To Trade For Michael Wacha The Chicago Cubs are currently in second place in the National League Central Division at 57-44 and are currently 4.5 games ahead in the wild card race standings as the first wild card recipient. To say the Cubs' starting pitching could use some help would be an understatement. Wacha would immediately become the de facto ace of the staff. Only Shota Imanaga comes close to matching Wacha’s 2026 performance. Imanaga has a solid 3.91 ERA and a FIP of 4.5. Wacha would easily be in any playoff rotation for the Cubs. Of these three teams, the Cubs may be the most desperate for Wacha’s services. Jim Bowden suggested this possible trade in The Athletic: Cubs receive: Michael Wacha, RHP Royals receive: Matt Shaw, INF/OF; Kevin Alcántara, OF In this deal, the Cubs would add Wacha, 35, who made the All-Star team this year and is controllable through 2027 with a team option for 2028. He has posted sub-4.00 ERAs each of the past five years (including this one) and still has a special changeup and unique downward plane to his pitches. In return, the Royals get two young bats who can’t crack the Cubs’ starting lineup in Shaw and Alcántara. Shaw, 24, can play second base, third base and corner outfield. As an everyday player, he projects to have 15-20 home run power. Alcántara, 23, has never been given a legitimate chance with Chicago, but he’s having another strong season in Triple A. I think this deal is an overpay by the Cubs, but it could be worth it to land a veteran starter like Wacha, especially given that there are so few starting pitchers on the market right now. The Royals front office has stated the return for Wacha would need to be “massive”. Any offer is usually just a starting point. Oh, to be behind those closed doors and hear what offers and counteroffers are being made. I believe the Cubs, Braves, and White Sox will all make a move for starting pitching. Who will they target? Unclear. The reality is the Cubs could use as many as three starting pitchers, the White Sox two, and the Braves one. Even if one or two of the top names in Tarik Skubal, Joe Ryan, Kevin Gausman, Foster Griffin, Casey Mize, or Reid Detmers are moved, that doesn’t mean the door is closed on Wacha moving to that same team. As seen above, even teams in control of a playoff birth still need more starting pitching. View the full article

The New York Mets have put themselves in clear sell-mode at this year’s MLB trade deadline. Holding a 43-59 record, they are in a position to ship off big-league players to needy, win-now teams in exchange for a change to build their future around Juan Soto. Let’s dive in to three different prospects the Mets could go after to speed up their rebuild. Brody Hopkins, Tampa Bay Rays It’s the middle of July, and the Tampa Bay Rays are still leading the American League East. Tampa will likely be picking up the phone looking for another proven bat. If the Mets choose to be their suitor, and if that bat holds enough value, the Rays’ top pitching prospect in Brody Hopkins could make for a remarkable fit. Hopkins is currently in Triple-A, pitching for the Durham Bulls. The 24-year-old has a 4-7 record with a 4.52 earned run average over 77.2 innings pitched in 19 appearances, 16 of them being starts. The 2023 sixth-round pick has a lethal 1-2 combo, flexing 60-grades with his fastball and curveball. The four-seam fastball sits between 95-98 mph and can touch triple digits, while his curveball profiles as a power breaking pitch in the upper-80s. Hopkins’ strikeout stuff is electric, as he touts a career K/9 rate just south of 11 while allowing a .199 opposing batting average. His main problem has been control, an attribute that MLB Pipeline rates as a 45-grade (average). Entering this season, the hard-throwing righty averaged a walk every other inning; that rate has ballooned thanks to his allowance of 74 free passes in 77.2 innings pitched this season. Josiah Hartshorn, Chicago Cubs The Cubs are in primed position to take one of the top spots in the National League, but they have a very clear need: starting pitching. As it stands now, Ben Brown, Cade Horton, Justin Steele and Edward Cabrera (that’s enough to fill an entire playoff rotation) are all sidelined for varying amounts of time. Chicago just made a trade for Aaron Civale, who had a 5.42 ERA with the Athletics this year, so they're still looking for a top-tier arm. Grabbing someone like Freddy Peralta, even in a down year, would be a significant upgrade for the North Siders, and Josiah Hartshorn could be an appropriate return. Hartshorn is a switch-hitting outfielder who has taken off this year. At just 19 years of age, the 2025 sixth-round pick has throttled 15 home runs and 69 runs batted in across Low-A Myrtle Beach and High-A South Bend. With 54 walks to 74 strikeouts, Hartshorn is showing an advanced approach. His main pitfall has been his defense, as the question surrounds whether he’ll be a corner outfielder or infielder based on mobility reasons. Still, this is the kind of bat you can bet your future on. Murf Gray, Pittsburgh Pirates After sweeping the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers to close out the first half, the Pittsburgh Pirates have tossed themselves into the buyers pool. The Pirates are 52-49 and aiming to make a surge up the NL Wild Card rankings. They have a main need to get there, though: a reliable reliever. The team has blown 18 saves in 37 opportunities. If the Mets want to be that supplier for a reliable, back-end reliever, they should ask for Murf Gray in return. Gray is Pittsburgh’s third-ranked prospect, and he just cracked MLB Pipeline’s top 100 list at No. 100. Gray has 24 home runs across Low-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro and now Double-A Altoona, a mark that puts him at seventh place in all of Minor League Baseball. Gray was a second-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, and he’s currently slashing .325/.408/.607 with a 1.015 OPS across three different levels of affiliate ball. The scary part? His 60-grade arm is currently his best attribute, according to scouts. This is a reliable corner infielder who could supply a big-league ball club with some game-changing power as soon as next year. View the full article

Wilyer Abreu has reached a plane of existence previously unexplored. Since July 10, he’s posted a 1.372 OPS (4th) and an absurd .586 ISO (3rd). His hot bat helped drive the Boston Red Sox's impossible recent winning streak. Throughout his career, Abreu has been a fairly streaky player, and I held reservations about his hot start in March/April (.855 OPS). He regressed in May (.695 OPS) and June (.741 OPS), but I’m more optimistic about his recent power surge because it’s coming from meaningful adjustments at the plate. Abreu’s Achilles heel was scorching fastballs up in the zone. At 5’10”, 215 pounds, Abreu resembles a fire hydrant, and I always thought his raw power would be enough for him to catch up to these pitches. He’s recorded above-average bat speeds through his career, averaging 73.8 mph (69th percentile) in 2026. body { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background: #f5f5f5; padding: 40px; } table { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; max-width: 700px; margin: 0 auto; background: #fff; box-shadow: 0 1px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.15); font-size: 15px; } .title-row td { background: #c0392b; color: #fff; font-weight: bold; padding: 10px 14px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; border: 1px solid #000; text-align: center; } th { background: #c0392b; color: #fff; padding: 10px 14px; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #000; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; } td { padding: 10px 14px; text-align: center; border: 1px solid #000; font-size: 15px; } tr:nth-child(even) td { background: #fafafa; } Wilyer Abreu vs High Cheese Year Pitch % SLG xSLG wOBA xwOBA Whiff% 2024 11.2% .290 .263 .249 .227 48.3% 2025 12.2% .061 .198 .191 .242 36.8% 2026 12.2% .484 .244 .336 .209 22.2% This year, his numbers are especially encouraging. He’s slugging .484 and has cut his whiff rate against pitches in the upper third of the strike zone (Gameday Zones 1, 2, 3, 11, and 12) at 95+ mph. The one caveat is that his expected stats show a sharp drop-off. His actual production outpaces what his quality of contact supports, so some regression is likely for those specific pitches. That’s not ignoring his other improvements. Zooming out, his expected batting average nearly doubled from the 34th to 67th percentile, and his expected slugging percentage climbed from the 78th to 84th percentile. Abreu’s swing and batting stance haven’t changed dramatically. His swing length is almost the same (7.1 feet in 2025, 7.2 feet in 2026). He’s standing a smidge farther back in the box (30.5 inches in July) compared to last season (29.8 inches), and he’s implementing a wider stance (34.2 inches between his feet in July). The biggest change is his timing at the plate. Last year, Abreu’s intercept point averaged 3.5 inches in front of the plate. In July, his intercept point is -3.2 inches, double what it was at the start of the season. He’s allowing pitches, specifically faster ones, to travel deeper before making hard contact. He had previously attacked high-velocity pitches out front to achieve the same effect. Squared-up rate shows how a hitter maximizes their exit velocity based on their swing speed and pitch velocity. Abreu has increased his squared-up rate from 21.9% (16th percentile) to 24.6% (47th percentile). That initially doesn’t sound like a huge difference; most sluggers don’t need to optimize their quality of contact, and a hitter can be successful with a low or high squared-up rate. The metric includes swings and misses, so a guy with a high whiff rate and sheer power like Kyle Schwarber generates a 16.7% squared-up rate that grades in the 1st percentile. On the other hand, Luis Arraez, a patient hitter who rarely whiffs, records a 42% squared-up rate, the highest in the league. For Abreu, squaring up the ball consistently allows him to convert his improved timing into contact quality. Hitters want to connect with the ball in front of the plate to increase their launch angle. Abreu’s still making contact there, just not as far out as he previously was. A larger share of his hard-hit balls now come at or past the plate than they did a year ago, which in theory should work against him. Except, it hasn’t. The sweet spot range spans from 8 to 32 degrees. Balls hit within this window yield higher averages, slugging percentages, and weighted on base averages. Abreu’s launch angle sweet spot rate has catapulted from 31.9% (19th percentile) to 36.6% (75th percentile). The GIF below shows his 2025 and 2026 launch angle spray charts, courtesy of Statcast. You can see his hits this year spike between 10 and 20 degrees, the optimal window for hitting line drives. Abreu’s adjustments have been gradual year-to-year. Last year, he started to lay off breaking balls. This year, he’s improved his timing, allowing him to do damage on high-velocity pitches. He’s also gotten better hitting lefties, albeit at the expense of hitting righties. The fun thing is that this evolution isn't complete yet; I still don’t think he’s a finished product, and there’s a ton of upside at the plate going forward. View the full article

Hey Milwaukee won! Nashville and Wilson get walked-off, Biloxi and Wisconsin lose too. Transactions: Nashville Sounds sent LF Akil Baddoo on rehab assignment to ACL Brewers. SS Eric Brown Jr. assigned to Nashville Sounds from Biloxi Shuckers. Nashville Sounds placed SS Jett Williams on the 7-day injured list. Milwaukee Brewers sent LHP DL Hall on a rehab assignment to Nashville Sounds. Nashville Sounds release RHP Peter Strzelecki Game Action: Nashville pre-game media notes Sugar Land (Astros) 6, Nashville 5 Box Score & Game Log Via the Sounds, game details, and we encourage readers to always review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: Sounds Walked Off in Extras for Second Straight Night to Space Cowboys - Miller and Wilken each record a homer; Adams records his 11th multi-hit game this season NOTE: The linked game summary includes video looks at the Miller and Wilen blasts and Ethan Murray's 10th inning triple. For the second night in a row the Sounds were defeated in extra innings, with the Space Cowboys literally walking off for the win tonight. Entering the tenth inning tied at two, the Sounds scored two runs quickly, with Ethan Murray hitting a triple to score the runner from second and then scoring on a sac-fly. Unfortunately, Kaleb Bowman’s save opportunity did not go to plan, Bowman gave up a couple of hits, intentionally walked the bases loaded and then walked the next two batters with a few truly uncompetitive pitches to score the tying and winning runs. David Hamilton went 0-4 making the start at third base as part of his rehab assignment in Triple-A. Third base Joey is making moves in Milwaukee. Catcher Darrien Miller continued his solid season with his second Triple-A home run and tenth on the season. Miller went 1-3 with a walk and has a combined .951 OPS on the season, .975 in 12 games with Nashville. Brock Wilken also hit his tenth home run of the season on a 1-4 night. Luke Adams had two hits and a walk. Tyler Black’s on-base streak ended. Rehabbing DL Hall pitched 1.2 innings, giving up a run on a hit and a walk, while striking out three. Recently promoted flame thrower Cameron Wagoner relieved Hall and gave up a hard single, scoring the run on Hall’s tab. Wagoner got the final out and pitched the next inning with a walk, double play and a strikeout, topping out at 98.5 MPH. Biloxi pre-game media notes Chattanooga (Reds) 8, Shuckers 4 Game Log & Box Score Ragsdale Reignites Streak, Shuckers Fall to Lookouts - Brewers No. 22 prospect records multi-hit performance, has reached in 15 of first 16 Double-A games The Lookouts responded to yesterdays near no-hit shutout with twelve hits including back-to-back-to-back home runs against starter Travis Smith in the third inning. Josiah Ragsdale hit his 4th Double-A home run and eleventh total on the season. Ragsdale finished 2-4 with his 29th steal of the season, fifth with Biloxi. Baseball America is aware: Josh Adamczewski had another extra-base hit with a line drive double. Andrew Fischer went 0-4 with three strikeouts, Adamczewski and Ragsdale each struck out twice in the game. Jesus Made went 2-4, knocking in Dylan O’Rae with a single in the first inning, O’Rae led the game off with his fourth triple of the year. Made stole his 28th base of the season. Wisconsin pre-game media notes South Bend (Cubs) 6, Wisconsin 3 Box Score & Game Log South Bend Pulls Away from Wisconsin NOTE: The linked game summary includes four video highlights despite the final result. The Timber Rattlers lost their fifth game in a row; it wasn’t particularly pretty. The pitching staff walked eight Cubs, two T-Rats runners were picked off, another two were thrown out at home and Daniel Guilarte had two errors at short. Following his home run yesterday, Luis Castillo had a third of Wisconsin’s hits in the game going 2-4. Braylon Payne stung a ball off the wall in left for an RBI double and scored from second on a line drive single by Daniel Dickenson. Garrett Hodges pitched two innings in relief, giving up just a single and striking out two. Charleston (Rays) 3, Wilson 2 Box Score & Game Log Charleston Rallies in Ninth to Down Wilson - Mills Home Run Ties Game in Ninth Making his third start for Wilson, 18-year-old Dustin Mayorquin completed five innings surrendering only two hits, two walks and one earned run, striking out two. Catcher Rylan Mills tied the game in the top of the ninth with his 4th home run of the season, an oppo taco moonshot over the foul pole in right field. Tyler Renz earned the loss with a walk, balk, wild pitch and infield hit to allow the winning run and end the game. It would almost feel like tough luck, but the walk was one of five for Renz after coming on in the sixth inning. Alexander Frias went 2-4 as the DH, legging out a double on a run-scoring hit to short left field. Brady Ebel went 1-4, and Handelfry Encarnacion 0-4 with three strikeouts. ACL Brewers 10, ACL White Sox 7 Box Score & Game Log Continuing his rehab, Frank Cairone made his fourth start of the season, pitching 1.2 innings. Cairone struck out the leadoff batter, then a flyout, a walk and a hit batter followed by another strikeout. Cairone committed a fielding error allowing the first batter in the second inning to reach, then struck out the next batter, while allowing a stolen base and a wild pitch moving the runner to third. A walk and another strikeout followed and then Cairone hit the next two batters forcing in a run. Cairone was removed from the game, and the next two batters were a walk and another HBP, scoring two more runs. So Cairone finished with 4 strikeouts, 2 walks, 3 R, 0 ER with an error and 3 HBP! Here’s hoping Cairone moves up to Wilson when the ACL season ends and gets more opportunities to keep working his way back. First baseman Jonathan Rangel went 3-4 with two doubles, raising his OPS to .893. Rehabbing Akil Baddoo led off and went 0-2 with two walks and a run scored. Brailyn Antunez was 0-3 with two walks and two RBI, now sporting an .892 OPS. The Maryvale club ends its season in Peoria vs. the Mariners this afternoon. While the season completes, obviously the complex will remain active in other ways. The DSL teams return to action this morning, and the full-season affiliates look to get back on track. Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View the full article

The San Diego Padres' four full-season affiliates went 0-4 Tuesday with offense hard to come by, combining for eight runs on 17 hits. The Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas fell to Las Vegas 5-1, the Double-A San Antonio Missions lost to Frisco 7-5, the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps dropped a 9-1 decision to Lake County and the Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm were pummeled 13-1 by Visalia. Padres Minor-League Transactions None Chihuahuas Get Just 1 Damn Hit Against Aviators Marcos Castanon's first-inning RBI single was the only hit the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas had against four pitchers as the host Las Vegas Aviators rolled to a 5-1 victory. The Chihuahuas did get 10 walks and were held to one hit for the second time in franchise history, the other coming in 2019. Starting for the Aviators was right-hander Braden Nett, one of the four prospects the Padres sent to the A's in the Mason Miller trade. He walked six and struck out three in three innings, giving up the lone hit and run. That run came as Bryce Johnson drew a one-out walk, stole second, went to third on a grounder to second, Will Wagner walked and Castanon singled to center to plate Johnson. The rally continued as Nick Pratto got the third walk of the inning, but a groundout ended the threat. Chihuahuas left-handed starter Jackson Wolf lasted four innings, surrendering four runs on seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts. Right-hander Ty Adcock gave up the other run in his two innings of work, with right-hander Misael Tamarez going 1⅔ scoreless innings, walking three and striking out two. Right-hander Justin Yeager got the final out of the eighth. Player AB R H RBI BB K Dustin Harris, CF 3 0 0 0 2 1 Bryce Johnson, RF 3 1 0 0 1 1 Carlos Rodriguez, LF 3 0 0 0 1 1 Will Wagner, 2B 3 0 0 0 1 2 Marcos Castanon, 3B 2 0 1 1 2 1 Nick Pratto, 1B 2 0 0 0 2 0 Romeo Sanabria, DH 4 0 0 0 0 0 Clay Dungan, SS 3 0 0 0 1 2 Anthony Vilar, C 4 0 0 0 0 1 Totals 27 1 1 1 10 9 Pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR Jackson Wolf (L) 4 7 4 4 1 6 0 Ty Adcock 2 1 1 1 1 2 0 Misael Tamarez 1 2/3 1 0 0 3 2 0 Justin Yeager 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 8 9 5 5 5 10 0 Missions Can't Erase Early 7-0 Deficit, Fall To RoughRiders An early blitz of runs was too much to overcome for the host Double-A San Antonio Missions, who fell to the Frisco RoughRiders 7-5. Missions left-handed starter Jamie Hitt, in his first Double-A start and second appearance since being promoted from High-A Fort Wayne, gave up all seven runs in the first three innings of his five-inning outing. He allowed nine hits and issued four walks while striking out six. But the two relievers behind him had tremendous outings. Left-hander Igor Gil, in his Double-A debut after coming up from Fort Wayne the day before, walked one and struck out five in two innings, with right-hander Tucker Musgrove, Padres Mission's No. 9 prospect, punched out five of the six batters he faced in two perfect innings. Offensively, the Missions had just six hits, two by Braedon Karpathios (Padres Mission's No. 12 prospect), and couldn't do more damage despite the RoughRiders committing three errors. Only two of the Missions' five runs were earned. Down 7-0, the Missions got their first run in the bottom of the fourth as Ethan Salas, Padres Mission's No. 1 prospect, walked, took second on a balk and third on a groundout before scoring on Karpathios' two-out single. They got two more in the fifth on a walk, two errors and a sacrifice fly to pull within 7-3, another in the sixth on a Karpathios single and the third error of the game by the RoughRiders, with the final run coming in the seventh on a Francisco Acuna walk, a Kai Murphy single and a run-scoring double play by Ryan Jackson. SA_0722.mp4 Player AB R H RBI BB K Ryan Jackson, 3B 4 0 0 1 0 3 Ethan Salas, C 3 1 0 0 1 2 Tirso Ornelas, RF 4 0 1 0 0 1 Jake Cunningham, CF 3 1 1 0 1 1 Braedon Karpathios, 1B 4 0 2 1 0 1 Luis Verdugo, 3B 4 0 1 0 0 1 Carson Tucker, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 Albert Fabian, DH 4 0 0 0 0 3 Francisco Acuna, SS 2 2 0 0 2 0 Kai Murphy, LF 4 1 1 0 0 1 Totals 32 5 6 2 4 13 Pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR Jamie Hitt (L) 5 9 7 7 4 6 1 Igor Gil 2 0 0 0 1 5 0 Tucker Musgrove 2 0 0 0 0 5 0 Totals 9 9 7 7 5 16 1 Ryan Wideman Steals 51st, But TinCaps Can't Generate Offense Ryan Wideman had two hits, a stolen base and scored a run, but that was about it for the offense as the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps gave up a seven-run fourth inning en route to a 9-1 loss to the Lake County Captains. Wideman, Padres Mission's No. 4 prospect who entered the day one steal off the minor-league lead, led off the bottom of the first with a single to center, went to second when Rosman Verdugo was hit by a pitch, then stole third, his 51st bag of the year, and scored on a throwing error by the catcher. That would be the TinCaps' only run. TinCaps right-handed starter Winyer Chourio had his third straight subpar outing since being promoted from Low-A Lake Elsinore. Chourio did get through 3⅓ innings, his longest outing since his TinCaps debut, but gave up four runs on just two hits, one walk and four strikeouts. He did hit a batter, too. Right-handed reliever Clark Candiotti followed by allowing three runs in two-thirds of an inning on two hits, two walks and a hit batter. Right-hander Jose Leclerc, in his first rehab appearance with the TinCaps and seventh overall, pitched a scoreless fifth, allowing one hit. He signed a minor-league contract with the Padres in late March after having surgery on his right labrum in September. Leclerc, the closer on the Texas Rangers' World Series championship team in 2024, also made six rehab appearances in the Arizona Complex League. Player AB R H RBI BB K Ryan Wideman, CF 4 1 2 0 0 1 Rosman Verdugo, SS 3 0 0 0 0 2 Alex McCoy, LF 4 0 1 0 0 3 Kavares Tears, RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 Jack Costello, 1B 4 0 1 0 0 0 Carlos Rodriguez, C 4 0 1 0 0 1 Kerrington Cross, 3B 3 0 1 0 1 2 Luke Cantwell, DH 4 0 1 0 0 2 Oswaldo Linares, 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 33 1 7 0 1 12 Pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR Winyer Chourio (L) 3 1/3 2 4 4 1 4 0 Clark Candiotti 2/3 2 3 3 2 1 0 Jose Leclerc 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 Carlos Medina 2 2/3 1 2 2 5 1 0 Braian Salazar 1 1/3 0 0 0 2 2 0 Totals 9 6 9 9 10 8 0 Storm Unable To Slow Down Rawhide The host Low-A Lake Elsinore Storm gave up runs in eight of the nine innings and managed just three hits in dropping a 13-1 decision to the Visalia Rawhide. The Storm scored their only run in the bottom of the first as Jorge Quintana, Padres Mission's No. 6 prospect, tripled off the right-field wall with two outs and scored following two walks and a wild pitch. But the Storm were already down 3-0 when they batted in the first. The Rawhide scored one or two runs in the remaining innings except for the eighth, when they were blanked. A bulk of the damage came off Storm right-handed starter Cameron Nohos, who was making his first Low-A start of the season. Nohos, who made three appearances including a start for the Storm last year after signing as an undrafted free agent, gave up six runs in three innings on six hits, including a pair of homers, and two walks. He did strike out four. Player AB R H RBI BB K Bradley Frye, 3B 3 0 0 0 1 1 Yimy Tovar, 2B 4 0 1 0 0 1 Jorge Quintana, DH 3 1 1 0 1 1 Yoiber Ocopio, 1B 3 0 1 0 1 0 Colton Vincent, C 3 0 0 0 1 2 Jose Verdugo, SS 3 0 0 0 1 0 George Bilecki, RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 Dylan Grego, LF 3 0 0 0 0 1 Qrey Lott, CF 2 0 0 0 1 2 Totals 28 1 3 0 6 9 Pitcher IP H R ER BB K HR Cameron Nohos (L) 3 6 6 6 2 4 2 Daichi Moriki 1/3 2 2 2 1 0 0 Brandon Langley 1 3 2 2 1 2 0 Jeferson Villabona 2 2/3 3 2 2 0 4 1 Carson Swilling 2 3 1 0 0 3 0 Totals 9 17 13 12 4 13 3 Top-20 Prospect Performance Ethan Salas: 0-for-3, R, BB, 2 K Kash Mayfield: DNP Miguel Mendez: DNP Ryan Wideman: 2-for-4, R, SB, K Kruz Schoolcraft: DNP Jorge Quintana: 1-for-3, 3B, R, BB, K Ty Harvey: On injured list (rehab assignment) Kale Fountain: Injured, out for season Tucker Musgrove: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 5 K, 0 BB Coleman Borthwick: Unsigned Lamar King Jr.: DNP Braedon Karpathios: 2-for-4, RBI, K Jagger Haynes: DNP Alex McCoy: 1-for-4, SB, 3 K Truitt Madonna: DNP Jesus Castro: DNP Garrett Hawkins: DNP Elliot Lascelles: Not assigned to team Winyer Chourio: 3⅓ IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 K, 1 BB Rosman Verdugo: 0-for-3, SB, HBP, 2 K View the full article

TRANSACTIONS INF Quinn McDaniel assigned to A+ Cedar Rapids INF Tanner Schobel assigned to AA Wichita All Twins selections from the 2026 draft were signed (including Vahn Lackey, who signed for $9,740,500) Saints Sentinel St. Paul 9, Columbus 0 Box Score Aaron Rozek: 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K HR: Kyler Fedko (17), Ben Ross (9), David Bañuelos (4), Matt Wallner (16), Hendry Mendez (5) Multi-hit games: Hendry Mendez (3-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI), Ben Ross (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI), David Bañuelos (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI) The Saints decimated their opponent on Wednesday. Five homers? And a shutout? In the same game? Even Odysseus didn’t dominate the cyclops in a manner like this. Kyler Fedko started matters with an opposite-field swat that simply refused to fall back to the ground; then, Ben Ross and David Bañuelos went back-to-back to push the lead to 4-0. Mere batters later, Matt Wallner stepped to the plate and smacked a Wallner-ian blast; pulled with a regal authority and such grand power that even the pitcher had to admire what served as his demise. Hendry Mendez swept a two-run shot into what lies beyond the field of men and sport—where the common person can grasp a ball and declare themselves an actor in the sport. The five homers accounted for all nine of St. Paul’s runs in the game; they went 1-2 with runners in scoring position. The shutout was an effort combined between Aaron Rozek, Garrett Acton, Julian Merryweather, Alejandro Hidalgo, and Eric Orze, with the former going for four frames with an equal amount of strikeouts, and the latter combining for the final five frames and three strikeouts. The aforementioned Acton did so in his inaugural Saints’ outing, as he had previously made three rehab outings in the lower levels of the minors. Ralphy Velazquez, ranked as the 35th-best prospect in baseball, played first base for the Clippers, and went 0-for-3. Wind Surge Wisdom Wichita 7, Midland 5 Box Score Ty Langenberg: 4 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K HR: Billy Amick (21) Multi-hit games: Marek Houston (2-for-4, RBI), Caden Kendle (2-for-4, 2 R, RBI), Jake Rucker (2-for-4, RBI), Jaime Ferrer (2-for-4, R, RBI The Wind Surge were victorious on Wednesday. Four consecutive innings with a score, followed by a pause for a breath, then one more run for good measure. That was the Wind Surge philosophy, as nearly the entire lineup earned a hit and as they went 5-12 with runners in scoring position. 3-8; 1,1,1,3,0,1. The streak that won them the game. Marek Houston broke the mold with an RBI knock and it only continued from there, with Billy Amick homering, and Khadim Diaw doubling, with the latter proving controversial enough to cause the RockHounds umpire to be ejected (this author believed the ball to be fair, but more power to those who complain, apparently). And the manager, by the way, is 2018 Twins legend Gregorio Petit. The sixth broke the mold with three runs, rather than the typical one, as Kendle, Jake Rucker, and Jaime Ferrer delivered the goods with singles. A balk in the eighth concluded matters. Midland outfielder Devin Taylor—the sixth-best prospect in the Athletics’ system—collected three hits in five at-bats on Wednesday. Kernels Nuggets Cedar Rapids 5, Dayton 6 Box Score Cesar Lares: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K HR: Jose Salas (4) Multi-hit games: Yasser Mercedes (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB), Enrique Jimenez (3-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB), Miguel Briceno (3-for-4, 2B, R, RBI, BB) The Kernels fell short on Wednesday. 12 hits yet woe and plunder upon them; for the Dragon potency strikes with a mightier awe. Or, at least a timelier one. Only the nerds care, anyways. Cesar Lares’ ERA remains in the double digits, as it has for over a month now. The poor fellow. An eight and then 10 run outing will do that. He found a relative modicum of success on Wednesday, with two earned runs spread across four innings, a 4.50 ERA anathema to the finest of hurlers, yet sweet nectar to a lefty scrounging for any minute luck the game may horribly provide. Miguel Briceno “the .331 man” started the scoring for Cedar Rapids with an RBI double in the second, and Enrique Jimenez knocked in another the following frame. Two empty innings begat a resurgence, albeit a minor one, with a run scoring on a Yasser Mercedes infield hit in the sixth. Soon, swelling in nature, two crossed home when Jose Salas swatted a homer down the right field line. Do the Dragons play in Dayton’s downtown? The surrounding buildings speak to a city that offers fairly well-known cover bands and a restaurant featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives 10 years ago. How bizarre. Third baseman Tyson Lewis clocks in as the third-best prospect in the Reds system; he went 0-4, with a pair of strikeouts. Mussel Matters Fort Myers 12, St. Lucie 9 Box Score Callan Fang: 2 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 1 K HR: Luis Hernandez (1), Ricardo Pena (1), Quentin Young (11) Multi-hit games: Jayson Bass (2-for-6, R), JP Smith II (2-for-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, 2 BB), Luis Hernandez (2-for-3, HR, 2 R, RBI, BB) The Mighty Mussels out-slugged their opponents on Wednesday. It started in the second. It only finally stopped in the seventh. Luis Hernandez initiated the scoring with a solo shot slugged out to left-center, opening a Pandora’s Box that no St. Lucie pitcher could shut regardless of the quality of their attempt. A Luis Fragoza sacrifice fly in the third added on—and ushered in a moment of silence; the kind of tepid quiet that could seemingly cut either way; either in complete silence or the calm before a run-scoring storm. This one was the latter. The fifth opened. The horrible fifth. Fragoza started the frame by reaching on a strikeout. The bizarre nature of the inning should have alerted all to what may portend. JP Smith II doubled, Quentin Young scored one on a sacrifice fly, and Harry Genth drove in one with a single. Two arrived in the sixth off a Smith single and a run-scoring wild pitch. With seven in their pocket, the Mighty Mussels were not satisfied—and the score was only tied. Once more for a final offensive? Sure, they thought. They set their Trojan Horse for a final, successful, brutal attack that would once and for all end the threat they sought to silence. Ricardo Pena homered for the first time since May 27th, 2025, a two-run shot. Then, with two on, Young found the right-center wall a worthy target for his blasting, sending the ball sailing with a Castellanos-esque hack and irregular intentions. The St. Lucie Mets employ the labor of the sixth-ranked prospect in the team’s system, infielder Elian Peña. He collected two hits in five at-bats. Complex Chronicles FCL Twins 8, FCL Red Sox 5 Box Score Michael Carpenter: ⅔ IP, 2 H. 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K HR: None Multi-hit games: Yovanny Duran (2-for-2, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB), Victor Leal (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI) An FCL game? On Wednesday? It’s more likely than you think. A remake of a previously weather-prevented match, the FCL game on Wednesday played out like a classic low-level game; when the stolen base portion of the box score reads like a Cormac McCarthy sentence, you know things got weird. Every batter in the lineup outside of Acuña reached base safely. 18-year-old Yovanny Duran displayed an elder understanding of what it means to hit leadoff, earning two hits and two walks in four plate appearances. He also stole three bases, perhaps revealing that he may secretly be Rickey Henderson in a teenager’s body. Reliever Cristian Hernandez provided bulk innings in an impressive manner, totaling 5 ⅓ frames with two earned runs. He struck out seven, his second-highest total this year outside his 11 K outing on June 16th. Minor league rehabbers Bryan Acuña and Michael Carpenter played in the game, with the former going 0-4 and the latter earning two outs with 30 pitches before being relieved. Center fielder Harold Rivas ranks as the 18th-best prospect in the Red Sox system, and he went 1-4 with a run scored. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Twins Daily Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Cristian Hernandez Twins Daily Minor League Hitter of the Day – Hendry Mendez ft. Yovanny Duran PROSPECT SUMMARY Here’s a look at how the Twins Daily Top 20 Twins Prospects performed: #1 – Walker Jenkins (St. Paul) - 1-5, R, K #5 – Marek Houston (Wichita) - 2-4, RBI, K #7 – Eduardo Tait (Cedar Rapids) - 1-5, K #10 – Hendry Mendez (St. Paul) - 3-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI #11 – Gabriel Gonzalez (St. Paul) - 0-4 #14 – Khadim Diaw (Wichita) - 1-4, 2B, RBI #15 – Brandon Winokur (Wichita) - 1-3, 2 R, BB #17 – Quentin Young (Fort Myers) - 1-4, HR, R, 4 RBI THURSDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS Columbus @ St. Paul (7:07 PM) - RHP Ricky Castro Midland @ Wichita (7:05 PM) - RHP Cory Lewis Cedar Rapids @ Dayton (6:05 PM) - RHP Kolten Smith Fort Myers @ St. Lucie (3:00 PM) - RHP Reed Moring Fort Myers @ St. Lucie (Game Two) - TBD FCL Twins @ FCL Orioles (9:00 AM) - TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Tigers 2 (10:00 AM) - TBD View the full article

The San Diego Padres have landed their fifth-round draft choice. Kansas State right-handed starter James Guyette has signed with the Padres for $400,000, MLB Pipeline's Jim Callis reported Wednesday. That is just slightly below the slot value of $449,500. You can keep tabs on the Padres and their draft pool with our Draft Tracker. A 6-foot-3, 215-pounder, Guyette was a surprise selection for the Friars with the 157th pick. He was not ranked by either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline. A SoCal native who attended Newbury Park High School, Guyette joined the Kansas State rotation this season as a junior and had a 5.56 ERA with 35 walks and 105 strikeouts in 79⅓ innings. He has a really nice slider in the mid-80s and a good sinking fastball that sits 93-94 mph. He also has a changeup that can become a plus pitch. Guyette is the third of the Padres' 20 draft choices to have been signed, joining second-rounder Elliot Lascelles, a high school shortstop from Toronto, and 11th-rounder Chris McHugh, a first baseman from North Carolina State. View the full article

HOUSTON, TX - Miami Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara summed it up pretty well when he spoke to the media following the team's ninth straight loss. "We've been like a way different than the first half." The Marlins, who played their closest game of the three-game set against the Houston Astros, tied at two going into the bottom of the eighth inning, fell victims to the best hitter in baseball, falling by a final score of 5-2. If there was one player on the Marlins roster that could come out and stop the bleeding, it would be their longtime ace. He was well on his way to doing that, completing seven innings of work and limiting the Houston Astros to just two runs. He received some run support thanks to back-to-back RBI from Javier Sanoja (double) and Joe Mack (single), tying the game at two. Alcantara, lauded for his ability to pitch deep into games with a high pitch count, came out for the bottom of the eighth inning with 97 pitches already thrown. The Marlins were counting on Alcantara to be the one to snap this streak. A case could've been made that maybe Alcantara shouldn't have come out with the pending off-day on Thursday, giving the opportunity to dig into your higher leverage arms, but the decision to have "El Caballo" go out there was the one Clayton McCullough and his staff made. The bottom of the eighth inning had Alcantara lined up to face the top of the Astros order: Jeremy Peña, Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes. Peña started the inning with a base hit, setting the stage for Yordan Alvarez. Alcantara described Alvarez as "the best hitter in baseball right now," and rightfully so. It was the Marlins best pitcher in that moment against the Astros best hitter. On the third pitch of the at-bat, a fastball towards the bottom of the zone, Alvarez got a piece of it, taking Alcantara 394-feet the opposite way for a two-run shot, giving the Astros a 4-2 lead. Isaac Paredes followed it up with a home run of this own, extending the lead, 5-2. "(Alvarez) covers a lot of different pitches and both sides of the plate," McCullough said. "He's having an All-Star worthy season, MVP-type season, and he put some really good swings on balls. He got us." Alcantara finished the night entering the eighth, but unable to record an out. He surrendered five runs on nine hits, walked one, and struck out three. Calvin Faucher entered the game for Alcantara, striking out two and generating a pop fly. Anytime that your lineup does not combine for more than 10 strikeouts in the game, it is already a better night than Miami had had recently. On Wednesday night, the Marlins struck out six times, but were able to do some damage on Astros starter Peter Lambert, knocking in two runs on six hits. It would be the Astros bullpen that shut down the Marlins, allowing one hit between three relievers. "I thought we had a lot of really good at bats," McCullough said. "We created some opportunities. Thought we hit some balls hard, and I think we just kind of keep plugging along with that. The at-bat quality as a whole was good tonight." With the loss, the Marlins drop to 52-51, 1.5 games out of the third National League Wild Card spot. In a competitive National League, the Arizona Diamondbacks have won back-to-back games, giving them sole possession of the third WC while both the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are half a game back. The Marlins and Washington Nationals both have the same record. "I think we gotta put things together and find a way to put ourselves in that situation that we were in the first half," Alcantara said. "This is baseball, someday you win 20 and someday you lose 25. We gotta keep fighting together.” The Marlins will go back to Miami to begin a two-team, six-game homestand, with what feels like a last sliver of hope to bounce back from this season-collapsing stretch. The San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies are coming to town. First pitch on Friday is at 7:10 pm EST with a starter yet to be announced. View the full article

HOUSTON, TX - For the first time this season, the Miami Marlins faced a right-handed starting pitcher without including outfielder Jakob Marsee in their lineup. Instead, Esteury Ruiz ninth and manned center field against the Houston Astros on Wednesday. This wasn't due to an injury or a day of rest, Marlins manager Clayton McCullough confirmed. It's a reaction to Marsee's lack of offensive production throughout the 2026 season, even when he's had the platoon advantage. "Talked with Jakob and I think we are at a point where it's no secret that Jakob has struggled this year from a performance standpoint," McCullough said. "Jakob is still going to play with regularity, but told him there's going to be some times here coming up where versus right, you don't start." Marsee's first month at the major league level was as good as the Marlins could've dreamed. In August 2025, he slashed .352/.430/.629/1.058 with four home runs, 25 RBI and nine stolen bases. The next month, he hit .231/.292/.327/.619 with one home run, eight RBI and stole five bases. Over the offseason, there were discussion of a potential contract extension, but those never went far. In 98 games this season, Marsee has continued where he left off at the end of 2025, slashing .192/.313/.287/.600 with five home runs, 25 RBI, 19 stolen bases and a 73 wRC+. Among players with a minimum of 400 plate appearances, Marsee has the lowest batting average, slugging percentage, OPS and wRC+ in baseball. Despite that, the Marlins have given him every opportunity to turn things around as he ranks third on the team in games played and plate appearances. That being said, Marsee provides value defensively and on the base paths. He has a plus-five outs above average in center and his 19 stolen bases are second on the team. "He has showed up on that side of the field defensively and played very well," McCullough said. "If he needs to pinch run, pinch hit or go on defense, we're going to use that because it's about trying to win games. On the flipside, Ruiz, who had played in 62 games entering Wednesday, is slashing .243/.363/.485/.848 with five home runs, 10 RBI, 20 stolen bases and a 132 wRC+. "In a limited sample of opportunity this year, he has done some really nice things for us and just kind of got to the point with where we're at where give Esteury some more opportunity to get into the lineup," McCullough said. On Wednesday, Ruiz went 1-for-4 with two more steals. Marsee remained on the bench during the 5-2 Marlins loss. View the full article

Box Score SP: Bailey Ober - 4 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (89 pitches, 57 strikes (64% strikes) Home Runs: Trevor Larnach (8); Brooks Lee (15) Top 3 WPA: Brooks Lee (0.32); Trevor Larnach (0.12); Travis Adams (0.11) Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs) The Twins and Guardians met Wednesday night for Game 3 of 4, with Minnesota looking to keep alive their chance to split the series and to snap a four-game losing streak. The game started with promise as Trevor Larnach crushed a 404-foot leadoff home run to right-center, giving the Twins an early 1-0 lead. Making just his third start since returning from the injured list, Bailey Ober wasn't getting shelled, but Cleveland did what it does best. The Guardians sat on his 80-mph changeup, blooping soft singles into the outfield and manufacturing runs. Singles from José Ramírez and Brayan Rocchio tied the game, before Cleveland small-balled its way to a 3-1 lead in the second. The Twins, however, answered with big ball. Alex Jackson doubled, Larnach worked a walk, and Brooks Lee drove in a run with a single. Josh Bell tied the game with an RBI groundout. Ober battled through a messy third without allowing a run, despite his pitch count continuing to climb. Minnesota took control in the fourth, and stayed there the rest of the game. Three straight singles put the Twins back in front by one, before Lee launched his 18th home run of the season to extend the lead to 7-3. That cushion would prove to be significant later in the game. Cleveland answered with one run in the bottom half, but Ober limited the damage. The fifth inning brought a scare, when Victor Caratini fouled a pitch off his right knee and was helped off the field. Ryan Kreidler replaced him, while Luke Keaschall worked an 11-pitch walk, but the Twins stranded the runners. (Caratini was later diagnosed with a right knee contusion, needing further testing.) The bullpen took over from Ober in the fifth inning. Usually an early visit to the bullpen is a recipe for disaster for the Twins, but Kody Funderburk tossed a scoreless inning before Travis Adams retired the side on just six pitches in the sixth and put up another goose egg in the seventh. The yeoman's work from those middle relievers gave the offense a much-needed opportunity to keep the pressure on. Minnesota added insurance in the late innings. After Ramírez committed an error, Matt Festa hit Keaschall with a pitch, and Trevor Larnach delivered a two-run single to put the game further out of reach at 9-4. The Guardians made a pitching change, but that didn’t save them. The Twins got one more in from Bell for a 10-4 lead. Andrew Morris came out in the eighth inning and immediately broke his 18-inning scoreless streak with a solo home run from Kyle Manzardo. Not as sharp as he might have been if the game were a little tighter, Morris put two more runners on base, but avoided further damage. Yoendrys Gómez closed down the game for the Twins. He faced the meat of the hosts' lineup, and while he gave up one run, there was never any real worry that the Guardians would come back. It was a sloppy game for Cleveland, but an impressive win for the Twins. What’s Next? The Twins finish the series and the road trip with a getaway day game at 12:10 pm CST. The Twins will send Taj Bradley to the mound (9-4, 3.85 ERA), facing Gavin Williams, then head home to make the most of one last push before the trade deadline. Postgame Interviews Coming soon. Bullpen Availability Chart View the full article

Jackson Merrill can still punish a fastball left over the heart of the plate. What has changed this year is the cost of missing anywhere else. That difference separates the hitter who tormented right-handed pitching during his first two seasons from the one carrying a 66 wRC+ against righties this year, the second-lowest mark among qualified left-handed hitters in Major League Baseball. During the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Merrill forced right-handers to pitch with uncommon precision. His swing was tuned to crush pitches down the middle, but it also inflicted damage on mistakes that drifted a few inches inside or above the strike zone. That version of Merrill turned nearly every poorly executed pitch into a chance at production. In 2026, that chance has become much more limited. That is why his contact-quality metrics tell a different story than his results. His Perfect Contact rate against fastballs remains at 22%, exactly where it was a year ago. His Flawed Swing rate has returned to 6%, while the average miss distance on his swings has barely changed from his first two seasons. If the swing itself were the problem, those numbers would have collapsed. Instead, what has changed is the quality of contact he generates after being forced to swing from less favorable positions. Jackson Merrill xwOBA Heat Map by Zone: 2024-25 vs. 2026 2024-2025 2026 The shift becomes clear when comparing the areas where Merrill once produced his best expected results. The upper outside quadrant has fallen from a .454 xwOBA to just .151. The middle-away portion of the zone has dropped from .440 to .303. The lower-middle area has declined from .513 to .322. Yet one number explains why this is not a story about a broken swing: the heart of the strike zone still belongs to Merrill. His xwOBA there remains at .498, only slightly below the .540 he produced over his first two seasons. Pitchers still pay a steep price whenever they leave a fastball over the middle. The difference is that they have found new locations where they can limit his damage. That adjustment has changed the entire structure of the at-bat. When a hitter threatens every part of the strike zone, pitchers eventually have no choice but to challenge him because there are few safe alternatives. Once that threat shrinks to a much smaller collection of locations, the sequence changes completely. They can work the edges more aggressively, elevate more often, expand the zone, and reserve the middle of the plate for far more specific situations. Pitch Location Distribution by Zone: 2024-25 vs. 2026 2024-25 2026 The numbers confirm that adjustment. The share of pitches Merrill has seen over the heart of the plate has dropped from 7.9% during 2024 and 2025 to just 5.6% this season. That may sound like a small difference, but it represents hundreds of pitching decisions over the course of a full season. The difference also shows up once the ball leaves his bat. His hard-hit rate against right-handed pitching has fallen from 52.2% as a rookie to 39.2% this season. His weak-contact rate has climbed from 9.8% to 16.2%, while his ISO has dropped from .235 to .137. There is still room for a rebound. Merrill owns a .336 xwOBA against right-handed pitching, well above his actual .263 wOBA, while a .240 BABIP suggests bad luck has played a role in his disappointing production. Even if those results improve, however, the challenge will remain the same. The league has already made the first adjustment. Pitchers have redrawn Jackson Merrill's offensive map and reshaped the way they attack him. The next move belongs to Merrill. View the full article

When the Cubs traded for David Peterson late last month, it was as much out of desperation as out of proactivity. True though it was, Jed Hoyer's asseveration that the team had had interest in Peterson already didn't mean they actually would have pulled the trigger when they did, but for the massive injury trouble that struck their starting rotation just before the trade. With Ben Brown and Edward Cabrera landing on the injured list simultaneously, they needed a warm body and a working arm. They couldn't afford to be especially picky. Count them lucky, then, as well as good, because in Peterson, they found the right stopgap to fit their needs not only in the moment, but for the balance of the season. He's no more than a backend starter, but he's also no less than one, whatever his numbers in a brief and cursed start to the season with the star-laden and star-crossed Mets might have implied. Moreover, his stuff suits the Cubs' predilections gorgeously—and just before they acquired him, he made some changes that made him even more perfect as a prospective Tommy Hottovy pupil. Peterson's four-seam fastball has natural cut, which the Cubs have long loved. However, he also has a good sinker, and he tends to lean on that more heavily when he has a good feel for it. The two pitches work well as a tandem, not because of the way they play off each other, but because the four-seamer's unique shape sets up his fading changeup, while the sinker can prime hitters to misread and mishit his breaking stuff. However, he ran into major alignment problems early in the season with the Mets, which left him unable to locate either hitter well enough to set up much of anything. Since neither offering is thrown especially hard or has lively enough movement to make up for that, their newfound failure to help the other pieces of his repertoire play up became a huge problem. The fix, however, was simple—so much so that even the Mets figured it out. About a week before he was dealt to Chicago, Peterson moved from the center of the rubber to the third-base side. Here are side-by=side looks at him mid-delivery at Wrigley. One shot is from when the Mets visited the Cubs early in the season, and the southpaw was working on behalf of the visitors. The other is from his start against the Tigers Tuesday night, in which he pitched 6 2/3 impressive innings in a breezy Cubs win. Sliding over toward the side to which (relatively speaking, and to the eye of the hitter) the four-seamer already wants to move has made it much easier for Peterson to target the up-and-in quadrant against right-handed batters. That's extremely valuable; God hasn't yet created the hitter who feels comfortable when a pitcher can spot the ball there. Working along the entire top rail of the zone, as Peterson was doing before he came to Chicago, sounds good in theory. In practice, with a fastball that has neither good rising action nor average-or-better velocity, it left him running into barrels too often. Being able to force that pitch to the glove-side half without losing the height on it is a cure for that condition, and moving over on the rubber has been enough to accomplish it. Meanwhile, the sinker—in fact, let's call it a two-seamer; it's much more of a runner than a heavy, dropping pitch—can be thrown with more conviction and action now. Being closer to the glove-side edge of home gives Peterson more real estate with which to work. He can let the two-seamer run a bit more, which makes him harder to square up. That change in starting position happened before he joined the team, but Peterson has also tweaked his approach to suit the shift, and that adjustment has a more distinctly Cubs flavor. In his first several appearances for the team, Peterson threw more sinkers than he did in most of his appearances with the Mets this year. He leaned into the pitch he already had the best command of. However, Tuesday night against a heavily right-handed Tigers lineup, that changed. Peterson went to the four-seamer more, and found even more success. There's nothing more to unlock here. Peterson won't be an ace, no matter how he continues refining his approach under the Cubs' tutelage. He can be a very good mid-rotation arm with this team, but even if so, he'll owe much of the credit to the excellent Cubs defense. Still, what he can be is plenty for this team, which has gotten a bit healthier in the rotation since acquiring him and which figures to add another starter in the next 10 days. Peterson was already a Cubs-coded hurler and made the most important changes needed to get back to his best self before the club even dealt for him. Now, he just needs to execute each time he takes the mound, and keep trusting both his coaches and his on-field support staff, the defense. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins have spent much of July walking the line between buying and selling. Entering Wednesday at 49-53 with playoff odds hovering just above 20 percent, they have about a week left before the front office must decide which direction to take before the August 3 trade deadline. If Minnesota catches fire, adding reinforcements makes sense. If the club continues to slide, however, the Twins could become one of the more interesting sellers on the market. No player's future may depend more on this short stretch than Ryan Jeffers. Jeffers is scheduled to become a free agent at the end of the season, making him an obvious trade candidate if the Twins decide to move expiring contracts. More importantly, he would probably be the top catcher available at the deadline. Jeffers has put together one of the best offensive seasons of any catcher in baseball, in the midst of a career-best season that includes a .941 OPS at the prime age of 29. He's also adapted well to MLB's Automated Ball-Strike challenge system. That combination should generate significant interest from contenders looking for an upgrade behind the plate. The New York Yankees stand out as perhaps the most logical fit. At 56-44, the Yankees currently occupy the top American League Wild Card spot and sit just two games behind the Rays in the AL East. With their sights set on catching Tampa Bay and earning a first-round bye, New York will undoubtedly be aggressive at the deadline. Catcher is one of the Yankees' biggest weaknesses. They have received the fifth-lowest WAR from the position in baseball, primarily relying on Austin Wells, who owns a 44 OPS+. Replacing that production with Jeffers would represent a substantial upgrade for a club with legitimate World Series aspirations. Although the Yankees' farm system is no longer among baseball's elite, they still possess enough prospect talent to make an intriguing offer. George Lombard Jr. would be untouchable in this kind of deal, but the Yankees also have intriguing pitching prospects in Carlos Lagrange and Elmer Rodriguez. Another team that makes plenty of sense is the Boston Red Sox. After ripping off a 15-game winning streak (and counting), Boston has firmly entered the buyer category and now looks like a legitimate postseason contender. The Red Sox have received very little production behind the plate this season, with Carlos Narváez posting a 59 OPS+ as the club has accumulated -0.5 WAR from the catcher position. Their backup, Connor Wong, has hit very well, but that's not his true talent level. Boston also matches up well with Minnesota from a prospect standpoint. The Red Sox have assembled an impressive collection of young pitching, an area where the Twins could always use additional depth. Righthanders Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon would both be intriguing names for Minnesota to pursue if it decides to leverage Jeffers into future pitching. The Los Angeles Dodgers round out the list. With Will Smith landing on the 60-day injured list with severe neck inflammation, catcher looks like a position the Dodgers will need to address. Jeffers will certainly draw interest from a club like the Dodgers with championship expectations. As usual, the Dodgers have one of baseball's deepest farm systems. They rarely hesitate to move prospects for the right major league upgrade, and the Twins would have no shortage of interesting names to target. Outfielder Zyhir Hope headlines the group, while Eduardo Quintero and Emil Morales are also high-upside position players who could fit into Minnesota's long-term plans. Whether Jeffers is actually traded will depend entirely on what the Twins do over the next two weeks. If they play their way back into the playoff picture, keeping one of the league's most productive catchers is an easy decision. If they fall further behind, however, Jeffers could become one of the most sought-after rental position players available. With so many contenders needing help behind the plate and so few quality catchers expected to hit the market, the Twins could find themselves in an enviable position. If the Twins ultimately decide to move Jeffers, which team do you think makes the most sense, and which prospect would you want Minnesota to target in return? Leave a comment below and start the conversation! View the full article

The Boston Red Sox have a loaded pitching prospect pipeline, and their rotation could go in a variety of directions depending on who pans out. While flashy prospects like Anthony Eyanson and Payton Tolle possess remarkable measurables, Gage Ziehl is a high-floor arm that every team needs for some peace of mind. Let's break down what the 2026 newcomer is doing so well this year. Gage Ziehl's Updated Red Sox Scouting Report Ziehl was a fourth-round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, as the New York Yankees selected him with the 119th overall pick. The now-23-year-old earned plenty of respect for being a frontline starter with the Miami Hurricanes during his sophomore and junior seasons, bumping his draft stock into day-one territory. Standing at six feet tall and weighing 223 pounds, Ziehl is now working in his second full season of professional baseball. The crafty righty is already on his third organization, as he’s been involved in a pair of trades since being drafted. The White Sox acquired Ziehl in a trade involving big-league outfielder Austin Slater in 2025. After six starts with the High-A Winston-Salem Dash, the Red Sox acquired the righty hurler ahead of the 2026 season in a trade involving Jordan Hicks, David Sandlin and some cash considerations, among other assets. Through a year and a half, Ziehl has accumulated an 11-9 record with a 4.40 earned run average over 174.0 innings of work. He has 166 punchouts over that span while allowing opposing hitters to have a .277 batting average against him. Consistency Takes The Cake Ziehl’s strongest attribute isn’t a single pitch, but rather his overall control. He may be an unranked prospect per TalkSox.com, but his command is as strong as anybody's in Minor League Baseball. The Portland Sea Dogs’ (Red Sox, Double-A) starting pitcher has walked just 34 hitters while punching out 166 over the course of 174 innings of work, good enough for nearly a five-to-one strikeout to walk ratio. Ziehl has toyed with his arsenal over the years, but his insistence on pounding the zone has been the main constant throughout his professional career. The fastball sits between 91-94 miles per hour with the ability to touch 96, but that's just what sets up the rest of his arsenal. While his motion is simple and repeatable, one of the main pitfalls has been generating higher whiff rates, as he had below-average swing-and-miss rates on every one of his pitches last year. The command is there; now it’s just about creating deception and more movement to bait hitters into poor decisions. The Sneaky Slider Ziehl’s saving grace may be his slider, as it’s his best offering (50-grade) out of what is currently a five-pitch arsenal that includes a fastball, cutter, curveball and changeup. Also classifying as a sweeper, he made this his primary pitch (even ahead of the fastball) in 2025 thanks to a high amount of spin-rate and pristine control. He will likely need to bump the production on another pitch so that he can play a pair of above-average options off of one another. Overall Projection In terms of this farmhand’s ceiling, the word “steady” probably gave it away, but he’s projected to be a back-of-the-rotation starter. This is someone who can give a team innings, compete, and won’t run up a pitch count due to free passes. His next step is to add pitches, or more spin to his current options, that can fool hitters and retire them on whiffs. If he simply pushes his stuff to even a league-average level, he could be the kind of flexible arm every contending team needs to stay afloat throughout a 162-game season. View the full article

Chicago Cubs Minor League Report Affiliate Overview Triple-A Iowa Cubs Series at Gwinnett Stripers (Atlanta Braves): Cubs lead, 1-0 Season Record: 42–52-1 Double-A Knoxville Smokies Series at Rocket City Trash Pandas (Los Angeles Angels): Smokies lead, 1-0 Season Record: 50–41 High-A South Bend Cubs Series vs. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Milwaukee Brewers): Cubs lead, 1-0 Season Record: 52–35 Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Series at Hickory Crawdads (Texas Rangers): Crawdads lead, 1-0 Season Record: 36–53 Triple-A: Iowa Cubs Season Record: 42–52-1 Series Opponent: Gwinnett Stripers (48-47) Series Standing: Lead, 1-0 July 21: The Iowa Cubs opened their series at the Gwinnett Stripers with a 7-4 victory on Tuesday night at Gwinnett Field. Owen Miller (2-for-5) gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI-single but Stripers went ahead in the bottom of the inning by scoring twice. Gwinnett made it 3-1 with a run in the second but an Owen Ayers (0-for-3) walk with the bases loaded brought Iowa within a run. The I-Cubs went in front in the fourth thanks to an RBI-double from Ben Cowles (3-for-5) and an RBI-single from Moisés Ballesteros (1-for-3), which put the visitors in front 4-3. The Stripers tied it in the fifth on a solo home run but a three-run sixth from the Cubs put them in front for good. Miller’s 20th double of the season brought in a pair and Ayers drew his second bases-loaded walk of the night to bring home another. Josh Fleming picked up the win in relief to improve to 4-5 on the year. Fleming tossed five innings of one-run ball, giving up just two hits to go along with two strikeouts. Grant Kipp got the start on the mound for Iowa, taking no decision. Kipp allowed three runs, two earned, over 3 2/3 innings of work, walked one and struck out five. Double-A: Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 50–41 Series Opponent: Rocket City Trash Pandas (45–45) Series Standing: Lead, 1-0 July 21: The Knoxville Smokies snapped their five-game losing skid with a 4-3 series-opening victory over the Rocket City Trash Pandas at Toyota Field on Tuesday night. Alex Ramírez (3-for-4) started the ballgame with a homer, his 11th of the season, to give the Smokies the 1-0 lead. The Trash Pandas took the lead in the fourth by scoring twice but Ramírez launched a three-run blast in the fifth to put Knoxville immediately back in front. This is the second time this campaign that Ramírez has posted a multi-HR effort, with the first coming on June 12 at Montgomery. Rocket City would score one more in the sixth to make it 4-3 but Cole Ras turned in two scoreless frames to end the game and earn his third save of the season. Connor Schultz got the start on the mound for the Smokies and picked up the win, improving to 3-3 on the season. Schultz allowed two runs on three hits over five innings of work, walked three and whiffed five batters. High-A: South Bend Cubs Season Record: 52–35 Series Opponent: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (48–38) Series Standing: Lead, 1-0 July 21: The South Bend Cubs won their third-straight game with a 5-2 series-opening victory vs. the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Tuesday night at Four Winds Field. The Cubs scored twice in their first trip to the plate, with Jose Escobar (0-for-3) picking up an RBI on a fielder’s choice and Kane Kepley (2-for-3) stealing home. The Timber Rattlers made it 2-2 with two runs in the third but Escobar’s sacrifice fly in the home half of the frame put South Bend back in front. The Cubs gave themselves some breathing room with two more runs in the fifth, with Kepley doubling home a run, his 18th two-bagger of the season, and Escobar picking up his third RBI of the night on a groundout. After JP Wheat turned in a scoreless inning of relief in the sixth, Jackson Brockett turned in three shutout innings to end the game and earned his third save of the season. Brockett retired all nine of the batters that he faced, three of which came via the strikeout. Jostin Florentino took no decision in the start for South Bend, allowing two runs on three hits over four innings of work to go along with one walk and seven strikeouts. Florentino has picked up six punchouts or more in five-straight starts. Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 36–53 Series Opponent: Hickory Crawdads (52–36) Series Standing: Trail, 0-1 July 21: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans were blanked in Tuesday night’s series opener at the Hickory Crawdads, 1-0, at L.P. Frans Stadium. The Pelicans were held to just one hit in the contest, Jose Silva’s (1-for-3) one-out single in the fifth, and no opportunities with runners in scoring position. Jordan Henriquez got the start on the mound for Myrtle Beach and took no decision. Henriquez tossed three scoreless frames, allowing just two hits to go along with two walks and three strikeouts. Hayden Frank suffered the loss in relief, falling to 3-6 on the season. Frank allowed one run, unearned, over three innings, giving up four hits with one walk and four punchouts. Hickory scored their lone run of the ballgame in the fifth and would allow just one Pelican batter to reach over the final four innings of the ballgame. Anhuar Garcia worked two scoreless frames in relief, allowing no hits while issuing two walks and striking out two. View the full article

In the five-year, $110 million contract that Kevin Gausman signed with the Toronto Blue Jays before the 2022 season, the right-hander negotiated a limited no-trade clause. He has the right to reject a trade to eight of the other 29 teams. Today, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported which teams those are: the Reds, Brewers, Tigers, Mets, Athletics, White Sox, Pirates, and Mariners. Of those teams, the Reds, Mets, and Athletics will not be buyers at the trade deadline, while the Tigers are still on the fence. The Pirates are interested in buying without taking on salary. The Mariners will be buying, but starting pitching is the one thing they definitely don't need. In other words, most of the teams that might be interested in Gausman aren't covered under his partial no-trade clause. And if a contender like the White Sox or especially the Brewers came calling, there's a good chance Gausman would accept a trade anyway. With that said, Gausman told reporters (including MLB.com's Keegan Matheson) after his latest start, "I'm not going to think about [the possibility of being traded] too much. I'm a Blue Jay right now, and the focus is this team, this room and those guys." View the full article

If indeed the San Diego Padres do decide to trade away players, their bullpen is an obvious place with several pieces that would help other contenders. Among those players is left-hander Wandy Peralta. According to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, Peralta is "actively being discussed." The 35-year-old is making $4.45 this year and has a player option for the same figure next year, making him very affordable for any team looking for a lefty in the bullpen. Peralta is having a very good season, with a career-best 2.35 ERA in 43 games, with his FIP at 4.18. He has a 9.7% walk rate and 15.5% strikeout rate. He isn't really an option to be a consistent late-game option, but can fill a flexible role. Peralta would probably bring back a solid prospect or could enhance a package for some of the more attractive Padres relievers in left-hander Adrian Morejon, right-hander Jason Adam (currently on the 15-day injured list) or even All-Star closer Mason Miller. View the full article

Mets legend Cleon Jones played 12 seasons in Queens. Jones was a staple in the Mets outfield during the late 1960's, and is best known as the star left fielder who caught the final out to seal the iconic 1969 World Series championship for the Miracle Mets. View the full article

After not appearing at any of the three outfield positions in a major-league game until June 20, Luke Keaschall took his place in right field against the Arizona Diamondbacks that day, signaling Minnesota Twins decision-makers were preparing to move the poor-fielding former infielder off second base. Keaschall then made his first start in right against the Colorado Rockies on June 26, and has almost exclusively been an outfielder since. The 23-year-old started nine games at the position before transitioning over to center field on July 8, one day after primary center fielder Byron Buxton was placed on the 10-day IL with a right hip strain. Since then, Keaschall has started eight games in center field, functioning as the club’s primary center fielder during Buxton’s absence. Buxton will return to patrolling the position at a near full-time rate now that he's returned from the IL, and Keaschall is back in right field. He filled in admirably, however, netting 21 putouts over 70 innings played at the position, including the fantastic one below: TUFYcXdfWGw0TUFRPT1fQXdOWEFnQU1YZ1lBREZzS0FBQUhDQUZWQUZoVEJ3QUFBUVpXQVZKVEFRRlJCVkFF.mp4 Admittedly, this ball did have a 65% catch probability. Any worthwhile center fielder would have caught it. Still, it was an exceptional catch for a player making their sixth start at one of the most demanding positions. He will then show how green a center fielder he is, missing balls that had a 99% catch probability, like the one below: akR3ckFfWGw0TUFRPT1fVTFKWlhGRU1VMVFBWGxNQVVBQUhCUU1DQUZoUkFGY0FBUVJXQ1FCV0J3TldVbFpS.mp4 As he seeks a better balance between those extremes, one interesting thing to track (both in right field and in center) is how deep he's played since his move to the grass. He's tied with Matt McLain for the fifth-deepest starting position of all center fielders in baseball, typically positioned at 332 feet from home plate. For reference, Jose Caballero leads the league, positioning himself at 338 feet—and it's no coincidence that he, too, is a converted infielder. To the extent that this is the team's plan, Minnesota is surely positioning Keaschall that deep because it is usually easier for center fielders to come in on balls than it is to run back. Due to him having so little playing time at the position, the Twins and Keaschall could be in agreement that giving him the opportunity to use his athleticism to run in on balls and avoid challenging angles is in the best interest of both club and player. Still, playing so deep is putting the club at a disadvantage, letting balls drop in front of him that result in bloop singles and/or hustle doubles—or something worse, like the catastrophic play that happened against Chicago this weekend: SzRCWmxfWGw0TUFRPT1fRGdBSFZBWU1CVlFBWFZSVEFnQUhBUUJmQUFBRlZWRUFWMUFIQWdGV0NRb0RBZ1pV.mp4 Keaschall is a horrendous fielder. That’s why Minnesota was wise to finally move him off second base. Still, he should have been playing shallow enough to catch that ball, with Nico Hoerner’s batted ball resulting in the second out of the inning instead of a bases-clearing triple. On average, Byron Buxton starts at 320 feet, which is one of the shallowest starting points of all center fielders in the game. The Twins and Buxton trust his ability to get back on balls, allowing the veteran to often play shallow and to catch balls that Keaschall couldn’t get to. Ryan Kreidler, Austin Martin, Kody Clemens, James Outman (when he was a Twin), and even Kyler Fedko played noticeably shallower than Keaschall, too, proving Minnesota is making a concerted effort to start the 23-year-old that much closer to the center field wall. Again, Keaschall is very athletic and has the range necessary to be an adequate backup center fielder, let alone a viable corner outfielder. The former second baseman has shown flashes of being an adequate outfielder who could play all three positions and serve as Buxton’s primary center field backup in the short-to-mid-term future. That said, Minnesota needs to take the training wheels off, as playing him so deep in center has been detrimental to him and the club. In right field, it''s the same story. He'll have to get comfortable a step shallower and be a step more aggressive in charging after balls if he wants to be less of a liability out there than he was on the dirt. View the full article

It's nothing personal. Shane Drohan appreciates the time and believes it wasn't wasted. If the kick-change had worked for him, it might have made a huge and delightful difference for him. Sometimes, that pitch unlocks a lot of good things: more swing-and-miss, more deception throughout the rest of the arsenal, and greater confidence in filling up the zone without running into barrels. The problem is: it didn't work for him. "Yeah, I tried out the kick-change this spring, tried to make it work," Drohan said Tuesday in Milwaukee, between starts. (He'll go again next on Friday, against the Rockies.) "And I really felt like I found a feel for it, in a couple of my starts at Triple-A. But it just wasn't working; I couldn't quite lock it in and make it fit with the rest of my stuff." Instead, Drohan has gone back to the straight change he threw for most of his professional career, including last season in the Boston system. "I feel like that was a really good pitch for me," he explained. "It was worth a shot, but I ultimately decided to just go back to what had worked and feel more comfortable commanding the whole arsenal." Drohan was called up for his big-league debut on April 8, as an emergency starter. That appearance started with promise, but it went off the rails. After that, he spent the better part of two months in a relief role. When he returned to the starting rotation at the beginning of June, he did so having already abandoned the pure kick-change, but with a modified split-change he was trying in its stead. That pitch never felt comfortable either, though, and working through the opposing lineup multiple times meant he needed a changeup he could trust. On June 13, the straight change came back into his mix, and it's stayed there ever since. It's easiest to see this by mapping the average movement of his pitches in both dimensions by start. Here, I've placed a box around the cluster into which the straight change he's settled on fits. It's not the version of a cambio on which he produces the most depth, and it can't move as much horizontally as either of the other versions he's tried out. either. It has one key advantage, though: he knows where it's going. Though he hasn't gone full superstar, Drohan has been a remakrable success story for the Brewers this year. Since getting the straight change back online, he's made seven starts, totaling 38 1/3 innings. In that time, he owns a 3.29 ERA and has struck out nearly a quarter of opponents. The changeup doesn't have to miss bats; it just has to make hitters respect that quadrant of the zone. Once they do, he's more effective everywhere else, to boot. Over his first All-Star break as a big-leaguer, Drohan did something unusual: nothing. Noted in the spring for his fierce belief in the importance of getting away from the game mentally, he made sure not to get away from it physically last week. "I stayed right here [in Milwaulee]," he said. "I didn't want to go home and have those couple of days, and then have to mentally overcome the idea of, 'Ah, it's time to go again,' so I just stayed here, relaxed a little, but I also tried to get moving, threw a little, stayed active, too. It was important to me not to have that letdown; to stay engaged." Drohan is older and smarter than the average rookie, but that still seems like a surprising bit of maturity and self-knowledge. In that way, it's similar to his experimentation with the changeups, and the abandonment thereof. He knows what will make him most likely to succeed, and he's disciplined enough to pass up the only vacation offered to players over the seven-month baseball season in the name of maximizing those chances. He's good at keeping perspective and seeing life beyond the game. He's also open to change. Make no mistake, though: Drohan intends to be a vital cog for the Brewers all year, and beyond. View the full article

Boston Red Sox Affiliate Recap Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Season Record: 45-46 The game was postponed due to rain (makeup on July 22). Double-A Portland Sea Dogs Season Record: 49-41 The long ball propelled the Sea Dogs past the Rumble Ponies (New York Mets) with a 4-3 victory on the road. Ronald Rosario had a nice day at the plate, contributing with an early RBI infield single in the first inning that gave Portland a 1-0 lead. The designated hitter blasted his 10th bomb of the season in the fourth inning; the solo homer gave his team a 3-0 lead. Third baseman Jack Winnay continues to look outlandish for the Sea Dogs, extending his hit streak to 13 games with a two-hit day, including a solo shot in the third inning. Through 20 games for Portland since his promotion, the 2025 13th-rounder’s slash line bumps up to .342/.398/.526. The Sea Dogs pitching staff was smooth sailing; Caleb Bolden, Max Carlson, and Erik Rivera combined for seven shutout frames, but the eighth gave Rivera trouble. Two Binghamton batters struck out early, but they got a two-out rally going. The pitchers got sloppy; a few wild pitches and walks led to more chances for the Rumble Ponies to score, tying the game 3-3 while three different Portland pitchers came into the game before the inning ended. Brooks Brannon was the hero in this matchup. With one out, the first baseman blasted a solo homer, giving the Sea Dogs a 4-3 lead. After registering a blown save in the eighth with a wild pitch. Cooper Adams stayed in the game and redeemed himself, earning the win with a shutout ninth to end it. Standout Performances: Ronald Rosario: 2-for-4, HR, R, 2 RBI Jack Winnay: 2-for-4, HR, R, RBI Brooks Brannon: 1-for-4, HR, R, RBI High-A Greenville Drive Season Record: 36-52 Greenville’s pitching staff struggled once again, now entering a three-game losing skid after suffering a 5-1 defeat to the Spartanburgers (Texas Rangers). The Drive were abysmal with RISP, going 1-for-13. They nearly had the same amount of hits as their opponent, tallying eight to Hub City’s ten, but none of their hits were strung together. After Justin Gonzales’ eight-game hit streak was ended last game, the 19-year-old phenom collected a two-hit day, Greenville’s only multi-hit game of the day. Greenville initially had a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Antonio Anderson brought in Isaiah Jackson with an RBI single. The offense was poised to have a great game, but that was not the case, however. Kyson Witherspoon was solid through the first two innings, but fell apart in the third when he got wild. A couple of singles, wild pitches, and a walk allowed two runs to score. The Spartanburgers took the lead and never gave it up for the rest of this contest. Low-A Salem RidgeYaks Season Record: 38-52 The RidgeYaks had an incredible comeback in the making, but the game ended after the seventh inning due to rain, as the Yaks fell 7-4 to the GreenJackets (Atlanta Braves). Salem’s bats were atrocious through six innings, collecting just three hits. One of them was a double from Kleyver Salazar that put runners on second and third with one out; this was the closest they got to scoring, but the RidgeYaks did not capitalize. Unfortunately, the pitching staff was dreadful, giving up seven runs through six innings. The incredible comeback attempt happened in the seventh. Down seven runs, Adonys Guzman reached base on a throwing error with Avinson Pinto and Givian Sirvania following up with singles to load the bases. Now with two outs, Andrews Opata clobbered a grand slam; suddenly it was a three-run game, 7-4, but the game ended early due to rain. Standout Performance: Andrews Opata: 2-for-4, HR, R, 4 RBI View the full article

Michael Wacha may not be the flashiest name on the trade market, but he could be one of the smartest additions for the Cubs. The veteran right-hander has been a model of consistency, attacking the strike zone, limiting walks, and providing quality innings every fifth day. With Chicago looking to reinforce its rotation for a postseason push, Wacha offers a reliable middle-of-the-rotation arm who wouldn't require the prospect haul of a true ace. His experience, durability, and ability to keep his team in games make him an ideal fit to stabilize the Cubs' pitching staff down the stretch. View the full article

The Miami Marlins aren't making things simple for themselves. Earlier this month, all indications were that they'd be approaching the 2026 trade deadline as traditional buyers. One of the longest losing streaks in franchise history may nudge them in a different direction. AJ Ramos, Kevin Barral and Isaac Azout are joined by FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray to analyze where things stand with the deadline less than two weeks away. You can find Fish Unfiltered and Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. After being on top of the baseball world throughout the month of June, the Marlins' momentum has been halted by a string of injuries and increasingly sloppy play. Entering Wednesday, they are in danger of being swept for a third consecutive series. Even so, they sit just a half-game back of the National League's final wild-card spot. Should the Marlins seek reinforcements from outside the organization, the most pressing needs are pitching and third base. View the full article

The Royals have acquired RHP Nate Pearson from the Houston Astros. Pearson was designated for assignment on July 19. In return, the Royals have sent prospect RHP Max Martin to Houston. Pearson had had decent results in the majors for the Astros, with a 3.60 ERA and 4.10 FIP over 20 innings pitched. He's appeared in 16 games, with 16 strikeouts and 12 walks in that time. Pearson, a former first-round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays (28th overall in 2017), is a six-year vet who is under team control through arbitration through the 2027 season. He's currently making $1.35 million this year, so he is still very affordable for a team looking to add to its bullpen depth. Martin has pitched between Single-A and High-A this year, pitching in 26 games, throwing 40 1/3 innings, recording 36 strikeouts with 13 walks. Martin was a 10th round pick in the 2025 draft. View the full article

Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was placed on the 10-day injured list with low back tightness, which has kept him out of a few games recently. This move is retroactive to July 21, so the first day he will be eligible to come off the injured list is July 31. In a corresponding move, the Royals have selected the contract of shortstop Andrew Velazquez. Velazquez last appeared in a major league contest in 2023 with the Angels. He has major league experience every year from 2018-2023 and has played at Triple-A the past few years with the Braves, Yankees, and the Diamondbacks and Royals this year. Across 58 Triple-A games this year, he has hit for a slash line of .270/.333/.370. He's played shortstop, second base, and all three outfield positions this year, so expect to see him at multiple positions when he is on the field. To make room for Velazquez on the 40-man roster, RHP Stephen Kolek was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list. View the full article