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What are the Cubs doing differently—and what had they already done in 2025—that allows Aaron Civale’s best weapons to work again? The answer lies in two things the Cubs have done differently than the Athletics: how and when to use him, and which pitches to put at the center of his repertoire. In his 12 relief appearances with the Cubs over the last two seasons, Civale has posted 0.5 WAR with a 2.28 ERA. In that small sample, he has produced a surprising 14.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio, nearly five times higher than his 3.23 career mark. It’s not hard to understand how the Cubs are getting the best version of Civale again. Much of that performance is only possible because of the role they have given him. With a lower workload, his arsenal tends to be less exposed, and Civale has been able to match up better against certain opponents. Civale’s profile in both roles this season allows us to analyze the time he spent as a starter with the Athletics and his return to the Cubs’ bullpen. TTO TBF xERA xFIP SqUpCon% BlastCon% HardHit% wOBA K-BB% EV 1st Through Order as SP 135 5.76 4.59 37.9% 18.0% 42.3% .389 13.3% 90.0 1st Through Order as RP 59 2.50 3.48 33.3% 13.0% 31.7% .263 25.4% 85.9 2nd Through Order as SP 135 4.97 5.04 40.7% 19.2% 47.2% .393 9.6% 90.9 2nd Through Order as RP 17 8.00 5.24 47.6% 33.3% 53.8% .566 0.0% 92.2 3rd Through Order as SP 57 4.63 6.27 38.4% 20.5% 47.8% .346 1.8% 90.2 Civale’s best version is pretty clear. It only appears when he faces opponents for the first time as a reliever, not only safe from batter familiarity but knowing he doesn't need to pace himself for a long outing. In those situations, he has an excellent xFIP, strikes out more batters, walks fewer, and is less vulnerable to hard contact. Hitters’ best swings are finding his pitches less often, which translates to a lower average exit velocity. What that report doesn’t show are the adjustments the Cubs have been working on with Civale in terms of his actual pitches. All of this has to do with Civale’s three biggest problems in his starts with the Athletics: hitters were destroying his fastball. His rate of allowed fly balls rose to dangerous levels, which created plenty of trouble, especially when he pitched in Sacramento. From all that came a .311/.371/.538 offensive line, with a .909 OPS and .391 wOBA, his worst numbers in a season against left-handed hitters. With the Athletics, Civale’s sinker and four-seam fastball were making up 24.8% of his repertoire and, contrary to the encouraging results he posted in 2025, hitters were feasting on those pitches. The difference is clear in the heat maps from the last two seasons. Civale’s opponents vs. sinkers and four-seam fastballs in 2025 Civale’s opponents vs. sinkers and four-seam fastballs in 2026 Without enough power to frequently generate swings and misses with his sinker and fastball mix, Civale became more exposed, especially when he tried to attack the corners. With the Athletics, his opponents' xSLG jumped from .443 in 2025 to .615 this season. His HardHit% shot up, too, from 40.8% to 61.1%. Since arriving in Chicago, Civale’s adjustments have been put into motion. He's drastically reduced his sinker usage from 19.2% to 6.6%, which is becoming the most important repertoire adjustment. He's distributed those 12.6 percentage points by giving more time to his cutter (4.1%), four-seam fastball (3.1%), slider (1.4%) and curveball (2.3%). After all, we can already see some encouraging results. Split Athletics Cubs Differences% O-Contact% 74.0% 62.5% 11.5% Z-Swing% 62.5% 73.0% 10.5% Contact% 82.5% 76.6% 5.9% SwStr% 8.0% 12.0% 4.0% O-Swing% 33.7% 36.7% 3.0% Z-Contact% 88.9% 87.0% 1.9% Hitters are taking many more swings, and Civale has been taking advantage, reducing contact against pitches outside the zone by 11.5%. The improvements in SwStr% and Z-Contact% are small in percentage terms, but they have been key to limiting contact by 5.9%. Civale has also slightly increased the velocity on all of his pitches, although that figure may be influenced by his new role with fewer pitches per outing. He has also recovered his ground-ball rate, bumping it from 27.0% to 40.0%. In his repertoire, the curveball and cutter remain Civale’s most reliable pitches. If we combine them into a single core, we can see the big differences compared with the rest of his arsenal. Cutter and curveball: .384 xSLG, 38.3 HardHit%, 25.7 Whiffs%, 21.3 K%, 2.3 Miss Distance (in). Sinker and four-seam fastball: .598 xSLG, 58.3 HardHit%, 13.2 Whiffs%, 15.4 K%, 1.1 Miss Distance (in). This strengthens the point we made about Civale’s adjustments in the distribution of his pitches, reducing his sinker usage by 12.6 percentage points. With the cutter and curveball having more presence in his arsenal, the greater probability of generating more swings and misses and making hitters less comfortable in the batter’s box is influencing Civale’s performance with the Cubs. Of course, Chicago is taking advantage of these more frequent appearances and lower workload from Civale, but a couple of inconsistent relief outings could change the outcome of his peripheral numbers. Now, regardless of that, the credit the Cubs deserve is undeniable for finding a way to make a pitcher who seemed finished rise again. Sometimes, the biggest changes aren’t just about redefining a pitcher’s strategy, but about finding the balance to get the best version of him. So far, that’s what the Cubs have done with Civale, and his tools are working again. View the full article

The Minnesota Twins are going to have difficult decisions to make this winter. Some of those decisions will involve players who have struggled. Others could involve players who have actually performed well enough to make their futures more complicated. That's the situation with two of their longest-tenured players: Trevor Larnach and Bailey Ober. The two players are having very different seasons. Larnach is putting together arguably the best offensive campaign of his career, while Ober has continued to struggle to find the form that once made him one of Minnesota's most dependable starters. Yet, their situations have one important thing in common. Both players are entering their final year of team control, and the Twins have to determine whether they still fit into the organization's plans for 2027. Insofar as he can control the situation, Larnach has earned another opportunity with the Twins. Through 101 games, he's hitting .272 with 19 doubles, 10 home runs, 42 RBIs and a .788 OPS. He's become one of the more reliable offensive pieces in Minnesota's lineup, helping them remain in the playoff picture. As has been widely reported, though, the team all but traded him at the deadline, in a move nixed by Astros ownership at the last moment. That makes his situation particularly interesting. Larnach is making $4.475 million this season in his second year of arbitration. FanGraphs has valued his 2026 production at roughly $16 million, illustrating just how much value the Twins have received from him relative to his salary. On the surface, moving on from a productive 28-year-old outfielder doesn't make much sense. The problem is that the Twins may not have an obvious place for his skill set. Minnesota controls Larnach for one more season, and his strong 2026 campaign should result in another raise through arbitration. The Twins could certainly keep him around, but that would mean committing additional money to a player who could become redundant as their top prospects matriculate. Medium-marked teams can't afford to pay market rate for all their production, and Larnach's progress toward free agency is eroding his marginal value. Emmanuel Rodriguez is out of options and will have to be on the Opening Day roster next season (although, of course, he could instead be traded this offseason). Walker Jenkins is nearing his MLB debut and should be a major part of Minnesota's plans moving forward. Alan Roden, acquired at last year's trade deadline, does at least some of what Larnach does, and he's younger and cheaper. That creates a legitimate roster crunch. The Twins don't necessarily need to decide that Larnach isn't good enough. They may instead have to decide whether there is enough playing time available for him, given their medium-term goals and plans. It's been a much less successful campaign for Ober. He entered the season hoping to rebound from a disappointing 2025, and there have been some signs of improvement. His 4.64 ERA and 4.78 FIP (before his start Monday night against Atlanta) are both better than the 5.10 ERA and 4.90 FIP he posted last season. But the overall numbers still aren't where Minnesota needs them to be. Ober has a 91 ERA+, a 16.1% strikeout rate and a 6.0% walk rate. More concerning is the direction his season has taken. Since throwing a complete-game shutout in May and before a short but solid outing Monday, Ober had made nine starts with an ERA approaching 6.00. His velocity has also become a major concern. Ober's average four-seam fastball velocity dropped from 91.7 mph in 2024 to 90.3 mph in 2025 and is just 88.1 mph this season. At those velocities, he has very little margin for error. Opposing hitters are taking advantage. His four-seam fastball has been slugged at a .542 clip this season. Two years ago, Ober generated a 22.2% whiff rate with that pitch. That number has fallen all the way to 14.8% this season. He's never been especially reliant on missing bats with his heater, but the less batters have to worry about that, the harder it is for him to induce whiffs or defensive swings with his secondary offerings. Ober is also heading toward his final year of team control. He's making $5.2 million this season, and FanGraphs has valued his production at $7.8 million. The Twins would probably still have to pay somewhere near that latter figure through arbitration next season, even if his struggles continue. That makes the decision more complicated than simply asking whether Ober can be useful. The Twins have to determine whether he's worth the salary and roster spot that comes with another season of control. This might ultimately be the biggest issue facing Ober. Minnesota already has several pitchers who should have strong claims to rotation spots next season. Taj Bradley, Joe Ryan, Connor Prielipp and Dean Kremer are currently in the rotation, and could remain there. Pablo López and Mick Abel are expected to return as well, assuming their recoveries progress as hoped. Then there's Kendry Rojas, who's likely to continue developing as a starter. David Festa and Zebby Matthews remain part of the equation, though health (Festa) and performance (Matthews) have forced them to the periphery of the picture. Suddenly, there are a lot of names competing for a limited number of spots. The Twins could decide they need another veteran starter. They could also decide that one of their younger pitchers is ready to take on a larger role. Either scenario makes it more difficult to justify holding onto a struggling Ober simply because he has been a longtime member of the organization. Two Different Players, One Difficult Decision Larnach and Ober represent two very different types of offseason decisions. With Larnach, the Twins could be moving on from a player who's finally putting everything together. His production is legitimate, his value is strong, and he’s in his prime. But Minnesota may have younger and more highly regarded left-handed outfielders who need opportunities. With Ober, the concern is almost the opposite. The Twins could be moving on because his performance no longer matches the expectations that come with his salary and roster spot. Neither decision would be easy. The Twins are approaching another important offseason, and the organization needs to figure out what its roster will look like beyond 2026. That means making difficult choices about players who have been around for a long time, even when those players have provided plenty of value. Of course, they don't have to commit themselves to anything now, but every game is another datum in the file, and the decision point has begun to loom large on the horizon. Will Larnach or Ober be on the 2027 Twins roster? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Marek Houston has followed in Kaelen Culpepper's footsteps in 2026, producing at a high level at two different minor league affiliates. Now mashing at Double-A Wichita, Houston has put himself on the doorstep of St. Paul while leaping into industry top 100 prospect lists. When will we see him with the Twins? View the full article

Chicagoans want to win, but they're not as ruthless about it as they think they are. Fans will ultimately line up behind strategies and styles that produce championships, but they respond to some of them much more readily than others. Winning is good. Winning with a seething intensity and a playing style that communicates your desperation to achieve that victory is Chicago sports nirvana. This is what made the Mike Ditka-led Bears so beloved, even after the team broke apart and some of the uglier truths about the culture of that team were exposed. It's what made Michael Jordan one of those rare global superstars just as fiercely beloved at home as abroad. The whole world fell in love with Jordan's smile and his acrobatics and the tongue hanging out as he soared through the air. Chicagoans fell in love with (arguably) the worst part of Jordan, but undeniably the defining part, too: his near-psychotic and unveiled hunger for wins. At their best, sports are art, and athletes communicate something true and emotional and important with their bodies. Jordan captured and acted out the insatiable desire to dominate that defined Chicago (and the United States as a whole) at the moment in time when he was at his best. People (and especially Chicagoans) responded to it. Not every great athlete brings that level of beautiful and apparent ferocity to their craft. When someone does, it elevates them, especially in the eyes of Chicago fans. When they don't, even if they play well, the connections between player and fan seem to burn less bright and flicker out sooner. Pete Crow-Armstrong is a spiritual descendant of Jordan. He plays an exhilarating brand of baseball, fueled by extraordinary talent and physical grace, but he also plays with an urgency that borders on frenzy. His reactions are authentic—he's not throwing his helmet after strikeouts or climbing walls on big opponent homers that sail 50 feet over his head just as eyewash—but they're exaggerated. He's like every other intense competitor in the game right now, only more so. For a long time, that held him back a bit. It showed up in his approach at the plate, making it virtually impossible for him to sustain a decent walk rate and often leading to mishit balls early in counts. It showed up in prolonged slumps born of him working too damn hard and looking like he was suffering perpetual heartburn when that work didn't translate into results. It showed up in him trying to do too much in the field on several plays, and in his inappropriate outburst toward a fan when the Cubs last played the White Sox. But man. When a player—a person—like that achieves just a tiny amount of added maturity and gains enough clarity to convert that intensity into consistency, there is nothing sport can offer to match it. Several times this season—in several big games—you've been able to see Crow-Armstrong furrow his brow and refuse to accept that his team might lose. He's learned the bounds of that mentality; he knows he can't will the team to victory every day. Because his inner fire won't let him accept any loss, though, he's also learned how best to give his team the chance to win even when they don't deserve to. There was that game against the A's in early June, when he was hit by a pitch to lead off the game, stole second, but was stranded on the bases. Later, he lost a ball in the sun and gave the visitors two runs, and suddenly, the Cubs were down 4-0. The very next half-inning, though, he hit a home run to open the scoring for the Cubs. In the bottom of the ninth, he capped a four-run rally with a two-out, walkoff single. Two days later, he hit two solo home runs—the second of them coming with two outs in the bottom of the ninth—to force extra innings in a 2-2 game, which the Cubs then won in the 10th. Earlier this month, he won a showdown with Shohei Ohtani by hitting two homers and a double in his first three plate appearances, one-upping Ohtani's own two-homer day. Days later, he had a single in the bottom of the ninth to set the stage for Alex Bregman's game-tying homer against the Blue Jays, then had another hit, advanced on a throw, stole third and scored on the ensuing error to walk off the game. Other games have offered more subtle moments of winning brilliance. Crow-Armstrong has learned that he can't always hit the home run to save the day. Sometimes, that's an option, and he expects to do it every time. When the opponents work around him or execute perfectly, though, he still finds ways to lengthen the game and give his team a better chance. Some of his walks over the last month, especially, have been of the kind the very best hitters have to accept at times, passing the baton and trusting a teammate. All of that churning progress toward greatness came to fruition Monday night, in (arguably) the most visible way yet. In a game the import of which was impossible to miss, Crow-Armstrong was in control throughout, and he refused to let the Cubs lose. They were playing their first full game without Dansby Swanson, and they were facing the crosstown rival White Sox, who lead the AL Central. August games don't get much bigger, especially given that the Cubs still hope to run down the Brewers in the NL Central. Crow-Armstrong emerged from a slump with a home run in Sunday's loss to the Cardinals, and (he would say later) had been putting in early batting-practice work to address an issue that plagued him early this season, too: hitting underneath the ball and pushing too many fly balls to left field. On the first pitch of the bottom of the first, he took a bite of the fruits of that labor with a home run down the right-field line. Seiya Suzuki went back-to-back with Crow-Armstrong, but then, the Cubs stopped scoring for a while. That was no fault of Crow-Armstrong, who singled in his second at-bat and stole second, but it's what happened. Meanwhile, the White Sox's formidable offense struck back, with two quick baserunners and a three-run homer in the top of the fourth. The Cubs responded by scratching out two runs in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead, but then disaster struck again in the top of the eighth. Ryan Zeferjahn issued a leadoff walk and then, with one out, surrendered a scoreboard-flipping home run to Andrew Benintendi, making it 5-4 White Sox. At that moment, it felt like the Cubs would lose, and it felt like a gut-punch loss that might send the team into a spiral, especially as they play without their sure-handed shortstop in the coming weeks. There was nothing Crow-Armstrong could do about that. The Sox scored five runs on four hits, and the two telling ones flew over the walls. He also couldn't will the team back to even in the bottom of the eighth, but the effort he made was exceptional. After two quick outs, Crow-Armstrong came up against White Sox reliever Trevor Richards and worked a 2-2 count. On a changeup off the outside edge, he flicked a gorgeous line-drive single to left-center—but, by getting out of the box well and using his speed, turned that single into a hustle double. He found something almost instantly on Jordan Hicks, who came in next for the Sox, and was relaying information to Suzuki from second base in the following at-bat, forcing the visitors to have a mound conference to clean things up. Suzuki struck out, though. Crow-Armstrong just couldn't seem to will his team to this particular win. Because he got that hit and lengthened that inning, though, the Sox had to have Hicks come back after sitting down for the top of the ninth. Two walks and a well-placed single allowed the Cubs to push across the tying tally. They left the bases loaded in that inning, and Crow-Armstrong in the on-deck circle—but that also meant he would lead off the bottom of the 10th. When Jacob Webb was able to strand the Manfred Man at second base in the top of that inning, the game felt over. Four pitches later, it was. TzA0cm9fWGw0TUFRPT1fQTFSVUFGTlFVZ3NBQ0FZR1ZnQUhCd0pTQUFNQlVnUUFVMWNNVVZJTkJ3VlVBRk5S.mp4 Crow-Armstrong can be a bit much. He can be vulgar and overbearing. He will accept looking petulant or foolish, at times, because he only really cares about winning and reserves the right to howl at the gods when he can't manufacture a win. Nonetheless, his craftsmanship and his quieter, more mature intensity have been apparent to everyone who's talked to him outside the diamond, ever since he came to the majors. He's learned to take some of the studiousness and precision that guide his pregame work into games, and to be a very specific kind of patient—enough so to earn opportunities to do great big things, but never so much so that even one such opportunity passes him by. He's found the sweet spot that Jordan found, too, where overweening tenacity can be lovable, because it feels like art—like a baring of one's soul that reflects that of the viewer and invites them to feel as deeply as the performer. It's become the best show in baseball, and Monday night was its best episode yet. View the full article

Here it is, the final part of our series on the players who represented the Royals in the All-Star Game just once. As we look at the 2010s and 2020s, we’ll see the franchise’s return to glory. But you might be surprised how many players who were part of that are on this list. Part One: 1969 through 1989 Part Two: 1991 through 2009 Aaron Crow (2011) I think it’s pretty unusual for a rookie to make the All-Star team. For a rookie who is also a middle reliever? Very rare. Yet Crow did just that in his first season. The numbers were plenty good: a 2-1 record, eight holds, and a 1.40 ERA through the end of June. But the convoluted process of picking the team, with every team needing a representative, helped too. Left fielder Alex Gordon didn’t win the players’ vote for a reserve spot. None of the Royals’ starting pitchers were deserving. Closer Joakim Soria might have made a good choice on name recognition, but he struggled enough in the first half of the season that Crow was actually named as closer for about a week, although he didn’t have any save opportunities. So Crow was the pick by AL manager Ron Washington. “Leading up to the day, and knowing every team would get one, I thought for sure it would be Alex Gordon. He’s had a great year. He’s hitting the cover off the ball, and he’s playing great in left field. Hopefully, he gets in with the fan vote because he deserves it. But for me, it probably won’t sink in until I get there, but it’s definitely a surreal feeling right now. It’s something I’ve always dreamed of.” --Crow, quoted by Bob Dutton, The Kansas City Star, July 4, 2011 Gordon did not win the fan vote, so Crow was the Royals’ only representative. Unfortunately, he did not get in the game. Even more unfortunately, his career was cut short by Tommy John surgery after the 2014 season. Billy Butler (2012) Apart from Bo Jackson’s MVP effort in 1989, this might be the most famous entry on this list, at least for Royals fans. With the All-Star Game being held at Kauffman Stadium for the first time since 1973, Kansas City was primed to celebrate whichever of their players made the team. While Gordon again would have been a good choice, Butler turned out to be the only Royal on the team. With a .297/.365/.516 line through the end of June, he was a deserving pick. “It’s going to be fun. I’m so happy that it’s going to be at our ballpark. I know that fans are going to be real happy for me. They’ve always been great to me. It’s just an awesome time for me.”--Butler, quoted by Bob Dutton, The Kansas City Star, July 2, 2012 Of course, the real story turned out to be the Home Run Derby the night before the game. Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, captain of the AL side in the derby, said before the rosters were announced that he would like to have a Royal on his team. Butler was not necessarily a home run hitter, but in 2012 he was in the middle of a career-high 29-homer season. And it’s the Home Run Derby; sure, you want to win, but it’s an entertainment event as part of an entertainment event. Cano did not pick Butler. For 10 or so minutes, as Cano took his turn in the derby, the boos rained down. Possibly the loudest boos in Kauffman Stadium history. They were only interrupted by raucous cheers when Cano’s hits fell short of the fence. Cano got skunked, the only contestant not to hit at least one homer. Butler downplayed any animosity towards Cano, although he was grateful for the fans’ support. As for the game, Butler grounded out against Cole Hamels in the seventh and struck out in the ninth against Joel Hanrahan. It hardly mattered, as the NL had built up an 8-0 lead before Butler’s first at-bat. This would be Butler’s only All-Star appearance, so, in my mind, the fans booing Cano had a point. Lorenzo Cain (2015) The criminally underrated Cain easily could have been an All-Star in 2014, when he was hitting .315/.351/.440 at the end of June, with his usual excellent defense in center field. But he was passed over. In 2015, Royals fans made sure that he’d be on the team. Kansas City partisans caused quite a stir in the weeks leading up to the game, voting incessantly for the boys in blue; at one point, eight Royals were leading the vote at their position. Eventually, four Royals were voted in as starters, with Cain among them. “If I would have made the All-Star team last year, I probably would have been a little overwhelmed. But just going through that postseason experience, it definitely helped me out tremendously. I’m just enjoying this moment right now. I feel like I’m right where I need to be.”--Cain, quoted by Andy McCullough, The Kansas City Star, July 14, 2015 Batting fifth and playing right field instead of his usual spot, Cain popped up in the first against Zack Greinke, who was traded by Kansas City to Milwaukee in exchange for Cain and the next player on this list. But Cain would collect a single against Madison Bumgarner in the fourth (a bit of revenge for the previous year’s World Series) and an RBI double against Clayton Kershaw in the fifth. That’s a pretty good night. Cain went back to Milwaukee as a free agent before the 2018 season, where he made his second All-Star team that year and finally won his elusive Gold Glove in 2019. Alcides Escobar (2015) Escobar was probably the biggest beneficiary of Kansas City fans’ voting spree for the 2015 All-Star Game. The other three Royals who made the lineup (Cain, Salvador Perez, and Alex Gordon, who ended up missing the game with a groin injury) were, you know, stars. Escobar might seem like a poor choice, but really, there were no standout shortstops in the AL that year, in the post-Derek Jeter void. And he was hitting .281/.316/.367 at the end of June, which isn’t terrible except for the on-base percentage. Also, he was playing great defense; Escobar would win his only Gold Glove at the end of the season. So it was a defensible selection by the fans. It was also exciting for the player. “I’m thinking about the All-Star Game all the time; that’s my dream. Right now I got the opportunity, and right now I feel so happy…I can’t explain my emotions right now.”--Escobar, quoted by Blair Kerkoff, The Kansas City Star, July 6, 2015 While AL manager Ned Yost normally penciled Escobar in at the top of the Royals’ lineup, for this game, he had him hit ninth. So I guess Escobar exceeded expectations by getting one hit, a single off Kershaw, in his two at-bats. But those were his only two at-bats in any All-Star Game, although he played into the 2022 season. Eric Hosmer (2016) Although Hosmer had a terrific year in 2015, once he didn’t get in the game through the fan voting, he was left off the team; likely, all the other Royals who made the team (pitchers Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera joined the ones mentioned above) made it hard to justify a spot for their first baseman. But when he was hitting .305/.367/.490 through June, he earned a starting spot in 2016. Yost told his first baseman the year before that he would make the team, and had already decided he would push for it in 2016. But it wasn’t necessary, as Hosmer beat Miguel Cabrera by about 220,000 votes. “It’s just a tremendous honor to be recognized by the fans, not only in Kansas City, but throughout the world. And just looking at the roster and going over all the players, it’s an honor to share the same locker room as them and be honored as an All-Star.”--Hosmer, quoted by Rustin Dodd, The Kansas City Star, July 6, 2016 Hosmer made his presence felt in San Diego. Facing his old teammate Johnny Cueto, Hosmer homered with one out in the second to tie the game (Perez would hit a two-run shot later in the inning to give the AL the lead for good). In the third, he collected an RBI single against Jose Fernandez. That all earned him the MVP award, joining Bo Jackson as the only Royals to win the award to date. Hosmer was also the first Royal to hit a home run in the game since Bo did it in 1989. And just like Bo, Hosmer would only appear in one All-Star Game in his career. Jason Vargas (2017) Vargas was the subject of some laughs among Royals fans when the team said they had “a major baseball announcement” after the 2013 season. The announcement turned out to be the signing of a pitcher who went 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA for the Angels the previous season. But when Vargas helped the Royals win the 2014 AL pennant, the signing seemed pretty good. Unfortunately, Vargas suffered a torn UCL in 2015, missing half of that season and most of 2016 after Tommy John surgery. So it was a cool story when he began the 2017 season hot, going 6-3 with a 2.39 ERA through May. Vargas then pitched his way to an All-Star Game appearance with six wins in June, dropping his ERA to 2.22 in the process. “I’ve never been invited before, so I am definitely looking forward to heading out to Miami and taking it all in. To be acknowledged and recognized with the best players in the game is a huge honor.”--Vargas, quoted by Alec McChesney, The Kansas City Star, July 3, 2017 With the lowest ERA in the AL and more wins than anyone in baseball except Clayton Kershaw, Vargas was considered a possibility for the starting nod. But Chris Sale ended up getting that assignment. Vargas came into the game in the fourth inning. Nolan Arenado led off with a single but decided to tag up on a fly ball to center field, and Mookie Betts made a strong throw to second for the double play. Marcell Ozuna grounded out, and that was it. Vargas threw only 10 pitches. Vargas did lead the majors in wins that season with 18, but would only pitch two more seasons. This was his only All-Star appearance, but he can always say he has an ERA of 0.00 in the competition. Andrew Benintendi (2022) The Royals made a pretty good deal when they acquired Benintendi from Boston before the 2021 season, basically giving up nothing and getting a Gold Glove winner in 2021 and an All-Star in 2022. Kansas City was pretty bad in both of those seasons but Benintendi was a good choice for the team, as he was hitting .305/.370/.383 through the end of June, along with the strong defense you’d expect from a Gold Glove winner. It was his first time as an All-Star, although he played in the Futures Game in 2016. “It’s a game you want to play in, a game you grew up watching. So to be a part of it will be fun. I’m definitely going to take it all in and just try to enjoy it as much as possible.”--Benintendi, quoted by Lynn Worthy, The Kansas City Star, July 12, 2022 Benintendi entered the game in the fourth, replacing Giancarlo Stanton just after he hit the game-tying two-run home run that would get him the MVP award. Benintendi grounded out and struck out in his two at-bats. Just over a week later, the Royals traded the pending free agent to the Yankees. He signed with the White Sox after the season. His first two seasons on the South Side were kind of rough, but he’s had a couple of decent ones since then. Still, this remains his only All-Star appearance to date. Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans (2024) Kris Bubic, Carlos Estevez, Maikel Garcia (2025) Michael Wacha (2026) I lumped all these players together since, with the exception of Bubic, they are still Royals, for now anyway. Plus, these ought to be fresh enough in our memories. Will any of them work their way off this list? Garcia seems like a decent bet if he can stay healthy, but the rest might be staying on here. View the full article

The minor-league season is entering its final stretch, which means there is little time left for prospects to make an impression. For some players, that can create pressure. For others, it provides an opportunity to finish the season with a flourish. This week’s Twins Prospect Hot Sheet features three players doing exactly that. Kendry Rojas is continuing to show why Minnesota believes he can be a starting pitcher, while Luis Fragoza has emerged as one of the most productive hitters in the Florida State League. Meanwhile, Merphy Hernandez is turning his speed into a historic season for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Each prospect is taking a different path, but all three are giving the organization plenty to be excited about. LHP Kendry Rojas — Saint Paul Saints How He Got Here: Rojas consistently moved through the Blue Jays system after signing in 2021. He came to the Twins in last season’s trade for Louie Varland, because Minnesota believed in his upside as a starting pitcher. The transition was not especially smooth after the trade. Rojas struggled in his first taste of Triple-A, but he was only 22 years old and facing some of the best hitters of his professional career. The second time around has been a different story. Rojas has settled in at Triple-A this season, posting a 3.27 ERA while also helping the Twins in a multi-inning role. Hitting the Hot Button: For the second time in a week, Rojas got a start against the Iowa Cubs. He danced around small jams through the first three innings, allowing the leadoff hitter to reach on a single in each inning. Rojas stranded two runners in the first and one in each of the next two innings before retiring the side in order in the fourth. He finished with four scoreless innings, allowing four hits while walking one and striking out five. He needed only 52 pitches to complete those four innings, throwing 40 for strikes. Even more encouraging, Rojas generated 13 swings and misses on 34 swings. Since being demoted at the beginning of August, Rojas has started three games and pitched 11 innings while allowing just one earned run. He's struck out 11 while walking only two, holding opposing hitters to a .180/.220/.256 slash line. That's the kind of stretch that can change the conversation surrounding a young pitcher. Rojas is still just 23 years old, and his ability to handle Triple-A hitters while maintaining starting-pitcher upside makes him an intriguing piece of Minnesota’s pitching puzzle. INF/OF Luis Fragoza — Fort Myers Mighty Mussels How He Got Here: Fragoza received just $77,500 to sign with the Twins in January 2024. A solid debut in the Dominican Summer League at age 17 (where he posted a .784 OPS) brought him Stateside for the Florida Complex League in 2025. That season was more of a struggle. Fragoza posted a .646 OPS while trying to find consistency at the plate. He returned to the FCL in 2026 but quickly earned a promotion to full-season Loa-A Fort Myers. Once he arrived with the Mighty Mussels, Fragoza quickly established himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in the lineup. Hitting the Hot Button: Fragoza was named the Florida State League Player of the Week for the week of August 10, and it's easy to understand why. He led the league with a ridiculous .667/.800/1.583 slash line while producing a 2.383 OPS across five games. He ranked second in the league in home runs (3), walks (7), extra-base hits (5), runs (9), stolen bases (7), and total bases (19) during the week. Nor was that a mere hot five-game stretch. Fragoza has been one of Fort Myers's best hitters throughout the season. Across 59 games, he leads the Mighty Mussels in batting average (.322), slugging percentage (.607), OPS (1.005), and RBIs (51). Fragoza has gone from an intriguing international signing to one of the more productive young hitters in the Twins' lower levels. There's still plenty of development ahead, but his offensive performance this season has made him much harder to overlook. OF Merphy Hernandez — Fort Myers Mighty Mussels How He Got Here: Hernandez was also part of the Twins' 2024 international signing class. He played 49 games in the Dominican Summer League that year, hitting .276/.390/.417 with 36 stolen bases and 12 extra-base hits. His first full taste of Stateside baseball did not go nearly as smoothly. Hernandez played just 16 games in 2025 and struggled at the plate, posting a .589 OPS. Minnesota sent him back to the FCL to begin the 2026 season. That decision appears to have paid off. Hernandez posted a .934 OPS in 10 games before earning a promotion to Low-A Fort Myers. Since then, the speed has become one of the defining aspects of his game. Hitting the Hot Button: Hernandez stole his 40th base of the season earlier this week. That may sound like just another stolen base for one of the organization's fastest players, but it put Hernandez in some pretty impressive company. He became the first Mighty Mussel-era player, dating back to 2020, to reach 40 steals in a season. Only four players in franchise history (since 1992) had previously reached that mark. The most recent was Ben Revere, who stole 45 bases in 2009. Hernandez isn't just collecting stolen bases, either. He's been swinging a hot bat lately, hitting .368/.429/.500 over his last 11 games with three extra-base hits and 14 stolen bases. The combination of speed and improved offensive production makes Hernandez an intriguing player to watch as he continues moving through the system. After struggling during his first Stateside opportunity, he's shown significant growth this season. Rojas, Fragoza, and Hernandez are at very different points in their development, but that's part of what makes this trio so interesting. Rojas is showing that his first Triple-A struggles may have been more about experience than ability. Fragoza has developed into one of the Florida State League's most productive hitters. Hernandez is combining an improving offensive game with game-changing speed and has already put his name in the Fort Myers record book. None of these players is guaranteed to become a major-league contributor. But each is doing something right now that deserves attention. As the minor-league season winds down, these are exactly the types of performances worth watching. What stands out about this trio? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

Following the MLB Draft and trade deadline, the Boston Red Sox's farm system looks completely different. While a new draft class has joined the organization, the front office also shipped out quite a few high-ranking prospects in their pursuit of Adley Rutschman. With things having settled down, a new top-20 has been voted upon by both contributors and readers of the site. This new list looks very different from where things were prior to the deadline. Let’s jump into it below. Boston Red Sox Top-20 Prospect List (August 2026) Franklin Arias SS AAA (previously #1) Justin Gonzales OF/1B A+ (previously #5) Franklin Primera C A- (previously #14) Henry Godbout 2B/SS AA (previously #6) Juan Valera RHP A+ (previously #9) Sadbiel Delzine RHP A- (previously #12) Yoeilin Cespedes 2B/SS AA (previously #10) John Holobetz RHP AAA (previously #20) Marcus Phillips RHP A+ (previously #8) Jake Schaffner SS A+ (previously #16) Dorian Soto SS/2B FCL (previously #11) Johanfran Garcia C AA (previously #15) Blake Wehunt RHP AAA (previously unranked) Owen Hull OF A+ (previously #19) Mikey Romero 2B/3B AAA (previously #13) Hayden Mullins LHP AA (previously unranked) Jack Winnay 3B/1B AA (previously unranked) Gerardo Rodriguez C A+ (previously unranked) Yophery Rodriguez OF A+ (previously #17) Luke Heyman C A+ (previously unranked) The list is vastly different from when the month of August began. First off, top prospects Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon, Enddy Azocar and Tyler Uberstine are off the list due to their trades to the Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves, respectively. Along with them, Jake Bennett graduated from prospect status and was removed from the list. To fill their vacated spots, pitchers Blake Wehunt and Hayden Mullins joined the ranks at Nos. 13 and 16, respectively. The latter rejoins the list after previously falling out of the top 20 altogether. Catchers Gerardo Rodriguez and Luke Heyman make their debuts on the top 20 at ranks 18 and 20, respectively, while infielder Jack Winnay also makes his debut at rank 17. The biggest ranked improvements belonged to John Holobetz and Franklin Primera as they jumped 12 and 11 spots, respectively. Sadbiel Delzine also saw a significant rise as he went from the 12th-ranked prospect all the way up to sixth. Along with them, Justin Gonzales, Henry Godbout, Juan Valera and Jake Schaffner were a few players that saw their rank improve, the latter going from 16th all the way to 10th. The biggest decrease in ranks belonged to Mikey Romero and Yophery Rodriguez, both of whom dropped two spots respectively. Romero went from being the 13th-ranked prospect down to 15th as his tough season continues. Despite a strong month of June, Romero suffered a rough July. In a small sample size in August, though, he’s looking better, with the highlight being the first-ever six-hit game in Worcester history. For Rodriguez, after a hot start, he fell off with tough months of May and June before a resurgence was seen in July. The outfielder’s biggest area to work on is his consistency as he will go on hot stretches only to fall into longer cold streaks. The rankings this time around are dominated differently than in the past. Whereas pitching was typically near the top of the rankings (headlined by Eyanson and Witherspoon), this time around the top four spots belong to position players and of the top 10, six of them are hitters. Overall, the top-20 list contains certainly favors that type; 14 of the players present are of the position-playing variety. More specifically, middle infield makes up six of those 14, while four catchers are also present on the list. It shows the organization’s focus on developing catchers after not having much minor-league depth at the position last season. One area that the list has remained the same is that Greenville continues to dominate. The High-A organization has eight representatives on the list. Portland is second with five representatives including a couple that were recently promoted from Greenville in Godbout and Cespedes. Worcester has four representatives, while Salem follows behind them with two and the FCL has just one player on the list. Let's wrap things up with our newest additions. Jake Schaffner, SS (High-A Greenville): No. 10 Schaffner is an infielder who played shortstop for North Carolina in 2026 after spending his first two collegiate seasons at NDSU. He's carried over an impressively similar level of production in 2026 against much stiffer opposition. Schaffner hits from the left side. It's an offensive profile predicated on exceptional bat-to-ball skills. His overall contact rate in 2026 sits at ~88%, with a 94% rate in zone. There's some pop in the profile, with six home runs and 42 extra-base hits. All of this is backed up by a strong approach, as Schaffner doesn't chase much and has walked over 13% of the time in 2026. He is a good up-the-middle defender. There's an average arm in there, and while he may move off shortstop eventually, he should be able to stick on the dirt, most likely at second base. Throw in above-average speed and savvy as a baserunner (25 stolen bases in 2026), and there's a promising infield utility profile. Blake Wehunt, RHP (Triple-A Worcester): No. 13 Wehunt has increased his prospect stock this season after showing that his struggles from last season were mostly injury related. Having made just 17 appearances in 2025, Wehunt put up numbers that were inflated from a few bad appearances, namely a 5.68 ERA in just 63 1/3 innings. So far in 2026, though, it’s been a different story. Wehunt has shown an ability to generate strikeouts thanks in part to a four-pitch arsenal made up of a fastball, cutter, sweeper and splitter. Through 17 starts this season, he’s tossed 68 2/3 innings while striking out 82 batters. Pitching from the first base side of the rubber, he throws from a three-quarters arm slot. There is some effort in his delivery but despite that, he seems to repeat it more often than not. He also has plus extension, giving his high-90s fastball a little extra life at the top of the zone. Owen Hull, OF (High-A Greenville): No. 14 Owen Hull is a sharp riser on the college side of the draft after an impressive postseason run as part of North Carolina’s CWS squad. After spending his first two collegiate seasons at George Mason, the 6’4 outfielder made the transition to the ACC look seamless, and set himself up as a day-one pick. Hull hits from the left side, and has a bit of an unorthodox looking swing. There is some swing and miss in the profile, but the damage on contact is impressive. He controls his at-bats well and takes plenty of walks, rarely expanding the zone in collegiate ball. He has a chance to stick in center field with plus speed. It’s a fringe-average arm, but the range and glove will play in center, at least during the onset of his professional career. Hull hit .393/.500/.615 with nine home runs (38 extra-base hits), a 14.8 BB%, a 15.1 K%, and a 146 wRC+ in 2026. Hayden Mullins, LHP (Double-A Portland): No. 16 Entering the Rule 5 Draft, there was a lot of concern that Mullins could be selected after his 2025 season, especially as many felt that his stuff could play well out of the bullpen a role. Instead, he was not selected and returned to the Boston organization for the 2026 season, and he’s looked rather good so far including being part of a no-hitter on April 26. Through 19 appearances (including a Triple-A debut), Mullins has tossed 73 innings and struck out 107 batters. Unfortunately, his control has been an issue as he’s walked 48. Mullins throws from a three-quarters slot and starts on the third base side of the rubber. His motion tends to involve a high leg kick and rotates his hips. He’s also viewed as having good extension, which we all know Craig Breslow loves. He has a five-pitch arsenal that is made up of a four-seam fastball, slider, sweeper, changeup and cutter. Jack Winnay, 3B/1B (Double-A Portland): No. 17 The team’s 13th-round pick in 2025, Winnay was viewed as a corner infielder with power after hitting 35 home runs for Wake Forest in his last two years. A native of Newton, Massachusetts, it seemed to make a nice story. However, he’s broken out in 2026 faster than people may have expected. After 56 games with Greenville where he hit .255/.434/.457 and had more walks than strikeouts (53 to 51), he was promoted to Portland. Overall on the season, he’s hitting .259/.408/.439 with 12 doubles, 15 home runs, 42 RBIs and 70 walks to 83 strikeouts in 93 games. Winnay as a hitter starts with his hands high and likes to extend his arms and pull the ball, especially in the air. The style of hitting he does fits with the model that Craig Breslow wants. So far, he’s showcased solid contact skills and can recognize pitches including secondary offerings. There is some concern when it comes to velocity. His power is where most of his value comes from thanks to above-average raw power to the pull side. Since joining the organization, he’s put it on display in Greenville and then showed no decline when he got promoted to Portland When it comes to defense, he mainly played first base and outfield in college but the Red Sox have been using him at third base since the start of the season with some occasional time at the cold corner. His average arm strength allows him to move back and forth between the corner infield positions. Gerardo Rodriguez, C (High-A Greenville): No. 18 Signed as an international free agent in 2023, Rodriguez played well enough as a 17-year-old in the Dominican Summer League to be brought stateside as an 18-year-old. That season, he mainly played in the Florida Complex League before a late season promotion to end the year with Salem. The 2025 campaign was more of the same, as he split time with Salem and the FCL where he hit a combined .285/.344/.421 with 20 doubles, one triple, three home runs and 43 RBIs in 69 games. The 2026 season has been his breakout year, as he’s played a career high 76 games for High-A Greenville and has hit .254/.332/.363 with 10 doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 35 RBIs while mainly playing catcher and some first base. Offensively he has solid bat speed that goes with a shorter swing path that has allowed for good contact ability. Currently, he’s more of a gap hitter but has shown some power for someone of his size. Defense is Rodriguez’s carrying tool. as he’s shown to be a capable receiver and is good at blocking pitches. He moves well behind the plate and with a strong arm has been able to control the run game thanks to a quick release and great pop times. Luke Heyman, C (High-A Greenville): No. 20 Acquired in an offseason trade with the Seattle Mariners, Heyman is an intriguing prospect due to his bat alone. So far, he’s split the season between Salem and Greenville, appearing in 88 games and hitting .228/.357/.431 with 13 doubles, one triple, 16 home runs and 54 RBIs. He’s also shown an ability to walk, with 61 of them on the season. The real question for him is whether he will remain at catcher or be moved to a different position down the road. Offensively, he has above-average bat speed and when he swings he gets his whole body into it. He improved as a hitter across his college career and continued that improvement into professional ball. Most of his value comes from his power, which will be key if he winds up at first base down the road. View the full article

The New York Mets will have many questions to answer after the disaster of this season, but they will also have important decisions to make. One of them will be deciding what they will do with backup catcher Luis Torrens, who appeared in some rumors of a possible trade during the trade deadline. Since arriving in New York in 2024, Torrens has fulfilled his role, especially on defense. This year, he ranks fourth in the league with +5 Catcher Framing Runs. When Torrens is behind the plate, Mets pitchers have posted their best ERA (3.63), and their opponents have produced a .234/.313/.374 slash line, the best mark of all catchers on the roster. Over the years, his offensive profile has been very different, from the player who hit 13 home runs and posted a 101 wRC+ with the Seattle Mariners in 2021 to the catcher with a .629 OPS a year ago. It is also worth keeping in mind that he has not been able to get enough playing time as a starter and has not played more than 100 games since that 2021 season. For any player, having to make continuous adjustments while taking on a backup role is a major challenge. However, this season, Torrens has made an interesting improvement in every aspect. By nature, his swing continues to stand out against fastballs, and he has an interesting profile against left-handed pitchers. Handedness wRC+ Hard% IdealAngle% xSLG Barrel% v L 120 32.0% 56.3% .346 10.7% v R 78 32.1% 49.0% .348 6.8% The big difference is his 120 wRC+ against left-handers, but overall, he has a good balance against both profiles. After an inconsistent start at the plate during the first half of the season, Torrens has made a significant turnaround after the All-Star Game. His wRC+ has risen from 69 to 180 in the second half of the season, and he has posted a 1.20 BB/K rate for the first time in his career. The only Mets hitter with more fWAR than Torrens (0.8) during this stretch has been Francisco Lindor (1.2). Even more interesting in this offensive resurgence is seeing how Torrens is expanding the impact of his swing across the strike zone. Although his O-Swing% rate (31.2) is the highest since 2023 (38.6), when pitchers throw him pitches inside the strike zone, he is producing the highest contact rate of his career (87.9). The most revealing adjustment in this new approach from Torrens appears when we look at how his swing is impacting six of the eight areas of the strike zone against fastballs. Let’s compare that sample with 2021, when Torrens hit 13 home runs with the Mariners. 2021 Torrens 2026 Torrens He recorded all of his home runs in the upper two-thirds of the zone. But this season, in what we could call an updated version, Torrens has more reach and fewer limitations within the strike zone. Combined with his defensive gains since arriving in New York, this is now the most valuable version of him we've ever seen—his 1.8 fWAR in 2026 has set a new career high. You never know what the Mets’ next move will be, but it seems reasonable that Francisco Álvarez (115 wRC+) and Torrens should be part of the future plans. As a backup, Torrens has actually outproduced the 1.7 fWAR Álvarez has contributed this year, offsetting his offensive flaws with elite defense that makes him one of the league's best backup catchers. View the full article

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Louis Varland has been the best reliever in the American League this season. At least according to ERA, xERA, FIP, fWAR, bWAR, and WPA. He’d likely be up there in saves as well if he didn’t have to wait until his 13th appearance of the season to get his first save opportunity, but right now he’ll settle for third place in the American League with his 28 – eight behind the Rays’ Bryan Baker’s 34, which lead baseball. Aside from his single slip-up against the Chicago Cubs when Alex Bregman hit a homer to snatch another save from Varland’s grasp, the ninth inning has been almost relaxing for Jays fans since Varland took over the closer job full-time towards the end of April. He’s been dominant to a point where it’s hard to quantify how comfortable it feels when Varland is pitching. That's true regardless of how slim the margin is between holding onto a lead for the win or giving up a couple of runs for a loss. That word “dominant” gets thrown around a lot. Sometimes more deservedly than others. If we look back through 50 years of Blue Jays baseball, to this point, Varland’s 2026 is one of a handful of reliever seasons that we can comfortably say has been dominant. All of the following comes with the caveat that Varland is just a little over three-quarters of the way through this season. The reality is, reliever statistics are volatile because of how small the samples they work within are. A few blow-ups or even just a slightly more average finish to 2026 could turn his dominant year into just a good one. With that being said, there’s no other way to start this conversation than by stating the fact that Varland’s current 1.26 ERA and 355 ERA+ are both the best by a Blue Jay in a season in which he saved at least 20 games. ERA is no longer the one-size-fits-all pitching statistic we once considered it to be, especially not for relievers, but it’s impossible to tell the story of an elite pitching season without displaying that a guy made sure that opponents simply couldn’t earn runs against him. If Varland stays on pace, his 2026 will slide ahead of B.J. Ryan’s fabled 2006 for the best ERA among Blue Jays to convert 20 saves. Ryan’s 2006 has been thrown around in conversations as the best Jays closer season of all-time, and looking back at it 20 years later, It’s pretty easy to see why. Best Season ERA By a Blue Jays Pitcher With at Least 20 Saves Player Season Saves Appearances / IP ERA Louis Varland* 2026 28 58 / 64.1 1.26 B.J. Ryan 2006 38 65 / 72.1 1.37 Ken Giles 2019 23 53 / 53 1.87 Tom Henke 1989 20 64 / 89 1.92 Jordan Romano 2022 36 63 / 64 2.11 Duane Ward 1993 45 71 / 71.2 2.13 *Season in progress Ryan racked up 38 saves in 72.1 IP to go along with a 1.37 ERA (335 ERA+), and the deeper you dig, the more impressive it gets. He struck out nearly 32% of the hitters he faced, held opponents to a .169 average and .444 OPS – both the best in a season by a Jays closer – and only gave up five extra-base hits all season. Perhaps the most eye-popping number from Ryan’s ‘06 is the 0.857 WHIP. Part of what makes a fanbase trust a closer is not just if he gets the job done and converts the saves, but how he does it. If there’s a ton of traffic en route to a zero, or he gives up a couple runs and turns a three-run lead into a one-run win, it’s not exactly the same as coming in and retiring three straight to secure a win. No Blue Jays closer has ever had a season where they limited traffic as effectively as B.J. Ryan did in 2006, but Louis Varland is on pace for the franchise’s ninth closer season with a WHIP under 1.000. If Varland can maintain through the rest of the season, he’ll join Ryan’s ‘06, Roberto Osuna’s ‘15, ‘16 and ‘17, Casey Janssen’s ‘12 and ‘13, and Tom Henke’s ‘87 and ‘91. Blue Jays Closers With a WHIP Under 1.000 Closer Season WHIP B.J. Ryan 2006 0.857 Roberto Osuna 2017 0.859 Casey Janssen 2012 0.864 Tom Henke 1991 0.874 Roberto Osuna 2015 0.919 Tom Henke 1987 0.926 Roberto Osuna 2016 0.932 Louis Varland* 2026 0.964 Casey Janssen 2013 0.987 *Season in progress But all eight previous seasons have something in common: They each included at least two blown saves. Putting wins to bed is a closer’s job, and for as dominant as they were, there were slip-ups. A few games where the Jays were just three outs from winning with a lead of three runs or fewer, with the ball in the hands of their most trusted pitcher, but the job didn’t get finished. No Blue Jays closer has ever converted 20 saves in a season without blowing at least one, but two guys have limited it to just one blown save: Jordan Romano in 2021 and Ken Giles in 2019. Varland’s aforementioned blown save to Bregman and the Cubs makes it so he can’t be the first Jays closer to go perfect in save opportunities, but it’s still possible he can become the third to miss just one. Blue Jays Pitchers With at Least 20 Saves and Fewer Than Four Blown Saves Player Season Appearances / IP Saves / Blown Saves Ken Giles 2019 53 / 53 23 / 1 Jordan Romano 2021 62 / 63 23 / 1 Louis Varland* 2026 58 / 64.1 28 / 1 Casey Janssen 2013 56 / 52.2 34 / 2 Tom Henke 1992 57 / 55.2 34 / 3 Roberto Osuna 2015 68 / 69.2 20 / 3 Casey Janssen 2012 62 / 62.2 22 / 3 Tom Henke 1991 49 / 50.1 32 / 3 *Season in progress The crazy part about that, though, is that as of mid-August, Varland has already surpassed Romano’s and Giles’ innings totals from ‘21 and ‘19, respectively. Varland has already thrown 64.1 innings in 58 appearances through 126 Blue Jays games this year, putting him on pace for 82.2 innings for the season. If he surpasses that 80-inning mark, he’ll be the first closer of the 2020s, and fifth since 2010 to get to that mark. A Blue Jay hasn’t gotten to 20 saves and 80 innings since Duane Ward in 1991, when Ward threw 107.1 in 81 appearances. Even if Varland doesn’t quite reach that kind of threshold, doing what he’s doing in this era, on this kind of volume, is almost unheard of. I wanted to lay out as much of a comparison to other elite Blue Jays closer seasons as possible before I broke out WAR, but it’s impossible to have this conversation in 2026 without it. I’m using bWAR rather than fWAR because it’s less predictive and relies more on the actual results, and it is much easier to compare across multiple players and multiple seasons. Louis Varland, with 3.0 bWAR through 126 team games, is already having a top-six Blue Jays closer season of all-time. Henke’s ‘90 and Ward’s ‘93 seasons both saw them finish with 3.0 bWAR. Henke racked up 3.3 in ‘87 and 3.4 in ‘89, and of course B.J. Ryan’s ‘06 is the best in Jays history at 3.6 bWAR. Best Season bWAR By a Blue Jays Pitcher With at Least 20 Saves Player Season Saves Appearances / IP bWAR B.J. Ryan 2006 38 65 / 72.1 3.6 Tom Henke 1989 20 64 / 89 3.4 Tom Henke 1987 34 72 / 94 3.3 Duane Ward 1993 45 71 / 71.2 3 Tom Henke 1990 32 61 / 74.2 3 Louis Varland* 2026 28 58 / 64.1 3.0 *Season in progress Varland’s pace would put him at almost 3.9 bWAR after 162. Louis Varland On-Pace Stats G IP SV K bWAR 75 82 36 102 3.9 Pacing out WAR is basically never that simple, and with closers – whose usage depends pretty heavily on their team being up one, two, or three runs after eight innings – it’s even less simple. There’s still a long way to go, and a lot of things are going to have to continue going right, but if they do, we’re not just talking about one of the best Blue Jays closer seasons of all-time. We’re talking about one of the best closer seasons of this century. At least according to bWAR. Jonathan Papelbon’s 5.0-win 2006 is well out of reach, and Emmanuel Clase’s ‘24 (4.4), Blake Treinen’s ‘18 (4.4), and Mariano Rivera’s ‘04 (4.2) and ‘08 (4.3) likely are too. But if Varland can find a way to 4.0 bWAR, he’ll be just the 10th pitcher to do that and save at least 25 games in a season since 2000. Of course, he’d have to be as good or better in the final quarter of this season as he’s been over the first three. Maybe it's not likely, but Varland has put himself in a spot where it’s possible, and with the Blue Jays finding their second wind in the American League Wild Card race, having Louis Varland to close out some of the tight games they're sure to find themselves in down the stretch is like having an ace in the hole. View the full article

Bragging rights in the Brewers and Cubs front offices are on the line as Tuesday's Dominican Summer League regular season finales will settle who is crowned the Central Division champ. Both the MKE and CHC teams will qualify for postseason play. Transactions: N/A While there was certainly social media activity regarding the promotions of Luis Pena and the Ebel brothers, no official transactions were posted. They will all be included formally within the Link Report chronicling Tuesday's moves and games. Final: DSL Cubs Blue 2, DSL Brewers Gold 1, seven innings as scheduled Box Score and Game Log Oh, those DSL Standings are now spicy! The Cubs are 1/2 game behind the Golden Boys entering Tuesday's regular season finale. Both teams are going to be in the round-robin portion of the postseason preceding the formal playoff bracket. That being said, bragging rights are still at stake. On Tuesday, Gold hosts a 22-32 Pirates Gold squad, while Cubs Blue hosts a 20-35 Tigers 1 team. The lone earned run 19-year-old RHP Derlin Garcia surrendered was in the 1st inning. In the 4th, a leadoff single blew up quickly after two wild pitches and a wild throw by recently turned 17-year-old catcher Francisco De Marchena allowed the second run to score. Gold scored their lone run in the 6th of this shortened contest on a fielder's choice, with second baseman Leanders Matos providing the lone hit within the inning. Shortstop Ricki Moneys singled to lead off the game but was immediately caught stealing for the 5th time in 32 tries. LF Frandy Lafond singled leading off the 2nd, he was stranded on second base at inning's end and did not return to the field. No indication of injury in the game log, as he only moved from 1st to 2nd when a teammate walked. MiLB posted this article in 2025, we imagine everything carries over into 2026: Playoff format coming to Dominican Summer League "DSL Cup is a playoff format that will see 16 DSL clubs qualify for the two-stage DSL postseason. The eight DSL division winners (based on winning percentage) and the eight teams with the best winning percentage that did not win their division (Wild Card teams) will qualify for the postseason from the 51-team league (31.4% of the league's teams). In Pool Play, the sixteen teams will be divided into four pools of four teams each and will participate in a round-robin competition. The team with the best record in each pool will advance to the Championship Bracket, which will consist of two rounds (best-of-three Semifinal and Final Rounds)." As the standings link above will show, the DSL Brewers Blue Team is also doing well at 31-23, but perhaps just not quite well enough. There are currently fourteen teams with 21 losses or fewer. Two non-division winners have 22 losses. Blue is among five teams at 23 losses. Can't definitively say that Blue has been eliminated, but it seems bleak at best. The Brewers front office may know more, as last week's shift of a handful of strong prospects to Gold's squad targeted the intention to fortify the organization's for-sure island playoff qualifier. Final: DSL Brewers Blue 7, DSL Padres Brown 6 Box Score and Game Log That wild late-inning linescore may give the impression that it was scheduled to be a seven-inning game, but no ghost runners appeared. 17-year-old CF Manny De Los Santos had the honor of ending the game with a bases-loaded single, scoring the one run to seal victory. De Los Santos has a unique .208/.438/.288 line with 28 steals in 30 attempts. De Los Santos has walked or been hit by pitch in 29.2% of his plate appearances. He has also struck out 29.8% of the time, so he sees plenty of pitches. That is quite the profile, and I don't believe we have touched on it often this season. Shortstop Diego Frontado reached base four times (two singles, walk, HBP). One of six players in the league to have double-digit home run totals (his former Blue teammate Leanders Matos and he each have ten), Frontado and his .989 OPS was "left behind" in the player swap of last week to fortify the Gold squad pre-playoffs. Three other Brewers reached base three times as your box score review will reveal. One was RF Enrique Lovera, who had the lone extra-base hit for Blue, a double. This is one of those games where a review of the full game log will entertain as the teams combined to score in ten different half-innings. Colombian RHP Carlos Galindo (hope his family is well given last week's earthquake) earned his 6th win with an adventurous five-inning effort to close things out, giving up runs in three frames. In addition to the final regular season DSL games Tuesday, Nashville, Biloxi and Wilson hit the road to begin new series while Wisconsin settles in for a two-week homestand. 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

Box Score SP: Bailey Ober 4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 K, 1 BB (94 pitches, 62 strikes) HR: None Top 3 WPA: Bell 0.15, Adams 0.14, Hoffman 0.08 Win Probability Chart (via FanGraphs): The Minnesota Twins came into Monday night’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves with plenty of pressure on their shoulders. After being swept by the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend, the Twins fell six games behind in the American League Central and dropped to five games below .500. They remained just one game out of the AL Wild Card, but with the season quickly running out of runway, another series sweep would have been a difficult hole to climb out of. The Twins were also looking for a bounce-back performance after blowing a five-run lead against the Phillies on Sunday. They got exactly what they needed Monday night, although it certainly did not come easy. The game itself started later than usual after the Twins and Braves called for a preemptive rain delay. The tarps eventually came off, and after waiting an hour, the two teams began the game without a drop of rain falling. The Twins were tasked with facing an old friend in Braves starter Martín Pérez, who spent the 2019 season with Minnesota. It looked like a challenging matchup on paper, especially considering the Twins entered the night ranked 22nd in baseball in OPS against left-handed pitching. They certainly didn't play like it in the first inning. Luke Keaschall got the offense started with a leadoff double, and the Twins quickly loaded the bases after Pérez walked Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers. That brought Josh Bell to the plate, and the veteran first baseman delivered with a two-run bloop double down the first base line to give Minnesota an early 2-0 advantage. The Twins weren't finished. Royce Lewis followed with an RBI single, and Kody Clemens added another RBI single to make it 4-0 before the Twins had even recorded their first out. After struggling to generate offense against left-handed pitching all season, Minnesota couldn't have asked for a better start. Bailey Ober took the mound for the Twins looking to rebound from a rough outing against Baltimore last week in which he allowed five earned runs. Ober looked sharp through the first four innings, but things began to unravel in the fifth. Austin Riley led off the inning with a single before reigning Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin doubled to put two runners in scoring position. Ronald Acuña Jr. then delivered a two-run single to cut the Twins' lead in half. With Acuña on base and just one out, the Twins decided they had seen enough from Ober. The right-hander was pulled after just 4 1/3 innings, leaving Minnesota's bullpen with a tall task: protect a two-run lead for the final 4 2/3 innings. Considering what had happened less than 24 hours earlier, it was easy to wonder if the Twins were about to watch another big lead disappear. Instead, the bullpen saved the day. Taylor Rogers was the first man through the door, and he entered in a difficult situation. Acuña was standing on first base, there was only one out, and the heart of Atlanta's lineup was coming to the plate with the Twins clinging to a 4-2 lead. Rogers worked his way out of the jam to keep the Braves off the board, giving the Twins exactly what they needed after Ober's abbreviated outing. Travis Adams followed and provided perhaps the biggest contribution of the night. Adams has struggled considerably of late, but the Twins needed him to provide length and bridge the gap to the back end of the bullpen. He responded with two scoreless innings, striking out three without allowing a baserunner, allowing Minnesota to preserve its two-run advantage. That set the stage for the bullpen's heavy hitters. Jeff Hoffman, who has quickly become the Twins' most important bullpen piece since arriving at the trade deadline, tossed a scoreless eighth inning, aided by a massive defensive play from Kody Clemens. Then Yoendrys Gómez came in for the ninth and shut the door, albeit not without some nerves, securing a 4-2 Twins victory. After scoring four runs in the first inning, the Twins couldn't push another run across the plate despite creating several opportunities. The biggest came in the bottom of the eighth, when Minnesota loaded the bases with nobody out and had a chance to put the game away, and came away empty-handed. It didn't matter. The four runs Minnesota scored in the opening frame were enough because the bullpen refused to let Atlanta answer. After Ober's early exit, the Twins' relievers combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing Minnesota to survive a game that could have easily gone the other direction. The Twins improved to 61-65 with the victory and, thanks to losses by both the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays having the day off, moved to just a half-game back of the AL Wild Card. After the way the weekend went, the Twins desperately needed a win to start this series, and they got exactly that. What's Next The Twins will look to capture a series victory on Tuesday evening at Target Field. The Twins will be facing another old friend in Tyler Mahle, with Zebby Matthews taking the rubber for the Twins. First pitch will be at 6:40 pm (assuming no rain delay this time). Postgame Interviews Bullpen Usage Chart THU FRI SAT SUN MON TOT Morris 0 0 23 28 0 51 Adams 42 0 0 0 18 60 Hoffman 0 0 17 0 20 37 Minter 0 0 12 14 0 26 Rogers 10 0 0 16 11 37 Funderburk 0 0 16 4 0 20 Nance 16 0 0 0 0 16 Gomez 0 0 0 0 19 19 View the full article

The Miami Marlins needed to catch a break on Monday night to pull off an upset of Cristopher Sanchez and the Philadelphia Phillies. Instead, a missed call denied them of a critical run in a frustrating 6-5 loss. In the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded, Javier Sanoja hit a ball down the left field line that was originally called foul. After further review, it was ruled a double. Otto Lopez, the runner on first base, would have scored easily on a live ball, but under these circumstances, he was placed at third base. Manager Clayton McCullough went out to argue the call and was immediately ejected. Lopez would be stranded at third at the end of the inning. "I can't go argue a play that went to New York, but my only point was that with two outs, the size of lead that Otto is going to have at first, not being held and going on contact where that ball was going to end up," McCullough told reporters postgame. "I think that he was going to score anyway. Just a little bit more frustration that you see that your call is going to get overturned and what maybe could have been." The explanation McCullough received was that since the ball was called dead so early, "it's really tough to then assume that you know all players continued to go." For Sanoja, he now has recorded 16 RBI with the bases loaded this season, the most by a Marlins hitter in a single season since Justin Bour and Marcell Ozuna, who each had 17 RBI in bases-loaded situations in 2017. He was visibly upset by the call made by umpire Shane Livensparger. "It's extremely frustrating for us," Sanoja said via an interpreter. "I think everyone saw and to ruin a game like that with two teams competing in the same division knowing what we are playing for is frustrating. Unfortunately at the end of the day, the baseball gods spoke and we lost by one run." Despite the call, the Marlins went 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Cristopher Sanchez allowed one run on eight hits and walked three. He remains undefeated in eight career outings against Miami. "We put some guys on base and kind of scattered it around, but did like that we stressed him and made him work," McCullough said. "Had some chances and just couldn't really come through with a big blow there on a couple of occasions to potentially flip that game in the more early going." Victor Vodnik worked the bottom of the seventh inning, allowing a bases-loaded walk, making it 5-3. In five appearances with the Marlins, he owns a 4.50 ERA while allowing five walks in six innings. In the top of the eighth, the Marlins kept fighting as Brian Navarreto took Brooks Raley deep for his first home run of the season, making it a 5-4 game. It was also his first run driven in since being called up from Triple-A nearly two months ago. The Phillies tacked on a run in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Marlins responded by making things interesting off Phillies closer Jhoan Duran. A questionable decision in the ninth inning was leaving Leo Jimenez in the game to face Duran and when Owen Caissie was available to pinch hit. Jimenez grounded into a force out to end the game. With the loss, the Marlins drop to 64-62 on the season, three games out of the third National League Wild Card spot and four games behind the Phillies. Lefty Cade Gibson will get the start on Tuesday night, presumably in an opener role with Tyler Phillips following him and handling the bulk of the innings. View the full article

TRANSACTIONS Cedar Rapids Kernels placed RHP Cole Peschl on the 7-day injured list. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels transferred RHP Ramiro Villanueva to the Development List. Minnesota Twins selected the contract of C Alex Jackson from St. Paul Saints. Cedar Rapids Kernels released SS Miguel Briceno. Cedar Rapids Kernels placed C Ricardo Pena on the 7-day injured list. OF Luis Fragoza assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels from Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. RHP Michael Hilker assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels from Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. SAINTS SENTINEL The Saints split their series in Iowa against the Cubs, including a 6-3 loss in the Field of Dreams game to start the week. Now they stay on the road as they travel to Columbus, whom they went 4-2 against back in July. The Columbus Clippers boast some of Cleveland’s top talent. Top-50 nationally ranked prospect, 1B/LF Ralphy Velazquez, has hit .264/.348/.494. That only tells part of the story. Velazquez had a slow start after being promoted to Triple-A. Since playing against the Saints last, he has hit .333/.394/.877. The 21-year-old could certainly pose challenges for the Saints' pitching staff. The Clippers also roster two other players on the fringe of their top-10 organizational prospects. C/LF Cooper Ingle had a cup of coffee in the majors this year and is hitting .306/.429/.570 (.999 OPS) in Triple-A. The other prospect to watch is Khalil Watson, who is back at Triple-A after getting some time in the majors like Ingle. In his second year at Triple-A, Watson is hitting .253/.364/.462 (.827 OPS). WIND SURGE WISDOM The Wind Surge were able to split their series 3-3 as they hosted Corpus Christi over the last week. Now Wichita will travel and get their first look at the Texas Rangers' affiliate, the Frisco Rough Riders. On Frisco’s roster is the Rangers' top organizational prospect and borderline top-10 national prospect SS/3B Sebastian Walcott. At Double-A, Walcott has hit .319/.373/.580. Alongside Walcott is top-10 organizational prospect corner infielder Rafe Perich. The switch-hitter is hitting .297/.380/.565 in 60 games this season. KERNEL CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids continues the streak: they also split their series, with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Kernels will now travel to Beloit to take on a different Wisconsin-based affiliate. In the shortened All-Star week, the Kernels split their four-game series as they hosted Beloit in Cedar Rapids. The Sky Carp have the number seven-ranked organizational prospect according to Fish on First in SS Starlyn Caba. Caba’s defense is strong, but his offense has raised questions as he has hit .236/.390/.388. He has flashed his speed with 20 stolen bases at Triple-A in 2026. The only two other players rostered by Beloit who appear on deeper prospect ranking lists are a pair of 21-year-old pitchers, Liomar Martinez and Nate Payne. MIGHTY MATTERS The Mussels are our streak-breaker, being the only full-season affiliate to win their week's series, going 4-2 against Clearwater. Next up is a trip to the Palm Beach Cardinals, whom Fort Myers split with just a few short weeks ago. The Mussels will take on top-10 organizational prospect SS Yairo Padilla once again. Now playing with Palm Beach for 29 games, Padilla has hit .281/.354/.474 (.828 OPS). At the trade deadline, Palm Beach added a top-50 nationally ranked prospect to their roster. Corner outfielder Alexander Frias came over from the Brewers and has hit .333/.422/.538 (.959 OPS) across all levels of the minors this season, adding another key bat to watch. INF/OF Luis Fragoza FSL Player of the Week If Luis Fragoza keeps having performances like he did this past week, it won’t be long until he hits the Twins Daily Top-20 list. In five games, Fragoza hit at an unreal clip of .667/.800/1.583 (2.383 OPS), with three home runs, nine stolen bases, and seven total extra base hits. Those video game-type numbers made Fragoza the choice for the Florida State League’s Player of the Week Award. His week also offered a positive sign for the 19-year-old prospect who MLB.com has ranked as the Twins number 27 prospect in the system. In case you missed it at the top of the page, on top of this great week on the field, Fragoza was just promoted to High-A and will begin playing with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. DSL TWINS Twins 9, Marlins 7 Box Score The Twins came away with a win over the Marlins, but if you turned your attention away from the game early, you wouldn’t have thought that would wind up being the result. Through five innings, the Marlins were in full control of the game, leading 5-0. Then, in the sixth inning, everything went the Twins way. Emmanuel Merlo got things going with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After an Anibal Beltre strikeout, two more walks from Jeferson Abreu and Fabian Ulloa followed to load the bases. Abreu was on base a lot Monday, racking up three total walks. Luis Suarez would break through for the Twins first run with an RBI single. Another wild pitch would plate Abreu for the Twins second run. A pitch would then hit Daiyer Barboza to load the bases once again and set the stage for a big Jendy Martinez at-bat. Martinez sent the ball to right-field for a triple, tying the game 5-5 and erasing the Marlins’ early lead. Martinez also added three walks to his day, reaching base a total of four times for the Twins. There was still only one out in the sixth inning, and the Twins were not finished. After a Jhon Gonzalez strikeout, Martinez would score on a wild pitch to bring the score to a 6-5 Twins lead. Abel Sosa was the next Twin to take a walk. Sosa would advance to third base on an Enmanuel Merlo single in his second at-bat of the inning. In a double steal attempt, Merlo would be picked off at second but created enough time and space for Sosa to score the Twins seventh run of the inning. The scoring continued into the seventh inning; walks and wild pitches fueled two runs being added. Beltre, Abreu, and Suarez would each reach on walks. Fabian Ulloa reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second base for his eighth of the year. Each of those helped set the Twins up for two insurance runs, with Beltre scoring on a wild pitch and Barboza hitting the sacrifice to score Ulloa and give the Twins a 9-5 lead. Jeremy Jimenez, who pitched a scoreless sixth inning, would start the seventh for the Twins. It was a classic bloop-and-a-blast scenario. Jimenez nearly stranded Eliecer Mendoza at first after allowing him a single, but with two outs, Gregori Arias hit his fourth home run of the season for the Marlins to bring the lead to 9-7. Arthur De La Cruz was then brought on to close out the game. Needing just one out, De La Cruz forced Steven Herrera into a ground out to earn the save in the Twins win. Pitchers Emmanuel Mena and Abraham Martinez each did not allow a run while they were on the mound. Mena went 1 ⅓ innings, allowed no hits, three walks, and struck out one batter. Martinez, who was credited with the win, pitched one inning, allowed no hits, and two walks. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Jendy Martinez: 1-2, 1 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 RBI, 1 3B Emmanuel Mena: 1 ⅓ IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 BB, 1 K TOP 20 PROSPECT WEEK IN REVIEW #1- Walker Jenkins (Saints)- .412/.545/.647, .1.193 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR #2- Vahn Lackey (Mussels)- .154/.200/.462, .662 OPS, 2 3B #3- Kaelen Culpepper (Twins)- .263/.286/.316, .602, 1 2B #4- Marek Houston (Wind Surge)- .238/.273/.238, .511 OPS #5- Riley Quick (Wind Surge)- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K #6- Emmanuel Rodriguez (Saints)- .222/.333/.278, .611 OPS, 1 2B #7- Hendry Mendez (Saints)- .182/.400/.455, .855 OPS, 1 HR #8- Eduardo Tait (Kernels)- .190/.227/.381, .608 OPS, 1 2B, 1 HR #9- Gabriel Gonzalez (Saints)- .000/.300/.000, .300 OPS #11- Carson Tinney (Mussels)- .200/.294/.600, .894 OPS, 2 HR #12- Brandon Winokur (Wind Surge)- .190/.292/.333, .625 OPS, 1 HR #13- Khadim Diaw (Wind Surge)- 1.000/1.000/1.000, 2.000 OPS #15- Ryan Gallagher (Saints)- 5 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K #18- Quentin Young (Mussels)- .235/.350/.529, .879 OPS, 2 2B, 1 HR #19- Yasser Mercedes (Kernels)- .316/.381/.421, .802 OPS, 2 2B TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul Saints @ Columbus- RHP Ryan Gallagher Wichita Wind Surge @ Frisco- TBD Cedar Rapids Kernels @ Beloit- TBD Fort Myers Mighty Mussels @ Palm Beach- TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Cardinals- TBD DSL Cardinals @ DSL Twins- TBD View the full article

TRANSACTIONS Minnesota Twins selected the contract of C Alex Jackson from St. Paul Saints. OF Luis Fragoza assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels from Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. RHP Michael Hilker assigned to Cedar Rapids Kernels from Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. Cedar Rapids Kernels placed C Ricardo Pena on the 7-day injured list. Cedar Rapids Kernels placed RHP Cole Peschl on the 7-day injured list. Cedar Rapids Kernels released UT Miguel Briceno. Fort Myers Mighty Mussels transferred RHP Ramiro Villanueva to the Development List. SAINTS SENTINEL The Saints split their series in Iowa against the Cubs, including a 3-6 loss in the Field of Dreams game to start the week. Now the Saints stay on the road as they travel to Columbus, whom they went 4-2 against back in July. The Columbus Clippers boast some of Cleveland’s top talent on their roster. Top 50 nationally ranked prospect, 1B/LF Ralphy Velazquez, has hit .264/.348/.494 (.842). That only tells part of the story. Velazquez had a slow start after being promoted to Triple-A; since playing against the Saints last, he has hit .333/.394/.877 (1.271). The 21-year-old could certainly pose challenges for the Saints' pitching staff. The Clippers also roster two other players on the fringe of their Top 10 organizational prospects. C/LF Cooper Ingle had a cup of coffee in the majors this year and is hitting .306/.429/.570 (.999) in Triple-A. The other prospect to watch is Khalil Watson, who is back at Triple-A after getting some time in the majors like Ingle. In his second year at Triple-A, Watson is hitting .253/.364/.462 (.827). WIND SURGE WISDOM The Wind Surge were able to split their series 3-3 as they hosted Corpus Christi over the last week. Now Wichita will travel and get their first look at the Texas Rangers affiliate, Frisco Rough Riders. On Frisco’s roster is the Rangers top organizational prospect and borderline Top 10 national prospect SS/3B Sebastian Walcott. At Double-A, Walcott has hit .319/.373/.580 (.953 OPS). Alongside Walcott is Top 10 organizational prospect corner infielder Rafe Perich. The switch-hitter is hitting .297/.380/.565 (.945) in 60 games this season. KERNEL CHRONICLE Cedar Rapids continues the streak and split their series with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Kernels will now travel to Beloit to take on a different Wisconsin-based affiliate. In the shortened All-Star week, the Kernels split their four-game series as they hosted Beloit in Cedar Rapids. The Sky Carp have the number seven-ranked organizational prospect according to Fish on First in SS Starlyn Caba. Caba’s defense is strong, but his offense has raised questions as he has hit .236/.390/.388 (.777). He has flashed his speed with 20 stolen bases at Triple-A in 2026. The only two other players rostered by Beloit who appear on deeper prospect ranking lists are a pair of 21-year-old pitchers, Liomar Martinez and Nate Payne. MIGHTY MATTERS The Mussels are our streak-breaker, being the only full-season affiliate to win their week's series, going 4-2 against Clearwater. Next up is a trip to the Palm Beach Cardinals, whom Fort Myers split with just a few short weeks ago. The Mussels will take on Top 10 organizational prospect SS Yairo Padilla once again. Now playing with Palm Beach for 29 games, Padilla has hit .281/.354/.474 (.828). At the trade deadline, Palm Beach added a Top 50 nationally ranked prospect to their roster. Corner outfielder Alexander Frias came over from the Brewers and has hit .333/.422/.538 (.959) across all levels of the minors this season, adding another key bat to watch. INF/OF Luis Fragoza FSL Player of the Week If Luis Fragoza keeps having performances like he did this past week, it won’t be long until he hits the Twins Daily Top 20 list. In five games, Fragoza hit at an unreal clip of .667/.800/1.583 (2.383 OPS), with three home runs, nine stolen bases, and seven total extra base hits. Those video game-type numbers made Fragoza the choice for the Florida State League’s Player of the Week Award. His week also offered a positive sign for the 19-year-old prospect who MLB.com has ranked as the Twins number 27 prospect in the system. In case you missed it at the top of the page, on top of this great week on the field, Fragoza was just promoted to High-A and will begin playing with the Cedar Rapids Kernels. DSL TWINS Twins 9, Marlins 7 Box Score The Twins came away with a win over the Marlins, but if you turned your attention away from the game early, you wouldn’t have thought that would wind up being the result. Through five innings, the Marlins were in full control of the game, leading 5-0. Then, in the sixth inning, everything went the Twins way. Enmanuel Merlo got things going with a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After an Anibal Beltre strikeout, two more walks from Jeferson Abreu and Fabian Ulloa followed to load the bases. Abreu was on base a lot Monday, racking up three total walks. Luis Suarez would break through for the Twins first run with an RBI single. Another wild pitch would plate Abreu for the Twins second run. A pitch would then hit Daiyer Barboza to load the bases once again and set the stage for a big Jendy Martinez at-bat. Martinez sent the ball to right-field for a triple, tying the game 5-5 and erasing the Marlins’ early lead. Martinez also added three walks to his day, reaching base a total of four times for the Twins. There was still only one out in the sixth inning, and the Twins were not finished. After a Jhon Gonzalez strikeout, Martinez would score on a wild pitch to bring the score to a 6-5 Twins lead. Abel Sosa was the next Twin to take a walk. Sosa advanced to third base on an Enmanuel Merlo single in his second at-bat of the inning. In a double steal attempt, Merlo would be picked off at second but created enough time and space for Sosa to score the Twins seventh run of the inning. The scoring continued into the seventh inning; walks and wild pitches fueled two runs being added. Beltre, Abreu, and Suarez would each reach on walks. Fabian Ulloa reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second base for his eighth of the year. Each of those helped set the Twins up for two insurance runs, with Beltre scoring on a wild pitch and Barboza hitting the sacrifice to score Ulloa and give the Twins a 9-5 lead. Jeremy Jimenez, who pitched a scoreless sixth inning, would start the seventh for the Twins. It was a classic bloop-and-a-blast scenario. Jimenez nearly stranded Eliecer Mendoza at first after allowing him a single, but with two outs, Gregori Arias hit his fourth home run of the season for the Marlins to bring the lead to 9-7. Arthur De La Cruz was then brought on to close out the game. Needing just one out, De La Cruz forced Steven Herrera into a ground out to earn the save in the Twins win. Pitchers Emmanuel Mena and Abraham Martinez each did not allow a run while they were on the mound. Mena went 1 1/3 innings, allowed no hits, three walks, and struck out one batter. Martinez, who was credited with the win, pitched one inning, allowed no hits, and two walks. TWINS DAILY PLAYERS OF THE DAY Jendy Martinez: 1-2, 1 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 RBI, 1 3B Emmanuel Mena: 1 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 3 BB, 1 K TOP 20 PROSPECT WEEK IN REVIEW #1- Walker Jenkins (Saints)- .412/.545/.647 (1.193), 1 2B, 1 HR #2- Vahn Lackey (Mussels)- .154/.200/.462 (.662), 2 3B #3- Kaelen Culpepper (Twins)- .263/.286/.316 (.602), 1 2B #4- Marek Houston (Wind Surge)- .238/.273/.238 (.511) #5- Riley Quick (Wind Surge)- 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K #6- Emmanuel Rodriguez (Saints)- .222/.333/.278 (.611 OPS), 1 2B #7- Hendry Mendez (Saints)- .182/.400/.455 (.855 OPS), 1 HR #8- Eduardo Tait (Kernels)- .190/.227/.381 (.608), 1 2B, 1 HR #9- Gabriel Gonzalez (Saints)- .000/.300/.000 (.300) #11- Carson Tinney (Mussels)- .200/.294/.600 (.894), 2 HR #12- Brandon Winokur (Wind Surge)- .190/.292/.333 (.625), 1 HR #13- Khadim Diaw (Wind Surge)- 1.000/1.000/1.000 (2.000) #15- Ryan Gallagher (Saints)- 5 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K #18- Quentin Young (Mussels)- .235/.350/.529 (.879 OPS) 2 2B, 1 HR #19- Yasser Mercedes (Kernels)- .316/.381/.421 (.802), 2 2B TUESDAY’S PROBABLE STARTERS St. Paul Saints @ Columbus- RHP Ryan Gallagher Wichita Wind Surge @ Frisco- TBD Cedar Rapids Kernels @ Beloit- TBD Fort Myers Mighty Mussels @ Palm Beach- TBD DSL Twins @ DSL Cardinals- TBD DSL Cardinals @ DSL Twins- TBD View the full article

It's only been two starts, but the early returns suggest that the Brewers have a specific plan for Dustin May: throw your cutter more. No, more. No, even more than that. May, whom the team acquired just hours before the trade deadline on August 3, has allowed just 12 baserunners and three runs in 13 innings over his first two appearances for Milwaukee. The Crew prized him for the depth of his arsenal and his feel for moving the ball in all four directions, but while his best pitch (according to Baseball Prospectus's StuffPro) is his sweeper, it's the cutter the team has ratcheted up his usage of so far. As I often say, every pitcher is really two different creatures: one against same-handed batters and one against opposite-handed ones. For different reasons, the Brewers and May have elected to have him throw more cutters regardless of which type of batter he's facing, and the results speak for themselves. Let's drill down on their reasons for each change of gameplan. Against righties, May's exceptionally heavy sinker runs the show. During his stint with the Cardinals, however, he used that pitch to set up high four-seamers and sweepers that would run the opposite of the direction of his sinker. Since joining Milwaukee, the sinker has set the stage for the cutter, instead. It's a pitch May can keep on the plate and in the zone better, but as long as he executes each offering, the resulting contact is bound to be weak and harmless. Against lefties, the cutter was more prominent even while May pitched for St. Louis. His four-seamer and the cutter pair well to those batters. Since coming to Milwaukee, though, he's switched the roles of the two pitches. He's using the cutter as the primary offering, and then the four-seamer as the change of eye level. The Brewers do this more than almost any other team in the league: letting one of the more horizontal fastball shapes force hitters into a visual box, then throwing the four-seamer off that to make it harder to catch up to. The secret to both changes, though, is that May's cutter makes a better anchor pitch than most pitchers' do. Because of his size and extension, his relatively vanilla raw arm angle is more deceptive than the data initially suggests. That also changes what a hitter sees and expects out of his hand. According to Prospectus, batters are only likely to accurately identify the cutter 52.6% of the time. Meanwhile, the pitch his four-seamer and changeup are most frequently mistaken for is the cutter. May's ability to move the ball east and west, achieve depth on the breaking ball and find more carry on the four-seamer than most similar pitchers makes him an extremely high-upside addition to the starting rotation. His cutter is so firm (and his command of it to the glove-side edge of the plate is so good) that it sits neatly in the default position, allowing him to force both lefties and righties to cover a big strike zone and a wide variety of speeds and shapes by working off the cutter. Again, it's only been two starts. The matchups in his next two might dictate that May and whichever catcher is paired with him operate differently. So far, though, the returns on the Brewers' change to his pitch mix have been excellent. The team who most loves to attack with fastballs has a new hurler who thrives with three different flavors of fastball. It's a match made in heaven. View the full article

The Royals have reinstated both Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia from the injured list after their respective rehab assignments. The Royals have also called up left-handed reliever Connor Thomas to the major league roster. To make room on the active roster, the Royals optioned infielder Josh Rojas and right-handed reliever Jose Cuas to triple-A and designated veteran outfielder Starling Marte for assignment. Pasquantino has been out of the lineup since July 28 with a wrist injury. Garcia had been sidelined for a longer time with a muscle strain, not appearing since June 22. Thomas was claimed off waivers from the Athletics on August 4 and made three appearances in Omaha before his callup to the Royals. In those three appearances, Thomas threw 2 ⅔ innings with a 6.75 ERA. Garcia’s return makes Rojas a surplus in the infield. Pasquantino’s return will allow Jac Caglianone to shift back to right field, making less room for Marte. Marte’s season in Kansas City has been underwhelming with a slash line of .242/.298/.314 with a 71 wRC+ and -0.5 fWAR. Marte’s DFA leaves one spot open on the 40-man roster. Cuas’s recent stint on the major-league roster was strong with no earned runs in 4 ⅔ innings pitched over five appearances. The Royals return home for a seven-game home stand after a West Coast road trip. Both Pasquantino and Garcia return to the starting lineup to face the Athletics tonight at Kauffman Stadium. View the full article

July can be a bit of a wild month when it comes to prospect lists. On one hand, new additions via the amateur draft can shake up the order with a flood of exiting new talents. Having multiple picks in the top-75, the Chicago Cubs were able to add a lot of upside into the system with some exciting youngsters fresh out of college; Cade Townsend (first round), Caden Sorrel (second round) and Myles Bailey (third round) are a welcome group with big-time potential. At the same time, July can represent a time where teams with October aspirations will subtract from their pool of talent, something the Cubs very much did as Jefferson Rojas and Mason McGwire (among others) now find themselves in new homes. Where does the system sit today after all of the incoming an outgoing players? Below you will find the results of our most recent crowd-sourced voting by readers and staff here on North Side Baseball. Chicago Cubs Updated Top-20 Prospects List (Post-Deadline 2026) 1. Josiah Hartshorn, OF 2. Cade Townsend, P 3. Jaxon Wiggins, P 4. Owen Ayers, C 5. Kane Kepley, OF 6. Ethan Conrad, OF 7. Caden Sorrell, OF 8. Kaleb Wing, P 9. Myles Bailey, 1b 10. Brooks Caple, P 11. James Triantos, utility 12. Will Sanders, P 13. Juan Cabada, INF 14. Jostin Florentino, P 15. Derniche Valdez, INF 16. Grant Kipp, P 17. Jose Escobar, OF 18. Ariel Armas, C 19. Fernando Cruz, INF 20. Brandon Birdsell, P New Additions The newest additions to our Cubs top-20 are the three aforementioned top-75 selections in the most recent draft. You can view their scouting reports from our draft day profiles on each of them (by clicking on the hyperlinks below). Cade Townsend Caden Sorrell Myles Bailey Only Sorrel has joined an affiliate, as Townsend is coming off a full year of pitching in the SEC while Bailey is still recovering from an injury. All three are fun upside plays, and Sorrell so far is looking fun in small doses. The strikeout rate is elevated at Low-A, sitting just under 30%, but that isn't surprising based on his draft profile. Much of the work there will likely be swing-related and will happen over the offseason. Now is as much about acclimatization as it is results. Outside of the draftees, Jose Escobar is our other new addition to the top-20 list. Escobar, 21, is a former international free agent signing out of Venezuela in the 2022 cycle. Despite being unheralded at the time, the kid has just kept hitting and hasn't stopped yet, earning a promotion mid-year in 2026 to High-A South Bend. Escobar is a smaller-framed outfielder, listed at 5'8" and 165lbs (this information is likely well out of date now) who has managed to not allow his size to slow him down, posting a 123 wRC+ on the season as a whole. He's managed some solid data across the board as well as promising reports of his exit velocities, which make you think there's more power to tap into. His left-handed swing is quite pretty and it wouldn't be the craziest thing for him to slide under the prospect radar like Pedro Ramirez did only to explode one day. He's one to keep an eye on for the future. Prospects on the Rise Escobar isn't the only prospect who's seen their stock jump. There's no better example of a prospect with a rocket ship attached to their back than catcher Owen Ayers. The former 19th-round pick out of Marshal has really forced the Cubs' hands this year, screaming through High-A and Double-A already; he could be in line for a 2026 promotion in September. The organization has treated him like a top-50 (or so) prospect and is very high on him and the numbers have backed this up. Really, the only knock is that he's already 25 years old. A pair of 2025-draftees also have their arrow pointing up, as Kane Kepley and Ethan Conrad are both making late bids to be on top-100 lists entering the 2027 season. Both have been recently promoted, Kepley to Double-A Knoxville and Conrad to High-A South Bend, on merit and both are showing the flashes of brilliance that caused the Cubs to select them in the top-60 last season. They're prospects who certainly look to have an MLB future and by the end of 2027, it wouldn't be insane to think they will both be knocking on door of being called up and realizing that possibility. Prospects Whose Stock Has Fallen Jaxon Wiggins hasn't had a very smooth 2026. After missing a good chunk of last year due to injury, Wiggins started this year on the IL as well. Since returning, he's really struggled with command of his pitches. More troubling has been his lack of velocity; routinely hitting 98-100mph last year even late into games. there have been days this year he's sat 95 and below. While it looked like this time last year he would be a possibility to help the Cubs in Chicago sometime this season, that timeline has been moved back. Two other pitchers have their stock somewhat in limbo due to current injury concerns as well in Kaleb Wing and Will Sanders. Wing, another 2025 draftee has had a major setback: the dreaded Tommy John surgery. We'll have to wait until (likely) 2028 to see the talented rookie again, so while he looked excellent in what we got to see of him this year, his future breakout will have to wait. Will Sanders, another pitcher, was also placed on the 60-day IL, though his injury cause is more cloudy as there have been no reports on what the cause of the ailment is. Sanders looked like he might be on the precipice himself of an MLB debut, but that won't happen this year. Hopefully he'll avoid the same fate as Wing and that will only delay his debut until next season. Overall Thoughts on the System This year was always going to be a season in which the name of the game was "transition." The Cubs were already moving from a system with a lot of talent near the MLB to one that was much more speculative and concentrated in the lower levels. Add in a draft and a trade deadline that threw a ton of moving parts into the mix, and it's very much in flux like we all thought it would be. This can be seen just from the variety in our lists. There is Josiah Hartshorn who is the consensus best prospect, a lot of players in that second or third tier where you can rank them in almost any order (for example, I personally have Owen Ayers No. 2 with Wiggins down at fourth) and then a host of prospects you can rank anywhere between, say, tenth to 30th. In other words, it's murky and we all have opinions. The positive is that we're seeing some of those prospects bubble up just below the surface which will allow some more clarity next season. A few 2026 draftees have hit the ground running; pitchers Chase Meyer (ninth round) and Luke Alwood (10th round) have already found their way to Myrtle Beach and have looked promising. Jose Escobar has become quite interesting in South Bend and continues to hit. Derniche Valdez wears glasses now and strikes out less. There are good things happening. There will be some who view the losses at the deadline as crippling, and they have that right. Losing a prospect like Jefferson Rojas is never easy, and pitchers like Mason McGwire were starting to look like potential steals. The prospect list will likely look very different 365 days from now due to promotions, another draft and another deadline, but this feels like a system that is on the right track (in my humble opinion) on the whole, even if they lost some fun players along the way. View the full article

I suppose I didn’t have a choice but to be a baseball fan. It’s in my blood, to some degree. My great-uncle died of head trauma, after years of wearing beanballs as a barnstormer in the 30s and 40s. He and my grandfather had the chance to play against Satchel Paige and Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe when they played for the Bismarck Club (sometimes known as the Churchills) in 1935. Apparently, Grandpa got a hit, but I’m skeptical. But Grandpa passed down his love of baseball to his son, and his son passed it down to me. Really, baseball is something you inherit from someone, whether it’s your parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, or even your persistent friend who begs you to come out to the ballyard some Sunday afternoon; I myself made a baseball fan out of a nerdish grad school classmate with an afternoon Triple-A game. You don’t stumble into being a baseball fan; you’re led. If you became a baseball fan when you were a child, it probably involved a game of catch. I think my uncle was the first one to really play catch with me, but I also played with my dad plenty. At some point, though, you have your last game of catch with your father. You typically don’t know it. It’s something the two of you have always done, but over time, you play less and less catch. Suddenly, you haven’t played in years. And you didn’t even know it. Maybe it’s when you left for college. Maybe it’s when you hung up your glove after two agonizing years of tee ball. Maybe your dad throws out his shoulder, as many middle-aged men do, and you never get back to it. Maybe Dad left too soon, earlier than either of you hoped or expected. It's what Field of Dreams is famous for. Really, ask yourself, if Kevin Costner asked Dwier Brown anything other than if he'd "wanna have a catch," would you remember the film for anything other than its poor pacing and dialogue? It doesn't truly become a tear-jerker until we start thinking about playing catch with our own fathers, grandfathers, uncles, what have you—because it's something that nearly every baseball fan of a certain age or experience understands: that one last catch with Dad. You didn't know during your last catch that it was your last catch. Or, for some, it's the yearning for their first catch with their father—a catch that never actually happened. I had the privilege of knowing I was playing catch for the last time with my father. When I was 24, and Dad was 58, he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s—a disease that slowly (though much faster than you’d ever hope) and irreversibly erodes the brain, leading to a loss of memory and executive function. It’s a terrible, terrible disease to watch someone experience, and I can only imagine (although I may someday know, or even not-quite-know) how terrible it is to live through. A few months after his diagnosis, I was visiting home. My younger brother was spending the summer in our hometown before leaving for graduate school, and we’d planned to play catch that afternoon. My brother called me a bit later, saying he’d gotten busy with some friends and not to wait up for him. So my dad, sensing the opportunity, asked if I’d like to play catch for a bit. I have no idea when he’d last thrown a baseball, let alone when we’d last played catch together. His arm was shot from years of throwing us batting practice, and I’d hung up my cleats after my junior year to focus on other sports. I clocked what was happening in the moment, and I think he did, too. He made it through about ten overhand throws, his shoulder stiff from years of disuse, before switching to underhand. We played for maybe ten minutes before putting our gloves away for good. But for those ten minutes, we were both 20 years younger. It’s been seven summers since that game of catch. By his 59th birthday, he required a walker to get around, after a lower back injury that he never recovered from. These days, Dad doesn’t do much talking. Or moving. Or even looking around. Once in a while, on a good day, you’ll look him in the eyes, and you’ll know that he knows who you are. We both knew we’d reach a day like today. So I like to think something divine kept my brother away from our backyard that day. We both needed that game of catch. To this day, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth to have had it—tied for first place with thousands of people I'll never meet, and with Dad. My story isn’t special. As I said, most people reading this of a certain age or experience have their own version of this story. There are an enormous number of people who would do anything to play catch with Dad one more time. I suspect many baseball fans think about exactly that every time the Field of Dreams game is played in Dyersville, Iowa. There’s the beauty of the players walking out of the corn, but there’s also the reminder of that final question. Hey, Dad. Wanna have a catch? I’d planned on telling a version of this story about the man who coached me not only in baseball, but also in football, basketball, and track, at a later date. You know, that later date. But Thursday’s Twins-Phillies game hit home for me in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Every time MLB plays a game in that corn, I lower my head and shed a tear thinking about my own father. But this time was different. Because when I lowered my head on Thursday to think about the big strong man that I used to play catch with, I saw my own newborn daughter, my firstborn, sleeping in my lap. She’d been born less than a week before; it was her first Twins game sitting in front of the TV with me. The Field of Dreams Game could have set an impossibly high bar, but given how the game played, I’m sure there are more magical Twins games in her future, if I’m successful in leading her to baseball fandom. I have no idea if she’ll be a baseball fan. She might not even be a sports fan of any sort, and that’s okay with me. But I hope that someday she’ll ask me some version of that question. Hey Dad. Wanna have a catch? Although she’ll never get a chance to play catch with her grandfather, maybe she’ll feel his love playing catch with me. I felt that same connection to my own grandfather when my dad taught me how to throw his dad’s palmball, even though I’d never met him. And I hope that, until she’s ready to see me years later when I’m worn down by life, I can be half the man that I see my own dad as, when I imagine his former, able body walking out of the corn. View the full article

It was a double dose of bad news for the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Shortstop Dansby Swanson was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left oblique, while right-handed starter Edward Cabrera only lasted one game before going back on the 15-day IL with a blister on his right middle finger. Infielder Owen Miller had his contract selected from Triple-A Iowa, with right-hander Javier Assad and outfielder Kevin Alcantara called up from the I-Cubs. Infielder James Triantos was optioned to Iowa, while right-handed closer Daniel Palencia was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL in a paperwork move to get Miller on the 40-man roster. Palencia has already spent 60 days on the IL. Swanson could miss the rest of the regular season with the oblique injury. He sustained the injury during a swing in the third inning of Sunday's 11-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. It is a huge blow to the Cubs. Swanson is a terrific defender and has contributed 18 homers offensively, even if his slash line sits at a disappointing .216/.300/.404. Cabrera had come off the IL to start Sunday following a strained left hamstring that had kept him out since June 24. He lasted just 3⅔ innings vs. the Cardinals, allowing seven runs on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts. He had the middle finger bandaged after the game. Miller has spent the entire season at Triple-A, putting up a .296/.350/.457 slash line with nine homers and 57 RBIs in 96 games. View the full article

Owen and Jesse are pumped to see the Blue Jays continue to win baseball games, but they're still skeptical of the sustainability of those wins. Yet- the Blue Jays win another series, and there are plenty of positives to break down. They talk about why Alejandro Kirk hasn't gotten as much praise as he deserves, Charles McAdoo, Brett Bateman, and, of course, Louis Varland's incredible season. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-jays-centre-podcast/id1846108462 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Bi7SzfpcqMo5xYWnbCeoL Listen on iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-jays-centre-podcast-300304824/ Listen on Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/2qk9wqxd Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jayscentre View the full article

RHP Eli Morgan has elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Omaha after being designated for Assignment on August 13. Morgan signed a minor league deal in the offseason with the Royals and has been up and down between the majors and Triple-A. In the majors, he has thrown 19 2/3 innings, with a 5.12 ERA and an even worse 6.49 FIP. He's given up 24 hits, nine walks, and recorded 16 strikeouts in that time. In 25 2/3 innings at Triple-A, he has a solid 1.40 ERA and struck out 35 batters in that time as well. With many teams looking for more bullpen depth, Morgan could latch on with another team rather quickly, even with disappointing numbers at the major league level. View the full article

Chicago Cubs Minor League Report Affiliate Overview Triple-A Iowa Cubs Series vs. St. Paul Saints (Minnesota Twins): Tied, 3-3 Season Record: 48–69-1 Double-A Knoxville Smokies Series vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas (Los Angeles Angels): Smokies win, 5-1 Season Record: 63–51 High-A South Bend Cubs Series at Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers): Loons win, 4-2 Season Record: 65–45 Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans Series vs. Hill City Howlers (Cleveland Guardians): Pelicans win, 3-2 Season Record: 45–66 Triple-A: Iowa Cubs Season Record: 48–69-1 Series Opponent: St. Paul Saints (69-50) Series Standing: Tied, 3-3 Aug. 16: The Iowa Cubs dropped Sunday’s contest to the St. Paul Saints, 2-1, at Principal Park, to split the six-game set. The Saints took a 1-0 lead in the first and would later double their advantage with a run in the fourth. The Cubs made it 2-1 by scoring their lone run of the contest in the bottom of the fourth after Ben Cowles (0-for-2) bounced into a double play with runners on the corners. Neither team would score the rest of the way, with Iowa getting just two hits over the next five innings. Jordan Wicks got the start on the mound for the I-Cubs and suffered the loss, falling to 2-10 on the season. Wicks allowed two runs on four hits over five innings of work, walked two and struck out six batters. Daniel Palencia, making his third rehab appearance with the Cubs, struck out the side in his inning of work, while also giving up one hit. Antoine Kelly, Jaxon Wiggins and Eduarniel Núñez all turned in one scoreless inning in relief, as the Iowa bullpen combined for four shutout frames, allowing just one hit to go along with seven strikeouts and two walks. Double-A: Knoxville Smokies Season Record: 63–51 Series Opponent: Rocket City Trash Pandas (57–56) Series Standing: Win, 5-1 Aug. 16: The Knoxville Smokies extended their winning streak to five games with 5-4 victory over the Rocket City Trash Pandas on Sunday at Covenant Health Park. The Trash Pandas opened the scoring with a run in the first but the Smokies would take the lead with two in the third, thanks to RBI singles from Andy Garriola (1-for-4) and Miguel Useche (1-for-4). Rocket City would respond with a run in the fourth to tie it but Knoxville answered with a three-run home run off the bat of Kane Kepley (3-for-4) in the home half of the inning to make it 5-2. Smokies starter Kevin Valdez, who would eventually pick up the first win of his Double-A career, spun six innings of one-run ball, allowing two runs on four hits to go along with two walks and six strikeouts, to earn the quality start. Yenrri Rojas followed with two scoreless frames out of the bullpen, retiring all six batters he faced, including one strikeout. The Trash Pandas would score twice in the ninth but Vince Reilly was able to halt the rally to pick up his seventh save of the season and seal the 5-4 victory. Kepley’s three-hit effort was his first such game at the Double-A level and the Cubs’ No. 5 prospect (North Side Baseball) has hit safely in seven of his first nine games with Knoxville since being promoted on August 5. High-A: South Bend Cubs Season Record: 65–45 Series Opponent: Great Lakes Loons (63–47) Series Standing: Lose, 4-2 Aug. 16: The South Bend Cubs salvaged their series finale at the Great Lakes Loons with a 7-4 victory on Sunday at Dow Diamond. The Loons took a 1-0 lead in the third and later made it 4-0 by scoring three times in the sixth. The Cubs then rallied for four runs in the seventh to tie the game. Brennan Hudson (2-for-4) launched a three-run blast, his first-career home run as a professional, and Geuri Lubo (1-for-4) followed with a solo shot two batters later. South Bend went in front in the eighth when Hudson singled home a run and then added two insurance runs in the ninth, one on an RBI-single from Angel Cepeda (1-for-4) and another on an error, to make it 7-4. Ethan Flanagan got the start on the mound for the Cubs and took no decision. Flanagan allowed one run on four hits over 4 1/3 innings of work, walked three and struck out one. Jose Romero worked two shutout frames to end the game and earn his first save of the season. Romero gave up just one hit and amassed four strikeouts. Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans Season Record: 45–66 Series Opponent: Hill City Howlers (48–65) Series Standing: Win, 3-2 Aug. 16: The Myrtle Beach Pelicans had their series finale against Hill City on Sunday at Pelicans Ballpark canceled due to rain. Since it was the final meeting between the two teams in the 2026 season, the game will not be made up. View the full article

The Boston Red Sox are set to call up RHP Wyatt Olds from the WooSox before today’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks according to Section 10's Tyler Milliken. Olds currently sports a 5-6 record on the season with a 5.33 ERA over 50.2 innings pitched. He’s secured five saves over the season as well. Although no corresponding move has been announced as of this writing, Olds will likely replace LHP Raymond Burgos in the bullpen as the team looks to maximize their minor-league pitching depth that can help the big-league club as they navigate a world without both Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten for the foreseeable future. Expect this to be a fairly constant roster shuffle for the Red Sox until they start to get their leverage arms back. Olds features a four-pitch mix that includes a four-seam fastball that tops out at 96.8 mph, a slider, cutter, and a changeup. It will be interesting to see where he slots in the bullpen mix since very few spots are currently locked down, but it stands to reason he may only be up for the bullpen game that is planned for game one of the series against Arizona. View the full article

Fish On First LIVE discusses what's at stake over the next three days as the Marlins take on the Phillies with only three games separating them in the NL Wild Card standings.View the full article

Jose E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones are officially the new owners of the San Diego Padres. In the final step toward taking over the Padres, the other 29 MLB owners voted 29-0 to put Feliciano and Jones in charge of San Diego's biggest sports franchise. They needed a 75% vote (22 owners) for approval. Feliciano and Jones agreed in May to purchase the Padres for a record $3.9 billion from the Seidler family. The couple is expected to own between 40% and 45% of the franchise, with some of the minority owners remaining with the new ownership group and new investors joining. The sale price eclipsed the $2.42 billion Steve Cohen paid for the New York Mets in 2020. Sportico's latest valuation of the Padres was $2.31 billion, a 21.5% increase from the $1.9 billion figure in 2025. The last MLB team before the Padres to be sold was the Baltimore Orioles, who went for $1.725 billion to David Rubenstein in March 2024. Feliciano will serve as the franchise's control person, although the couple plans to make decisions about the team together. The $3.9 billion sale price also accounts for $300 million in debt the Padres are carrying. The Seidler family announced in November that it was putting the team up for sale, two years following the death of 63-year-old Peter Seidler, who was a two-time non-Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor who had undergone another medical procedure two months prior. John Seidler, the eldest of three brothers, had been the team chairman since February 2025. Seidler and Ron Fowler purchased the Padres for $800 million in 2012. The 53-year-old Feliciano, born in Bayaman, Puerto Rico, is a co-founder of Clearlake Capital, a Santa Monica-based investment firm. Clearlake has been the majority owner of the English Premier League soccer club Chelsea since 2022. Clearlake is the 12th-largest private-equity firm in the world. According to Forbes, Feliciano's net worth is $3.9 billion. He graduated from Princeton in 1994 with degrees in mechanical and biospace engineering, then got a master's in business administration from Stanford. Jones becomes the first black woman to be a majority owner of an MLB team. She was born in Los Angeles and is best-known for her musical career, first hitting. the Billboard charts in 2011 with "Think Again," which reached No. 21. She also attended Princeton, graduating in 1993. She studied public and international affairs at the Ivy League university. She also received a doctor of law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a master of dispute resolution from Pepperdine law. The couple, who met at Princeton, founded the Kwanza Jones and Jose E. Feliciano Initiative in 2014. The foundation, which focuses on education, entrepreneurship, equity, and empowerment, committing more than $250 million to these issues. Feliciano and Jones take over at an awkward time, as MLB owners have promised to lock out the players on Dec. 1 as the two sides negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement. The sale price of the Padres could be a negotiating point as to the growing value of MLB franchises, while the owners want to further increase that value by imposing a salary cap similar to those in the NFL, NBA and NHL. Aside from the $300 million in debt, the Padres are otherwise a fairly healthy franchise. The team is currently 67-58 and tied for the final two NL wild-card positions with six weeks left in the regular season. A trip to the postseason this year would mark the third year in a row they have been in the playoffs, a first for the franchise in its 58-year history. The Friars have made the postseason in four of the previous six seasons. Fans have also flocked to Petco Park. The Padres currently rank second in MLB in average attendance at 41,293 and will hit 3 million fans for the fourth consecutive year, including a club-record 3,437,201 in 2025. View the full article