Hoo Lee Cow

 

Eighteen runs....against the CUBS???

Like, the Cubs aren't even that bad of a team, they've had ebbs and flows like everybody else. PCA will have a terrible snafu in centerfield and then he'll rock a triple or something. Jameson Taillon will bat the lineup around in an inning then have three straight 1-2-3 innings. They're inconsistent, but more on the side of good than bad. And they gave up 18 runs...to the Giants. Who also aren't bad, but really only emerge as a hitting giant occasionally.

So to recap how it all went down; Willy Adames hit 2 homers. Casey Schmitt hit 2 homers. Matt Chapman hit 2 homers. Jung Hoo Lee kept his hitting streak alive with an RBI double. Jonah Cox, who just came up last week, hit his first career home run as a pinch-hitter. The only starter without a hit was catcher Daniel Susac, who's generally been one of their best hitters outside of this game. Even Rafael Devers had 2 hits and an RBI, meaning even HE's getting hot, slowly. The whole lineup came together to rain down on the Cubs IN WRIGLEY. And now they've got two more games there...to see if they can do anything remotely similar.

My skepticism comes from the fact that, despite the team's .260 average, there's so many lapses in this team's formula that has kept them from really emerging. Rafael Devers is the biggest one. Even if he's currently leading the league in doubles with 20, he's still struck out 80 times and only has 7 home runs. The maddening tendencies, like the strikeouts and the poor defense and the attitude, are piling up, and it's become a similar struggle to his Boston days. I also look at Drew Gilbert and Bryce Eldridge, and they still haven't completely broken out a year later. You're seeing signs; Eldridge is hitting .286, but like Devers he has limited uses in the field. Gilbert's hitting .236 without much offensive production to speak of.

Which is why it's very nice that the core of the lineup has woken up in recent weeks, and Willy Adames, Jung Hoo Lee, Matt Chapman, Luis Arraez and Casey Schmitt have solidified some really nice seasons. Lee is hitting .322 with some insane contact perks this month. Schmitt has 13 homers and 35 RBIs and is still surging. Arraez, while not quite at batting title levels yet, is still hitting .325 with 76 hits. There's a lot about this lineup that's finally beginning to click, and just in time for Logan Webb's return as well.

I'm not sure if there's enough here for this team to really get going to extent they did yesterday, but there's more life in there than there was a month ago, and while they're far from reaching the Padres at the moment they're certainly hitting better than the Padres are.

Coming Tonight: They brought him up as a potential longterm catcher, then forgot they already had one. So now they have TWO young catchers hitting like crazy, which isn't the worst thing in the world.

In No Way An Improvement

 Even as someone who dislikes the Astros, I can tell you that the core era of that team subsisted on a well-built youth movement, so many slam dunk prospects, deals made for people in their prime, and a solid backbone that could withstand departures. The 2026 Astros are the result of that era having run its course. And so without the generation that gave us Springer, Bregman, Cole, Valdez, Tucker and Brantley...this is a very okay baseball team. And I think FINALLY...they're done pretending they're not.

Beyond Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker, pretty much everything on this team is run-of-the-mill. If this was 2018, and they had a player of Isaac Paredes's caliber on a tear, it'd be going a lot better than this. Not that Paredes is playing badly, but...he's a .238 hitter with 8 homers and 28 RBIs. And even then, he's here for his power and all his home runs are pulled. They released a spray chart today, and the man's never launched a single opposite-field home run in his entire career. So they have an okay third baseman having an okay season being okay at the thing he's the best at...like, compare that to what Bregman was doing even in a down year. It's not even close. And somebody like Jake Meyers or Zach Dezenzo or Brice Mathews, doing the best they can but still winding up at replacement level...this is the level of local talent they have now. And compared to what Yordan Alvarez is doing, leading the league in homers and OPS and average and fitting firmly into the MVP conversation upton Judge's injury, it's even more pathetic. You can't run on a Jake Meyers season anymore when it's clear that Yordan Alvarez can lift a pinky and go yard.

The pitching isn't much better, because even the usual failsafes aren't working. They tried the 'let's bring up Jason Alexander' gambit again, and that didn't work this time around. Aside from Spencer Arrighetti, who's wonderful, this team has to trot out Mike Burrows and his 5.66 ERA, Tatsuya Imai and his occasional brilliance flanked by 6 run outings, Peter Lambert who's far too okay to be playing this great a role in this team, and Kai-Wei Teng, who's actually pretty decent but is being stretched out from a prior relief role and hopefully can stay healthy. The team's already lost Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers, Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski are gonna be out for longer, and this unit is what they've got. For...what it is I guess it's alright, but this is the most anonymous Astros rotation since Bud Norris and Erik Bedard were the draws. Occasionally it works, but I don't know how sustainable it is, much like how I don't know how sustainable Christian Walker and Christian Vasquez are.

The Astros are firmly under .500, and are in fourth, but they do play the A's this weekend, and the A's rotation might have slightly more weak points. So it might be close. But if things continue at this rate, the Astros might be sellers at the deadline for the first time in nearly a decade, and that's an insane concept to consider.

Coming Tomorrow- A guy who's had a monster hitting streak as of late, and took part in a huge blowout of the Cubs yesterday.

The Cardinals Continue to Baffle Me

 

I think there's probably a connection between whether or not I like a team and whether I can understand when they start doing well. Because I'm very logic-based, I try to imagine that most teams have ebbs and flows in the usual way, and that when a team takes a few years to regroup they'll surface when they really have the right team, or when a team starts losing key players they'll ultimately stop winning games. The Astros and the Cardinals routinely defy this logic, and I believe it's specifically to vex me.

The Cardinals have won only 5 games since May 17th, have to trot Dustin May out there every five days and start Nolan Gorman and Victor Scott daily, and yet they're still 2nd in the NL Central and generally well regarded. This week has been all about the Pirates scoring 10+ runs repeatedly, Chase Burns allowing no runs and PCA getting his groove back and yet here we still are with this Cardinals team ahead of them.

There are elements that work, of course. J.J. Wetherholt, Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera, Jordan Walker and Nathan Church are all having excellent seasons and earning their right to start everyday. Michael McGreevy's having a terrific full season ahead of the rotation, with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.101 WHIP. Riley O'Brien has 15 saves. Nelson Velasquez keeps making contact. Yes, of course all of that is good. I'm so relieved that Jordan Walker can actually perform at the MLB level after all this time. That is valid and good and happening. Beyond that this is a very dull, okay team. 

What is this rotation, even beyond McGreevy. Last year at least they had Sonny Gray and his strikeouts. Now what do they have? Dustin May can strike people out and go deep but he has ZERO wins above replacement and it's June. Matthew Liberatore still cannot get his ERA below 4. Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy would both be great 5th options on a better team. The idea is for McGreevy to be the Jack Flaherty type young guy the team can rally around, but McGreevy's a very simple, low-strikeout control artist and to me that's not enough to lead with. The Guardians can do that with Messick because they have Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee already. There's just...no depth, man. Richard Fitts is done for the year, Roby and Hjerpe are hurt, Tink Hence is struggling so bad he's been moved to relief, and they tried Bryson Mautz and he wasn't ready. So we're stuck with these five. Yay. 

The Cardinals could, for all intents and purposes, compete with this team. But literally every other NL Central team has a better rotation than they do. At least the Cubs have Imanaga, I'd take him over McGreevy. I just don't get excited about these guys. If they improve over time, like the Brewers' rotation last year, then great. I just don't see it right now. 

The other teams are circling the Cardinals, and I'm expecting them to drop in the standings a bit. Remains to be seen whether they're still competitors, though part of me thinks they'll persist mainly to spite, and confuse, me.

Coming Tonight: The Tigers gave this guy away and have struggled to fill third base ever since. Astros are doing just fine there though.

Any Which Way You Draft

 

So, to recap. The 2026 Minnesota Twins have, at the MLB level, currently:

-Byron Buxton, 2012 2nd overall pick.

-Alex Jackson, 2014 6th overall pick.

-Royce Lewis, 2017 1st overall pick.

-Trevor Larnach, 2018 1st round pick.

-Ryan Jeffers, 2018 2nd round pick.

-Matt Wallner, 2019 1st round pick.

-Austin Martin, 2020 5th overall pick.

-Mick Abel, 2020 1st round pick.

-Brooks Lee, 2022 8th overall pick.

-Connor Prielipp, 2022 2nd round pick.

-Luke Keaschall, 2023 2nd round pick.

All of these people were picked high for a reason, and the Twins themselves picked all but three of them. The goal was to draft, or accumulate, the kind of prospects to build a great team out of. Now...with all of these people on the active roster...how come nothing's getting done?

It blows my mind that people like Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach and Royce Lewis could look so good out of college or high school, get to the MLB level and continue to blow opportunities. Wallner is the kind of athlete you could build in a lab, and they still can't get him to hit for average. Royce Lewis can hit home runs like crazy, but only for 2 weeks out of the year, in between injuries and slumps. Larnach's a decent power hitter but he's more okay than anything. I also think about Brooks Lee, who came up as this incredible shortstop prospect, one who got Carlos Correa traded to get himself more room there...and as of a week ago, starting Lee at short is no longer a viable option. So now he's a third baseman. Let's see, who's the nearest shortstop in that draft- oh, Zach Neto. He'd have been a good career shortstop. Or...would he have been if the Twins drafted him?

I give Lee shit for blowing the SS job but he's actually having a halfway decent season. He's hitting .252 with 8 homers and 35 RBIs, and is one of the best non-Buxton plate performers the Twins have right now. Keaschall's also beginning to heat up, and he's got 10 stolen bases already. If Jeffers had stayed healthy it'd have been a nice top of the order, and guys like Tristan Gray, Austin Martin and Ryan Kreider providing excellent bench work. Granted, not much depth beyond that though, but I think the Twins are at the point where they're just trying shit out and seeing if that works better than the original plan.

Case in point: the Twins just cut Simeon Woods-Richardson, after a dismal 0-7, 7.74 ERA start, and sent him back to his initial system in Toronto. The plan is to go with a four man rotation of Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews and Connor Prielipp [which is actually a pretty decent combination considering Matthews and Prielipp's ceilings], plus an added bullpen slot as they debate whether to stretch out Mike Paredes all the way. At some point either Mick Abel or Bailey Ober will come back anyhow. And honestly...for a team that everyone was assuming would be a last place punchline, that's not bad at all. It makes me wish the team hit better.

The Twins do theoretically have enough to stay ahead of the Royals, but the Royals want out of last very badly, and won't be afraid to really go crazy to get to that point. 

Coming Tomorrow- The Cardinals have a very young rotation, and technically he's the ace. So he's beginning to act like one.

Looks Max-ing

 

[This title is one of the serious downsides of there still being a relatively young person in the blogosphere. Also, no, I couldn't tell you what it means either.]

The Marlins are usually deeply weird, but this year is a new breed of abject strangeness. This Marlins team is one where Otto Lopez is highly likely to make an All-Star team and has a batting title, Liam Hicks is vying for an RBI title, all but three active batters have a WAR of less than 0.5, two of the best power hitters with MLB experience are sitting in Jacksonville waiting for Joe Mack or Connor Norby to have a stroke, three necessary starters are hurt [one of which immediately after making his MLB debut] and another is pitching so poorly that HE'S sitting in Jacksonville, and the bullpen may be one of the Top 5 in all of baseball. Essentially hollow at the plate, above average on the mound despite the swiss cheese.

Just once I want to write about a normal Marlins team that just wins a division and has stars and isn't a barrel of nonsense. Just one time.

In all of the pitching uncertainty, Max Meyer has emerged as a relatively strong ace. It's been a rocky road for Meyer, missing a few years with injuries, coming back last year and struggling some more before eventually finding his footing. This year he's been terrific, going 6-0 with a 2.81 ERA and 81 Ks in 13 starts. It's upsetting it took him until 27 to reach this point, but he's here now, and his work, plus occasional greatness from Sandy Alcantara [he does have a CGSHO under his belt this year], are aiding this team tremendously. Beyond that, they're stretching out Tyler Phillips as a starter again, and while it didn't go well in Philly it's worked fine so far. I'm not sure what the heck their plan is beyond that, but I would guess Bradley Blalock would get a go, and possibly Braxton Garrett again if he behaves this time. 

The lineup, beyond Lopez, Hicks, Edwards and Sanoja, really isn't doing much. Owen Caissie's a great outfield bat on paper but he strikes out too much and he has poor defense. Connor Norby's fine but counterproductive. Stowers and Marsee are both way down from last year. This team has Deyvison de los Santos, Agustin Ramirez and now Rece Hinds all stuck in the minors while people like Leo Jimenez, Joe Mack and Chris Morel eat precious roster space. I know that the runs can score with these types of guys, but it's not a working model, and you can't build that much from it. If guys like Marsee, Caissie and Norby did what they were supposed to, we'd be in better shape, but they're wasting this year.

The Marlins are now fighting to keep from being lapped by the Mets, who, while having a bigger payroll and more working factions, are still the Mets. So that'll be interesting for sure.

Coming Tonight: His infield defense may not be terrific, but his burst of offense has been keeping his team from being the total failure many people figured it would be.

High Sugar Intake

 

The limitations of modern arm strength point towards a frustrating factor about modern pitching. There are some people pitching right now who, if they didn't overwork themselves and miss time in between amazing seasons, would be Hall of Famers. Back then you only had the occasional case, a Sam McDowell here, a J.R. Richard there, but even then it was an outside circumstance that led to the decline. Even Madison Bumgarner, the ATVing ruined his arm more than overthrowing did. But now, throwing the best season of your life means not being that good again for another 2 or 3 years, and considering that people are already coming up at 25 anyway, it's reducing people's prime.

If this was 1979, Shane McClanahan would have been up at 22, have a Cy Young by 25 and would be in the midst of a Dodgers contract by now. But no, the Rays didn't have room for him til the 2020 playoffs, he flirted with greatness but went down mid-2023, missed two seasons and is now 29 and working on a 'comeback' year. Throwing hard isn't what it used to be, man.

I think the Rays are still very thankful that McClanahan's still a mighty centerpiece of their rotation, and that he's back to 2022 form this year, working on a 6-2 record with a 2.45 ERA through 11 starts. He's still a big game guy who can take a strong workload and hold the line against great teams. I think he's still being a little careful with speeds and control but he's still very much THE guy for this team, and he, Rasmussen and Martinez have been very good at keeping runs down this year. I just feel like if the Rays had more of a sample size from him they'd have been better off. They got a ton of strong, healthy seasons out of Blake Snell, and McClanahan's very much seen in the same kind of light as Snell was, but with less to show for himself. It definitely speaks to how good McClanahan's been when he's been active, as his highest season ERA to this point is still a 3.43 from his rookie year. 

The Rays in general, by the way, are still a strong AL competitor despite the bottom beginning to drop out a bit in the past week. Today the Tigers smacked around Nick Martinez and friends behind 8 innings of Troy Melton, marking their 7th loss since the rainout that could have ended the 'Yanks can't win a series against a .500 team' argument once and for all. The team is still hitting, and still surging behind the usual suspects of Caminero, Diaz and Aranda, but the depth isn't completely there [barring Ryan Vilade maybe] and the bullpen's still in shambles. This is still a good team, and they're still capable of a lot of strong run production, but the uncontested upswing they had in May might have come to an end. 

...of course they don't play a .500+ team again til mid-month in LA, but apparently it's only okay to bring that up if you spend money on the team.

Coming Tomorrow- A guy who plays for one of the teams the Rays have to play next. And he got his start out of the way today, so they won't have to face him. 

There's No 'F' in Utility

 

2026 has already been a great year for lifetime utility guys making a name for themselves when thrust into a starting role. From the jump, Mauricio Dubon's been excellent at shortstop, to the point where Ha-Seong Kim is practically a backup right now. Ezequiel Duran's been wonderful filling in for Corey Seager, and his clutch and contact abilities are helping out the Rangers quite a bit. Oswald Peraza and Jorbit Vivas essentially have starting jobs right now, Jose Caballero made quite the impact covering for Anthony Volpe, Tristans Peters and Gray are finding everyday jobs, the list goes on. But right at the top of that list is Ildemaro Vargas, because it's simultaneously true that nobody could have seen his rise coming...and yet his rise was honestly bound to happen.

Since 2017, Ildemaro Vargas has bounced around as one of those likable infield role-player guys who's never a star but always does what he's supposed to. He was with the Diamondbacks for years, played for a bunch of midwest teams in the early 2020s, found a niche as a utility guy with the Nats then returned to Arizona. Last year he was really impressive in a swing role, hitting .270 in 38 games, while continuing to be an above-average upgrade in the infield. Heading into the 2026 season, the D-Backs found themselves without their Opening Day 1B options [Pavin Smith and Carlos Santana both got hurt], so the majority of the reps there went to Vargas. 

So far, Vargas has become an everyday, reliable guy for this D-Backs team this year. He's hitting .291 with 7 homers, 37 RBIs, 59 hits [tied for most on the team with Marte and Carroll, whoever they are] and a 1.5 WAR. His 7 homers are already more than he's ever hit in a season. This is probably not a long term answer, as they kind of want Jose Fernandez to be that, but it's working right now. It's also just a nice perk that Vargas as working in an area that wasn't expected to be a big source of consistent production from this team. Like they banked on Corbin Carroll having a great year, Ketel Marte having a great year, Perdomo and Moreno to do their thing. I don't know if they banked on a bounce-back from Nolan Arenado either, but there he goes, hitting .270 with 8 homers and 28 RBIs [one more homer than Carroll]. 

I think if Gallen and Kelly weren't having buffer years, they'd have a chance to take out San Diego for 2nd. Zac Gallen has a 5.16 ERA, and is once again looking worn down. Same with Kelly, who's got a 5.08 ERA after missing a few weeks. It's a good thing that Eduardo Rodriguez and Mike Soroka are having excellent years, but, again, it falls into the issue with pitching right now where everyone throws so hard that nobody's good every year anymore. The D-Backs are balancing Rodriguez and Soroka's on years with Gallen and Kelly's off-years, plus a rehab year from Corbin Burnes. Forty years ago you just kept going ahead without having to plan for this kind of stuff. 

I still think the D-Backs are a nice under the radar threat in the NL this year. I don't know if they're a playoff team yet, cause the last few D-Backs teams have arguably been playoff caliber but just haven't made it. But they have a lot right now that's getting me excited, and the random resurgence of Ildemaro Vargas is honestly one of them.

Coming Tonight: He got hurt. Missed a season. Came back last spring training, got hurt, missed another season. And now he's back and pitching beautifully.