| Time (ET) | Away | Home | Tmp | Rain | Wind | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invalid Date | MIATBD | STLTBD | ⛈️ | 81° | 0.69% | 12 |
| Invalid Date | LADTBD | SDTBD | ⛅ | 68° | 0% | 8 |
| Invalid Date | OAKTBD | LAATBD | ☀️ | 72° | 0% | 6 |
New York dismissed Carlos Mendoza on Friday afternoon, one game after a four-game sweep by the Cubs left the Mets 13 games under .500 and 34-47 — their worst record at this point since 2023. Bench coach Andy Green was named interim manager for the remaining 81 games. Mendoza's tenure ends with the Mets having been outscored 51-24 by Chicago alone in 2026. GM David Stearns cited a lack of "urgency and energy" in the announcement.
Cleveland recalled 24-year-old Cooper Ingle from Triple-A Columbus and started him fifth in the lineup as DH for his MLB debut Friday against Seattle. Ingle brings a standout Triple-A résumé — .284/.416/.551 with 12 home runs, 41 RBI, and 41 walks in 51 games. He fills a lineup depleted by José Ramírez (hamate fracture), Chase DeLauter, and two other injured position players. Stuart Fairchild was DFA'd in the corresponding move.
Chicago posted the highest run total in the majors in 2026, demolishing Kansas City 22-1. Tristan Peters led with a grand slam and six RBIs, while Miguel Vargas (3-run HR, 5 RBI), Jacob Gonzalez (HR, 5 RBI), and Kyle Teel (HR, 3 RBI) all had big nights. Starter David Sandlin earned his second career win with six solid innings. Meanwhile, Boston's Payton Tolle — recovering from an illness the night before — took a perfect game into the 6th inning and finished 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K in a 6-1 win over New York.
Pittsburgh activated Konnor Griffin from the IL after 26 days with a right forearm strain, and he made an immediate statement: on the second pitch of his first at-bat, he sent a 435-foot, 108.9 mph fastball to left field for a leadoff home run — the fifth-youngest player in MLB history to do so. Griffin had gone 2-for-2 with a HR, triple, and walk in one Double-A rehab game on Wednesday. The Pirates lost 6-4 to Cincinnati despite the blast.
Who's Hot This Week
Cleveland's top prospect made his MLB debut Friday batting 5th with a career .284/.416/.551 line at Triple-A (12 HR, 41 RBI, 41 walks in 51 games). The Guardians have four regular position players on the IL and no obvious timeline to get them back. Ingle's 41 Triple-A walks is the best plate-discipline number for a power prospect in the minors all year. Managers who roster him today won't be paying a premium come trade deadline.
Worth Reading
Daily waiver column with format-specific (10/12/15-team) add thresholds. Highlights Troy Melton (DET) for elite pitch efficiency and unpacks the emerging Curtis Mead situation in Washington. The format breakdown is the reason to bookmark this even if you already know the names.
Cross makes the Statcast case for Walker Buehler (SD, 1.71 ERA since June 1) as a criminally ignored SP streamer and covers the full Travis Bazzana situation post-Ramírez. Schedule-focused with exit-velocity data backing every pick.
Highlights Dustin May at pitcher-friendly Busch Stadium vs. Miami as a prime bounce-back candidate after his rough KC outing. Also flags Alan Rangel (PHI) transitioning from bulk relief to a traditional start. Quick read before you lock a Saturday lineup.
Manager Matt Quatraro confirmed Friday that Ragans is expected to undergo elbow surgery — his third career elbow procedure. He has been on the 60-day IL since May 6 with left elbow impingement after a rehab attempt failed to produce improvement. With August the earliest realistic return from surgery, his 2026 fantasy value is effectively gone.
Grade 1 left hamstring strain — his second IL stint at the same location in 2026. Manager Walt Weiss said the Braves are being "significantly more cautious" this time; Acuña won't travel with the team through June 28. All-Star break return appears unlikely; mid-to-late July is the current expectation.
Murphy fractured his left middle finger in late June and is out through the end of July. The Braves lose their primary catcher at a critical juncture of the NL East race. At an already thin position, this is a genuine fantasy emergency — Murphy owners need to act immediately.
Snell threw his first bullpen session Friday (15 pitches, fastballs only) — the first of four required sessions before he faces hitters. He had a NanoScope procedure on his left elbow May 19 to address loose bodies, less invasive than traditional surgery but still requiring a deliberate buildup. Earliest eligible return is July 10; a post-All-Star-break timeline is more realistic.
After two seasons of tantalizing flash followed by frustrating regression, Jordan Walker has become one of fantasy baseball's most valuable outfielders in 2026. Through roughly 275 plate appearances he's slashing .303/.360/.566 with 17 home runs, 52 RBI, 10 steals, and 45 runs — production that places him firmly in the top 5 fantasy outfielders by points-format total. The driver is a well-documented mechanical overhaul: a narrower batting stance, a sharper average launch angle (up to 13.7 degrees from 10.3), and refined pitch recognition on breaking balls away. The Cardinals' coaching staff worked on this throughout spring training and it has clearly held.
The underlying numbers fully support the surface production. Walker's barrel rate has exploded to 26.2% — up from a 10.1% career average — while his average exit velocity sits at 96.2 mph, a four-mph jump from 2025. His hard-hit rate of 55.4% ranks in the top 10% of MLB. Most importantly, his .453 xwOBA mirrors his actual .457 wOBA almost exactly, meaning there's no BABIP inflation propping up the line. He is generating genuinely harder, better contact on more pitches than at any point in his career.
The one persistent concern is a 28.6% strikeout rate — high, and showing no meaningful drop. His chase rate has improved to 23% (from 34% in 2025), which is the positive signal, but the swing-and-miss profile means any extended slump could look dramatic. His 10.2% walk rate (a career best) provides a real floor. The mechanical adjustments are verified across multiple independent observer reports — this appears to be a new baseline, not a hot streak waiting to cool.
Thursday's eight-game slate produced four blown saves. Clayton Beeter added his fourth of the season for Washington, and the Nationals immediately optioned Gus Varland to Triple-A Rochester, doubling down on Beeter as the answer despite the shaky track record. Aroldis Chapman (BOS) converted cleanly for save No. 15, and Matt Krook took his first blown save of 2026 for Pittsburgh — adding to an already unsettled late-game situation in the Steel City.
Read the full Ledger →| Closer | Team | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Webb | CHC | 🔴 Committee | Daniel Palencia remains on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation with no clear return timeline. Webb is the nominal front-runner but Caleb Thielbar and Phil Maton have both converted opportunities in his absence. The Cubs have generated limited save chances overall. Don't roster more than one piece of this committee in standard formats — the distribution is genuinely unpredictable. |
| Clayton Beeter | WSH | 🟡 Watch | Four blown saves on the season, yet the Nationals optioned backup Gus Varland after Thursday's meltdown, essentially confirming Beeter as their closer going forward. The team leads MLB with 24 blown saves in 48 opportunities through 82 games — the role is unstable but his. Low floor speculation at best in standard formats. |
| Alex Lange | KC | 🟡 Watch | Lange has converted six consecutive saves after both Carlos Estévez (shoulder IL) and Lucas Erceg (consecutive blown saves) fell out of the picture. He hasn't allowed a run in his last 7.1 innings and is the clearest save-role option in Kansas City. Classified watch given Estévez's eventual return, but the day-to-day role is Lange's to lose. |
| Ryan Helsley | BAL | 🟡 Watch | Returned from right elbow inflammation IL on June 16 and immediately reclaimed the closer role from Rico Garcia. Performance since has been uneven. The elbow history and the team's tendency to use him on back-to-back days make this worth monitoring closely. Hold Helsley but have Garcia rostered in deeper formats as insurance. |
Konnor Griffin hits a 435-foot, 108.9 mph leadoff home run on the very first pitch he sees after returning from the IL — first at-bat in 26 days.
Philadelphia CF Derek Hill leaps above the right-center wall at Citi Field to rob Juan Soto of a home run in the first inning. Zack Wheeler called it "the best catch I've ever seen in person."
The White Sox score 10 runs in the third inning against Kansas City — seven of them with two outs — powered by Tristan Peters' grand slam and Miguel Vargas' three-run homer.
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