Daily Clips

June 30, 2018

LOCALKennedy stung by HRs in KC's loss to SeattleJune 30, 2018 By Gregg Bell/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/ian-kennedy-allows-2-hrs-in-loss-to-mariners/c-283579234

Bonifacio 'excited' to rejoin Royals' lineupOutfielder makes '18 debut after 80-game suspensionJune 30, 2018 By Gregg Bell/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jorge-bonifacio-returns-from-suspension/c-283546008

'I never expected that result': Royals' Jorge Bonifacio opens up about his suspensionJune 30, 2018 By Maria Torres/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214120384.html

Homers again do in Ian Kennedy and the Royals as they lose to MarinersJune 29, 2018 By Maria Torres/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214120339.html

Bobblehead power: Royals fan turned hobby into fundraiser for fellow fan with cancerJune 30, 2018 By Luke Harbur/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214102794.html

The future of the Royals through the eyes of the man building itJune 29, 2018 By Sam Mellinger/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article214053754.html

These are the 'Turn Ahead The Clock' uniforms the Royals will wear SaturdayJune 29, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article214057629.html

Jorge Bonifacio is out to prove he’s part of the Royals’ future as he returns from 80-game PED banJune 30, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/414287/2018/06/29/jorge-bonifacio-is-out-to-prove-hes-part-of-the-royals-future-as-he-returns-from-80-game-ped-ban/

MINORSLopez has smashing PCL homecomingRoyals No. 6 prospect raps four hits, homers in PCL debutJune 29, 2018 By Vincent Lara-Cinisomo/MiLB.comhttps://www.milb.com/milb/news/kansas-city-royals-nicky-lopez-has-four-hits-in-triple-a-debut/c-283559284

Naturals lose in extras as Missions prevail, 4-3Newcomers Arnaldo Hernandez and Khalil Lee both perform well in their Double-A debuts for Northwest ArkansasJune 30, 2018 By NW Arkansas Naturalshttps://www.milb.com/northwest-arkansas/news/naturals-lose-in-extras-as-missions-prevail/c-283595428

Watson, Cancel Lead Blue Rocks to Series WinBlue Rocks Take Five-Game Series over HillcatsJune 29, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/wilmington/news/watson-cancel-lead-blue-rocks-to-series-win/c-283573282

Scoreless Through Ten, Legends Plate One in Eleventh To Take Series Over IntimidatorsJune 29, 2018 By Lexington Legendshttps://www.milb.com/lexington/news/scoreless-through-ten-legends-plate-one-in-eleventh-to-take-series-over-intimidators/c-283569166

Royals Blank Yankees 2-0Great pitching evens the series at PulaskiJune 29, 2018 By Justin Gallanty/Burlington Royalshttps://www.milb.com/burlington-royals/news/royals-blank-yankees-2-0/c-283556002

NATIONALDarvish gets cortisone shot for elbow injuryCubs right-hander reunites with Rangers doc after setbackJune 29, 2018 By Matthew Martell/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/yu-darvish-gets-cortisone-for-elbow-injury/c-283479144

Awards Watch: New names emerge in the MVP race and all bets are off for Rookie of the YearJune 29, 2018 By Cliff Corcoran/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/412804/2018/06/29/awards-watch-new-names-emerge-in-the-mvp-race-and-all-bets-are-off-for-rookie-of-the-year/

Cards have renewed interest in Moustakas; are A’s buyers or sellers?; Red Sox-Yanks rivalry; more notesJune 29, 2018 By Ken Rosenthal/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/413375/2018/06/29/rosenthal-cards-have-renewed-interest-in-moustakas-are-as-buyers-or-sellers-red-sox-yanks-rivalry-more-notes/

Correa headed to DL with back ailmentAstros hope All-Star shortstop will return next weekendJune 29, 2018 By Brian McTaggart/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/astros/news/carlos-correa-headed-to-dl-with-back-ailment/c-283371018

Sources: Chris Bosio was fired for directing a racial slur at a clubhouse attendantJune 29, 2018 By Ken Rosenthal & Katie Strang/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/413630/2018/06/29/sources-chris-bosio-was-fired-for-directing-a-racial-slur-at-a-clubhouse-attendant/

MLB TRANSACTIONSJune 30, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

LOCALKennedy stung by HRs in KC's loss to SeattleJune 30, 2018 By Gregg Bell/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/ian-kennedy-allows-2-hrs-in-loss-to-mariners/c-283579234

The Royals have allowed so many home runs this season. More than anyone in baseball, in fact.

But none are likely to have traveled much farther -- or faster -- than the second of the two homers Ian Kennedy gave up in Kansas City's 4-1 loss to the Mariners on Friday night.

Mike Zunino sent Kennedy's centered, 2-2 fastball in the fifth inning to the next-to-last row of the second deck, nearly out of Safeco Field. It was tracked by Statcast™ at 116 mph.

That was one inning after Mitch Haniger hit the 16th home run this season off Kennedy, the Major League-leading 117th homer allowed by the Royals in 2018.

The blasts were enough to send Kansas City to its 20th loss in 25 games to the soaring Mariners in the opener of this three-game series.

Kansas City's pitchers have allowed 129 runs while going 5-20 this month. Now they are waiting to see how Kennedy (1-8) wakes up Saturday from the pain in his side that caused manager Ned Yost to pull him after five innings and three hits allowed.

Yost called taking out Kennedy "a precaution."

"It happened when I threw that last pitch to Zunino. I felt it grab," Kennedy said. "The rest of the inning it just stayed tight. The last couple pitches I was compensating for it. I knew I could still pitch with it, but the right thing to do was to say something.

"I mean, I would say it's pretty mild. But I think the real test is how I wake up [Saturday]."

The Royals couldn't put enough hits together to pick up Kennedy while facing Mariners starter Marco Gonzales (8-5).

Whit Merrifield led off the game with a single and got bunted to second on a sacrifice by Rosell Herrera. But Gonzales then picked off Merrifield at second base.

And with one out in the fourth inning, Herrera sliced a double that went off left fielder Denard Span's glove after a long run to the warning track. Mike Moustakas then lined a one-hop infield single off Kyle Seager's wrist at third base. But Salvador Perez swung at the second of consecutive changeups from Gonzales and hit into an inning-ending double play.

Moustakas' RBI single with two outs in the ninth kept the Royals from being shut out for the fourth time this month.

"He did a good job of kind of establishing in, getting us looking in, then getting us out away," Yost said of Gonzales. "We got as many hits as they did. But they outslugged us."

BONIFACIO RETURNSJorge Bonifacio made his season debut after returning from an 80-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He started in left field, batting fifth and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. More >

SOUND SMARTThe Royals have scored 53 runs in their 25 games this month, by far the fewest in the Major Leagues. The next lowest-scoring team in June entering Friday was Washington, which had 25 more runs than Kansas City. The Royals are on pace to end June with their worst batting average for a month in team history. It was .190 entering Friday, the worst in baseball.

The 1992 Royals hit .207 in April on their way to finishing 72-90.

YOU GOTTA SEE THISWith two Mariners on base and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Herrera ran up and to his left on a ball Ryon Healy looped into short right field. Herrera caught the ball below his knee to prevent a possible two-run double and keep the game at 3-0 entering the seventh.

Herrera started in right field for the ninth time this season because Yost put Bonifacio in left field for his return game. Left fielder Alex Gordon had a day off.

Expect Gordon back in left field Saturday and Bonifacio in right, where he was for 92 games as a rookie last season.

UP NEXTSaturday is Turn Ahead the Clock Night at Safeco Field. Jason Hammel (2-9, 5.34) wouldn't mind turning his clock

ahead, past June. He's lost all four of his decisions this month. He allowed nine runs, six hits and five walks in his last start, Sunday at Houston. Hammel faces Felix Hernandez (7-6, 5.10 ERA) beginning at 7:10 p.m. PT.

Bonifacio 'excited' to rejoin Royals' lineupOutfielder makes '18 debut after 80-game suspensionJune 30, 2018 By Gregg Bell/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/royals/news/jorge-bonifacio-returns-from-suspension/c-283546008

Jorge Bonifacio's smile was as wide as his suspension was long.

"I'm so excited to be back with the team," the Royals' 25-year-old outfielder said Friday, beaming inside the visiting clubhouse at Safeco Field.

That was hours before Bonifacio returned from his 80-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He immediately went into the middle of a Kansas City lineup that desperately needed him.

Bonifacio went 0-for-3 with a strikeout while batting fifth and playing left field as the Royals lost, 4-1, to the Mariners in the series opener Friday night.

He hit 17 home runs while batting .255 as a rookie for the Royals last season. Then he tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug boldenone during Spring Training this March.

After some at-bats in Arizona in extended spring training at the Royals' complex in Surprise, he played 13 games for Triple-A Omaha in what was similar to a rehabilitation assignment following an injury. Royals manager Ned Yost noted Bonifacio was batting .400 for Omaha until his final day there. He finished at .392 for Omaha, with an OPS of .995.

In between his positive test and his return to the Royals on Friday afternoon, he had a lot of time to think. And to talk. He chatted daily with his older brother, Emilio, a former Major Leaguer, and had regular talks with his Royals teammate, Salvador Perez.

Bonifacio also had a lot of time to regret, and learn.

"I was thinking a lot. My brother, I was calling him every single day trying to have him help me out. It was a tough time down there in Arizona," he said. "But I learned from it. It's never going to happen again."

Kansas City entered Friday 30 games under .500. The Royals were on pace for a franchise-record 110 losses (the 2005 Royals lost 106 games).

They scored 53 runs in their first 24 games this month, by far the fewest in baseball. The next lowest-scoring team in June: Washington, with 78 runs entering Friday. Kansas City's batting average of .190 this month entering Friday was not only the worst in the Major Leagues, it was the worst for any one month in franchise history. The 1992 Royals hit .207 in April on their way to finishing 72-90.

So, yes, the return of Bonifacio could be big, even though Friday was just his 114th Major League game.

"We're glad to have him back," Yost said. "He was swinging very well down [at Omaha]. …

"I mean, the kid hit 17 homers last year. … Yeah, he was going to hit in the middle of the order, until all this surfaced."

Bonifacio played in 92 games last season in right field, nine in left field and one in center field. But he made his 2018 Royals debut in left on Friday night.

Alex Gordon started 50 of the first 80 games in left field. He got the day off that Yost had wanted to give him all week.

Gordon had played in 29 consecutive games from May 26 at Texas until Friday. The manager was going to him a day off Wednesday in the finale of the two-game series at Milwaukee, but decided against it. Gordon then had two fine catches in a 5-4 win.

"With the off-day [Thursday], I wanted to give him back-to-back days," Yost said.

Bonifacio is likely to be in right field for the second game of this series and his season.

"We are going to move him around. He's going to play," Yost said. "He's going to play some right, play some left. What difference does it make?"

The Royals hope Bonifacio's return makes a huge difference.

"I'm sorry that this happened. [But] nobody else has been on my case," he said about his suspension. "I just want to say sorry to all my teammates and the front office."

'I never expected that result': Royals' Jorge Bonifacio opens up about his suspensionJune 30, 2018 By Maria Torres/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214120384.html

All Royals outfielder Jorge Bonifacio wanted was a boost.

Some seven months ago, fresh off his first season in the major leagues, Bonifacio returned home to play winter baseball in the Dominican Republic. He wanted to continue his development, encouraged by his future with the Royals.

But he was tired, body sore from playing 113 major-league games. He needed something to get him through at least a month of additional playing time. He sought the boost from the B12 vitamin without running the supplement by the Royals training staff.

This was the decision that cost him an 80-game suspension, Bonifacio told The Star at Safeco Field on Friday, one day after being reinstated from the restricted list.

“I never expected that result,” Bonifacio said in Spanish.

Upon reporting to spring training in Surprise, Ariz., in February, Bonifacio found out the B12 he purchased in the offseason had been laced with Boldenone, a performance-enhancing substance commonly used to treat horses that is

prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency and banned by baseball.

Bonifacio immediately owned his mistake and issued a public apology to his teammates and the Royals organization after he was suspended on March 10.

He was disappointed he couldn’t continue to build on a rookie campaign that saw him bat .255 with 17 home runs. He instead was banished to the desert, clinging to a cellphone as a lifeline to a team that stumbled to a 25-55 record without him.

He exchanged messages of encouragement with his older brother, Emilio, the one-time Royals player who went unsigned as a free agent this winter. Royals catcher Salvador Perez frequented his inbox, too.

“I was talking to Salvy a lot, saying, ‘Let’s go, let’s go, you guys can do it. Just try to get everyday better and better,’” Bonifacio said. “The team wasn’t playing very well and he told me, ‘Hey, bro, we need you here.’ And that was more tough for me because I couldn’t do anything down there.”

The mutual encouragement was necessary for Bonifacio, 25, to remain focused on the present. Otherwise, thoughts of his misguided judgment might have crowded too much of his mind.

He still doesn't have an answer for how the supplement he obtained came to be tainted. Yet it doesn't matter, he acknowledges.

“It was just by accident,” Bonifacio said.

Bonifacio spent the last three and a half months tucked out of public view, ruminating on his mistake and preparing himself for a shortened season. He played four or five times a week in extended spring-training games, facing what he referred to as “wild” pitchers to stay sharp.

He kept his focus on June 29, the day of the first major-league game he would be eligible to play.

The date finally arrived with the Royals in Seattle to face the Mariners, who are in second place in the American League West division. The team Bonifacio rejoined is in polar-opposite shape: The Royals on Saturday morning found themselves 31 games under .500, stuck in the cellar with the second-worst record in baseball.

"We’re glad to have him back," manager Ned Yost said. "The kid hit 17 homers last year. He was gonna be in the middle of the order until all this surfaced."

Of course, it will take more than Bonifacio's return to slow down the Royals’ pace to 110 losses. But his presence in the lineup is a step in the right direction.

“I just have to leave it behind,” he said. “I can’t turn back the clock. I just won’t do something like that again.”

Homers again do in Ian Kennedy and the Royals as they lose to MarinersJune 29, 2018 By Maria Torres/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214120339.html

Outfielder Jorge Bonifacio’s return from the restricted list, where he spent 80 games suspended for testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance Boldenone, did not provide a spark for the Royals' offense as they opened a three-game set at Safeco Field against the 52-win Mariners.

Bonifacio was 0 for 3 as the Royals were held to six hits by Mariners starting pitcher Marco Gonzales, who threw a complete game, in Friday night’s 4-1 loss.

Home runs did the Royals in. Their starters have allowed 77 homers this season. Only the Orioles, Rangers and Reds have yielded more.

The Mariners only tallied three hits against Royals starter Ian Kennedy, who allowed three runs in five innings before being removed for precautionary reasons when he felt a muscle in his left side tighten. But Mitch Haniger hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Kennedy and Mike Zunino tacked on a solo shot in the fifth that traveled an estimated 454 feet to left field, where the fence is 376 feet away from home plate.

"I felt like I was pretty efficient for the most part," Kennedy said. "It's just kind of how it's been going."

The Royals had a chance to score in the fourth inning, when Rosell Herrera was credited a one-out double on a line drive that glanced off the heel of Denard Span’s outstretched glove. Mike Moustakas followed with a single on a ground ball that hit third baseman Kyle Seager on the wrist of his glove hand. But Salvador Perez, who’s batting .154 (14 for 91) in June, grounded into his team-leading 14th double play of the season to end the Royals’ threat.

"(Gonzales) did a good job of establishing in and getting us looking in and then getting us out away," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He just did a good job of getting us off-balance. We got as many hits as they got, but they out-slugged us. That generally will win you a game."

The Royals, who fell to 25-56, will send starter Jason Hammel to the mound at 9:10 p.m. Saturday.

Bobblehead power: Royals fan turned hobby into fundraiser for fellow fan with cancerJune 30, 2018 By Luke Harbur/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/kansas-city-royals/article214102794.html

Lining the homemade shelves of Bryan Schmuck’s Lee’s Summit basement are roughly 500 Kansas City Royals bobbleheads and countless sports memorabilia. Schmuck recently gave a tour of his collection with some of his children.

“Hey Pax! Pax! Which is your favorite one, Pax?” Schmuck asks his 4-year-old son Paxton.

Pax grins and points to the Royals Slugger bobblehead that stands 3 feet tall. Only 25 were made. One was once listed at more than $1,200 on eBay.

“How about you, Pais?” Schmuck asked his daughter.

The 6-year-old scurries to the far side of room and says “the blue one by Hulk.”

That would be the Royals Captain America Bobblehead from Marvel Super Hero Day at The K, listed around $45 on eBay.

The 42-year-old Schmuck, a father of five, owns every bobblehead given out at Royals baseball games since the team started the tradition in 2002.

His other memorabilia include a 6-by-6-foot piece of artificial turf from one of the six 1980 World Series baseball games. He got the piece from legendary Kansas City Royals groundskeeper George Toma.

About a month ago, Schmuck became a Facebook moderator of “KC Royals Bobblehead & Figurine-trade.sell.” Through this group, he says he’s been able to meet up with other bobblehead fanatics at Royals games.

His hobby is such a part of him that he mentioned it on his first date with his wife, Kristin.

“On our first date Bryan asked whether or not I collected anything,” she recalled. “Initially I thought that was an odd question, but now I understand why he asked.”

His kids are in on it, too, often accompanying him to bobblehead giveaway games or Fanfest.

“My dad was the one who got me into collecting,” said 22-year-old Hayley. “Whenever me or my siblings go to giveaway nights, he gives us some of his extra bobbleheads.”

This January, Schmuck’s passion led him to a special kinship with a Royals fan living in Iowa.

A season ticket holder, Schmuck arrived at Royals Fanfest at Bartle Hall on Jan. 26 at 7 a.m. — five hours before its noon start. He had his three oldest kids with him.

Though he’s usually the first to arrive for Fanfest, he wasn’t this time. Ahead of him was Mike Comstock, who’d driven from his Iowa home the night before, slept in his van so he didn’t have to pay for a hotel room, and claimed his spot in line at 6:30 a.m.

They started talking and Comstock spent both days of FanFest with Schmuck getting autographs. Comstock, 30, said that by the end of the weekend, he felt he shared a close bond with Schmuck.

“We became best friends, like brothers, almost instantly,” Comstock said. “He collects bobbleheads and I’m really into Royals sports memorabilia. Through our collections I’ve been able to get him rare bobbleheads from Storm Chaser minor league games and he’s given me Royals bobbleheads.”

Comstock said his collection is not nearly as large as Schmuck’s.

“I own like 10 or 12 different ones,” Comstock said. “His knocks mine out of the park!”

Over the past six months, Schmuck and Comstock kept in touch. About a month ago, Schmuck saw on Facebook that Comstock was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer.

“In May Mike directly messaged me on Facebook asking for some money to help pay for gas,” Schmuck said. “I know he’s got a daughter that he’s trying to take care of, so I was thinking about what I could do to help.”

Comstock is divorced. He and his daughter Hailey, 8, spend summers together.

“The summer is when she comes to Royals games with me,” Comstock said. “It’s the best time. We have a lot of fun.”

After Comstock asked Schmuck for gas money, Schmuck said he later asked more about his treatments.

On Monday, June 18, Schmuck launched a fundraiser for Comstock on Facebook. For $3, a participant could receive a slot in a drawing for rare, donated bobbleheads. Schmuck’s goal was to sell at least 200 prize drawing slots.

After five days, the fundraiser sold 502 slots and Schmuck received so many bobblehead donations that he turned down offers.

In all, Schmuck raised $1,350 for Comstock.

Brian Burger paid for 16 fundraiser slots and also donated bobbleheads for the drawing.

“It’s the first time I’d ever seen something like that. What he was asking for was a good cause, and I’d want someone to do the same for me,” Burger said.

Comstock said he can’t believe so many people were willing to help him.

“It took a big weight off my shoulders,” he said. “After what Bryan did, I still cannot thank the bobblehead community enough.”

Comstock started his chemotherapy on June 28.

Schmuck said even through bobbleheads, people can give back.

“People may think bobbleheads are weird but everyone has their thing,” Schmuck said. “You never know how you can help someone who may need it most.”

The future of the Royals through the eyes of the man building itJune 29, 2018 By Sam Mellinger/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article214053754.html

The future of the Royals and much of the franchise's leadership plays on four gigantic television screens. The organization's massive lift began inside this windowless room on Kauffman Stadium's sixth floor behind a locked door and up a flight of stairs from the Craft and Draft bar.

Lonnie Goldberg, the team's scouting director, is watching video of his top two picks when he's asked his thoughts as Brady Singer and then Jackson Kowar — two highly regarded right-handed pitchers from Florida — fell to the Royals' 18th and 33rd picks.

"(Shoot)," Royals scouting director Lonnie Goldberg said. "We're going to end up with both these guys? Never in a million years."

Goldberg's job security and an enormous amount of the Royals' future success depends upon his being right on a draft class that is without precedent for the franchise. He and the

rest of the decision makers viewed this as a once-in-career opportunity, with five of the first 58 picks and the largest bonus pool in baseball.

Old-timers in the organization are reminded of the 1992 draft, which netted Johnny Damon, Jon Lieber and Michael Tucker in the first 44 picks. A more recent and optimistic example would be the Angels' 2009 class — Mike Trout, Patrick Corbin, Garrett Richards, Randal Grichuk and Tyler Skaggs in the first 80.

It's hard to imagine the Royals managing through their current darkness without Goldberg being right on this class — potential star pitchers at the top, productive hitters below.

It's hard to imagine an end to the losing anytime soon if he's wrong — the way the 2012 class looks, for instance.

The Royals are betting their future on a strategy that turned heads around the game. They have traditionally valued high school players in the draft, believing in the generally higher ceilings and the organization's ability to develop.

At least a few rival evaluators wonder if the Royals are prioritizing time over talent here, with two independently wondering if owner David Glass issued a directive to speed the process after seven full seasons passed before a winning record the first time general manager Dayton Moore oversaw a rebuild.

"There was no directive," Goldberg said.

Still, the selection of college pitchers with each of the first five picks was not coincidence. Teams do this every year, in all sports. They talk about "best player available," but that's a fundamentally subjective term, and is shaped not only by different evaluators having different opinions but different teams having different priorities.

The Royals saw a hole in their farm system. They'd traded some bright pitching prospects — most notably Sean Manaea in the Ben Zobrist deal three years ago — and missed on some others. Others like Foster Griffin, Scott Blewett and Josh Staumont retain organizational confidence but have yet to see significant progress.

"I don't feel like we settled," Goldberg said. "We took guys we really liked, guys that we're going, '(Shoot), if he puts all this together and we can get him to do this, then we have another animal.'"

The class is fascinating. Singer had been projected by some as a Top 5 pick, and went Top 10 in every dummy draft the Royals did as preparation. Goldberg said the financial discussions had not yet begun, but that he didn't know why Singer was still available.

Watch the video and it's easy to see what the Royals like. He's 6-foot-5, and athletic enough to repeat a funky and deceptive delivery, with three good pitches now and a reputation as the most competitive ol' cuss in the draft.

The comparison that comes most often is with Aaron Nola, taken seventh overall by the Phillies in 2014 and now with 283 strikeouts and a 3.17 ERA across 269 1/3 innings the last two seasons. Nola has a quick delivery, throws lots of strikes, and possesses a superior understanding of pitching and his own talents that makes him better than his raw stuff.

"I'll be honest, I didn't think Nola was going to be this good," Goldberg said. "I liked him, thought he was a good pitcher, but I didn't think he had upper rotation stuff. So I've learned from that. He's taught me something."

You may have the video of Singer unfurling a string of f-bombs when a start was interrupted by rain. Goldberg saw it, too, many times. The first time, he called his area scout to ask if there is anything else he should know. Once he heard the context — Singer was directed to warm up by the umpire, knowing a delay would end his start — Goldberg thought of it as a positive.

"That's him," Goldberg said. "That's how he's wired. That's why he's freaking good. He's different."

That's not the best Singer story, though. Before the season, questions surrounded Singer's changeup. It was seen as the pitch that would largely determine his future, and draft status. With a good changeup, he could be a middle-of-the-rotation guy, minimum. Without it, something much less valuable.

So, as the story goes, in one of his first starts this spring watched by a large number of scouts, Singer shook off his catcher into nine consecutive changeups. Nine. Threw them for strikes, too, and got outs. The assumption was that it was a message, a figurative middle finger at the doubts.

"I wasn't there but I've heard the story," Goldberg said. "We talked about it in our draft room, too. We didn't know if he did that as a middle finger, but that's what we all thought: 'OK, you guys want to see this? Here it is, bam-bam-bam.'"

Kowar was Florida's No. 2 pitcher, but seen by many scouts to possess a higher ceiling than Singer. He's 6-foot-5 and all legs, with higher velocity, and the kind of changeup that's difficult even for a hitter sitting on it.

His delivery is a little rough at times — he can get side-to-side, in scout speak — which makes it difficult to finish the pitch. If that changes, then the Royals could have a frontline starter.

"I didn't want to walk away day one without at least two advanced, high-ceiling college pitchers," Goldberg said. "I knew that. But then Brady falls into your lap, and that wasn't part of the equation. Then Jackson, and it's rolling from there, because you can't go wrong if you take pitching — guys that throw strikes, guys that have makeup, guys who strike guys out at a high level."

In some ways, the glut of picks helped the Royals be ready for Singer's fall. In a typical draft, they would focus on a small group of players expected to be available with each pick. Because the Royals had so many, they essentially homeworked everyone.

That prepared them for Singer, prepared them for Kowar, prepared them for everyone else.

Royals scouts saw each of the last four starts by 6-foot-4 Virginia lefty Daniel Lynch, whom they selected 34th overall with a bet on his rapid improvement with arm action and frame that promise more. Kris Bubic is a 6-foot-3 lefty from Stanford with a fastball up to 94, developing off speed pitches, and the pitcher of the year in the Cape Cod summer league.

Those are just the four picks officially considered in the first round. The Royals had centerfielders Kyle Isbel and Eric

Cole ranked consecutively. Austin Cox, a 6-foot-3 lefty from Mercer, was eighth nationally with 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

The draft's biggest wild card is probably Zach Haake, a 6-foot-4 righty from Kentucky taken in the sixth round. Haake's fastball as been up to 97, with a changeup and slider that both rate as plus. Goldberg said if you took names off the scouting reports, Haake's might've been the best of anyone they selected.

He developed some arm problems after throwing some 120 pitches in his first start transitioning from the bullpen. But two Royals scouts watched two innings of a showcase in Houston that they called as good as any college pitcher all year.

"That was against Florida, actually," Goldberg said. "They were like, 'It was stupid.'"

This is the group that will largely determine the Royals' future, and Goldberg's. He will presumably have another intriguing decision next year with a very high pick, but scouting directors don't see opportunities like this often. Five of the top 58 picks means a fair expectation of production, and soon, the beginning of another rebuild done by virtually the same group that led the first.

"We'll never have this again," Goldberg said. "I'll be shocked if we ever have it again."

These are the 'Turn Ahead The Clock' uniforms the Royals will wear SaturdayJune 29, 2018 By Pete Grathoff/KC Starhttps://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/for-petes-sake/article214057629.html

This sounds like the plot to a Christopher Nolan movie or perhaps something that a theoretical physicist could try to explain.

When the Royals take the field Saturday night in Seattle, they will be wearing special jerseys as part of the Mariners' celebration to honor a promotion from 20 years ago. That was "Turn Ahead The Clock Night" when the Mariners and Royals had futuristic uniforms from the year 2027.

Got that? It's a throwback to the future.

Those uniforms from the 1998 Royals-Mariners games were flat-out ugly. Well, the Royals' were, at least. They had gold metallic helmets and sleeveless yellow jerseys.

The Royals got an upgrade for this Saturday's game. Second baseman Whit Merrifield modeled the uniforms:

Click the link to view the video.

Here is a look at the jerseys from the game in 1998:

Click the link to view the tweet.

Jorge Bonifacio is out to prove he’s part of the Royals’ future as he returns from 80-game PED banJune 30, 2018 By Rustin Dodd/The Athletic

https://theathletic.com/414287/2018/06/29/jorge-bonifacio-is-out-to-prove-hes-part-of-the-royals-future-as-he-returns-from-80-game-ped-ban/

On Friday afternoon, Jorge Bonifacio stood in a back corner of the visitors’ clubhouse here, attempting to explain how he passed the time during an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs. More than half of his ban had been spent in the drab, cookie-cutter neighborhoods of Surprise, Ariz., where the Royals hold spring training, so Bonifacio talked about the clubhouse attendant who gave him company, phone conversations with his older brother and the days that moved at varying speeds.

And at this point, the interview was stopped for a second by Royals catcher Salvador Perez, who sauntered by and shouted toward Bonifacio as he pulled something from his locker.

“Salvy, too!” he said.

Perez, of course, is never one to ignore the cameras. He also was not kidding. In the months after Bonifacio, 25, received his 80-game suspension on March 11, the battery life on his cell phone was tested by the persistent communication of Perez, the club’s effervescent catcher. As Bonifacio spent weeks in the dull grind of extended spring training, working out and hitting in the cage, Perez peppered his phone with updates and encouragement, little bursts to keep him motivated and involved.

“Hey bro,” he would text, “We need you here.”

“He’s my brother,” Perez said.

Bonifacio appreciated the attention, of course. In some ways, he needed it. In the months before he re-joined the Royals on Friday before a 4-1 loss to the Mariners at Safeco Field, he’d felt burdened by guilt as his team plummeted in the standings. He was supposed to be hitting in the middle of the lineup and splitting time with Jorge Soler in right field. He was supposed to be building on a promising rookie debut in which he hit 17 homers and posted a .752 OPS in 113 games. He was not supposed to be spending his April mornings in a clubhouse with a cast of injured players and minor leaguers at the team facility.

“It was tough,” he said.

It was the consequence, of course, of a positive test for Boldenone, an anabolic steroid and veterinary drug used on horses. Bonifacio tested positive at some point during the offseason, and while he never commented on the particulars of his violation, he did not seek to make excuses for the test. He apologized to his teammates and the organization in a brief interview at spring training. General manager Dayton Moore called him an “incredible person who just made a mistake.”

“It’s not going to happen again,” Bonifacio said Friday. “Nobody owes me (anything) in my case.”

It was a rare moment of accountability from a professional athlete, one who did not seek to make a wild excuse or claim innocence. It also stemmed from a careless act that cost the Royals a potential run producer and Bonifacio months of important development.

“He was going to hit in the middle of the order until all this surfaced,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

The club had opened spring training hoping to dole out 400 to 500 at-bats apiece to Bonifacio, Soler and third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert, the first sign of a rebuilding process in its infancy. The plan has been imperfect. As the Royals opened a series against the Mariners, Soler remained on the disabled list with a broken foot while Cuthbert (lower back strain) opened a rehab assignment at Triple-A Omaha after being sidelined since May 15.

If getting 450 at-bats was the benchmark, the club could go zero for three in that quest. So for now, Bonifacio will seek to make up for lost time. On Friday, he started in left field while Alex Gordon received a day off. He finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout as the Royals continued their listless June. On most days, he will start in right field or slot into the lineup at DH.

“The kid hit 17 homers last year,” Yost said.

Owners of the worst offense in baseball, the Royals (25-56) could benefit from a productive Bonifacio. On Friday, they managed just six hits off Seattle lefty Marco Gonzales, who twirled a complete game in 96 pitches. They have averaged just 2.12 runs in the month of June. They entered Saturday with 53 runs in the month, 29 behind the second-worst offense, the Tampa Bay Rays. With exactly half of their 162-game schedule remaining, they are on pace for a club-record 112 losses.

The Royals concluded Friday night with starting pitcher Ian Kennedy strapping an ice-pack to his left side after feeling a muscle grab in the fifth inning. He left the game shortly after as a precaution. Other than that, things were going pretty well.

But back to Bonifacio, where the greater focus is on the long term. Soler could be out until late August, and Cuthbert could return in the coming weeks. But the Royals will spend most of the next three months evaluating Bonifacio, Adalberto Mondesi and Hunter Dozier as they identify pieces and chart the course for the future.

In 2017, Bonifacio looked like an important piece, albeit one that required some necessary refinement. He clubbed 17 homers and 15 doubles in just 384 at-bats. He also struck out 28 percent of the time, finishing with a below-average OPS and playing suspect defense in the outfield. As a result, he was worth just one win above replacement, according to FanGraphs.com.

The Royals, however, believe in the offensive potential. And in the weeks before spring training, Moore, the club’s general manager, offered a tepid comparison to Moises Alou, the former six-time All-Star.

It was a generous comparison, of course, but Moore was in an optimistic mood. It was before a PED violation and a 25-55 record and a season that left the Royals selling off pieces before the start of July.

It was before Bonifacio returned to the clubhouse on Friday afternoon, poised to move on from his blunder. If he is to be a part of the Royals’ future, it will start in the second half of 2018. He’d spent the first half of the season in Arizona, waiting out the suspension while conferring daily with Perez and his older brother Emilio, the former big-leaguer. As he returned from baseball purgatory, ready to slip on a Royals uniform for the first time in 2018, he promised that the mistake was in the past.

“I was thinking a lot, talking to my brother,” Bonifacio said. “I was calling him like every single day; (he was) trying to help me out. It was a tough time down in Arizona. But I learned from it. It’s not going to happen again.”

MINORS

Lopez has smashing PCL homecomingRoyals No. 6 prospect raps four hits, homers in PCL debutJune 29, 2018 By Vincent Lara-Cinisomo/MiLB.comhttps://www.milb.com/milb/news/kansas-city-royals-nicky-lopez-has-four-hits-in-triple-a-debut/c-283559284

Even though it was his first game at a new level, Nicky Lopez felt right at home.

The Creighton product had a smashing Triple-A debut in Omaha on Friday, going 4-for-5 with a homer, double and three runs scored in the Storm Chasers' 10-1 rout of Nashville at Werner Park.

"I'm familiar with all these guys, and what's great is that even though this is a new team, I feel comfortable in the clubhouse," the Royals' sixth-ranked prospect said. "And being back in Omaha, I didn't have pregame jitters. I saw some people I know and recognize some familiar faces."

Lopez's big game came a day after his promotion from Double-A Northwest Arkansas -- which followed playing in the Texas League All-Star Game -- and about a week after he hit for the cycle for the Naturals.

"It's just a feeling of comfort, just being able to know the team and live in a town that you spent three pretty important years of college life. Being able to do that, it's really comforting," he said.

After batting .250/.368/.275 in 22 games in April, the Illinois native has caught fire. He hit .367/.408/.458 in 30 games in May and batted .358/.413/.494 in June before getting bumped up a level. Overall, he's got a .340 batting average.

The 2016 fifth-round pick wasted no time acclimating to his new team. He ripped a single to right field in the first inning and later scored on a ground-ball single by Royals No. 16 prospect Ryan O'Hearn.

Lopez grounded out against right-hander James Naile (5-7) in the third but singled to center to start the fifth against Kyle Finnegan and stole second for his 10th theft of the year.

Scouts say Lopez has below-average power, but the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder drove his third homer of the year out to left in the sixth, scoring Donnie Dewees. The lefty hitter capped his big night with an opposite-field double in the eighth.

Defense and makeup were Lopez's calling cards when he was drafted, but his bat has been better than expected, especially this season as he's shown more extra-base power.

"I think it's maturity," Lopez said of his improved power. "I'm growing up a little bit. Even though I'm 23, I'm not the typical 23-year-old; I look like I'm 18. But I made some

minor tweaks to my hands, and then in the [Arizona] Fall League, I put up some productive numbers. I just made some minor tweaks."

His surehandedness and poise have helped him move through the system quickly as he reached Double-A in just his second pro year.

"I had two goals in Spring Training: one was getting to Triple-A and the second was getting to the big leagues," he said.

"I wouldn't say I'm surprised, but I kind of lose track of how fast I have moved. I'm pretty tough on myself. I was pretty tough on myself in April, but this is just [my] second full season and I'm trying to make some positives. But I wouldn't want it any other way. I want to play at this level. I'm looking around and I'm playing with Paulo Orlando, Trevor Oaks, Scott Barlow, Billy Burns, Ramon Torres, all big leaguers. I'm in a locker room full of big leaguers."

Lopez sparked a power surge for the Storm Chasers. Facing veteran left-hander Jeremy Bleich in the seventh, Frank Schwindel and O'Hearn hit back-to-back homers, with Torres going deep two outs later.

The 14-hit attack was more than enough to back Oaks, the Royals' 13th-ranked prospect, who allowed a run on six hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked one.

O'Hearn added a double and a single, while Torres singled in addition to his homer.

Anthony Garcia hit his 13th homer for Nashville's only run.

Naturals lose in extras as Missions prevail, 4-3Newcomers Arnaldo Hernandez and Khalil Lee both perform well in their Double-A debuts for Northwest ArkansasJune 30, 2018 By NW Arkansas Naturalshttps://www.milb.com/northwest-arkansas/news/naturals-lose-in-extras-as-missions-prevail/c-283595428

Despite solid Double-A debuts from starting pitcher Arnaldo Hernandez and outfielder Khalil Lee , the Northwest Arkansas Naturals (1-5, 36-40) went to extras where they would lose for the first time this year as the San Antonio Missions (5-3, 47-31) prevailed in 10-innings by a 4-3 final on Friday night at Arvest Ballpark in front of a crowd of 5,169.

Tied 2-2 after nine innings of play, the Naturals and Missions played on into the tenth. San Antonio scored a run immediately on a RBI single by Michael Gettys that plated Peter Van Gansen , whom started the inning at second base due to the new extra-innings rules in Double-A and Triple-A. After a groundout and two walks loaded the bases, Kyle Overstreet drove in the Missions' final tally with a force out to third base to give the visitor's a two-run advantage at 4-2. In the home half of the tenth, the Naturals scored a run on a sacrifice fly by Elier Hernandez but were unable to score another as they fall a run short.

There was a lot of excitement surrounding the Double-A debuts for Hernandez and Lee. Hernandez got the start on the mound and was excellent through his 5.1 innings of work.

The big right-hander struck out seven and allowed only two runs on six hits.

Lee, whom is widely considered one of the Royals top prospects, started in centerfield and hit leadoff. He immediately made an impact as he singled in the first inning and would score from first base on a two-out, RBI double to left by Kort Peterson . Peterson would then come in to score from third base on a wild pitch by Missions' starter Jesse Scholtens for an early 2-0 lead.

Northwest Arkansas led 2-0 into the fourth when the Missions plated their first run. Fernando Tatis, Jr. and Josh Naylor singled to begin the frame before Tatis would steal home on an attempted double steal with Naylor to cut the deficit to a run at 2-1.

In the fifth, Missions' third baseman Ty France led off with a towering solo homer to tie the game up at 2-2.

Both teams bullpens were effective from there on out to keep the game tied. The Naturals duo of Yunior Marte and Gabe Speier combined for 2.2 perfect innings while Trevor Frank , Erick Johnson and T.J. Weir (W, 1-0) kept the Naturals at bay. Weir would earn the win while Rowan Wick (S, 5) would pick up the save. Naturals' reliever Bryan Brickhouse (L, 0-2) took the loss.

Northwest Arkansas will conclude their series against the San Antonio Missions, the Double-A Affiliate of the San Diego Padres, with the series finale tomorrow night - Saturday, June 30 - with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. The Naturals will give the baseball to RHP Zach Lovvorn (4-3, 4.94 ERA) while the Missions will turn to LHP Logan Allen (8-3, 2.78 ERA) in the finale.

Watson, Cancel Lead Blue Rocks to Series WinBlue Rocks Take Five-Game Series over HillcatsJune 29, 2018 By Wilmington Blue Rockshttps://www.milb.com/wilmington/news/watson-cancel-lead-blue-rocks-to-series-win/c-283573282

The Wilmington Blue Rocks (36-42/5-3) shutout the Lynchburg Hillcats (33-43/5-4) by a score of 3-0 on Friday night at Frawley Stadium. Another pitcher's duel ended with Nolan Watson earning his first win as a Blue Rock as he tossed six-plus scoreless innings and wiggled in and out of some jams early inducing three double plays to help his cause. Gabriel Cancel provided key insurance runs with a mammoth two-run blast in the eighth inning for his fifth home run of the year.

The first run of the game went to Wilmington in the bottom of the first. With D.J. Burt on first, Cancel hit a line-drive down the right field line to move Burt to third. Justin Garza then threw a pitch in the dirt that rolled all the way to the backstop to allow Burt to score the first run of the game. Both teams had their bats kept quiet thanks to some outstanding pitching. Watson pitched a strong six and two-thirds innings giving up only three hits and five walks with no runs crossing the plate. Garza lasted six-plus innings as well for Lynchburg, but suffered the loss after along the run in the first inning.

The scoring was kept quiet until the bottom of the eighth. After a walk by Burt, Cancel hammered the first pitch of the at-bat over the bullpen fence in left for a two-run shot to give the Rocks some insurance and make it a 3-0 ballgame. Julio

Pinto came in for the save in the bottom of the ninth. The Hillcats put a pair of runners on base to bring the tying-run to the plate before Pinto got Alexis Pantoja to ground out to second base to end the game.

The Blue Rocks begin a four-game series against the Winston-Salem Dash on Saturday, June 30 at Frawley Stadium. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m. with Wilmington sending lefty Daniel Tillo (2-1, 3.03 ERA) to the mound while Winston-Salem calls upon righty Blake Battenfield (1-0, 2.25 ERA) Fans can tune into the game with Matt Janus and Cory Nidoh on 89.7 WGLS-FM.

PEBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE:

Over his last 16 games, Gabriel Cancel has been the most consistent run producer for the Blue Rocks. With his two-run home run in the eighth inning, he has driven 20 runs during that stretch. The infielder has seven multi-RBI games during that stretch and is the active team-leader in the category with 39. His fifth homer of the season puts him in second amongst active players on the team.

Nolan Watson made his home debut and shined, earning his first-career Advanced-A win. The former first-round pick allowed just three hits while not allowing a run through 6.2 innings of work. It was just the second start for Watson as a Blue Rock after being promoted from Low-A Lexington prior to the start of the second half. Corey Ray an Julio Pinto bridged the gap as the Rocks tossed their fourth shutout of the season. All of the prior shutout wins by the Rocks took place in April, with the most recent coming on April 29 against Winston-Salem.

With the win, the Blue Rocks took three of the five games in the series over the Lynchburg Hillcats. The Blue Rocks outscored the Hillcats, 29-24 during the five games and have won 9 of the first 12 games of the head-to-head matchup with all the games being playing in Wilmington. The Rocks and Hillcats will play each other in less than a week as the two teams have another five-game set at Lynchburg starting on July 4.

Scoreless Through Ten, Legends Plate One in Eleventh To Take Series Over IntimidatorsJune 29, 2018 By Lexington Legendshttps://www.milb.com/lexington/news/scoreless-through-ten-legends-plate-one-in-eleventh-to-take-series-over-intimidators/c-283569166

The Lexington Legends and Kannapolis Intimidators were scoreless through ten innings, but an RBI single by Brewer Hicklen put the Legends on top, 1-0. Lexington improves to 39-37 on the season while Kannapolis drops to 43-33.

Carlos Hernandez hurled the first 7.0 innings allowing two hits while walking three and striking out three. Tad Ratliff pitched 2.0 shutout innings allowing two hits while striking out four. Andrew Beckwith was awarded the win for the Legends throwing 2.0 shutout innings, walking one and striking out four.

Jose Nin was given the loss for Kannapolis, tossing 2.0 innings allowing one run (unearned) on one hits while walking one and striking out two.

Lexington scored their lone run of the game in the top of the 11th inning. Cristian Perez was placed on second base as the Pace of Play Runner and was singled home on a soft line drive to left field by Brewer Hicklen.

Royals Blank Yankees 2-0Great pitching evens the series at PulaskiJune 29, 2018 By Justin Gallanty/Burlington Royalshttps://www.milb.com/burlington-royals/news/royals-blank-yankees-2-0/c-283556002

The Burlington Royals (2-8) used a dominant pitching performance to down the Pulaski Yankees (3-7) by a score of 2-0 on Friday night. Three pitchers combined to throw a three-hit shutout.

Starter Daniel Lynch went 3.2 scoreless innings with six strikeouts to begin things for Burlington. He was followed by Bryar Johnson who also dominated, striking out seven in 3.1 scoreless innings. Kyle Hinton pitched the final two innings to finish off the shutout.

Burlington's two runs came in the top of the third inning on back-to-back two out, RBI doubles, the first from Juan Carlos Negret and the second from Freddy Fermin.

The third and final game of the series is Saturday night at Pulaski

NATIONALDarvish gets cortisone shot for elbow injuryCubs right-hander reunites with Rangers doc after setbackJune 29, 2018 By Matthew Martell/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/cubs/news/yu-darvish-gets-cortisone-for-elbow-injury/c-283479144

Yu Darvish received a cortisone shot for what is being called right elbow impingement and inflammation after he was evaluated by Rangers orthopedist Keith Meister in Dallas on Friday, according to the Cubs.

Darvish will have to wait three to five days before he can resume throwing.

He has been on the disabled list since the end of May with right triceps tendinitis. After feeling pain during a bullpen session on Thursday, Darvish will not make his return Saturday against the Twins as had been expected. Tyler Chatwood will start for the Cubs instead.

Darvish's relationship with Meister dates back to the right-hander's time with Texas, where Darvish played from 2012 until he was traded to the Dodgers just prior to the non-waiver Trade Deadline last season.

"It was easy" for Maddon to tell Darvish wasn't right on Thursday because it "wasn't a normal throwing stroke."

The setback comes after Darvish threw a successful simulated game last week and a rehab start on Monday for Class A South Bend. Maddon said he assumes that whenever Darvish does come back, the righty will need another rehab

start before returning to the Majors, though that hadn't been determined.

"I would bet another rehab," Maddon said. "That's what normally would occur."

Darvish is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA in eight starts this season, his first with the Cubs after signing a six-year deal in February.

Bryant resumes baseball activitiesThird baseman Kris Bryant was scheduled to hit in the cages Friday, starting with tee work and progressing from there based on how he felt, and also would take grounders, according to the Cubs.

"He's feeling a lot better," Maddon said.

Bryant was placed on the 10-day disabled list with left shoulder inflammation Tuesday, retroactive to Saturday. He is eligible to come off the DL on Tuesday, and the club says that as long as Bryant continues to feel well, he won't need to do much before returning to the lineup.

Relievers nearing returnRight-handed relievers Carl Edwards Jr. and Eddie Butler are getting closer to coming off the disabled list. Edwards will make a Minor League rehab outing with Triple-A Iowa on Friday. Butler was traveling to Iowa on Friday and will make a rehab appearance there Saturday.

Awards Watch: New names emerge in the MVP race and all bets are off for Rookie of the YearJune 29, 2018 By Cliff Corcoran/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/412804/2018/06/29/awards-watch-new-names-emerge-in-the-mvp-race-and-all-bets-are-off-for-rookie-of-the-year/

The end of June marks the halfway point of the 2018 Major League Baseball season, which gives us two excuses to check back in on the races for the three major Baseball Writers’ Association of America player awards with another edition of Awards Watch. This time around, we find just one new leader (in the still-wide-open National League Rookie of the Year race), but that doesn’t mean there is not drama afoot. Things are suddenly extremely tight in the American League Cy Young and Rookie of the Year races, and there are three new names in my top five for the NL MVP, another award which is largely up for grabs. Meanwhile, the leaders for AL MVP and NL Cy Young, both of whom have already won the award in question multiple times, are having career-best seasons.

The rankings below are based on who would most deserve each award if the season had ended Thursday night. Last month’s rankings are in parentheses after each player’s name, where relevant. “Off the list” indicates players who have fallen out of the top five since last month. League-leading statistics are in bold. Major-league-leading statistics are in bold and italics. Rookies are players with fewer than 130 plate appearances or 50 innings pitched in the major leagues prior to this year who also had fewer than 45 days on an active major league roster prior to this year (not counting time on the disabled list or during expanded rosters in September). Ozzie Albies and Josh Hader are not rookies.

Most Valuable PlayerAmerican League

1. Mike Trout, CF, Angels (1)

.320/.460/.651 (205 OPS+), .451 xwOBA, 23 HR, 71 BB, 71 K, 13 SB (93%)

When we last checked in with Trout, he had a 206 OPS+, prompting the note that the last qualified hitter to finish a season with an OPS+ of 200 or better was Barry Bonds in 2004. Let’s see how Trout is doing with another month of games under his belt . . . 205 OPS+. Hmm, this guy might be good. There may be half a season left (the Angels played their 81st game on Wednesday), but this is Trout’s award to lose at this point. The only real drama in this race right now concerns Trout’s chance of catching Babe Ruth’s single-season position-player record of 14.1 wins above replacement (Baseball-Reference version), set in 1923. Entering Wednesday’s action, Trout was on pace for 13.2 bWAR, which would be the second highest position-player total of all time. Slacker.

2. Mookie Betts, RF, Red Sox (2)

.336/.425/.676 (190 OPS+), .488 xwOBA, 20 HR, 35 BB, 35 K, 14 SB (88%)

Betts missed two weeks with an abdominal strain in early June and has hit a relatively pedestrian .259/.388/.426 in 14 games since his return. That has allowed Trout to open up a sizeable lead in what had been a very close race a month ago. Betts’ is still neck and neck with a top candidate in this race, but instead of the first-place Trout, that candidate is the man in third place.

3. José Ramírez, 3B, Indians (3)

.291/.395/.598 (161 OPS+), .409 xwOBA, 23 HR, 52 BB, 42 K, 13 SB (87%)

Ramírez surged into this race by hitting .336/.432/.757 with 11 home runs in May. Unsurprisingly, he cooled off in June, but has still slugged .500 and reached base at a .400 clip on the month. Combine that production with near-perfect attendance (he has missed one game all year and started every game in which he has appeared) and his excellent work in the field and on the bases, and he’s hot on Betts’ heels for the runner-up position. You know, “if for any reason Mike Trout cannot fulfill his duty as the American League’s Most Valuable Player . . .” I’m pretty sure the BBWAA is adding that to the official voting rules this year.

4. Francisco Lindor, SS, Indians

.288/.364/.539 (137 OPS+), .393 xwOBA, 19 HR, 35 BB, 65 K, 10 (83%)

So far this season, Lindor has been the player Manny Machado hoped he would be when he moved back to shortstop. Indeed, their batting lines are very similar, but while Manny has struggled to make the adjustment to his new/old position, Lindor has remained one of the major leagues’ best fielders at the game’s most crucial defensive position. Lindor also runs the bases better than Machado. As Cleveland’s leadoff hitter in all but six games, and a top-four hitter in the lineup in five of the other six, Lindor is second in the American League in plate appearances (367), amplifying the value of his glove, bat, and legs and making him an easy choice for the fourth spot on this list.

5. José Altuve, 2B, Astros

.345/.410/.489 (157 OPS+), .390 xwOBA, 7 HR, 35 BB, 46 K, 12 SB (86%)

The irony of the AL MVP race is that, while no one is close to catching Trout, there might be eight players in the AL having seasons good enough to win the award in the other league. Altuve takes the fifth spot here, but not far behind him are Aaron Judge, J.D Martinez, and Eddie Rosario. Machado could rejoin the list if his defense improves in the second half, and defensive wizards Matt Chapman and Andrelton Simmons might be right there, as well, though both will have to compensate for time lost to injury.

As for the defending AL MVP, Altuve has surged back into contention via a .364/.477/.545 performance in June. On the season, his on-base percentage and major-league-leading batting average are almost exact matches to his figures from his MVP-award-winning season of a year ago (.410 and .346), but his home runs and steals are both down relative to recent seasons. Altuve hasn’t lost any speed, according to Statcast, but he has been a bit more selective about running this season, attempting just 14 steals in Houston’s first 82 games this year compared to 19 through 82 games last year.

As for his power, he’s hitting the ball at a similar angle and as hard, if not harder, as ever, again per Statcast. He is on pace to match his doubles and triples totals from last year. His drop in home runs could simply be a reflection of the league-wide drop in home-run rate. Altuve averaged just 393 feet on his home runs last year, compared to 399 feet this year, so perhaps, with the ball not carrying as well as it did last year, some of his wall-scrapers are staying in play.

Off the list: Aaron Judge, Manny Machado

National League1. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Braves (1)

.318/.408/.548 (161 OPS+), .417 xwOBA 15 HR, 46 BB, 67 K

The plate discipline that has been driving Freeman’s MVP campaign this season fell off a bit in June, but he compensated with his most powerful month, slugging .570 with six home runs through Thursday’s action. That consistency, along with the reliability of his having started every Braves game this season, and completed all but three of them (all blowout wins which he exited in or after the seventh inning), has helped make Freeman the most productive hitter in the National League this season by a large enough margin to keep him ahead of several challengers with more diverse skill sets.

2. Nolan Arenado, 3B, Rockies (3)

.308/.393/.584 (144 OPS+), .383 xwOBA, 19 HR, 42 BB, 60 K

Arenado has had a very streaky June. He opened the month with a trio of two-hit games and went on to stretch an active hitting streak to nine games. However, after singling in the first inning of the ninth game of that streak, he suffered an 0-for-19 skid. Last week, he homered in four straight games, going 10-for-17 (.588) over that stretch, but he has since gone 2-for-20 (though both hits were homers). Add it all up, and his season line hasn’t budged all that much from where it was a month ago. Arenado moves up a spot this month because Brandon Belt had an awful June, losing two weeks to

an appendectomy and hitting just .244/.306/.422 in 12 games since his return to drop out of the top five.

3. Lorenzo Cain, CF, Brewers

.291/.394/.438 (124 OPS+), .347 xwOBA, 8 HR, 43 BB, 53 K, 16 SB (84%)

Cain has seen a dramatic increase in his walk rate this season. After walking in 6.8 percent of his plate appearances over the last six years, he has taken ball four in 13.8 percent of his PA’s this year. That and escaping the cavernous Kauffman Stadium have helped compensate for a curious drop in his launch angle from roughly 9.5 degrees over the last three years to just 6.8 degrees this year, a change which has spiked his groundball rate. Fortunately for Cain, he’s still as fast as ever, and that speed is what has made him one of the most valuable players in the National League this year, from his 12 infield hits, to his 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts, to — most importantly — his superlative play in center field. In that way, the Brewers have gotten exactly what they paid for in Cain thus far. Unfortunately, that also includes fragility, as Cain hit the disabled list on Tuesday with a groin strain.

4. J.T. Realmuto, C, Marlins

.308/.367/.549 (154 OPS+), .388 xwOBA, 10 HR, 16 BB, 46 K

Given his all-around excellence as a hitter, receiver, and baserunner, Realmuto would rank higher were it not for injuries. He missed the first 16 games of the regular season after wrenching his back in a collision at second base in spring training and suffered another setback after taking a foul-tip off his glove hand in Sunday’s game. As a result, he has just 247 plate appearances this season to Cain’s 312, Arenado’s 331, and Freeman’s 355. Attendance matters in the MVP voting. It’s in the rules sent to the voters each fall, and it’s why Brandon Nimmo and Max Muncy will have to sustain their performances for a while longer before cracking this list.

5. Joey Votto, 1B, Reds

.297/.429/.452 (140 OPS+), .437 xwOBA, 8 HR, 61 BB, 52 K

Votto is up to his usual tricks as the game’s preeminent on-base machine, but his power is down this year. It’s difficult to suss out why. His launch angle and hard-hit rates are consistent with past years, and his expected slugging percentage, based on Statcast data, is .565. If anything is amiss, it’s that he seems to be barreling up the ball less often. There’s not much cause for concern there. Votto typically finds another gear in the second half. On his career, he has added nearly 30 points of on-base percentage and more than 40 points of slugging after the All-Star break.

Note that Votto is one of three Reds infielders worth keeping an eye on in this race. Second baseman Scooter Gennett falls off the list this month, but is still leading the NL in batting average and hitting .331/.370/.527 (140 OPS+) on the season, while third baseman Eugenio Suárez is hitting .304/.389/.575 (158 OPS+). Those three, and the strong showing of the Cincinnati bullpen, are big reasons why the Reds are a surprising 31-32 under interim manager Jim Riggleman.

Off the list: Brandon Belt, A.J. Pollock, Scooter Gennett

Cy Young

American League1. Justin Verlander, RHP, Astros (1)

1.82 ERA, 205 ERA+ (2.70 FIP, 2.19 DRA), 5.91 K/BB, 31.3 K%, 0.81 WHIP, 6.7 IP/GS, 17 GS

After four months of utter domination in a Houston Astros uniform, Verlander has looked human in June. That doesn’t mean he has been bad. He has completed at least six innings in all five of his starts thus far this month — four of which were quality — and has struck out 10.6 men per nine innings with a 4.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.05 WHIP in those five June outings. However, his 3.62 ERA in those starts is just regular good, not unbelievably great. The difference has been the home run. Verlander allowed five round-trippers through his first 13 starts, but has allowed six more in his last four turns. That will bear watching, but for now, Verlander has created an opening in this race, and there’s a young stud in the Bronx who is about to run through it.

2. Luis Severino, RHP, Yankees (5)

2.10 ERA, 202 ERA+ (2.21 FIP, 2.21 DRA), 5.08 K/BB, 30.4 K%, 0.96 WHIP, 6.6 IP/GS, 17 GS

Looking at his season start-by-start, Severino appears to have been consistently excellent all year. Only once has he allowed more than three runs in a game, that coming back on April 10. Never has he failed to complete five innings. Only once has he walked more than three men in a game, and he has yet to allow multiple home runs in a start this season. When you look at his monthly splits, however, they tell a different story:

Month ERA K/BBMarch/April 2.61 3.82May 2.03 5.00June 1.60 8.00Severino was flat-out dealing in June, being even more selective with his changeup, and dominating with his fastball/slider combination. The gap between him and Verlander is razor-thin at this point, and given the quality of the next two pitchers on this list, we could have one heck of a race on our hands for an award Verlander appeared to be running away with a month ago.

3. Corey Kluber, RHP, Indians (2)

2.54 ERA, 175 ERA+ (3.28 FIP, 2.55 DRA), 8.85 K/BB, 26.9 K%, 0.86 WHIP, 6.7 IP/GS, 17 GS

Prior to Tuesday night, I thought Kluber might be the pitcher to catch Verlander in this race. However, Kluber took the mound in St. Louis that night and turned in the worst start of his career, coughing up six runs while recording just five outs, increasing his ERA by nearly half a run in the process. Kluber’s two worst starts this season have now come in his last three turns. Of course, in the start in-between, he held the White Sox to a walk and a single over seven scoreless innings, so Cleveland fans need not worry just yet.

4. Chris Sale, LHP, Red Sox (4)

2.56 ERA, 172 ERA+ (2.48 FIP, 2.26 DRA), 5.46 K/BB, 35.6 K%, 0.93 WHIP, 6.4 IP/GS, 17 GS

Sale had a similar hiccup as May turned to June, allowing 10 runs in 10 1/3 innings across consecutive starts. Since then, however, he has allowed just four more runs in 28 innings (1.29 ERA) and struck out 40.6 percent of the batters he

faced in those four games with a 6.15 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That the Red Sox won just two of those four games, and Sale took the loss in one, is yet another nail in the coffin of pitching wins.

5. Trevor Bauer, RHP, Indians

2.44 ERA, 182 ERA+ (2.24 FIP, 2.45 DRA), 4.00 K/BB, 31.8 K%, 1.09 WHIP, 6.7 IP/GS, 16 GS

Over his last eight starts dating back to mid-May, Bauer has posted a 1.93 ERA while striking out 13.3 men per nine innings and posting a 0.98 WHIP and 5.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Not all of those starts were pretty. He allowed seven runs (four unearned) against the Twins on June 2, and four runs in 7 1/3 innings against Houston the turn before that. However, he also struck out 10 or more men six times in those eight turns and now leads the AL with seven double-digit strikeout performances (only Max Scherzer has more in the NL). Bauer has also averaged more innings per start than any other AL pitcher, just barely edging out Verlander by a few fractions of an out.

Off the list: Gerrit Cole

National League1. Max Scherzer, RHP, Nationals (1)

2.04 ERA, 201 ERA+ (2.19 FIP, 1.69 DRA), 6.11 K/BB, 37.1 K%, 0.86 WHIP, 6.7 IP/GS, 17 GS

Max Scherzer is a 33-year-old pitcher with three Cy Youngs to his credit and three other fifth-place finishes. Midway through this season, however, he is currently sporting career-bests in ERA, ERA+, FIP, DRA, WHIP, and K%, and is on pace to set career highs in both innings and strikeouts. With regard to the last of those, he currently leads the majors with 165 strikeouts, putting him on pace for 330, which would be the most in the major leagues since Randy Johnson struck out 334 in 2002. Even if Scherzer falls short of that total but still leads the NL in Ks (and he has a 36-strikeout lead on runner-up Patrick Corbin at the moment), he’ll still be the first pitcher to lead his league in strikeouts in four consecutive seasons since Johnson led the NL from 1999 to 2002. As good as Jacob deGrom has been this season, the better question is not whether or not Scherzer will win the Cy Young, but whether or not he could capture the MVP, as well. Don’t be surprised to see Scherzer appear on both lists a month from now.

2. Jacob deGrom, RHP, Mets (2)

1.69 ERA, 224 ERA+ (2.14 FIP, 2.18 DRA), 4.67 K/BB, 31.4 K%, 1.01 WHIP, 6.3 IP/GS, 16 GS

It is to deGrom’s credit that this is even a two-man race, though, in truth, it’s barely even that. The biggest reason for that is Scherzer’s dominance, but there is also the fact that deGrom effectively missed two starts in May as he threw just one inning on May 2 before hyperextending his pitching elbow during a plate appearance, then hit the 10-day DL and missed his next turn. As a result, deGrom has thrown 13 1/3 fewer innings than Scherzer, giving Max a bigger lead than the various rate stats above indicate.

3. Aaron Nola, RHP, Phillies (3)

2.48 ERA, 161 ERA+ (2.76 FIP, 2.63 DRA), 3.45 K/BB, 25.2 K%, 1.01 WHIP, 6.4 IP/GS, 17 GS

A poor outing in Milwaukee two turns ago stalled Nola’s climb in this race. He has since recovered with two strong outings against the division-rival Nationals and has turned in four quality starts in five turns on the month, but June was still his least impressive month of the season thus far. Of particular note, he issued multiple walks in a game just four times in his first 12 starts this season, but has done so four more times in just five starts in June, posting a 3.8 BB/9 on the month with a weak 2.54 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Still, 13 of Nola’s last 15 starts have been quality, as has every one of his home starts this season.

4. Ross Stripling, RHP, Dodgers

1.98 ERA, 193 ERA+ (2.61 FIP, 2.06 DRA), 7.42 K/BB, 28.8 K%, 1.07 WHIP, 5.6 IP/GS, 11 GS, 22 G

Best known for twirling 7 1/3 hitless innings in his major league debut on April 8, 2016, Stripling threw 174 1/3 major league innings in 2016 and ’17 combined across 16 starts and 55 relief appearances, posting a 105 ERA+ with roughly league-average peripherals. That workman-like performance painted the 28-year-old righty as a reliable innings-eater and swing-man coming into this season, but he has thus far proven to be so much more.

Stripling opened 2018 in the bullpen, allowing just one run in 14 1/3 innings over his first 10 appearances. After a disappointing spot start, he added one more scoreless relief outing before Clayton Kershaw’s back injury forced Stripling back into the rotation on May 6. Stripling threw four scoreless frames in that game, then stretched out over his next two, dominating the Nationals for six innings on May 19 (1 R, 0 BB, 9 K). He has now made 10 starts since replacing Kershaw in the rotation. In those starts, he has posted a 1.86 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 70 strikeouts against five walks in 58 innings for a 10.9 K/9 and 14.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio over that span. On the season, his impressive line above has come in just 77 1/3 innings, well shy of the roughly 100 innings pitched by his competitors for this spot, but the quality of his performance in those innings has been enough to earn him a prominent position on this list.

5. Patrick Corbin, RHP, Diamondbacks (4)

3.24 ERA, 133 ERA+ (2.85 FIP, 2.78 DRA), 4.78 K/BB, 32.5 K%, 1.00 WHIP, 6.3 IP/GS, 16 GS

Corbin’s June has thus far consisted of two good starts and two bad ones, and a clear pattern has emerged. In his last four home starts, he has a 7.71 ERA. In his last five road starts, he has a 1.47 ERA. Those road starts have all come at pitching-friendly venues (Dodger Stadium, Citi Field, Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, AT&T Park, and PNC Park), but the gap in Corbin’s performance is so large that there must be more than mere park factors at play. Corbin has also had a huge swing in opponents’ batting average on balls in play in those games — .232 in the road starts, .394 in the home starts — so perhaps some of it is luck. Team-wide, the BABIP split goes the other way, so you can’t really blame the Arizona defense. Last year, Corbin was far better at home than on the road (3.15 ERA vs. 5.09 outside of Phoenix), which would seem to rule out comfort or mental issues relating to his home ballpark. It may just be an oddly consistent fluke. Still, one gets the sense that Corbin’s season is slowly unraveling. He has a 4.41 ERA over his last eight starts and has yet to recover the two miles per hour he lost off his fastball when May arrived. Still, he was so good in his first eight starts that he managed to remain in the top five here for one more

month despite the gains of the Cubs’ Jon Lester and the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland.

Off the list: Miles Mikolas

Rookie of the Year

American League1. Shohei Ohtani, LHP/DH, Angels (1)

.289/.372/.535 (150 OPS+), .375 xwOBA, 6 HR, 15 BB, 33 K, 129 PA

3.10 ERA, 130 ERA+ (3.22 FIP, 3.11 DRA), 3.05 K/BB, 30.5 K%, 1.14 WHIP, 9 GS, 49 1/3 IP

Ohtani made just one start and 12 plate appearances in June before hitting the disabled list with a Grade 2 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, an injury which has put his entire season in doubt. However, he did enough prior to that injury to sustain his lead in this race, at least to this point. That’s because the 23-year-old was effectively two players for the Angels: a hitter with the highest OPS+ among AL rookies with at least 100 plate appearances this season, and a pitcher with the second-highest ERA+ among AL rookies with at least 40 innings pitched.

Ohtani had a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow soon after his diagnosis and has been taking one-handed batting practice. The Angels hope he will be able to avoid Tommy John surgery and return as a two-way player this season, but they are open to the idea of him returning as a designated hitter only. The logic is that Ohtani has proven himself valuable enough at the plate to risk having him play through the injury as a hitter. He could then have surgery in the offseason, if necessary, as he’d likely be lost as a pitcher for the bulk of the 2019 season either way at this point. Ohtani remains one of the game’s most fascinating players, even while on the disabled list.

2. Gleyber Torres, 2B, Yankees (2)

.284/.341/.537 (134 OPS+), .393 xwOBA, 14 HR, 15 BB, 55 K, 221 PA

Torres cooled off a bit in June but still has had consecutive hitless games on only one occasion on the month. The first of those games was the second game of a doubleheader in which he had homered in the first game, so the 21-year-old hasn’t gone without a hit in consecutive days (on which he played, of course) since May 26 and 27.

3. Miguel Andújar, 3B, Yankees (3)

.276/.303/.506 (114 OPS+), .350 xwOBA, 11 HR, 10 BB, 49 K, 274 PA

The advanced defensive metrics are unanimous in strongly disapproving of Andújar’s play in the field, but in a rookie field that is slowly collapsing around Torres, the power in Andújar’s bat and his firm grasp on the Yankees’ third-base job are keeping him in the race. Andújar slugged .536 in June with six home runs, more than doubling his season total through the end of May. The 23-year-old still needs to learn to draw a walk, his fielding clearly needs work, and 25-year-old Brandon Drury is hitting .315/.419/.494 in Triple A. Yet, as long as Andújar is hitting for power, and his team is keeping pace with the Red Sox for the best record in

baseball, the Yankees will likely continue to let their rookie third baseman learn on the job.

4. Max Stassi, C, Astros

.250/.329/.478 (127 OPS+), .327 xwOBA, 7 HR, 13 BB, 46 K, 152 PA

Given a chance to be the Astros’ everyday catcher with Brian McCann on the disabled list to open June, Stassi promptly went 0-for-17. Since McCann has returned, Stassi has gone 7-for-31 (.226) with four extra-base hits and four walks, still well below his performance over the first two months of the season. However, the 27-year-old Stassi is more than a late-blooming backup catcher who has had a couple of hot months. He is also an elite pitch-framer, a skill he first displayed in Triple A last year. Combine his bat, his position, and his value as a receiver relative to other catchers, as well as the poor showing of several other AL rookie contenders in June, and Stassi climbs back on the list despite his poor month at the plate.

5. Brad Keller, RHP, Royals

2.25 ERA, 185 ERA+ (3.31 FIP, 5.28 DRA), 1.67 K/BB, 15.4 K%, 1.23 WHIP, 26 G, 5 GS, 48 IP

A Rule 5 pick selected out of the Diamondbacks’ organization by the Reds in December and sold to Kansas City, Keller, a former eighth-round pick, jumped from posting a 4.68 ERA in 26 starts in Double A last year to the major league bullpen this April. The 22-year-old groundballer proved capable in April, then peeled off nine straight scoreless outings in May, including three scoreless innings of relief against Cleveland on May 11. When Eric Skoglund went down with a UCL sprain at the end of May, Keller got a crack at the rotation and has since posted 2.45 ERA over five starts, albeit with lousy peripherals. Still, with mid-90s heat and a sinker/slider combination that yields a ton of groundballs, he’s getting the job done for the Royals, most recently holding the Angels scoreless for seven innings.

Keep an eye on Rays first baseman Jake Bauers and Cleveland righty Shane Bieber, two June call-ups who could break into this increasingly weak top five next month.

Off the list: Joey Wendle, Ryan Yarbrough

National League1. Jack Flaherty, Cardinals (5)

2.92 ERA, 134 ERA+ (3.75 FIP, 2.42 DRA), 4.06 K/BB, 29.1 K%, 1.07 WHIP, 5.6 IP/GS, 11 GS, 61 2/3 IP

Flaherty looked poised to claim the top spot on this list before he took the mound against Cleveland on Wednesday night and gave up four runs in four innings to inflate his ERA by 42 points. However, Walker Buehler’s even uglier outing on Thursday restored the 22-year-old Cardinals righty to the top spot. Given the poor recent performances by many of the top candidates, this is not the best time to check in on the NL Rookie of the Year Race, but with Buehler and Ronald Acuña both activated from the DL on Thursday and the Nationals’ Juan Soto burning his way up the list, there is hope that this will be a more compelling race when we revisit it at the end of July.

2. Brian Anderson, RF/3B, Marlins (3)

.293/.370/.441 (121 OPS+), .369 xwOBA, 4 HR, 33 BB, 66 K, 354 PA

Anderson has hit .305/.383/.457 thus far in June, giving him a much firmer footing in this race. He also leads NL rookies in playing time by a mile, with 354 plate appearances to replacement level runner-up, and teammate, Lewis Brinson’s 288. Anderson had his 24-game on-base streak snapped on Thursday, but if he stays hot, the 25-year-old former third-round pick could go from placeholder to serious contender in this race.

3. Walker Buehler, RHP, Dodgers (2)

3.44 ERA, 112 ERA+ (2.58 FIIP, 3.61 DRA), 4.50 K/BB, 25.6 K%, 1.05 WHIP, 5.7 IP/GS, 10 G, 9 GS, 52 1/3 IPRather than sending Buehler, who suffered a microfracture in one of his ribs earlier in the month, to Triple A for a rehab start, the Dodgers opted to activate him on Thursday and use him as a tandem starter to follow Clayton Kershaw, who is also effectively rehabbing with the big league team. It did not go well. Buehler gave up a home run on the second pitch he threw and wound up retiring just three of the nine men he faced, striking out none of them while allowing four extra-base hits and being charged with five runs (the two men he left in scoring position came around to score after he departed). That performance exploded the 23-year-old’s ERA, from 2.63 to 3.44 and dropped him from the top spot on this list — a position he had acquired while inactive thanks to incumbent Christian Villanueva’s .196/.258./268 performance on the month — to third.

4. Juan Soto, OF, Nationals

.324/.434/.574 (168 OPS+), .391 xwOBA, 6 HR, 21 BB, 24 K, 129 PA

The 19-year-old Soto made his major league debut on May 20, but he has hit so well in the 33 games since that I couldn’t keep him off the list, particularly once I learned that Nats fans have started calling him “Childish Bambino.” It’s not a total shock that Soto is hitting for average or power, but his 21 walks in 33 games at the age of 19 foretell monstrous production as he matures. That’s a 100-walk pace over a full season.

5. Richard Rodríguez, RHP, Pirates

2.12 ERA, 187 ERA+ (2.12 FIP, 2.30 DRA), 13.33 K/BB, 34.5 K%, 0.98 WHIP, 25 G, 29 2/3 IP

After sifting through nearly a dozen candidates for this final spot, I’ve settled on Rodríguez for his sheer dominance out of Pittsburgh’s ‘pen over a larger sample than the Phillies’ Seranthony Domínguez and with better peripherals than Arizona’s Yoshihisa Hirano. In sharp contrast to Keller, the last man on the AL rookie list, Rodríguez has outstanding peripherals that suggest that his run prevention just might be for real.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Astros in 2010, Rodríguez was purchased by the Orioles in June 2015. He impressed at Triple-A Norfolk last year, pitching his way into the closer’s role, but his brief major league call-up in early September went poorly, and the Pirates were able to pick him up over the winter as a minor league free agent.

Rodríguez didn’t make major league ‘pen out of camp this spring, but after striking out nine men over five scoreless innings in his first two Triple A outings, he got the call, and

responded with eight strikeouts in 3 2/3 scoreless innings in his first two appearances for Pittsburgh. The 28-year-old Rodríguez works exclusively with a low-90s fastball and low-80s slider, the former of which he throws nearly three-quarters of the time. However, his fastball has above-average spin, rise, and arm-side run, and his slider drops so much that Brooks Baseball classifies it as a curve.

Off the list: Christian Villanueva, Caleb Smith

Cards have renewed interest in Moustakas; are A’s buyers or sellers?; Red Sox-Yanks rivalry; more notesJune 29, 2018 By Ken Rosenthal/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/413375/2018/06/29/rosenthal-cards-have-renewed-interest-in-moustakas-are-as-buyers-or-sellers-red-sox-yanks-rivalry-more-notes/

It’s the time of year when every team seemingly is interested in every opposing player, when it becomes difficult to separate the truths from the half-truths from the outright lies. The longer I do this, the more I’m convinced reporters learn only a fraction of the trades being discussed, and do not always discern the full context of those conversations.

That said, we hear things. Lots of things. And on Thursday, I heard something interesting, if somewhat confusing, from multiple sources: The St. Louis Cardinals have renewed interest in Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas.

The level of that interest is not known; the Cardinals, still sorting through their current club, have yet to engage seriously on any one player, according to another source with knowledge of the team’s thinking. The non-waiver deadline is still more than a month away, and most teams are still making inquiries rather than engaging in serious discussions. Several clubs have checked in on Moustakas, who turns 30 on Sept. 11.

Going back to the off-season, the Cardinals have been tied to virtually every available third baseman, from Moustakas to the Toronto Blue Jays’ Josh Donaldson to the Baltimore Orioles’ Manny Machado, who since has moved to shortstop. But to add such a player — and it will not be Donaldson, who is out at least three more weeks with a strained left calf — the Cardinals would need to displace their current third baseman, Matt Carpenter.

Not impossible: Carpenter could return to second base, where Kolten Wong is batting .196 with a .632 OPS. Or, more likely, he could return to first, which previously was thought to be his best defensive position (Carpenter ranks fifth in defensive runs saved at third this season, but a half-season is too small a sample to fully trust).

The problem with moving Carpenter to first? As The Athletic’s Bernie Miklasz wrote, that position is occupied by the Cardinals’ most consistent offensive performer, Jose Martinez. The downgrade in offensive production — Moustakas has a .591 OPS in June, .777 overall, while Martinez is at 1.049 in June and .875 overall — might not be worth the defensive upgrade resulting largely from the subtraction of Martinez, who is perhaps the game’s worst defensive first baseman.

But viewing this as one-for-one exchange — if indeed the Cardinals are serious about Moustakas — would be too simple an analysis.

Moustakas, a potential free agent, would come at a relatively low acquisition cost, and the Cardinals would gain the inside track on signing him. As a left-handed hitter, he would bring balance to a predominantly right-handed lineup; Carpenter, at the moment, is the Cardinals’ only left-handed regular hitting well. Perhaps most important, Moustakas would be part of a larger plan, one in which the Cardinals likely would trade Martinez, who is under control through 2022, for a significant return.

Martinez would be a particularly good fit for a team such as the Minnesota Twins, who could alternate him after this season with Joe Mauer, a left-handed hitter, at first base and DH (Both Mauer and Logan Morrison are potential free agents, although Mauer — the hometown product and career-long Twin — is likely to return). But no matter which club the Cardinals matched up with, they surely would make other deals as well, all with the goal of reconfiguring their currently disjointed mix.

Would they pay down the remaining three-plus years on outfielder Dexter Fowler’s $82.5 million contract and accept a minimal return so both sides could move on? Might they consider dealing right-hander Carlos Martinez, who agreed to a five-year, $51 million extension in February 2017, but frustrates some in the organization with his wavering focus? Would they do something else entirely? Multiple somethings?

Every team currently is going through the same exercise, weighing a variety of options, trying to determine the best path to improvement. The Cardinals are more interesting than most, simply because they have more variables than most. They’re talking about Moustakas. They’re talking about lots of things. It’s that time of year.

Will the Athletics force the issue?

The Seattle Mariners lead the Oakland Athletics by seven games in the race for the second wild card, but the respective run differentials — plus-16 for Seattle, plus-13 for Oakland — indicate the teams might be closer in ability than they appear.

The Athletics’ 11-2 surge is all the more remarkable considering five of their starting pitchers are on the disabled list, as is their best player, third baseman Matt Chapman. Their schedule is about to turn more difficult — 10 of the next 12 games are against division leaders Cleveland and Houston — but the team’s performance is not a fluke. The A’s are 39-28 since April 15, 24-18 on the road and a stunning 30-0 when leading after seven innings.

On April 26, I suggested the A’s might be an unlikely buyer, noting they forever zig while others zag. The case for them buying is even stronger now, except for two problems: The Athletics’ rotation is so perilously thin it includes the oft-traveled Edwin Jackson, and the team’s owners do not seem especially interested in adding salary. According to Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the A’s opened the season with a major league-low $65.99 million payroll.

The owners will be almost forced to act if the A’s stay within striking distance of the Mariners — a scenario not out of the question if Chapman (right hand soreness) and right-hander Trevor Cahill (strained right Achilles) return relatively soon.

Another possibility, the path more often traveled by Oakland, is to sell. Trading off parts, however, will make sense only if the team collapses over the next month. And even if that happens, the A’s might not do much.

Infielder Jed Lowrie, a potential free agent, is on a 26-homer, 109-RBI, .847-OPS pace, but the A’s value him at a higher level than they probably would get back in a trade. Closer Blake Treinen, meanwhile, would be available only for an extremely high acquisition cost — and believe it or not, the A’s would not be out of line to ask for an Aroldis Chapman-Andrew Miller type return.

Consider:

*Treinen is earning $2.15 million, a modest sum for an elite performer in today’s game.

*He is under control for two more seasons after this one.

*Thirteen of his 32 outings have been for more than one inning, making him a veritable workhorse for a closer.

*His 0.93 ERA is lower than both Chapman’s and Miller’s were when each was traded in 2016; Chapman was at 2.01, Miller at 1.39.

The rivalry is back!

It feels like old times for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, or at least the good old days of the early 2000s. Both clubs added right-handed bats on Thursday night in advance of their weekend series at Yankee Stadium; the Yankees promoted Brandon Drury from Triple A, according to a source, while the Sox acquired Steve Pearce from the Blue Jays.

Neither move was unexpected. The Sox had been looking for a right-handed hitter, as first reported by Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston, and they obtained Pearce and cash to defray the balance of his $6.25 million salary for Class A infielder Santiago Espinal. Yankees manager Aaron Boone, meanwhile, had signaled on Wednesday night the Yankees might promote Drury or Tyler Austin.

The timing of the Drury move, though, is interesting. The Yankees would have pushed back his free agency by one year if they had not promoted him by Sunday — and still could prevent him from attaining the necessary service time to hit the open market after the 2021 season if at some point they return him to the minors.

Drury went on the disabled list April 7 with what turned out to be an irritated nerve running up his neck, then was demoted to Triple A after he came off the disabled list on May 14. If his free agency is delayed until after the ‘22 season, it will make him more valuable to the Yankees, as well as more valuable in prospective trades.

Such service-time manipulation is common with prospects on the verge of reaching the majors. Drury, however, is an established player who spent two full seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks before the Yankees acquired him in a three-team trade on Feb. 20.

The Yankees are not about to play service-time games when they are trying to avoid a one-game, wild-card playoff by winning the AL East. Drury, batting .314 with a .907 OPS at Triple A, was the reigning International League Player of the

Week. His ability to play second and third base makes him more versatile in the infield than Austin, who plays only first.

Austin has eight homers and a .751 OPS in 132 plate appearances this season, but he was in a 3-for-29 funk when the Yankees demoted him on June 14. Neil Walker, a switch-hitter, is in a 3-for-33 slump. Greg Bird, the incumbent, has only a .690 OPS since returning from a second procedure on his right ankle.

The one that got away

Few trade outcomes in recent memory were as pivotal as the Orioles’ outmaneuvering of the Detroit Tigers for Andrew Miller at the non-waiver deadline in 2014. The teams met in the Division Series that October and Miller pitched 3 1/3 hitless innings to help the Orioles secure a three-game sweep.

Dave Dombrowski, the Tigers’ GM at the time, thought he was on the verge of landing Miller from the Red Sox on the same day he acquired left-hander David Price from the Tampa Bay Rays. But the Orioles’ last-minute offer of left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez persuaded the Red Sox to send Miller to Baltimore.

“We were very disappointed we didn’t get him,” Dombrowski said. “On the last day — the trade-deadline day, the same day we acquired David Price . . . (the Red Sox) had been asking us for a couple of guys, and we finally relented to the point where we said, ‘OK, we’ll give you them.’

“We felt we had a chance to make a deal right then. But they said, ‘OK, we’ve been talking to one other organization. We’ll get back to you within an hour.’ That’s when they called Baltimore, and Baltimore ended up trading Eduardo, which apparently they weren’t inclined to do until then.”

The only solace for Dombrowski is that he inherited Rodriguez when he took over for Ben Cherington — the Red Sox’s GM who declined his offer for Miller — in August 2015. The identities of the Tigers prospects who would have gone to Boston are not known, but one source said they did not turn out as well as Rodriguez, who this season has a 3.86 ERA in 15 starts.

“I remember when I came here saying, ‘It broke my heart at the time,’” Dombrowski said. “But now I’m the benefactor of that deal, too.”

Around the horn

*Yankees general manager Brian Cashman might only have been answering a question when he told reporters on Thursday that he has engaged in multiple trade conversations with the Mets. But his response effectively applied pressure to his cross-town rivals, whose ownership might be too concerned with public perception to trade right-hander Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard to the Bronx.

As noted by MLB Network’s Jon Paul Morosi, the Yankees and Mets have made exactly one in-season trade in the last 24 years: Armando Benitez to the Yankees in 2003. The teams could not complete relatively minor deals involving Neil Walker and Jay Bruce last season. Cashman said he checks in with every club but the Red Sox; the idea of the Mets overcoming their little-brother complex and completing a blockbuster with the Yankees remains far-fetched.

*The Milwaukee Brewers began pursuing Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield last off-season, and according to

major league sources they are expressing interest in him again.

Royals left-hander Danny Duffy, owed about $7 million more this season and $45.6 million from 2019 to ‘21, also would fit the Brewers, but it is not part of any discussions between the clubs, sources said.

After a rocky first seven weeks, Duffy has a 2.68 ERA in his last seven starts. Merrifield, under control through 2022, is batting .281 with four homers and a .756 OPS; Brewers second baseman Jonathan Villar has a .684 OPS for the season, a .646 mark in June.

*Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer is under control for four-plus seasons, making him a target not just for contenders such as the Yankees, but also rebuilding clubs that envision him as a future building block.

The San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies are among the teams that have checked in on Fulmer, along with the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, according to sources and published reports.

*And finally, reliever Alex Colomé’s stat line since joining the Mariners is a reminder that not all in-season trades provide an immediate benefit:

IP 11.2, H 11, ER 8, HR 3, BB 2, K 10, ERA 6.17

Outfielder Denard Span has provided a bigger boost, batting .296 with three homers and a .794 OPS in 89 plate appearances.

Correa headed to DL with back ailmentAstros hope All-Star shortstop will return next weekendJune 29, 2018 By Brian McTaggart/MLB.comhttps://www.mlb.com/astros/news/carlos-correa-headed-to-dl-with-back-ailment/c-283371018

The Astros placed All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa on the 10-day disabled list Friday with a sore back (retroactive to June 26) and recalled left-handed pitcher Cionel Perez from Double-A Corpus Christi.

Correa, 23, has been out of action since Monday and continues to progress, but not enough to where the Astros felt they could play him this weekend. Correa would be eligible to return July 6 against the White Sox at Minute Maid Park.

"We just need to do the right thing and get him completely symptom-free," Hinch said. "He's not going to be available, and hopefully this is just 10 days and he'll be activated by next weekend, if things go well."

Correa is batting .268 with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs in 73 games.

"He's doing great in terms of step by step and getting back to normal," Hinch said. "He's obviously not doing baseball activities. He did a little bit of agility work. He just still feels a little bit of soreness in his back, and we're not going to mess with it.

"The worst thing we can do is have him come every single day, [saying] 'Maybe I can play, maybe I can't play,' and as

soon as he's remotely possible to play, he's going to want to play. We're going to take that out of his hands and be smart, and make sure we don't have this linger any longer than we need to do."

Gurriel leaves team, Reed joinsSlugger AJ Reed joined the club Thursday at Tropicana Field, getting recalled from Triple-A Fresno as the replacement for infielder Yuli Gurriel, who was placed on the three-day paternity list. Reed, who appeared in two games with the Astros last season, was hitting .266 with 18 homers and 67 RBIs in 73 games at Fresno.

"Obviously, it's nice to come up," Reed said. "It lets you know that they're still thinking about you. If I get some at-bats, just try to make the most of it and just hit the ball hard."

Hinch said Reed would start at first base on Friday. He hit 34 homers and had 104 RBIs last year at Triple-A after hitting .164 in 122 at-bats with the Astros in 2016. Reed was named a Pacific Coast League All-Star on Thursday.

"We're going to get him in the mix," Hinch said. "As I told him, when you look at J.D. Davis and Tyler White and AJ Reed and Tony Kemp, Derek Fisher -- guys that have fought for that spot in the big leagues who maybe start, maybe don't start -- I want to let AJ know he's part of this mix. He's part of what can be a great presence on our bench, or at first base or at DH."

Gurriel is hitting .298 with four homers and 37 RBIs, and he has hit .358 over his last 67 at-bats. Entering Thursday, he led the Major Leagues with a .422 batting average with runners in scoring position.

"We could see him by the end of the weekend, if all goes well," Hinch said of Gurriel, who's back in Houston.

Sources: Chris Bosio was fired for directing a racial slur at a clubhouse attendantJune 29, 2018 By Ken Rosenthal & Katie Strang/The Athletichttps://theathletic.com/413630/2018/06/29/sources-chris-bosio-was-fired-for-directing-a-racial-slur-at-a-clubhouse-attendant/

Former Tigers pitching coach Chris Bosio directed a racial slur toward a clubhouse attendant following a game this past week, The Athletic has learned, precipitating his firing Wednesday.Bosio called the attendant, who is African-American, a “monkey,” according to four team sources. The remark was directed toward the young man, who was collecting towels from the coaches’ room at the time, during a post-game gripe session in which Bosio was lamenting about a pitcher.

During this exchange, Bosio made a derogatory comment about one of the Tigers pitchers and then gestured toward the attendant before adding, “like this monkey here,” the sources said. The attendant pushed back at Bosio for the comment, and an additional team employee witnessed the exchange. Bosio was provided an opportunity to apologize to the attendant after his outburst but declined to do so, according to multiple sources.

These sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

It took less than 48 hours for the Tigers to conduct an internal investigation, led by general manager Al Avila and the team’s general counsel and assistant general manager John Westhoff, who is in his 15th season with the Tigers. Westhoff has a background in labor law and previously worked for Major League Baseball. The move was made swiftly and, according to one source, the decision to fire Bosio was unanimous, with essentially no dissent among team leadership.

In the statement issued by the team immediately following his dismissal, the Tigers noted that Bosio’s actions violated the “Uniform Employee contract” and that his “insensitive comments” violated team policy.

According to Avila, Bosio was fired prior to Wednesday’s game and the team was notified prior to the club’s 3-0 loss to the Oakland Athletics.

“For me, and our organization, we felt this was a much-needed move,” Avila said on Wednesday.

Bosio did not return messages seeking comment. Avila and Westhoff could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday. A spokesperson for team owner Chris Ilitch did not immediately return messages. The Tigers declined to comment on the specifics of the incident, beyond the team’s official statement on Wednesday.

In his first public comments following his dismissal, Bosio told USA Today on Thursday that he was “in shock” over what had transpired and the 55-year-old former MLB pitcher said that his comments were misinterpreted. Bosio claimed that he was referring to Tigers reliever Daniel Stumpf as “Spider Monkey” because of the strange faces the lefty makes when he works out. Bosio claimed that this is Stumpf’s nickname, and that the clubhouse attendant heard the word “monkey.”

“I’ve got [sic] protect myself someway,’’ Bosio said, according to USA Today, “because this is damaging as hell to me. I’ve got to fight for myself. Everyone knows this is not me. I didn’t use any profanity. There was no vulgarity. The N-word wasn’t used. No racial anything. It was a comment, and a nickname we used for a player.

“This kid and I had a great relationship. This kid played jokes on me all spring, and I told him, ‘Now you’re offended, because you heard the word ‘monkey,’ or ‘spider monkey,’ and it’s not even directed at you.’’

“We crack fat jokes on our trainer every day. All kinds of things are said in a baseball clubhouse. And for this to happen to me?

“I don’t know what else to say, but I know I don’t deserve this.’’

Stumpf told The Detroit Free Press Thursday night that he was not aware of that nickname. All four sources who spoke to The Athletic disputed Bosio’s account.

[Update: Two additional sources with knowledge of the situation said that Bosio had a subsequent conversation with the attendant, in which he attempted to be conciliatory while asking the young man if he really wanted to make an issue of the comment.]

The rebuilding Tigers brought in Bosio to work with the club’s young staff because of his reputation as a shrewd teacher whose hand-on methods seemed to coax the most out of his charges. He was, from all indications, very well liked by the club’s pitchers, many of whom were already thriving under Bosio’s tutelage and enjoyed his fastidious and individually-tailored approach.

Players were stunned to hear the news and some said they had no knowledge of what happened until that team meeting on Wednesday.

“We all understand the nature of this business and the world we live in, and some things are unacceptable,” Tigers reliever Alex Wilson said. “From what we were told, it crossed those lines, and it is what it is. I don’t know the exact content of what was said. I just know it crossed a barrier that is unforgivable.”

In the wake of Bosio’s sudden dismissal, former bullpen coach Rick Anderson has been promoted to working with the team’s pitchers. Anderson spent over a decade as manager Ron Gardenhire’s pitching coach during their time with the Twins organization and is already familiar with the team’s staff.

“We’re just going to go about our business, and it’ll be fine,” Gardenhire said on Thursday. “It happens and we can’t do too much about it.”

While Bosio seemed to enjoy strong reviews among his pitchers prior to the incident, the same support was not shared in all corners of the clubhouse. Several sources told The Athletic that his personality grated on fellow members of the team’s coaching staff as well as support staff members, and that he had become increasingly alienated as a result.

According to these sources, Bosio was forceful about his own objectives (defensive shifts were a source of particular frustration) and showed little receptivity to outside ideas. His brash demeanor and unwillingness to work collaboratively caused clashes with other personalities on staff.

One MLB source described Bosio as “ornery” and another indicated that his polarizing personality was what hastened his departure from the Chicago Cubs in 2017. Though Bosio helped mold a staff that went on to win a World Series title in 2016, he was not retained this offseason, when the club announced in October that it would not exercise the 2018 club option on Bosio’s contract. It was a move that was initially met with some surprise, though Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein had previously indicated that the team was displeased with the staff’s high walk rate, which he deemed “unacceptable.”

If Bosio decides to pursue a lawsuit against the Tigers, it will not be his only pending legal action. Bosio has multiple liens and judgments against him and he continues to be embroiled in proceedings with his ex-wife, Suzanne, for whom he filed for divorce in 2012 and was granted a divorce in 2014. Court records show Bosio was held in contempt of court in July 2013 for failing to pay certain fees pursuant to court order, for failing to produce a financial disclosure statement, and for failing to appear for a deposition.

MLB TRANSACTIONSJune 30, 2018 •.CBSSports.comhttp://www.cbssports.com/mlb/transactions

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

ARI

Christian Walker Called Up from Minors

ARI

Jimmie Sherfy Sent to Minors

BAL

Darren O'Day

Transferred to 60-Day DL (Strained left hamstring)

BAL

Yefry Ramirez Sent to Minors

BAL

Jimmy Yacabonis Sent to Minors

BAL

Ryan Meisinger Purchased From Minors

BAL

Paul Fry Purchased From Minors

BAL

Corban Joseph

Designated for Assignment

BOS

Tzu-Wei Lin Sent to Minors

CHW

Miguel Gonzalez

Recalled From Minors Rehab Assignment

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

CHW

Alex Presley Released

HOU

Cionel Perez Called Up from Minors

HOU

Joe Smith Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

HOU

Carlos Correa

Placed on 10-Day DL (Lower back soreness)

KC

Cheslor Cuthbert

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

LAD

Walker Buehler Sent to Minors

MIA

Sandy Alcantara Called Up from Minors

MIN

Alan Busenitz Sent to Minors

MIN

Taylor Motter

Placed on 7-Day DL (Concussion)

MINFelix Jorge Designated for

Assignment

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

MIN

Willians Astudillo Purchased From Minors

NYM

Gerson Bautista Sent to Minors

NYM

Corey Oswalt Called Up from Minors

NYY

Brandon Drury Called Up from Minors

PIT

Chad Kuhl Placed on 10-Day DL (Strained right forearm)

PIT

Max Moroff Called Up from Minors

STL

Alex ReyesTransferred to 60-Day DL (Back surgery - out for season)

STL

Matt Bowman

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

STL

Tyler Webb Sent to Minors

STL

Tyler Webb Acquired Off Waivers From San Diego

T E A M P L A Y E R T R A N S A C T I O N

STL

Paul DeJong

Sent to Minors For Rehabilitation

TOR

Darnell Sweeney Purchased From Minors