Weekly Wrapup: It's June

It’s June, and Kyle Schwarber is in bloom. Like Puxatawney Phil, the rest of the Phillies’ bats saw their shadow and are in a bit of a slump. As the Phillies hitters (and the team alongside them) slumber, I will turn my eyes to the rest of the league. As with my Ice-Capades Overreactions segments, I will focus on five teams from the National and American Leagues.

My sincere apologies to New York Mets fans. I know they’re celebrating the Knicks' NBA title, but at some point, the hangover will wear off, and reality will set in. That reality is that the Mets are at the bottom of the NL East. While the rest of the NL East had a .500 or better record in their last 10 games, the Mets went 4-6 in their last 10 games. They’re also currently being annihilated by Cincinnati, which is the only team in the NL Central to have a sub .500 record.

To make matters worse, yet another Mets pitcher heads to the injured list. Pitcher Christian Scott joins hurlers Kodai Senga, Reed Garrett, Tylor Megill, Justin Hagenman and Dedeniel Núñez on the injured list. That’s three starters and two bullpen arms on the shelf, which means that their remaining bullpen and starting pitchers are getting overworked. Expect more injured Mets arms.

The Chicago Cubs are the definition of a streaky team. After amassing a 10-game winning streak, they went on a 10-game losing streak. They also didn’t win a series for a month, when they finally took two of three from the Giants in June. The Cubs also avenged their series loss against the Rockies in May. Like the Mets, the Cubs have an entire starting rotation on the injured list. A shoutout has to go to Javier Assad for keeping it rolling, especially in the June 7th game against the Giants. When starter Jameson Taillon left the game with an injury, Assad pitched 6.1 innings, giving up only one hit. While the Cubs ended up losing the game in extras, Assad’s performance should give him more time in the big leagues. Now, if the hitters could hit more than .217 with runners in scoring position, they could regain first place in the NL Central.

The Los Angeles Dodgers keep on trucking. The Dodgers are first in the NL West, which is the least surprising outcome this season. The star seasons are plentiful, from Freddie Freeman exhibiting his quiet consistency at the plate to Shohei Ohtani making his case for Cy Young (and continuing to rake). Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto has continued to deal. Yamamoto took a perfect game into the 8th inning against the White Sox in his last outing, and had his no-hitter broken up on a Tristan Peters home run in the next inning. He’s past due for either performance. I should hate them, for they have dodged the luxury tax through deferrals a thousand times over and are the team with the most online media coverage. If you think Sportsnet constantly mentions the Leafs, you should see baseball media regarding the Dodgers. Then again, if they win the World Series, I am vindicated in my view that we won’t see a baseball season next year.

It’s another underwhelming year for the San Francisco Giants. After hiring Giants legend Buster Posey and Tennessee manager Tony Vitello, the team sits in fourth place in the NL West. They’re lucky the Rockies exist; otherwise, they’d be sitting in the cellar. Players not named Jung Ho Lee, Drew Gilbert, and rookie Bryce Eldridge are struggling. Rafael Devers, last year’s midseason acquisition, has continued to underwhelm, hitting .235 with 9 home runs. Is now the best time to remind Giants fans that he’s in year 4 of a 10-year extension that he signed with the Red Sox?

In the middle of this season, the team then chose to alienate its LGBTQ fanbase. During a Pride Night hosted at the home ballpark, three pitchers, including starter Landon Roupper, wrote Bible quotes on the Giants’ Pride hat they wore. Sam Hentges, another bullpen arm, opted to wear the standard orange and black hat instead of the rainbow one. San Francisco is a city that has served as a safe place for LGBTQ people, and a sports team allowing players to write a verse that justifies homophobic attitudes on their hats is a speedy way to infuriate fans who are a part of that community. The cap incident became national news, resulting in MLB warning the Giants against writing on their uniforms and in state senator Josh Hawley writing a letter to MLB condemning the warning. This warning came a year after Clayton Kershaw wrote the same verse on his hat last year during the Dodgers’ Pride Night. I guess the league didn’t want to ruin the reputation of its golden goose by issuing a warning. A statement from the Giants is not enough; it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. I’m sure they have the funds that they can use to donate to LGBTQ+ nonprofits and community centers in the Bay Area. Here’s a directory of those organizations, should you feel moved to donate.

The Milwaukee Brewers are NOT fair. I got a center seat to their unjust greatness, as I watched my Phillies get demolished by their rotation in two of the three games. Jacob Misorowski made his case for a Cy Young by striking out a career-high of 15 Phillies. He also justified my inclusion of a strikeout column in my baseball scorecard (picture below). The Brewers’ bats focused on contact over swinging for the fences, something that I hope my team does. It also didn’t hurt that they faced rookie pitcher Andrew Painter, whom opponents have amassed a .307. batting average against him. Kyle Harrison was great in the third game. While he did not pitch a complete game, he pitched six shutout innings, striking out three Phillies. Cy Young favorite Cristopher Sanchez pitched his worst game, only pitching four innings and allowing four earned runs.

If Brad Keller blew the lead in the second game, Brewers fans would have brought brooms to Great American Ballpark. Irrespective of a potential series sweep, the Brewers have overtaken the Cubs for first place in the NL Central. They now have their best record in franchise history through 70 games, winning 44 games and losing 26. We shall see if the Brewers continue their stellar play into the second half of the season and, barring a near-historic collapse, the postseason.

American League

The Chicago White Sox are…good? They are in first place in the AL Central in a weak American League, but fans will take looking competitive over their scheduled loss status over the last few seasons. Thanks to all those losing seasons they’ve had, the farm system has an infusion of youth that has come in and immediately improved the team. Their biggest slugger is Randal Grichuk, who, after signing as a free agent with the White Sox in May, amassed a .307 batting average. Colson Montgomery dazzles at shortstop with a .986 fielding percentage and hit his 20th home run in the Sox’s lone win against the Yankees. Braden Montgomery had a debut to remember when he hit a walk-off home run against the Braves. While rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami is on the 10-day injured list, he is tied with Montgomery for the lead in home runs on the team with 20. Yes, they’re currently getting annihilated by the Yankees, but the Bronx Bombers have a great hitting core, and the White Sox need better arms. The pitchers have combined for a 4.47 ERA, which is the 11th worst in the league. Arms will be an area of need for White Sox GM Chris Getz for the trade deadline.

The Boston Red Sox have fallen into the cellar of the AL East. After starting the season with a 10-17 record, Chief Baseball Officer (fancy way of saying baseball executive) Craig Breslow fired manager Alex Cora. Unlike the Phillies, the Red Sox fell into a tailspin. Their hitting sank to the fifth worst in baseball. One example of their inability to put bat to ball comes from Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays. They went 0-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 baserunners. That’s what I call pulling a Phillies special. Innumerable opportunities and yet they failed to capitalize. Now the Sox look to be sellers at the Trade Deadline after wasting an opportunity to build on last year’s Wild Card Round appearance.

Just like in 2024, injuries have hurt the Toronto Blue Jays. Catcher Alejandro Kirk spent time on the injured list, as did outfielders Addison Barger and Dalton Varsho. All three players were key contributors to the Jays’ 2025 World Series run. Pitcher Max Scherzer also got placed back on the injured list after making one start with back spasms. He joins fellow pitchers Jose Berrios, Yimi Garcia, Shane Bieber, Cody Ponce, Joe Mantiply and Bowden Francis on the shelf. While he has not been injured, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has had a slump by his standards. While he’s amassed a decent .280 batting average, he has not hit a home run for over a month. Luckily, his team is facing the Red Sox, and Guerrero Jr. broke the slump by annihilating a ball over the Green Monster. Look out, AL East, because once their arms get healthy, they will be ready to make a return to October.

The Oakland Athletics have the high slugging and putrid pitching you have come to know (and loathe if you’re one of the 1,000 A's fans that haven’t been alienated by the move from Oakland to Las Vegas). Speaking of Sin City, the As hosted two series, a three-game stint against the Brewers and a three-game series against the Rockies. They hosted it in their minor league affiliate ballpark, home of the Triple-A ballclub Las Vegas Aviators. The fans got a fireworks show, as the Athletics hit 20 home runs and scored 47 runs. The As were even so kind as to let the Rockies score a franchise record of 23 runs. I can’t wait to see their generosity continue as the season progresses.

Hey, Detroit Tigers, do you want to do something in the AL Central? No? Okay, looks like Chicago and Cleveland will take advantage of your slumber to take first and second in the division. Yes, reigning Cy Young champion Tarik Skubal has been out for most of this season, but is he responsible for nearly half the roster getting injured? No, he’s just one player. It looks like the Gritty Tigs are sliding back into their mediocre spot, but thanks to anyone with a D on their uniform getting hurt. At least rookie Kevin McGonigle is having fun, hitting .282 with six home runs.

Amidst the CBA negotiations between the MLB players’ union and the league, I would like to introduce a segment called The Specter of No Baseball. Inspired by my article of the same name, this portion will focus on how the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) negotiations are going. If an agreement is not reached before spring training in 2027, there will be a lockout.

Initial negotiations started in April. Unsurprisingly, the MLB representatives presented a salary cap of $245 million and a floor of $171 million. Alongside the floor is an escrow; players will set aside a portion of their salary to the league, which, once annual revenue is calculated, they can either give to the league or keep for themselves. It’s important to note that other leagues like the NHL also use this system, so MLB is not creating a new system. This new collective bargaining agreement would also last for seven years, instead of the usual five-year period that previous contracts have operated under.

The MLB players’ union has fired back, saying the salary cap amounts to a cut in the potential salary. For decades, the MLBPA has been opposed to a cap, and union interim director Bruce Meyer referred to this: “The last time the owners made such an explicit push for a cap—over 30 years ago—it led to the longest work stoppage in MLB history.” The players’ union presented a proposal that set a floor of $150 million, which 11 teams have their collective salaries below that mark. They also set the minimum salary for players at $1.5 million and doubled the luxury tax, or a fee that teams have to pay when their salary is over a certain mark, to $300 million. Glen Caplin, the league’s representative, said the proposal does not meaningfully address the competitive imbalances that could be better addressed with a cap.

There is much negotiating to be done, as it is only the first week of player and union proposals. Time will tell if a deal gets reached before December 1st, which is when the current collective bargaining agreement expires, or MLB sees a lockout (which I’ve been calling the Specter of No Baseball). The Athletic surveyed 101 MLB players, of whom 80 said that MLB would face a lockout.

The most absurd statement regarding the first round of MLB player negotiations came from Nationals pitcher and player representative Miles Mikolas, who compared a cap and floor to communism. Because, as Marx said in The Communist Manifesto, “Communism is when there is a cap and floor.” I’m not even a communist (I’m more of an anarchist), and I at least have a rudimentary understanding of the tenets of Communism. It’s also the second straight Weekly Wrapup where I’ve mentioned Marx, which would certainly qualify as a strange stat. Someone in my audience has to be a sabremetrics guru because I’d love to see them calculate that figure.