Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world this weekend:
1. 2025 Draft to begin:
The 2025 draft kicks off this weekend, with the first three rounds scheduled to begin at 5pm CT on Sunday evening. The Nationals, Angels, Mariners, Rockies, Cardinals, and Pirates have the top six picks after winning the draft lottery this past winter. While those six teams were the big winners, they’re far from the only teams that will be in prime position to bolster their future. The Orioles, for example, have four of the top 37 picks after dealing Bryan Baker to the Rays yesterday morning in exchange for the 37th pick in this year’s draft. Competitive Balance Round picks are the only ones that can be traded in MLB, but it’s at least plausible that another team with one of those picks could look to dangle it in trade talks over the next couple of days in order to facilitate an early deal rather than waiting until the Trade Deadline on July 31.
2. Pitchers’ duel in Minnesota:
The Pirates are headed to the Twin Cities this weekend for a three-game set, and the series kicks off tonight with a pitchers’ duel scheduled for 7pm local time. The Twins will send All-Star right-hander Joe Ryan to the mound for his 19th appearance of the season, while Pittsburgh will counter with superstar right-hander Paul Skenes. Ryan, 29, is in the midst of a career year with a 2.76 ERA and a 28.6% strikeout rate in 104 1/3 innings of work. Skenes, meanwhile, will enter his 20th start of the season with a sterling 1.94 ERA and a 27.8% strikeout rate in 116 innings. The Twins are one of several teams on the buy/sell bubble with the trade deadline looming just under three weeks away. They’ll play three of their next four series against clear sellers — Pirates, Rockies, Nationals — and likely need a strong showing in those winnable series to avoid selling off some rental pieces.
3. Mets rotation gets reinforcements:
The Mets have battled injuries in the rotation throughout the year, but their starting staff finally appears to be getting healthier. Right-hander Kodai Senga is scheduled to be activated from the injured list and start today’s game against the Royals and righty Michael Wacha. Senga has been out with a hamstring strain for the past month but had a sensational 1.47 ERA in 13 starts prior to that injury. He’s not the only arm the Mets figure to get back this weekend. While New York hasn’t announced a starter for Sunday’s game, Will Sammon of The Athletic was among those to note that lefty Sean Manaea is expected to be activated for his season debut on Sunday. Manaea re-signed with the Mets long-term over the winter after serving as a key fixture of the rotation last season, when he posted 3.47 ERA in 32 starts. He’s been sidelined all season with an oblique injury but is in line to square off against Royals rookie Noah Cameron on Sunday.
Mets game 2 yesterday was atrocious.
It was a bullpen game and not expected to be a good one but the opener was devastating in how they wasted Peterson’s performance.
Correct, phenomenal.
Mets gave away game 1. You jusy can’t score 1 run in Baltimore n expect to win
Such a shame to waste a great pitching performance by David Peterson. Crazy how the Mets offense is so inconsistent.
Phillies fans everywhere were really enjoying the off day for the team yesterday – incredibly gratifying to gain a game on the Mets and not play at all. ; )
Imagine if those Same Phillies Phans actually had a life where Schadenfreude wasn’t central to their existence.
@Boston’sAl – Imagine if a simple and playful comment didn’t get under the skin of a comment section warrior.
Let it go. A lot of fans scoreboard watch…SMH.
They just ran into the buzzsaw that is current Charlie Morton.
Not even joking, the guy has a 2.61 ERA and 60 Ks in 51 IP over the last 2 months after being basically the worst starter in MLB for the first month and a half of the season.
He’s somehow gone from a very strong DFA candidate to potentially one of the best SPs available at the deadline lol.
R.I.P. Lee Elia, who gave us the most memorable rant anyone in baseball ever had.
ChuckNJ: So memorable, I don’t remember it at all. 🤣
BB – You were probably too busy being a pompous prig to notice.
But Boobaron (aka Stuart) is the smartest guy in the room – just ask him.
Lloyd Emerson: Probably.
I’m certainly not perfect, but at least I’m not you.
@ChuckyNJ
We don’t get proper managers like that anymore. MLB has become far too corporate that they worry about their own image instead of allowing the true emotions to show. I miss the raw emotion that we used to have in baseball. RIP Lee Elia and RIP MLB (decades ago).
How many proper winning seasons has he produced? I’m all-in on Davey Johnson types, but Elia was a hot head who didn’t produce results.
Been looking forward to the draft. Really hope Anderson is our pick but I’d be fine with Arnold.
I also really like Kyson Witherspoon. If the Angels got him on an under slot deal then used the savings over the next couple of rounds, that could work.
Out medical staff + Doyle’s delivery = dude’s arm falling off in two years, though.
O’s going to retry the rebuild again. Best of luck…
24-16 (.667) over their last 40 games.
It’s pretty amazing what getting some of your best players (i.e. Westburg and Cowser) back from the IL does for a team 😉
@King Floch
Looking under the hood, it seems they’re overperforming.
wRAA: -14.0
wRC+: 98
OBP: .305
The Orioles’ batting is slightly underperforming due to a low BABIP (.287) and LD% (18.8%), but their wOBA (.308) matches xwOBA, indicating no major overperformance. They may see minor positive regression in AVG/OBP, but their clutch performance (0.72) could regress negatively. Overall, their offense is average, not exceptional,
The gloating about their performance is overstated, as their offense is mediocre, their pitching is below average, and their defense is a major liability.
It wasn’t me “gloating,” it was me pointing out that you’re a clown.
@King Floch
A clown for saying best of luck to the draft for the rebuild?
That was specifically why I called you a clown, but you already knew that, just like you already know that no “rebuild” is necessary.
Additions will obviously be necessary in the offseason, but calling that a “rebuild” is silly.
@King Floch
Enjoy your rebuild!
I would say “enjoy pretending to be mentally handicapped” but I am not actually sure you’re pretending.
@King Floch
You’ve already shown three of the stages of grief.
Shock
Denial
Anger
Don’t worry, it will get better.
.600
@retire21
True. I guess math isn’t his best subject in elementary school.
@retire-
Yeah, I caught that I had used the wrong formula after the fact, but you were right to point it out.
The point stands though, the team is playing much more like they were expected to now that they are closer to full strength, which they clearly were not when literally like 14 guys were on the IL at the same time earlier in the season.
I’m surprised that some front office doesn’t find the data to switch up a pitching rotation for more team wins. Skenes has been dueling with other team’s aces, and hasn’t come out on the winning side due to a lack of offense. If you moved him to face a 3-5 pitcher where the offense would have more of a chance, you’d almost be guaranteeing a W. If you know you don’t have a chance against the other team’s ace, then why not line up your 4 or 5 against them as a throw away?
You can flame me on this topic, but it wouldn’t surprise if this happens in the future.
Are there any links for draft resources, like rankings, other than just mlb.com?
I know this isn’t really MLBTR’s focus, but there usually is at least a post with some resources about what MLB evaluators think of the draftable prospects, it would be great if someone could share some links!