Sponsored: Rawlings® and the Grateful Dead Announce New Glove Collaboration
Iconic Baseball Brand Releases Limited-Edition Gloves Highlighting Legendary Rock Band
Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., is the official game ball, glove, helmet, face guard and base of Major League Baseball® and the creator of the renowned Rawlings Gold GloveAward®.
In a highly anticipated collaboration with the Grateful Dead, Rawlings has announced the creation of three limited-edition glove models bearing the widely-recognized logos and designs associated with the generation-spanning musical group.
The gloves dropped exclusively on Rawlings.com at 11am EST on June 6th and are also available at the “Rawlings Experience,” the brand’s flagship location in St. Louis, MO.
“Our partnership with the Grateful Dead appealed to us given we both have a long history of innovation which we’ve tapped into to attract new fans over the course of several decades,” said Eric Reinsfelder, vice-president of brand and sports marketing for Rawlings.
“Our new glove collection with the Grateful Dead is the perfect blend of pioneering design mixed with nostalgic elements of two iconic American brands.”
Fans can select from three models: either the “Skull and Roses,” “Dancing Bears,” or “Steal Your Face” logos made popular through the years by the Grateful Dead’s loyal fans, also fondly referred to as “Dead Heads.”
Click here for more info!
These REV1X™ series gloves are marked by a synthetic back infused with unique technology that yields a sturdy, 3D shape with a Heart of the Hide® leather palm for added durability and quality. Additionally, each glove is constructed with an optimized lattice structure that provides variable stiffness in the pinky and thumb area significantly reducing weight. A lace-less web design combined with an adaptive fit system ensures ultimate fielding ability and a custom, tailored fit. Further, each glove within the collection is individually numbered.
The gloves retail for $449.95 with 120 of each of the three models available for purchase on Rawlings.com.
About Rawlings
Established in 1887, Rawlings is an innovative leading global brand and manufacturer of premium baseball and softball equipment, including gloves, balls, and protective headwear. Rawlings’ unparalleled quality, innovative engineering and expert craftsmanship are the fundamental reasons why more professional athletes, national governing bodies and sports leagues choose Rawlings. Rawlings is the official baseball, glove, helmet, face guard and base of Major League Baseball®, the official baseball of Minor League Baseball® and the official baseball and softball of the NCAA® and the NAIA®.
Rawlings acquired Easton Diamond Sports®, the official equipment supplier of Little League® Baseball and Softball, Team USA Softball®, and USSSA® Softball, in 2020. The company is headquartered in St. Louis. For more information, please visit www.Rawlings.com.
About the Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead is a social and musical phenomenon that grew into a genuine American treasure. In 1965, an entire generation was linked together by common ideals, gathering by the hundreds and thousands. This movement created a seamless connection between the band and its fans. As the band toured, Dead Heads would follow. Not because it was a part of popular culture but because it is a true counterculture that exists to this very day – one that earnestly believes in the value of its beliefs.
By 1995, the Grateful Dead had attracted the most concertgoers in the history of the music business, and today remains one of the all-time leaders in concert ticket sales. Eventually, the caravan evolved into a community with various artists, craftsmen and entrepreneurs supplying a growing demand for merchandise that connected them to the music. Today, the connection is as strong as ever. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and received a GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Their final tally of 2,318 total concerts remains a world record. The Grateful Dead recently celebrated their 60th Top 40 album on the Billboard chart, a feat no other group has achieved.
The Opener: Cole, Dodgers, Westburg
With 45% of the 2024 season now in the books, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Cole makes his return:
The Yankees have been without reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole all season due to elbow inflammation, but he’ll return from the 60-day injured list to make his season debut today. The Yankees will need to make corresponding moves on both the 40-man and active rosters in order to accommodate his return.
Cole is scheduled to take the mound opposite Orioles rookie Cade Povich (4.76 ERA in two starts) at 7:05pm local time this evening. Cole, who led the American League in ERA, innings, and WHIP last year, will get a tough assignment in his season debut, as the Orioles have posted a collective slash line of .249/.309/.450. The resulting 116 wRC+ suggests they’ve been 16% better than league-average as a collective unit — a mark that ranks third in the majors behind only the Dodgers and the Yankees themselves.
2. Dodgers to shake up rotation?
Cole isn’t the only notable hurler returning from the injured list today. Dodgers right-hander Bobby Miller is also scheduled to take the ball today opposite Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner (5.71 ERA) in Colorado at 8:40pm local time. The return of Miller, who made just three starts before being sidelined back in April but impressed with a 3.76 ERA in 22 starts during his rookie season last year, may not be the only change coming to the Dodgers’ rotation in the near future. Walker Buehler told reporters (including Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times) yesterday that the Dodgers are considering getting him some time to reset after he struggled to a 4.64 ERA and 5.54 FIP in his first seven starts back from Tommy John surgery this year.
Manager Dave Roberts said yesterday that an IL stint for Buehler was possible. Rookie Landon Knack, who has a 2.61 ERA in four spot starts at the big league level this year, appears to be the most likely candidate to replace Buehler in the rotation. Looking a bit further out, it’s possible that Clayton Kershaw could be a factor before long. As noted by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker, the veteran lefty is ahead of schedule in his rehab from shoulder surgery and is set to begin a rehab assignment later today. It still appears unlikely that the 36-year-old will be ready to return before the All-Star break, but his approaching return should afford the Dodgers additional flexibility as they navigate a rotation picture without right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the foreseeable future.
3. Westburg day-to-day:
Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg exited yesterday’s game against the Yankees in the second inning last night after colliding with Juan Soto on the basepaths. O’s skipper Brandon Hyde said after the game that Westburg is day-to-day with a left hip contusion. The loss of the 25-year-old for any amount of time stings, as he’s emerged as one of the club’s most impactful hitters alongside Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman.
In 275 trips to the plate, Westburg has slashed .278/.332/.504 with a wRC+ of 137. The impressive showing this year as further cemented Westburg as a key part of an ever-evolving Orioles lineup flooded with quality positional options. Infielder Ramon Urias, who won a Gold Glove award at third base in 2022, would likely take on a larger role again if Westburg ends up needing more recovery time than is currently anticipated.
Willie Mays Passes Away
Willie Mays passed away peacefully on Tuesday afternoon, the Giants announced. One of the greatest players of all-time and a legend in the sports world, Mays was 93.
“All of Major League Baseball is in mourning today as we are gathered at the very ballpark where a career and a legacy like no other began,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement alluding to Thursday’s game between the Giants and Cardinals at Birmingham’s Rickwood Field, the home of the Negro Leagues’ Birmingham Black Barons. “Willie Mays took his all-around brilliance from the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League to the historic Giants franchise.
From coast to coast in New York and San Francisco, Willie inspired generations of players and fans as the game grew and truly earned its place as our National Pastime. … Thursday’s game at historic Rickwood Field was designed to be a celebration of Willie Mays and his peers. With sadness in our hearts, it will now also serve as a national remembrance of an American who will forever remain on the short list of the most impactful individuals our great game has ever known.”
A native of Westfield, Alabama, Mays started his professional career in 1948. He appeared in 13 games for a Black Barons team that was on its way to that year’s Negro World Series. Once Mays finished high school the following year, he received interest from American League and National League clubs. He signed with the Giants (still playing in New York at the time) on a $4,000 bonus. Mays spent the 1950 season in the minors before making his team debut the following year.
Mays immediately hit the ground running. He hit .274 with 20 home runs and dazzling center field defense to win the National League Rookie of the Year. The Giants would win the pennant on Bobby Thomson’s famous “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” against the Dodgers. While they dropped that year’s Fall Classic to the Yankees, it wasn’t long before they returned to the World Series. Mays missed most of 1952 and the entire ’53 season after being drafted into the Army during the Korean War. Upon his return to the playing field in 1954, he established himself as one of the best players the game has ever seen.
At 23 years old in his first full major league season, Mays hit .345 with an MLB-best .667 slugging percentage en route to the NL MVP award. The Giants won 97 games to head back to the World Series. In Game 1, Mays made perhaps the most iconic defensive play in major league history. His over-the-shoulder basket catch a few feet in front of the center field wall at the Polo Grounds — a play that would live on in history as “The Catch” — likely saved two runs in what was then a tied game in the eighth inning. The Giants would go to win in 10 innings and sweep the Indians to win the fifth championship in franchise history.
The rosters around Mays dipped after that season. They wouldn’t return to the Fall Classic until 1962 despite their center fielder’s all-around dominance. Mays hit 51 home runs in 1955, the first of three times he would lead the majors in that regard. He paced the National League in stolen bases in four straight seasons from 1956-59 while leading the league in OPS three times during that decade. Mays was established as arguably the best player in the majors by the time the franchise moved to San Francisco in advance of the 1958 season.
The Say Hey Kid earned an All-Star nod during his first MVP season in 1954. His combination of otherworldly talent and incredible durability — he’d play in at least 140 games in each subsequent year until 1968 — sent him back to the Midsummer Classic in 19 straight seasons. Mays was selected as an All-Star 24 times and in 20 separate seasons (there were multiple All-Star teams for a few years in the early 60s). Only Henry Aaron reached the All-Star Game more frequently in his career.
MLB introduced the Gold Glove Award in 1957, four seasons into Mays’ career with the Giants. He’d earn the honors in the award’s first 12 seasons. That ties him with Roberto Clemente for the most among outfielders in league history despite the honors not coming into existence until Mays’ age-26 season.
Mays would have had a strong Hall of Fame case based on his glove alone. He’s also among the best hitters of all time. He hit .296 or better in each season from 1954-65. He never hit fewer than 29 homers in that stretch. Mays ranked in the top 10 in MVP voting in all but one year between 1954-66, finishing among the top five on nine occasions. He won the MVP as a 34-year-old in 1965 behind a .317/.398/.645 batting line with an MLB-leading 52 home runs. He was the runner-up to Maury Wills during the Giants’ pennant-winning ’62 campaign. Mays didn’t have a great offensive showing in the World Series, though, and San Francisco came up a run short in a seven-game series loss to the Yankees.
Between 1954-66, a stretch that represented one of the greatest peaks in MLB history, Mays compiled a .315/.390/.601 slash line with 518 homers as the game’s preeminent outfield defender. While his production in his late-30s wasn’t quite at that exceptional standard, Mays remained an elite hitter past his 40th birthday. He led the NL in walks and on-base percentage at age 40 in 1971, the final season in which he’d top 100 games.
Mays’ time with the Giants came to a close in May 1972 when San Francisco traded him to the Mets. He finished his career as a role player with New York, returning to the World Series in his final season. Mays retired after the ’73 campaign and moved into coaching with the Mets. He’d later work in an advisory role with the Giants, a franchise with which he’s so synonymous that Oracle Park’s official address is 24 Willie Mays Plaza.
That concluded a playing career that spanned parts of 23 seasons in the major leagues (including his abbreviated stint with the Black Barons). Mays played in more than 3000 MLB games, the ninth-most in history. He’s on virtually every leaderboard. Mays was 13th all-time with 3293 hits. He’s 12th in runs batted in (1909) and seventh in runs scored. Mays is one of nine players to reach the 600-homer mark and sits in sixth place on the all-time leaderboard with 660 longballs. At the time he retired, only Aaron and Babe Ruth had more.
Mays was an obvious call for Hall of Fame induction when he was first eligible in 1979. The exemplar of a five-tool player, he’s on the short list in debates about the greatest all-around players in baseball history. Among position players, Mays is only narrowly behind Barry Bonds and Ruth in Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement metric with an estimated 156 career WAR. No single statistic will ever definitively answer the question of the “best player of all-time.” Fans can debate where Mays precisely stacks up against Bonds, Ruth, Aaron, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, etc. It’s impossible to have that conversation without mentioning him.
Of course, Mays’ reverence in baseball circles goes well behind the stat sheet. He’s an icon, a fan favorite of many on both coasts during his heyday. Mays was one of the first Black players to emerge as a superstar once MLB teams began to integrate in the late 1940s and the early part of the 50s. His influence transcended baseball into broader American culture.
Mays and Yogi Berra were among the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. MLBTR joins others throughout the sports world in sending condolences to his family, friends, loved ones and the countless fans whose lives he impacted through nearly eight decades as a face of baseball.
Niko Goodrum Elects Free Agency
Utilityman Niko Goodrum elected free agency after the Pirates designated him for assignment last week, tweets Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. Goodrum went unclaimed on outright waivers and had sufficient service time to explore the market.
The 32-year-old didn’t appear in a game with the Pirates. Pittsburgh claimed Goodrum off waivers from the Angels on June 10 before squeezing him off the roster four days later. The Bucs were his fourth organization of the 2024 season. Goodrum spent Spring Training with the Twins on a minor league deal. He had brief MLB stints with the Rays and Halos before his stopover in the Steel City.
Goodrum hit just .103/.188/.103 in 33 MLB plate appearances. He’d hit well for Tampa Bay’s Triple-A team in Durham, running a .316/.422/.605 slash in nine games. Goodrum had excellent numbers (.280/.448/.440) with Boston’s top minor league affiliate a year ago and continued to hit well as a member of the KBO’s Lotte Giants. He shouldn’t have an issue finding another minor league contract.
Pittsburgh also granted infielder Jake Lamb his release from Triple-A Indianapolis, tweets Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Lamb evidently had an opt-out deal in the minor league contract he signed over the winter. The 33-year-old hit .289/.380/.416 with a strong 12% walk rate and an 18.4% strikeout percentage through 234 Triple-A plate appearances.
Lamb had started the season on a huge hot streak and once looked like a candidate to supplant Rowdy Tellez as a left-handed first base option. His bat has tailed off in June, though, and the Bucs decided to let him explore other opportunities rather than giving him an MLB shot.
Marlins To Select Yonny Chirinos
Yonny Chirinos will start for the Marlins on Wednesday against the Cardinals, the team announced (X link via Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase). Isaac Azout of Fish on First noted (on X) this afternoon that Chirinos was in the clubhouse.
Miami will need to select Chirinos onto the 40-man roster tomorrow morning. Their roster is at capacity, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move. Miami will also need to option (or DFA) a pitcher to create a spot on the active roster.
Chirinos, 30, gets to the majors for a sixth season. He signed with the Fish on a minor league deal over the winter. Chirinos has taken the ball 12 times for Triple-A Jacksonville, allowing an even three earned runs per nine across 66 innings. The Venezuelan-born righty has a modest 17.2% strikeout rate against a decent 8.4% walk percentage.
Command has always been Chirinos’ biggest strong suit. He has a tidy 6.3% walk rate in 326 1/3 MLB frames between the Rays and Braves. He hasn’t missed many bats but managed a sub-4.00 ERA with Tampa Bay between 2018-20. Chirinos underwent Tommy John surgery late in the 2020 campaign and fractured his elbow while rehabbing from that procedure. He struggled in his return a year ago, allowing a 5.40 ERA over 85 frames.
Chirinos has more than five years of major league service. The Marlins won’t be able to send him back to Jacksonville without his agreement now that he’s back in the big leagues. He’d qualify for free agency at the end of the season if he pitches well enough to hold his MLB spot for the rest of the year.
Fantasy Baseball: Prospect Fever
Hello friends.
Unfortunately, we have to start with some bad news - I have a fever. And judging by the questions coming in during our weekly Monday chats, a lot of you have one too. But good news! The only prescription for the aforementioned fever is more prospects and we have those in spades. Or even bells*, one might say.
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The Jesus Luzardo Alternative Who *Should* Be Available Next Month
Find virtually any primer for the 2024 trade deadline and you'll see Jesus Luzardo's name at or near the top of the discussion. He's probably even the feature image on many of those pieces. It's not hard to see why. A hard-throwing 26-year-old lefty with two seasons of club control beyond the current campaign and big strikeout abilities is always going to be in demand. And the Marlins, sitting at 23-48 on the season, have effectively been out of postseason contention since the second week of the season. A 1-12 start to the year will do that to you.
Luzardo might be the most talked-about name on the trade market this summer and has a far better chance to move than your standard prime-aged starting pitcher with two-plus seasons of club control. The Marlins already traded Luis Arraez in early May, after all. They're clearly open for business.
Nearly everything I just said about Luzardo applies to another lefty on the opposite coast. And yet for all the Luzardo chatter we've already heard and will continue to hear, the trade buzz between the two southpaws doesn't align.
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Mike Tauchman Out Roughly Four Weeks With Groin Strain
The Cubs will be without Mike Tauchman for a few weeks. Chicago placed their right fielder on the 10-day injured list this evening with a strained left groin. Miles Mastrobuoni is up from Triple-A Iowa to take the active roster spot.
Manager Craig Counsell told the Chicago beat that Tuchman’s strain is of the Grade 2 variety (relayed on X by the Chicago Tribune’s Meghan Montemurro). Counsell suggested it’ll be around a month before the injury is fully healed. That could take Tuchman’s rehab close to the July 30 trade deadline.
The lefty-swinging Tauchman has emerged as a surprising contributor for Chicago. He hit .252/.363/.377 over a career-high 401 plate appearances a season ago. As MLBTR’s Nick Deeds explored last month, the lefty-hitting Tauchman has hit his way to regular playing time in the Wrigley Field outfield. Tauchman carried a .257/.375/.407 line at the time of Nick’s post. His production has tailed off a bit since then, as he ran a .263/.330/.338 slash in 88 plate appearances over the past month. That hadn’t changed his standing, as Counsell has continued to pencil him in atop the lineup.
That’ll be on hold after Tauchman came up limping beating out an infield single. Nico Hoerner jumps to the top of the order for tonight’s game. The Cubs moved Cody Bellinger from center to right field with Pete Crow-Armstrong taking over in center. Seiya Suzuki is serving as the designated hitter. Crow-Armstrong will probably see the biggest uptick in playing time with Tauchman on the shelf.
The Cubs enter tonight’s game with a 34-39 record. Chicago washed away a strong April with a 16-27 showing going back to May 1. They’ve dropped into 13th place in the National League, but everyone in the NL besides the Marlins and Rockies is still in the playoff picture. Chicago is only two games back of the Giants, who currently hold the last Wild Card spot. They’re among 8-10 teams in the Senior Circuit whose approaches to the trade deadline will be determined by how well they play over the next six weeks.
Cubs Acquire William Simoneit From Phillies
The Cubs have acquired catcher William Simoneit from the Phillies, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The backstop has been assigned to Double-A Tennessee for now. He wasn’t on Philadelphia’s 40-man roster and therefore won’t require a spot with the Cubs. The Phils receive cash considerations in return.
Simeonit, now 27, signed with the Athletics as an undrafted free agent in 2020. From 2021 to 2023, he got into 244 minor league games from High-A to Triple-A. He produced a combined batting line of .259/.359/.408 in that time, which led to a 108 wRC+.
The Phils nabbed him away from the A’s in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft. His results have fallen off since the organizational switch, as he’s hit .145/.286/.306 between Double-A and Triple-A this year, striking out in 39% of his trips to the plate. The Phillies recently lost some catching depth with J.T. Realmuto requiring knee surgery but still decided they would rather have the cash than Simoneit.
The Cubs have received very little from their catching position this year, something that manager Craig Counsell recently discussed. As of today, Miguel Amaya is hitting .185/.248/.267 on the season while Yan Gomes has a line of .154/.179/.242. Neither of those two can be optioned and the club doesn’t have another catcher on the 40-man.
Alí Sánchez is in the system as non-roster depth but Simoneit will now join him in that capacity. It’s obviously been rough going to start this year for Simoneit but perhaps he can get back to into his pre-2024 form.
Yankees Place Ian Hamilton, Cody Poteet On Injured List
The Yankees announced a series of roster moves today. First baseman Anthony Rizzo was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right forearm fracture, an injury that was reported yesterday. They also placed right-handers Ian Hamilton and Cody Poteet on the 15-day injured list. Hamilton’s move is due to a right lat strain and retroactive to June 17. Poteet’s is due to a right triceps strain and retroactive to June 15. In corresponding moves, they recalled left-hander Clayton Andrews and also selected the contracts of left-hander Anthony Misiewicz and catcher/infielder Ben Rice. The moves for Misiewicz and Rice were previously covered on MLBTR.
In terms of the 40-man roster, the Yankees had one vacancy for Misiewicz/Rice but opened another by transferring righty Clarke Schmidt to the 60-day injured list. The 40-man is now full but the club is planning to reinstate righty Gerrit Cole from the 60-day IL tomorrow and will need to open a spot for him.
Poteet was recalled a few weeks ago to take a rotation spot when Schmidt landed on the injured list. Poteet has made four good starts since then, currently sitting on a 2.14 earned run average for the year. Despite that strong work, he was likely going to be optioned back to the minors to make way for Cole, since each of Luis Gil, Carlos Rodón, Nestor Cortes and Marcus Stroman have been in good form this year.
But instead of going back down to the minors, Poteet is now on the IL. He won’t throw at all for the next week or two, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic on X, before taking things from there. The Yanks have the strongest rotation in the league this year, even before accounting for Cole’s return, as their collective 2.90 ERA leads the majors at the moment. But having both Schmidt and Poteet on the IL at the same time leaves their depth a bit thinned out.
Clayton Beeter is on the 40-man roster but seems to be injured as well, since he hasn’t pitched at Triple-A since May 15. Yoendrys Gómez is also on the roster and has a 3.13 ERA in Triple-A, but is working around a high walk rate of 13.9%. If they suffer another rotation injury, that depth situation could be a factor, though perhaps Schmidt and/or Poteet can return to health before it becomes an issue.
As for Hamilton, his injury seems to be even more significant as he won’t throw for three to four weeks, per Kirschner on X. He’ll likely have to build back up after such an absence so he might end up missing a couple of months, depending on how things develop in the interim.
The righty emerged as a key piece of the Yankee bullpen last year, tossing 58 innings with a 2.64 ERA. His 10.9% walk rate was a bit on the high side but he struck out 28.9% of batters faced while getting grounders on 55.3% of balls in play.
His ERA has jumped to 4.55 this year but perhaps the injury has played a role in that. He had a 2.81 ERA after his June 6 appearance but has allowed seven earned runs in four innings since then. If the lat issue started bugging him in that time, perhaps that explains the recent struggles. In his absence, pitchers like Luke Weaver, Tommy Kahnle, Caleb Ferguson and Michael Tonkin will help set up closer Clay Holmes. Most contending clubs look for bullpen additions prior to the trade deadline and the Yankees will surely be in the market since they currently have the best record in baseball.
As for Schmidt, he was placed on the injured list May 27 with a right lat strain and will now be ineligible to be reinstated until 60 days from that initial IL placement, which would be July 26. Shortly after he was placed on the IL, the Yanks announced that he would be shut down for four to six weeks. Even if he starts throwing in early July, he’ll surely need a few weeks of rehab to build back up to a starter’s workload.