Star-Spangled Sunday: One story to know for every MLB team

This weekend, America celebrates its 250th birthday. And just like family and friends gather for cookouts all across the country, we’re bringing together all 30 MLB teams for a celebration of our national pastime.

Join us all day Sunday for the first-ever MLB Star-Spangled Sunday, with all 15 games airing between NBC and Peacock. The day begins on NBC with the Mets and Braves at 12:30 p.m. ET. Later on, you can find the Padres and Dodgers on Sunday Night Baseball at 7 p.m. ET. Every other game will be broadcast live on Peacock, with the ability to watch four games at once with multi-view.

Check out the full schedule for the day here. Baseball as far as the eye can see. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

To help set the scene for Star-Spangled Sunday, the Rotoworld staff picked one storyline to know for each of the 30 teams. Dive in below.

Oh, and if you’re coming to the cookout, can you bring a dessert?

The Diamondbacks remain within striking distance of a playoff spot despite enduring a staggering wave of injuries to their starting rotation depth. They’ve lost back-end stabilizers Ryne Nelson (elbow) and Michael Soroka (glute) to the injured list in recent weeks, and former ace Corbin Burnes suffered a lat strain while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery that will sideline him until the later stages of the second half. If the Diamondbacks are serious about making a postseason push, adding a reliable innings-eater and another impact bat to support the star-level production of franchise cornerstones Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte will be essential. A second-half breakout from an unexpected source like youngsters Jordan Lawlar or Ryan Waldschmidt would provide a much-needed spark. – George Bissell

Athletics

The Athletics remain within striking distance in the American League West if only because the division has produced such mediocre results, but much of that credit also belongs to the budding superstar bat of Nick Kurtz. Despite being among the league leaders in whiff percentage at 36.2 percent and strikeout percentage at 30.7, Kurtz has followed up his sensational rookie campaign with a .284/.425/.529 slash, 20 homers and has even added seven stolen bases despite not possessing anything close to elite speed. He’s in the 90th percentile better in several offensive categories according to Baseball Savant, and he’s in the 99th percentile in average exit velocity (94.5 mph) hard-hit percentage (59) and barrel rate (19 percent). All of this from a player that is still just 23 years of age and was playing at Wake Forest two years ago. He’s already established himself as one of the elite hitters in baseball. The question now is how much better these numbers can get? – Christoper Crawford

▶ Check out next week’s recommended two-start pitchers for fantasy baseball!

The Braves were one of baseball’s top teams through the first two months of the season, ending May with a 40-20 record and a nine-game lead atop the National League East. The strong start was backed by the success of Matt Olson, Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies, and Drake Baldwin, while getting surprising contributions out of the rotation from Bryce Elder and Grant Holmes. They’ve experienced a bit of a collapse in June, with a 9-14 record, as the team lost Ronald Acuña Jr. to a hamstring strain and Spencer Strider to an elbow injury, leaving Chris Sale as the only consistent frontline starter. Their June struggles and a resurgence from the Phillies have the Braves clinging to a three-game lead in the division. Can the team recover in the second half, or will this contender fade down the stretch? – Jorge Montanez

Blaze Alexander has been a pleasant surprise for the Orioles this season. He hit his way into a near full-time role around May 25th, supplanting Coby Mayo at third base. Since then, he leads the Orioles in wRC+ (196) and is slashing .398/.449/.614 in 30 games with three home runs, 13 runs scored, 20 RBI, and three steals. Over that stretch, he has a 9.5% barrel rate, 46% hard-hit rate, and 92.3 mph average exit velocity. Overall, Alexander has been spraying line drives all over the field more often this year, with a 7% increase in oppo rate from last year. He has also been far more aggressive, raising his zone swing rate from 68% last year with Arizona to 81.6% this year. He’s still swinging and missing about 13% of the time, but because he is swinging more often, his overall contact rate has gone up from 71.5% to 76.2% and he is making harder contact than before. He looks like a great piece that the Orioles acquired from three minor leaguers in February. – Eric Samulski

The Red Sox had one of the worst infield defenses in baseball in 2025. According to Statcast, they finished with a -21 Outs Above Average, which was fourth-worst of any infield defense in baseball. They had just a 72% success rate and a -15 Runs Prevented. As a team, their infielders made 62 errors in 162 games, which is .38 infield errors per game. In 2026, their infield defense has a +1 Outs Above Average and 1 Run Prevented, which, while just average, is a huge improvement on last season. They have committed 23 infield errors in 85 games so far, which is .27 infield errors per game. Perhaps a big portion of their success has been the addition of Willson Contreras, who is an elite defender at 1B, and the injury to Trevor Story, who led the team with 19 errors last season and currently leads the team with six errors in 2026 despite playing only 39 games. – Eric Samulski

The fireworks arrived early in Chicago, and Dansby Swanson went from “maybe we should bench him” to putting himself on pace for a career-high 30 homers and 106 RBI in the matter of just a couple of weeks, punctuating a stellar run with five homers and 11 RBI over two games against the Padres as the calendar flipped from June to July. He became the first player since Joe DiMaggio in 1939 to drive in 26 runs in a 10-game span. The Cubs will need to get some pitchers healthy and probably add outside help there if they’re going to reach the postseason, but having a nine-deep lineup can help paper things over for now. The team ranks third in MLB in scoring 5.15 runs per game and is second behind only the Dodgers with a 112 OPS+. – Matthew Pouliot

Rookie outfielder Sam Antonacci absolutely sizzled in the month of June, serving as a catalyst atop the lineup for the surprise division-leading White Sox. The 23-year-old slashed .318/.426/.494 for the month with three homers, nine RBI, 20 runs scored, three stolen bases and a 14/10 K/BB ratio. He appears to be honing his skills as a base stealer as well. After being caught on four of his first seven stolen base attempts, Antonacci has been successful on all eight of his tries since May 20. If the White Sox are truly going to make a run at their first postseason berth since 2021 – on the heels of three consecutive 100-loss seasons – then Antonacci is going to have to continue to produce at an elite level, setting the table for Miguel Vargas and company. Antonacci’s emergence combined with the return of Munetaka Murakami (hamstring) around the All-Star break should continue to make the White Sox’ lineup a nightmare to navigate for opposing pitchers. – David Shovein

The Reds got Hunter Greene back from elbow surgery on Friday, and having him pitch like he did in 2024 (2.75 ERA in 26 starts) and last season (2.76 ERA in 19 starts) is obviously key in any run they’re going to make in the NL Central. However, Chase Burns’ performance is about equally as important, and his velocity has started to dip as he approaches his total of 109 1/3 innings from his pro debut last year; he’s already up to 97 2/3 innings in 17 starts while going 10-1 with a 2.40 ERA this year. Burns averaged 98 mph with his fastball in eight of his first 11 starts last year, but he’s been lower than that in six straight now, bottoming out at 97.1 mph in two of his last three starts. His slider has diminished even more; it averaged 90.8 mph in his first 14 starts before coming in at 89.6, 89.3 and 89.1 mph in his last three outings. The good news is that his spin rates have held steady, and it’d be nice to think that the diminished velocity is by design. Still, the Reds are going to exercise some caution here; Burns is due to make just one more start before the break and probably should be pushed to the back of the rotation afterwards. – Matthew Pouliot

The Guardians are trying to keep pace in the American League Central while superstar third baseman José Ramírez recovers from surgery to repair a left hamate fracture. Since he hit the injured list, the Guardians have gone 8-9 in 17 games (through Friday) and they enter play on Saturday a game ahead of the White Sox. Overall for the month of June the Guardians slashed an anemic .218/.285/.343, with their .628 OPS ranking 29th among MLB teams, only besting the Braves (.599). The one player to watch that has seemingly made an impact is Travis Bazzana. The top overall selection from the 2024 draft class debuted with the Guardians on April 28. After struggling to find his footing initially, Bazzana has slashed .265/.330/.452 with six homers, 20 RBI and five stolen bases in 185 plate appearances since May 13. If the Guardians are going to hold off the charging White Sox and any other contenders in the Central, Bazzana is going to have to continue to be a driving force for the offense – especially while Ramírez is shelved. – David Shovein

The Paul DePodesta era of Rockies baseball hasn’t sparked a dramatic turnaround for the downtrodden franchise. One of the few bright spots has been the emergence of Hunter Goodman as an elite power hitter and middle-of-the-order force The 26-year-old backstop’s 13 homers in June were the most by any player in a single month since Shohei Ohtani launched 15 last May. There’s a long history of Colorado’s high-octane offensive environment inflating power numbers, but this is no Coors Field mirage. Goodman has gone deep an astounding 18 times on the road this season and is the first player in franchise history since Larry Walker in 2001 to reach 27 homers before the All-Star break. In another lost season with the Rockies still searching for direction, Goodman looks like a legitimate foundational piece with real staying power. – George Bissell

Detroit Tigers

Most of the news around the Tigers these days focuses on their disappointing start to the season and the increasing likelihood that star southpaw Tarik Skubal is moved ahead of the incoming trade deadline. The player who isn’t quite getting the attention he deserves in the same market though, is Casey Mize. The top overall selection from the 2018 draft, Mize has quietly blossomed into a frontline MLB starter. He made his first All-Star squad in 2025 with a strong first half before fading in the second half. This season he has posted a stellar 2.63 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and a 68/14 K/BB ratio over 65 innings through his first 12 starts. Set to hit free agency after the season, he’s going to draw ample interest at the deadline as well, either for teams that miss out on Skubal or perhaps in a megadeal where the pair are shipped off together for a more impressive haul. Don’t be surprised if the two biggest names in the starting pitching market that get moved at the deadline come from the same team. – David Shovein

The Astros have slowly but surely crawled back into contention in the AL West, and they’ve done so despite some of the worst starting pitching results in all of the sport. The return of Hunter Brown has certainly helped, but new auditions to the staff like Tatsuya Imai and Mike Burrows have not held up their end of the bargain for the majority of the season. Lance McCullers Jr. is expected to return around the All-Star break — although he’s struggled as well as seen in an ugly 6.86 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over his eight starts — and Cristian Javier could be an option for the team as well if he pitches well out of the bullpen now that he’s healthy enough to help the staff again. Still, with the Astros just three games back of the Rangers with a week to go before the All-Star break, one can’t help but wonder if Houston will be aggressive at the deadline to potentially acquire a starter for their postseason push. They likely don’t have the prospect capital to go after a Tarik Skubal, but there should be enough to potentially procure the services of an arm like Joe Ryan, Seth Lugo, or Freddy Peralta. How well the Astros play over the next two weeks will largely determine how aggressive Houston is at the deadline. – Christopher Crawford

While the Royals enter the weekend mired in the cellar in the American League, baseball fans should still take a second to appreciate the ascent of rookie backstop Carter Jensen this season. After crushing the ball in a 69 plate appearance sample at the end of the 2025 campaign, Jansen has continued to pummel the baseball this season. He’s slashing a healthy .251/.314/.452 with 13 homers and 47 RBI in 312 plate appearances while playing in 81 of the Royals’ first 88 contests. He has assumed the mantle as the club’s primary catcher (48 games) while serving as the designated hitter almost every day that he’s not behind the dish. He has also become the team’s primary leadoff hitter, all the while learning the ins and outs of managing a big league pitching staff during his rookie campaign. While they aren’t quite ready to contend just yet, with Jensen, Bobby Witt Jr., Jac Caglianone, Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino in the fold, the Royals have all the makings of one of the scariest offenses in the league in a couple of years. – David Shovein

Even in the aggressively mediocre American League West, the Angels are nowhere close to contention in 2026. There have been some bright spots, however, and one of the brightest has been the pitching of 22-year-old Walbert Ureña. Since joining the rotation in the middle of April, Ureña has forged a 3.09 ERA over 75 2/3 innings, and he’s whiffed 73 hitters in the process while allowing no more than a run in eight of his 14 starts. While he can get his fastball up to triple digits, the biggest reason for Ureña’s success has been his offspeed pitches, in particular his changeup. Batters have hit just .162 against the offering thus far in 2026, and they’ve swung and missed at the pitch 36.4 percent of the time. That and his effective sweeper are why he ranks in the 99th percentile of all pitchers according to Baseball Savant in offspeed run value with a score of plus eight in that metric. Ureña needs to show more consistent command of his offerings, but if he can keep the walks to a low roar, he has a chance to be a hurler the Angels build around over the next few seasons. – Christopher Crawford

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers’ pursuit of a third consecutive World Series title reached Independence Day with the best record in baseball, driven in large part by the brilliance of Shohei Ohtani, who has authored a microscopic 1.79 ERA across 85 2/3 innings. The generational talent further solidified his case to start the upcoming Midsummer Classic by striking out nine and limiting the division-rival Padres to three runs over six innings on July 3. The single biggest question facing Los Angeles is not what Ohtani has already accomplished, but how carefully his workload will be managed over the season’s final months. Even by his other-worldly standards, his recent outings have shown signs of fatigue, and lingering biceps soreness only heightens the urgency of preserving his arm for October. The Dodgers may possess the deepest roster in baseball, but their defining challenge down the stretch will be keeping their most important contributors healthy for the postseason. – George Bissell

The Marlins surged in June, owning the best winning percentage in the month with a 20-6 record. Otto Lopez has been a big reason for the team’s success. The 27-year-old infielder has broken out this season, hitting .336/.368/.494 with seven homers, 55 runs scored, 37 RBI, and 16 steals across 367 plate appearances. He’s doing so behind a career-best 43% hard-hit rate while maintaining a low 13.6% strikeout rate to support his results at the plate. But the biggest boost for the team has come on the mound, with Max Meyer leading the way in his own breakout season, posting a 2.53 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with 112 strikeouts over 103 innings across his first 18 starts. The 103 innings already set a career high as he’s been able to avoid the injured list for the first time. Without a true star, Miami may look like overachievers. But they’re in the hunt and could find themselves in the unusual position of being buyers at the trade deadline. – Jorge Montanez

It’s certainly no longer the case that “so goes Christian Yelich, so go the Brewers,” but at some point here, the Brewers are going to need more from their one-time franchise player, who won NL MVP honors in 2018 and then finished second the next year. Yelich, now 34, was a force in 2024 prior to back surgery, posting a 152 OPS+ in 73 games, and still very useful after returning last season, driving in 100 runs for the second time in his career and finishing with a 119 OPS+. This year, though, he’s hitting .248/.333/.379, giving him a 96 OPS+, while serving nearly exclusively as a designated hitter. He’s been doing a fair amount of sitting against lefties, but even against righties, he’s hitting a modest .250/.339/.375 with a 29 percent strikeout rate. Statcase thinks he’s been pretty lucky, too, given that he has a strong .341 batting average on balls in play with only league-average exit velocity numbers. It’s hard to imagine the Brewers reducing his role farther, but if he doesn’t pick it up, they might be better off turning more to Andrew Vaughn and Gary Sánchez. – Matthew Pouliot

While the Twins continue to toe the line between contender and pretender as the trade deadline approaches, one player that has been fascinating to watch has been unsung bullpen hero Yoendrys Gómez. The 26-year-old right-hander pitched decently in a swingman role for the White Sox in 2025 before being dealt to the Rays as part of the deal for Everson Pereira. He was then cut by the Rays at the beginning of May after struggling to a 6.23 ERA and 1.67 WHIP over 17 1/3 innings in his nine appearances. The Twins acquired him for cash later that week and all he has done since then is register a scintillating 1.57 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and a 23/8 K/BB ratio over 23 innings while converting all eight of his save chances. He has solidified the back end of a Twins’ bullpen that has seen a whopping 11 different pitchers record at least one save this season. His impressive work has also allowed Andrew Morris, Taylor Rogers and crew to settle back into comfortable setup roles, making the entire Twins’ bullpen function much better as a whole. – David Shovein

New York Mets

A disappointing disaster might be the best way to describe the first half for the Mets. The team completely overhauled its roster over the offseason, moving on from franchise icons Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz and bringing in Luis Robert Jr., Bo Bichette, Freddy Peralta, and Devin Williams, among others. But the new-look Mets have crumbled in the first half, ending June with a 35-50 record and last in the NL East. The team finally pulled the plug on 2026, firing manager Carlos Mendoza on June 26. Barring an epic turnaround, the story down the stretch for the Mets will be about what they can move as sellers at the deadline to build around Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, Bo Bichette, and standout rookie Carson Benge. – Jorge Montanez

New York Yankees

The Yankees are in the midst of another summer swoon. This year, the Yankees went 12-14 in June, which was the fourth year in a row that they’ve been around .500 or worse in the month. In 2025, they were 13-14 in June, they went 14-13 in 2024 and 11-12 in 2023. This year in June, the Yankees were 21st in runs scored, 26th in wRC+, 26th in OPS, 26th in strikeout rate, and 27th in batting average.

Part of the struggles could be expected with Aaron Judge (ribs) and Trent Grisham (oblique) out of the lineup, but hitters who were crushing the ball early in the season have gone cold. Ben Rice had just an 81 wRC+ in June with a .196/.274/.382 slash line, while Cody Bellinger had an 87 wRC+ in the month with a .228/.305/.359 slash line and three hom runs in 25 games. While the Yankees have made the playoffs in two of the last three seasons, they have had to overcome poor summer months in all of them. Last year, the Yankees also finished 12-13 in July. They were 11-13 in July in 2024, and were 10-15 in July of 2023, so they will be looking to reverse those fortunes this July if they want to catch the Rays. – Eric Samulski

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies enter July hot on the Braves’ tail, trailing by 2.5 games for the division lead. They ended June with a 47-38 record backed by a lineup featuring MLB home run leader Kyle Schwarber, a resurgent Bryce Harper, and a breakout by Brandon Marsh. Meanwhile, on the pitching side, the rotation has been led by Cristopher Sánchez, who made five starts in May without allowing a single earned run as part of an incredible first half. But the real story here is the team’s turnaround after a 9-19 start that led to the dismissal of manager Rob Thomson. The team flipped the switch under Don Mattingly. Since Mattingly took over on April 28, Philadelphia has had the most wins in baseball, going 40-20 and closing in on the Braves for the NL East lead. – Jorge Montanez

Pittsburgh Pirates

With two-time Cy Young winner Paul Skenes in the fold, the arrival of MLB’s No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin, Brandon Lowe’s early homer barrage and Oneil Cruz doing Oneil Cruz things, the Pirates aren’t short on storylines this year. However, the best has been Bryan Reynolds’ rather stunning return to 2021 form. Reynolds was considered one of the NL’s top young regulars then, hitting .302/.390/.522 to rack up six WAR and place 11th in the NL MVP balloting despite playing for a team that finished 40 games under .500. Reynolds, though, has been merely good since that season, topping out at 3.6 WAR in 2024 and bottoming out at 1.3 despite playing in 154 games last season. In 2024, he had a 156/57 K/BB ratio, and he came in at 173/57 last year. This year, he’s at 88/57 through 89 games, helping him achieve a career-high .395 OBP that’s fourth in the NL. He’s tied for second with 61 runs scored, and he appears well on his way to becoming the first Pirate to reach the century mark there since Andrew McCutchen in 2012. – Matthew Pouliot

San Diego Padres

Mason Miller has been a nightmare for opposing hitters this season, converting all 21 of his save opportunities while posting a microscopic 0.78 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 66/13 K/BB ratio across 34 2/3 innings. The flame-throwing 27-year-old closer has been nearly untouchable of late, allowing just one earned run over 19 appearances since April 29. The larger picture in San Diego, however, is far less stable. The Padres have endured unexpectedly poor offensive seasons from building blocks Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, while youngster Jackson Merrill has yet to make the leap to full-fledged superstardom. Their patchwork rotation, cobbled together more out of necessity, has been among the worst in baseball, ranking 26th in ERA with one of the lowest strikeout rates in the game. And yet, they somehow remain just four games out of a potential playoff spot, which all but guarantees they’ll be buyers at the upcoming trade deadline. – George Bissell

San Francisco Giants

Get ready for some fireworks. San Francisco isn’t so much rebuilding as it is recalibrating after signaling a willingness to move several veterans ahead of next month’s trade deadline. Impending free agents Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray should be relatively easy to deal, but the bigger challenge for the Giants’ front office will be finding takers for Rafael Devers, who still has a staggering $211 million remaining through 2033, along with Willy Adames ($140 million through 2031) and Matt Chapman ($100 million through 2030). Giants president Buster Posey has said that he has no plans to trade ace Logan Webb, who has recorded a sparkling 2.18 ERA across 45 1/3 innings over seven starts since returning from the injured list back on May 29, and the franchise appears committed to building around top prospect Bryce Eldridge despite his ongoing rookie-season struggles. If there is one reasonable certainty in the Bay Area, it is that the Giants will look remarkably different in a matter of weeks. – George Bissell

Seattle Mariners

After coming closer to their first trip to the World Series than ever before, the Mariners have been a disappointment in 2026; albeit one that is right in the thick of contention in the AL West. Injuries to key players — particularly MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh and leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan — have played a part in their mediocrity over the first half, but one of the biggest reasons for Seattle’s struggles has been their ineptitude against left-handed pitching. When facing southpaws, the Mariners have hit just .208/.295/.329 with a wRC+ (runs created plus) of just 83. With an entirely left-handed hitting infield and platoon bats like Luke Raley and Dom Canzone in the outfield, some of these struggles were to be expected, but not at this level. It makes acquiring a right-handed bat feel like a necessity for the M’s if they’re going to match — or ideally, beat — their success of 2025. Hitters like Byron Buxton, Willson Contreras, and Taylor Ward, among others, make sense as potential targets to fill the void. – Christopher Crawford

St. Louis Cardinals

Jordan Walker’s star turn after a couple of extremely disappointing years has been huge for a Cardinals team exceeding expectations in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. However, Walker did fade some in June. His .283 average was fine, but he went from hitting nine homers in March/April to six in May to just three last month. Perhaps more concerning, though, was his 30/4 K/BB ratio in 104 plate appearances. At least Walker has kicked off July with a couple of nice games and moved back to first place in the NL with 63 RBI. His tendency to chase bad pitches hasn’t gone away, but he’s so much better at making pitchers pay for their mistakes now than he used to be, and because he hits the ball so hard and uses the entire field, his .349 batting average on balls in play doesn’t seem like a fluke. The Cardinals shouldn’t need him to remain an MVP candidate to stay in the race, but because their lineup is rather shallow, it’s important that he remains above average. – Matthew Pouliot

Tampa Bay Rays

Junior Caminero has taken his game to another level this season, hitting .293/.383/.561 in 83 games with 24 home runs and 54 RBI. There were some concerns about whether or not Caminero could duplicate his home run production when the Rays moved back to Tropicana Field, but he has almost the exact same ISO as 2025 and had a stretch from June into July where he homered in six straight games. He was the youngest player since at least 1900 to homer in six straight games.

Another big reason for his success has been his improved plate discipline. In the first 83 games of the season, he has 47 walks; he took only 41 in all of 2025. Caminero has decreased his overall swing rate from 50.4% in 2025 to 42.1% in 2026 and is even swinging at fewer pitches in the strike zone. However, many of the pitches he’s letting go are pitches that he can’t do damage on, so even though his swing rate on pitches in the heart of the zone is down 11.5%, his overall contact rate on pitches in the heart of the zone is up over 6%. He’s taking more walks, making more contact and better contact and taking his game to another level. – Eric Samulski

Texas Rangers

It’s always fun to see a rebound season, and Joc Pederson has had one of the best of the 2026 campaign. After a disastrous first season with the Rangers that saw Pederson hit just .181 with a .614 OPS, Pederson has bounced back to forge an .809 OPS in 2026 while smashing 14 homers over his 268 plate appearances and helping Texas to first place in the standings with a week to go before the All-Star break. He ranks in the 90th percentile according to Baseball Savant in average exit velocity at 92.1 mph, and he’s just a tick below that ranking in the 89th percentile with a 50 percent hard-hit rate. Those numbers have helped him compile a batting run value of seven through the first half of 2026, a vast improvement over the -10 figure he procured over the 2025 campaign. Pederson has long been one of the fun figures in baseball, and it’s just fun to see him playing to the level — or at least close to it — that we grew accustomed to over the last decade or so. – Christopher Crawford

Toronto Blue Jays

It’s been a really tough season for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is hitting .267/.348/.350 with just four home runs in 82 games. His barrel rate is a career low 6.7% and his hard-hit rate is just 44.2%, the lowest since his rookie season in 2019. A lot of the issues appear to be swing decisions. Guerrero is seeing far fewer pitches in the strike zone this season, but he is chasing pitches out of the strike zone 10% more often than he did last year. In particular, he’s swinging in the shadow zone (one baseball’s width inside and outside the strike zone) 61.2% of the time this year, up from 45.7% last year. His overall swing rate is up 5.6% and since he has great bat-to-ball skills, he’s making contact when he offers at those pitches, but it’s just far worse contact than we’re used to seeing. His groundball rate is approaching 50% and for somebody that has always had problems consistently lifting the ball, it’s having a big impact on his power potential. – Eric Samulski

Washington Nationals

Just like we all thought, the Nationals have been one of baseball’s best offensive teams through the first half of the season. James Wood and CJ Abrams have led the way. Wood leads the league in runs scored while becoming the first player this season to hit at least 20 homers and steal at least 10 bases. Abrams is not far behind with 18 and 13. The rebuild for the Nationals would seem to be ahead of schedule. The one thing holding them back is the pitching, in particular the bullpen. The team leads the league in blown saves by a fair margin. If they had a reliable option to close out games, they might actually be doing much better than hovering around .500. Still, Washington is pacing towards its best record since the 2019 World Series team. – Jorge Montanez