The Opener

1. On Sunday, Paul Skenes threw seven scoreless innings against the Rockies. Pretty standard Skenes stuff. Which is precisely why it nearly set a record. That start, the 50th of his already storied career, lowered his ERA to 2.02. The lowest ever in the Live Ball era since 1920? Just a smidge lower at 2.01, set by Vida Blue from 1969-1972.
2. Donald Trump thinks Roger Clemens should be in the Hall of Fame and because we live in a nightmare version of reality, that opinion — and all its attendant misunderstanding of how the voting process works — is newsworthy. 
3. Cal Raleigh home run watch: Cal tied and surpassed Sal Perez for single-season home runs by a catcher on Sunday, hitting numbers 48 and 49 in the same game. Great work by Cal to be a friend to writers and editors everywhere because I’m never sure with these things if the matching is a sufficiently big deal or if the content fanfare should wait for the passing. 

Just some slightly longer thoughts on…

Anthony Volpe

The Yankees left Anthony Volpe out of the starting lineup for Sunday night’s game against the Red Sox (a win, at long last) after the New York beat writers seemed to have finally snapped. With Volpe making glaring defensive miscues and microscopic offensive contributions, the New York Daily News’ Gary Phillips wrote Saturday that “the only thing consistent about his game is the length the Yankees will go to defend it.”

The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, meanwhile, wrote: “The Yankees have been consistent in their support of Volpe, treating him as if he can do no wrong. Their unwavering backing of him is undeserved.”

It’s interesting to note the needle both beat writers are threading, and it speaks to the anxiety thrumming in the Bronx. The barbs are directed not at Volpe for performing poorly, but at manager Aaron Boone and his superiors for failing to come out and say as much. 

Neither has anything scandalous or judgmental to say about Volpe, certainly nothing unfair. They just point out that his offense (.208/.274/.400, an 86 wRC+) is bad, as usual, and that this season his defense is also a negative, ranking 31st out of 34 qualified shortstops by Statcast’s Outs Above Average. You can do the math there — Volpe doesn’t look like a player who should be starting regularly for a contender — but Boone is repeatedly quoted surrounding momentary acknowledgments of the 24-year-old shortstop’s shortcomings in more positive overall messaging.

The implication under all this? A familiar worry that Boone does not enforce high enough standards, that sloppiness on defense and the basepaths will kneecap the Bombers as long as the status quo holds. That Boone’s reactions to everything are meant to shield the team from unpleasantness rather than, well, react to their play.

We, as in the royal we of baseball fans, often note the burden of facing the zealous New York media. Boone’s whole reason for being and public persona seems to be “lightning rod who can stand the heat with a smile.” I doubt those are really his marching orders so much as a management style, but it’s clearly wearing thin. 

It’s hard to miss how the Yankees — who seem to only hit homers and answer questions about why they aren’t as good as they should be — present as a photo negative of the self-policing, self-motivating Brewers under Pat Murphy and the not-so-bright lights of Milwaukee. 

Maybe this is the Yankees beat performing a much-needed service. With no crack of the whip overheard internally, the beat writers clamored for some accountability. That can apparently still lead to results, despite the Boone buffer. 

In sitting Volpe down Sunday, and instead starting Jose Caballero, Boone didn’t commit to it being a one-day change. Maybe we’re going to see just how mighty the pen remains in 2025.

–Zach Crizer

and…

Zack Wheeler

Zack Wheeler loves candy. Whenever the Phillies come to Queens, where Wheeler spent the first six years of his career, the Mets clubhouse attendants leave him a sugary haul in his locker, now on the visiting team side. Over the years, I’ve chatted with Wheeler about the spread — particular likes and dislikes — when he’s sitting at his locker, which he often is even in the media maelstrom that is New York for a former Met.

In those ways, and others, Wheeler does not seem like the best pitcher in baseball. But, for the past six years since singing with the Phillies, he has been. Wheeler’s sustained superlative status is somehow both subtle and uncontroversial1. Perhaps that’s why it’s rarely remarked upon.

Antithetical as it may be to the name of this newsletter, it seems I still harbor extra emotional reserve for my hometown team. That was highlighted for me over the weekend when it was announced that Wheeler will need surgery to address venous thoracic outlet syndrome. The recovery timeline is 6-8 months and, although the specifics of the diagnosis are not exactly the same and Wheeler’s experience is likely to be less complicated, some pitchers who have had the procedure failed to fully return to their prior heights. The news briefly soured me on the entire 2025 season. It was at least as much as I can remember being affected by an individual player’s injury news.

My concern is not about regional rooting interests. OK not primarily about regional rooting interest (I missed the parade in 2008!). Frankly, the Phillies might be just fine, their rotation remains a strength. But even a World Series win without Wheeler on the mound in October — even if he’s a major part of how they won the division — would feel a little hollow2. More than teams, these days I invest in storylines and lately one that I’m unabashedly rooting for is seeing Wheeler recognized.

He has no rings and no Cy Young awards to accompany his run of dominance. It would be untrue to call him unsung, but he’s unlikely to feature heavily in a sizzle reel designed for casual fans. I know how it happened (the ring thing is easy to understand, the Cy Young is a result of his consistent greatness getting outshined by spectacular single-season performances). But still: He deserves a concerted Zack Wheeler newscycle — just not like this.

Every year, the impact of injury on a sports season is more jarring and dismaying than I remember it being. The randomness of who is stricken down is so at odds with the spirit of the venture — an objective determination of the Best — that I think we collectively downplay how much health matters. Players can be considered “injury prone” or “not” — for Wheeler in particular, it has seemed like a pillar of his pitching persona that he is “not” — but the acute ailments are just as likely to derail a team’s fortunes.

Wheeler has two seasons remaining on his current contract and, per the excellent Matt Gelb feature linked above, intends to retire when that is complete. When he returns next season he will be, or will almost be, 36 years old. His career is winding down and this injury is a tiny tragedy as well as a team-wide hurdle. But there’s still time for him to be great, and to be celebrated.

-Hannah Keyser

The Bullpen

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On the subject of uncharacteristic injury: Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien hit the 10-day IL after fouling a pitch off his left foot. For virtually anyone else, this wouldn’t register on our radar, but for Semien this is the first trip to the IL since 2017 and just the second ever in his career. 🤯 Since 2018, no one has appeared in more games than Semien. Freddie Freeman, in second place, has more than 20 fewer games. I’m well aware that this is Semien’s Thing — in 2021 I wrote about Semien’s (and Whit Merrifield’s) commitment to playing 162 games amid an increased focus on NBA-ish load management — but even so, two IL stints in a 13-year career is absolutely crazy. You can want to play every day and still get hurt! Making it through any one single season unscathed is impressive, let alone nearly a decade. What we can’t know yet is whether this is a fluke (as the inciting incident itself would seem to be) or reflective of Semien’s degradation into age-related infirmity now that he is… several weeks away from being… as old I am…–HK 

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By my math, relievers have thrown roughly 40% of the innings so far this season. Contending teams, even those with good bullpens, scrambled to upgrade their relief corps at the deadline because that can make or break a postseason. Relief pitchers — that anonymous parade often treated like a scourge — are an integral part of the modern baseball team. And since they’re rarely if ever recognized by the other awards, it makes total sense that the BBWAA will start awarding an NL and AL Reliever of the Year in 2026. Jayson Stark, who has long been a proponent of the award, has a column at The Athletic on the occasion that makes a pretty unassailable case for why this is necessary. There’s absolutely no reason to equivocate or quibble. But, just for fun, I played a little game where I tried to guess who currently tops FanGraphs WAR for relievers and let me tell ya, I would need to study up before voting. 

Give it a go, and be honest, @Zach: did you know who the most valuable reliever in baseball is before checking? –HK 

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Hm, this setup makes me think the answer isn’t going to be anyone who has made headlines in 2025, maybe someone who doesn’t have a closer role. But I can’t really get past the idea it might be Aroldis Chapman. So that’s my guess for the record before it look it up. Please hold.