Weekly Scorecard: May 30 - Jun. 5, 2026

Today I learned that Dave Racaniello and R.A. Dickey climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro together back in 2012. It's not really relevant to the rest of this post, but I thought you might want to know.

The Scoreboard

• Voting for the 2026 All-Star Game is now open. I haven't been voting because I'm lazy and keep forgetting, but I saw someone say they're stuffing the ballot box to try and get Brandon Marsh in, so I need to prevent that at all costs.
• Fernando Tatis Jr. finally hit his first home run of the year! I'm not going to say anything about when the second one will happen as a matter of policy. (I do my best not to believe in jinxes; I just don't want to look silly if it happens at an inopportune time.)
• Jo Adell has evidently decided to turn his career around from robbing home runs and start generously handing them out instead, although this one was sadly revised to be a four-base error.
• The Giants may have lost the series, but they did crush the Rockies 19-6 on Sunday on their way out of town. Of course, they promptly got their teeth kicked in by the Brewers, losing 16-2 on Monday... and still not satisfied with that double-digit score, they turned it around on the Cubs last night to win 18-3.

In Mets land this week:

• We swept the Marlins last weekend, which we don't get to say very often. That series included Hayden Senger's first career homer and Jakob Marsee's bat getting stuck in the netting (pictured below).
• The Mets went to Seattle, presumably for the purpose of stressing me out even more than usual for three days. At least the Mets losing two games meant the Mariners winning two games... but we didn't even get to see Steve Gelbs experience Hot Dogs from Heaven, so really, what was the point? Monday's loss was assuredly deserved, given that we had Daniel Murphy in the booth and put Brooks Raley on the mound on Pride Night. I did successfully call Cole Young walking it off, though. The Mets got to enjoy a victory on Wednesday, thanks in part to Carson Benge stealing home as part of a sweet double steal.
• Our first game against the Padres was a much-needed three-hit shutout, featuring Luis Torrens' first home run of the season and Brett Baty knocking Mason Miller out of the game. It was really a delightful sequence of events: A.J. Ewing got his first hit of the game off Miller, stole second and third, and came home on Baty's single. The last time—and only other time this year—that Miller gave up any earned runs was on April 27th.

On Deck

• The highest-profile injury of the week is Aaron Judge's fractured rib, which is going to keep him out of commission for quite a while. Spencer Jones, who has become one of my foremost enemies, is getting another crack at things as a result.
• Besides Judge, Konnor Griffin (right flexor strain), Bailey Ober (also a right flexor strain), Craig Kimbrel (right wrist strain), and Luis Severino (right shoulder strain) all hit various ILs over the last several days. Not a good week for right arms!
• Jose Altuve is back. Josh Hader is back. Corey Seager is back (for now). I apologize to any AL West fans who are just finding this out.
• Chad Dallas (full name John Chadwell Dallas) is the latest in a long line of Blue Jays making their debut this season, thanks to the ten-pitcher pileup on the injured list. Among those unfortunate souls, Dylan Cease, Max Scherzer, and Tommy Nance recently got sent out to the Buffalo Bisons (AAA) for rehab assignments. Oh, and Toronto also signed Justin Topa to a minor league deal... but more on their pitching staff later.
• Jarred Kelenic signed a minor league deal with the Rangers, because why not? They collect former Mets and Mariners like they're filling out a Pokédex.
• The Padres DFAed and ultimately released Nick Castellanos before the Mets had a chance to say hi. End of an era.

The Dugout

• It doesn't get much better than Davis Schneider's AAA stats since being sent down this year. I mean, they could be better, but I doubt they could be much more fun. I had the privilege of seeing him reach base safely in all four of his plate appearances last night with no hits. Remember this next time you're frustrated at your favorite player refusing to take walks: it is a choice, and they are doing it to spite you personally.
• Colt Emerson is really settling in nicely, this week earning comparisons to our very own Juan Soto. Joining him in having a three-homer week are Carson Benge, doubling his total for the season, and Jared Young, who hit his first, second, and third of the year.
• Elsewhere in the home run parade with his first of the season is Luis Torrens, who had a fantastic week when you consider the relatively small number of at-bats. It was nice to hear the Mariners booth fondly reminisce about his time in Seattle!

Home Plate

There is Box Score Banter this week! I wrote all about the Matrix, or Jean Baudrillard, or Out of the Park Baseball, or Jacob Young. Take your pick. There's also some nice tidbits in there about Soto, Victor Robles, and other fun little things that happened last weekend beyond what I've talked about here. It's definitely one of my favorite pieces of baseball writing I've completed (even though I hate Baudrillard), and I'm really proud of how it turned out.

The Backstop

Last night, I went on a spontaneous excursion out to Worcester for the pleasure of seeing the Buffalo Bisons, which is how I knew about all those Blue Jays rehab assignments. I had basically zero awareness of the game until I got a midday email from the WooSox about Max Scherzer making a rehab start, at which point I purchased a ticket without hesitation. I'm pleased to say it was a good decision and a perfect use of a very nice (albeit hot) Friday evening!

Some of the highlights:

• Obviously, it was awesome to see Scherzer pitch in person, even if it wasn't the most illustrious outing; he got a well-deserved standing ovation when he left the game.
• As mentioned above, I was also extremely happy to see Davis Schneider in the lineup! True to form, he walked twice, reached on a fielder's choice, and made it to first safely on a dropped third strike (of the passed ball variety), which I'd never had to handle in my scorebook before.
• The Bisons have a player named Carlos Mendoza. I'd be willing to give him a shot at managing the Mets if things get really dire. The WooSox, for their part, have a player named Max Ferguson, whose walk-up song is "Fergalicious".
• Buffalo's manager, Casey Candaele, got himself ejected by yelling at the first base umpire over a play that didn't seem particularly significant. After he got tossed and continued his tirade, the sound person at Polar Park started blasting "Let It Go" over the speakers, which continued for probably a full minute before he actually walked off the field. Good stuff!
  • Fun fact #1: It was the 40th anniversary of Candaele's MLB debut.
  • Fun fact #2: Candaele is the son of AAGPBL star Helen Callaghan, making them the only known mother/son duo to have played pro baseball in the U.S. His brother made the documentary A League of Their Own, which inspired the film of the same name.
• The seat next to me was coincidentally occupied by a fellow scorer, who was a wonderful companion and made the whole experience truly great. (On the off chance they're reading this: hi, Junior!)

And, of course, my scorecard:

See you next week!