NBA

Pelicans defer Lakers’ first-round pick to 2025

Due to this deferral, Los Angeles will keep the No. 17 pick in this year’s draft, while New Orleans now owns the Lakers’ unprotected 2025 first-round selection.

This is the right call by the Pelicans. For starters, it’s typically better to hold an unprotected first-round pick than a mid-first-round pick. Sure, it sounds nice to have the 17th overall pick this year, but what if LeBron James skips town this summer and Anthony Davis gets injured? The Lakers’ 2025 first-round pick, in that scenario, could land in the high lottery, making it a no-brainer for New Orleans to defer the pick. Additionally, this upcoming draft, by nearly every standard, is considered very weak, so even if the Lakers have a good season next year, a late-first-round selection in 2025 could be equal to pick No. 17 in 2024.

MLB

Reds 5, Cubs 4

For years, it felt like Jose Reyes’ 78 stolen bases in 2007 was an unassailable modern-day record. Then the bases were widened in 2023. Then Ronald Acuna swiped 73 bags later that year. Suddenly, 80, maybe 90, steals felt possible. Elly De La Cruz is pushing beyond that. In this game, the electric shortstop stole his 32nd base — an unheard of total prior to June. 100 steals for De La Cruz this season still seems unlikely, but surpassing Rickey Henderson’s 1988 mark of 93 is plausible.

The Cubs’ offense needs an injection of life. Chicago’s starting pitching is more than doing its job — Javier Assad was solid yesterday, striking out seven — but there’s a lot of scuffling going on up-and-down the Cubs’ lineup. Heck, even Cody Bellinger went 0-for-5 in this game.

Phillies 4, Cardinals 2

At some point, the 40-18 Phillies have to slow down, right? Well, maybe. The schedule will get harder, but Philadelphia is so hot, with so much momentum, that maybe the team can win 105 or so games. The Phillies win a lot of games because of Aaron Nola, and the starter was effective again last night, throwing 6 1/3 innings and allowing just two earned runs. Nola is now 7-2.

Dylan Carlson will — probably rightfully — be afforded more time to stabilize his place in the Cardinals’ lineup, but his struggles have been substantial. The right fielder went 0-for-2 yesterday, dropping his OPS to .382. Through 38 at-bats in 2024, Carlson has zero extra-base hits.

Marlins 8, Rangers 2

Adolis Garcia was a hammer in the middle of Texas’ order during its 2023 championship run, so it was only natural to expect the the right fielder to take a step forward this season. That hasn’t happened for the 27-30 Rangers. Garcia has regressed — basically to his 2022 level, if not lower — and he’s one of many disappointing Rangers. In this game, the right fielder went 0-for-4, lowering his slash line to .232/.289/.458.

Red Sox 7, Tigers 3

Tanner Houck is difficult to go up against. Tanner Houck with run support is almost impossible to go up against. Boston’s ace lasted seven innings last night, allowing just one earned run and striking out six. Houck’s ERA is now 1.85 — good for a top-five spot on the leaderboard.

The Tigers didn’t break the bank to sign Kenta Maeda (two years, $24 million), but Detroit was probably hoping for more from the veteran righty. Maeda struggled again in this contest, surrendering five earned runs and raising his ERA to 6.25. In reality, the 36-year-old hasn’t been good since 2020 — his first season with the Twins — so maybe the Tigers shouldn’t have expected much.

Guardians 7, Nationals 1

It’s nice to have you back, Steven Kwan. Prior to yesterday, Kwan last played on May 4th, and in his return to action, one of the sport’s best contact hitters went 3-for-4 with an RBI. The left fielder is now batting .365.

Lane Thomas’ 2023 was probably a fluke. The speedy corner outfielder accumulated 3.3 WAR a season ago, but he’s slashing just .204/.269/.315 this season with three home runs. For comparison, Thomas went yard 28 times last year for Washington.

Braves 4, Athletics 2

Reynaldo Lopez has been of one MLB’s better feel-good stories this season. Coming into 2024, the 30-year-old hadn’t been a full-time starting pitcher since 2019 with the White Sox — he lost 15 games that year — but he’s been a revelation in that role this season. The righty struck out eight A’s in another strong outing yesterday, dropping his ERA to 1.73. The 32-23 Braves will need to lean on pitching to win this year, and Lopez is certainly helping on that front.

For the past few seasons, Seth Brown had been one of Oakland’s few above-replacement-level players. That hasn’t been the case in 2024 — Brown is struggling. After going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in this affair, Brown’s OPS dipped to .571.

Orioles 3, Rays 1

The 36-19 Orioles can beat you in a multitude of ways. Last night, it was with pitching by committee. Albert Suarez had a strong five-inning start, but five Baltimore relievers were the key to this victory. The Yankees are a great team, but they won’t be able to rest easy this summer with the Orioles right on their heels.

Mets 10, Diamondbacks 9

The Mets need to gain their composure as a team, but New York can get in the mix for a wild card if things break right, even at 24-33. Take a look at the top seven of New York’s lineup for this game:

• Francisco Lindor
• Pete Alonso
• Brandon Nimmo
• J.D. Martinez
• Starling Marte
• Mark Vientos
• Harrison Bader

That’s … not bad! Sure, that lineup won’t win you any championships, but with effective pitching — which the Mets lack — that’s the skeleton of a club that can win 85 games.

Arizona advanced to the Fall Classic last year, but you wouldn’t guess it based on its results this season. The Snakes are now 25-32 — good for fourth place in the NL West — and their major offseason acquisition, Jordan Montgomery, has bombed in a bad way — a terrible way. The tall lefty surrendered six earned runs in this start, another bad one for the 31-year-old with a 5.48 ERA.

Blue Jays 5, Pirates 3

It’s rarer than ever to have 14-inning games, like this contest, anymore. Thanks, Rod Manfred! Late-night extra-inning marathons used to be one of the best parts of baseball, even if they were just a once- or twice-a-year occurrence.

2022 wasn’t exactly the year of Jose Berrios, but he’s rebounded nicely, both this season and last. After pitching seven frames of one-run ball yesterday, Berrios boasts a 2.78 ERA.

Paul Skenes and Jared Jones have rightfully captivated those following the Pirates, but Bailey Falter has been something else in 2024. Falter wasn’t much of anything throughout his first three years as a big leaguer, but he’s potentially figured it out, as he sports a 3.22 ERA. Falter tossed six scoreless innings last night.

Brewers 12, White Sox 5

Are the Brewers going to run away with the NL Central? Probably not, but Milwaukee is now up six games on the second-place Cardinals. The Brewers are a startling 34-23, putting them on place to smash their preseason over/under win total of 77.5.

Christian Yelich hasn’t played a ton this year due to injury — this game was just his 31st — but he’s been a major catalyst for Milwaukee’s success. The 2018 NL MVP went 5-for-6 in this contest with five RBI, a monster performance for what’s been a monster player in 2024. This season, Yelich is slashing .325/.406/.524 — greatly in-line with his MVP statistics. Yelich even stole his eighth base of the season last night!

Fun times in Milwaukee — not so fun times in Chicago’s South Side. The section’s team, the White Sox, are now 15-43. Again, not fun.

Twins 6, Astros 1

Pablo Lopez needed this outing. After getting bombed his last two times out, the righty settled down and pitched seven frames of one-run ball yesterday. The red-hot Guardians aren’t doing Minnesota any favors, but the 32-25 Twins should catch the Royals by the end of June — they’re just two games back of Kansas City.

Padres 11, Royals 8

Let’s take a ride back to 2012. Jurickson Profar, about to turn 21, is the No. 7 prospect in all of baseball — a fleet-footed defender starting to put it together at the dish. For the now 31 Profar, the next decade-plus probably didn’t go as planned. He changed teams four times. He surpassed 1.0 WAR just three times. He wasn’t the player people expected him to be. Sometimes, good things happen to people who wait. In 2024, Profar has exploded. Following a 3-for-5 night, the former top prospect is slashing .330/.424/.498 and deserving of his third spot in San Diego’s lineup. I don’t know if Profar’s production will last — nobody does — but he’s been a nice story for a Padres team in need of one.

The Royals’ bullpen is a mess. Kansas City obviously needs help, especially in middle relief, and reinforcements need to come sooner, rather than later, or a great first third of the season will go to waste.