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The Mariners are starting to take control of the AL West. Plus: Players will not stop inventing new ways to hurt themselves, the Pirates are climbing the Power Rankings and we have a “new” definition of a check swing. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!
Heating Up: Seattle’s seven-game win streak
When last we checked in on the Mariners, they were working out how to cram six starters into a five-man rotation (aka, doing a reverse Cubs). But while the rest of the AL West has continued to squirm through the 2026 season in fits and starts, the Mariners have begun to establish themselves as the team to beat.
- As recently as May 24, the M’s were 25-29 and trailed the A’s by 2 1/2 games in the division. Since then, they’ve gone on a seven-game winning streak, including sweeps of the Diamondbacks and those very same A’s.
- After last night’s win over the Mets, they’re 32-29 and hold the division lead.
- That’s still worse than, for example, the White Sox and Pirates. But in the AL West, that’s good enough for a 2 1/2 game lead over the Rangers.
The Mariners have been winning with maximum fun, too. Last night’s 3-2 win was a walk-off in the 10th inning. That’s their third 10th-inning walk-off in four nights!
Any winning streak is going to take contributions from up and down the roster, but the key to the Mariners’ success — both now and in the future — really lies in the rotation. Since May 1, Seattle ranks third in the sport in fWAR by starting pitchers, at 3.6.
Ahead of them? Only Jacob Misiorowski’s Brewers and Cristopher Sánchez’s Phillies.
The biggest surprise might be last night’s starter, Emerson Hancock, who has emerged from the shadows of the Puget Sound (and of the George Kirbys and Logan Gilberts) to become perhaps the Mariners’ best starter. Our Andrea Arcadipane has a video here with the adjustments that Hancock has made, including a lower arm slot and a change in the shape of his sinker.
Middle Relief: Will Pirates end Silver Slugger drought?
In this week’s Power Rankings, the crew tried to identify a potential award winner on each of the 30 teams. For our No. 8 team, the Pirates, Johnny Flores Jr. picked Brandon Lowe as a candidate for the NL Silver Slugger. Here’s an excerpt from Johnny:
Let me preface this by saying Konnor Griffin will almost certainly get down-ballot Rookie of the Year votes, and counting out Paul Skenes for the Cy Young would be ill-advised.
Instead, allow me to highlight a rare drought that could end this season.
The Pirates have not had a Silver Slugger winner since Andrew McCutchen in 2015. It’s the longest active drought for that award among all teams. Even the Rockies, White Sox and Marlins have had a more recent winner than Pittsburgh.
The only Pirate to win at second base was one Johnny Ray in 1983. Brandon Lowe can change that, but it’s going to take a strong finish.
Among qualified NL second basemen, the fWAR leaderboards look like this:
Xavier Edwards: 2.6
JJ Wetherholt: 2.5
Brandon Lowe: 2.3
In wRC+:
Edwards: 148
Lowe: 142
Brice Turang: 137
Lowe leads everyone in homers and slugging percentage by a comfortable margin. Edwards isn’t going anywhere, and neither is Wetherholt, making the Silver Slugger yet another fascinating awards race in the NL.
That Pittsburgh could end an awards and playoff drought in the same season is all the more reason to watch the club, too.
New Rule: Checked-swing challenge arrives in Triple A
Stop me if this sounds familiar: You’re watching a baseball game, and a checked swing requires an umpire to make a call in real time. Immediately afterward, from the comfort of our couches, you and I get to see slow-mo replays from multiple angles.
If you’re like me, the thought has occurred to you: “Wait, I’m just a guy with a TV. Why am I able to make this call more accurately than literally the umpire?” (It’s very similar to the problem the league has, to a degree, solved with the ABS challenge system for called balls and strikes.)
Well, the checked-swing enigma might also be solved in the big leagues before long, because the checked-swing challenge has arrived in Triple A.
As video of Hyeseong Kim’s challenge began to make the rounds on social media late Sunday night and through yesterday. The comments — especially on the graphic shown during the broadcast — became variations on a theme:
That’s the plane? That’s not a swing?!
It’s understandable confusion. Anyone who has played or watched the sport has heard the phrase “crossed the plane” when it comes to a checked swing. But it turns out, “the plane” doesn’t mean “the plate.” In fact, if it feels like checked swing calls have largely been decided by vibes, you’re not wrong. Turns out, there was no official definition. It was just up to the umpires’ discretion.
Now there is a definition, at least in the minor leagues. It’s a 45-degree angle — essentially parallel to the opposite baseline. And while a lot of people are only now seeing this paradigm-shifting visual because it’s being used in Triple A, the system was first introduced in the Arizona Fall League in October 2024.
We’ll see if this technology makes it to the major leagues in the coming years. If it can happen with the speed and efficiency of the ABS, I think it could be a great way to quantify a rule that has been frustratingly vague for … well, forever.
Weird Injury of the Year? Helmet betrays Simpson
When helmets stay on a player’s head, they do a reasonably good job of protecting that player from the infinite ways to hurt oneself on a baseball field.
Once they come off, they immediately become traitors in the battle for safety. And for as often as they come off, I’m a little surprised I’ve never seen this happen before. After all, we’ve seen a helmet land on a player’s backside during a slide into second base. We’ve seen one used as an anchor, used to set a screen on a would-be tag and we’ve seen it maybe cost Jose Altuve a cycle-completing triple.
In fact, we’ve even seen a thrown helmet bounce back and injure a player.
But this one is still somehow new. Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson left last night’s game when — on a slide into second base — his helmet fell off, hit second base and bounced right back into his face.
It might not look all that bad in slow-mo, but per Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass, Simpson went to a nearby hospital to get stitches in his lower lip, and the swelling was bad enough to make talking difficult. Bass also reported Simpson could be back in the lineup as early as tonight. Phew.
Taylor Walls (hamstring) also left the game early, though it was described as precautionary. The Rays (36-21, best record in the AL) lost 10-9 to the Tigers (23-38, worst record in the AL) thanks to a 4-for-5, two-homer night from Detroit catcher Dillon Dingler.
Handshakes and High Fives
Thanks to everyone in the comments who left suggestions on more efficient ways to find the answer that beguiled me for so long in yesterday’s edition. Also, I wasn’t wrong that the Stark-signal had been fired up. He let me know that if I’d kept going for a few more hours, I would have arrived at the other time an NL team scored 13+ runs in one inning and none in any other: The 2003 Phillies did it against the Reds!
But you wanna know what hasn’t been done since 1972? A 3-6-3-6 double play … until yesterday.
Evan Drellich has the latest from the back-and-forth between the league and the MLBPA. The rhetoric is starting to heat up a bit, and we have some discrepancies on things like, “What does 50/50 mean?”
An update on the Giants’ third-base coach situation: It looks like they’re hiring Gary Pettis to replace Hector Borg.
With Elly De La Cruz hitting the IL, the Reds called up 22-year-old prospect Edwin Arroyo to make his big-league debut.
Candace Buckner says the “Tarps Off” craze that began in St. Louis has been a much-needed reset on a respected fanbase that was getting, frankly, a bit stale.
Jacob deGrom picked up his 100th win last night in a 2-1 Rangers victory over the Cardinals.
The White Sox are doing the alumni home run derby, headlined by José Canseco, Daniel Palka and Scott Podsednik. (Did you remember that Canseco played for the White Sox?)
Last year, Eli Willits was the first pick of the draft, at 17 years old. This year, his older brother and mentor, Jaxon (22), is hoping to get draft-day call.
A’s broadcaster Dallas Braden has more information on that ABS glitch during the Yankees-A’s game on Saturday. It fairly quickly devolves into future conspiracies, but he’s … not wrong?
And lastly, I really enjoyed this insightful conversation with Alex Bregman about hitting mechanics and swing speed.
Most-clicked in our last Windup: Brendan Kuty’s write-up on the Yankees’ 13-run inning.
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