Tyler Maher

6 days ago | yardbarker.com | Tyler Maher

Jordan Wicks is officially back with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs made a roster move prior to Friday afternoon's series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field, promoting Wicks from Triple-A Iowa. Chicago optioned left-handed reliever Luke Little to Iowa in a corresponding move. Now in his third MLB season, Wicks stuggled last year with the Cubs. In 46 innings over 11 appearances (10 starts), he went 2-4 with a 5.48 ERA and -0.5 WAR.

6 days ago | yardbarker.com | Tyler Maher

The Houston Astros have quietly had one of the best pitchers in baseball for a while now, but nobody seems to be talking about him. When baseball fans think of aces and the top pitchers in the game, there probably aren't too many of them who would name Hunter Brown. Based on his numbers over the last year, however, he absolutely deserves to be in the conversation. Since May 1, 2024, Brown has the third-lowest ERA in baseball (min. 120 innings), behind only Paul Skenes and Hunter Greene.

6 days ago | yardbarker.com | Tyler Maher

For starters, his strikeout rate is down from last year and his walk rate is up, which isn't a good sign. His 1.8 K/BB ratio is considerably worse than last season's 3.1 mark. Despite showing worse command, Parker is benefitting from better batted-ball luck, which doesn't appear sustainable. Opponents are batting .202 against him largely due to their .236 BABIP, which is 54 points below the league average and 67 points lower than his .303 mark from last year.

6 days ago | yardbarker.com | Tyler Maher

Ryan O'Hearn is lucky to be a member of the Baltimore Orioles, and he knows it. After the 2022 season, O'Hearn's career was at a crossroads. He'd endured four straight rough seasons with the Kansas City Royals after showing promise as a rookie in 2018, and the Royals finally designated him for assignment at the end of the year. Figuring nobody would want him, he was preparing to play in Japan when the Orioles took a chance on him, purchasing him from Kansas City.

6 days ago | yardbarker.com | Tyler Maher

The Baltimore Orioles could've had it all. After accruing an impressive level of young talent during their rebuilding years in the late 2010s and early 2020s, the Orioles finally broke through in 2023. They won 101 games — their most wins in a season since 1979 — and won the AL East. While they fell short in the playoffs, they looked like a team that was poised to dominate the American League for the rest of the decade.