{"id":693479,"date":"2026-05-25T12:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T12:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/693479\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T12:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T12:21:08","slug":"mlbs-surprise-leaders-at-memorial-day-plus-awkward-american-french-open-result","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/693479\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB\u2019s surprise leaders at Memorial Day. Plus: Awkward American French Open result"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

Good morning! Hope you get to savor the holiday. Coming up:<\/p>\n

Checkpoints: Wait, those teams are leading MLB?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going with an obvious lead, as today marks the unofficial start of summer and a pretty-much-official milestone in MLB\u2019s season. Here\u2019s Tyler Kepner<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In baseball, almost every team will win one-third of its games and lose one-third of its games. It\u2019s the other third that makes the difference. In a 162-game schedule, that one-third number is 54 games, which comes for most teams around Memorial Day.<\/p>\n

In other words, we\u2019ve reached a scenic milepost on the long drive to October. And when we pull over to admire the standings<\/a>, the view looks pretty spectacular.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because the season is upending conventional wisdom, which is always pretty fun. Several underdog rosters are thriving in the final year of the collective bargaining agreement between the owners and players.<\/p>\n

In fact, most of the first-place teams rank among MLB\u2019s lowest spenders:<\/p>\n

The Brewers lead the National League Central. The Rays lead the American League East. The Guardians lead the AL Central. The Athletics, who play in West Sacramento, lead the AL West.
\nTheir payroll rankings, according to Spotrac: 20th (Brewers), 21st (Athletics), 28th (Guardians), 29th (Rays).<\/p>\n

Oh, and the Marlins, who rank 30th, just swept a weekend series from the Mets, who rank second. The last-place Mets are one of four teams among the top six in payroll below .500, with the Phillies, Blue Jays and Red Sox.<\/p>\n

The biggest spenders in the AL Central, the Tigers, are in last place at 21-33, and the biggest spenders in the AL West, the Astros, are 23-31.<\/p>\n

Nobody claims that payroll is meaningless. The most accomplished players command the highest salaries. But sometimes those players are past their primes, injured, or both. The Brewers, A\u2019s, Guardians and Rays tend to have cheaper players whose careers are on the rise. Sometimes, rosters like that \u2014 with reasonably priced veterans mixed in for specific roles \u2014 can be really good.<\/p>\n

Yes, top-tier payrolls are the ones that win the World Series. But one of these years, it stands to reason that a surprise team will break through and go all the way. That\u2019s just the nature of baseball. And even if the Dodgers do win again, the fact that so many low-payroll, small-market teams are succeeding would undercut the owners\u2019 argument that the sport needs a salary cap for competitive balance.<\/p>\n

I still believe that there\u2019s too much at stake for owners to sacrifice part of the 2027 season by demanding a salary cap when the CBA expires on Dec. 1. They will probably need a lockout to create leverage in negotiations with the union, but the damage of a long-term shutdown would be devastating<\/a> at a time when the sport really is in a good place.<\/p>\n

Plenty of action to follow today; more on that in a moment. Onward:<\/p>\n

News to KnowFritz\u2019s awkward French Open result<\/p>\n

U.S. men logged a milestone in Paris yesterday: Wild card Nishesh Basavareddy won his first-round match 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-1 for the first victory for an American man over a top-10 opponent at the French Open since 2000. The problem? Basavareddy\u2019s opponent was a compatriot: No. 7 seed Taylor Fritz.\u00a0Welp<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other notable results included Novak Djokovic\u2019s recovery from losing his opening set, Emma Raducanu\u2019s loss in her return to tennis and Ukrainian player Marta Kostyuk\u2019s win just hours after learning a missile\u00a0had struck \u201c100 meters away\u201d from her parents\u2019 home in Kyiv<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more extensive daily email updates on the tournament,\u00a0sign up for our Grand Slam Briefing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Playoffs<\/p>\n

NBA: The San Antonio Spurs absolutely locked down the Oklahoma City Thunder last night en route to an emphatic Game 4 win. Victor Wembanyama scored 33 points, and the 103-82 final marked the Thunder\u2019s lowest scoring output in any game this season. The series now sits at 2-2. More takeaways and top plays here<\/a>, including a filthy Wemby fast break sequence. By the way, did Gregg Popovich influence this<\/a>?<\/p>\n

NHL: The Vegas Golden Knights have put themselves one game from yet another trip to the Stanley Cup finals, and this time they did it in the most soul-crushing manner for the Colorado Avalanche, who went up three goals in a must-win game, only to see it all erased. What\u2019s worse for the Avs: injuries started to pile up again in the 5-3 loss. Get all the takeaways here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From the Department of Pettiness: A fantasy and betting site made a version of the board game Operation\u00a0that mocks\u00a0Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for his reputation of embellishing contact.\u00a0Yes, really<\/a>.
\nSwedish driver Felix Rosenqvist\u00a0won the closest\u00a0Indy 500\u00a0ever on a stunning last-second pass.\u00a0Watch it here<\/a>.
\nNorthwestern lacrosse\u00a0bested North Carolina 14-11 in yesterday\u2019s\u00a0women\u2019s final, a reversal of last year\u2019s result.\u00a0Sick (UNC) play inside<\/a>. The men are up today (1 p.m. ET, ESPN).
\nJuggernaut\u00a0Oklahoma softball\u00a0will miss the\u00a0Women\u2019s College World Series\u00a0for the first time since 2015 after falling to SEC foe\u00a0Mississippi State\u00a0in the Super Regionals.\u00a0See the full WCWS field<\/a>.
\nLiberty star\u00a0Sabrina Ionescu\u2019s\u00a0season debut was spoiled by the Wings and rookie\u00a0Azzi Fudd,\u00a0who put up\u00a024 points off the bench<\/a> in Dallas\u2019 91-76 win.
\nDriver Katherine Legge\u2019s\u00a0attempt to become the first woman to complete the famed \u201cDouble\u201d \u2014 the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day \u2014 ended early as she\u00a0crashed\u00a0just 18 laps into the first race<\/a>.
\nLionel Messi exited Inter Miami\u2019s final MLS game before the World Cup yesterday with an apparent injury<\/a>.
\nSentencing for\u00a0Yasiel Puig\u2019s federal felony convictions, originally scheduled for tomorrow, has been delayed more than a month.\u00a0More details here<\/a><\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf0\u00a0Find more news here 24\/7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Watch Guide<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa French Open: Emerson Jones (WC) vs. Iga \u015awi\u0105tek (3)
6 a.m. ET on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max
The four-time champion \u015awi\u0105tek starts her French Open revenge tour against a promising young talent in the Australian 17-year-old Jones. Round 1 will be in full swing all day;\u00a0follow our live coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa MLB: Yankees-Royals
3:40 p.m. ET on ESPN
A stacked baseball day all around, but this is our national broadcast, with two teams who\u2019ve been on skids as of late.\u00a0Full MLB schedule here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa NBA: Knicks vs. Cavs
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Both of these things have been said (many times), but if you\u2019ll allow again here: New York is one win away from its first finals berth in 27 years after winning 10 straight games, and no NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit. The odds are\u00a0extremely not in Cleveland\u2019s favor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa Hurricanes-Canadiens
8 p.m. ET on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max
This series, tied 1-1, has both a lopsided result and an overtime thriller so far. Carolina\u00a0feels like it\u2019s starting the series over<\/a>\u00a0after Saturday\u2019s win, and\u00a0our projections<\/a>\u00a0still favor the Hurricanes to win the Cup title.<\/p>\n

Pulse Picks<\/p>\n

One curious decision about the\u00a0U.S. World Cup squad\u00a0has experts questioning what was otherwise expected to be a pretty predictable roster.\u00a0Maybe coach\u00a0Mauricio Pochettino\u00a0has a master plan<\/a>, but at a minimum, the vision for the team changed.<\/p>\n

Six\u00a0NHL talent evaluators\u00a0provided our Corey Pronman with their predictions for how the first\u00a010 selections of the 2026 draft\u00a0will shake out.\u00a0Here are the consensus picks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The inaugural\u00a0Enhanced Games\u00a0took place yesterday.\u00a0It sounded like a weird scene in Las Vegas<\/a>, as chronicled by Vic Tafur.<\/p>\n

ICYMI last week:\u00a0the art of getting\u00a0hit by a pitch in college baseball<\/a>, and why it\u2019s a trend that\u2019s steadily on the rise in recent years.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday:\u00a0Roger Federer\u2019s\u00a0viral 2024 commencement speech and why it connected<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a story that just keeps resurfacing!<\/p>\n

Most-read on the website yesterday:\u00a0The news<\/a>\u00a0that Kyle Busch died after complications from severe pneumonia and sepsis.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb That\u2019s all for now! Say hello at\u00a0thepulse@theathletic.com<\/a>, and\u00a0check out our other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pulse Newsletter \ud83d\udce3 | This is The Athletic\u2019s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":["post-693479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}