{"id":680282,"date":"2026-06-02T18:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/680282\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T18:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:13:11","slug":"seattle-the-team-is-heating-up-plus-a-new-minor-league-challenge-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/680282\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle (the team) is heating up! Plus: A new minor-league challenge system"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cnew\u201d definition of a check swing. I\u2019m Levi Weaver \u2014 welcome to The Windup!<\/p>\n

Heating Up: Seattle\u2019s seven-game win streak<\/p>\n

When last we\u00a0checked in on the Mariners<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

As recently as May 24, the M\u2019s were 25-29 and trailed the A\u2019s by 2 1\/2 games in the division. Since then, they\u2019ve gone on a seven-game winning streak, including sweeps of the Diamondbacks and those very same A\u2019s.
\nAfter last night\u2019s win over the Mets, they\u2019re 32-29 and hold the division lead.
\nThat\u2019s still worse than, for example, the White Sox and Pirates. But in the AL West, that\u2019s good enough for a 2 1\/2 game lead over the Rangers.<\/p>\n

The Mariners have been winning with maximum fun, too. Last night\u2019s 3-2 win was a walk-off in the 10th inning.\u00a0That\u2019s their third 10th-inning walk-off in four nights!<\/p>\n

Any winning streak is going to take contributions from up and down the roster, but the key to the Mariners\u2019 success \u2014 both now and in the future \u2014 really lies in the rotation. Since May 1, Seattle ranks third in the sport in fWAR by starting pitchers, at 3.6.<\/p>\n

Ahead of them? Only Jacob Misiorowski\u2019s Brewers and Cristopher S\u00e1nchez\u2019s Phillies.<\/p>\n

The biggest surprise might be last night\u2019s 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\u2019 best starter. Our Andrea Arcadipane has a video here<\/a>\u00a0with the adjustments that Hancock has made, including a lower arm slot and a change in the shape of his sinker.<\/p>\n

Middle Relief: Will Pirates end Silver Slugger drought?<\/p>\n

In\u00a0this week\u2019s Power Rankings<\/a>, 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\u2019s an excerpt from Johnny:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Instead, allow me to highlight a rare drought that could end this season.<\/p>\n

The Pirates have not had a Silver Slugger winner since Andrew McCutchen in 2015.\u00a0It\u2019s the longest active drought for that award among all teams.\u00a0Even the Rockies, White Sox and Marlins have had a more recent winner than Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

The only Pirate to win at second base was one Johnny Ray in 1983.\u00a0Brandon Lowe can change that,\u00a0but it\u2019s going to take a strong finish.<\/p>\n

Among qualified NL second basemen, the fWAR leaderboards look like this:<\/p>\n

Xavier Edwards: 2.6<\/p>\n

JJ Wetherholt: 2.5<\/p>\n

Brandon Lowe: 2.3<\/p>\n

\u00a0In wRC+:<\/p>\n

Edwards: 148<\/p>\n

Lowe: 142<\/p>\n

Brice Turang: 137<\/p>\n

Lowe leads everyone in homers and slugging percentage by a comfortable margin. Edwards isn\u2019t going anywhere, and neither is Wetherholt, making the Silver Slugger yet another fascinating awards race in the NL.<\/p>\n

That Pittsburgh could end an awards and playoff drought in the same season is all the more reason to watch the club, too.<\/p>\n

New Rule: Checked-swing challenge arrives in Triple A<\/p>\n

Stop me if this sounds familiar: You\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like me, the thought has occurred to you: \u201cWait, I\u2019m just a guy with a TV. Why am I able to make this call more accurately than literally the umpire?\u201d (It\u2019s very similar to the problem the league has, to a degree, solved with the ABS challenge system for called balls and strikes.)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

As video of Hyeseong Kim\u2019s challenge<\/a>\u00a0began to make the rounds on social media late Sunday night and through yesterday. The comments \u2014 especially on the graphic shown during the broadcast \u2014 became variations on a theme:<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the plane?\u00a0That\u2019s not a swing?!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understandable confusion. Anyone who has played or watched the sport has heard the phrase \u201ccrossed the plane\u201d when it comes to a checked swing. But it turns out, \u201cthe plane\u201d doesn\u2019t mean \u201cthe plate.\u201d In fact, if it feels like checked swing calls have largely been decided by vibes, you\u2019re not wrong. Turns out,\u00a0there was no official definition<\/a>. It was just up to the umpires\u2019 discretion.<\/p>\n

Now there is a definition, at least in the minor leagues.\u00a0It\u2019s a 45-degree angle \u2014 essentially parallel to the opposite baseline. And while a lot of people are only now seeing this paradigm-shifting visual because it\u2019s being used in Triple A, the system was first\u00a0introduced in the Arizona Fall League<\/a> in October 2024.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll 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 \u2026 well, forever.<\/p>\n

Weird Injury of the Year? Helmet betrays Simpson<\/p>\n

When helmets stay on a player\u2019s head, they do a reasonably good job of protecting that player from the infinite ways to hurt oneself on a baseball field.<\/p>\n

Once they come off, they immediately become traitors in the battle for safety. And for as often as they come off, I\u2019m a little surprised I\u2019ve never seen this happen before. After all, we\u2019ve seen a helmet land on a player\u2019s backside<\/a>\u00a0during a slide into second base. We\u2019ve seen one used\u00a0as an anchor<\/a>, used\u00a0to set a screen on a would-be tag<\/a>\u00a0and we\u2019ve seen it maybe cost Jose Altuve\u00a0a cycle-completing triple<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In fact, we\u2019ve even seen a thrown helmet bounce back and injure a player<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But this one is still somehow new. Rays outfielder Chandler Simpson left last night\u2019s game when \u2014\u00a0on a slide into second base \u2014 his helmet fell off, hit second base and bounced right back into his face.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It might not look all that bad in slow-mo, but\u00a0per Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass<\/a>,\u00a0Simpson 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Handshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

Thanks to everyone in the comments who left suggestions on more efficient ways to find the answer that beguiled me for so long in\u00a0yesterday\u2019s edition<\/a>. Also, I wasn\u2019t wrong that the Stark-signal had been fired up. He let me know that if I\u2019d kept going for a few more hours, I would have arrived at the\u00a0other\u00a0time an NL team scored 13+ runs in one inning and none in any other: The\u00a02003 Phillies did it against the Reds<\/a>!<\/p>\n

But you wanna know what hasn\u2019t been done since 1972? A 3-6-3-6 double play \u2026 until yesterday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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, \u201cWhat does 50\/50 mean?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

An update on the Giants\u2019 third-base coach situation: It looks like they\u2019re hiring Gary Pettis<\/a>\u00a0to replace Hector Borg.<\/p>\n

With Elly De La Cruz hitting the IL, the Reds called up 22-year-old prospect Edwin Arroyo to\u00a0make his big-league debut<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Candace Buckner says the \u201cTarps Off\u201d craze that began in St. Louis has been\u00a0a much-needed reset<\/a>\u00a0on a respected fanbase that was getting, frankly, a bit stale.<\/p>\n

Jacob deGrom picked up his 100th win<\/a>\u00a0last night in a 2-1 Rangers victory over the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

The White Sox are doing the\u00a0alumni home run derby<\/a>, headlined by Jos\u00e9 Canseco, Daniel Palka and Scott Podsednik. (Did you remember that Canseco played for the White Sox?)<\/p>\n

Last year, Eli Willits was the first pick of the draft, at 17 years old. This year, his older brother and mentor, Jaxon<\/a> (22), is hoping to get draft-day call.<\/p>\n

A\u2019s broadcaster Dallas Braden has\u00a0more information on that ABS glitch<\/a> during the Yankees-A\u2019s game on Saturday. It fairly quickly devolves into future conspiracies, but he\u2019s \u2026 not wrong?<\/p>\n

And lastly, I really enjoyed this insightful conversation with Alex Bregman<\/a>\u00a0about hitting mechanics and swing speed.<\/p>\n

Most-clicked in our last Windup:\u00a0Brendan Kuty\u2019s write-up<\/a>\u00a0on the Yankees\u2019 13-run inning.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,99],"class_list":["post-680282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}