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The Dodgers continue to shed veterans; Chris Taylor is the latest subtraction.
Plus: Ken and Jayson Stark have more info on the automated ball-strike system, the Orioles part ways with manager Brandon Hyde and it sure was a confusing week in Philadelphia. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
Clock’s Ticking: Taylor latest Dodgers veteran casualty
On Thursday, we told you about the Dodgers cutting their longest-tenured position player (Austin Barnes) to call up a top prospect (Dalton Rushing). That left Chris Taylor as the new longest-tenured position player.
His run with that title made William Henry Harrison seem like FDR. Four days after Barnes’ DFA, the Dodgers released Taylor. (If you’re curious, the next guy in line is Max Muncy.)
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Taylor, 34, had his share of postseason heroics in a Dodgers uniform, including a 2017 NLCS co-MVP and a walk-off home run to eliminate the Cardinals in the 2021 wild-card game. But the utility player was hitting .200/.200/.257 in (.457 OPS) in just 35 plate appearances through the Dodgers’ first 46 games.
As Fabian Ardaya writes here, one thing is clear: The Dodgers are operating with urgency, not sentimentality. In both cases, the moves made logical sense: Rushing’s bat was ready for the big leagues, and Taylor’s release allows them to keep Hyeseong Kim on the roster, even after activating Tommy Edman from the IL (which they did yesterday).
Rushing is batting .400 (.955 OPS) since his call-up. Kim is hitting .452 (1.065) with three stolen bases in 14 games.
The urgency isn’t likely to ease, especially after the Dodgers were blindsided by a sweep at the hands of the Angels over the weekend. They’re still tied for the best record in the NL at 29-18. It’s not a crisis yet.
But in a tough division, and with pitcher injuries piling up yet again, the margin for error is shrinking. The Dodgers can’t afford to coast on sentimentality.
More Dodgers:
Ken’s Notebook: ABS conversation really just beginning
From my latest column, with Jayson Stark:
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Corbin Burnes recently learned something about baseball’s Automated Ball-Strike System he found worrisome.
“There is a margin for error that I think fans don’t realize, that a lot of players didn’t realize,” Burnes said.
So, what makes that worrisome, for Burnes and other players?
When Major League Baseball tested the ABS challenge system this spring, players and fans watched the animations on the scoreboard and assumed they were fully accurate. But the technology, it turns out, is not quite as precise as many assumed.
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The margin for error that caught Burnes’ attention means a slight disparity might exist between the exact location of each pitch and where the technology places it. So players are asking league officials about how large that disparity is, and whether it raises doubts about the value of using ABS. And those officials, at a meeting of the sport’s joint competition committee on May 1, acknowledged the margin for error’s presence.
Burnes, one of four player representatives on the committee, told The Athletic that the margin for error was close to a half-inch. In other words, the system could place a pitch that was one-tenth inside the strike zone four-tenths of an inch outside the strike zone.
The likely outcomes, MLB officials say, are not that extreme. All ball-tracking systems include margin for error. The league uses the same Hawk-Eye ball-tracking technology for ABS that it does to compile reams of performance-related data, and clubs, players and media do not question the accuracy of that information.
Balls and strikes, though, are different. The ultimate nightmare scenario would be ABS missing a call on a 3-2 count, with two outs and the bases loaded, to decide Game 7 of the World Series. While the league acknowledges the possibility of that occurring, it believes the chance of that mistake happening is greater with human umps than robot umps.
Still, as the league weighs introducing the ABS challenge system for the 2026 season, Burnes, other players and some umpires are pondering if reducing the human element to implement an imperfect electronic arrangement would be worthwhile.
As Burnes put it, “If we can’t get something we feel is 100 percent accurate, why even take the job out of a guy’s hands who has been doing it for 20 years behind the plate?”
The league appears fully prepared to take that step.
Welp: Orioles fire manager Brandon Hyde
Three managers down, and it’s not even June yet. After Derek Shelton in Pittsburgh and Bud Black in Colorado, the Baltimore Orioles parted ways with Brandon Hyde, who has managed the team since 2019, when he inherited a bum roster in a brutal rebuild.
Baltimore went 131-253 in Hyde’s first three seasons, with an understanding that better times were on the way.
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In 2023, that plan seemed to come together, as Hyde led the O’s to an AL-best 101-61 record. Even a 3-0 sweep in the ALDS didn’t feel devastating. They had Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez, Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo — the list of can’t-miss prospects seemed to stretch into infinity.
… or at least the next half-dozen years?
Instead, the Orioles took a step back in 2024. They were swept again in the postseason, a 2-0 manhandling by the Kansas City Royals. Following that, 2025 has been abysmal. At the time of Hyde’s firing, the team was 15-28, better than only the Rockies, White Sox and Pirates.
For a team with expectations this high, that’s the sort of record that will cost someone their job. In this case, it was Hyde. Third-base coach Tony Mansolino has been named interim manager.
Roller Coasters: Phillies’ week of superlatives
It’s been a weird week in Philadelphia.
Our new Phillies writer Charlotte Varnes tells us about Bryce Harper’s 1,000th RBI — that’s fun, right? And yesterday, Mick Abel tied a Phillies record by striking out nine in his long-awaited big-league debut. For good measure, he out-dueled Paul Skenes for a 1-0 win — super fun!
And then there was the low: Abel’s debut came because Aaron Nola went on the IL.
And yesterday, reliever José Alvarado was suspended 80 games for PED usage. That’s far less fun. Alvarado was one of the more consistent performers in a bullpen that has been the Phillies’ biggest weakness this year.
That leaves Matt Strahm as their best left-handed reliever. Tanner Banks is the only other one, and after that? Well, I’ll let Varnes and Matt Gelb tell you the bad news:
“There is only one lefty on the team’s entire Triple-A pitching staff: Nick Vespi has big-league experience, but has posted a 9.00 ERA in nine innings with more walks than strikeouts.”
There’s one last bit of good news for the Phillies: With the Mets’ loss to the Yankees last night, Philadelphia is just a half-game out of first place in the NL East. It’s awfully early to start pondering the trade market, but with Alvarado now ineligible for the postseason, it might be time for Dave Dombrowski to start heating up the phone lines.
Handshakes and High Fives
Grant Brisbee mourns the loss of the Bay Bridge Series. As with a lot of great baseball journalism, it’s not all entirely about baseball.
The Soto Subway Series did not disappoint. The Yankees took two of three at home, and Will Sammon sat in the stands to relay the best (and worst) of the Bleacher Creatures’ chants.
Speaking of the Yankees: Andy McCullough’s story on Cody Bellinger was written before Bellinger’s grand slam sealed yesterday’s win over the Mets.
An interesting development in Boston: Kristian Campbell (not Rafael Devers) is getting work at first base. That could open the door to a Marcelo Mayer call-up.
Speaking of the Red Sox, it is my personal opinion that their new City Connect uniforms are the best in the history of the City Connects.
It’s too early to suggest that Pete Crow-Armstrong could be an MVP candidate … right? Patrick Mooney says: Maybe not?
From delivering pizzas to delivering fastballs: Meet Colton Gordon of the Astros.
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One big piece of the Cardinals’ surprise season? Matthew Liberatore is finally playing up to his potential.
Twins Win Streak Counter: The streak reached 13 games before a 5-2 loss to the Brewers yesterday. That encompassed two wins in Boston, a sweep of the Giants sandwiched between two sweeps of the Orioles and the first two games in Milwaukee. They’re still five games behind the Tigers, but they’re in second place in the AL Central now.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: The gallery of photographer Nickolas Muray’s work, including portraits of Babe Ruth and Frida Kahlo.
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(Top photo: Mike Lang / Sarasota Herald-Tribune / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
