Day: May 18, 2026

More than a quarter of the way through the season, Fernando Tatis Jr. is still looking for his first home run, Cal Raleigh ranks last among qualified catchers in slugging percentage, and Bo Bichette has been one of the worst hitters in the sport. Surely, it won’t remain this way all year. For now, though, it’s been a forgettable start for some of the game’s most dynamic offensive forces. In this week’s power rankings, we’ll look at the standout players on every team who need to step up going forward. They were swept by the Guardians and Dodgers — who outscored them 31-3 over three games — and now have the worst record and run differential in MLB.  There’s a lot wrong here, clearly, so no one player is going to remedy this. They need more from Yusei Kikuchi when he gets healthy (0-3, 5.81 ERA) and could use more offense from Logan O’Hoppe, whose .545 OPS ranks 26th among the 30 MLB catchers with at least 100 plate appearances this season. Two years ago, Ezequiel Tovar received down-ballot MVP votes. This year, the 24-year-old is playing below replacement level and ranks last among qualified MLB shortstops in fWAR. The Astros, with their flurry of pitching injuries and MLB-worst ERA (5.43), need Tatsuya Imai (9.24 ERA) to figure things out quickly after giving him three years and $54 million. Two years ago, Jarren Duran had a 9.0-WAR All-Star season that saw him finish eighth in MVP voting. This year, he’s hitting 50% below league average with the lowest on-base percentage of any qualified outfielder. Whether it’s Salvador Perez (.595 OPS) or Vinnie Pasquantino (.624), the Royals need one of their offensive standouts to start giving Bobby Witt Jr. more help. We can include one on both sides of the ball here: Many expected Eury Pérez to be a dark-horse Cy Young candidate this year, but the 23-year-old has a 5.33 ERA through 10 starts. Meanwhile, 2025 All-Star Kyle Stowers has played below replacement level since returning from a hamstring injury last month. They were swept by the Mets then lost a series to the Blue Jays and have now dropped 10 of their last 12 games. Getting Casey Mize back will help their beleaguered rotation, but the Tigers need more from Jack Flaherty (0-5, 5.77 ERA) while Tarik Skubal and Justin Verlander are sidelined. Hampered by knee and hamstring injuries over the last few years, Royce Lewis has seen his OPS drop every year since launching 15 homers in his spectacular 58-game sample in 2023. He’s currently slashing .163/.261/.279. Last week was a big step in the right direction for Willy Adames, whose OPS now starts with a “6” instead of a “5.” The Giants will need that to continue for their $182 million shortstop after a slow start to the year. This was a big week for the Mets, who swept the Tigers and then took the Subway Series. But they’re still waiting for Bo Bichette to get going. He’s in a 3-for-37 rut and has a .531 OPS. Given their pitching woes, they’re going to have to outslug every opponent. To do that, the Orioles will need Gunnar Henderson to build on his four-hit day Sunday, which lifted his batting average up over .200 on the year. His hard-hit rate is down while his strikeout and chase rates are way up to start the year. The fractured toe may be playing a role, but George Springer has a .566 OPS in 27 games after logging a .959 OPS and finishing seventh in MVP voting a year ago. He’s not hitting the ball with nearly the same force. Not helping matters, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had gone 23 straight games without a home run before going deep Sunday. The Jays need more of that. The Nats captured series wins against the Reds and Orioles last week and are creeping their way toward .500 despite a starting rotation that’s 9-15 with a 5.17 ERA. Really, they just need anyone from the starting staff to provide more consistency; perhaps that player will be Cade Cavalli, who has 39 strikeouts and six walks in 31 innings over his last six starts and might have the highest upside of the group. (It’s worth noting that Foster Griffin had been tremendous until coughing up nine runs to the Reds last week.) The obvious answer here is Cal Raleigh, who’s slashing .161/.243/.317 coming off last year’s eruption. But since he’s on the injured list and therefore can’t improve upon the slow start right now, it’s worth mentioning Luis Castillo. The three-time All-Star has an ERA over 6.00 for a Mariners rotation that hasn’t dominated the way many anticipated. Ketel Marte has one home run in his last 25 games and a .637 OPS on the season. He has the highest chase rate of his career, likely trying to do a little too much to get his bat going, but his quality of contact suggests better days ahead. Corey Seager was hitless in his last seven games before being sidelined with a back issue. The Rangers are still determining the severity of the injury, but it’s hard to imagine them making a deep run if he’s out or hitting below league average, as he is right now. The Reds have lost 12 of their last 16 games, and their bullpen is in disarray. But the rotation hasn’t been much better. As they wait for Hunter Greene to return, they need someone other than Chase Burns (5-1, 1.87) to give them quality innings. The answer could be Andrew Abbott, who has a 1.19 ERA over his last four starts after a poor start to the season. After hitting more than 20 homers each of the last two seasons, Lawrence Butler has the third-lowest slugging percentage among all qualified outfielders this year (.272). He has been a well below league-average hitter (82 OPS+) since signing his seven-year, $65.5 million extension before last season. The two highest-paid pitchers on the White Sox roster are relievers Jordan Hicks and Seranthony Dominguez. The former has a 5.51 ERA while the latter has a 4.82 ERA after blowing his third save of the year Sunday, but that didn’t stop the party on the South Side. The White Sox still came back to win and have now won 13 of their last 18 games. Marcell Ozuna, who was brought in to be the Pirates’ designated hitter, has been one of the worst hitters in MLB this year. The 35-year-old is slashing .182/.271/.311 for a career-low .582 OPS. Steven Kwan has the lowest slugging percentage of any qualified outfielder, the lowest hard-hit rate in MLB and a career-low .201 batting average. Others are picking up the slack, though, for a Guardians team that has won eight of its last 11 games. Well, that turned quickly. The Phillies have now won 15 of 19 games since Don Mattingly took over as manager. They’re still waiting for Trea Turner to get going, though. The three-time All-Star is hitting .236 with the lowest on-base percentage (.286) and highest chase rate of his career. The Cardinals are far surpassing expectations for a team with a bottom-five luxury-tax payroll. If we’re going to nitpick, Dustin May, Kyle Leahy and Matthew Liberatore all rank in the bottom 10 among qualified MLB starters in strikeout rate, so it’d be nice to see someone from that trio start to miss a few more bats. Austin Wells has a .556 OPS, Trent Grisham is hitting .166, Jazz Chisholm Jr. has been a below league-average hitter (though he is heating up), and David Bednar has an ERA close to 5.00 after blowing a save Sunday against the Mets. Now Max Fried is injured, too, adding to the concerns for a Yankees team that has dropped seven of its last nine games. Fernando Tatis Jr. has now played 45 games without hitting a home run. Prior to this year, he had never gone even 30 straight games without hitting a homer. It’s remarkable the Padres have jumped out to this start with Tatis (.581 OPS), Manny Machado (.604) and Jackson Merrill (.603) all scuffling offensively to this degree. The Brewers’ top three saves leaders this year — Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe and Angel Zerpa — are a combined 2-6 with a 5.45 ERA and six blown saves. Despite the late-inning uncertainty, they’ve won eight of their last 10 games. The Cubs have now dropped each of their last three series. Dansby Swanson is hitting a career-worst .192, while offseason pitching acquisition Edward Cabrera has a 5.26 ERA over his last seven starts. Many expected the Rays to be in a transition year based on their offseason moves (*raises hand*), but they’ve won seven straight series and are 18-4 in their last 22 games. Cedric Mullins got off to a dreadful start, but it’s hard to find much wrong in Tampa right now. Pitching injuries and an aging roster might be the only things that can stop them. Mookie Betts is hitting .180, though he has only played in 13 games this year. Freddie Freeman’s .739 OPS is his lowest mark in a season since he played in 20 games as a rookie in 2010. The Braves just faced the Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox and took all three series. It hasn’t been the start to the year that the Braves’ corner outfielders would’ve envisioned — Ronald Acuña Jr. had a .740 OPS before injuring his hamstring, Mike Yastrzemski has a .643 OPS, and Jurickson Profar is suspended for the year — but the team is still rolling.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Aaron Rodgers emerged from his annual offseason darkness retreat over the weekend and confirmed what we expected all along: He will be the starting quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2026. Perhaps head coach Mike McCarthy can turn back the hands of time and help Rodgers rediscover the magic that helped him become a four-time MVP and first-ballot Hall of Famer. The second marriage between the one-time Super Bowl champion coach and his former franchise quarterback is a last-ditch effort by the AFC North reigning champions to make another run at a title with a veteran-laden roster featuring former All-Pros and Pro Bowlers. While the 2020 version of Rodgers with this roster would undoubtedly rank as a Super Bowl front-runner, this current iteration faces long odds of knocking off the NFL’s heavyweights with a 42-year-old quarterback directing a redesigned offense with a respected quarterback whisperer at the helm. Say what you will about McCarthy, but he is coming off a successful run with Dak Prescott that saw the four-time Pro Bowler play the best ball of his career while guiding the Cowboys to three straight 12-win seasons within a five-year span. Considering McCarthy also led the Green Bay Packers to eight double-digit win seasons in a 13-year period with Rodgers and Brett Favre leading the way, the grizzled veteran coach will give his former pupil the best chance to end his career (on a high note). From Gunslinger To Game Manager The quarterback he inherits in Pittsburgh is drastically different from the one who helped him win his only Super Bowl win. The Rodgers who dazzled as an improvisational wizard in the 2010s has become a stationary pea shooter who peppers opponents with quick-rhythm throws at short range. Last season, Rodgers led the NFL in the percentage of throws that did not travel beyond the line of scrimmage (32.5%), per Next Gen Stats. Additionally, the 22-year pro finished with the fastest time-to-throw average (2.59 seconds), using a variety of screens, swings and quick routes to counter heavy pressure from defensive coordinators intent on disrupting his passing rhythm. Rodgers’ extensive utilization of “tags” (attaching a quick game concept to a running play) and audibles led to a bunch of “catch it and rip it” throws to the perimeter. With Rodgers excelling at small ball at this stage of his career, McCarthy must tweak his playbook to accentuate his QB1’s strengths (football intelligence, diagnostic skills, and experience) while minimizing his weaknesses (athleticism, mobility and fear of being hit ) in the pocket. In addition, he must fix the Steelers’ offensive line woes and upgrade the personnel to close the gap on their opponents. Adjusting the playbook to maximize Rodgers’ talent will be an ongoing process that extends to the regular season, with McCarthy routinely bouncing schematic ideas off the veteran to determine which plays should remain on the call sheet. Despite their extensive history and collective success in Green Bay, the duo cannot rely on nostalgia to spark a change in Pittsburgh. The veteran offensive architect must rework the playbook to feature more than the shotgun and spread concepts that were staples in the Packers’ playbook. Although Rodgers’ lack of mobility limits the Steelers’ under-center options, particularly the bootleg and naked package, the utilization of play-action could open up the field for the four-time MVP and create more big-play opportunities for the offense. Souped-Up Supporting Cast As Rodgers settles into his role as a game manager, the Steelers’ supporting cast must handle the heavy lifting for the offense to play at a top-10 level. The playcaller, playmakers and protectors must grade out as honors students for their work to help the veteran close the gap on the elite quarterbacks throughout the AFC. To their credit, the Steelers have upgraded the talent around Rodgers with wideouts Michael Pittman (acquired via trade) and Germie Bernard (selected No. 47 overall in the 2026 draft) to add a pair of dependable “chain movers” to the lineup. With an ultra-physical receiver (Pittman) and a polished route runner (Bernard) joining DK Metcalf, Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, the Steelers have surrounded Rodgers with a diverse collection of rugged playmakers who can consistently win on short and intermediate routes within a 10-yard box to build out an efficient, ball-control passing game. The combination of size, strength and skill should enable Rodgers to throw the slants, stick routes, and screens that are staples of the quick-rhythm aerial attack that he prefers. Additionally, the aggressiveness and physicality of the Steelers’ perimeter players should bolster the team’s running game, as the unit becomes a bigger part of a blocking scheme that pits wideouts and tight ends on linebackers and safeties. If the Steelers can get buy-in from their pass-catchers to make strong contributions as blockers in the running game, McCarthy can establish the punishing ground attack he needs to alleviate pressure on his quarterback. Pittsburgh invested heavily in the running game this offseason, with offensive lineman Max Iheanachor and Gennings Dunker coming aboard as key picks in the 2026 draft. The young duo is slated to play on the right side at right tackle and right guard, respectively, with Troy Fautanu potentially moving to left tackle if Broderick Jones is unable to play early in the season. The reshuffled lineup should enable the Steelers to put their “best five” on the field and control the line of scrimmage. Moreover, the team can throw in Freiermuth and Washington to create a robust “12” personnel package (one running back, two tight ends and two wide receivers) to maul opponents with a downhill running game. The Steelers’ running back corps (Rico Dowdle, Jaylen Warren and Kaleb Johnson) is built to grind it out on various downhill runs behind a massive offensive line that should be able to generate a consistent push at the point of attack. The three-headed monster in the backfield features a trio of runners with complementary skills, which should lead to more continuity and consistency in the running game. Although Rodgers will retain his veto power at the line, the Steelers’ upgraded front line and backfield should lead to a greater commitment to a “ground-and-pound” approach that yields better performance and production from a unit that wants to dominate time of possession and protect a quarterback in the twilight of his career. While Rodgers is no longer the dazzling playmaker who could single-handedly tilt the game in his team’s direction with his spectacular play, the Steelers’ upgraded supporting cast should enable the fading superstar to lead another playoff run in a managerial role.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The cars, drivers and teams are still getting ready and are now in a time crunch, but the 2026 Indianapolis 500 field is set. Alex Palou will lead the 33-car field to green for The Greatest Spectacle in Racing on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX). Palou won the pole during qualifying this past Sunday, posting a four-lap average of 232.248 miles per hour at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He edged out Alexander Rossi and David Malukas, who will join him with a front-row starting position for the 110th Indy 500. This is his second Indy 500 pole (2023), and he’s also the first defending Indy 500 champion to win the pole for the following year’s race since Hélio Castroneves did it in 2010. But, as we’ve seen many times throughout past Indy 500s, no one is guaranteed anything, and a little luck is necessary to winning, along with a speedy car, of course. Experience matters too, and there are nine previous Indy 500 winners in the field: Alex Palou (2025), Josef Newgarden (2023, 2024), Marcus Ericsson (2022), Hélio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009, 2021), Takuma Sato (2017, 2020), Will Power (2018), Alexander Rossi (2016), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014) and Scott Dixon (2008). Here’s a look at the full starting grid for the 2026 Indy 500 on Sunday on FOX. Note: The qualifying runs for Caio Collet, who was 10th, and Jack Harvey, who was 29th, were disallowed after technical violations were found on their cars. They will start at the back of the field. Row 1 1. Alex Palou, No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (232.248 mph) 2. Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Chevrolet (231.990 mph) 3. David Malukas, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet (231.877 mph) Row 2 4. Felix Rosenqvist, No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda (231.375 mph) 5. Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet (230.846 mph) 6. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet (230.442 mph) Row 3 7. Kyffin Simpson, No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (230.883 mph) 8. Conor Daly, No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet (230.712 mph) 9. Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet (230.577 mph) Row 4 10. Scott Dixon, No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (230.347 mph) 11. Rinus Veekay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet (229.585 mph) 12. Takuma Sato, No. 75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda (230.995 mph) Row 5 13. Ed Carpenter, No. 33 ECR Chevrolet (230.829 mph) 14. Hélio Castroneves, No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing Honda (230.811 mph) 15. Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 ECR Chevrolet (230.705 mph) Row 6 16. Marcus Armstrong, No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda (230.701 mph) 17. Marcus Ericsson, No. 28 Andretti Global Honda (230.667 mph) 18. Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet (230.661 mph) Row 7 19. Will Power, No. 26 Andretti Global Honda (230.279 mph) 20. Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet (230.213 mph) 21. Louis Foster, No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda (230.212 mph) Row 8 22. Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 31 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet (230.202 mph) 23. Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet (230.165 mph) 24. Romain Grosjean, No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda (229.791 mph) Row 9 25. Kyle Kirkwood, No. 27 Andretti Global Honda (229.607 mph) 26. Katherine Legge, No. 11 HMD Motorsports w/ A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet (229.456 mph) 27. Mick Schumacher, No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda (229.450 mph) Row 10 28. Graham Rahal, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda (229.017 mph) 29. Dennis Hauger, No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda (228.982 mph) 30. Jacob Abel, No. 51 Abel Motorsports Chevrolet (228.169 mph) Row 11 31. Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet (226.572 mph) 32. Caio Collet, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet 33. Jack Harvey, No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports