In his second game since the promotion, all Willems did was spank a pair of dingers. B-More’s eighth round pick in 2021 has a penchant for extra-base pop, but he is very much not built for speed, which is fine, as long as he stays at catcher.

He’s still spending most of his fielding time behind the plate, but has seen more action at first base than ever before, a development that should help improve his chances of getting to the bigs quicker. There’s no question Basallo’s bat will play as at Double-A this year he’s racked up plenty of runs, flashed nice pop and continued to show a willingness to run (although his base stealing prowess could be better).

He hasn’t seen quite as much PT this year, but has been more productive and now has a chance to really build on that with Jazz Chisholm Jr. (elbow) out a while. Cabrera came through with two safeties, two runs, an RBI and a steal on Thursday, running his hit streak to five games to cement his spot in the lineup for now. He’s putting fewer balls on the ground and in the air, but getting more line drives, and that’s a winning formula. Cabrera may not ever offer a ton of power or speed, but a 25-year-old switch-hitter who generally hits equally well from both sides of the plate (although he’s struggled as a RHB this year) has value.

He took some swings earlier this week and over the last couple of days has progressed to running the bases and in the outfield. However, there is still no timetable for J-Rod’s return, adding to what’s been a frustrating season. He was hitting so well last month before getting hurt, but his 2024 counting cats are way down thanks to the time he’s missed and how poorly he performed over the first few months.