NL Central

The Cincinnati Reds received a major blow on Tuesday night, as outfielder Marlon Byrd suffered a fractured wrist in the team's 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Continue for updates.

Byrd Fractures Wrist, Timetable for Return Unknown

Tuesday, June 2

Jim Day of Fox Sports Ohio has details of Byrd's injury:    

Even if the Cincinnati Reds don't get back into contention, they are going to be a team that has a big impact on the pennant race.

Why? Because the team has plenty of attractive trade chips.

The proverbial window appears to be closing on this Reds squad. Some of the key players are entering the final year(s) of their contracts, which will force the club to make some tough decisions. Keeping those players would certainly help the club stay relevant, but trading them would help the organization in the future.

It's what's on the agenda when a team is eight games under .500 and 11.5 games out of first before June. Because a Reds rebuild seems all but certain with ace Johnny Cueto playing in the final year of his contract, it's time to assess what's worked and what's in store.

With Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Addison Russell already in their lineup, seemingly the last thing the Chicago Cubs need is another talented young hitter. 

And yet there's Kyle Schwarber. He's knocking on the door to the majors, and his knocks are only getting louder.

When the Cubs and Nationals squared off for the first time this season on Memorial Day, each team featured their own version of a baseball phenom.

Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant don't seem like identical players off the top of the head, but the list of similarities between the two players is quite a long one.

Both grew up in the Las Vegas area, where they played with—on the same travel team, called the Ballbusters—and against each other since they were nine and seven years old. They also each have keen memories of the other.

At nine months apart in age, Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant ran in the same Las Vegas baseball circles as kids and teens, young prodigies with beaming futures. 

Even though it isn't emphasized as much in baseball, the draft is important in building winning teams. Since it takes so long for draftees to reach the majors in most cases, it's hard to evaluate them immediately after the fact.

Now, let's take a step back and look at the Cubs' last 10 first-round draft picks. They will each receive a letter grade based on whether or not they panned out, where they are in their career and what track they're on (if they still have time to develop).

Johnny Cueto was ruled out for his scheduled start May 24 due to soreness in his elbow and general stiffness he's been experiencing since his start against the Kansas City Royals on May 19. Cueto remains day-to-day.

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Having reached the postseason each of the past two seasons only to fall in the divisional playoff round, the Pittsburgh Pirates were considered one of the early favorites to represent the National League in the World Series.

The Pittsburgh Pirates got a little friendly with their Instagram followers on Friday, promoting a fan giveaway of free tickets and, err, sexual donuts.

Yep, sexual donuts.