Ildemaro Vargas played for five different franchises during the first nine seasons of his career, with the bulk of that time coming with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 34-year-old entered the 2026 season with a .249/.289/.357 (78 OPS+) line in 1313 PA, with 58 2B and 20 HR, totaling 1.8 bWAR.

Vargas wasn’t expected to play a pivotal role for the D-backs this season, but his production at the plate has made it hard for manager Torey Lovullo to keep him out of the lineup. Vargas’s versatility has helped there — he’s appeared at 1B (13 games), 2B (9), 3B (3), SS (1), LF (1), DH (1), and even as a pinch-runner (1).

Baseball’s hottest hitter was 4-for-4 on Friday against the Cubs (singling in all four at-bats). Vargas extended his hitting streak to 27 games, dating back to last September. Through Friday’s game, he’s hitting .404/.429/.702 in 94 PA this season with 6 2B, 2 3B, and 6 HR (already a career high).

The 27-game hitting streak sets a new MLB record for a Venezuelan player, a mark formerly held by Wilson Ramos (26 games, 2019).

The streak also ties Tony Womack (2000) for the second-longest in franchise history. Only Luis Gonzalez (30 games, 1999) has a longer run.

Vargas’s 24-game streak to begin the 2026 season marks the second-longest to open a season since at least 1940. Tigers center fielder Ron LeFlore started the 1976 season with hits in each of his first 30 games (he’d finish it with a .316/.376/.410 line and 128 OPS+, making his lone career All-Star appearance).

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm made headlines in late March when he filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia against his parents, alleging that they had mismanaged his finances. Upon being drafted with the third overall pick in the 2018 Draft, Daniel and Lisa Bohm “encouraged him to let them run his finances”, establishing and operating multiple LLCs, which they are alleged to have “misrepresented their stakes in”. There are also allegations that they used “sizeable amounts” of money for personal purposes.

Per details reported by The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes at the time, Bohm was seeking $3 million in damages, plus the return of $528,618 removed from a brokerage account.

The unfortunate situation took a new twist on Friday, as Varnes explains. Bohm’s parents filed new documents with the Philadelphia court seeking dismissal of the case, based in part on the belief that the dispute was subject to arbitration in Florida rather than Pennsylvania. More from Varnes:

It’s unclear how a judge will proceed in light of these new documents. No court date has been set.

The Phillies entered play on Friday with a 12-19 record, second-worst in the National League. Bohm has struggled at the plate, hitting .151/.218/.208 (18 OPS+) in 119 PA with just one home run. The 29-year-old will reach free agency after the season.

Oregon State right-hander Dax Whitney is considered by many to be an early favorite to be the first overall pick in the 2027 MLB Draft. The 20-year-old sophomore made 11 starts for the Beavers this season, posting a 6-1 record and 2.00 ERA over 63.0 IP with 18 BB and 104 SO.

Whitney left his last start after seven innings due to tightness in his right arm, per ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Further testing revealed damage to his UCL, and Dr. Keith Meister will perform surgery in the coming days. It is unclear if Whitney will need Tommy John surgery or an internal brace procedure.

As McDaniel notes, Whitney drew some late interest from teams out of high school heading into the 2024 Draft. The 6’5” righty from Idaho ranked 53rd on ESPN’s final pre-draft rankings, but went undrafted because of his commitment to join OSU.