After another slow start, Kevin Padlo has been on fire for a while now. Anyone who reads the comments here every day knows I’m not the first person who’s made this observation, but Kevin Padlo has been swinging a hot bat for a while now. Through 18 games, he had a .521 OPS. Now, he’s batting .250/.386/.520. His .906 OPS is second in the Southern League, and he’s still a little younger than the average player in the league. Triple-A Durham Bulls (42-27) A pair of home runs from Rays great Erik Kratz sunk Durham in its 7-3 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The RailRiders scored three times in the second, but Jake Cronenworth’s two-run homer in the third cut that lead to one. Over the next few innings, Kratz’s two homers extended the Bulls’ deficit to five runs. Cole Sulser opened and was charged with three runs in 1 1?3 innings, and Ricardo Pinto struck out five and allowed a run in 4 1?3 innings. 1B Nate Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.871)RF Joe McCarthy: 0-for-5, 3 K (.626)2B Jake Cronenworth: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI (1.009)SS Kean Wong: 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K (.950)DH Michael Perez: 1-for-2, 1 2B, 3 BB, 1 K (1.153)3B Emilio Bonifacio: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 2 K (.773) RHP Ricardo Pinto: 4 1?3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (2.82) Durham’s site offers this recap. Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (44-26) Montgomery closed with three unanswered runs in a 3-2 win over Chattanooga. Lucius Fox’s RBI single in the sixth cut the Biscuits’ deficit to 2-1. In the eighth, Kevin Padlo and Tristan Gray hit back-to-back homers to give them their first lead. Josh Fleming allowed a run in two innings, and Brian Shaffer allowed a run in five innings. CF Josh Lowe: 0-for-3, 1 BB, 1 SB (.723)DH Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB (.809)SS Lucius Fox: 2-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB (.718)3B Kevin Padlo: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.906)1B Tristan Gray: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.691) RHP Brian Shaffer: 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (2.45)LHP Matt Krook: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K (4.45) Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (35-31) Charlotte is at the All-Star break. Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (39-31) Bowling Green needed more offense in its 2-1 loss to Lansing. The Hot Rods had just three hits, including Ford Proctor’s RBI single in the fifth. No Bowling Green pitcher threw more than two innings. Caleb Sampen started and struck out two in two frames. 3B Ford Proctor: 1-for-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.716) RHP Caleb Sampen: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (3.49) Bowling Green’s site offers this recap. Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (1-2) Hudson Valley allowed five unanswered runs in a 5-2 loss to Lowell. Luis Trevino hit an RBI single in the second, and Garrett Hiott hit one in the fifth. However, the Renegades only had two more hits the rest of the game. Rodolfo Sanchez struck out nine in 4 2?3 scoreless innings, only giving up two singles and a walk. 3B Carlos Vargas: 1-for-4 (.385) RHP Rodolfo Sanchez: 4 2?3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K (0.00) CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES Monday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com) Durham is off. Montgomery is at the All-Star break. Charlotte @ Fort Myers 7 p.m. ET (radio stream)TBA vs. TBA Bowling Green is at the All-Star break. Hudson Valley vs. Lowell 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)TBA vs. TBA *Listed as TBA on milb.com Scouting the opposition Fort Myers Miracle (Minnesota)39-27Offense: 258 R (8th) .697 OPS (3rd)Pitching: 3.05 ERA (3rd) 1.18 WHIP (1st)Top-30 prospects: SS Royce Lewis (1), OF Trevor Larnach (5), RHP Jhoan Duran (7), RHP Blayne Enlow (8), C Ryan Jeffers (9), IF Jose Miranda (13), OF Akil Baddoo (19), RHP Jordan Balazovic (20), 2B Michael Helman (27), OF Aaron Whitefield (28) Lowell Spinners (Boston)2-1 (2nd in NYPL Stedler)Offense: Will update next seriesPitching: Will update next seriesTop-30 prospects: SS Antoni Flores (9), OF Nick Decker (16), 3B Nicholas Northcut (19) Daily news and links I was out most of the day and did not spend time searching for links. If you see anything worth sharing, please post it in the comments. Thanks!

And the NHL offseason is starting to heat up. The Bolts The Tampa Bay Lightning pick #27 in the NHL Draft next weekend. If they have a chance to draft Connor McMichael, they’ll be getting a very high-risk, high-reward young centreman. [Raw Charge] McMichael is a very gifted athlete in the offensive zone who at times fails to show the same dedication on the other side of the ice, even though he’s shown flashes of a strong two-way game. Offensively, McMichael is one of the best in the draft at creating shots for himself and his teammates in high-danger areas. You can see in his shot chart below that all his chances come right around the slot; it’s just a big blog of blue in the middle of the ice. Sunday was Father’s Day (happy father’s day to all the dads and fatherly figures out there in the world!) In honor of that, here are some great Father’s Day messages from the Tampa Bay Lightning! What a amazing Father’s Day. Best part was seeing my kids hanging out with their great Grandma! pic.twitter.com/ew59g9DOAs— Ryan Callahan (@TheRealCally24) June 16, 2019 Last year on Father’s Day, we asked some #NHL hockey dads to write letters to their sons. Some really good ones, including a letter from @tjohnny09 dad Ken (pictured below) and @BriBrows22 dad Artie https://t.co/EcsAfQ69sR pic.twitter.com/eEWBVRGlUp— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) June 16, 2019 Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there. I’m blessed with my own dad and couldn’t be happier trying to raise these three pic.twitter.com/VqU0UPTJZS— Martin St.Louis (@mstlouis_26) June 16, 2019 Happy father's day to all the fathers out there. Enjoy your day, you deserved it — nikita alekseev (@smallfoot81) June 16, 2019 The Game If anyone’s on Twitter and are tired of hearing about Mitch Marner’s contract, feel free to stay off it for the day. ? pic.twitter.com/HZt1XkYK9J— dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) June 16, 2019 The Anaheim Ducks are planning to promote Dallas Eakins to head coach of the team after an “extensive search.” Interesting tactic by the Ducks, going after the early 2010’s Maple Leafs’ coaches back to back times. JUST IN: Dallas Eakins is the "last man standing" in #Ducks' head coaching search, according to TSN's Frank Seravalli. A formal announcement is expected sometime this week.MORE: https://t.co/UDzFHybTGR pic.twitter.com/7RtWrrR7lY— SportsCentre (@SportsCentre) June 16, 2019 The Washington Capitals have re-signed Carl Hagelin to a four-year contract at a very reasonable price. [Japers Rink] He had no problem fitting in, becoming an instant leader in the locker room and an asset on ice who displayed automatic chemistry with his teammates - pretty much on any line. He finished with three goals and 11 points through his 20 games with Washington to close out the regular season. Prior to that, he’d had just two goals and six points in 38 games combined between the Penguins and Kings this year. The Capitals have re-signed Carl Hagelin. Four years, $11 million. That’s an AAV of $2.75 million.— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) June 16, 2019 Olli Maatta is now a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, so what does he bring to them? [Second City Hockey] You hit the nail on the head, it’s an oft-repeated observation — which isn’t untrue — that Maatta typically plays up or down to the quality of his partner. If he’s with a mobile, puck mover and just a good all around player (like Matt Niskanen or Justin Schultz) then the pair performs very well and drives great results. But Maatta will sink with weaker partners and struggle when playing with replacement level players like Jack Johnson or Juuso Riikola. Are there trends you can find in a team’s drafting? Brandon Cain has a look to see if one of the more longer-term GMs, Stan Bowman, has a type. [Second City Hockey] Bowman has used 25 percent of those picks on Canadian Hockey League players. Of the CHL picks, eight have come from the Ontario Hockey League, seven from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and five from the Western Hockey League. Chicago has selected two players from one club in each CHL league: Saginaw (OHL), Victoriaville (QMJHL) and Portland (WHL). Heading back to the Capitals, check out what Alex Ovechkin is doing this summer. Flyboarding Alex Ovechkin proves every summer is the summer of Ovi https://t.co/q9rCkSWBL0— RMNB (@russianmachine) June 16, 2019 And finally, let’s talk about the upcoming CBA and what the NHLPA is really going to dig their heels into. Hint, it’s money. [TSN] Under terms of the collective bargaining agreement, NHL owners and players divide hockey-related revenue 50/50, and if player salaries exceed that split a certain percentage is withheld in escrow to make it even. The Chicago Blackhawks captain and fellow players have lost upward of 10% of their pay to escrow over the past seven seasons, which is why 25 of 31 NHL Players’ Association representatives surveyed by The Associated Press and Canadian Press named escrow as the biggest bargaining issue with September deadlines looming to terminate the current CBA effective the fall of 2020.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday formally received 22 bills from the Legislature, including a measure that Attorney General Ashley Moody has sought to help in a legal fight against the pharmaceutical industry. The bill (HB 1253) would allow lawyers working for the state to have access to information in a prescription drug database that was created to prevent “doctor shopping” by drug addicts and traffickers. The information in the database could help provide evidence in civil cases, including…

Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried on Friday encouraged supporters of a new state hemp industry to tell Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign a bill that would lead to a regulatory framework for the crop. Fried said an envisioned hemp “revolution” needs the governor’s signature on the bill (SB 1020), which would create a hemp program within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. “If the governor’s office receives any of the phone calls that we have been receiving over the last five…