Worldwide Sports News

Though by no means a pleasant or enjoyable topic, an undercurrent of the 2026 MLB campaign will be the upcoming labor negotiations upon season’s-end—especially as they apply to economic affairs. As someone who has always been fascinated by baseball’s competitive balance, it is a subject I may return to a time or two this summer as the opportunity presents itself.

I recently saw this article from Sportico (decent chance you’ll hit a pay wall—but I somehow got one free crack at it) regarding their estimated MLB franchise values. Here are the (literal) bullet points:

• All 30 MLB squads together are worth an estimated $95 billion. That’s an average of $3.17 billion—a 12% jump from the previous year (the largest upward mobility since Sportico started evals in 2001).

• As one would expect, the New York Yankees ($9.4 billion) & the Los Angeles Dodgers ($9.05 billion) raked in the most cash-ola. On the other end of the spectrum: the Miami Marlins (a paltry $1.45 billion).

Clearly, no matter how poor owners cry, the best of them are Scrooge McDuck-ing into piles of loot while the worst of them are still sitting on a billion-dollar asset.

Key figure #1: The percentage difference between the top and bottom team 2026 evaluations is 146.54%.

This got me wondering how things have changed in this regard over time, so I picked a nice anniversary—25 years back—and found these 2001 franchise $$$ evals from Forbes:

• Start spreadin’ the news—the Yanks were #1 at $635 million

• The Montreal Expos brought up the rear at $92 million (though no gloating here—our Minnesota Twins were second-worst at $99 million)

Key figure #2: The percentage difference between the top and bottom team 2001 evaluations was 149.38%.

The take-home points from this Baseball Economics 101 lecture…

1. Major League Baseball clubs make money. Period. Full stop. If anyone says otherwise, they are either lying or incompetent as businesspeople.
2. Despite these franchises going up, up, and away in valuations, the difference between the Elon Musk-class (high end) franchise and your general, everyday billionaire-owned franchise (low end) remains about the same over the past 25 years.

Without a doubt, disparity has always hounded the national pastime. Population-density alone guarantees the big coastal cities fuller ballparks and more lucrative media deals. But MLB—unlike the salary-capped NFL—allows its owners to self-police their oligarchical, antitrust-exempted setup. Sadly, those police officers are more Barney Fife than Joe Friday.

Despite a lot of big checks being cashed on the back of baseball, the gap between the top and bottom earning clubs remains unchanged in a quarter-century.

At Fangraphs, Brendan Gawlowski makes his “Kansas City Royals Top 36 Prospects” list:

6. Luinder Avila

Avila has been in Kansas City’s system for eight years, but it wasn’t until a velo breakout a couple of seasons back that he really popped onto the radar. He has a live arm and has sat 95-97 while touching 98 with both fastballs in starts this season. His high slot limits his ability to generate swing and miss, but hitters have to respect the velocity and the different ways he can make the ball move, which helps his secondaries play up. He has great raw feel for spin, and both his slider and curve flash plus, but he doesn’t always finish or execute them. At times he’s shown a decent changeup, but it has become increasingly peripheral and he only threw one in his first big league start.

With an off day, there was a pair of stories in The Star about the stadium news.

Kacen Bayless wrote about the timeline:

Sherman, in his remarks to the crowd, expressed a desire to break ground on the stadium project in 2027. But his comments — and a press release put out by the team — fell short of confirming the aggressive timeline emphasized by Lucas and other city officials. Lucas’ chief of staff confirmed to The Star on Thursday that Opening Day — or the spring of — 2030 was still the mayor’s target.

Sam McDowell talks about a different kind of timeline, looking backward:

Sherman said Don Hall Jr., chairman of Hallmark’s board, floated Crown Center for the stadium “months ago” before “we spent a lot of time together thinking through it with architects and land planners thinking about conceptually what we could do here.”

As for passing along those talks, Sherman said Wednesday, “We told them we were coming to Crown Center a while ago.”

On the baseball side of things, Jaylon Thompson looks at the good, bad, and ugly from the first 25 games. It was heavy on the last two, which is to be expected for a last-place team at 8-17.

The ability to finish games is also a problem. A few times, the Royals have run themselves out of key spots on the basepaths. Guys have been picked off by opposing teams or failed to advance when taking the extra base.

Royals catcher Elias Diaz was thrown out at home plate against the New York Yankees as he attempted to score from first base. And Thomas was tagged out trying to reach third base against the Orioles.

The Royals worked on their baserunning in spring training. It was an emphasis after similar troubles haunted them last season. But it continues to be a concern in the biggest moments.

At MLB.com, Anne Rogers asks if Vinnie is out of his early-season slump:

Pasquantino knows things are going well for him when he’s not striking out. That’s why his 21.1% strikeout rate this year is alarming, well above the 15.7% mark he posted last year. His walk rate is up to 10.1% after back-to-back years of 7.2%. He’s working to get back to the reputation he had as a Minor Leaguer, when he was known as a hitter with a keen understanding of the zone.

More stadium stuff? At Fox 4 KC, Jonathan Ketz talked to Kansas City manager Mario Vasquez:

“I will tell you in November, I get a freaked out phone call from somebody that says, ‘Hey, the Royals, it’s a done deal, in Overland Park,’” Vasquez said. “I was like, ‘It can’t be, there’s no way. There are too many pieces already locked up to think that that can be a done deal.’ Plus, at the time, Leawood and Overland Park were not necessarily in love with having baseball at that location. That said, I said, ‘Alright, let me make a contact,’ and I contacted somebody in the organization, and I said, ‘Where are we? I mean, are we going to have an opportunity to talk about this?’ The response back to me was, ‘Let’s keep talking.’”

Also from Fox 4 KC, Kristen Stokes writes about the connection between the Royals and Hallmark and Our Lady of Sorrow Catholic church:

According to Father Leonard Gicheru, the founder of Hallmark JC Halls frequented Our Lady of Sorrows in downtown Kansas City. “What I’ve heard is that JC Halls…used to come here in this church for quiet moments in prayer,” Ghicheru said. “The crown being the centerpiece of our church somehow inspired him to think about the logo of his company.”

Ghicheru has been the priest at Our Lady of Sorrows for six years and said the Royals moving in their backyard is a full circle moment for the church and Hallmark.

In renderings by Populous, the stadium will be directly behind the church. But the church isn’t going anywhere. It will continue to stand at the corner of 26th and Gillham. Ghicheru said he’s confident this change will bring more people to the church.

Blogs?

Craig Brown wrote about the new stadium plan at Into the Fountains:

With Sherman and the ownership group set on leaving The K for greener pastures, I do think this Crown Center solution is loaded with potential. It is much better than just the Washington Square Park site on its own. I’m also intrigued by this partnership between Hallmark and the Royals. This could solidify a corridor that runs down Main Street from the River Market area to the Plaza. Assuming the owners of the Plaza make good on their promises of improvements. It could be, pardon the pun, a crown jewel in the heart of the city.

As did Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep:

Only the Braves and Rangers were farther away than the Royals. However, the Rangers and Braves had developments around their respective ballparks, unlike the Royals, whose ballpark is surrounded by industrial buildings and a highway. 

If you were visiting from out of town and you wanted to go to a baseball game? You will need a car or be prepared to pay a sizeable amount for an Uber/Lyft, especially if you are staying in the downtown Kansas City area. It’s worth it for a one-time visit, but it definitely deters visitors without vehicles from going to multiple games in a series.

In its proposed location? Fans can get to the ballpark on the Streetcar, whether from the UMKC area or the River Market. Furthermore, fans can take the Amtrak from out of town to Union Station and go immediately to a baseball game. Not a lot of ballparks have that luxury.

Blog Roundup:

• Darin Watson at U.L.’s Toothpick: This Date In Royals History–1976 Edition: April 23 – Paul Splittorff and the bullpen make a slim lead stand up as the Royals beat the Yankees.

• Jeff Wayman at The Diamond Chronicles: Down on the Farm – searching for happiness in the Royals organization

• Jacob Milham at KOK: Michael Wacha’s first blowup amid sensational season raised some red flags

• Caleb Moody at KOK: Juan Soto’s return might’ve just killed an ex-Royal’s comeback story

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Big thanks again to Connor for filling in last week! My home internet was down and I was working off of my phone – not ideal for making a Rumblings.

So, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Two weeks ago we did the CPBL preview. This week is the KBO. And next week is NPB.

It’s always a little intimidating writing about the KBO and NPB. For the CPBL, there aren’t a lot of English-speaking fans. The subreddit is mostly dead, Twitter only has a couple of fans, and I could completely make up things and odds are you wouldn’t know the difference. Heck, those few English-speaking fans could be making stuff up and I may be passing along the baseball equivalent of Bigfoot stories and no one would be the wiser. But the KBO and NPB have numerous fans here and abroad. And they all know way more about those respective leagues than I do. I calm my fears by reminding myself that no one reads these anyway.

KBO – Korea Baseball Organization

Country: South Korea

Opening Day:March 28

International Players: Notable names include Yonny Chirinos, Chris Flexen, Drew VerHagen, Mitch White, Daz Cameron, Harold Castro, Matt Davidson, Austin Dean, Guillermo Heredia, Sam Hilliard, and Víctor Reyes. I’m not sure how many of those are actually “notable,” but those are the five-year (or more) MLB veterans in KBO. Matt Davidson had a couple of 20-homer seasons for the White Sox and always seemed to pummel the Royals. Just yesterday, Yasiel Puig, who was in the KBO last year, signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Canadian Baseball League. Also, there seems to be a disproportionate number of former Oakland Athletics, and I’m not sure what to make of that. Full list from MyKBOStats

Former Royals: While he never played for Kansas City, the aforementioned Harold Castro got over 400 ABs in Omaha last year and triple slashed .307/.354/.538 at age 31. There are a pair of former Royals relievers of recent vintage in the league. Matt Sauer is on the KT Wiz. He was a low-leverage arm from the early months of 2024 who was fine-ish in April until his FIP caught up to his ERA in May and was released. You might remember Anthony Veneziano. He was drafted by the Royals in 2019 and was perpetually on the lower end of prospect lists, working his way through the system. He never could get walks under control and only threw two games for the Royals in September of 2023. He’s on the SSG Landers.

Rooting Interest: Back when Max did the official RR guide for the KBO in 2020, the Hanwha Eagles best fit our rooting interest. Since 2008, the team had only made the playoffs once and they lost quickly. The franchise has existed for 40 years and has only won one Korea Series (1999). Since we’ve been rooting for them, they’ve finished 10th, 10th, 9th, and 8th. But last year, the pitching staff was lights out. Former Pittsburgh Pirate Cody Ponce won the league MVP, going 17-1 with a 1.89 ERA. Former Royals farmhand Ryan Weiss went 16-5 with a 2.87 ERA. They led the Eagles to 2nd place and an automatic berth in the KBO equivalent of the LCS. There, they dispatched the Samsung Lions before losing to the LG Twins in the Korea Series. Ponce and Weiss are in the MLB this season, the former with the Blue Jays and the latter with the Astros. It feels like it’s back to business as usual with the Eagles. But last year was fun for their fans.

Last Season: I already spoiled the playoffs, mentioning that the Twins won the Korea Series, the Eagles finished second, and the Lions third. Iconic closer Seung-hwan Oh (nicknamed “Stone Buddha” and “Final Boss”) announced his retirement. He is the only KBO player to ever get above 300 saves, retiring with 427. And that’s even with playing 4 years in MLB and another 2 in NPB.

World Baseball Classic: South Korea was in Pool C along with Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and Czechia. They took care of business against Czechia in their opener. Next up was Japan and the game was tied 5-5 going into the 7th, but Japan pulled away for a win. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about Taiwan’s dramatic 5-4 extra-inning win against Korea. This meant that Korea’s final game against Australia would rely on tiebreakers to determine who advanced from the group. Normally, Hyun Min Ahn’s sacrifice fly in the 9th to make the game 7-2 wouldn’t have meant much. But that final run advanced Korea into the knockout stages and sent Australia home.

This marked South Korea’s first trip to the elimination round since the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Back then, they lost the finals in 10 innings to Japan. This year, they did not go as far. In the quarterfinals, they were run-ruled by the undefeated Dominican Republic team: 10-0 in 7 innings.

Random Nuggets:

• We listed all the MLB players in KBO. To flip this around, only one Korean player started the season in MLB. Giants outfielder and Korea WBC captain Lee Jung-hoo. Two others started the season on the injured list: Atlanta Braves shortstop Kim Ha-seong and San Diego Padres infielder Song Sung-mun. Three others start in the minors: Kim Hye-seong (Dodgers), Go Woo-suk (Tigers), and Bae Ji-hwan (Mets)
• One of the big stories this offseason was a gambling controversy… only it’s not what you think. “The league suspended Lotte Giants outfielder Kim Dong-hyeok for 50 games while handing down 30-game bans on three of his teammates, Go Seung-min, Kim Se-min and Na Seung-yeup.” Was it for throwing games or shaving points? Nope! It was for visiting a casino while they did Spring Training in Taiwan. Oops: “It is illegal for Korean nationals to gamble overseas, and the four players are currently under police investigation.”
• We’re already a couple of weeks into the season now. Want a quick spoiler on how it’s going for our rooting interest? Headline: “Eagles achieve dubious KBO record for most combined walks, HBPs allowed in game”. In case you were curious, the record is now 18: 16 BB and 2 HBP. “With a sellout crowd of 17,000 on hand, the Eagles led 5-1 entering the top of the eighth inning, but the Lions rallied with five runs in the final two frames. They scored the tying run and the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth without the benefit of a hit.” Our team is back, baby!

Links:

• http://eng.koreabaseball.com/ – The Official KBO site has some parts translated into English
• https://www.reddit.com/r/KBO/ – KBO Reddit
• https://mykbostats.com/ – Good English stats website with a clean interface and lots of data
• https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/sports – The Korea Times sports section usually has a number of KBO stories mixed in with other sports news

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Last week* (two weeks ago), we did an NES game that we hadn’t used in a while. How about some more 8-bit fun?

Good morning, baseball fans!

The San Francisco Giants welcome the Miami Marlins to town today for a three-game series. So let’s take a look at what Oracle Park has on deck for fans attending the games this weekend.

First up, we’re calling CalBear to the front on this one because tonight is Cal Night. Fans with special event tickets will receive a roped hat with the Giants and Cal logo, as well as a Giants flag in the school’s colors that features the school’s iconic bear mascot.

Saturday is Brandon Belt Celebration Day! I feel like I’ve been waiting a year for this. The first 20,000 fans in attendance will receive a Brandon Belt Aloha Shirt giveaway. There will also be a Junior Giants donation drive, where fans can receive a Brandon Belt captain hat pin for donations of $30 that will go towards gloves for the kids. Fans will want to be in their seats well before first pitch to enjoy the festivities for the Captain.

As with all Saturday home games this season, it will also be a Fiesta Gigantes game, with celebrations throughout the park.

Sunday will be Youth Baseball Day at the park. The first 11,000 fans age 14 and under will receive a pair of Youth Flip-Up Sunglasses as a giveaway! A perfect outing for the kids and their teammates.

If you’re headed to the park this weekend, have fun and make sure to share pictures down in the comments!

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants and Marlins play game one of the series tonight at 7:15 p.m. PT.

The Rockies’ top offensive performers last season — Mickey Moniak and Hunter Goodman — were not only bright spots in a 119-loss season, but also had the best seasons of their young careers.

With breakout seasons in the rearview mirror, one of the big questions heading into this season was whether or not they could repeat their success or if the seasons were a one-off. Even though the Rockies are only 26 games into the season, or 16% of the way in, it seems like a good time to see if Goodman and Moniak are on track to put up numbers like they did last season.

In 2025, Goodman led the Rockies with 31 homers, 91 RBI, 28 doubles, 150 hits, and hit .278/.323/.520 with an OPS of .843 to earn the Rockies lone All-Star and Silver Slugger nods. Last season, Moniak led the Rockies with eight triples, was second in homers with 24 and RBI with 68, tied for third with 117 hits, finished fifth in doubles with 20 and hit .270/.306/.518 and an .824 OPS.

While some numbers are down, most are on track or even better for Goodman and Moniak. 

Through Thursday’s action, Goodman is leading the team in runs (17), is second in homers (6), third in hits (23), and tied for fifth in RBI (9). He’s hitting .264/.340/.540 with an .880 OPS. Here’s how his numbers look from Baseball Savant.

Goodman is trying to take on the extra challenge of more playing time this year, which means DHing on the days when he’s not catching. He’s played in 24 of the Rockies 26 games so far, including eight where he played all or part of the game as DH. His power numbers are about the same, which is a great sign. Unfortunately, his strikeouts are much worse.

Season	G	PA	HR	2B	R	RBI	SB	BB%	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2026	24	97	6	6	17	9	1	7.2%	37.1%	.241	.315	.470	.880
2025	24	95	4	5	14	11	0	10.50%	22%	.253	.352	.468	.828

Moniak — despite missing the first six games of the season with a sprained finger from spring training — leads Colorado with eight homers, which is tied for fifth-most in MLB, and he is tied for most RBI (15) on Colorado’s roster. He is second in runs (14) and fourth in hits (22) and doubles (5). Moniak is hitting .324/.347/.750 and has an OPS of 1.097.

It’s easy to see why he has had so much production early, thanks to Baseball Savant.

Moniak’s consistency is huge for the Rockies, especially considering he was a former No. 1 MLB draft pick and seemed to be a bust after not taking off in Philadelphia. It seemed even worse after being traded to and later released by the Angels in March of 2025. The Rockies picked him up, and that bet on Moniak is paying off.

His homers are ahead of where he was at in 2025, even if he’s striking out a little more and walking less.

Season	G	PA	HR	2B	R	RBI	SB	BB%	K%	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2026	19	72	8	5	14	15	1	4.60%	22.47%	.324	.347	.750	1.097
2025	19	58	3	2	10	9	0	8.60%	20.70%	.231	.310	.231	.868

Outside of swinging a hot bat, the Rockies also win more often when Moniak is in the lineup. Through Thursday, the Rockies are 8-11 when Moniak plays and 2-5 when he doesn’t (10-16 overall). When asked what Moniak provides outside the stats after Thursday’s game, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer explained Moniak’s value.

“Behind closed doors — just what he does. He’s part of keeping everything around her loose and keeps everybody ready to play. What he provides off the field is just as big as what he’s providing on the field,” Schaeffer said. “But he’s in a really good place offensively too.”

The season is still early, but all signs point to Goodman and Moniak continuing their impressive performances swinging the bat. With more support from hitters like TJ Rumfield and Troy Johnston, and the quality of pitching keeping the Rockies in more games, it’s no wonder the Rockies are off to a better start. The Rockies took 60 games to win 10 games in 2025 compared to 25 this year.

The MLB season is long. Anything can happen. Last year, Goodman and Moniak combined for 55 homers. They could be on track to beat that this year. Will they? Will it help the Rockies increase their win total this year?

Let us know what you think in the comments.

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On the Farm

Triple-A: Sacramento River Cats 12, Albuquerque Isotopes 10

Vimael Machín hit an RBI single to score Adael Amador in the ninth inning, but it wasn’t enough to help the Isotopes come back on Thursday night in Sacramento. Albuquerque was outhit 15-10 and was hurt by three fielding errors. Amador hit a two-run homer and Drew Avans and Cole Carrigg each added two-run singles to help the Isotopes take a 6-0 lead in the second inning, but Sacramento answered back with an eight-run third to take a 9-6 lead. Albuquerque came back to tie it with a two-run homer from Zac Veen and an RBI from Chad Stevens in the fifth. Sacramento regained the lead with a three-run inning of its own in the seventh. Machín, Amador and Veen led the offense for the Isotopes with two hits each.

Double-A: Portland Sea Dogs 5, Hartford Yard Goats 4 (10)

The Yard Goats blew a 4-2 lead as the Sea Dogs scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to send it to extra innings and then won it on a walk-off single by Max Ferguson in the bottom of the 10th. Andy Perez had two hits for Hartford and stole a base, which led to a run in the fifth on an error. The Yard Goats scored their first run when Dyan Jorge led off with a single and came around to steal home on a double steal. In the sixth, Roc Riggio hit an RBI single and Jorge drew an RBI walk. Konner Eaton had a solid start for Hartford, giving up two uns on six hits in five innings, but Carlos Torres blew the save in the ninth and Cade Denton took the loss by pitching in the 10th.

High-A: Everett Aquasox 11, Spokane Indians 3

The Indians rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game in the fourth inning on a Caleb Hobson RBI single, but Everett put up four-run frames in the fifth and seventh to come away with a win on Thursday. Hobson hit an RBI single in the second inning too, as did Tommy Hopfe, to account for Spokane’s scoring. Jordy Vargas gave up five runs on five hits in 4.1 innings to take the loss.

Low-A: Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 9, Fresno Grizzlies 2

The Quakes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second and never looked back on Thursday night. Fresno cut the 2-1 lead in half when Matt Klein hit an RBI single to score Lucas Ramirez, but Rancho Cucamonga answered back to take a 7-1 lead by the end of the fifth. Tanner Thach plated Clayton Gray, who had two hits on the night, on a fielder’s choice in the fifth for Spokane’s second and final run.

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Feltner, Castro leave Thursday’s game early with injuries | MLB.com

Feltner left after two innings with right triceps tightness and Willi Castro was forced from the game with right knee soreness. The severity of either is currently unknown, but the moves appear to be precautionary.

MLB’s Top 10 Most Likely Trade Candidates Before 2026 Deadline | Bleacher Report

There is a Rockie on the list at No. 7. Bleacher Report believes that the arm of Jimmy Herget, aka the Human Glitch, will be in high demand at the trade deadline.

MLB Power Rankings Week 4: Who are the top teams one month in? | ESPN.com

Despite improvement from 2025, the Rockies are still coming in at No. 30 on this list.

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Good morning.

• Some teams are off to a hot start to the season. Others are not. Those are the ones were interested in right now. Dayn Perry gives a “panic meter” rating to the struggling teams and he thinks the Phillies should be more worried than the Mets.
• Michael Baumann explains on what is going wrong with the Phillies in general and takes a special look about how worried should Philadelphia be about lefty Jesús Luzardo in particular.
• The Phillies also released right-hander Taijuan Walker. The Phillies still owe Walker $15 million.
• The Mets have now won two in a row after losing 12 straight. But they got bad news as star shortstop Francisco Lindor will miss “quite a bit” of time with a left calf strain.
• Ben Clemens is very impressed with Mets right-handed starter Nolan McLean and he’ll tell you why.
• In surprising news, the Dodgers and Giants still hate each other and Dalton Rushing seems to be the one stirring the pot. Maria Guardado and Sonja Chen report.
• Ryan Phillips has more on Rushing’s general jackassery.
• Jordan Schusterman examines what the Dodgers options are now that expensive closer Edwin Díaz is out for much of the season.
• Former Athletics owner Lew Wolff blasted the Giants as “despicable” for blocking the teams move to San Jose, which led to a move to Las Vegas instead. (Free The Athletic reg. req.)
• Chris Kirschner reports on how Yankees ace Gerrit Cole helped turn Cam Schlitter into an elite pitcher. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• For some reason this has been big news. Bryan Hoch reports that the Yankees players are pushing for the team to adopt a road alternate uniform. They’re calling for the team to wear their Spring Training uniforms in selected road games this year.
• Aaron Judge made the point that the tradition of the Yankees’ two iconic uniforms has already been defiled by an advertising patch on their sleeve. (Free The Athletic reg. req.)
• Chris Kirschner argues that for the Yankees to take an alternate uniform would be a near-fatal blow to the hallowed traditions that make the Yankees special. (The Athletic sub. req.) Or something like that.
• In any case, Brendan Kuty reports that while the Yankees will consider the players’ request, no decision on the matter is coming anytime soon. (Free The Athletic reg. req.)
• Ben Clemens looks at the numbers behind White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami’s hot start to his major league career.
• Dayn Perry also looks at the metrics on Murakami and is a little more pessimistic on his long-term outlook.
• Jordan Schusterman looks at how Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez got even better this year.
• Michael Baumann wonders how Brewers second baseman Brice Turang keeps improving year after year.
• The Royals announced plans for a new $1.9 billion stadium in downtown Kansas City. (Free The Athletic reg. req.)
• Eight early season statistics to play attention to, according to the staff at ESPN dot com.
• Walks are at a 75-year-high this year and players are saying that the Automatic Ball/Strike system is responsible.
• The Padres signed free agent Lucas Giolito to a one-year, $3 million deal with incentives.
• Dan Szymborski examines what the Padres are getting in Giolito.
• Josh Jacobs explains what is powering the surprisingly-good Cardinals offense this year.
• Thirty-year-old Peyton Gray made his major league debut for the Rangers after eight years in the minor leagues.
• Braves rookie JR Ritchie’s first major league pitch was hit for a home run by James Wood. But he righted the ship and allowed just one more run over seven innings to get his first major league win.
• Ken Rosenthal reports on how Walt Weiss’ relationship with the Braves players hasn’t changed since his promotion to team manager. (The Athletic sub. req.) Weiss also admits he wasn’t ready to be a manager when he took over the Rockies.
• Max Scherzer tells Bob Nightengale that playing the piano has rescued his major league career. Basically, playing the piano until his fingers are sore is the only kind of physical therapy he’s found that’s solved his issues with his sore thumb.
• There was a big scare this week when top Brewers prospect Luis Peña collapsed in a minor-league dugout. The game was called and Peña was rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, he appears to be fine now after treatment for overheating.
• The MLB Pipeline gang has the pitching prospect with the best fastball in each team’s system.
• Stephen J. Nesbitt gets players to answer questions about what life is like on the road. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Oneil Cruz hit a home run that bounced off the top of the foul pole at Globe Life Field.
• And finally, in a happy follow-up to a story on Monday, Alicia Funderburk, the wife of Twins reliever Kody, gave birth to a healthy baby girl on Monday. The birth was complicated by Alicia being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during the pregnancy.

Triple-A: Memphis Red Birds (STL) 5, Norfolk Tides 2

Levi Wells pitched four innings of one-run baseball. He gave up just three hits but also walked three in the short outing. The lone run came in the third inning on back-to-back doubles from the Red Birds, the second from former Orioles farmhand César Prieto.

Wells took the loss because they were down 1-0 when he exited, but the bullpen was worse than he was. Jeisson Cabrera and Enoli Paredes allowed two runs apiece.

The Tides had six hits, and three of them came off the bat of leadoff hitter Jud Fabian. That includes his fifth home run of the year, a solo shot. Fabian’s OPS is .894 after 23 games. Their other run scored in the bottom of the ninth on a single by Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Encarnacion-Strand reached base three times in the game with a single and two walks. Enrique Bradfield did not play.

Box Score

Double-A: Chesapeake Baysox 5, Akron RubberDucks (CLE) 2

Luis De León started the game with three shutout innings. The lefty allowed two hits with two walks and struck out four. He threw 67 pitches, which is not ideal. His relief, Cohen Achen, also pitched two scoreless and was awarded the win. The RubberDucks scored both of their runs in the ninth.

The Baysox had just seven hits in the game but they managed to score five runs anyway. Anderson De Los Santos had three hits and scored three runs. He was a triple short of the cycle. Griff O’Ferrall had one hit; his batting average early on is just .104. The top three batters in the lineup, Brandon Butterworth, Aron Estrada, and Ethan Anderson, were hitless.

Box Score

High-A: Frederick Keys 10, Wilmington Blue Rocks (WAS) 9

The Keys were ahead 6-3 before allowing the Blue Rocks to score five runs in the fifth inning, but they came back and scored three in the bottom of the ninth to get the walk-off win.

JT Quinn had an off night, with six runs allowed in 4.1 innings. He allowed three runs, with a home run, in the top of the first. He put together three scoreless innings, then gave up three more runs with another homer to start the fifth. He ended the game eight hits and five strikeouts. But no walks, so that’s something?

Despite being down 3-0 immediately, the offense started fighting back right away. They scored six runs in the second through fourth innings, thanks in part to back-to-back homers from RJ Austin and Nate George. Both Austin and George had two-hit games. Vance Honeycutt reached base twice and stole twice, including home.

In the bottom of the ninth, down by two, the Keys loaded the bases on a single and two walks. Braylin Tavera singled in one run to make the score 9-8. Pinch-hitter Ike Irish came through in the clutch, lining a single to center field to knock in both the tying and winning runs.

Box Score

Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 7, Wilson Warbirds (MIL) 3

It was a good night for starting pitcher Esteban Meija. He struck out eight batters in four shutout innings with just three hits and a walk. It was the best start for Meija so far this season, who walked an unimaginable eight batters in his previous start on April 17th. Meija was replaced by Brandon Downer, who was awarded the win with three innings and one run allowed.

The offense took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back. DJ Layton continued to lay waste to Carolina League. He had two doubles and a walk as the leadoff batter, and his OPS is 1.076. Delmarva had three two-run innings and even scored one run on a steal of home for extra fun. Jordan Sanchez tripled and walked, and four Shorebirds had multi-hit games.

Box Score

Today’s Schedule

• Triple-A: Norfolk vs Memphis, 6:35. Starter: Cameron Weston
• Double-A: Chesapeake vs Akron, 7:05. Starter: Sebastian Gongora
• High-A: Frederick vs Wilmington, 7:00. Starter: Juaron Watts-Brown
• Low-A: Delmarva vs Wilson, 7:05. Starter: Caden Hunter

Meet the Mets

It wasn’t the sharpest game of baseball, but the Mets won their second-straight game by beating the Twins 10-8.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, MLB.com, Newsday, New York Daily News, New York Post

Before the game, the Mets got bad news, as Francisco Lindor is expected to miss significant time because of his left calf strain. David Lennon writes that the injury might be the Mets’ breaking point.

Anthony DiComo provided as many details as possible about Lindor’s injury.

The Mets managed to embarrass themselves in the win, as Huascar Brazobán returned to the field for the ninth inning as Devin Williams started to come in from the bullpen while the Citi Field light show happened.

Tim Britton and Will Sammon write about the Mets’ awkward roster and whether or trades will be necessary to get to a point that the pieces are a better fit.

Jon Heyman says that the Mets’ struggles shouldn’t be blamed on Carlos Mendoza.

Around the National League East

The Phillies lost their ninth-straight game in an 8-7 loss to the Cubs. Bryce Harper is miffed, and the Phillies released former Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker yesterday after his latest bad outing.

The Braves beat the Nationals for their fifth-straight series win.

Around Major League Baseball

The Tigers beat the Brewers in walk-off fashion.

The Rangers beat the Pirates by a 6-1 score.

The Yankees completed a sweep of the Red Sox. Here’s how Cam Schlittler became a better pitcher after talking to Gerrit Cole.

Tyler Glasnow finished the Dodgers’ road trip with a strong start as his team beat the rival Giants.

Andrew Benintendi led the White Sox to victory over the Diamondbacks.

The Rockies had a series win within their grasp, but that fell apart as they lost to the Padres.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1962, Casey Stengel was fined five hundred bucks for appearing in an beer advertisement while wearing his uniform.

Roman Anthony had the weight of the world thrown on his shoulders by the Red Sox and the front office’s failure to construct a contending lineup around him.

Last June’s trade of Rafael Devers and the subsequent free-agent departure of Alex Bregman left little to fear in Boston’s offense. Anthony did produce at a high level in 2025 before his September oblique injury. That doesn’t mean it’s smart to immediately force him into the role of the primary offensive weapon in his age-22 season. 

Whether it’s pressure, the flow of the early weeks or just a plain slump, Boston’s young star simply hasn’t hit like one so far. His lone home run came in a pinch-hit at-bat in Houston, though the swing was impressive with an opposite-field blast against Astros closer Bryan Abreu. 

Anthony holds just a .686 OPS through his first 22 games. He also missed the final two games of the series loss to the New York Yankees with a back issue. Not great news given his injury last fall. 

His struggles are among the many reasons for gutted belief in the team after a 9-16 start. 

Want a little bit to believe in? 

Anthony continues to show progress in the areas that built his offensive profile: he’s hitting the ball hard (89th percentile average exit velocity) and still takes his walks (91st percentile walk rate). 

Not to mention that he already showed once in 2026 that he can get hot quickly. Former Red Sox infielder and Team USA hitting coach Sean Casey got an up-close view of that run during the World Baseball Classic in March. 

“I like the way he works in the cages,” Casey told OverTheMonster.com in a recent interview. “I like how he was really driving the ball in the gaps in batting practice, really trying to work that left center gap. You can tell he was really working the middle of the field. So I just love the way he worked. I think sometimes it takes years to develop a really good routine. And I feel like he has a good routine. He has a good feel of what he’s trying to do and a good feel of what his strengths are.”

We’ve all seen Anthony unload on some pull-side blasts over the last year, from his Spring Breakout rocket to his 497-foot grand slam in Worcester and his Yankee Stadium second-deck shot in August. With that said, Casey sees Anthony’s ability to join elite left-handed hitters and find a new gear with pivots to the opposite field. 

“Your best hitters, their approach is out over the plate,” Casey explained. “For Roman Anthony, I was waiting to see what he said, but I think the best hitters are trying to drive the ball to left center. He was saying center, left of center; which I liked. And he was like, ‘I try to stay in the middle of the field. That’s when I’m at my best.’ And I was like, ‘Man, that’s a great approach for anybody.’ But for a 21 year old kid and seeing how his approach was, I could understand why he’s such a great player.”

The conventional thinking for optimizing offense at Fenway Park is to load up on right-handed power. That’s valid and the Red Sox must build offenses around that trend for years and years to come. At the same time, the wall can kill slumps for the adaptable lefties who can embrace it. 

“He’s gonna get hot. He’s gonna get hot and put up some damage numbers,” Casey said. “The thing about Roman, he’s got big-time power so he could put up five homers in a week and drive in a bunch of runs.”

Casey continued: “I think the biggest thing for him is really to use that Monster. He’s got a really good left center approach. I think the Monster can get you hot quickly. I saw Big Papi do it when I played with him in 2008. For years watching him, I always felt like when he got in trouble, he’s like, gotta get off that monster and everything would open up. I think Roman’s gonna learn that if he can really use the dimensions of Fenway to help him out. But the biggest thing is, he’s gonna get hot. I mean, that’s the bottom line.” 

His abilities at the plate will spark great seasons. His humility and personality will make him a perennial All-Star and an impeccable teammate. Those qualities may be Casey’s greatest takeaways from his time with Anthony last month. 

“That was probably one of my first impressions,” Casey recalled. “Like man, this guy feels like a veteran. It feels like a veteran the way he handles himself. But just such a great kid, man. Just a nice guy, hard worker. You know, one thing I loved about talking to him as the hitting coach was just asking him what his approach was and what he’s thinking in the box, what he’s thinking about in practice. What his work looks like. You know, he had some great answers about what he does and what he’s thinking and what he’s working on in the cages.”

Everybody knows the story of Anthony’s “rookie” responsibilities on Team USA of purchasing and lugging around the team’s massive speaker from workouts to bus rides and everywhere in between. Obviously vibes are different in WBC settings, rather than the exhausting grind of the season, but Casey watched this job bring Anthony into a core role in a star-studded clubhouse. 

“These guys, these guys all have that swagger about them in a confident way, you know, not cocky, but a confident way,” Casey said. “There’s an air about him and something about Roman that he has.”

Alex Cora challenged Anthony when he left camp to soak up as much experience from as many teammates as possible, not just his friend and mentor in Bregman. Thus, the Red Sox outfielder quickly earned the respect of Aaron Judge, who will challenge him for years to come in the current state of baseball’s most historic rivalry, with a quick turnaround following a tiring travel day to Miami for knockout rounds in the WBC. 

“The coaches go and we’re getting BP going,” Casey shared. “And I think Roman was in group two. And so he was behind the cage with me on the turtle and Judge says, ‘Hey, Roman. Good to see you’re on the other bus.’ And then, Roman says to Judge, ‘Hey, if there was a 7:30 (AM) bus, I would have been on it.’ And I was like, that’s awesome. You know, like you got these guys, the WBC is the best of the best, but you got Roman Anthony at 21.” 

“They needed a rookie on the WBC team and he was kind of the guy and he really embraced it. It was kind of a fun thing and it endeared me to him more,” Casey added. 

On the field, Anthony lived up to manager Mark DeRosa’s request to be ready to play every day. He joined Judge, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber as the only four USA players to play in all seven WBC games. Anthony hit .280 with a .920 OPS for the tournament and his clutch home run against the Dominican Republic helped vault the Americans back to a third-straight finals appearance. 

“There were some pretty big environments there,” Casey said. “Felt like the moment wasn’t too big for him. You know, I felt like he believes in himself. He’s very confident. And, you know, I think that was one thing that really stuck out like, man, this guy’s not overwhelmed with anything. … When he came up with that big hit against the D-R, the big homer, you’re like, man, that’s huge right there. That place was basically an away game for us. I mean, so it was a pretty raucous environment, which is really cool.” 

Anthony clearly made the strongest of impressions on the hitting coach, 12-year big-league veteran and MLB Network analyst. Casey kept Anthony in an elite class of young talent with names like Konnor Griffin and Bobby Witt Jr. with blindingly-bright futures as they rack up games under their belts. 

That’s why it’s only a matter of time for Anthony’s resurgence if you ask “The Mayor.”

“You can’t teach experience,” Casey said. “I think for a guy like Roman Anthony, I don’t think the stage of Boston rattles him in the big leagues. I think it’s more about him getting settled in and getting hot pretty soon. Really feeling himself and then getting going.” 

PHOENIX — The debates are raging on the Chicago airwaves:

Who will the Bears draft? Who should the Bulls hire? Will the Blackhawks ever win again? Are the Cubs are built for October?

Meanwhile, ever so quietly on the South Side of town, one of the best stories in all of baseball is materializing.

The name is Munetaka Murakami, and the Chicago White Sox slugger has burst onto the scene as one of the game’s premier home-run hitters in the infancy of the 2026 season.

Murakami has already hit 10 home runs – one shy of the MLB lead – and tied a White Sox franchise record by homering in five consecutive games. He also has the most homers by a Japanese-born player in the first 25 games of a career, 42 games earlier than four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani in his 2018 rookie year.

If you care to dream, Murakami heads into the White Sox’s homestand beginning tonight at Rate Field against the Washington Nationals on pace to hit 65 homers with 123 RBIs and 136 walks this season.

“I’m really enjoying myself," Murakami told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m getting more comfortable every day. I’m getting used to the different rules and different playing styles in the major league. Everything has been great."

The White Sox, stunned themselves when Murakami fell into their laps this winter with a modest two-year, $34 million contract coming from Japan, couldn’t be more thrilled.

He has been everything the White Sox could have imagined, and much, much more. Everyone knew his power, breaking the single-season home-run record in Japan with 56 homers. You don’t win two MVPs without talent. But he’s making much more contact than talent evaluators predicted, hitting .253 with a .394 on-base percentage and .992 slugging percentage. He looks much better defensively at first base than the scouting reports indicated. He’s even got speed, beating out two infield singles this week on ground balls in Arizona.

And he has a whole lot of teams kicking themselves why they severely underestimated Murakami’s skills and didn’t make an offer.

You don’t think a team like, oh, say the New York Mets, could use him right about now?

“Obviously, there weren’t teams that raised their hands when I came over,’’ Murakami said, “but I’m really glad and happy that the White Sox picked me up. …. I love the team very much. All my teammates are very open to communication. They are really just good teammates overall. Staff, coaches, I love them very much."

The feeling, needless to say, is quite mutual.

“I'm running out of things to say," White Sox manager Will Venable said. “When he hits it, he hits it really hard. Even the singles he's hitting, he's hitting hard. And obviously the damage is incredible, too.

“It's impressive to watch."

Certainly, he has played a major factor in their surge. The White Sox have 32 homers this year, ranking third in the American League and sixth in MLB. A year ago, they were next-to-last, with only the Kansas City Royals hitting fewer.

“He’s a game-changer," White Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi said. “He’s impacted this whole lineup. I love hitting in front of him. I see more balls in the zone, and especially heaters.

“I just hope the wind starts changing in Chicago so you’ll see him hit more balls. I mean, he’s got unbelievable power."

Murakami hit 2,156 feet worth of homers in his five-game barrage, including a 451-foot blast Wednesday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He already has three homers that have traveled at least 113 mph off his bat, leading MLB.

Really, the person probably least impressed is Murakami himself. He expects this. And a whole lot more as the season progresses.

“My swing is pretty good overall,’’ Murakami says. “It’s still early in the season, so I still have to keep adjusting to the pitchers, but right now I’m swinging really well. If the stats do come up as all good, that will be wonderful."

The White Sox’s young players have been mesmerized by Murakami since his arrival. They marvel at his meticulous preparation. The way he takes batting practice. The way he grinds tape. There’s a genuine purpose to everything he does from the moment he enters the clubhouse.

“Just watching him go about his day-to-day business and the detail that he puts in and the amount of time he puts in," said White Sox catcher Kyle Teel says, “it’s just awesome to see. He’s very detail oriented. The details he puts in is just fantastic.

“So, when the game starts, the success doesn’t surprise me because he just works so hard. He competes the way way every single at-bat, no matter what the score of situation. He never gets down on himself. I just love that."

And, oh, yes, there’s that work ethic.

“When we’re on the road, it’s mostly the rehab guys that get on that early staff bus to get here early, and he’s on it," said Teel, recovering from a strained hamstring during the WBC. “I’m not going to lie, I didn’t even know players were allowed to take the staff bus until I got hurt."

Said Benintendi: “He’s got a routine, and he sticks to it every day. We were joking already that he’s a lot more disciplined than a lot of us in here. He gets his work in, and he’s a process-oriented guy for sure."

The White Sox also are learning that despite the language barrier, the dude can be a comedian. He’ll crack jokes. He’ll go along with pranks. And he’ll even sing, picking up the tunes and learning the words from the “Party Apple Peel," an alternative rock cover band in Chicago.

The White Sox players still are laughing about the time he took the mic on the team bus and belted out a few tunes, much to their pleasure as part of his rookie initiation.

“He’s got a great sense of humor," White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery said. “Actually, he’s hilarious. You pull back the layers after first meeting someone, and you find out he’s one the boys."

“Every day, you find out something new talking to him, but the biggest surprise is that sense of humor. I can’t wait until he starts picking up more English, then I think you’ll really see that personality come out."

Murakami has been a smash hit with the media, too. He’s available to talk virtually every day, and has spoken to reporters upon request after he has homered. It’s a little different on the South Side, with only a handful of Japanese reporters covering him on a daily basis, than ten times that number covering the Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani and company. But this small media gathering suits him just fine.

“I don’t really know what the Dodgers are like,’’ Murakami says, “but I like the media over here. I’m all good. It doesn’t really affect me at all or change who I am.’’

It also works out quite nicely that on the North Side of town the Cubs have Japanese stars Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga to provide plenty of tips for dining, shopping or just hanging out. And if he needs any hitting advice, hey, he’s got Ohtani’s digits on his cell phone too.

“A lot of different Japanese baseball players across the country have reached out and helped me," Murakami said. “They’ve all given me good advice."

Now, the scene is set for Murakami to perhaps even become the first White Sox player to win the American League home-run title in more than a half-century. The White Sox, even having sluggers like Frank Thomas, Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Ken Griffey Jr, Paul Konerko and Adam Dunn over the years, have not had a home-run champion since Hall of Famer Dick Allen hit 32 homers in 1974.

“I definitely think it’s becoming much-see TV," said White Sox analyst Steve Stone, the former Cy Young winner, “because even though we’re not winning the World Series this year, we are entertaining. I remember [former White Sox owner] Bill Veeck said to me, “If you’re playing on short money, always error on the side of offense, because offense is exciting.’’’

So, if Murakami keeps hitting homers, does he create enough of a frenzy to become a bigger gate attraction than a Pope Leo hat giveaway?

“There’s no doubt about it that fans will show up if that’s the case,’’ Stone said. “We’ll see what happens. I know fans love the long ball.

“And I have no doubt they’ll love Mune, too."

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Munetaka Murakami stats look insane for White Sox slugging rookie

At 14-10, few (if any) saw this kind of start to the 2026 season. Pre-season predictions were somewhat gloomy. Many people feared a near-100 loss season. Few had the temerity to stretch beyond a prediction of 81-81, although the boldest thought 85 wins within reach. Personally, I was thinking just under .500 (say, 78 +/-), with the roughest part being the first third or perhaps first half of the season.

But 14-10 to start? What is with that? Let’s look a little bit at who they played.

The Strength of Schedule

I am admittedly not a strength of schedule proponent when it comes to forecasting future outcomes. I rarely care if there is a seemingly tough stretch of games coming up. There is always a tough stretch coming up. To me, off-days, long travel, day games after night games, pitching match-ups, trends, and health matter more than the reputation of the upcoming opponent. But in the backcast, it can pay to look at who they played and the context around those games and series.

At time of publication (I’m writing this as the Cardinals close out the Marlins series), the Cardinals will have completed 8 series. Right now, they have won five of those series, with one sweep in the mix. If my math is working tonight, that means they have lost three series.

The series’ wins have come against Tampa Bay, New York, Washington, Cleveland and Houston. The series losses have come at the hands of Detroit, Boston and now Miami (sigh). What can we see about these opponents in the aggregate?

If I rank all MLB teams by Win PCT, I can see that the Cardinals have not played a team in the top 10, and only 2 teams in the top half.

How about the pitching they have faced? Houston, Washington and Tampa are in the bottom 20th percentile in Runs Allowed (RA). In other words, we caught them at a time when they have serious pitching woes. On the other hand, the series’ losses were to teams in the top half of RA.

But how about the offenses they faced? Interestingly, of the teams they faced, only the Mets and Red Sox are really having trouble scoring. Houston and Washington are top 4 in MLB in Runs Scored (RS). Everyone else is in the top half of MLB offensively, thus far. I suppose one could say the Cardinals pitching helped them get there…

How’d they do against the better (ie. > .500 teams)? Cleveland and Tampa are over .500 (the Cardinals won those series). They have not lost a series to an over .500 team. So, 4-2 against over .500 teams, 10-8 against the .500 and under teams.

The pitching

On the Cardinals side of run prevention, the Cardinals RA is not so hot either, meaning even in the series they have won, their pitching got beat around a bit (particularly the bullpen). The Cardinals are 26th in MLB in the Runs Allowed (RA) department. Just ahead of such luminaries as Houston, Washington, Chicago (White Sox) and … Philadelphia(??). I would have though Philly’s pitching would be top 3, alongside LA and Pittsburgh. That goes to show you what I know.

The relatively young Cardinal pitching staff portended some ups-and-downs but I think most expected better than 26th in MLB. Given the offensive strength of the opponents thus far, some improvement may organically occur as the Cardinals face more offensively challenged opponents.

The Offense

The Cardinals themselves are 11th in MLB is Runs Scored. Who featured the Cardinals would be top half in baseball in HRs? Way beyond pre-season expectations, what with what appeared to be an offense distinctively lacking in power. The difference? The entirety of the improvement rests on Jordan Walker’s broad shoulders. 8 HR is probably 7 HR more than people expected. 7 less HR would put the Cardinals in the bottom third of MLB, where they projected. Suffice to say, this offense looks decidedly different with Jordan Walker hitting for power.

The brightest spot in this early season is the change of narrative. Jordan Walker hitting for power was something many didn’t think possible before the start of the season. Now the question has evolved from “possible?” to “sustainable?”. We shall see.

Given the relative lack of pitching strength their opponents have displayed to-date, the Redbirds would seem likely to regress to the bottom half over time as they encounter teams with stronger pitching. Looking at the line-up coming out of Spring Training, this would not be a shock.

The Defense

One thing stands out that isn’t necessarily all that related to catching the opponent at the right or wrong time. Defense would seem to be somewhat immune to how the other team is doing. Houston’s pitching problems didn’t really affect how the Cardinals defense played. Looking at DEF, the Cardinals are 6th in MLB with 6.8 DEF. The top team? The Cubs.

From an opponent standpoint, Tampa, Detroit, Houston and Washington have played poorly defensively, all coming in well below 0 DEF. The other four Cardinal opponents are top half, positive DEF teams, so a pretty even distribution. If you subscribe to the theory that defense doesn’t slump, it appears the Cardinals have an edge in this arena that will carry forward in almost any series they play.

Schedule Peculiarities

The Cardinals are scheduled to play almost 1/3 of their games against NL Central opponents. They will already have played 1/6 of their season before they get their first look at an NL Central team (they go to Pittsburgh for a four game set next week). Stated another way, 40% of their remaining games come against NL Central opponents. How they stack up against those teams at the time they play them will certainly steer the direction of the season.

The NL Central Opponents

Pittsburgh, Chicago and Milwaukee are ahead of the Cardinals in Runs Scored. More worrisome is that while the Cardinals are 25th in MLB in Runs Allowed, every other NL Central team is top 10 in same category. That is a pretty good gap to make up. Of course, how that pitching plays out when they actually meet might not reflect how it has played out in the early part of the season.

Overall

So, the Cardinals have played most of their games against teams that are struggling in the early going, but they have held their own against teams playing well. Some of the poor performers were expected (no one expected Washington to be good), some are surprises (who expected complete collapses for the Mets and Astros?). Overall, I’d say the Cardinal’s early season “strength of schedule” how shown to be weaker than would have been expected. Cause or effect?

Probably the key variable that the early season provides few clues on is … how well do they Cardinals stack up against the other NL Central teams. Going in, each seemed like they’d be better than the Cardinals, but flawed enough that rays of hope pierced the fog of rebuilding. Suffice to say that the Cubs rate higher in each of hitting (RS), pitching (RA) and defense (DEF) than the Cardinals do, so they clearly have an edge. The others? It may be a bit of a dog pile.

An oddity

Last year, it seemed like the Cardinals were vulnerable to lefty pitchers, with the bulk of their productive line-up being LH hitters. From that line-up, they lost Donovan and Contreras. The effect? So far this year, against LHP, the Cardinals enjoy a 113 wRC+. Against RHP, they lag at 95 wRC+.

Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The Brewers bounced back nicely on their road trip against the Marlins and Tigers, and they’re now back in Milwaukee to host Paul Skenes and the Pirates this weekend. In some scary news, team No. 2 prospect and MLB No. 21 prospect Luis Peña reportedly collapsed in the dugout late in High-A Wisconsin’s game on Wednesday night. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.

You know the drill.

This is now an open thread:

Free of charge for the discerning reader.Happy birthday toWelington Castillo* and a mighty host of others, plus more baseball stories, like “NEWS ALERT”: The HOF and BBWAA have always been stupid entities, and world stories, such as Sir Paul is still kicking.

Today in baseball history:

• 1917 – George Mogridge of the New York Yankees pitches a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox, 2- , at Fenway Park. Mogridge strikes out three batters and walks three as he becomes the first Yankee pitcher to actually win a no-hit game: in 1910, Tom Hughes had pitched nine no-hit innings against Cleveland, but lost the game after giving up a hit in the 10th and five runs in the 11th.
• 1926 – Unfazed by Forbes Field‘s ample dimensions, St. Louis Cardinals player-manager Rogers Hornsby leads by example, slugging his team to a 9-3 thrashing of the Pirates. He goes 3 for 3 with a single, double, sacrifice fly and tape-measure inside the park home run for a total of five RBI.
• 1931 – Three days before his 35th birthday, Chicago’s player-manager Rogers Hornsby again has a great game at Forbes Field as he hits three consecutive home runs to beat the Pirates, 10-6.
• 1946 – Former major leaguers Jesse Burkett, Frank Chance, Jack Chesbro, Johnny Evers, Clark Griffith, Tommy McCarthy, Joe McGinnity, Eddie Plank, Joe Tinker, Rube Waddell and Ed Walsh are inducted into the Hall of Fame. This comes as a result of the BBWAA having once again failed to elect anyone: clearly overstepping its mandate, the Old Timers Committee walks into the breach and elects a boatload of players, many of which are under active consideration by the baseball writers.
• 1957 – The Chicago Cubs set a National League record by walking nine batters in the fifth inning of a 9-5 loss to the Cincinnati Redlegs. Moe Drabowsky walks four batters, Jackie Collum issues three free passes, and Jim Brosnan two during the wild inning.
• 1958 – Lee Walls hits three home runs and drives in eight runs as the Cubs rout the Dodgers, 15-2, at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
• 1962 – Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers strikes out 18 Chicago Cubs in a 10-2 victory at Wrigley Field. Koufax ties the record of 18 strikeouts in a single game, matching the mark set by Bob Feller with the Cleveland Indians.
• 1978 – Nolan Ryan of the California Angels strikes out 15 batters for the 20th time in his career, but leaves in the 9th inning without a decision. The Seattle Mariners prevails over the Angels, 6-5, in the 12th.
• 1998 – Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza ties a major league record hitting his third grand slam of the month. The blast highlights a nine-run second inning which leads Los Angeles to a 12-4 victory over the visiting Chicago Cubs.
• 2012 – Chipper Jones homers on his 40th birthday (off Aaron Harang) as the Braves beat the Dodgers, 4-3. He becomes the fifth player in major league history to do this, following Bob Thurman, Joe Morgan, Wade Boggs and Tony Phillips.
• 2014 – David Ortiz breaks Harold Baines‘ record for games played at Designated Hitter (1,644); Ortiz already held records for hits, homers and RBI as a DH. Ortiz goes 0 for 1 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch before leaving early in a 12-5 Boston loss to the Yankees.

Cubs Birthdays:Willi Castro, Steven Souza Jr., Welington Castillo*, Will Cunnane, Herman Segelke, Glen Hobbie, Ken Penner. Also notable: Carlos Beltrán HOF. Chipper Jones HOF. Andy Cooper HOF.

Today in history:

• 1184 BC – The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date).
• 1459 – Fra Mauro completes his Map of the World in Venice for King Alfonso V of Portugal – largest known world map from Medieval Europe and the first to show Africa as a free-standing continent.
• 1833 – Jacob Evert and George Dulty patent the first soda fountain.
• 1895 – Canadian-American adventurer Joshua Slocum sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts on a solo around-the-world voyage aboard ‘Spray’, an 11.2-m oyster sloop, 46,000 miles.
• 1908 – Mr & Mrs Jacob Murdock and their children depart Los Angeles in a Packard Thirty, endeavoring to become the first family to travel across the United States by car. They arrive in NYC 32 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes later.
• 1945 – Miles Davis makes recording debut with the Herbie Fields Orchestra, backing singer “Rubberlegs” Wilson, at Savoy Records Studio, Newark, New Jersey.
• 1953 – Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
• 1969 – Paul McCartney says there is no truth to rumors he is dead (and he’s still not dead).
• 1989  – Massachusetts declares today “New Kids on the Block Day”.
• 2018 – Streaming music services overtake worldwide sales of CDs and vinyl for the first time according to IFPI.

*pictured.