Apr 2, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Minnesota Twins second baseman Kody Clemens (2) is tagged out at second base by Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) during the fifth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Well, that didn’t go well.
The Royals lost the third game of a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins, squandering a fine start by Cole Ragans. For the Royals, quiet bats doomed them.
The Royals made things interesting in the later innings. After going down 2-0, Maikel Garcia led off the eighth with a single before moving to third when Bobby Witt Jr. followed with his own single. Runners on first and third with none out, and Vinnie Pasquantino up to bat.
While Pasquantino drove in Garcia with a sac fly, the rest of the from went quietly. Salvador Perez grounded to short and Bob was thrown out at second on a close play. Tolbert pinch-ran for Salvy, stole second, and stayed there as Jac Caglianone looked like a little leaguer against Taylor Rogers.
End of inning, end of threat.
But at least the Royals had cut down the lead to one. Steven Cruz came out of the bullpen to keep it a one-run game until the Royals came back up in the bottom of the ninth.
Steven Cruz did not keep it a one-run game.
Cruz, who to this point in his career had only surrendered six home runs, allowed three solo homers in the top of the ninth, including back-to-back shots to Kody Clemens and Josh Bell. Suddenly, it was 5-1 Twins.
The Royals started off the bottom of the ninth with consecutive baserunners, but a Lane Thomas double-play all but sealed things. Kyle Isbel whiffed to end the game.
On the bright side, Cole Ragans looked good. Over six innings, he allowed just one run (unearned) while striking out eight, walking one, and giving up four hits.
Matt Strahm had a nice one-inning appearance, too.
Overall, though, the bullpen continues to struggle. Aside from Cruz’s misadventures, John Schrieber needed 27 pitches to get through the eighth inning, which included allowing one earned run, a strikeout, and a walk.
One more note: Carter Jensen, whose start was scratched less than an hour before first pitch, made an appearance late in the game, so it appears he’s not dealing with an injury, which is good.
Now, the Royals are back to .500 at 3-3. They welcome the Brewers to town tomorrow night.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made some changes to their roster ahead of their Thursday night contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Penguins have announced that they have assigned forwards Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty to their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Koivunen has played in 36 games this season with Pittsburgh, where he has recorded two goals, five assists, and seven points. This is after he had seven assists in his first eight career NHL games with Pittsburgh this past season.
Down in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Koivunen has 11 goals, 22 assists, 33 points, and a plus-7 rating in 29 games.
As for McGroarty, the 6-foot-1 forward has two goals, three assists, five points, and 23 hits in 21 games this season with Pittsburgh. The 2022 first-round pick has also played in 25 games this season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he has posted seven goals, 19 assists, 25 points, and a plus-4 rating.
SUNRISE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 04: Michael Eyssimont #81 of the Boston Bruins scores a goal past Sergei Bobrovsky #72 of the Florida Panthers during the first period of the game at Amerant Bank Arena on February 04, 2026 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Welcome to Bruins vs. Florida Men: Part 1!
The B’s are in Sunrise tonight to face a Florida Panthers team just playing out the string for the first time in several years.
On the opposite side, the Bruins will look to keep their positive momentum going against a team that has been a thorn in their side for quite a while.
After tonight, the Bruins will face Tampa on Saturday evening, followed by a Sunday afternoon game against the Flyers in Philly.
Relevant scoreboard watching tonight:
Buffalo vs. Ottawa
Montreal vs. New York Rangers
Detroit vs. Philadelphia
Carolina vs. Columbus
Washington vs. New Jersey
The B’s have put themselves in a position where if they take care of their own business, they don’t need any scoreboard help, but it still merits watching.
MIAMI, FL - APRIL 1: The sneakers worn by Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics during the game against the Miami Heat on April 1, 2026 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MARCH 29: Didier Fuentes #72 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the sixth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Truist Park on March 29, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Just a week into the season and we already have our newest addition to the Top 100. You don’t have to look any further than Didier Fuentes. Didier had a stellar Spring Training where he appeared in four games and pitched 13.2 innings with an absurd 18 strikeouts and just one walk (11.8 K/9, 0.66 BB/9).
RHP Didier Fuentes enters the Top 100 Prospects list upon Parker Messick's graduation.
Didier then broke camp with the big league team and made one appearance where he pitched four one run innings with four strikeouts and two hits. Following that outing, the Braves optioned Didier to Triple-A Gwinnett – presumably to ramp up his conditioning and get him ready to start.
The #Braves today selected LHP Martín Pérez to the major league roster after optioning RHP Didier Fuentes to Triple-A Gwinnett following yesterday’s game.
Unfortunately for the Braves, despite being named to the Top 100 now, if Didier were to take over the league he will be ineligible for a PPI pick because he was not named Top 100 to start the season. Regardless, this looks to be a special season for the young right handed pitcher as he develops more into a major league talent ready to take on the league.
There have been plenty of whispers about members of the Mets' 2025 clubhouse not all pulling in the same direction, and one of the rumors that circulated involved an alleged rift between Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo, now a member of the Texas Rangers.
“Nimmo and I are brothers. I love him. I love him," Lindor told the Post. "He’s a great guy. He’s missed around here — good teammate, good person, good family man.”
"We had a professional clubhouse," he said. "When you're winning, everything is fun. Then you go through stretches where it's hard, and you're not winning as many games. And I take responsibility for it, because it became, like, a corporate clubhouse, you know, where guys respected each other, but I don't think we celebrated each other enough."
Nimmo, of course, was traded to the Rangers this offseason in the deal that brought Marcus Semien to the Mets. Nimmo is hitting .360 with a home run and five RBI to begin his career in Texas.
Los Angeles, CA - March 31: Lakers guard Luka Doncic, #77 smiles as he dunks the ball on a fast break against the Cavaliers during the second half at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Things couldn’t have gone better for the Lakers this week.
Not only did they win, but they did so with pizzazz. LeBron James had multiple jaw-dropping dunks, Luka Dončić scored more baskets in the month than any Laker ever, and the Lakers find themselves already at the 50-win mark with six games left to play.
Even the South Bay Lakers are playing well, having just beaten the San Diego Clippers in the first roundof the G-League playoffs.
The good times are here, and if they can keep it up and have a good 10 days, they can lock up the third seed in the Western Conference.
5 things I liked and didn’t like
1. Luka Dončić is MVP
The list of players performing better than Luka right now is zero. He scored 600 points in March, the second most ever by any NBA player. LA went 15-2 in the month and he punctuated it by dropping 42 points on the Cavaliers, the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Dončić is an offensive savant with the ability to do anything he wants, regardless of the opponent. He is competing with himself, and his only problem is figuring out which spots on the floor he wants to get his buckets.
.@JLin7 joins NBA Today, and walks us through why Luka Doncic continues to be unstoppable in isolation 🤝 pic.twitter.com/veJm6GJx7i
Not only is Luka the NBA’s leading scorer, but he is also averaging 8.3 assists per game, fourth-most in the league. Defensively, Luka is one of the best at stealing the ball, averaging 1.7 per game, which is 13th in the NBA.
Elevating his game has the Lakers cemented as the No. 3 seed, and he should be in the MVP conversation if not the frontrunner. His coach JJ Redick knows it, Rui Hachimura knows it and soon we’ll see if the NBA voters do as well.
2. Lakers part of the Big 3 in the West
While the Western Conference race remains tight, a hierarchy has been established. The Thunder are No. 1, the Spurs are No.2 and the Lakers are No. 3.
LA is no longer bunched up with the fourth, fifth and sixth seeds. They’ve established they are the best of the bunch.
They have the better record than the Nuggets, Rockets and Wolves, and went 4-0 against them in the month of March. The Lakers continue to outperform these teams, having won nine of their last 10 games to start separating themselves from that pack.
By every metric, the Lakers have the edge over every team in the West except the Thunder and Spurs. And with two games set this week against OKC, LA can potentially make the claim that they are a problem for the best team in the NBA.
For now, though, it’s clear they are the third best. Anyone saying otherwise has an agenda.
3. Beating who is in front of you
This week, the Lakers played the Nets and the Wizards, two unserious teams. It wasn’t pretty basketball from the Lakers, but they got the wins they needed. Throughout this year, the Lakers made sure to beat the league’s bad teams.
They are 27-3 against teams below .500. The only team that has a better record against losing teams is the Thunder. Thanks to the Lakers winning the games they were supposed to, they were able to rack up victories while they got healthy and figured out the best lineups and who their rotation players were.
4. Rob Pelinka was right
All season long, Lakers haters and fans alike have complained about how poorly constructed the team was.
According to them,they didn’t have enough to be elite in the NBA. People used their 4-11 record against teams with a .600 or better winning record as evidence. They also pointed to LA’s poor net rating numbers and the struggles of the big three.
Now, all of that has flipped.
The Lakers have recently beaten the Knicks, Cavs, Rockets, Wolves and Nuggets, all teams above .600. This week, they had a net rating of +8.2 and the Luka, LeBron and Austin Reaves trio had a plus-minus of +28, making them the second-best three-man lineup for LA.
So, at what point does Lakers President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka get credit?
In the summer, he got Luka to sign an extension and acquired the Lakers’ starting center via the buyout market. At the trade deadline, he got the Lakers some shooting by turning Gabe Vincent into Luke Kennard, and now they are about to enter the offseason with a ton of cap space, draft picks they can trade for a blockbuster deal and they are still competing for a title this season.
He never gets credit for anything he does. When things go well, there is always an excuse for why it was inevitable. And when transactions don’t work, or deals never happen, it’s an example of his glaring flaws as the head of the front office.
Pelinka has done a great job. The praise needs to be as loud as the disrespect, and right now I’m not hearing a peep.
5. Statement wins
LA has had a handful of statement wins in March, but their most recent one was very impressive. On the second night of a back-to-back, they took on the Cavs and beat them handily 127-113. They took over during the second quarter and never looked back.
It was a complete performance with Luka dominating offensively, and the defense holding Donovan Mitchell to just 10 points.It was encouraging to see the Lakers pass every test they faced in March. And if they do the same in April, they’ll be playing games in May.
Stat of the Week
The Lakers got to the 50-win mark this season, making Redick the fourth Lakers head coach to accomplish this feat. The last one to do so? Phil Jackson in 2011.
JJ Redick is now the 16th head coach in NBA history to win at least 50 games in each of his first two seasons, and the fourth for the Lakers (Pat Riley, Paul Westhead and Butch van Breda Kolff). He’s also the first with B2B 50-win seasons for LA since Phil Jackson.
The fact that Redick has accomplished this in his first two seasons in charge is impressive. He has silenced his critics and his coaching has elevated the team.
Play of the Week
LeBron remains one of the most electrifying players in basketball. His dunk against the Cavs was one of the highlights of the season. It started with Deandre Ayton deflecting a pass from James Harden. LeBron recovered the ball and tried to pass to Reaves, but Harden deflected it.
Thankfully, Jake LaRavia regained possession and since Reaves never changed directions, he remained in front of the play. Reaves received the ball and had a two-on-one advantage over the trailing Mitchell, who made a business decision and decided not to get put on a poster.
He is just performing at a ridiculous level. He averaged a gaudy 41.5 points per game along with 7.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds over the last week. Hehad a plus-minus of +40 for the week. It’s hard to make a case that anyone is playing better than him in the NBA, much less on this Lakers roster.
With tanking becoming a topic of conversation, Tom Haberstroh wrote for Yahoo! Sports about how it’s splitting the NBA in half, with one side incentivized to win and the other incentivized to lose.
The B-League vs. The A-League
The chasm between leagues is obvious once you track the results. The only teams the Wizards have beaten since the All-Star break are the Indiana Pacers (twice) and the Utah Jazz — two members of the B-League, which means that for almost two months straight Washington has yet to beat a team that is not actively trying to lose.
For the Wizards, Friday’s loss to the Warriors, Sunday’s defeat at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers and Monday’s blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers extended their A-League losing streak to TWENTY straight games. That’s right: The Wizards have gone 0-20 against teams trying to win, having dropped every game against an A-League opponent since Detroit lost to the ‘Zards in early February.
Alex Regla is here to remind us that, regardless of whether Luak wins the MVP, what he is doing is something no Lakers fan should take for granted.
What these numbers and the season Dončić is having ultimately prove is that the Lakers have one of the best players on the planet on their team. They have the cornerstone. The vision of their future now has a face and a name.
And while a physical reward at the end of it would be nice, the assurance Dončić provides is so much more valuable than any number on a spreadsheet or MVP trophy.
SURPRISE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 17: Cody Bradford #61 of the Texas Rangers poses for a portrait during photo day at Surprise Stadium on February 17, 2026 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Texas Rangers pitcher Cody Bradford will begin a rehab assignment with the Round Rock Express tonight, the team has announced.
Bradford spent the entire 2025 season on the injured list due to an elbow injury that ultimately necessitated internal brace surgery. Bradford is currently on the 15 day injured list. Reports have previously indicated that the hope is that he would be able to return to the majors sometime in May.
Bradford had a 3.54 ERA in 13 starts and a relief appearance in 2024, and was anticipated to be a member of the team’s rotation in 2025. Bradford has also pitched out of the bullpen in the past, so if there is not an opening in the rotation when he is ready to return, he could potentially fill a reliever role instead.
Round Rock hosts Gwinnett tonight in a game that starts at 6:45 p.m. Central. I am guessing that Bradford will be on a 2 inning/30 pitch limit in this first appearance.
Mar 10, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Detailed view of the scoreboard showing an ABS ball and strike challenge call being confirmed during the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Texas Rangers have been slow on the draw so far with the introduction of automated balls and strikes. There’s been plenty to like about how the first week of the season has gone for Texas, as they sit at 4-2 with two road series wins, but taking advantage of the potential competitive advantage afforded by the new ABS replay system seems to be a work in progress.
While I’ve been against a lot of the recent Manfred era rules changes, I’ve been waiting for practically my entire baseball-following life for robot umps and now it’s kind of here albeit with the twist that teams are allowed two failed challenges before they can no longer appeal to the divine intervention of replay on suspected blown ball/strike calls.
Indeed, if I had my druthers, they’d just turn the hawkeye on for every pitch for a fully automated, purely human error-less experience. But there’s no doubt that the challenge system offers degrees of tactics and intrigue and here in the early goings, that’s been a fun new aspect for the baseball enjoyer and a nightmare for some umpires.
Team strategies and philosophies are developing. Do you challenge a close ball you’re fairly sure the ump got wrong in the 2nd inning of a scoreless game and risk being wrong and losing a challenge? Do you have a hierarchy for who can challenge? Do you save challenges for specific hitters or potential run-scoring rallies? Do you keep a challenge in your back pocket for a pitch that could determine the outcome of the game?
Each team likely has their own ideas on the hows and whens and whos and that undeniably adds an extra dimension of strategy to the rollout of this new tech and ruleset. With extra dimensions of strategy comes, frankly, people who are best at it or those who are best at exploiting it.
Right now, the Rangers are not those people.
So far this season Rangers hitters have made seven challenges and have succeed on three of them. The 43% success rate is good for 21st in the league. You know, whatever, it’s early. However, per Statcast’s ABS tracker, the Rangers have had the most opportunities in the league with 38 “reasonable” challenge chances and have only challenged on five of those offerings.
By Statcast’s estimation, the Rangers are about half a run in the hole due to their actual batting challenge decisions, which is third worst in the league. And their expected run value on potential overturns is -2.5 runs, second worst behind Cleveland.
Meanwhile, the Rangers have lost another estimated -0.2 runs on ABS challenges made by opponents against Texas hitters with teams going 5-for-6 on reversing a call.
The Rangers also had the indignity of being the first team to lose on a walk-off challenge in Wednesday’s finale in Baltimore. Though, it’s no surprise seeing the Rangers and Orioles involved in bizarre history.
It’s not any better when the Rangers are out on the field on defense, either. Texas is the only team in the league that has yet to win a challenge while an opponent is up to bat but they’ve also only challenged once overall with Kyle Higashioka losing a challenge on Sunday in Baltimore.
Despite the lack of challenges by Rangers pitchers and catchers, they’ve had 15 reasonable opportunities and challenged zero of them, worst in the league.
Meanwhile, while the Rangers are on defense, teams have gotten six of eight Texas offerings reversed with Baltimore going 5-for-5 on challenge attempts during the recent three-game set.
It’s obviously incredibly early and the technology and rule is brand new for most of the players and coaches, so there will be plenty of adjustments to be made. So far, however, the Rangers have been seeing a lot of chances to impact the game in their favor while being a bit gun-shy to pull the trigger.
Meanwhile, their opponents are taking advantage of the system and earning extra calls which has potentially led to snuffed out rallies that never were for Texas or more chances to add runs to the board for them.
Hopefully the Rangers do adjust and make better use of ABS because it’s not much fun being the team worst at humiliating umpires.
Hurley has since downplayed the incident. When asked about it again Thursday, April 2, at a news conference ahead of the Final Four in Indianapolis, Hurley admitted to being tough to officiate, but his record is clean.
"Then, dealing with the officials, I think I'm an intense coach," Hurley said. "It's not easy to work my games. But I've always gotten zero technical fouls in my NCAA Tournament coaching career."
Hurley looked up with a smile and paused for a moment.
"I just jinxed myself. Oh, my God, now I'm going to get bounced out of this thing. Oh, my God," he added with a laugh.
Hurley expounded on the controversy that followed the game.
"Yeah, surprised now? Obviously, the reaction, the outrage, I don't — I guess I just look at it a lot differently. I think we all do, and I think that's what, I guess, makes social media so appealing to people, is that you can have the discourse and different opinions about how somebody carries themselves in — for you, it's a game. For some people, we're just out there playing a game. For me, it's a life-or-death battle. It's a war. It's a street fight for me.
"However, you look at sports or people on social media that comment on how the combatants carry themselves, that's not really for me to judge. I approach sports as a competitor, the way that I do. My responsibility is to win games and obviously do a great job for my players. Those are really the only two things I'm concerned with.
"All that other stuff, it comes with the territory, and a lot of it comes with the success. The winning back-to-back championships, you put yourself in a position where you're going to be picked apart."
CBS Sports rules analyst and former NCAA basketball and NFL referee Gene Steratore agreed with the assessment Hurley was not being confrontational in the moment.
Hurley acknowledged Steratore as the "goat of referees," using goat and zebra emojis.
While fans are still upset about the interaction — perhaps in reaction to UConn's potential budding dynasty — it's obvious the coach and other officials do not view this as an issue moving forward.
OKLAHOMA CITY — The NBA announced on Thursday that Luka Doncic was named the Western Conference Player of the Month for games played in March.
Doncic averaged a league-high 37.5 points (49.2% shooting, 39.2% on 3-pointers), 8 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2.3 steals in March.
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts after scoring a three-pointer against the Miami Heat during the third quarter at Kaseya Center on March 19, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
Getty Images Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers makes a slam dunk against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second half at Crypto.com Arena on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)Getty Images Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots a winning jumpshot past Spencer Jones of the Denver Nuggets during overtime of a game at Crypto.com Arena on March 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets 127-125. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Getty Images Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates after making a three pointer during the fourth quarter of the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on March 18, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic was the West’s Player of the Month for games played in October/November, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received the honor for games played in December and Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama was the Player of the Month in February.
Hawks wing Jalen Johnson was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March.
The 27-year-old Doncic, who’s in the middle of an MVP race, entered Thursday averaging a league-high 33.8 points to go with 8.3 assists, 7.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals entering the Lakers’ matchup against the Thunder.
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Former Cy Young Award winner Trevor Bauer is beginning another chapter in his professional baseball career.
Bauer, 35, signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), the team announced Thursday, April 2.
The former MLB All-Star is slated to be the starting pitcher on opening night against the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars on April 21 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, New York.
“We are excited to welcome Trevor to Long Island,” Ducks President/CBO Michael Pfaff said in a news release. “His talent and knowledge will be important additions to our ballclub, and we are happy to offer him this opportunity to showcase his talents to MLB clubs while giving fans unprecedented access to Ducks baseball.”
The Ducks also plan to have Bauer provide in-game commentary and access as he will be “mic’d up” for all games and practices to create content for their social media platforms and streaming outlets.
“I’m looking forward to competing in front of U.S. fans again this season,” said Bauer. “The Ducks have had some incredible players come through their organization, and I’m excited to be part of that tradition.”
🚨 PLAYER SIGNING 🚨
10-year @MLB veteran and 2020 National League Cy Young Award winner @BauerOutage is the newest member of the Ducks! He is currently slated to serve as the our opening night starter on Tuesday, April 21st!
Bauer has spent 15 years playing professional baseball. He previously spent 10 seasons in Major League Baseball, where he played for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Indians (now Guardians), Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers.
His career began as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, selected by the Diamondbacks. Bauer made his first MLB appearance in 2012 and pitched for another decade.
While in Cleveland, Bauer was named to the AL All-Star team in 2018. His best season came a couple of years later pitching for the Reds. Bauer recorded a 1.73 ERA in the 2020 season, and allowed just 41 hits while striking out 100 batters in 73 innings of work for Cincinnatti, earning him the National League Cy Young Award.
In 10 MLB seasons, Bauer notched 83 wins in 212 big league starts.
Bauer's baseball dreams continue post-MLB
Bauer was released from the Dodgers in January 2023 after after serving a 194-game suspension for violating MLB's domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. Bauer was never charged with a crime, and all civil claims were eventually settled.
Prior to signing with the Ducks, Bauer spent the past three seasons pitching in Japan and Mexico.
Bauer immediately signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league. After completing one season, Bauer went to Mexico to play for the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League (LMB).
He helped position los Diablos Rojos to a Mexican League championship in 2024.
Who are the Long Island Ducks?
The Long Island Ducks have been around since 2000 and are entering their 26th season of play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
The team plays its home games at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip, N.Y.
The club is arguably the best in Atlantic League history, boasting the record for all-time wins and number of attendance.
For five consecutive seasons, the Ducks led all MLB Partner Leagues in total attendance, including selling out a record 721 games.
The Atlantic League is MLB's first ever professional partner league and serves as a stepping stone for players to make it to the major leagues.
The league has drawn nearly 50 million fans to their 10 ballparks from New York to North Carolina. In 27 years, the Atlantic League has sent more than 1,450 players to the majors.
It was a banner week for extensions at the corner of Clark and Addison last week, with news that Nico Hoerner was extended through the 2032 season breaking just days after news of the Pete Crow Armstrong extension. Both of these deals extended two Cubs icons for six more years, but that’s really where the similarities end. While PCA’s deal is a bet that the defensive prodigy in centerfield will continue to improve his plate discipline and value through his age-29 season, the Nico Hoerner extension is a bet on a player with a lower overall ceiling and a much more reliable floor that could make Hoerner a Cub for life.
I have to take a minute to reflect on how amazing it feels to be able to type the words “Cub for Life.” It’s been a minute since I even believed this was a possibility the Cubs would consider with their players, let alone a possibility that could become a reality. Part of the heartbreak with the Blue Friday trade deadline in 2021 was the realization that none of the heroes from the 2016 World Series team would end their careers with the Cubs aside from David Ross, who retired after Game Seven and World Series MVP Ben Zobrist, who saw his career fizzle out amidst personal issues that pulled him away from the field during a 2019 season that ended with a whimper for the Cubs.
Speaking of 2019, that was the year Nico Hoerner debuted for the Cubs. He had just finished his second season in the minors, putting together a solid campaign in Double-A when late season injuries led to him being called up during a playoff race to start at shortstop. He was certainly young for the level with zero Triple-A at bats, but the poise was evident immediately. Hoerner demonstrated his value both defensively and with a plus contact tool almost immediately. That value led to two extensions, the first was a three-year $35 million deal that bought out the end of Hoerner’s arbitration years and tacked on the 2026 season. The second is a six year $141 million that will see him in blue pinstripes until at least 2032.
The defense is elite. Since moving to second base full time in 2023, Nico Hoerner is third in MLB in total outs above average. You can see the top ten players by that metric below:
That defense has allowed the Cubs to roster a pitch-to-contact staff that generates fewer whiffs because balls hit on the ground up the middle or to the right of second have a high probability of being outs with Nico at the keystone.
His hit tool is also elite and has improved over time. You can clearly see this in looking at Nico’s wOBA by year according to FanGraphs:
As a reminder, wOBA is a fancy on-base metric that gives hitters more value for extra base hits than singles or walks. It’s notable that Hoerner has been at or above league average every season since 2021, particularly since this metric punishes him a bit for his lack of power. What it’s taking away from Nico in power it’s rewarding him for in consistent extra base power. It’s a hit tool that honestly reminds me of a 2020’s version of Mark Grace, a player who posted low strikeout rates with doubles power for for the better part of 16 seasons. I use the “2020’s version” caveat because Nico strikes out almost twice as much as Grace and is consistently about 30-50 points lighter in terms of his ability to get on base. The similarities generally derive from both players’ ability to make contact with extra base power that is light on home runs.
Obviously the 2026 spike is something for fans to hope on, but deserves small sample size caveat the size of Texas. Hoerner probably hasn’t added 60 points of wOBA this season, but he is likely to provide slightly above league average on-base and power ability. Combined with an elite glove, it’s worth every penny of the $141 million six-year contract he agreed to with the Cubs.
Three of the past four games for the Detroit Red Wings have yielded discouraging results, the most recent being a 5-1 setback at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who led 3-0 at the end of 20 minutes on Tuesday evening.
Tonight, they have a chance to avenge their setback from Saturday evening against the Philadelphia Flyers, who raced out to a 4-0 lead at Little Caesars Arena and later withstood a late third-period rallying attempt by Detroit.
Head coach Todd McLellan, who has repeatedly emphasized the need for the club's leadership to step up at such a critical time in the season, once again echoed those sentiments following Thursday morning's skate in Philadelphia.
“We, like any other team, went to Training Camp and put the foundation into place, and worked on our game all the way through to get to this spot in the season,” said McLellan. “What we have in front of us is an opportunity, and it's up to us to seize it or give it it away.
“To get that done, you have to have good leadership. Now, when I talk like that, I'm not just talking about the players; it comes from me too, and the rest of the coaching staff and everybody in the organization."
McLellan emphasized that the leadership needs to come from all areas of the room, not just the most high-profile players and stat leaders.
“Once the equipment is put on and the game starts, we need guys to step up," he said. "Leadership shows up in a lot of different ways; it's not just the vocal guy in the locker room, although that's important. It's not just the best player scoring goals, it's the shot blocking, the taking a hit to make the play (guy), that's all forms of leadership. The teams that get through have really good leadership at this time of the season.”
Going into their game against the Penguins, the Red Wings emphasized playing with greater urgency and desperation while avoiding the kind of poor decision-making that can come with it.
However, they found themselves not only trailing by three goals after the first period but also being outshot, 14-5.
In addition to reiterating the need for the club's leadership to step up its game in the remaining eight games, McLellan also noted that the team’s structure should already be ingrained by this stage of the season.
“If playing with urgency negatively affects our structure and what we do, then we’ve probably done a poor job of putting it in play,” McLellan continued. “That’s why you go through all of these exhibition games, you go through the first 60, 70 games, because you rely on your structure when it counts. And the urgency should already be there in your game, and then you take your chances."
"There’s not much that’s going to change between now and the end of the year for many teams.”
The Red Wings battle the Flyers at 7:00 p.m. ET, and a much better start than what they've shown in three of their last four outings is a necessity.
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Apr 1, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) dribbles the ball against the Golden State Warriors in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images
For what it’s worth, these Spurs are determined to head into the playoffs winning as many games as they can, building on their success and trying to stay motivated along the way. Couch-surfing fans (like myself) might question the need for motivation playing a game we all love, but 82 games is a grind.
On Wednesday night, Victor Wembanyama needed no extra motivation to score 41 points on 16 -22 shooting along with 18 rebounds. Stephon Castle ran the offense with his usual efficiency to the tune of 15 points while handing out 11 assists.
Let’s address the elephant in the room and just campaign for me to have an MVP vote and all the awards votes that I would unequivocally use to cast all of them for Keldon Johnson (MVP, DPOY, MIP, OPOY, Sixth Man, most likely to end up on a Key & Peele skit when Jordan Peele decides to quit making horror movies).
Back to our regularly scheduled highlights, Victor Wembanyama scored 40+ in back-to-back games, playing basketball on easy mode. For his part, Wembanyama looks both assertive and comfortable out on the floor these days, which bodes well as the team heads into the playoffs. Didn’t take long, but in his third year, Wemby has already set a career-high average of 24.7 points per game. His 11.5 rebounds per game is also a career peak.
.@wemby is now just the third player in Spurs history to have 40+ points in back to back games!
This move looked like an elongated euro step if you only needed two steps to go from Belarus to Portugal. It goes without saying how unique and special Wembanyama’s game is, but none of that is possible without his impeccable footwork.
Harrison Barnes, or as I would like to call him, the Blowfish to Hootie’s and, got up for this wide open dunk. I’m sure any chance Barnes gets to score against his former team, he would relish the opportunity. On Wednesday night, Barnes helped lead the bench mob with 13 points with a nice 3 – 6 shooting from downtown.
A recent tweet discussed a re-draft of the 2024 class, which had Stephon Castle at number one with the benefit of hindsight. No arguments from me, but I do want to point out that the Oklahoma Thunder getting 16th pick Jared McCain from the Philadelphia Sixers seems unfair (not unethical) especially if he can contribute as a fourth best scorer for the defending champions. To that end, Alex Sarr and Reed Sheppard, who were drafted ahead of Castle are special players and would have fit well on the Spurs, but given what we see, know, hear, and love, Castle was a very special (and fortuitous) pick just one year after the basketball gods gifted the Spurs Wembanyama.
Someone asked Wembanyama about the Spurs’ lack of playoff experience, and his answer was perfect: “Screw it.” They can only go out and play and let it fly, right? Of course, a little team chemistry doesn’t hurt. Right now, this team has chemistry in spades as evidenced by this play below. Screw it.
Once a game, on plays like the outstretched dunk below, Wembanyama reminds us that he can do Space Jam level dunks, and that if the Mon-Stars invaded Earth to steal our best basketball players skills as part of their mission for galaxy-wide domination, they would stop at Wembanyama. Don’t worry y’all, even if a former president and current sitting president have all but confirmed the existence of extraterrestrials, our planet still has Wayne Knight and Bill Murray to save us.
Does Dylan Harper play more than 25 minutes per game in the playoffs (assuming the Spurs have a full roster available). Discuss amongst yourselves in the comments. Coherent arguments not needed, just outlandish wild takes that would catch the attention of at least 3 of Kevin Durant’s online burner accounts.
Do you get tired of seeing lobs from Castle to Wembanyama? I don’t. But if you do get fatigued, may I suggest watching 8 hours of your daughter’s favorite cartoon at the moment (currently, it’s Super Kitties and Gabby’s Dollhouse)? After that, your eyeballs and psyche will be yearning for more of that sweet, sweet dish from our favorite reigning rookies of the year.
