Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza hit on a few topics ahead of Saturday afternoon's game against the Athletics at Citi Field after talking about the call-up of Craig Kimbrel.

---

Lineup change

The Mets moved Bo Bichette down from the two-hole to the cleanup spot for Saturday’s start against A’s left-hander Jacob Lopez. And, with Jorge Polanco back in at the three spot, they moved Luis Robert Jr. up to bat behind leadoff man FranciscoLindor.

“Just wanted to shake some things up here,” Mendoza said about the lineup change.

 “We’ve still got pretty good hitters at the top, but just kinda wanted to give him a different look here,” he continued. “Putting Luis in the two hole, getting Polanco back in the lineup, helps with some of the righty-lefty, then you can get creative. Just wanted to give it a different look today.”

Bichette has started to swing a better bat after a rough start to the year. After going 2-for-22 in the first five games of the year, he is 12-for-39 (.308) with two doubles and three RBI over his last nine games. (Bichette is 2-for-7, both doubles, with 2 RBI in his career against Lopez.)

The move hopefully won't cool off Robert, who is 14-for-43 (.326) to start the season with two home runs and seven RBI, good for a .928 OPS. He also has 11 walks through 13 games, after only drawing 40 walks in 110 games in 2025.

Clay Holmes stays in line

More good news on the Holmes front after the starter exited Friday’s game at the top of the sixth inning with left hamstring tightness.

“Feeling better,” Mendoza said of the right-hander. “Normal soreness after an outing. Went through a series of tests, strength-wise, in the training room and checked all of the boxes.

“So, as of right now, I think the next step is making sure he throws his bullpen couple days from now before we make the final call. But, as of right now, he’s in line to make the next start.”

Mendoza said the Mets haven’t had any discussions on possibly pushing Holmes’ next start back a few days, “But, if we feel like we gotta go there, then I’m pretty sure we will have that conversation.”

The starter said after the game he was "optimistic" about not missing time. 

"Feel like I’ll be able to make my next start," Holmes said. "But until I wake up tomorrow, we don’t really know. Can’t rule anything out, but feel pretty good about it right now. I can still keep throwing. I didn’t feel it tighten up on a throw….I think we’ll be good, but we’ll have to see."

Holmes was off to a second consecutive solid outing before leaving with the injury, allowing just one run on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts. 

Through three starts, he has a 1.50 ERA and 1.111 WHIP over 18 innings.

Baseball’s best pure hitter no longer calls San Diego home. Three-time batting champion Luis Arraez joined the San Francisco Giants on a one-year, $12 million deal this offseason. He wanted to return to being an everyday second baseman.

The San Diego Padres hoped for a reunion, but could not guarantee playing time at second. Arraez left the organization for a better opportunity, but that is life in baseball’s transient lifestyle.

Now, the Padres are trying to find new ways to score runs with a revamped top of the batting order. So far, they have managed to stay afloat despite their struggles to score runs at Petco Park.

The home schedule at Petco Park has been challenging

The home schedule has been a challenge for the Friars. They opened the 2026 campaign against the talented Detroit Tigers starting rotation, followed by a series with the San Francisco Giants. For their effort, the Padres averaged 2.4 runs per game on their first homestand.

This weekend, the Friars get a brief respite against the inexperienced Colorado Rockies before facing the American League West-contending Seattle Mariners. It is hard to kickstart your offense against such quality pitching. 

Offense found its groove on the road

After a disappointing opening home stand, the Padres’ offense showed some life on their last road trip. The lineup averaged close to five runs per game away from Petco Park.

The move of Ramon Laureano to the leadoff spot has allowed the remainder of the order to wear down opposing pitching staffs with a quick strike power-hitting approach. Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merrill, Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Gavin Sheets, Nick Castellanos and Jake Cronenworth would never be considered an easy out. All are ready to pounce on a mistake. 

It can be exhausting for a starting pitcher who has to navigate a hot lineup multiple times in a start. The goal is to force them to overthink on the mound. It is hard to be perfect with every pitch thrown. The Friars must continue to take advantage of bad pitches. 

The loss of Arraez has not limited the Padres’ offense at the start of the season. Instead, the lineup is feeding off one another, as every hitter is doing their part to extend innings and score runs.

The Friar Faithful’s optimism is running high, especially after back-to-back walkoff wins. The recent outburst has demonstrated that the lineup can lift the team out of a less-than-ideal pitching matchup.

The production can only get better in the coming months.

You’ve read this on this site before: The Mets have designated left-handed relief pitcher Richard Lovelady for assignment. This time, he’s being replaced by veteran right-handed reliever Craig Kimbrel.

The Mets first acquired Lovelady in June last year, and they’ve now designated him for assignment five times in less than a year. Despite having DFA’d him three times during the 2025 season, the Mets signed Lovelady to a major league deal in late October. And they DFA’d him again in January to clear a 40-man roster spot when they acquired infielder Vidal Bruján.

When you look at all of that, you can’t help but feel for the player, even if there’s a sense of relief that the Mets might be moving on. Lovelady was booed at Citi Field in the Mets’ first season of the series during an extra-inning loss to the Pirates, but those boos were likely intended as much for the Mets’ front office and manager putting him in that spot as they were for the performance of Lovelady himself.

In 7.1 innings with the Mets since Opening Day this year, Lovelady has a 3.68 ERA and a 4.92 FIP. In 10.0 innings with the Mets last year, he had a 6.30 ERA and a 6.74 FIP.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Chicago Cubs, April 11, 2026, 2:20 p.m. ET

Location: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL

Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, Sportsnet Pittsburgh

---

The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field looking to grab a win.

---

Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.

• Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
• Remember Bucs Dugout is basically a non-profanity site
• Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads
• The commenting system was updated during the summer. They’re still working on optimizing it for Game Day Threads like ours. If you don’t like clicking “Load More Comments”, remember that the “Z” key can be your friend. It loads up the latest comments automatically.

BD community, this is your thread for today’s game against the Cubs. Enjoy!

Detroit Tigers (5-9) vs. Miami Marlins (8-6)

Time/Place: 1:10 p.m., Comerica Park
Opponent Site: Fish On First
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Casey Mize (0-1, 5.23 ERA) vs. RHP Janson Junk (0-1, 3.09 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Mize	2	10.1	28.3	10.9	35.7	4.63	0.1
Junk	2	11.2	17.0	4.3	42.9	3.44	0.2

The suddenly slumping New York Yankees lost again on Friday night at Tropicana Field. The offense continues to come up short, and they just can’t buy a hit. We’re putting the bats to the side for a moment though to discuss Luis Gil and his first start of the season at the MLB level after struggling on Sunday in Triple-A. Skipped in his first time around because the Yankees only needed four starters through the first couple weeks, Gil’s in an important season, as the luster really faded from him last year after an AL Rookie of the Year win in 2024.

It’s safe to say things could have gone better on Friday. Four rocky innings of work and 88 pitches were the final tally, and to be completely honest, this was—for large stretches of his outing—2025 Gil all over again, struggling to throw strikes and to consistently generate swings and misses.

Gil allowed three runs on three hits and three walks in the four frames, striking out two. He also threw a wild pitch and hit a batter in the disappointing outing.

After struggling with velocity for much of the spring, Gil averaged 95.1 mph on his four-seamer on Friday against the Rays, down from the 95.3 mph of 2025 and a more impactful 96.6 the year before. This pitch was his bread and butter in 2024, when he won Rookie of the Year, but it just earned one swing-and-miss on 13 swings for a meager eight-percent whiff rate. For reference, the fastball earned an 18.8-percent whiff rate in 2025 and a 28.5-percent whiff rate in 2024.

For the night, Gil got just five empty swings: three on his slider, which he struggled to fully command, one on his changeup, and one on his four-seamer.

Gil threw 38 balls and 50 strikes on the night, but he was all over the place with all his pitches:

Gil opened the game trying to establish the four-seamer and complementing it mainly with sliders. He got two quick outs in the first inning before running into trouble, walking Jonathan Aranda and hanging this slider to Yandy Díaz, who gladly deposited it in the right field stands for a game-tying two-run dinger:

What looked like a quick and painless opening frame for Gil turned into a 32-pitch inning that set the tone for the rest of his outing and immediately capped his upside to go relatively deep into the game.

The second time through the lineup, Gil started to introduce more sinkers and changeups. The former actually helped him get five called strikes and led to a 57.9-mph average exit velocity in three batted-ball events, with just one of them going for a hit. One could argue that, with better command, the pitch could potentially be useful. It doesn’t look like a huge difference-making offering, though.

It’s hard to envision a successful Gil without better control, command, and velocity. Take away those three things, and his ceiling is severely capped.

It’s also important for him to maintain his velo deep into his outings. The pitch averaged 95.8 mph in the opening frame, and then slipped to 94.4 mph in the second, 93.8 mph in the third, and 94.4 mph again in the fourth. His sinker did average 96.6 mph in the third, though, but Gil just won’t be successful if he’s sitting in the 93-94 mph range.

Gil did make a nice defensive play on a squeeze play attempt by the Rays in the fourth, preventing another run from scoring. So at least his glove helped him out a little bit.

It’s still early. Heck, it’s Gil’s first start of the season. We are willing to grant him a pass, as we shouldn’t be judging a pitcher using just one outing. However, one thing needs to be said: given that this more of the same frustrating Gil, he will need to pick it up soon if he doesn’t want to be at serious risk of losing his rotation spot whenever Gerrit Cole or Carlos Rodón return. Unlike in the ALDS, he is fully behind Will Warren on the depth chart.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

We have a full slate of 15 MLB games to choose from today, which offers up lots of options when it comes to prop betting from the matinee matchups to the late-night finishes on the West Coast. 

Keep reading to see my best MLB player props for Saturday, April 11, highlighted by a plus-money Jackson Merrill play.

Best MLB player props today

Kodai Senga Over 6.5 strikeouts (-108)

Kodai Senga has looked sharp in his return to the New York Mets' rotation after a 2025 marred by injuries. 

He's recorded 16 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings over his first two starts, good for a rate of 12.3 per nine. That’s above his career mark of 10.2 per nine, and more like what Mets fans have expected after his outstanding rookie campaign in 2023.

The Athletics have been one of the more strikeout-heavy offenses in baseball early this season, racking up 133 Ks in their first 13 games. Senga should get plenty of swings and misses against this lineup, and that makes his strikeouts Over a great play.

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSCA, SNY

Trent Grisham 1+ runs (-120)

While Trent Grisham has been struggling in some ways in the early going – his .158 batting average looks ugly on the Jumbotron – he’s been excelling at his most important job, which is getting on base at the top of the New York Yankees lineup.

Grisham has a .347 OBP and has scored seven times in 13 games to start the season.

Journeyman Nick Martinez has given the Tampa Bay Rays some good innings to start the year, but I don’t have confidence in the 35-year-old to keep up this start.

The Yankees have underperformed offensively, but those struggles have mostly come against southpaws, while they have a .720 OPS against righties. I like Grisham to get on base and the rest of the New York lineup to bring him home tonight.

• Time: 6:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: YES, Rays.TV

Jackson Merrill 1+ RBI (+125)

Jackson Merrill hasn’t gotten himself into a groove yet this season, but his numbers still benefit from hitting behind Fernando Tatis Jr. and in front of Manny Machado. Merrill has seven RBIs in his first 14 games despite hitting .189 in that span.

Merrill has been historically strong against right-handed pitching, putting up an .855 OPS against righties in his career. Colorado Rockies starter Ryan Feltner isn’t an imposing matchup in that regard either, with only 38 2/3 innings at the MLB level in the last two years and a 5.17 career ERA. 

Facing Feltner could get the San Diego Padres lineup going, and with Merrill in the middle of it all, I like him to pick up an RBI tonight.

• Time: 8:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Rockies.TV, Padres.TV

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Saturday notes…

• TWO IS USUALLY ENOUGH: The Cubs have allowed no more than two runs in eight of their 13 games, but have lost two of the eight, both by 2-0. Last year, they were 51-7 when giving up two or fewer runs, including 13-5 when giving up exactly two. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• SIX IS USUALLY ENOUGH: In yesterday’s loss, the Cubs made six hits and limited the Pirates to three. Before then, the Cubs had won all six previous games this season in which they had outhit their opponent. (Courtesy BCB’s JohnW53)
• THE NICO FILES: Nico Hoerner has a 12-game on-base streak in which he is batting .357/.481/.571 (15-for-42) with six doubles, a home run, nine RBI and nine walks.
• GOOD STARTING: Cubs starting pitchers have a 2.47 ERA in the 13 games so far this year, which leads the NL and is second in MLB (Yankees, 2.40).

Cubs lineup:

Game 2.

Catch today’s game on @WatchMarquee. #Cubspic.twitter.com/lIFolYv6SQ

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 11, 2026

The Pirates lineup was not available at posting time. Please check BCB social media for the Pirates lineup.

Edward Cabrera, RHP vs. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP

Edward Cabrera has not only been the Cubs’ best starter so far this year, he’s been one of the top starters anywhere in MLB, alllowing just eight of the 41 hitters he’s faced so far to reach base, no runs allowed and nine strikeouts in 11.2 innings. The only little glitch is six walks, and that was an issue for him in Miami, so hopefully it doesn’t become one here.

Cabrera hasn’t faced the Pirates since 2023, and the only current Pirate who has more than a couple of at-bats against him is Marcell Ozuna (2-for-11 with four strikeouts).

Braxton Ashcraft did pretty well in his rookie season last year — 2.71 ERA, 1.249 WHIP in 26 appearances (eight starts). This year he’s going to be a full-time member of the Pirates rotation and he has made two pretty good starts to date, completing six innings in both. In his last outing, April 5 vs. the Orioles, he struck out eight.

He made two starts against the Cubs last year (plus one relief appearance) and allowed four runs in 11 total innings, with 10 strikeouts. Michael Busch homered off him in one of those outings. Pete Crow-Armstrong is 3-for-4 with two doubles.

In case you were wondering, he is not related to Graham Ashcraft of the Reds. But the two families did look into it last year before figuring out that they are not related.

Here is the weather forecast for the area around Wrigley Field.

Today’s game is on Marquee Sports Network.

Here is the complete MLB.com live streaming page for today.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Pirates site Bucs Dugout. If you do go there to interact with Pirates fans, please be respectful, abide by their individual site rules and serve as a good representation of Cub fans in general and BCB in particular.

The 2026 game discussion procedure has been changed, so please take note.

You’ll find the game preview, like this one, posted separately on the front page two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).

At the same time, a StoryStream containing the preview will also post on the front page, titled “Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of week/date) game threads.” It will contain every post related to that particular game.

The Live! (formerly “First Pitch”) thread will still post at five minutes to game time. It will also post to the front page. That will be the only live game discussion thread. After the game, the recap and Heroes and Goats will also live on the front page as separate posts.

You will also be able to find the preview, Live! thread, recap and Heroes and Goats in this section link. The StoryStream for each game can also be found in that section.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Columbus Clippers (7-6) – AAA

COL 5 – WOR 8

Box Score

The Columbus Clippers and the Worcester Red Sox faced off in Worcester Friday evening. The Clippers have been struggling against the WooSox, staying just above .500 with last night’s loss marking 3 straight loses against the Red Sox.

It didn’t take long for Ryan Webb to start running into trouble. In the bottom of the second a lead off triple was converted to a run on a groundout. A one-out walk and hit by pitch put two on. George Valera, on rehab assignment in Columbus, committed a fielding error in left field allowing the runner on 2nd to score.

The Clippers defensive woes would continue for the remainder of the game, racking up 6 errors on the night. Webb fell to 0-2 on the year, pitching 3.1 innings. He allowed 2H, 4R (2ER), 6BB, with 4Ks. Jack Leftwich was the only pitcher to not have runs scored on his watch. Leftwich went 1.2IP, 2H, 0R/ER, 1BB, 1K. Andrew Walters pitched an inning, allowing a run on a solo homer. It was the only hit he allowed. Walters walked no batters and struck out 2. Colin Holderman pitched the remaining 2 innings. He allowed 3 hits with 3 runs, none of which were earned. He struck out 5.

The offense pieced together some runs after their shutout the day prior. Petey Halpin went 1-for-3 with a run and a RBI. Travis Bazzana went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strike out. Milan Tolentino made up for his defensive error, going 1-for-4 with a solo home run in the eighth.

Back in his home run ways #ClipShowpic.twitter.com/rwj0uDWaQx

— Columbus Clippers (@CLBClippers) April 11, 2026

But the scoring started with George Valera in the 6th inning, hitting the Clippers’ first homer of the series. Valera went 1-for-4 with a run and 2 RBI.

Clutch #ClipShowpic.twitter.com/6CQSE7k6Wt

— Columbus Clippers (@CLBClippers) April 10, 2026

Akron RubberDucks (4-3) – AA

AKR 8 – HBG 6

Box Score

The RubberDucks were more successful in their Friday night game. Josh Hartle took the mound for Akron and had a solid start. Hartle pitched 4.2 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 5.

A 5⃣ strikeout Friday by @JoshHartle25pic.twitter.com/sYuPGFTVRM

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) April 11, 2026

Jack Jasiak earned his second win of the season in his 2.1 innings of work. He allowed 2 runs on 2 hits. Alaska Abney pitched 1.2, 1H, 1R, 2BB, 2K. Magnus Ellerts got the save, walking one in his 0.1 IP.

The RubberDucks offense performed well, scoring 8 runs on 7 hits and 9 walks.

Akron’s first run came in the 2nd inning. Nick Mitchell hit a lead off single, stealing 2nd and advancing to 3rd on a wild pitch. Joe Lampe drew a walk, but during Alex Mooney’s at bat, a balk scored Mitchell. Mooney and Jake Fox loaded the bases with walks of their own, but a strikeout and GIDP stopped the rally.

In the 4th inning Mitchell drew a lead off walk. Catcher Interference put runners on 1st and 2nd. Jake Fox hit a single on a liner to left, scoring Mitchell and Mooney.

A 2-run single by @Jake_Fox8 ties the game!

TOP 4 | Akron 3 | Harrisburg 3 pic.twitter.com/MQzhExWoUE

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) April 11, 2026

The walks continued in the top of the 5th. Christian Knapczyk and Nick Mitchell drew back-to-back one-out walks. Joe Lampe hit an RBI single to put the RubberDucks up 5-3. In the next at bat, Alex Mooney hit a 3-run moon shot.

The 2nd homer of the series by @aj_mooney2, who has 7 RBI this week!

103 mph🚀375 feet

TOP 5 | Akron 8 | Harrisburg 3 pic.twitter.com/m7796EJPxT

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) April 11, 2026

The exciting game ended with flair. Knapczyk had a beauty of a snag at 2nd for the final out of the game.

A game-winning snag by @Cknap1!

FINAL | Akron 8 | Harrisburg 6 pic.twitter.com/IAqHqlusD9

— Akron RubberDucks (@AkronRubberDuck) April 11, 2026

Lake County Captains (3-4) – High A

LC 3 – DAY 7

Box Score

Lake County struggled against the Dayton Dragons, losing by 4 runs. Braylon Doughty fell to 0-1 on the season. Doughty only pitched 2.1 innings. He allowed 4R (2ER) on 5H, striking out one batter. In the bottom of the 3rd a one-out fielding error on 2B Luke Hill set the Caps up for failure. Doughty gave up four straight singles, putting the Dragons up 3-2 before being pulled for Donovan Zsak. Zsak has pitched 1.2 innings so far this year. He finished the 3rd inning only allowing one walk before retiring the side. He is maintaining a 0.00 ERA. Jogly García pitched 4.0, securing the loss for the Captains. He gave up 3R (2ER) on 2H and 2BB. He struck out 3. Sean Matson pitched the 8th inning, striking out one and allowing one hit.

The Captains had a strong start. In the top of the first, Jace LaViolette and Dean Curley drew back-to-back one-out walks. Aaron Walton and Bennett Thompson hit back-to-back singles to put two runs on the board.

CAPTAINS STRIKE FIRST! 🔥🔥

Back-to-back RBI singles by Aaron Walton and Bennett Thompson has Lake County out in front going into the 2nd! pic.twitter.com/RwPc00Mkap

— Lake County Captains (@LCCaptains) April 10, 2026

Lake County’s final run came in the top of the 6th. Bennett Thompson drew a lead off walk. He reached 2nd on a wild pitch and 3rd on a flyout. Luke Hill hit a two-out single to score Thompson.

Hill City Howlers (4-3) – Single A

FBG 3 – HC 5

Box Score

The Howlers took a win from the Fredericksburg Nationals. Jacob Zibin had a strong 4.0 inning outing. He allowed 1 run on 3H and 1BB, striking out 5. Luke Fernandez pitched 2 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out 2 and walking 1. Keegan Zinn earned the win and recorded a blown save. In Zinn’s 2.0 innings of work, he allowed 2R/ER, 1BB, and struck out 2. Angel Perez earned his 2nd save of the season, closing the game. He walked 2 and struck out 2.

Cannon Peebles had a great game at the plate. He went 1-for-3 with 1R, 2RBI, 2BB, HR, and a SB.

The Howlers got on the board in the bottom of the 3rd. Juneiker Caceres drew a lead off walk which was followed by Cannon Peebles’s 2-run HR.

Cannon Peebles got ALL OF THAT ONE!! 🚀⚾️

His 2-run home run gives us the LEAD here in the bottom of the third inning!

Howlers 2 | Nationals 1 #SeeYouLaterpic.twitter.com/RIyVRPocNL

— Hill City Howlers (@HCHowlers) April 11, 2026

In the bottom of the 5th, the Howlers tacked on another run. Caceres and Pebbles drew back-to-back walks to lead off the inning. Yeiferth Castillo work a one-out walk to load the bases. Luis De La Cruz singled to first to score Caceres.

The final runs were scored in the bottom of the 8th. Luis De La Cruz was hit by pitch to lead off. He stole 2nd, but was caught stealing 3rd for the 2nd out of the inning. Yaikel Mijares drew a two-out walk and hustled to 3rd on Robert Arias’ single to right. Juneiker Caceres singled on a liner to left, scoring Mijares and Arias.

Two weeks into the season and the 2026 White Sox roller coaster already has been twisting us left, right, up and down. In such a tumultuous time, the Sox have swung between being swept to being the sweepers faster than Yermín Mercedes peaked and then abruptly retired from baseball in 2021. Ah, such memorable times with Tony La Russa.

After witnessing the highs and lows of such a small sample size, here are the extremely early, yet prevalent, themes that should be followed through the rest of the season.

---

This Sox crew is a lot more resilient
Now a full year removed from the horrors of 2024, this team is nowhere near cut from the same cloth. Despite playing pitifully on Opening Day and starting 1-5, the Sox have proven that they won’t just roll over and take losses.

As seen in their series against Toronto, the team knows how to step up. In the first two games of that series, the Sox lost but recovered the lead three times. The second game perfectly encapsulates this: After capturing an early lead, the Jays put up two runs in the sixth, quickly tampering the mood. In what would otherwise have been a typical blown win, Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montogmery delivered clutch home runs to pull the Sox ahead, 4-2, in the bottom of the sixth. Even after the Jays cut the lead to one run in the seventh, the Sox capitalized on fielding errors to add two insurance runs in the eighth. Props to Tristan Peters and Murakami’s defensive instincts that resulted in pulling off a bases-loaded, inning-ending double-play.

A similar story played out in the first two games against the Orioles, but unfortunately the Sox didn’t prevail.

This team certainly has more pep in its step, and they aren’t spiraling after losses or mistakes. You can feel the difference in this team’s attitude and mentality. If Chicago continues minimizing their number of blown wins and saves, they could creep into the wild card race.

There are no roster locks
No one’s locker is safe on the South Side. That was evident when Korey Lee was DFA’d and outrighted to Charlotte to make room for Reese McGuire, and it’ll only continue.

Opening Day starter Shane Smith only spent 13 days on the 26-man roster before being optioned to Charlotte after shouldering 10 runs in fewer than nine innings. On the same day, the Sox moved Brooks Baldwin to the 60-day IL, shutting him down for the season. Don’t forget that Mike Vasil, who was supposed to be a reliable reliever, also won’t play a single regular season game until mid-2027. While Smith may be able to bounce back and rejoin the rotation, the roster has quickly turned from slightly more predictable to very uncertain. 

This leaves the door open for dark horse players to emerge as unsung heroes. Peters has proven to be one of these guys after hitting a walk-off single in the home opener against the Blue Jays, and making several strong fielding plays. Anthony Kay has stepped forward as one of the top starters in the rotation after a nearly six-inning shutout and first MLB win since 2021 against the Royals on Thursday.

Any win will truly be a team effort from the Sox. As of now, there are no go-to guys who will carry this team. 

The farm will get tested
Chris Getz is getting a jump on the Triple-A talent at his disposal, which could make or break this season. Instead of snatching every free agent available on waivers, Getz has already called up six guys from Charlotte to plug injury gaps in the 26-man roster. While this is expected from a team that is always strapped for cash, nothing is a given with Getz steering the ship.

Unlike last year, expect Charlotte and even some of Birmingham to be drained of talent by the end of the season. Chicago’s development program and coaching staff will be put to the test with big names like Tanner McDougal, Sam Antonacci and William Bergolla Jr. on the fast-track to the Good Guys, and Bham guys including Braden Montomgery, Rikku Nishida and Calvin Harris potentially turning a major curve on their quest to the majors.

The Sox will either be exposed or praised for their youth once again. Hopefully, it goes as well as it did last year.

Earlier this week, the crew over at OverSlot, a website dedicated to covering the MLB Draft and prospects, released an MLB mock draft simulator, something that the draft community has been sorely lacking on the baseball scene. Not only does the simulator allow you to test out different hypothetical scenarios with any team of your choosing, but it also has the many nuances of the MLB Draft built into it, such as signing bonuses and working within your team’s constrained budget.

I’ve been messing around with the simulator the last few days, and wanted to show off some different ways the draft in July could play out for the Nats, depending on the front office’s strategy. Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline mentioned in an 11-pick mock draft the other day that he thinks the Nationals will go with a college hitter with the 11th overall pick, something I will keep in mind while doing these mocks. I recommend any draft fans also give the free simulator a shot, to help them better understand this years draft class and the kinds of strategies the Nationals could deploy.

Scenario 1: College Pitcher/Slot Value

In my first mock, I get a gift from the simulator, snagging my favorite pitcher and a top 5 talent in the draft in Jackson Flora with the 11th pick, at slot value. If there is any pitcher in this draft class who could speedrun the minor leagues and make an impact in the big leagues in the next year or two, it’s Flora, who features multiple plus offerings and great strike-throwing ability (and as of me writing this, gave up his first run in over a MONTH).

I went into my second pick primarily looking for a college bat with a strong track record of success, but loved the value of getting right-handed pitcher Cade Townsend out of Ole Miss for slot value. Townsend missed a few starts during March with a shoulder injury, but has been electric in the 7 starts he has made for the Rebels in 2026, posting a 1.82 ERA, 2.22 FIP, and 32.5 K-BB%.

I splurged into my bonus pool a little with the Nats’ third-round pick, grabbing Virginia prep shortstop Will Yow, whose excellent speed and defense offer him a higher floor than most prep bats, coming in as my 32nd-ranked prospect in the entire draft currently. The focus with my remaining top 10 picks was college players who I could save bonus pool money on, but also offered some intriguing upside, especially from the pitchers. Overall, I would be thrilled with this draft path for the Nats in July, as they get to add 2 extremely polished right-handed pitchers to their farm system, a toolsy prep shortstop, and a cluster of college arms and bats.

Scenario 2: College Hitter/Slightly Underslot

I went into this mock draft looking for my favorite combination of upside and savings from a college bat with my first-round pick. There were multiple solid choices, but my favorite of the bunch ended up being Sawyer Strosnider, a left-handed hitting outfielder out of TCU. With the 700k underslot savings from the Strosnider pick, I had some wiggle room to buy down some talent with my later selections.

I was willing to use up some of my savings on the second round pick, but ended up not needing to, selecting Tennessee prep catcher Will Brick, my 17th-ranked prospect in the entire draft, as I am a huge believer in his ability to hit and stick behind the dish defensively.

I dug into those savings with the Nats’ third round selection, splurging 1.1 million dollars overslot for right-handed prep arm Joseph Contreras, one of the more famous names in this year’s class after a gutsy performance against Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, during which he got Aaron Judge to ground into a double play. Contreras reminds me of current Nats pitching prospect Miguel Sime Jr. as a prospect, a high school flamethrower who has trouble throwing strikes, but could be a huge hit if developed correctly in pro ball.

The focus of my remaining top 10 round selections was primarily on savings, as I spent a little more than I had saved on Conteras in the 3rd round, but had some fun highlights, such as Eli Willits’ older brother Jaxon Willits, a shortstop at Oklahoma, in the 4th round, and a lefty with big strikeout stuff in the 5th round in Cam Johnson, also out of Oklahoma.

Scenario 3: College Hitter/Heavily Underslot

I went into this final mock with one goal in mind: to mimic Paul Toboni and the Nationals front office to the best of my abilities. That meant my focus, at least with my first round pick, would be on athletic position players who are located up the middle defensive positions, such as catcher, shortstop, and center field, with room to adjust for best player available, depending on how the draft board shook out. In this mock, I got a prospect who checked just about every box in shortstop Tyler Bell, a draft-eligible sophomore at Kentucky with excellent defense and plus power potential. Snagging Bell 11th overall saved me 1.5 million dollars underslot, meaning I could get very creative with my money the rest of the draft.

I thought about different strategies for how to deploy my savings in the next few rounds, but decided I wanted to use them all in one place to snag California prep left-handed pitcher Logan Schmidt with the 42nd overall pick, great value as he is my 16th-ranked prospect in the class currently. Schmidt is just a grade below the top prep arms, Gio Rojas and Carson Bolemon, in this year’s draft for me, but could end up being the best pitcher in this draft class with proper development, as he’s up to 97 from the left side with elite extension and 2 blossoming breaking balls.

I needed to make back about 600k in savings with my remaining draft picks, but I was able to snag a college pitcher with great stuff in the 3rd round in Owen Kramkowski, who has great control and solid stuff, but has struggled to turn it into consistent results so far at Arizona. I also was able to snag a college shortstop having a breakout junior season in Dee Kennedy out of Kansas State in the 4th round (who I played against in high school, where he was also very good).

Overall, I think all 3 of these mock drafts would be successful drafts for the Nationals in real life, especially one like the first one, where they can get a top player in the draft at slot value. Toboni and the Red Sox staff tended to favor certain kinds of prospects during their drafts in the past, but showed a willingness to go off that script when they felt it would benefit them, meaning all bets are off as to what will happen come this July.

Here are the lineups. For the Phillies:

Saturday at the Bank#RingTheBellpic.twitter.com/azOHQXbVs8

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 11, 2026

For the Diamondbacks:

Baseball for brunch. pic.twitter.com/JAPxvz5VuM

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 11, 2026

Let’s talk about it.

It’s been a part of the Yankee Stadium experience for years. The Bombers have runners on base, the visiting manager makes the slow walk out to the mound, and signals to the bullpen in left field. Immediately, the door in the left-field fence opens up, the new reliever steps onto the field, and immediately the Yankee Stadium scoreboard begins to play a rally video, intended to intimidate the new pitcher and pump up the crowd.

Over the last few years, the Yankees have experimented quite a bit with the in-game stadium experience, bringing in a DJ to blast music and sound effects between pitches and implementing various closer entrances for Clay Holmes, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, and David Bednar. Accordingly, the organization has experimented with these rally hype videos. Last summer, for example, they engaged in some subtle advertising with a Jurassic World-themed vide of Yankees batters stalking pitchers like prey, conveniently introduced a few weeks before Jurassic World Rebirth premiered in theaters. Then, as the old scoreboard gave them fits late last season (in fact, I saw the system crash so often I almost wrote an article last year about it), they shifted to a light-centered video, cutting almost all the lights in the stadium and putting a “Public Service Announcement: Yankees Rally Incoming” emergency alert on all functioning screens.

After making a big deal about the new scoreboard installation, it should not be surprising then that the Yankees revamped their rally hype video again. When a new pitcher came into the game this week, the lights in the Stadium were dimmed, and a QR code was put on the screen. This QR code linked to a light show website, which took over the flashlight of each participating cell phone and incorporated them into a stadium-wide light show.

From a technical standpoint, the effect was incredibly cool — thousands upon thousands of lights flashing throughout Yankee Stadium in the night, taking over for the Stadium lights and supplementing the scoreboards and screens as the pitcher reached the mound in preparation for his warmup pitches. And it’s thematically appropriate, too, as between the increased prominence of the DJ and the amount of music played before the game and between innings, it’s clear to me that the team is intent on giving Yankee Stadium a bit of a club vibe this season. These cell phone light shows really help contribute to that atmosphere. And the effect has done its job — many in the crowd used the QR code, and the energy in the Stadium, even on the cold nights when the Yankees were losing to the Athletics, skyrocketed for that short minute.

There’s just one problem: Because of it, Yankee Stadium now needs a strobe warning.

The human body doesn’t always respond well to flashing lights. For many people, looking at it for too long can cause headaches and migraines. For people with photosensitive epilepsy, even a brief exposure to flashes and strobes can cause seizures. These effects are common enough that, when I was the lighting designer of an amateur theatre group back in college, we felt compelled to post strobe warnings outside the theatre even when the show’s most intense light cue was the LEDs changing color a couple of times — after all, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Now, you might say, wouldn’t someone who has such sensitivity to light know not to put themselves in this kind of position? Obviously, the answer is yes — but for the most part that involves avoiding concerts with big light shows, fast-paced videogames, or movies with a lot of on-screen explosions. It didn’t used to mean baseball games. But now, suddenly, it does — and people need to be made aware.

Cincinnati Reds 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes is off to a 3 for 34 start to the 2026 season. In 215 PA since coming over to the Reds from the Pittsburgh Pirates last summer, he’s the owner of a combined .208/.288/.297 (.585 OPS, 60 OPS+) line, and that was enough to make me dive back into the performances of some other notable Reds during their tenures with the club as comparison.

Jack Hannahan (2013-2014)

Hannahan, like Hayes, was primarily a 3B, though he did at least bounce around to other positions on the infield where he also couldn’t hit.

In 212 PA with the Reds across two seasons, he memorably hit .209/.294/.278 (.572 OPS). That was good for an OPS+ of 60 in that era.

Corey Patterson (2008)

Patterson came to the Reds after a stint with the Baltimore Orioles after having also been a half-decent player for the Chicago Cubs for a time. In 2008, he logged 392 PA with the Reds – many in the leadoff spot – and hit a whopping .205/.238/.344 (.582 OPS). In that particular offensive environment, that was good for an OPS+ of just 50.

Skip Schumaker (2014-2015)

Skip was brought in to help anchor the Reds after they’d somehow found a way to twice win 90+ games without him at the early portions of that decade. The veteran veteran hit the ground running in 2014 with a .235/.287/.308 (.595 OPS) in 271 PA in 2014, a mark that was good for a 68 OPS+.

His veteran presence presented the Reds with such a good opportunity that they brought him back for a 2015 season that was significantly better as he hit .242/.306/.336 (.642 OPS). That was a remarkable 76 OPS+!

Paul Janish (2008-2011)

Soft-J was, like Hayes, an incredibly gifted defender, and for that he provided quite the service to the Reds in his time. With the bat, he was – like Hayes – accomplished in the sense that he can actually tell other human beings that he got hits at the Major League level.

In 975 PA across four seasons with the Reds, Paul hit .221/.289/.302 (.591 OPS). That was good for a 59 OPS+.

Shogo Akiyama (2020-2021)

I had actually overlooked that Shogo spent more than just one season with the Reds before the two parted ways. That was a pretty crazy time in the world!

In 366 PA with the Reds after coming to MLB from Japan, Shogo hit .224/.320/.274 (.594 OPS). That was good for a 57 OPS+ in that era.

Doug Flynn (1975-1977)

Flynn, the glue of the Big Red Machine, is notable in that he managed to compile a pretty remarkable -6.9 bWAR for his career spent with 5 franchises across 11 seasons.

With the Reds, though, he swung a mean bat. He hit .275/.310/.341 (.651 OPS) in 411 PA across a trio of seasons. That was good for an OPS+ 0f 82, which was way better than the .238/.266/.294 line he compiled in 4085 career PA at the big league level. That career mark was good for a 58 OPS+.