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

It's midseason in high school baseball, so let's look at players who are producing results at a high level. Forget about rankings, radar guns or who has scholarship offers. These are the players making an impact.

No one has been better than sophomore pitcher Tyler George of Santa Margarita. With a 7-0 record, 0.85 ERA and just two walks in 41 1/3 innings, the 6-foot-5, 190-pound 16-year-old has shown what a top pitcher is supposed to look like.

Few saw this coming — except for his freshman coach last season, Mike Hiserman, who said, "He was the most fundamentally sound all-around freshman baseball player I've ever coached. Was good at everything yet still immensely coachable. You tell him something once and he does it."

George said he has focused on mixing up his pitches — fastball, curveball, slider, change-up.

Read more:Prep sports roundup: Orange Lutheran defeats Norco to win Boras Classic South

"Just not overthrowing the ball, not throwing as hard as I can but hitting the spots and having a feel for my off-speed pitches," he said.

He threw all nine innings during a 1-0 win over Mater Dei that was full of drama.

"It was a lot of fun," he said. "The adrenaline was running. It was cool."

His brother, Hayden, is a freshman pitcher at UCLA, and he said Bruins coach John Savage has been asking Hayden about him, which is a good sign when he becomes available to talk to recruiters in the summer.

• Dustin Dunwoody, Royal: Armed with an overpowering fastball, Dunwoody is 7-0, has an 0.18 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.

• Brady Murrietta, Orange Lutheran: The senior catcher keeps throwing out baserunners trying to challenge him. He's also terrific on throws to the plate, picking up the hop and making the tag. And don't forget his clutch hitting. He leads the team in RBIs with 12.
  
• Troy Randall, Corona Santiago: The junior third baseman is hitting .460 with 29 hits and also has given up just two hits in 12 innings in a relief pitching role.
  
• Jake Kim, Harvard-Westlake: The junior has displayed power and consistency, making him one of the toughest outs in the Wolverines' lineup. He has 22 hits, a .500 batting average and four home runs.
  
• Malakye Matsumoto, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame: With 22 hits and 17 RBIs, the senior third baseman has been delivering for 14-3 Notre Dame.
  
• Tate Belfanti, Cypress: The junior left-hander has 53 strikeouts in 28 innings while going 5-0.
  
• Jake Ange, Thousand Oaks: The junior was a starter for the basketball team and has come out and hit seven home runs, including a game in which he hit two grand slams.
  
• Dylan Seward, Norco: The junior shortstop has been producing since he was a starter as a freshman. He has 26 hits, 16 RBIs and makes the plays when the ball is hit in his direction.
  
• James Tronstein, Harvard-Westlake: The senior shortstop has 26 hits, including four home runs, as the Wolverines' leadoff hitter.
  
• Gary Morse, Orange Lutheran: The 6-foot-8 pitcher is 3-1 with a 1.40 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 30 innings for the No. 1 team in Southern California.
  
• Caleb Trugman, Ayala: The two-way player has 23 hits and is 6-0 pitchers and an 0.76 ERA.
  
• Xavier Cadena, El Dorado: The outfielder has hit five home runs, driven in 19 runs and is batting .373.
  
• Carson Sheffer, Oaks Christian: The senior catcher continues to be stellar behind the plate while also contributing 22 hits, including seven doubles.
  
• Landon Hovermale, Norco: A model of consistency, the left-handed Hovermale is 6-0 with an 0.95 ERA and has walked just four batters in 36 2/3 innings.
  
• Jackson Sellz, El Camino Real: The junior keeps throwing complete games for the defending City Section champs. He's 6-0 with a 1.20 ERA and five complete games.
  
• Jayden Rojas, Bell: The senior third baseman is batting .466 with 27 hits for 17-2 Bell. As a pitcher, he's 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA.

Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Good morning, baseball fans!

The San Francisco Giants are wrapping up another week of baseball today, which means it’s time to discuss our favorite highlights of the week!

This week, I’m giving the honors to Rafael Devers’ three-run home run in Wednesday’s 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Philies!

Devers faced off against Phillies starter Aaron Nola in the bottom of the sixth innings with Willy Adames on second after a double, and Luis Arráez on first after a walk. Devers came up with a big swing to deep centerfield to knock in three of his four RBI of the night.

I don’t have a video of just that play, but here’s the game highlights from the team’s YouTube account. Enjoy!

What time do the Giants play today?

The Giants wrap up their series against the Baltimore Orioles this morning at 10:35 a.m. PT.

Meet the Mets

Folks, the vibes: they are bad. The Mets dropped their fourth straight game yesterday after Kodai Senga got knocked around by the Athletics to the tune of seven runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Athletics. To be fair, the bats did subsequently show the most life they’ve shown in quite some time, as home runs from Bo Bichette, Francisco Alvarez, and Jorge Polanco made it a 7-6 ballgame heading into the 8th inning. But Luke Weaver then got beaten up for the second straight outing, surrendering four runs—including a three-run homer from Tyler Soderstrom, his second bomb of the day—to send the Mets right back into the abyss. The final score was 11-6, and now they will simply try to stave off a series sweep.

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

Prior to the game, the Mets called up veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel, who ended up contributing a scoreless inning in yesterday’s game. Richard Lovelady was designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Francisco Lindor made another mental gaffe yesterday, and the Mets are struggling to explain why there have been so many of them from their star shortstop so far this season.

Devin Williams and Luke Weaver may be suiting up for a team doesn’t have a lot working for them right now, but they do have one thing on their side: the power of friendship.

Around the National League East

The Phillies fell behind early, but home runs from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper propelled them to a 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Starting pitcher Janson Junk surrendered five runs in the first three innings against the Tigers, and the Marlins never got much offense going and subsequently fell 6-1.

The Braves bats were shutout by the Guardians pitching staff in a 5-0 loss.

Nationals starter Foster Griffin didn’t allow a hit against the Brewers until the sixth inning yesterday, and Washington defeated Milwaukee 3-1.

Michael Harris II was placed on the paternity list prior to Atlanta’s game yesterday.

Around Major League Baseball

Adley Rutschman will miss some time with the Orioles due to left ankle inflammation.

Baltimore is not the only club who will be without their primary backstop for a while, as the Diamondbacks are placing Gabriel Moreno on the injured list due to a back issue.

Following a rough start on Friday, Astros pitcher Tatsuya Imai is getting examined for right arm fatigue.

Blue Jays DH George Springer left yesterday’s game after fracturing his toe on a foul boul.

One more injury note: Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña also left last night’s game due to knee tightness.

Finally, a non-injury piece of news: Fernando Tatis Jr. made his first career start at second base yesterday.

Don’t look now, but former Met Michael Wacha has a 0.43 ERA after tossing eight scoreless innings for the Royals yesterday.

José Ramírez’s homer against Atlanta yesterday gave him at least one home run against all other 29 MLB team.

The White Sox are promoting pitching prospect Noah Schultz to make his major league debut this week.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane discussed the recent bullpen woes in the latest episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1962, the Mets enjoyed a ticker tape parade following their first game in franchise history the day earlier.

The majority of the New York Yankees’ wins early in the 2026 season have come due to their outstanding pitching. Yes, the offense has had its fine moments, including averaging well over seven runs a game in a series win over the Marlins to kick off April, but for the most part, it’s been an underwhelming start. Now, it’s easy to talk about the short sample size that 15 games represent — you could claim that for such a short span of time, nearly any team is able to look like one of the best or the worst offenses in the sport, regardless of how great it actually is. While all of that is true, there are reasons behind perhaps an extra layer of concern in the back of most Yankee fans’ minds since not all struggles come in the same manner.

Remember when Aaron Judge forgot how to hit for the start of the 2024 season, wrapping up April with a .207 batting average in 31 games? Well, despite the end of that horrific run raising plenty of people’s anxiety levels hoping for him to break through, no one was actually concerned about Judge. He was still Judge. What makes the early struggles of 2026 so worrisome is that, for the most part, we’re witnessing reasonable concerns ahead of the season coming to fruition. Let’s run through some of these problems:

For starters, even with the two runs batted in from José Caballero in Saturday’s 5-4 loss against the Rays, the left side of the infield has been the closest thing to automatic outs that you may find up at the plate. Caballero and Ryan McMahon have gone 9-for-76 with exactly one extra-base hit. Sure, no hitter will continue to put up numbers even remotely similar to this, but it’s also true that the expectation level was quite low for these two positions to begin with. If we go back to the start of 2024, McMahon has a .698 OPS, and that’s having spent the bulk of that period in Coors Field. In an ideal universe, particularly for a contender, Caballero fills the role of a versatile piece off the bench capable of impacting games on the basepaths with his running ability. Being thrust into a starting spot due to Anthony Volpe’s injury might be too much to handle. And that doesn’t even dive into what to expect from Volpe, somewhat of a polarizing figure in his time as a Yankee.

Moving forward, other concerns include Trent Grisham’s inability to do anything other than pile up a few walks, as evidenced by his performance against the Rays on Saturday, when he went 0-for-3 with a pair of free passes. In year seven of his career last season, Grisham delivered a completely new level of production, at least over a full season. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume a significant amount of folks are simply expecting him to revert back to his 2024 self. In actuality, Grisham did show a sustainable path to produce at a solid level, but the longer the wait for him to deliver in 2026, the louder those questions will be.

There is also Jazz Chisholm Jr., a player notorious for inconsistencies throughout his career, whose plate discipline numbers early in 2026 have not matched what we have seen from him since becoming a Yankee —striking out over 30 percent of the time and refusing to walk. However early it is in the 2026 season, it’s quite difficult to completely disregard these shortcomings when they come in such familiar ways.

Hello, friends.

Can we possibly make it a day without there being any bad Orioles injury news? Yesterday was not the day, with the O’s losing Adley Rutschman to the injured list due to left ankle inflammation before the game even began and then having Ryan Mountcastle exit the game early after having an awkward run from first to second while hitting a double. After the game, manager Craig Albernaz said both players will receive an MRI on their respective injuries today. That doesn’t mean we, the fans, will get the news about those injuries today.

The Rutschman injury clearly caught the team off guard, since he was only placed on the injured list minutes before the game began and the team had to rush catcher Maverick Handley up from Bowie to serve as the backup for the game. That might only be the one game, because the team also seemed to be maneuvering to get catcher Sam Huff up from Norfolk in time for today.

In the process of this roster shuffling, pitcher Chayce McDermott was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for Handley. The 27-year-old McDermott had washed out as a starter in the organization and did not do enough to show he had value as a reliever either. They don’t all turn into Kyle Bradish. A different 40-man roster move will need to be made for Huff. That might just be DFA’ing Handley after one game.

At least the Orioles did manage to win the game while all that was going on. The game was not without its frustrations, but the O’s ended up as 6-2 winners over the Giants, in the process moving themselves back up to a .500 record at 7-7. The Orioles are tied for second place in the AL East and just one game behind the Yankees. As bad as things have felt through these early couple of weeks, one difference between 2025 and 2026, at least so far, is that it’s not slipping away. Check out Alex Church’s recap of the game for more of the lovely totals.

The major league team was joined by victories from all four farm teams on Saturday night, delivering the always fun system sweep. Frederick’s JT Quinn struck out 10 batters with no walks allowed in 4.2 innings of an 11-2 win for the Keys. That’s pretty good. We’ll have more from that farm action elsewhere on Camden Chat later on Sunday.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

A lot of people want to talk about Pete Alonso, which is understandable since he’s batting .167/.262/.259 through his first 14 games.

Pete Alonso took full accountability for his poor start – now, will production follow? (Steve on Baseball)
It is less than ideal circumstances to be asking the $155 million question two weeks into Alonso’s Orioles tenure.

Pete Alonso deserves patience as he fights slow start (The Baltimore Sun)
Again, it would be better if columns like this did not need to appear in the newspaper or on the newspaper’s website.

More on Orioles early offensive struggles and Albernaz praising Alonso for handling early slump “like a pro” (School of Roch)
Included in here is manager Craig Albernaz’s thinking that Pete Alonso’s slow bat speed is a result of his expanding the strike zone and chasing bad pitches. If so, hopefully that approach can be corrected soon.

Why a few Orioles hitters could take a lesson from Taylor Ward (Baltimore Baseball)
Ward has been perhaps the most pleasant surprise on offense so far this season, all the more impressive considering that he is not hitting the dingers that I thought he would have to hit to make any kind of positive contribution around here.

The Orioles novel tactic for simulating pitcher windups in baserunning drills (Orioles.com)
Before Rutschman’s injury news, the most interesting thing during the pre-game for all of the assembled media was the Orioles using an 80-inch TV to show pitchers windups to baserunners.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

In their 14th game a year ago, the Orioles beat the Blue Jays, 5-4, to improve their record to 6-8 for the season. A three-run sixth inning that included Adley Rutschman hitting a home run put the Orioles on top. Despite walking two batters, Félix Bautista had his first save of the season. Five players who appeared in the game that day are still on the active roster.

There is one current Oriole with a birthday today. Happy 26th to Cade Povich! Hey, he’s today’s starting pitcher. Good luck on your birthday. A few former Orioles were also born on this day. They are: 2023 reliever Shintaro Fujinami, 2024 reliever Burch Smith, 1961-67 catcher Charley Lau, 1956 pitcher Mel Held, and 1955-57 pitcher Bill Wight.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: St. Peter’s Basilica architect Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1484), Declaration of Independence signer Lyman Hall (1724), author Beverly Cleary (1916), author Tom Clancy (1947), actress Claire Danes (1979), Panic! at the Disco frontman Brendon Urie (1987), and actress Saoirse Ronan (1994).

On this day in history…

In 1204, soldiers of the Fourth Crusade, who were supposed to re-take the city of Jerusalem, instead breached the walls and entered the city of Constantinople.

In 1796, then-less-known army commander Napoleon Bonaparte won his first substantial victory in the Battle of Montenotte, maneuvering to prevent allied Austrian and Piedmont forces from joining up with one another. One result of this victory was that portions of modern-day Italy were annexed by France at the end of this war. Many more Napoleonic wars remained.

In 1861, insurrectionist Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, effectively marking the beginning of the Civil War.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away, leading Vice President Harry Truman to ascend to the presidency.

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on April 12. Have a safe Sunday. Go O’s!

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (6-8)

BUFFALO 5, SYRACUSE 0 (BOX)

Carl Edwards probably isn’t a starting pitcher. Nick Morabito had no hits. Ryan Clifford got the day off only to strike out in his lone at bat as a pinch hitter. It was a 5-0 loss.

• RF MJ Melendez: 0-4
• CF Nick Morabito: 0-3, BB, K
• 1B Jose Rojas: 0-4, K
• DH Cristian Pache: 1-3
• PH Ryan Clifford: 0-1, K
• 3B Vidal Bruján: 1-2, 2 BB, E (2), CS (1)
• LF Ji Hwan Bae: 0-2, BB
• C Hayden Senger: 0-3
• 2B Jackson Cluff: 0-3
• SS Yonny Hernández: 1-3, 2B
• RHP Carl Edwards Jr.: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, l (0-2)
• RHP Nick Burdi: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• RHP Austin Warren: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
• RHP Dan Hammer: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
• RHP Alex Carrillo: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (5-2)

BINGHAMTON 7, SOMERSET 6 / 10 (BOX)

The Rumble Ponies blew a lead in the ninth, failed to rally back in regulation, but then managed to hold the Patriots off the board in the tenth and won in the bottom half. Eli Serrano was the walkoff hero, driving in Jacob Reimer – who successfully stole 3rd after starting the inning at second as the ghost runner – with the game winning run. A.J. Ewing continued his strong start, singling and walking three times and maintaining his OPS over 1.097.

• CF A.J. Ewing: 1-3, R, 3 BB, SB (4)
• SS Marco Vargas: 0-6, 4 K
• 3B Jacob Reimer: 1-4, 3 R, BB, 2 K, 2 SB (2)
• C Chris Suero: 1-3, R, RBI, 2 BB, K, 2 SB (2)
• RF Eli Serrano III: 2-5, R, 2 RBI, 2 K
• LF D’Andre Smith: 0-4, R, BB, K, SB (1)
• DH Kevin Parada: 0-2, 3 BB, 2 K
• 1B JT Schwartz: 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB
• 2B Wyatt Young: 1-4, BB, 2 K
• RHP Brendan Girton: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 2 K
• LHP Jefry Yan: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• RHP Carlos Guzman: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, H (1)
• RHP Ben Simon: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, BS (1)
• RHP Brian Metoyer: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, W (1-0)

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (2-5)

BROOKLYN 6, JERSEY SHORE 3 / 10 (BOX)

Another win in extras here, though this was not of the walkoff variety. The Cyclones tied the game in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch, then scored three more in the tenth. There was both a bases loaded walk in there and yet another run scored on a wild pitch – it’s a High-A game in April folks. Mitch Voit had a three hit day in the win.

• SS Mitch Voit: 3-5, 2 R, 2B, K, CS (1)
• CF John Bay: 1-4, 2 R, BB, 2 K
• 2B Antonio Jimenez: 0-4, RBI, 2 K
• LF Corey Collins: 1-4, RBI, BB, K
• C Daiverson Gutierrez: 0-3, RBI, BB, 2 E (2)
• DH Ronald Hernandez: 1-2, R, 3B, RBI, 3 BB, K
• 1B Trace Willhoite: 0-4, 3 K
• RF Yohairo Cuevas: 0-4, K
• 3B Kevin Villavicencio: 0-4, R, 2 K
• RHP Wyatt Hudepohl: 4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
• RHP Garrett Stratton: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• RHP Cristofer Gomez: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
• RHP Danis Correa: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (1-0)

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (4-4)

DUNEDIN 9, ST. LUCIE 2 / 7 (BOX)

Game 1 didn’t go so well for St. Lucie – Elian Peña continued to look good, but nothing else went right. Moving on…

• SS Elian Peña: 1-2, BB
• LF Tommy Pham: 0-2, RBI, K
• 3B Branny De Oleo: 0-0
• 2B Eddinson Paulino: 1-3
• 1B Randy Guzman: 0-2, K
• DH AJ Salgado: 1-3, K
• RF Simon Juan: 0-3, 2 K, E (2)
• CF JT Benson: 2-2, R, SB (1)
• C Chase Meggers: 0-3
• 3B-LF Sam Robertson: 1-3, R, RBI, SB (4)
• LHP Conner Ware: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, L (0-1)
• RHP Ernesto Mercedes: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
• RHP Elwis Mijares: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
• RHP Jorge De Leon: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

ST. LUCIE 11, DUNEDIN 4 / 7 (BOX)

Much better in game 2. Everyone except Eddinson Paulino got in on the action. Cam Tilly wasn’t quite as good as last week but still flashed strikeout stuff and got enough support from the offense that it didn’t much matter.

• DH Tommy Pham: 1-3, 2 R, 2B, BB, K
• 3B Eddinson Paulino: 0-5
• RF Randy Guzman: 1-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K, SB (1)
• 1B Julio Zayas: 1-3, R, K
• LF AJ Salgado: 2-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB
• CF Simon Juan: 1-3, R, BB, K
• 2B Sam Robertson: 2-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, K, 2 SB (6)
• C Francisco Toledo: 2-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, K
• SS Branny De Oleo: 0-3, R, RBI, BB, 2 K
• RHP Cam Tilly: 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
• RHP Tyler McLoughlin: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (1-1)
• RHP Ryan Dollar: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Rookie: FCL Mets (0-0)

NO GAME (SCHEDULE)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Eli Serrano

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Carl Edwards Jr.

Do the Phillies need to win this series at home to make you start feeling any better about them? Most people I know that follow the team are somewhat “blah” about the start the team has gotten off too, not caring that it’s just the beginning of the year still. They just want to see wins. This would be the second of three series at home they would be the victors of, an important thing as the season goes along. Is it a must win?

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Moving Alec Bohm to eighth in the lineup is supposed to help provide a spark to his bat. Hey, anything will help.
• Adolis Garcia is going to get the next crack at the cleanup spot ($) once the team faces a pitching staff with left handed relievers.
• According to these pitchers, they know what Zack Wheeler (and his lack of velocity) are going through in his rehab starts ($).

MLB news:

• Craig Kimbrel was called up by the Mets for some reason. Condolences to all Mets fans for what they’re about to endure.
• Tatsuya Imai is heading back to Houston to have his right arm examined, which he is calling “tired”. Seems ominous.
• Adley Rutschman is heading to the injured list with an ankle issue. He should only miss the requisite ten games.

We’re three weeks into the season, and officially in our first stretch of the doldrums. The Yankees’ bats have gone completely unreliable over the course of a four-game losing streak, backed up mainly by Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton swinging solid bats and the rest of the lineup noodling around. Their latest attempt to break out of their funk saw them waste a solid Max Fried start, rally late to take a lead as José Caballero managed to find a two-run double just to blow the lead in the same inning, and then repeat that in extras. They’ll look to salvage the series finale later today, but suffice to say things are not looking great for the pinstripes.

Today on the site, Estevão leads off with a look at how the concerns of the offseason have come to roost in the lineup’s early struggles, and then Matt gets a double-feature first covering the Rivalry Roundup and the results around the league from Saturday before getting into the history of Sammy Vick’s time as a Yankee on his birthday. Kento dives into Statcast to examine some key Yankees’ batting stance changes entering 2026, and after the game John will be around to deliver the weekly social media spotlight.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Tampa Bay Rays

Time: 1:40 p.m. EST

Video: YES Network, Rays.tv

Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL

Questions/Prompts:

1. Are we going to see the first sweep go against the Yankees this year, or can they get a sliver of revenge in the Trop?

2. Of the batters under the Mendoza line, who do you think will be the first to get back above it?

NJ.com | Randy Miller: With the Yankees among the worst in baseball at ABS challenge successes, there have been a couple very significant liabilities in the season’s first two weeks. While Austin Wells has been quite good behind the plate, José Caballero has been dreadful at the review system while batting. After Cabby lost two challenges in two games, both times coming in non-vital moments, Aaron Boone himself had to pull his nominal shortstop aside and reaffirm the importance of the limited challenges. After a pretty liberal attitude to reviews, expect the Yankees to tighten up just who can ask for a challenge, and when.

New York Daily News | Bill Madden: There was a lot of concern that Brian Cashman didn’t do enough over the winter to improve the lineup, and so far that concern seems justified. The Yankees sport the worst 7-8-9 lineup spots in the sport, and even leadoff hitter Trent Grisham has been good at walking with very little punch. Ben Rice and Giancarlo Stanton have been excellent, but there’s too many easy ABs for opposing pitchers right now.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: Cade Winquest was DFA’d off the roster this week, ending his Rule 5 draft experiment with the Yankees. Brian Cashman was candid that that was the only possible move with the club finally starting to get some pitching reinforcements, but it was a pity the right-hander never got into game action with the club. Winquest will now be returned to the Cardinals unless the Yankees can work out a trade with the acquiring team taking on his Rule 5 requirements to stay on the 26 man roster.

Jeffcoat Trant Funeral Home: A melancholy happy trails to Billy Bryan, who spent two seasons catching for the Yankees in 1966 and ‘67, but made a name with the then-Kansas City Athletics. Bryan’s time with the Athletics is perhaps highlighted by being batterymates with no less than 59-year old Satchel Paige:

Our best to Bryan’s family and loved ones.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — One week into the season, the Yankees looked like they were going to be the league’s best exploiting the automated ball-strike system.

A week later, their hitters have looked like the league’s worst challengers.

Aaron Boone chalked that up to the “ebb and flow” of the new ABS system, but the Yankees have not been particularly sharp at it of late, both in their actual success rates and some of when they have decided to tap their helmets.

“Being great at this is not, ‘We’re great at 80 percent,’ ” Boone said before the Yankees lost their fourth straight to the Rays in extras on Saturday at Tropicana Field. “It’s the right amount of volume, having that good sense of calls. So it’s nuanced and everyone’s a little bit different.”

Through their first five games of the season, Yankees hitters went 8-for-10 in successfully overturning strikes to balls. In nine games since, though, they were just 2-for-13 — the last few games of unsuccessful challenges standing out in particular because they coincided with the group’s overall offensive rut.

In Friday’s 5-3 loss to the Rays, they ran out of challenges by the top of the fifth inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. had an unsuccessful tap on an 0-0 count with one out and no one on in the fourth inning of a 3-2 game and then an inning later, José Caballero challenged the first pitch of the frame and was proved wrong. Saturday, Yankees hitters didn’t challenge once.

“We’re told to be aggressive and use them,” catcher Austin Wells said. “I think you can always hindsight and look back and think, ‘Oh man, I should have maybe not used it there.’ But they tell us to be aggressive and use it when we think it’s a ball. There’s been some really, really close ones that haven’t gone our way. But I think that’s just the game.”

Boone has in fact preached being aggressive to his team, but he has also said he wants them to get to a place where understanding leverage becomes instinctual — which is where he seemed to disagree with Friday’s challenges.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND YANKEES STATS

“We, just like the umpires, are going to be needing to make adjustments throughout the year,” said Ben Rice, who had a pair of bad challenges during the series against the Marlins. “Of course having understanding of situations, when to challenge and when not to. But at the end of the day, it’s just kind of a gut feeling.”

During spring training, Boone said he was direct with players in telling them they had either made a good or bad challenge. That has carried over into the regular season, as he indicated Saturday he had made his feelings known with Caballero (in a light way) after his rough one Friday night.

Overall, Yankees hitters entered Saturday 10-for-23 in ABS challenges — a success rate of 43.5 percent, which was the ninth lowest in the majors. Their 13 unsuccessful challenges were the most in the majors, but their 10 successful challenges were also the second most.

Chisholm and Caballero both had three unsuccessful challenges, though Caballero was 2-for-5 while Chisholm was 1-for-4.

Trent Grisham led the club with three successful challenges.

“I predicted all this coming out of [spring training] — there’s going to be noisy weeks where it’s like, ‘Ohh,’ ” Boone said. “The last thing I want is our guys to get gun-shy. I want us to be smart. I want us to continue to learn where it becomes reactionary, instinctive. There’s going to be weeks where you have not a great umpire, not a great receiver back there that you have a lot of opportunities to challenge. There’s going to be nights when you don’t. There’s going to be nights when you have a few and it doesn’t fall in a leverage spot. So there’s a lot of things that goes into the noise of the day to day.

“I think we’re going to be good at this. We’ve had a few this week that haven’t been great. But it also had nothing to do with us losing a game [Friday] night.”

The game looked lost for the Mariners early on Saturday. It was not.

The Astros were all over Luis Castillo from the jump. They lead 7-2 when they chased him in the fourth inning. Things felt final. But Cal Raleigh homered, Julio Rodríguez homered, and the Mariners offense roared back, with a J.P. Crawford walkoff single in the ninth to cap a six-run comeback.

“This is one of those feel-good wins,” Dan Wilson said after the game.

“I can’t say enough about the effort to come back. Being down five runs is a big deal, and these guys, they scratched and clawed their way back. … It’s a confidence builder. And again, the crowd, the ballpark, being here at home, all that plays into it, too. Just a great, great night at the ballpark.”

Things actually started pretty well for the Mariners. Castillo was sharp in the first. He got two quick outs before ending an eight-pitch battle against Isaac Paredes with a strikeout. His velocity was fine, his pitches looked sharp, and he was locating in the zone but away from the heart of the plate.

The Mariners’ lineup gave him quick support, too. Crawford drew a leadoff walk and Cal Raleigh yanked a first-pitch hanging curveball 364 feet to right for a 2-0 lead.

Julio Rodríguez followed with a rocket double just fair down the left field line, flashing a big smile after recording his first extra base hit of the season. It was just about the perfect start to a game.

But things quickly derailed. Josh Naylor popped out. And Randy Arozarena lined a 102-mph comebacker that just so happened to fly right into the glove of Lance McCullers Jr., who doubled-off Julio at second.

Castillo didn’t look as sharp when he came back out for the second inning. He loaded the bases with a single, a walk and another single — Julio prevented a run with a strong throw home that forced the runner to stay at third. Castillo initially looked like he might escape. He worked a full count to Yainer Diaz and then threw a called ball four, but a successful challenge from Cal turned the bases loaded walk into a strikeout.

With two outs, however, Castillo threw a first pitch fastball right down the middle and Taylor Trammell lasered a double off the wall in left center, clearing the bases and giving the Astros a 3-2 lead.

They would make it 4-2 on a Yordan Àlvarez home run to lead off the third. And they would make it 5-2 after stringing together three consecutive hits later in the inning. After three more singles and two more runs in the fourth, Dan Wilson turned to the bullpen down 7-2.

Again, this score felt pretty final there. The Astros’ lineup was scorching. They picked up 17 hits on the day, including six doubles and a homer, to go with four walks. The Mariners’ lineup, on the other hand, went nine-up and nine-down after the first inning, allowing McCullers to settle in. With the general malaise at the plate over the first few weeks of the season, it was hard to see them suddenly figuring it out.

Slowly but surely they did. Cole Young picked up a single in the bottom of the fifth. Dominic Canzone doubled him to third. Leo Rivas loaded the bases with a walk, bringing up Crawford, who plopped a two-run single into right center.

Cal followed with a sac fly, bringing Julio to the plate with two outs and a runner first, down 7-5. After falling behind 1-2, he got a hanging slider below the zone and scorched it out to straightaway center field at 108 mph — his first homer of the season to tie the game at 7-7.

The Astros threatened to take back the lead in each of the next three innings but couldn’t quite pick up the go-ahead knock.

In the seventh, Eduard Bazardo gave up a leadoff double to Carlos Correa. Joey Loperfido followed with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Bazardo got Cam Smith to watch three strikes for the first out. Then he got Diaz to pop out. Then he froze Trammell with a front-door, 94-mph sinker at the top of the zone to escape the jam.

In the eighth, Matt Brash gave up a one-out double to Yordan Alvarez that bounced off the top of the wall in right field at 111.3 mph. Brash eventually escaped three batters later.

Andrés Muñoz loaded the bases with the game still tied in the ninth. He gave up a screaming double to Smith that went off (or maybe through?) Leo Rivas’ glove at third. Then he walked two consecutive batters to load the bases with two outs. Muñoz was struggling to find the strike zone and things looked dicey when he fell behind Alvarez 2-0. But he got Alvarez to a chase a slider below the zone and ended the inning with a pop out.

That brought the Mariners to the plate with a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth. Luke Raley struck out to leadoff. Then Bryan Abreu completely lost the zone, loading the bases with three straight walks to Young, Brendan Donovan (who started the game on the bench with an illness), and Rivas.

Crawford stepped in. He watched a fastball right down the middle for strike one. He just missed on another fastball right down the middle, fouling it back for strike two. Then he got a third-straight fastball right down the middle, and this time sliced a firm line drive the other way to walkoff the Astros 8-7.

Crawford was the ideal person to have at the plate in that moment. He entered the game with a career 196 wRC+ with the bases loaded (ninth best since tracking began in 2002) and a 145 wRC+ in high-leverage plate appearances for his career (tied for 10th best).

He said he’s been able to consistently come through in big spots because of he’s confident in his approach.

“Get the job done — do your job, handle business, don’t try to think so much, put a good swing on it, and find a hole,” he said on his mindset in the ninth. “I just go up there with the same game plan. He’s got bases loaded, less than two outs, so all the pressure’s on him. He has to make his pitches, and I knew he was going to be aggressive right there. So just trying to be on time for a fastball.”

Crawford’s season didn’t get off to a good start. He began the year on the injured list with a sore shoulder that bugged him throughout Spring Training. He was activated just days after the Mariners signed Colt Emerson, likely his future replacement at shortstop, to a historic extension for a prospect. After a sleepy second half in 2025, there was some question about what Crawford might be able to provide in 2026, and how soon the Mariners might seek change.

But after reaching base four times Sunday, Crawford has a 129 wRC+ in his first 31 plate appearances of the new season. If he keeps hitting, he’ll keep finding himself in big spots like Saturday’s. And is history is any indicator, he’ll keep coming through.

“It means everything. You know, it’s one of those moments you dream of as a kid in the batting cages, and honestly it’s a dream come true. You have a chance to be the hero. You gotta capitalize.

“It never gets old. Hearing the crowd chant my name is honestly a dream come true. There’s no better feeling than that.”

Francisco Lindor doesn’t have any answers for his puzzling play.

He doesn’t have any excuses, either.

It’s not missing most of spring training due to a hamate bone injury. It’s not the absence of Juan Soto, adding pressure on the shortstop.

“I’m not sure. I feel like I’m locked in,” he said after the Mets’ 11-6 loss to the A’s at Citi Field Saturday, their fourth straight. “It just happens. I’ve got to be better.”

The defeat highlighted Lindor’s latest mental mistake. In the second inning, he failed to cover second on a potential double-play ball, allowing the A’s to tack on a run. Rather than cover the bag, Lindor pursued the ball up the middle. Second baseman Marcus Semien fielded it, and with nobody to throw to, stepped on second for the force.

“I went after the ball and Marcus was there,” said Lindor, batting just .167 on the season without an RBI. “I didn’t make it to second base. We didn’t turn the double play. Senga could’ve gotten out of the inning right there and I didn’t help him.

“No miscommunication. He’s one of the best second basemen in the game, and I should expect he’s gonna be there. There was no miscommunication at all.”

This wasn’t an isolated incident. In an April 1 game against the Cardinals, Lindor forgot how many outs there were on a double-play ball, which wound up forcing starter Freddy Peralta to throw extra pitches to get out of the inning. Later in the game, Lindor was picked off first while adjusting his sliding mitt.

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS

There was another miscue Friday. With runners on first and third and no outs and the Mets trailing by a run, Lindor only went halfway on a ground ball to first. He was thrown out trying to get back to third. Afterward, Lindor said he should’ve forced a rundown to advance the other runners. The next hitter, Luis Robert Jr., grounded into an inning-ending double play.

“It’s weird, because that’s not him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s hard to explain, and he’ll tell you he has to be better. Never seen so many plays, he’s out of position at times.”

Lindor dismissed the notion his spring training injury contributed to his poor start. He also said any extra responsibility to produce isn’t weighing on him differently than in past seasons.

“There’s always been pressure and I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself, because I expect a lot of myself,” Lindor said. “It’s the same every single year.”

On a day when the University of Denver hockey team won their historic 11th National Championship, it felt like nothing could go wrong in the Colorado sports world. Alas, there was no more Mile High Magic to go around for the Colorado Rockies (or Colorado Avalanche) tonight.

Things got off to a promising start. Ryan Feltner looked sharp early and the offense came out swinging with some big bombs on Germán Márquez in his first start against the Rockies since signing with the San Diego Padres this offseason.

The start wouldn’t last, as the Padres would quickly get back in front and pull away in the middle innings.

Pioneering the way

What the Rockies possibly needed most in this game was a hot start against starter Germán Márquez. They got just that.

Márquez has been susceptible early and often this season. Across his two starts, he carried a 13.50 first-inning ERA into today’s game. He had also given up 14 hits over eight innings pitched.

The Rockies hope was to put runners on base and rattle him with some early runs. Edouard Julien started that with a leadoff single. Julien attempted to steal second, was called out, but a successful challenge kept him there.

That would prove vital as Mickey Moniak hammered a two-run homer to right for an early lead.

The Padres nearly responded in the bottom of the inning, reaching second and third. With those runners in prime position to score, Nick Castellanos boomed a deep drive to left. With a save that was reminiscent of DU goalie Johnny Hicks, Jordan Beck made an incredible leaping grab at the left field wall to rob Castellanos of a three-run homer and the lead to end the inning.

And the purple coat would not stay away for long!

Julien would come back around and extend the early lead with a solo shot in the top of the third, right before Moniak would do the same with his second of the night, bringing the game to 4-0.

Trust the “proscess”

Following in the footsteps of DU hockey’s intentionally misspelled motto, the Rockies would trust in their gameplan and try to weather some storms.

The Friars got back into things with a strong three run third inning. With runners on first and third, Jackson Merrill would drive in a run on a grounder that was nearly a double play, bringing things to 4-1. With the next at-bat, Manny Machado blasted a two-run homer into left-center to make things a one-run game.

Márquez would settle things down, securing a 1-2-3 fourth inning. That, unfortunately, set the stage for the Padres to take the lead.

After striking out Gavin Sheets, Feltner gave up a double to Miguel Andujar and walked Freddy Fermin. Feltner nearly escaped, striking out Jake Cronenworth for the second out.

Ramón Laureano seized the opportunity with a three-run homer, giving San Diego a 6-4 lead heading into the fifth.

Similar start, different finish

Feltner and Márquez entered the matchup with eerily similar stat lines across their two starts.

In his two games, Feltner went 1-0 across 8.1 innings with a 4.32 ERA, one home run surrendered, and five strikeouts. Márquez was 1-1 across 8.0 innings with a 4.50 ERA, two home runs, and five strikeouts.

Despite a shakier start, Márquez would get the better of Feltner tonight.

After a scoreless first and second, Feltner gave up six runs on seven hits, including two home runs, with three walks, four strikeouts, and a 7.30 ERA for the night.

On the flipside, after giving up four runs in the first two innings, Márquez would rebound and post a 5.54 ERA after five innings of work, with just four hits, including three home runs, five strikeouts, and two walks.

An opportunity on thin ice

The Rockies chances quickly slipped away as the game went on.

Zach Agnos entered in relief of Feltner in the bottom of the fifth and didn’t fare much better. He made it through the fifth unscathed, but would lose control in the sixth. After Fermin reached base on an error, Agnos would walk the next three batters and walk in a run to put the game at 7-4.

Agnos finished his night with a 7.56 ERA on top of those three walks and three runs (two earned) surrendered.

There, things went from bad to worse. Brennan Bernardino came in and immediately gave up a double to Jackson Merrill pushing the score to 9-4. He intentionally walked Castellanos before striking out Gavin Sheets to limit the damage.

Take me home, country roads

The ol’ Fighting Rocks would not go quietly. The makings of a rally would come together in the eighth and ninth.

Ezequiel Tovar doubled in the top of the eighth. Moniak’s hot night continued with an RBI single to right field to bring Tovar home and make it 9-5. Moniak finished 3-for-4 with four RBI on two home runs.

Entering the ninth down four, Willi Castro struck out swinging and Brett Sullivan popped out for outs one and two. Just when it looked all but over, things got exciting.

TJ Rumfield, pinch-hititng for Kyle Karros, hit a line drive single to center. Tyler Freeman singled to right. Julien drew a walk on a wonderful at bat to load the bases. The situation forced a San Diego pitching change, bringing in Jason Adam to close things out. Tovar got behind in the count early and popped out to second for the final nail in the coffin.

A lot went well early and late tonight. It was nice to see the Rockies work with a decent lead early on. It felt promising that the big deficit led to an inspired rally. Ultimately, Warren Schaeffer highlighted the team’s seven walks, noting that you won’t win many games that way. The Rockies leave this one with some nice things to point to, but plenty left to clean up.

Up Next

The Rockies will ride three straight losses into the finale of this four game series out in Petco Park on Sunday afternoon.

Back at the top of the rotation, Kyle Freeland will take the mound against Nick Pivetta for a 2:10 p.m. MT first pitch.

The Rockies will look to escape the series with a win before shipping off to Texas for an early season rematch with the Houston Astros.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Last year, there were only two qualified hitters in Major League Baseball who had a .300 batting average and .500 slugging percentage.

Through the 14 games this season, the Dodgers are just about doing it as an entire team.

After a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, it’s becoming hard to keep track of all the statistical superlatives the club’s superstar lineup is setting.

Just to name a few, here are the categories in which they currently lead the majors:

–– Batting average: .297. Next closest: The Houston Astros at .281.

–– Slugging percentage: .507. Next closest: The Astros at .462.

–– Home runs: 27. Next closest: The Atlanta Braves with 20.

–– OPS: .879. Next closest: The Astros at .839.

–– Runs per game: 6.4. Next closest: The Astros at 6.1.

All that, despite the Dodgers producing just one run over their final five trips to the plate Saturday.

Behind a solid six-inning, three-run start from Emmet Sheehan, and three scoreless from the bullpen (which turned to Blake Treinen and Alex Vesia to close out the game, after Edwin Díaz threw 23 pitches in a three-run blown save Friday), the Dodgers prevailed on the strength of their early scoring, tagging Rangers starter Jack Leiter with five runs in a laborious first three innings.

Rangers leadoff man Brandon Nimmo went deep two pitches into the game, blasting a solo home run to center.

But the Dodgers (11-3) answered right back in the bottom of the first, when Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff home run of his own –– his fourth long ball this season and first at Dodger Stadium –– and Teoscar Hernández uncorked a three-run blast later in the inning.

The lead would eventually grow to 5-1 after another run in the third –– this one set up by walks from Will Smith and Max Muncy (the latter in a marathon 11-pitch, seven-foul-ball at-bat).

Then, despite some missed opportunities the rest of the night, and another home run from Nimmo that got the Rangers (7-7) back within two, the Dodgers put the game on ice in the eighth, when Hernández doubled and scored on a single from Andy Pages; his MLB-leading 17th RBI of the season.

What it means

The scariest part of the Dodgers’ early offensive outburst?

They still don’t even have all of their best hitters clicking.

Instead, the team is relying on quality at-bats throughout the order to generate consistent scoring. On Saturday, they forced Leiter to throw 93 pitches in his 3 ⅔ inning start.

“We’re really taking good at-bats. And even some of the guys that haven’t gotten going, they will,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s nice when everyone’s not firing on all cylinders, but one through nine, I see a good team offensive approach.”

Who’s hot

Indeed, for all the team-wide success at the plate, there are only two Dodgers regulars currently batting better than .300.

One of them is Pages, whose .442 average remains the best in MLB after a 1-for-3 performance with a walk Saturday.

The other, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, is Hernández, who bumped his average up to .306 with his 2-for-4 showing in the victory.

The slugger’s first-inning homer came on a vintage Hernández swing, staying inside an inner-half changeup from Leiter and launching it 393 feet to left field. His double in the eighth inning also went to the left-field gap, a sign he is starting to dial in his swing.

“I think it’s getting a good pitch to hit,” Hernández said. “The timing has been there. The pitch selection has been there. Just missing a couple pitches that I should have hit. But definitely it’s been great so far.”

Who’s not

All offseason, the Dodgers said they didn’t need Kyle Tucker, believing that –– even if they didn’t ultimately sign him, as they did to a $240 million deal in January –– their offense would be fine.

Lately, that theory has been put to the test.

While Tucker is not the only big bat still grinding through some early struggles, his recent slump has become the most pronounced. With a 0-for-4 performance Saturday, he now has just four hits in his last 20 at-bats. For the season, his average is down to .250 while his OPS is below .700.

Up next

The Dodgers and Rangers conclude their weekend series Sunday afternoon. Roki Sasaki will start for the Dodgers, looking to bounce back from his five-inning, six-run clunker against the Nationals last week. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom will go for the Rangers, entering with a 3.72 ERA in his first two outings.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

We aren’t even a month into the season and I am already out of words with this Guardians rookie class. Chase DeLauter continues to do Chase DeLauter things, Juan Brito gets called up and looks like a seasoned vet, and Parker Messick has his ERA down to 0.51 on the season after tossing 6.2 scoreless innings tonight.

It was also a huge game for José Ramírez, he went 2-4 with a solo HR and a walk. Despite the lackluster results, he had been hitting the ball hard and putting up good at bats for awhile now, it’s nice to see him finally get some good results. Angel Martinez continues to be the hottest hitter on the team, and one of the hottest hitters in the league. He went 2-5 tonight and he’s up to a .342 average with a .919 OPS. Daniel Schneemann had a huge hit in the 9th that scored two after coming in as a pinch hitter earlier in the game. Rocchio went 0-3 with a walk but had some awesome ABs. This feels like the best the Guardians offense has been in a long time. I can’t remember the last time it felt like we had this many players in the lineup contributing to winning, it has been so much fun.

I know I already mentioned Parker Messick earlier, but he deserves so much more praise. Since being called up to the MLB, his ERA is 2.04 and has 54 strikeouts to just 11 walks. The way he gets fired up after getting out of jams is so exciting to watch. Messick was phenomenal tonight, but so was the rest of the pitching staff. Erik Sabrowski continues to be the most underrated relievers in baseball, there are not many guys in the league that are as good as him right now.

The Guardians will take on the Braves again tomorrow at 7:20 pm ET on Peacock. The pitching matchup will be Tanner Bibee vs Chris Sale. Let’s go get 2/3.