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

To spice things up for a new season of The Notes, there will be a new dedicated section called “Sequence of the Week”. This section will break down a fun pitching or hitting sequence that happened during the week.

I’ve done some video breakdowns in the past on TheGoodPhight but this section will be weekly and a bit smaller. Maybe there are plenty of other people doing it, but I haven’t seen many, so it seems like an original idea.

Sequence of the Week: Andrew Painter’s strikeout on James Wood

There were many impressive signs with Andrew Painter’s outing against the Nationals. His fastball command was great, the changeup became a huge weapon the second time through the Nationals lineup, and his composure seemed top-notch for someone making their big league debut.

But if there was one highlight that summed up so much of what Painter did well against the Nationals, it was what he did against James Wood to finish off the fifth inning.

He missed a four-seam fastball up in the zone, an uncompetitive take from Wood. However, it does help him with dropping a steal-a-strike curveball. Painter dropped several of those against a heavy left-handed Nationals lineup but a high four-seam fastball can keep hitters slightly off balance.

The backdoor and backfoot slider played like a weapon on Tuesday night. He struck out Keibert Ruiz earlier in the game on a backfoot slider, but he mostly used the pitch to backdoor it to left-handed hitters.

Wood swung at this one because Painter tried throwing one earlier to him. The movement and late reaction because of the high heater still gets him a whiff.

Because Wood took the curveball for a strike and just saw a backdoor slider that started above the zone, he will have to respect the outside part of the plate. JT Realmuto goes back to the high fastball and Wood can’t layoff.

Best outfield ever (except for Otto Kemp)?

It’s not but the outfield showed up for the first six games in a big way. Justin Crawford flashed some solid early count swing decisions, especially on his walk-off Wednesday afternoon. Brandon Marsh has worked the best at bats overall and is hitting the ball hard.

Then there’s Adolis Garcia, who worked great at bats against the Nationals and has shown an early spike in his bat speed. It is early, and it might be hard for him maintain for him because of his age but Garcia’s average bat speed is the highest it’s been since 2023.

Through the first week of 2026, the Phillies outfield ranks 9th in wRC+ and 4th in strikeout rate. Will it hold? Probably not but still a good sign.

The defense has been more impressive than at the plate, and more sustainable. This sliding play by Garcia had a 20% catch probability, and he made it with ease. This is the kind of play Nick Castellanos was never making as a Phillie because of his very limited range and straight line speed.

Justin Crawford flashed some leather in the second game of the season and has generally looked fine in the field otherwise.

Marsh, Crawford, and Garcia have plus speed and range for their positions. This could end up being the best all-around outfield defensively the Phillies have put together under Dave Dombrowski.

Except for Otto Kemp.

The New York Yankees have completed their first road trip of the 2026 season, and while it’s definitely too early to take any bit of data too seriously, these six games leave us with some important takeaways. The most important one is reflected in the standings, as the Yanks boast the best record in the American League. Still, here are five fun ones:

Cam Schlittler is the real deal

Well, we are running out of adjectives to describe Schlittler. Not only did he post a 2.96 ERA in his 73-inning cameo last year, but he also dominated in the postseason and is at 11.2 scoreless frames in the young 2026 campaign, with no walks and 15 strikeouts.

He is now throwing harder than last year, Wednesday’s start notwithstanding (it was cold in Seattle), and has developed three different fastballs with elite velocity, command, and movement profiles: a four-seamer, a cutter, and a sinker. We don’t want to use the “a” word yet, but Schlittler is well on his way to cementing his place as one of the finest young starters in the league.

The Yankees’ offense is more than just Aaron Judge

Many MLB squads have scored more runs than the Yankees’ 24 as of Thursday afternoon. However, even with Aaron Judge sporting a 52 wRC+, New York has been able to win five out of six games, and to do that, the offense has to come up with some big hits.

Granted, the pitching has been doing most of the heavy lifting, but some of the non-Judge hitters are showing up. Four of them deserve a special mention: Giancarlo Stanton, Ben Rice, Cody Bellinger, and Paul Goldschmidt. Stanton is hitting .500 and slugging .750, Rice is sporting a .765 slugging percentage and a 19 percent walk rate, Bellinger has stolen two bases already and boasts a .400 OBP, and the Yankees don’t win on Wednesday without Goldschmidt’s huge three-run jack against George Kirby.

The pitching staff has a chance to be elite

Most teams have allowed more than 20 runs by now. The Atlanta Braves, the second-best pitching staff to this point, have conceded 12 runs. The Yankees, however, lead the league with just six runs allowed.

The starters have a 0.53 ERA, a 0.68 WHIP, and 35 punchouts in 33.2 innings. Only David Bednar, Camilo Doval, and Paul Blackburn have allowed runs among relievers. A couple of pitchers on the roster bubble this spring, Jake Bird and Brent Headrick, have looked amazing. And the Yankees still have Carlos Rodón, Gerrit Cole, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt due back at some point. In terms of quality and depth, the pitching staff has a chance to be elite.

Giancarlo Stanton still has it

Stanton has already hit his first home run of the season and boasts a 1.250 OPS. He might not be able to open a bag of chips, but he sure can swing a bat and murder a baseball. The veteran slugger leads the Yankees’ position players in fWAR with 0.4, and he hasn’t set a foot in the outfield. As long as he is healthy, he will be among the most productive players on the field. Staying in one piece has proven to be a challenge, though.

The Yankees know their strike zone

The Yankees, through Wednesday, rank second in baseball with 81.3 percent of ABS challenges won, only behind the Baltimore Orioles’ 85.7 percent. New York is a perfect 100 percent in challenges initiated by pitchers and catchers, and ranks fourth in MLB in challenges initiated by hitters, with a 72.7 percent success rate according to ESPN. Their 13 successful challenges overall are second behind the Minnesota Twins’ 16.

The Yankees sure do know their strike zone. They were even 5-for-5 on Monday with Mike Estabrook as the home plate umpire, the day in which manager Aaron Boone was this close to being ejected.

Well, that series against the Yankees exposed some of the lingering issues with the Mariners roster, as currently constructed. Left-handed pitching is going to be a huge problem for this extremely lefty-heavy lineup throughout the season, and there really isn’t much relief in sight — J.P. Crawford is back from his brief IL stint but bats left-handed and newly-extended Cole Emerson does too. It’s very early days so we shouldn’t put much stock into just seven games. Anyway, I’m sure this lineup will start hitting a bit better as soon as they hit the road. Speak of the devil Angels. The Mariners embark on the first road trip of the season with stops in Anaheim and Arlington.

Game	Time	Mariners Starter	Angels Starter	Mariners Win%	Angels Win%
Game 1	Friday, April 3 | 6:38 pm	RHP Bryan Woo	LHP Reid Detmers	55.6%	44.4%
Game 2	Saturday, April 4 | 6:38 pm	RHP Emerson Hancock	RHP Jack Kochanowicz	55.8%	44.2%
Game 3	Sunday, April 5 | 1:07 pm	RHP Luis Castillo	RHP Ryan Johnson	55.2%	44.8%

Overview	Angels	Mariners	Edge
Batting (wRC+)	92 (13th in AL)	113 (2nd in AL)	Mariners
Fielding (FRV)	-53 (15th)	-29 (12th)	Mariners
Starting Pitching (FIP-)	115 (14th)	100 (7th)	Mariners
Bullpen (FIP-)	110 (15th)	97 (10th)	Mariners

It’s so hard to parse who the Angels believe themselves to be. Are they trying to win? Gambling on bounce back seasons from guys like Grayson Rodriguez, Alek Manoah, and Josh Lowe isn’t a terrible idea if they’re looking to uncover some undervalued players but none of them are impact players in 2026. Are they building for the future? Signing four relievers with an average age of 36 and carrying Adam Frazier on the Opening Day roster instead of top prospect Christian Moore sends the wrong message. In an era where front office decision making has largely been homogenized by analytics, the Angels stand out as an outlier in the worst way possible. It’s easy to rag on them because things are so bleak for the franchise, but also, things are dire in Anaheim. Do you think the visitor’s clubhouse has air conditioning?

Player	Position	Bats	PA	K%	BB%	ISO	wRC+
Zach Neto	SS	R	554	26.9%	6.0%	0.217	116
Mike Trout	CF	R	556	32.0%	15.6%	0.206	120
Nolan Schanuel	1B	L	564	12.6%	10.5%	0.125	109
Jorge Soler	DH	R	315	29.8%	8.9%	0.172	88
Yoán Moncada	3B	S	289	26.0%	11.1%	0.214	117
Jo Adell	RF	R	573	26.4%	5.8%	0.249	112
Josh Lowe	LF	L	435	25.1%	7.6%	0.146	79
Logan O’Hoppe	C	R	451	30.8%	5.3%	0.158	72
Oswald Peraza	2B	R	265	30.2%	6.4%	0.219	32

For a brief moment during the first weekend of the season, Mike Trout was leading all of baseball in fWAR. He had a fantastic opening series against Houston, blasting two home runs, collecting six hits, and even stealing a bag. Then, he went hitless in three games against the Cubs to start this week. Zach Neto and Jo Adell are two of the most important players for the Angels’ future. The former has quietly developed into one of the best young shortstops in baseball over the last few years while the latter finally broke out last season after years of stalled development. Nolan Schanuel could be a core piece of the future if he could ever figure out how to hit for just a little more power. His bat-to-ball skills give him a decent floor, but right now, he’s profiling a bit too much like Casey Kochman.

Probable Pitchers 

Updated Stuff+ Explainer 

• Stuff+ scores for Mariners starters

Pitcher	IP	K%	BB%	HR/FB%	GB%	ERA	FIP
Reid Detmers	63.2	30.1%	9.4%	12.2%	44.6%	3.96	3.12
Bryan Woo	186.2	27.1%	4.9%	12.8%	40.8%	2.94	3.47

Pitch	Usage vRHB	Usage vLHB	Velocity	Stuff+	Whiff+	BIP+	xwOBA
Four-seam	51.4%	31.2%	95.8	114	141	96	0.300
Sinker	0.1%	6.9%	95.6
Curveball	25.2%	11.4%	73.6	102	71	69	0.286
Slider	23.3%	50.5%	88.3	126	123	99	0.294

Last year, the Angels moved Reid Detmers to the bullpen and he wound up seeing some high leverage work by the end of the season. Perhaps it was out of frustration with his slow development path despite possessing above average stuff, but that experiment lasted one season because a talented starter — even an inconsistent one like Detmers — is always going to be more valuable than a back-end reliever. If there’s one thing that he’ll carry forward from his time in the ‘pen, it’s a more aggressive approach that leans heavily on his two fantastic breaking balls to put batters away. He’s also added a splitter to his repertoire this spring in the hopes that it gives him a weapon to keep right-handed batters at bay.

Pitcher	IP	K%	BB%	HR/FB%	GB%	ERA	FIP
Jack Kochanowicz	111	14.1%	11.3%	18.4%	51.9%	6.81	6.05
Emerson Hancock	90	16.6%	8.1%	15.2%	43.0%	4.90	5.08

Pitch	Usage vRHB	Usage vLHB	Velocity	Stuff+	Whiff+	BIP+	xwOBA
Four-seam	13.7%	21.9%	95.5	89	116	90	0.382
Sinker	52.2%	43.6%	95.5	97	104	93	0.366
Changeup	5.4%	19.7%	89.9	86	95	78	0.358
Slider	19.4%	11.6%	87.3	90	81	100	0.379
Sweeper	9.2%	3.1%	82.4	90	66	78	0.362

There’s a pretty serious disconnect between Jack Kochanowicz’s high velocity and extremely miniscule strikeout rate. Sure, he throws a sinker as his primary fastball, but his entire repertoire is simply too hittable. It’s really not a good thing when each of your pitches has an expected wOBA over .350. And when he pitches in the zone, batters run a contact rate over 90%, an outrageously high rate. That has forced him to start pitching out of the zone more often, but his secondary pitches just aren’t optimized to earn swings and misses. It’s a vicious cycle where his arsenal isn’t good enough to overpower batters, but not deceptive enough to get them to chase. Without those strikeouts, we’re left with a groundball specialist who doesn’t have great command and allows way too many balls in play. It’s not a great profile.

Pitcher	IP	K%	BB%	HR/FB%	GB%	ERA	FIP
Ryan Johnson (High-A)	57.1	29.7%	4.6%	6.7%	51.0%	1.88	2.38
Luis Castillo	180.2	21.7%	6.2%	10.5%	41.3%	3.54	3.88

Ryan Johnson is a perfect encapsulation of everything wrong with the Angels current player development philosophy. He was drafted in the second round in 2024 after dominating in college ball at Dallas Baptist. He made the Opening Day roster in 2025 as a reliever, skipping the minor leagues entirely. After a month and a half and a 7.36 ERA, the Angels pulled the plug and sent him to High-A to continue his development as a starter. He made 12 starts in the minors and looked really good. Fast forward a year and Johnson had a solid, but not outstanding, spring training and Los Angeles opted to start the season with Johnson on the big league roster again. His first start of the season did not go well; he lasted just 3.1 innings against the Cubs, allowing six runs on seven hits and four walks while striking out just two. It’s really too bad because Johnson has a really intriguing profile, and obviously has some raw talent, but the games the Angels have played with his development pathway have really hurt his ability to grow.

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The Big Picture:

Team	W-L	W%	Games Behind	Run Diff	Recent Form
Astros	5-2	0.714	—	+13	W-W-W-W-W
Rangers	4-2	0.667	0.5	+5	W-W-W-W-L
Mariners	3-4	0.429	2.0	+3	L-W-W-L-L
Angels	3-4	0.429	2.0	-4	L-L-L-W-L
Athletics	1-5	0.167	3.5	-10	L-L-L-W-L

The Astros swept the Red Sox earlier this week, pushing their early season win streak to five games. They’ll travel to Sacramento this weekend, starting a long road trip that culminates in Seattle next week. The A’s offense has started the season in a huge funk, but maybe returning to the friendly confines of Sutter Health Park will give them the spark they need. The Rangers won their series against Baltimore and will open up their home slate with a series against the Reds this weekend.

The San Diego Padres needed a win like Wednesday afternoon’s.

As the Padres bludgeoned the San Francisco Giants, 7-1, to salvage the series finale, they finally put together an offense that matched what it looks like on paper.

The club (after only recording nine extra-base hits going into Wednesday’s contest) had five XBH, including four doubles and Ramón Laureano’s, club-leading, second home run of the year.

In addition, starter Nick Pivetta put his Opening Day jitters behind him, striking out eight Giants batters over five innings. The scoreless performance earned him his first win of the 2026 season.

The Friar Faithful hopes that it’s a sign of things to come and not a fluke. The test of that will come in this weekend’s road series against the Boston Red Sox.

Taking the mound

Sonny Gray (BOS) v. Michael King (SD)

After being traded from the St. Louis Cardinals earlier this offseason, Gray hopes to factor as an anchor for a dominant Boston rotation. Whether or not that’s the case remains to be seen.

He struggled in his first outing with the Sox, allowing three runs on six hits across only four innings pitched. It was a rough outing, needing 80 pitches to get through it.

If Gray can’t solve a Padres’ offense that seems to have finally unlocked some slug, Boston will have trouble in a hurry.

King, on the other hand, had a memorable first outing. He pitched five vintage innings that stifled a Detroit Tigers’ lineup that was decimating Nick Pivetta only a day earlier.

If he can do the same to a Sox group that has mostly underwhelmed offensively, the Friars will easily overtake Boston.

Batter up!

With San Diego facing a right-hander in Boston starter Gray, skipper Craig Stammen will likely use a similar lineup to Wednesday’s game against San Francisco.

That being said, putting Nick Castellanos in left field over Laureano on Tuesday night showed Stammen favors career matchups against a pitcher over who has a hot bat.

With that in mind, the lineup will probably look like this:

1. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
2. Xander Bogaerts, SS
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Ramón Laureano, LF
6. Miguel Andujar, DH
7. Jake Cronenworth, 2B
8. Nick Castellanos, 1B
9. Luis Campusano, C

Almost all of those Padres have a batting average above .300 against Gray, with the lone exception being Campusano (no at-bats).

Machado has had a rough go of it lately and is looking for some slug. He could find it today against Gray (career .343 average against, 35 ABs).

Tatis is 3-for-3 in his career versus Gray and looks to do the same as Machado after starting the season 5-for-21.

Andujar and Castellanos will look to rack up some hits with their bench bats starting the season cold. They have a 2.334 (3 ABs) and .941 OPS (20 ABs), respectively, when facing Gray.

Relief corps

For a guy who was a relief pitcher, Stammen’s bullpen strategy has been… odd.

On Wednesday, Jeremiah Estrada came out and pitched a clean sixth inning before high-leverage lefty Adrian Morejon came in for the seventh.

Morejon wasn’t bad by any means, but he wasn’t his dominant self.

After giving up a leadoff double to former teammate Luis Arraez, he got two outs before surrendering a single to Harrison Bader, giving the Giants their lone run of the game.

He stopped the bleeding there but surprisingly returned in the eighth after not looking particularly sharp.

Normally, that eighth inning would be set-up man Jason Adam’s. But with him still rehabbing his way back, Morejon got the call.

He got two outs before allowing a walk to Rafael Devers. Stammen went to closer Mason Miller for the final four outs.

Miller dazzled, immediately flying out Heliot Ramos. He returned in the ninth and got all three outs by way of the K.

With the travel day, all of the relievers are available. But if King falters early, it’s likely Stammen turns to Ron Marinaccio or Wandy Peralta to cover multiple innings.

San Diego Padres Craig Stammen began his managerial tenure, winning only twice during the opening six-game homestand. For all the Spring Training talk, Stammen and company had very little to celebrate in the first week of the 2026 season.

Offensive woes continue in 2026

No question, the offensive production is a bit slow out of the gate.

The Detroit Tigers staff was not going to be an easy opening series foe. But the back end of the Giants’ rotation should have been a feast for the Padres bats. 

The Friar Faithful are confused whether the Spring Training lineup experimentation has come to an end. Stammen seems content to leave Fernando Tatis Jr. in the leadoff spot, but he did shuttle Jake Cronenworth into the top of the order in three games. 

The first-year manager spent the entire time in Peoria, Ariz. promising changes to the lineup. It was baffling to see him throw out the same batting order that continued the hitting struggles from a season ago. We expected a contact-driven top of the order that would put themselves in scoring position for Manny Machado and Tatis Jr. to drive them home.

In the final game of the Giants series, the Friars’ bats may have awoken for a possible promising road trip. The hitters looked more relaxed at the plate. Collectively, the lineup had more free and easy at-bats that generated more run-scoring opportunities. Moving forward, better execution should put more runs on the scoreboard.

Unfortunately, we did not see much of that in the first homestand of the season; instead, there were too many lunging, off-balance swings for my taste.

Pitching is promising to almost dominate at times

Starting pitching was another lowlight of the homestand. Randy Vasquez outclassed the Tigers for the team’s first win. Nick Pivetta was good in his second start of the season. However, he only lasted five innings after throwing 82 pitches in the contest. Pivetta allowed only one hit and struck out eight batters. 

Early results are encouraging in how Stammen deployed the bullpen to protect a lead. It made sense for him to aggressively use the pen (Jeremiah Estrada, Adrian Morejon, and Mason Miller) to secure the win before heading out on the season’s first road trip.

A baseball season is very much like a rollercoaster ride with plenty of ups and downs before settling into a steady level of play. 

The Stammen era may have opened with a resounding dud, but the jury is still out on how he will run a major league club. From a strategic standpoint, we need more than six games to figure out if Stammen is a competent manager. 

It will be interesting to see how he keeps the momentum going from Wednesday’s victory.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cubs fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

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Earlier this week, I asked you what your biggest concern is about the Cubs. It’s very early in the season, but a small majority of respondents in the SB Nation Reacts survey said it’s the starting rotation:

This is a place where I don’t agree with the majority. As has been the case the last couple of years, the Cubs bench doesn’t appear very strong. On paper, with Dylan Carlson (who still hasn’t played!), Michael Conforto and Scott Kingery (plus whoever isn’t the starting catcher) as the bench players would seem better than last year’s selection of Jon Berti and Vidal Bruján (among others), but Craig Counsell hasn’t given those guys much playing time. Of the three mentioned above, only Conforto has started a game, and he doesn’t have a hit. Kingery has pinch-run — once — and as noted, Carlson hasn’t played at all.

I continue to believe that Carlson would be better in right field right now than either Conforto or Matt Shaw. But they don’t let me make that decision, so we’ll see what Counsell comes up with.

The survey was posted before Edward Cabrera and Matthew Boyd put together really good outings on Tuesday and Wednesday, so perhaps some of you who voted “starting pitching” might have a different vote now. How do you feel about the rotation after six games? Personally, I feel pretty good about it. Four of the five starters threw pretty well, and Shōta Imanaga made one bad pitch that was smacked for a three-run homer.

I think they’ll be fine, particularly after Justin Steele returns.

Here are the results of the national questions asked in the survey this week.

I’d concur with this vote, though now that the Pirates have called up Konnor Griffin and signed him to a long-term deal, perhaps he’d be the guy. Griffin is MLB’s No. 1 prospect and immediately becomes a strong Rookie of the Year candidate. And he doesn’t turn 20 until later this month.

I concur with this vote as well. Netflix paid big bucks to have the Yankees and Giants play a season opener as the only game, but… many folks don’t have Netflix and didn’t want to sign up just for that.

Over the past few seasons (before this year), MLB made a big deal about having all 30 teams play on Opening Day. I’d like to see them go back to that.

Thanks to all who participated in this week’s survey.

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This edition of SB Nation Reacts is sponsored by FanDuel.

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It’s a busy 15-game slate across the Majors today, and I’ve dug deep to find the best HR props.

My MLB player props and home run analysis focus on Manny Machado, Kyle Schwarber, and Shea Langeliers, who are all great options to clear the fences on Friday, April 3.

Best MLB home run props today

Manny Machado (+520)

Manny Machado has yet to go deep this season, but he is hitting .263. Today’s contest against the Boston Red Sox, however, feels like the perfect time for him to smack home run No. 1 of the campaign. 

The San Diego Padres face Sonny Gray, and Machado is very familiar with him, going 12-for-35 with three long balls. Fifteen of Machado’s homers last season were off righties, and Gray’s lone HR allowed this year was against a right-handed hitter. 

Despite entering his mid-30s, Machado's bat remains potent, as he ranked among the Top 10% in average exit velocity and hard-hit rate last season. We're getting a great number for our MLB picks, banking on his lumber to start heating up in Beantown this afternoon.  

• Time: 2:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SDPA, NESN

Kyle Schwarber (+172)

Kyle Schwarber is still one of the most feared power hitters in the game. While he’s only hitting .182, the slugger has gone deep twice already, and he’ll be up against former teammate Michael Lorenzen today, who is now a member of the Colorado Rockies. 

Lorenzen had a tough start to the campaign, allowing three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of work against the Marlins while surrendering a homer.

Schwarber has had nothing but success against Lorenzen, going 9-for-24 with two deep flies. He also went deep twice at Coors Field last season, where the ball flies due to the high elevation.

The slugger remains an elite bat when he makes contact, ranking in the 99th percentile in barrel rate and in the 89th and 88th, respectively, in average exit velocity and hard-hit%.

• Time: 4:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia, COLR

Shea Langeliers (+280)

The Athletics have some intriguing talent, and Shea Langeliers is right at the top of that list. He leads MLB in homers so far, with five, and he’s gone deep in all but two games this season. 

The Athletics face Houston Astros righty Cristian Javier tonight, who allowed six earned runs in his season debut while giving up two home runs.

While Langeliers is just 1-for-6 lifetime against Javier, this could be an opportunity to take advantage of a guy who is still trying to find his confidence after a brutal outing. 

• Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: SCHN2, NBC Sports California

Today’s HR parlay

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.

Happy Home Opening Day, everybody. If you feel like approaching today as the true Opening Day, no one would blame you. After nearly 48 hours of mild rage, I’m ready to turn the page.

A question for today: Who will step up to provide leadership for these 2026 Red Sox? Part of the issue with having so much turnover year over year is that it’s difficult for a first-year player with the team, regardless of experience, to be vocal. A year ago, Alex Bregman was able to take on that responsibility, which, according to Roman Anthony, continued during the WBC with all of their American teammates.

This season has gotten off to a rocky start, not only on the field with a 1-5 record, but off the field with starting catcher and, by all accounts, great teammate Carlos Narvaez being scratched from Wednesday’s lineup. While it has not been reported as disciplinary, manager Alex Cora didn’t state that it was not disciplinary when given the opportunity. Was Narvaez a repeat offender? Was there a mild offense that might have been let go if the team were 4-1? It seems to me that Cora is sending a message to the rest of the team that they need leadership on this team. Who are some candidates to step up?

Enjoy the home opener, and be good to one another.

We made it to Opening Day. It was hard to get here, literally. A 1-5 record before setting foot in front of the Green Monster is not what Red Sox Nation waited all winter to see. Already the winnable games in Cincinnati look like missed opportunities compared to the series in Houston. But now the Sox are back in Boston! A new Opening Day, a new beginning. Except for the record. That stays. The San Diego Padres will do their best to add to the misery, but at 2-4 things haven’t gone that much better for the Friars record wise.

If you’re reading this and headed to the ballpark make sure to get to your seats by 1:30 PM ahead of a 2:10 PM first pitch. They always put on a show for the Opening Day festivities.

Michael King will get things started for the Padres coming in off a 5-inning 1-run, 4-walk, 6-strikeout game against the Detroit Tigers. King had a big 2024 to begin his Padres career but injuries shortened his season last year to just 15 starts. He’s opposed by Sonny Gray, making his second start for Boston. His debut in Cincinnati was rather underwhelming, but with a 5:1 K:BB he was in line with this recent numbers and just needs to give up fewer hits and he can control the game.

Randy Vásquez gets the call on Saturday. Another product of the Juan Soto trade (along with Friday’s starter Michael King), the 27-year-old righty made 26 starts last year and 20 the year before that. He held the Tigers scoreless for 6.0 innings with an 8:3 K:BB which might have you raise an eyebrow based on the Astros carving up Boston like a turkey. However, his career K/9 is just 5.9, and was 5.3 in 2025. So maybe his luck is about to run out. Connelly Early held the Reds to 5 hits and 1 run over 5.1 innings in his 2026 debut. Hopefully they don’t still need a stopper on Saturday but if that’s the situation the kid has impressed since the start of Spring Training.

Closing things out for San Diego is old friend Walker Buehler. The less said about his time in Boston the better. He faced the San Francisco Giants in his lone start of the year so far and lasted just 4.0 innings. He struck out 3, allowed 3 runs, and walked 2. Ranger Suárez will pitch the finale for Boston and, like many of the pitchers listed here, is looking for a turnaround. Venezuela winning the WBC may have hurt his preparation as he faced an abnormal spring innings buildup, and the Padres on paper still have some big bat,s but maybe that’s the challenge he’s been looking for.

One thing about the Padres rotation for the weekend: they’re all righties. Which for a lefty-heavy lineup can’t hurt when you are looking for an edge to jump start the offense. So far the load-bearing Wilyer Abreu has been providing a lot of the offense but maybe others will take the opportunity to jump on the bandwagon.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Friday, April 3: Michael King (0.00 ERA / 3.77 FIP) vs. Sonny Gray (6.75 ERA / 4.67 FIP)

Saturday, April 4: Randy Vásquez (0.00 ERA / 2.00FIP) vs. Connelly Early (1.69 ERA / 2.05 FIP)

Sunday, April 5: Walker Buehler (6.75 ERA / 7.17 FIP) vs. Ranger Suárez (8.31 ERA / 8.48 FIP)

When/Where to Watch

Friday, April 3 at 2:10 PM ET on NESN

Saturday, April 4: 4:10 PM ET on NESN

Sunday, April 5: 1:35 PM ET on NESN

In 2025, the Orioles were supposed to be contenders to make a run at the AL East and deep into the postseason. Instead, they finished 75-87, in last place, with ineffectiveness a big problem on offense. Baltimore’s hitters batted a collective .235 (tied for 24th in MLB) and posted a .699 OPS (21st). Injuries shredded the pitching staff, but the position players were mostly healthy and still couldn’t hit. The organization knew it had a problem.

So the Orioles did some rebuilding on the offensive side. First-year manager Craig Albernaz brought in an entirely new coaching staff on the hitting side: Dustin Lind as hitting coach, Brady North as assistant hitting coach, and Donnie Ecker in the bench coach role. On the position player side, the team’s biggest move was signing Pete Alonso, the longtime Mets slugger who piled up 264 home runs in Queens and cashed in on a five-year, $155 million deal, to anchor the middle of the order. Dylan Beavers emerged as regular lineup options, and veterans Leody Taveras and Taylor Ward joined to provide steady bats on the corners.

On paper, the offense looked rejuvenated. But of course, following a busy offseason, the million-dollar question is: can they actually hit?

After the first week of the 2026 season, the answer is complicated—although this is at least better than bad.

On the downside, this team is slow. Baltimore is near the bottom of the league in stolen bases, and third to last in foot speed by Statcast measures. This is a little surprising considering the outfield got faster, and Blaze Alexander is, according to Statcast, true to his name.

They’re also sitting in the bottom ten in home runs, with just five through their opening games compared to the Los Angeles Angels’ league-leading ten. For a lineup built around adding a slug­ger and improving the overall quality of at-bats, the early power numbers are conspicuous, though it’s too soon for any real inferences. Moreover, the Orioles are hitting copious doubles (they’re seventh in in two-baggers). That hints at a team making contact and driving the ball into the gaps, even if they haven’t found the elevation yet to turn those into home runs.

Otherwise, the contact looks pretty good. The team batting average sits at .255 (ninth in the league), their on-base percentage is .332 (seventh), and they’ve scored 26 runs (thirteenth). These are not catastrophic numbers; they suggest, instead, a lineup with potential that hasn’t quite unlocked it yet.

As for the individual performances, the early standouts are Taylor Ward, Dylan Beavers, and Pete Alonso. Ward is batting .333 through the opening stretch, offering the consistent contact the club is looking for from the outfield corners. Beavers is hitting .286 with a homer, three RBI, and three runs scored. His three-hit game in Baltimore’s 8-3 win over the Rangers, capped by a solo shot in the sixth inning, was a showy and exciting showing by the rookie.

The player drawing the most scrutiny, Alonso himself, is also looking good in an early-season sample, even if he’s not slugging homers in bunches. He’s already reaching base with abandon, hitting .304 with seven hits and three walks in 23 ABs. Blaze Alexander and Adley Rutschman are also starting the year off hot, too.     

On the cold side of things, Gunnar Henderson, despite an early homer, is 4-for-28, but the foot speed and athleticism are still on display. Coby Mayo, despite a hot spring, is 2-for-20. Tyler O’Neill isn’t rushing out of the gate, either.

This is just illustrative, and not meant to be predictive of anything. This season, the Orioles have the pieces. The new coaches have a philosophy. The new faces are hitting. The early returns are, well, early, but they suggest a lineup that’s more than capable of making noise—even if they’re not mashing taters just not over the fence yet. We’ll have to give them time.

The Phillies signing of Adolis Garcia this offseason was met with at best a shrug and at worst rightful comparisons to former one year deal outfielders past. Garcia hadn’t been an average or above hitter since 2023 and was non-tendered by the Rangers after a 2025 campaign that saw him hit .227 with a .665 OPS. But the Phillies and Dave Dombrowski elected to sign Garcia to be their starting right fielder, believing that he could rebound into being a productive right fielder at best and a defensive upgrade over Nick Castellanos at worst.

So far in 2026, that bet is looking good. Garcia is 7-22 (.318) with a home run and one walk to five strikeouts. The metrics also back up the eye test, with a 96.8 MPH average exit velocity, .314 xBA, and .460 xSLG all suggesting that Garcia is putting good swings on the ball. He’s routinely hit the ball hard, but some of them have been line drives right into gloves. One of the biggest things the Phillies worked on with Garcia this offseason was a change in his batting stance. That led to Garcia being late on some balls this spring, but it seems he is starting to get his timing down in the season’s early going.

A BOMB FOR EL BOMBI! pic.twitter.com/jBddtj8clw

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 31, 2026

The other thing the Phillies worked on with Garcia was plate discipline. He has always been a free swinger, but the Phillies wanted him to cut down on his contact on pitches outside the zone, as he made contact on 58% of the pitches he saw outside the strike zone in 2025. Entering Wednesday’s game, Garcia’s outside the zone contact was down to 46.2% while his contact rate on pitches in the zone was 84.6%. He was still swinging and chasing at his normal levels, but he was also making contact on better pitches to hit at a higher rate.

Garcia hasn’t exactly stood out in a major positive way on defense yet however, as he misplayed a fly ball on Sunday and had an errant throw skip into the dugout on Tuesday. But he did have an impressive sliding grab on Saturday that likely saved at least one run from scoring.

Adolis Garcia with a 4-star grab on this play, just a 30% catch probability.

No 4 or 5-star grabs for the Phils RF in all of 2025, got one in the first series of 2026. This just would have been a routine single last year. pic.twitter.com/RWy4f5I0yY

— The WARmonger (@TheWARmonger_) March 29, 2026

Of course, this is all in a ludicrously small sample size. After all, some of these things could have been said about Max Kepler at this point last season. This could just be an early hot streak for Garcia rather than a harbinger of a good season. So, what are your first impressions of Adolis Garcia?

Good morning, LSB.

There is baseball in Arlington today.

The DMN has everything you need to know if you’re heading to the ballpark.

Shawn McFarland has 5 numbers that highlight the Rangers strong offensive start to the season.

Kevin Sherrington is here to throw cold water on the Rangers’ hot opening week.

Cody Bradford is set for a rehab start.

Jim Callis has a list of where every Rangers top prospect will start the season.

On the home opener front, Jake Oettinger will throw out the first pitch this afternoon. Fresh off a shutout!

Some guy named RJ Coyle has a list of all the Ranger batters’ walkup songs for the start of the season.

And finally Evan Grant and Sarah Blaskovich did their annual Rangers new food menu taste test that culminated in Evan wearing the giant Homer Simpson nacho hat.

That’s all for this morning. First pitch at the GLF is set for 3:05 today with MacKenzie Gore on the mound for Texas.

Happy baseball, and go Rangers!

Thursdays can obviously be light days on the major league schedule, but this one was a particularly short slate. As far as relevance to the Yankees goes, the Blue Jays were set to take on the White Sox in Chicago’s home opener, but it was pushed back due to inclement weather. So, American League action was limited to just one contest, an AL Central battle between the Twins and Royals. Kansas City is a formidable contender in the Junior Circuit, so why not give them the ol’ Rivalry Roundup treatment?

Action resumes on Friday with the Jays and Sox, Boston heads to San Diego, the Tigers match up with the Cardinals, and the Mariners and Astros both face off against other AL West squads.

Minnesota Twins 5 (2-4), Kansas City Royals 1 (3-3)

Good pitching and timely home runs. It may come as a shock, but they lead to wins on the baseball field. While the Twins have had a rough start and are poised for a disappointing 2026 campaign, they put those two together quite well on Thursday in Kansas City.

Taj Bradley was on the bump for the Twins, making his second start of the year, and it was his second straight good one. While the line was a little funky in his first start (4.1 IP, 1 ER, 9 K against Baltimore), he was effective, and he put together a real good one on Thursday. Completing six innings of shutout ball, the right-hander kept the baserunners limited while striking out three, maintaining what was a narrow 1-0 lead for the Twins. All said, Bradley has begun the ‘26 season on the right foot.

Minnesota gained that lead early on, in what can be called non-conventional fashion. With Kody Clemens on second base, Royals catcher Salvador Perez made an errant pickoff that sailed into center field, which allowed the Tigers first baseman to trot home to open scoring.

From the other dugout, Cole Ragans was just as good as Bradley on the mound. The always-fun-to-watch lefty allowed only the unearned run across his six innings of work, striking out eight Twins along the way. Baserunners were limited too, as he gave up just four hits and a walk, though the Twins clearly did what they could with them.

With the score remaining 1-0 for much of this one, both lineups mustered something up in the eighth inning. Both the Twins and the Royals managed sacrifice flies in the innings, coming off the bats of Byron Buxton and Vinnie Pasquantino. Minnesota headed into their half of the ninth looking for some insurance.

They would receive just what the doctor ordered, in a rather explosive fashion. Matt Wallner started the fun with a slicing line drive solo homer over the recently shortened wall in left-center, his second on the season. Two batters later, Clemens played a little copycat with a opposite field homer into the Twins bullpen in left. If the now 4-1 lead wasn’t enough, Josh Bell got in on the action two pitches later, when he turned on a ball and sent it scorching into the opposite ‘pen in right field. Three solo shots certainly counts as a viable insurance plan, and the Twins coasted on that to victory.

Four Minnesota relievers allowed just the one run in the final three innings of this one, with veteran Justin Topa closing things down on the non-save situation. Despite the tough start, it was a good win for the Twins as the Royals’ loss puts them back to .500 at 3-3.