SAN DIEGO – The transfer of playing wealth from the American League East to the National League West is palpable, says veteran San Diego Padres outfielder Jason Heyward, who offered an acute analysis of the issue.
An argument can be made that the NL West, with its investment this season of $1.25 billion in players and MLB-best four teams with a winning record entering Friday, is the best division in the sport.
“That’s fair,” Heyward said Tuesday night after his return from the injured list amid left knee soreness in the Padres’ 7-4 victory over the division rival San Francisco Giants at jam-packed Petco Park. “From the amount of money spent investing in the teams to the amount of guys who’ve played in postseason baseball, it’s pretty top heavy.”
The reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers lead the league with $400.5 million invested in players for luxury tax purposes, but even the 6-25 Colorado Rockies have spent a 21st-in-MLB $145 million. The Padres, Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks have collectively spent $703.2 million trying to keep up with the Dodgers.
It’s created a highly competitive environment with the Dodgers, Padres and Giants each already having at least 19 wins.
“It’s probably the strongest I’ve seen this division in a while,” said Giants starter Robbie Ray, who also has pitched for the D-backs.
To Heyward’s point, the Padres have Manny Machado from the Baltimore Orioles, Nick Pivetta and Xander Bogaerts from the Boston Red Sox and Michael King from the New York Yankees. The Dodgers have Mookie Betts from the Red Sox. The D-backs have Corbin Burnes from the Orioles. The Giants have Willy Adames, who played for Tampa Bay’s 2020 World Series participants.
That’s a transfer of $1.45 billion from the AL East to the NL West in long-term financial obligations via either trades or free-agent signings. And that’s just a sampling.
“It’s having seasoned vets mixing in with some up-and-coming young guys,” said Heyward, who played for the Chicago Cubs in 2016 when they won the World Series for the first time in 108 years. “That’s the route you have to take. It’s about the character you build on the club, too.”
The AL East is still highly competitive, make no mistake about it, with the Yankees leading the AL in spending at $312.1 million, third in MLB behind the Dodgers and crosstown Mets, the latter of which is at $329.8 million.
Toronto ($267.5 million) and Boston ($247.7 million) are not that far behind the Yanks, with the division as a whole spending a total of $1.1 billion. Tampa Bay is 29th in baseball at $102.9 million.
“You have to spend money to make money,” Heyward said, noting that the seven highest spending teams across the NL West and AL East are among MLB’s top teams thus far this season in attendance and are all highly competitive.
The Padres, who opened 12-0 at home and are 14-4 there after sweeping the Giants in a two-game series, have sold out 15 of their first 18 games at Petco. They drew 47,345 on Tuesday for the umpteenth Tony Gwynn bobblehead night—the gift that keeps on giving—the second-largest crowd in the history of a ballpark that opened in 2004 but has yet to host a World Series game.
It was the first time all season either the Giants or Padres had played one of their top division rivals as April turned into May.
“It’s crazy,” Bob Melvin, in his second season managing the Giants, said. “Usually, the first month of the season there’s a ton of divisional stuff. It’s weird, but it is what it is. The Padres are a good team off to a great start.”
San Diego has been to the World Series twice since expanding into the NL in 1969, but it lost on both occasions—to the Detroit Tigers in 1984 and the Yankees in 1998. The franchise is 1-8 in Fall Classic competition, with all the home games having been played in its original facility—Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium, a multi-purpose edifice in Mission Valley.
This is the fourth season since the Seidler family began pouring money into the team. With the investment into star players and the goal of winning it all, Padres fans have bought in. And despite chaos in ownership since Peter Seidler died after the 2023 season, the spending continues.
Home attendance has risen from 2.1 million in 2017 to a club-record 3.3 million last season when revenue was $448 million, according to Sportico’s MLB valuations. The Padres’ total value is $2.31 million, way up from the $800 million the Seidlers paid John Moores when they purchased the club in 2012.
After missing the playoffs 13 years in a row, the Padres have been to the expanded postseason three times in the past five years. Petco Park has become a destination ballpark.
Melvin, surveying it from the third base side visitor’s dugout pregame on Tuesday night, said, “it’s San Diego, you can’t get any better than this.”
Melvin managed the Padres for two seasons in 2022 and 2023 before moving on to the re-tooling Giants. His 2022 club suffered a five-game NL Championship Series loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, as deep as the Padres have gone in the playoffs since the 1998 World Series.
The current club is replete with players that have either won or gone to the Fall Classic elsewhere—Bogaerts, Machado, Heyward and Yu Darvish.
“Their body of work speaks for itself,” current manager Mike Shildt said after the Wednesday win. “But we don’t take anything for granted. We know who we are and how we play. This game is challenging.”
The overall challenge will be surviving the NL West.
Here are five things to watch and predictions as the Mets and Cardinals play a three-game series in St. Louis beginning on Friday at 8:15 p.m. on SNY.
Preview
The bullpen is in flux
With A.J. Minter and Danny Young both out for a significant amount of time, the Mets have been relying on some of their depth relievers lately.
On Wednesday against the Diamondbacks, Chris Devenski pitched the final two innings after Brandon Waddell -- who had been starting in the minors -- tossed 4.1 scoreless frames in relief.
Both Waddell and Devenski were optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse following the game, with left-hander Genesis Cabrera and right-hander Ty Adcock called up to replace them.
Cabrera, who has had big league success as recently as last season with the Blue Jays, is New York's only lefty reliever at the moment.
Megill has been tremendous this season, and the results aren't a fluke.
To go along with his sterling 1.74 ERA (2.34 FIP) and 1.12 WHIP, Megill is striking out a career-best 11.3 batters per nine, allowing a career-low 6.7 hits per nine, and has an ERA+ of 224.
The upside has always been there for Megill, but he entered this season after a rocky first four years in the majors, where he combined to put up a 4.56 ERA.
Perhaps it's all coming together for Megill in what is his age-29 season.
Acuña opened this season needing to make strides offensively following an up-and-down 2024 season in the minors and a promising taste of the majors toward the end of the year.
And he's succeeding.
New York Mets second baseman Luisangel Acuna (2) celebrates hitting a double against the Minnesota Twins in the fifth inning at Target Field / Jesse Johnson - Imagn Images
Acuña entered play on Thursday with a 101 OPS+, which is a tick above league average.
He is hitting .288 with a .342 OBP to go along with five doubles, but Acuña hasn't homered in his first 79 plate appearances after cracking three homers in just 40 plate appearances late in 2024.
Home run power isn't expected to be a big part of Acuña's game, but if he can tap into it just a bit, it will make him that much more formidable.
The Cardinals have been tough at home
The Mets took care of the Cardinals with relative ease during a four-game sweep last month at Citi Field, outscoring them 19-9.
St. Louis entered play on Thursday with a 14-17 record, though their run differential of +10 suggested that they've been a bit unlucky.
At home, the Cards are 10-5, including series wins over the Phillies, Astros, and Brewers.
The Cardinals have also been a relatively strong offensive team, scoring the 10th-most runs in baseball.
Brendan Donovan has been dangerous
Donovan has been one of the toughest outs in the St. Louis lineup.
Through 29 games, he's slashing .333/.379/.491 with three homers, nine doubles, 17 RBI, and a career-best .870 OPS.
He also carried an eight-game on-base streak into play on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Nolan Arenado -- who was nearly traded during the offseason and could be moved before the trade deadline -- has been solid, with a .747 OPS.
Predictions
Who will the MVP of the series be?
Brandon Nimmo
Nimmo's nine-RBI outburst earlier this week shouldn't have been a huge surprise. He had been hitting the ball hard all season, but to that point had been the recipient of some seriously bad luck on balls in play.
Which Mets pitcher will have the best start?
Clay Holmes
Holmes has allowed two runs combined over his last three starts, spanning 16.0 innings.
Which Cardinals player will be a thorn in the Mets' side?
The Mets dropped their first home series since last season after their 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon at Citi Field. After the game, manager Carlos Mendoza and the players spoke about the game and other topics...
The Mets have had a stomach virus go through their locker room these last few days -- the same one that knocked Brandon Nimmo out -- and Senga was not immune.
The right-hander caught the bug and his start on Thursday was up in the air until the day prior when he told the team he was feeling better.
"He’s one of the guys with the same virus," Mendoza said after the game. "A couple of days ago, we didn’t know if he was going to be able to throw his bullpen. He ended up getting an IV, threw his bullpen, sent him home. Yesterday he felt a lot better.
"We didn’t know until yesterday. He came in and said he was good to go tomorrow. Obviously, today he got an IV and he gave us what he had."
Senga gutted through just four innings (87 pitches/50 strikes) on Thursday afternoon. He allowed one run on five hits and three walks while striking out six batters.
Two innings got him, the second and the fourth, when the Diamondbacks got traffic on the bases, but Senga worked out of trouble. After the game, Senga, visibly tired, spoke about his outing and how he's feeling.
"Not great, but I made the decision to go out there and pitch," Senga said through an interpreter. "So as a starter, I wanted to go six-plus innings."
In the loss, Senga's four innings were the third-shortest start of his career, but he did extend his streak of not allowing more than two earned runs to 14 starts, which dates back to August 2023.
Apr 17, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz (39) enters the field during the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field. / Vincent Carchietta - Imagn Images
Mendoza has mostly pushed the right buttons this season, but Thursday was the second consecutive game he elected not to bring in Diaz with his team behind in the later innings.
On Wednesday, the decision resulted in Chris Devenski -- in his second inning of work -- allowing two runs, which were enough to ice the game away. In Thursday's game, Mendoza had a similar decision to make. Entering the ninth inning, and the Mets down 3-2, he elected to keep Reed Garrett in instead of use Diaz who was warmed up.
Garrett allowed a solo homer, and that wound up being the final run scored in the game. Mendoza was asked about that decision after the loss and echoed the same sentiments pregame, that he wasn't going to "chase" wins so early.
"You’re talking about two high-leverage guys. Once Garrett got out of that eighth inning pitch efficient, you’re chasing," Mendoza explained. "I thought ‘he’s pretty good too.’ I decided to stay with him. And he gave up the homer. That’s all to it."
The home run Garrett allowed was the first earned run he's given up all season.
Mendoza was then asked if Diaz was fine physically, and the Mets skipper said he was.
"He got up yesterday," he said. "If it was tied [then], today, if it was tied or better, he was going to come into the games."
Diaz last pitched Saturday, April 26, against the Nationals.
Jose Ureña elects free agency
The 33-year-old Ureña was designated for assignment by the Mets earlier this week, and despite clearing waivers, he elected free agency instead of accepting an outright assignment to the minors, per MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.
Ureña pitched one game for the Mets back on April 28 against the Nationals. In that game, he allowed five runs on seven hits and one walk across three innings but did come away with the save because of the Mets' massive 19-5 win.
SAN FRANCISCO — Father Time is undefeated for just about every professional athlete not named Tom Brady.
And while the 42-year-old Justin Verlander has pitched quite well throughout the twilight years of his illustrious MLB career, time is running out to secure one major milestone.
Now in his 20th season, Verlander (262 wins) sits 38 victories away from reaching the exclusive 24-player 300-win club. After signing a one-year contract with the Giants this offseason, Verlander got off to a slow start this season but has excelled in his last three outings, surrendering two or fewer runs over six-plus innings in his last three starts.
Verlander was in line for his first win in a Giants uniform on April 20 after tossing six innings of one-run ball against the Los Angeles Angels before San Francisco’s bullpen blew a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth. He followed up his strong start with a similar outing against the Texas Rangers on April 25 where he, again, allowed one run in six innings of work but received zero runs of support in a 2-0 loss.
That familiar trend continued in the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night at Oracle Park, where Verlander (ND, 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K) once again pitched very well, only for his bullpen to once again blow his opportunity for that first win in Orange and Black.
“I really try and take a long view of this game, it’s really hard when you focus on a small sample size, so I’ve just got to keep trying to pitch well and hopefully a win will come,” Verlander said postgame.
“Look, of course we want to get him his first win, but it’s more importantly just winning the game period,” Giants manager Bob Melvin added. “No matter how you do it. But he pitched well enough to win, he’s done that probably a couple times now, so unfortunately hasn’t gotten that win yet. We’d like to get him one, but a team loss is a team loss.”
Verlander departed with one out in the top of the seventh inning after surrendering a solo home run to Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon that cut San Francisco’s lead to 3-2.
When Melvin walked out to the mound to pull Verlander, the two had a brief chat that initially appeared to be the veteran righty pleading his case to remain in the game.
That, as the self-aware Verlander revealed after the game, was not the case.
“I just asked him if he took me out because I’m old,” Verlander said with a chuckle postgame.
"I just asked him if he took me out because I was old."
In fact, Verlander understood his manager’s decision and even admitted that he was not properly prepared to be stretched out for another frame after the Giants’ offense sent seven batters to the plate in a two-run bottom of the sixth.
“The long inning, I might need to make some adjustments here with the cold weather, throw a little bit if we have a long inning like that,” Verlander said. “Kind of had a little difficulty getting loose, so went back out there and didn’t have my best stuff. So live and learn.
“Looking up and my first fastball is 92 [mph] instead of [93-94]. It just wasn’t quite moving as well, gave up a homer. So that’s something I need to make an adjustment to.”
Verlander added that he has no issues pitching in the cold weather, but simply felt he needs to do a better job of staying loose in between long innings.
Despite his mid-inning departure, Verlander still was in line for the win after right-handed reliever Camilo Doval retired the next two batters in the seventh.
However, it was Tyler Rogers, one of the Giants’ most reliable bullpen arms and one of the best relief pitchers in baseball, who spoiled Verlander’s shot at his first win with San Francisco after surrendering two runs in the top of the eighth inning, giving Colorado the 4-3 lead that the Giants’ offense was unable to overcome.
“It kind of stinks to mess up the win for JV, he’s still searching for that first win as a Giant and he’s chasing down a lot of wins,” Rogers shared.
“He’s probably going to the Hall of Fame [regardless of] what we do for him or not. I think that will be something to think about when he does go into the Hall of Fame, like ‘Oh, I was a teammate with him.’ Hopefully we can help him out some more, but to take away a win from any starting pitcher doesn’t feel good. It doesn’t matter if it’s his first or 300th or whatever.”
While a win, and 37 more, certainly would be nice, Verlander just wants to do his part to help the Giants, as a team, notch victories. Regardless of which pitcher has the “W” next to their name in the box score.
“You want to do your part, but also I think you try and look at it like you give your team a chance and if you give your team enough chances the wins will start coming, you go deeper in games, keep a lot of runs off the board,” Verlander added. “Those things just kind of fall in line and start happening.
“We’re sitting here talking about it, it’s just been unfortunate, our bullpen’s been phenomenal all season. Unfortunately, just a couple starts for me, but that’s baseball. You can’t sit here and be like ‘woe is me,’ you’ve got a bunch of teammates and you’ve got to trust each other. And we do.”
That first win in a Giants uniform will come. So will others. Will he notch enough in 2025 and beyond to join the exclusive club? That remains to be seen.
However, if one thing is certain, it’s that Verlander will do everything in his power to put his team in the best position to win. And if he’s successful in doing so, he more often than not will be awarded accordingly.
The Mets may have lost Thursday’s matinee against the Arizona Diamondbacks, giving them their first series loss at home this season, but there was at least one positive to take away from the rubber match, as Juan Soto blasted his first two home runs at Citi Field as a Met.
Soto, signed to the richest contract in baseball history, had gone 15 games at Citi Field as a member of the Mets without hitting a home run, but he launched two solo shots on Thursday, both of them going to left-center, as he showed off his patented opposite field power.
And if you ask manager Carlos Mendoza, the two-homer performance was something that’s been in the making for at least the past few days.
“It’s always good to see it, and we knew he was close,” Mendoza said after the 4-2 loss. “Whenever you have a guy who controls the strike zone as well as he does, continues to hit the ball hard even when he goes 0-for. I’ve been saying it for the past couple of days.
“Today I think the first at-bat was 110 [mph] right at the shortstop. Yeah, he’s hitting balls on the ground, but now finally not only hitting balls in the air, but when he’s going in that direction, left-center, he’s a pretty dangerous hitter, and it was good to see that today.”
“It feels good always to come through to help the team,” added Soto. “It just feels good... When I’m hitting the ball well that way, I feel [like] things are starting to get better for me at the plate. I start seeing the ball better and deeper and it’s a good sign.”
After signing a historic 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets, external expectations for the 26-year-old were sky high. And while he may have gotten off to a slower start by his all-world standards, Soto was still going a good job of working the count, getting on base, and scoring runs in front of a red-hot Pete Alonso.
And now his offensive numbers are trending upwards, with his OPS at .822 after Thursday’s performance.
According to Soto, there’s never been any extra pressure to perform at a high level, no matter what his contract looks like.
“What pressure? I don’t have any pressure,” Soto said. “Mendoza has been really clear with me to make me feel comfortable and going out there to play. I don’t have any pressure at all so it’s just two homers that weren’t enough to get the win."
Even with the loss on Thursday, it’s hard to take anything away from what the Mets have accomplished over the first month-plus of the season. They’re now 13-3 at home, 21-11 overall, and have been riding their starting pitching, strong defense, and timely hitting to a 3.0-game lead in the ultra-competitive NL East.
“I feel like we’ve been doing a really good job,” Soto said. “We gotta give credit to our bullpen and the starting pitching – they’ve been great. We have a couple of guys out who are hurt, but they’ve been showing up everyday day in and day out since Day 1 so really happy, really excited to play behind those guys”
“Look where we’re at,” he added later. “We just gotta keep doing the same thing we’ve been doing since Day 1. Try to get on, get them over, get them in. That’s all we gotta do.”
The Phillies’ defensive lapses were costly Thursday night as they searched for a sweep over the Nationals.
Washington took the series finale, winning a 4-2 game at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are 17-14 entering a three-game series vs. the Diamondbacks that begins Friday night in Philadelphia.
Taijuan Walker was charged with four runs over 5 2/3 innings, but only one was earned. He allowed four hits, struck out two and walked three.
Nationals rookie Brad Lord registered his first MLB win by tossing five innings of two-run ball.
Walker recorded the game’s first out with a tremendous defensive play. He chased down a CJ Abrams chopper and then flipped the ball to Bryce Harper with his glove right before tumbling to the infield dirt.
On the mound, Walker threw strikes on 15 of his first 28 pitches. He walked a batter in each of the first two innings but steered clear of any damage.
Walker pitched with effective variety through five innings and his control improved. The Nationals grounded out three times in the fourth, including a hard Josh Bell one-hopper that Harper picked.
Lord matched Walker’s scoreless work with four tidy innings, but the Phillies broke the ice in the fifth. Max Kepler lined an opposite-field double with one out and Alec Bohm’s base hit to right-center drove him in.
The Phillies’ lead was short-lived.
Following an Abrams leadoff double, James Wood’s shot up the middle deflected off of Walker’s thigh. He moved a bit gingerly after grabbing the ball and throwing out Wood but stayed in the game. Washington then tied the contest up with a Nathaniel Lowe RBI single and pulled ahead when a Keibert Ruiz grounder scooted under Harper’s glove. Lowe scored and Ruiz sprinted to third base. The Nats went up 3-1 on a Luis Garcia Jr. single.
Rafael Marchan caught Walker and J.T. Realmuto sat. Marchan was 0 for 4 in his first start since April 20 and had two defensive miscues in the sixth inning — first a passed ball, then a low throw to second base that skidded into center field and gave the Nationals a fourth run.
The Phillies got one back in the sixth, though they couldn’t capitalize on opportunities to add more.
Nick Castellanos’ grounder rocketed off of reliever Jose Ferrer’s leg and ballooned high into the air. The ball eventually descended to Ferrer, but Castellanos legged out an infield RBI hit. That put runners at the corners with one out. Kepler then struck out looking and Bohm waved at a low 3-2 changeup.
The Phillies’ bullpen did its job — Orion Kerkering, Joe Ross and Carlos Hernandez all had clean outings — but a comeback wasn’t in the cards.
Castellanos grounded into an eighth-inning double play. In risky style, Johan Rojas tripled with two outs in the ninth. A replay review confirmed he was safe at third.
“It’s something I’ll be talking to him about tomorrow,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It was a little too close for me.”
Marchan then swung at the first pitch and lined out to center for the night’s final out.
“The rehab went great and everything’s going according to plan,” Suarez said.
The lefty is optimistic he’ll be able to stay healthy the rest of the season.
“I wish I could tell you, but I don’t really have an answer for what’s caused so many injuries in the past,” he said. “But we’re working twice as hard this year. We’re training every day, working really hard every day, and I’m feeling great physically. So I’m hoping, with the extra effort we’re putting in … that it’s going to help it.”
Suarez threw 78 pitches in his last rehab outing with Triple A Lehigh Valley.
“We can probably up that a little bit, but he won’t be full (on Sunday),” Thomson said.
The Phillies now have their rotation mapped out through next Tuesday. Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Suarez will pitch the D-Backs series, and Zack Wheeler will then open a road series against the Rays. Whether or not he sticks in the rotation, Walker will certainly be part of the picture moving forward.
“He pitched so well,” Thomson said. “He mixed his pitches. For the most part, he got ahead of hitters and attacked the zone. He’s kept us in games and I trust him.”
The Phillies’ defensive lapses were costly Thursday night as they searched for a sweep over the Nationals.
Washington took the series finale, winning a 4-2 game at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are 17-14 entering a three-game series vs. the Diamondbacks that begins Friday night in Philadelphia.
Taijuan Walker was charged with four runs over 5 2/3 innings, but only one was earned. He allowed four hits, struck out two and walked three.
Nationals rookie Brad Lord registered his first MLB win by tossing five innings of two-run ball.
Walker recorded the game’s first out with a tremendous defensive play. He chased down a CJ Abrams chopper and then flipped the ball to Bryce Harper with his glove right before tumbling to the infield dirt.
On the mound, Walker threw strikes on 15 of his first 28 pitches. He walked a batter in each of the first two innings but steered clear of any damage.
Walker pitched with effective variety through five innings and his control improved. The Nationals ground out three times in the fourth, including a hard Josh Bell one-hopper that Harper picked.
Lord matched Walker’s scoreless work with four tidy innings, but the Phillies broke the ice in the fifth. Max Kepler lined an opposite-field double with one out and Alec Bohm’s base hit to right-center drove him in.
The Phillies’ lead was short-lived.
Following an Abrams leadoff double, James Wood’s shot up the middle deflected off of Walker’s thigh. He moved a bit gingerly after grabbing the ball and throwing out Wood but stayed in the game. Washington then tied the contest up with a Nathaniel Lowe RBI single and pulled ahead when a Keibert Ruiz grounder scooted under Harper’s glove. Lowe scored and Ruiz sprinted to third base. The Nats went up 3-1 on a Luis Garcia Jr. single.
Rafael Marchan caught Walker and J.T. Realmuto sat. Marchan was 0 for 4 in his first start since April 20 and had two defensive miscues in the sixth inning — first a passed ball, then a low throw to second base that skidded into center field and gave the Nationals a fourth run.
The Phillies got one back in the sixth, though they couldn’t capitalize on opportunities to add more.
Nick Castellanos’ grounder rocketed off of reliever Jose Ferrer’s calf and ballooned high into the air. The ball eventually descended to Ferrer, but Castellanos legged out an infield RBI hit. That put runners at the corners with one out, but Kepler struck out looking and Bohm waved at a low 3-2 changeup.
The Phillies’ bullpen did its job — Orion Kerkering, Joe Ross and Carlos Hernandez all had clean outings — but a comeback wasn’t in the cards. Castellanos grounded into an eighth-inning double play. Johan Rojas tripled with two outs in the ninth but Marchan then lined out to center.
“The rehab went great and everything’s going according to plan,” Suarez said.
The lefty is optimistic he’ll be able to stay healthy the rest of the season.
“I wish I could tell you, but I don’t really have an answer for what’s caused so many injuries in the past,” he said. “But we’re working twice as hard this year. We’re training every day, working really hard every day, and I’m feeling great physically. So I’m hoping, with the extra effort we’re putting in … that it’s going to help it.”
Suarez threw 78 pitches in his last rehab outing with Triple A Lehigh Valley.
“We can probably up that a little bit, but he won’t be full (on Sunday),” Thomson said.
The Phillies now have their rotation mapped out through next Tuesday. Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Suarez will pitch the D-Backs series and Zack Wheeler will open a road series against the Rays. Whether or not he sticks in the rotation, Walker will certainly be part of the picture moving forward.
“He’s on the club, absolutely,” Thomson said. “He’s pitched very well.”
SAN FRANCISCO — Just swept by a division rival? Here’s a four-game series against the worst team in baseball.
The Giants (19-13) could not have asked for a better matchup as they looked to get back on track and avoid their first three-game losing streak of the 2025 MLB season.
However, they didn’t take advantage of it.
Justin Verlander, in search of his first win with San Francisco, toed the rubber against Colorado Rockies (6-25) lefty Kyle Freeland (ND, 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and came close to notching that elusive first victory before a late-game bullpen collapse helped extend San Francisco’s losing streak to three games.
Here are three observations from the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Rockies:
Unc Still Got It
Ownage was a theme early on Thursday night, and it started with the man on the mound for the Orange and Black.
Verlander (ND, 6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K) was 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 39 2/3 innings pitched in six career starts against Colorado before Thursday’s outing.
While his 2025 season, on the surface, has been a bit of a mixed bag thus far, the 42-year-old has been rather unlucky at times. Verlander’s expected ERA (xERA) prior to Thursday’s start was 3.90, nearly a full run lower than what his initial ERA (4.70) was.
This was the third consecutive start Verlander surrendered two or fewer runs in at least six innings of work, and it’s clear the future Hall of Famer has turned a corner and is pitching like the consistent innings-eater the Giants hoped he could be.
Verlander departed with one out in the top of the seventh, and walked off the field to a well-deserved standing ovation before his bullpen blew an opportunity in the top of the eighth for him to secure his first win with the Giants.
Heating Up At The Right Time?
It was a very slow start to the season for Willy Adames, but there are signs of life.
The veteran shortstop is batting .304/.414/.478 with one home run, four RBI and five walks over his last seven games and looks much more confident at the plate.
San Francisco still managed to start the season off strong despite Adames’ early struggles, and if the player with the largest contract in franchise history is turning things around, as evidenced by a 2-for-4 night at the plate on Thursday, it should bode very well for the Giants’ middling offense.
The same can be said for Heliot Ramos, who, similarly to Adames, had been struggling, but is batting .318/.444/.591 with two homers in his last seven games, including a 112.8-mph rocket off his bat in the top of the first that gave the Giants an early lead.
It’s no secret the Giants have the Rockies’ number in recent years. And that’s putting it lightly.
Since the beginning of the 2021 season, San Francisco is 27-6 against Colorado at Oracle Park and had won 12 consecutive home games against its division opponent before Thursday’s loss.
The 27-6 record against the Rockies also is the best home record by any team against a division opponent since 2021.
Despite the series-opening loss, beating up on the lowly Rockies should continue to be a theme this season.
The Mets fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday afternoon by a score of 4-2, losing their first home series of the season.
Here are the key takeaways...
-Kodai Senga looked great early, punching out three D-backs in the first couple of innings. But he dealt with a lot of traffic on the base paths in the third and fourth. While the righty was able to escape a bases-loaded jam in the third, striking out Pavin Smith to end the threat, he couldn’t repeat that Houdini act in the fourth, as Alek Thomas delivered an RBI single to center.
Things could have gotten worse in the inning, but Brandon Nimmo made a terrific leaping catch at the wall, robbing Corbin Carroll of extra bases and likely three RBI.
With his pitch count at 87 (50 strikes), Senga’s day ended after 4.0 innings, allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out six and walking three. His ERA rose slightly to 1.38, but Senga was clearly a little bit off during this outing.
-Genesis Cabrera, making his Mets debut, got the call in the fifth inning, but he walked a hitter and allowed Josh Naylor to hit a double off the very top of the wall, as it hit the orange line and stayed in play. Max Kranick came in to clean up the mess, allowing a sac fly to Eugenio Suarez to make it a 2-0 game.
Kranick continues to give the Mets needed outs, though he did allow a solo shot to Geraldo Perdomo in the seventh. Still, the right-hander turned in a solid 2.2 innings.
-Arizona starter Zac Gallen came into Thursday’s game struggling, pitching to a 5.57 ERA which is far from the norm for him, considering that twice he’s finished top five in NL Cy Young voting.
But the Cy Young candidate version of Gallen returned on Thursday, as he handled the Mets’ lineup with relative ease. Gallen allowed a Pete Alonso groundball single in the first, and then a whole lot of nothing, until the sixth…
-With one out and nobody on, Juan Soto blasted a solo home run to left field, his first home run as a Met at Citi Field and his first home run in general since April 15. Soto's fourth homer of the season was the first he's hit in 16 home games this season.
But he wasn't finished just yet.
Facing Kevin Ginkel in the eighth, Soto once again displayed his seemingly effortless power to the opposite field, hitting his second homer of the day to once again cut the Arizona lead to one run. The Mets would later put two runners in scoring position with one out, but the potential tying and go-ahead runs were left stranded, as Mark Vientos and Nimmo went down on strikes.
-Manager Carlos Mendoza made a questionable decision in the ninth inning, allowing Reed Garrett, who pitched a scoreless eighth, to go back out for the ninth in lieu of Edwin Diaz, who was warmed up and ready to go with Arizona holding a 3-2 lead coming into the inning. Garrett allowed a solo homer to Tim Tawa, and while it was the first earned run he's allowed all season, it came in a huge spot as Arizona doubled their lead and took the momentum right back.
Who was the game MVP?
Gallen, who went 6.0 innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits, striking out eight and walking three.
The Mets hit the road for a Friday night showdown with the St. Louis Cardinals to start a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. on SNY.
RHP Clay Holmes (3-1, 2.64 ERA) gets the start for New York and will pitch opposite RHP Sonny Gray (3-0, 3.60 ERA).
NEW YORK — The Arizona Diamondbacks placed reliever Justin Martinez on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation after after his velocity dipped while he failed to record an out against the New York Mets.
To replace Martinez, the Diamondbacks recalled left-hander José Castillo from Triple-A Reno. Left-handed reliever A.J. Puk (left elbow inflammation) was moved to the 60-day injured list.
Martinez entered with a three-run lead in the ninth inning, but allowed Tyrone Taylor’s homer before walking Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. Ryan Thompson got the final three outs in the 4-3 win.
Martinez’s fastball was clocked between 95 and 96 mph — down a couple of mph from his previous appearances against the Atlanta Braves and down 5 mph from his peak velocity last season.
Martinez, who flew back to Arizona to undergo an MRI, battled right shoulder fatigue during the back half of April.
“It was clear last night, we were all watching the same thing — his stuff was down,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said before the series finale against the Mets. “We’re going to find out what’s going on with his shoulder. He feels strongly there’s nothing wrong, but we felt like, at the very least, we give him a little bit of a blow, get him healthy, get him back to full speed. That’s the most important thing.”
Lovullo said he didn’t know who would step in as the closer for the Diamondbacks. Martinez and Puk have combined for seven of Arizona’s nine saves this season.
“We miss A.J. and we’re going to miss ‘J-Mart’ — but they’re going to heal and they’re going to come back and help us win games,” Lovullo said. “In the meantime, everybody’s going to hold down the fort, keep their seats warm — hold down the fort and help us win baseball games.”
SNY's Andy Martino is responding to and breaking down answers to Yankees questions from readers. Here's the latest...
Do you think Devin Williams will ever get the closer role back? - @NYsportSufferer
That’s the hope. Part of Aaron Boone’s rationale in removing Williams from the closer role so early in the season was to try to get Williams right before his year became a lost cause. Given Williams’ profound lack of command and exposure to fan vitriol, Boone yanked him from the ninth inning with the goal of getting him right while pitching in other situations.
So far, so good. Williams pitched in two of the Yankees’ three games in Baltimore this week, allowing no hits, walking one and striking out two in a pair of scoreless innings.
There is no rush to restore Williams to the closer role, because the team has so many other pitchers capable of locking down saves. But Williams was one of the best in baseball before his ghastly Yankee April. His resume calls for at least one more extended chance.
Apart from acquiring starting pitching and third base help at the trading deadline, do you anticipate any significant moves from the Yankees? Will they pursue trades for starting pitcher Fedde and a right-handed third baseman like Arenado at the deadline? - @Blaze4551
Ever since spring training, the Yankees’ top trade priority has been a right-handed bat more so than a third baseman per se. The idea is to give Boone a better option than Pablo Reyes and Oswald Peraza against tough lefty relievers.
The Yankees also clearly lack starting pitching depth behind the stellar work of Max Fried and Carlos Rodon. The pitchers who seemed the most obvious targets -- San Diego’s Dylan Cease and Michael King and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara -- no longer do. The Padres look like contenders rather than sellers. And as one person connected to the Marlins puts it regarding Alcantara, who is 2-3 with an 8.31 ERA in his return from Tommy John surgery, "Sandy just isn’t the same."
As for Arenado, the next time that the Yankees are interested will be the first time.
I got Soto questions - @Davidq3434
So do a lot of people. But he did just homer while I was writing this.
SNY's Andy Martino is responding to and breaking down answers to Mets questions from readers. Here's the latest...
Andy, do you think the Mets could make any moves to acquire a lefty for the bullpen? If so who would we most likely target? - @SleeperMets
Yes, my understanding is that the Mets are looking to trade for lefty bullpen help after the injuries to A.J. Minter (lat strain) and Danny Young (elbow). Most estimates have Minter out until September. I’ve heard some cautious optimism that it could be August. Young, unfortunately, appears headed for season-ending UCL surgery.
For what it’s worth, Genesis Cabrera looked good in spring training despite a 6.75 ERA, and Jose Butto and Reed Garrett are among the Mets’ righties who do well against lefties.
As far as identifying specific trade targets, let’s not worry about that. It’s not like we’re talking about Tanner Scott. If the Mets are able to swing a deal, it’ll be for Pretty Good Lefty Guy (or Righty Guy With Good Splits). We’ll find out his name when he gets here.
Hi Andy, can you go into details about the Mets pitching lab? What part tech, what part coaching, etc.? Could there be an equivalent hitting lab? What would that look like? Thanks a million - @mets_positive
Even Mets officials roll their eyes when praised for their pitching lab. The reality is, David Stearns and his group of scouts, analysts and player development officials are excellent at finding and developing pitching. But the lab itself is simply industry standard. The Mets were actually behind the curve on that one. There is nothing magical about this lab, and we should all probably stop referring to it. It’s not quite like saying an organization has a weight room or batting cage, but it’s getting there.
And you’re right, they know that the next frontier involves technological advancements in hitting.
New York Mets relief pitcher Dedniel Núñez (72) reacts after recording a save after defeating the Colorado Rockies 7-3 at Citi Field. / Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
When do we think Dedniel Núñez is coming up? - @nymzach
We received so many (fair and reasonable) questions about Núñez that I addressed it on the pregame show Tuesday evening. Every time the Mets call up a different reliever, fans want to know why it wasn’t Nunez.
Here’s the answer: The Mets are in the middle of a stretch of 13 games without an off day. During that stretch, they have needed and will again likely need spot starters and bulk guys like Brandon Waddell on Tuesday. When Núñez arrives, he’ll be here to stay, probably very soon. The team just needs to get through a period in which near-daily optionality is the focus.
Núñez has walked seven batters in nine innings for Triple-A Syracuse, but this is actually not a concern. The team mostly attributes that to cold weather and is happy with how Núñez is throwing.
What do we do about Ryne Stanek? And Brandon Waddell should stay on the roster especially with the news of Minter and Danny Young circulating this week. - @MichaelDeitch33
Stanek actually looks to be throwing the ball pretty well. And hard as ever. Not worried. Waddell was always going to be an optionable spot starter/bulk guy for now, as explained as part of the above Núñez answer.
Who put the bomp in the bomp shu bomp sha bomp? - @GoatsofMuhammad
I don’t know who was that man. But I can tell you that I would like to shake his hand.
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy reacts toward the bullpen as he runs the bases after hitting a solo homer against the Marlins. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The celebration was simple. But the relief was immense.
In the bottom of the second inning Wednesday afternoon, on the last day of what had been a torturous opening month to the season,Max Muncy finally did the thing that had eluded him over an ice-cold start.
After 29 forgettable games and 90 infuriating at-bats, the 10th-year veteran finally hit his first home run.
With a lightning-quick swing on a down-and-away, 92-mph sinker from Miami Marlins right-hander Cal Quantrill, Muncy put a long-awaited end to his longest home run drought — and some much-needed life into his slumping start.
His 433-foot solo blast landed high up in the deepest part of the right field pavilion. It sent his Dodgers teammates in the dugout into a frenzy.
And though Muncy did little more than pound a closed fist into his open palm as he trotted around the bases for the first time, it allowed him to finally release the emotional tensions that had been building on the inside.
“Felt really good to have that happen,” Muncy told reporters from his clubhouse locker afterward, finally allowing himself to smile after a season-best game in which he also tripled and drew a walk.
“Just hope today is something to build on,” he added. “It’s been a rough month.”
For much of March and April, there was much amiss in Muncy’s play.
The slugger was batting just .180 entering Wednesday, a troubling mark even for a traditionally low-average hitter. He had struck out 34 times and walked only 14, a master of the free pass going at one point eight straight games without drawing one.
Muncy’s defense, quietly an area of improvement for the 34-year-old last season, also cratered. He has committed four errors at third base, all on errant throws. His advanced analytics have tanked, going from an above-league-average mark in Statcast’s “outs above average” metric last year to the third-lowest grade of any qualified third baseman.
Amid the mounting frustration he even became the subject of a viral social media video during the trip to Chicago last week, captured glaring at a fan who was shouting profanities about him and his family as he boarded the team’s bus outside Wrigley Field following a loss to the Cubs.
“Playing in L.A. is not easy,” Muncy said. “It’s a privilege, and it’s a privilege to play under this pressure. It’s something I’ve always thrived on. But it doesn’t mean it’s been easy, for me or my family.”
The Dodgers' Max Muncy reacts as he runs the bases after hitting a home run Wednesday against the Marlins. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Nothing about Muncy’s performance raised more red flags than his lack of home runs.
Ever since his successful emergence as a minor-league reclamation project seven years ago, power had been his trademark. Even in stretches when his batting average hovered around the Mendoza Line, or his strikeout total climbed leaderboards, his ability to slug had been the great equalizer.
Entering the year, Muncy’s 190 long balls with the Dodgers ranked top-10 in franchise history. His four seasons with at least 35 were topped only by Duke Snider.
And yet he failed to hit one in his first 28 games. Entering Wednesday he was in danger of going an entire month without a home run, something that never had happened since he joined the Dodgers.
“Pretty puzzling,” manager Dave Roberts said last week of Muncy’s power outage, which also contributed to a slugging percentage in the low .200s. “I know he's trying to find his way out."
At the root of Muncy’s woes was a swing he has been tinkering with since the offseason.
Last year the two-time All-Star had one of his most productive seasons. His .232 batting average was his best since 2021. His 141 OPS+ (an all-encompassing advanced offensive metric) trailed only his breakout 2018 performance for the highest of his career. In the National League Championship Series he set a postseason record by reaching base 12 consecutive times.
Despite that Muncy still went into the winter feeling like there was more to unlock. One of the big changes he made was in the type of contact he was chasing. After hitting almost 75% of his balls in the air last season, he felt a lower angle of trajectory might improve the consistency of his production.
“I spent all offseason and spring trying to hit low liners and ground balls,” Muncy said earlier this year, “to try and be on top of the ball.”
The only problem: That mechanical adjustment came with unforeseen side effects.
During the season’s first couple of weeks, Muncy realized he was lurching forward on his swings in an effort to keep the ball down. It not only got him out of his prime hitting position, but also gave him a fraction-of-a-second less reaction time to read each pitch and make the right swing decision.
“The ball sped up on me the first few series of the season and I really wasn't myself,” Muncy said. “I was chasing a lot of stuff and I was unable to recognize it. It was very uncharacteristic of me.”
So, more recently, Muncy has been recalibrating at the plate. He’s made an effort to stay back in his swing, closely dissecting video of his at-bats to make sure his mechanics remain in sync. He’s rediscovered his feel for the strike zone, recording almost as many walks (12) as strikeouts (13) since his eight-game stretch without a free pass. He reached base 10 times during the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak.
"It seems like he goes through stretches where he's really scuffling, and he always finds a way to get out of it," Roberts said.
“The swing feels like it’s getting closer and closer,” Muncy added. “I still have to clean some things up. Have to be better in certain situations. It’s a work in progress. But … it’s just getting the ball to go forward.”
On Wednesday it got the ball to go out of the yard too — helping Muncy finally flash some pop.
“We all know Max is going to be Max,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “For him to get that first one, hopefully the floodgates open for him."
Freeman was one of several teammates who had an elated reaction to Muncy’s home run, pumping both fists above his head from the dugout. When Muncy finished rounding the bases, Mookie Betts wrapped him in a bear hug, while Teoscar Hernández showered him with a supersized serving of his sunflower seed celebration.
“He got me pretty good,” Muncy joked from his locker.
From a few stalls over, Hernández chimed in: “He deserved it!”
“When you feel the support from your teammates — that elation, that joy — it gets emotional,” Roberts added. “That just speaks to how much it’s been wearing on him. The struggles. And the lack of a homer.”
That latter concern, at least, has been alleviated. And though Muncy’s batting average is still a lowly .194 and his on-base-plus-slugging percentage is still an underwhelming .610, he noted he finally might have “something I can build on" entering May with renewed confidence at the plate.
“It was huge for me, almost a little emotional,” Muncy said. “But this clubhouse is very tight, very close. Everyone cares about each other in here. We all just want to win, and for us to win, everyone needs to be clicking. That’s something this whole clubhouse buys into. So just to get that kind of greeting felt amazing.”
