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

And with that, we are well into the grind of the 2026 season. To this point, the Cubs hadn’t yet lost three straight. But the combo of a battered pitching staff, their 11th game in 11 days, and their fourth straight game against elite opposition turned out to be just too much for the Cubs. As it turns out, two weeks ago, the Cubs hadn’t won three straight either. As it is, right now, the second longest winning streak of the year for the Cubs is two. And the third longest is one. So it’s been a weird distribution of wins and losses through the first 29 games of the season. Weird distribution or no, the team is 17-12. As we sit here today, 17-12 feels a little unsatisfying. This is true largely because the team had won 10 straight before this three-game losing streak.

To be fair, this game was quite a bit different than the two losses in Los Angeles. In those two games, the Dodgers offense pummeled them in one and the Dodgers pitching shut them out in the other. Those were lopsided losses. But this one was largely competitive throughout. The Cubs were down three early and four late. But, they scored seven runs between the second and ninth innings. So at minimum, it felt like they at least had a puncher’s chance.

Ironically, this one started to feel hopeless as the bullpen withered yet again. It felt hopeless because Mason Miller had only pitched once over the last three days and was almost certainly available to throw. He hadn’t allowed a run since last August and had recently set a record for most consecutive scoreless innings as a Padre. A hit tip to Mason, reliever or no, that’s an impressive accomplishment. I also hate to see a streak like that stopped in part by what looked like a wildly blown call on a ball down the line. The Cubs managed to go on and score two runs, ending Miller’s streak and made the game go down to the last batter.

You’ll pardon me if I don’t lose sleep over the blown call in the ninth. In the fifth inning, Ben Brown pretty clearly appeared to have thrown strike three at a time when it would have ended the inning while the Cubs were still leading. They went on to allow two runs in the inning. More importantly, it had a ripple effect on how the Cub bullpen was utilized. Ben Brown had to face two extra hitters and then only threw two innings. He’d thrown more than two innings about 40 percent of the time previously. Had he been more efficient, maybe he goes back out for one more inning.

Lost in all of this was the first start of the season at catcher for young star Moisés Ballesteros. I won’t pretend to speak for him, but I’d bet that in a heartbeat he would trade his third inning grand slam for catching a shutout. To my eye, his catching was uneven. He had a passed ball and allowed two steals. I also thought that a couple of times his mechanics were “busy” and it looked like a couple of potential balls were called strikes based off of his receiving of the pitch and lack of framing. I’m reminded of Kyle Schwarber. An offense-first catcher who moved quickly through the system because of his elite bat. It can be tricky to get enough time to nurture the catching side. I suspect the same will happen here.

But that bat plays. He could be a great one.

Three Positives:

• Ballesteros. Grand slam. He also scorched one off of a lefty reliever that unfortunately was stopped by the Padre shortstop.
• Seiya Suzuki. He also homered and added a single.
• Dansby Swanson had two singles and a walk.

Game 29, April 27: Padres 9, Cubs 7 (17-12)

THREE HEROES:

• Superhero: Moisés Ballesteros (.295). 1-4, HR, 4 RBI, R
• Hero: Pete Crow-Armstrong (.192). 1-3, BB, SB
• Sidekick: Seiya Suzuki (.090). 2-4, 2B, HR

THREE GOATS:

• Billy Goat: Matthew Boyd (-.266). 4 IP, 22 BF, 8 H, 2 BB, 5 ER, 4 K
• Goat: Michael Busch (-.245). 0-5
• Kid: Alex Bregman (-.150). 0-4, BB, R

WPA Play of the Game: Moisés Ballesteros hit a two-out grand slam in the third to give the Cubs a two-run lead. (.389)

*Padres Play of the Game: Nick Castellanos batted with runners on second and third with two outs, the Padres down one. He singled, driving in two. (.283)

Cubs Player of the Game:

Game 28 Winner: Michael Busch received 81 of 107 votes.

Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 3/Bottom 3)

The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.

• Nico Hoerner +7.5
• Michael Conforto +7
• Carson Kelly/Moisés Ballesteros +6
• Matt Shaw/Seiya Suzuki -7
• Jacob Webb -9
• Pete Crow-Armstrong -10

Current Win Pace: 95

Up Next: At 8:40 p.m. CT, the Cubs battle the Padres again in San Diego. Edward Cabrera (2-0, 2.73, 29.2 IP) makes his sixth Cub start. Last time out, he allowed three earned runs over seven. 31-year-old righty Walker Buehler (1-2, 5.75, 20.1 IP) will make his sixth start as a Padre. Last time out he lost, allowing four runs in just 2.2 IP in Colorado.

Win a game. Go Cubs.

A light Monday slate, along with some of the Yanks’ rivals facing each other, made for a quiet night. The good news about these teams playing each other is that someone has to lose. The bad news is someone has to win. Monday, for example, Boston and Tampa took down Toronto and Cleveland, respectively.

With any luck, Tuesday night the Jays and Guardians will return the favor, especially since the Rays are lurking behind New York as April comes to a close and I personally hate it when good things happen to the Red Sox. Unfortunately, those BoSox are the story of the night as stellar pitching and timely hitting from some scuffling youngsters propelled them to victory.

Boston Red Sox (12-17) 5, Toronto Blue Jays (12-16) 0

Both clubs entered Monday gazing longingly up at .500, with the Red Sox going so far as to decimate their coaching staff over the weekend. There was reason to think this could be a good game, however, with Boston sending Ranger Suarez to face off with Dylan Cease.

In the opening innings, that is exactly how the game unfolded with the two hurlers putting matching zeroes in the run column. Once the game hit the middle innings, though, Boston’s young guys got to Cease. First, Marcelo Mayer singled in a run in the fourth. In the fifth, Roman Anthony did the same to make it 2-0 Boston. Wilyer Abreu and Caleb Durbin followed suit, the former with the double and the latter with a knock in the sixth, to extend the BoSox lead to 4-0.

Suarez was the story of the night though. The lefty has been up and down so far in 2026 but on this night he was definitely up. He walked Davis Schneider in the third but as the game progressed, the Jays remained out of the hit column. He finally gave up a single in the bottom of the sixth but quickly worked around it. By the time he was done, he’d spun eight innings of one-hit shutout ball, putting Boston in position to win its third consecutive game.

Other Games

Tampa Bay Rays (17-11) 3, Cleveland Guardians (15-15) 2: The Rays, annoying as ever, are nipping at the Yankees’ heels early this season and Monday was no different. Cleveland jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a Daniel Schneemann home run off Rays’ starter Steven Matz in the bottom of the fifth. But that was basically all the damage Matz allowed, spinning seven innings and keeping Tampa in the game. In the top of the eighth, down 2-1, Tampa broke through. A solo home run from Jonathan Aranda tied the game, then Ryan Vilade singled in the game-winning run. Another night. Another Rays win. Blech.

Seattle Mariners (14-16) 4, Minnesota Twins (13-16) 11: Luis Castillo entered tonight in the throes of an awful start to the season, his fine work against the Yankees in his season debut on March 30th an outlier. He ended his night still mired in a brutal beginning to 2026. Minnesota touched him up for seven runs in five innings, highlighted by a three-run bomb by Kody Clemens and a two-run jack off the bat of Byron Buxton. For a Seattle lineup whose stars are not hitting to the back of their baseball cards, that was a daunting deficit, one much too steep to overcome.

A.J. Ewing

Week: 6 G, 26 AB, .333/.500/.778, 6 H, 0 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 5 K, 4/4 SB (Double-A)

2026 Season: 18 G, 81 AB, .349/.481/.571, 22 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 17 BB, 15 K, 12/13 SB, .426 BABIP (Double-A)

As I began writing this on Monday morning, A.J. Ewing was officially promoted to Triple-A Syracuse. Assuming he does not return to Double-A Binghamton, he hit .349/.481/.571 there with 6 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 home runs in 18 games, while drawing 17 walks to 15 strikeouts and stealing 12 bases in 13 tries. If Ewing does not run into a brick wall in Syracuse, he is on the fast track to being a major league contributor sooner rather than later.

I have some doubts as to whether or not Ewing will hit the ground running. In fact, were it up to me, I would not have promoted him to Triple-A just yet. In the 46 games he played with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies between the end of 2025 and the beginning of this season, Ewing has a cumulative 342/.413/.478 batting line, with 13 doubles, 3 triples, 2 home runs, 24 walks to 44 strikeouts, and 24 stolen bases in 27 attempts. Impressive numbers, no doubt.

But in just 46 games. Why rush things? As great as Ewing is and has been, he’s no Juan Soto, Bryce Harper, Ken Griffey Jr., or Robin Yount.

That Ewing is performing as great as he is as a 21-year-old in Double-A is excellent, but there are still areas for improvement. Ewing can hit the ball hard, but he’s not elevating the ball; he totaled a 22.4% line drive rate with Binghamton, a 55.1% groundball rate, and a 22.4% fly ball rate. The 22.4% line drive rate is excellent, but the 55.1% groundball rate and 22.4% line drive rate both need work; both are about 10% off what you’d want to optimally see.

Ewing is not a slugger, more of his game is based around using his legs, so it is not imperative that he begin hitting the ball in the air with more authority, but as I have said about fellow groundball enthusiast Nick Morabito, more of those groundballs are going to be converted into outs in the majors and the likelihood that he posts a .426 BABIP to support a .349 batting average and .481 on-base percentage is slim.

There is a very good chance that Ewing begins hitting more flyballs and doing more damage with pitches hit in the air in Triple-A, but given the environment in the International League, I will wonder how much of that would be Ewing’s doing and how much of that is simply the result of playing in an environment where teams average 4.93 runs are scored per game. Games at the Triple-A level utilize the MLB baseball, rather than the MiLB baseball. MLB balls are made of higher-quality leather and feature flatter, smaller seams on the ball. MiLB balls are softer than the MLB ball and feature seams that are larger. Introducing the new ball and pitchers taking time to adapt to it has supercharged the International League/Pacific Coast League hitting environment since the changes were made in 2021. Should Ewing start blasting home runs left and right, how much of that would be him making a concerted change in his approach to maximize his offense and how much of it would be him just taking advantage of pitchers struggling to get the feel of a ball they might not necessarily be used to throwing? In the Eastern League, we might get clearer answers if that began happening.

All of this shouldn’t come off as sour grapes, and I hope it doesn’t; why would I be unhappy if A.J. Ewing is developing as a baseball player? All I watch is minor league baseball, I’m happy that he’s developing faster and even better than we could’ve imagined a year ago. All I’m saying is that, as great as Ewing is and has been, he isn’t a once-in-a-generation talent. There are things Ewing can improve on to increase the odds that he becomes an everyday regular, and as a 21-year-old, there’s no need to rush or force the process.

Austin Channing

Week: 2 G (2 GS), 9.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 11 K (High-A)

2026 Season: 4 G (4 GS), 16.2 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER (1.62 ERA), 13 BB, 18 K, .225 BABIP (High-A)

Channing Austin was signed by the Mets as an undrafted free agent in July 2024. A born-and-raised Brooklynite, Austin attended Poly Prep in Dyker Heights, where he was a four-year letterwinner and two-year captain at the prestigious institution. Primarily an infielder, he helped lead the Blue Devils to NYSAIS in 2017 and 2018, received All-League honors in 2019, and was named to Poly Prep’s All-Decade Team. Like many who graduated high school in 2020, Austin went undrafted in the COVID-shortened 2020 MLB Draft and honored his commitment to the University of Virginia.

The 19-year-old did not play much in 2021. Head coach Brian O’Connor had Austin- now focusing exclusively on pitcher- pitch in two games in relief, and to make matters worse, the right-hander did not exactly impress in those two games, allowing three runs while recording just a single out, walking two batters, hitting a batter, and throwing two wild pitches. He supplemented his time on the field by playing for the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks of the New England Collegiate Baseball League and entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, looking to switch to a program that would allow him to play more.

Austin transferred to the University of Southern California, but once again, he got very little playing time. In his first year with the Trojans, the right-hander appeared in two games, and once again struggled. Recording just two outs over his two innings of work, Austin allowed four runs- two earned- on four walks and a wild pitch. That summer, he once again supplemented his playing time with time on the mound on summer collegiate leagues, this time with the New York Phenoms of the Atlantic Collegiate League and the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

While it’s hard to pitch less than what Austin did in 2021 with Virginia and 2022 with USC, the right-hander accomplished that in 2023: an injury prevented him from playing altogether in 2023. He returned to the mound in 2024, his redshirt junior season, and made 14 appearances on the mound, posting a 6.28 ERA in 14.1 innings, allowing 16 hits, walking 15, and striking out 17. Eligible for the 2024 MLB Draft, he went unsigned; seeking to showcase himself to major league ballclubs, he played in the MLB Draft League that summer. Appearing in 8 games for the Trenton Thunder, Austin posted a 3.00 ERA in 15.0 innings, allowing 11 hits, walking 5, and striking out 16. Based on his performance there, the Mets signed him as an undrafted free agent at the end of July. He was assigned to the Single-A St. Lucie Mets and made a single appearance over the rest of the summer, allowing a hit, walking a batter, and striking out a batter in 1.1 innings of work.

He returned to the St. Lucie Mets when the 2025 season began and spent the majority of the year with them. Making 11 starts and appearing in 20 games total, the right-hander posted a 4.31 ERA in 71.0 innings, allowing 67 hits, walking 43, and striking out 66. At the end of the season, he was promoted to High-A Brooklyn, where he made a single regular season start and then threw a bit during Brooklyn’s playoff run. He remained in Brooklyn to begin the 2026 season and the hometown boy has been benefitting from off-season work coupled with the South Atlantic League run environment, currently possessing the best ERA in the league among qualified starting pitchers.

Austin throws from a high-three-quarters arm slot with a long arm circle through the back. The right-hander has a standard repertoire, throwing a four-seam fastball, changeup, gyroscopic slider, and curveball. Generally speaking, he throws his fastball roughly 50% of the time, and then evenly mixes in his secondary pitches, going a bit more heavy on his slider than his changeup or curve.

Austin’s fastball can top out at 97, 98 MPH but generally sitting in the mid-90s, sitting in the low-to-mid-90s. The pitch has shown above-average spin rates, and because of how that spin activates, his fastball shows above-average induced vertical break. His command of the pitch is not great, and while batters haven’t done much damage against the pitch, the right-hander has too often set himself up to fail by not establishing the fastball.

His curveball sits in the low-to-mid-80s and features slight 1-7 break. His slider sits in the same velocity band, averaging a higher range within that band and has sharper movement. Depending on the day and his feel for the pitches, either can be Austin’s most effective strikeout pitch. Over the 2025 offseason, he has been working on commanding both pitches better, throwing more in the zone.

His changeup has been his least effective secondary pitch, sitting in the mid-to-high-80s. The pitch does not have much velocity differential as compared to his fastball and does not have much vertical or horizontal movement to it. When he can locate the pitch on the edges of the plate, it can get some whiffs, but in the zone, when batters make contact with it, it generally has not fared well.

Players of the Week 2026

Week One/Two (March 27-April 5): Hayden Senger/Cam Tilly

Week Three (April 7-April 12): A.J. Ewing/Christian Scott

Week Four (April 14-April 18): Randy Guzman/Jose Chirinos

Bryce Miller built on his solid first rehab start in Tacoma with an even more impressive outing in Everett this past Friday night. Slated to go three innings or 45 pitches, Miller’s start went perfectly to plan; he needed just 47 pitches to complete three full scoreless innings. He racked up six strikeouts, issuing just one walk, and addressed the media postgame about his outing.

“Everything felt good,” he said. “Felt like I located everything well. I think I got all seven pitches in and located them well, and was able to get ahead most times.”

Miller was able to throw all seven of his pitches, focusing mostly on throwing the fastball and sinker, which together consumed about half of his pitch count. As he worked the third inning, though, he switched over to throwing his secondaries almost exclusively, spending equal time with the slider, sweeper, curveball, splitter, and cutter.

The cutter is a newer addition to Miller’s arsenal; since introducing it in 2024, he’s thrown it rarely, but utilized it about 10% of the time in his outing in Everett.

“I was sitting on the couch last night watching Cam Schlitter take down the Red Sox throwing all cutters,” grinned Miller. “So I figured I’d mix some in today.”

The cutter elicited swings and foul balls, although he was able to use it to steal a first-pitch called strike against a lefty. Miller was highly aggressive in the zone in his outing, throwing nine first-pitch strikes to the eleven batters he faced. The Spokane batters, relishing their chance to face a big-league arm, were anxious to swing, helping drive that metric up for Miller, who later joked he was just trying to help Everett break a tie with the big-league club in an organization-wide contest for which pitching staff can throw the most first-pitch strikes.

“Any hitter, any lineup – here, or in Tacoma, or in Seattle – the more that we can be ahead, the better. So even when I’m working on pitches and working different sequences, the first goal is to get ahead and then go from there.”

In addition to watching Schlitter throw his cutter, Miller has been studying different slider grips during his downtime, borrowing one from Bryan Abreu in Houston in an attempt to improve his traditional gyro slider (separate from his sweeper). The retooled grip has cost him a little velocity on the pitch, which frustrates him, but he’s encouraged by the early results on the pitch, something he’s been tinkering with for several years, trying to limit the damage on it when batters do make contact with the pitch.

“[The slider] is a little bit slower than I want – it’s been like, 85, which the sweeper and the curve have been 85 at times. So we’re still kind of messing with it, but the results have been good on it. So it’s like, I don’t want to mess with it too much….I just want it to be a little harder. If the heater is going to be [ninety] five to eight, I think the slider should be 88-89, not 84-85, but we’ll see what happens with it. If it’s 85 and gets good results, I’ll take it.”

As for the heater velocity, after coming out throwing 98 on the stadium radar gun, Miller’s fastball velocity settled into the 95-96 range for the rest of the outing, a mark he was able to hold consistently. Miller was unconcerned about the drop in velocity from the first inning, noting that the facilities at Funko Field don’t allow for him to go through his complete between-innings routine, which involves keeping his arm active with a plyo ball to keep his arm warm and help him maintain his velocity. In that way, Miller might be benefiting even more from his later start to the season, contending with the weather in the Pacific Northwest between inning breaks rather than the consistently warm air in Arizona.

Miller will throw again this Friday for Tacoma, at home facing the A’s affiliate this week, and look to get to four innings or the 60-pitch mark. He’s excited to keep checking off milestones in a rehab journey that’s been challenging at times and anxious to get back to Seattle, but is trying to keep his expectations in check and progress at the appropriate pace.

“It’s like week three of spring training,” said Miller, showing how much he’s grown since the fresh-out-of-college version of himself who was with the AquaSox in 2022.

“I think I got a few more pitches than when I was here in ‘22,” he laughed, when asked about the difference between himself then and now. “My only goal then every start was to try to hit 100 mph, so I usually burned out pretty quick in the beginning. But now I got a few more pitches, a few more ways to attack hitters, a little more mature as a pitcher on the mound. Back then, it was just, we’re gonna throw as many heaters as I can, as hard as I can, and see if they hit it.”

Miller isn’t actively trying to hit 100 anymore, but he’s still coming up with new ways to see if hitters can hit it; something that’s been a hallmark of Miller’s game throughout his young career. Soon, hopefully, he’ll return to a big-league mound and see which of his new wrinkles have paid off.

The Twins started off the week by extending the Mets’ losing streak to 12 games, but that’s where the good news ended, as they started their own streak, losing five straight games before righting the ship against Seattle last night. They are only three games below .500 and still sit third in the Central division, only 2.0 games behind the first-place Detroit Tigers, so it’s still technically anyone’s game. However, there was a bright spot as we saw rookies Connor Prielipp and Kendry Rojas make their debuts, and Prielipp shone last night against Seattle. Hopefully this injection of youth is a sign of things to come for the 2026 Twins.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• Game threads and recaps are back! Commiserate with your fellow fans as we experience the season together.
• Zach Koenig looks at the financial disparity between teams in the major leagues.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Dan Hayes at The Athletic tries to see if there’s more than just a silver lining for the Twins amidst the recent losing streak.
• Theo Tollefson at Zone Coverage writes about the new mural at Target Field – and the artist behind it.
• Matthew Leach at MLB.com checks in on the Twins’ top picks from 2025, Marek Houston and Riley Quick.

In the World of Baseball:

• Quite a lot has shifted in the American League in the last week, as there are more teams (12) that are within 4.0 games of the worst team in the league (the Houston Astros) than those closer than 4.0 games (3) of the best team in the league, the Yankees. The Rays benefited from a weekend sweep of the Twins to climb into second place in the race for the pennant, while the Athletics continue to lead the AL West and the Tigers hold a slim 0.5 game margin over the Guardians in the AL Central.
• Atlanta and Los Angeles sit atop the National League, where there’s slightly more parity, with half of the league within 4.0 games of the leaders. The Mets and Phillies both stopped their losing streaks. Meanwhile, the upstart Reds currently hold the NL Central crown.
• The 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick, Travis Bazzana, is getting the call-up to the majors for the Guardians.
• Munetaka Murakami had a week to remember, as the White Sox rookie slugger hit a homer in five straight games.
• Ben Clemens at Fangraphs looks at how the strike zone has changed in 2026 with ABS.
• Old friend Craig Breslow cleaned house last weekend, firing manager Alex Cora, along with five other coaches. The ESPN baseball writers discuss this move and why Breslow decided to make it.

Rob Thomson rescued a flailing Philadelphia Phillies team in 2022, taking over for the fired Joe Girardi and leading the underachieving club to a World Series berth.

Now, the Phillies are hoping getting rid of Thomson is the cure for what ails this year's disappointing club.

The Phillies fired Thomson on Tuesday, April 28 after a 9-19 start that mired the $284 million roster in last place in the National League East. That caps a nearly four-year run for Thomson, a span in which the club made the playoffs every season yet backtracked from pennant winner to NLCS loser to first-round exits the past two seasons.

Don Mattingly, the former Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers manager, was named the Phillies' interim skipper for the remainder of the 2026 season.

Thomson, 62, had a 355-270 record at the helm of the Phillies, taking over after Girardi was fired following a 22-29 start to the 2022 season. Yet after an NLDS exit at the hands of the champion Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025, president Dave Dombrowski made few changes to a lefty-heavy lineup that has scuffled in this opening month of the season.

And the pitching staff has been waylaid by poor performances from the since-released Taijuan Walker (9.13 ERA), Jesus Luzardo (6.91) and $172 million man Aaron Nola (6.03).

Thomson is the second manager fired in four days, joining Boston's Alex Cora. Cora – who along with Dombrowski led the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series title – was thought to potentially be a candidate to immediately replace Thomson.

The Phillies offered the job to Cora before promoting Mattingly, but the former Red Sox manager declined the opportunity in order to spend more time with family, two officials with knowledge of the team’s talks told USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale. 

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the process.

Thomson began his Phillies career with seven consecutive victories, and the club rallied for 87 wins and a wild-card berth before toppling the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres in the NL playoffs to reach their first World Series since 2009. They held a 2-1 lead over the Houston Astros but lost the last four games of the Series.

Still, the feeling that a potential dynasty was brewing was reinforced by a 90-win campaign and playoff conquests of the Marlins and Braves in 2023, as Citizens Bank Park became a playoff fortress for the club.

Yet blowing a 3-2 lead to the Arizona Diamondbacks – losing both games at the Bank – in the 2023 NLCS began an October regression the Phillies did not count on. They captured the NL East with 94 wins in 2024, but were upset by the New York Mets in the NLDS. They made it back-to-back titles in 2025, winning 96 games, but got a tough draw in the defending champion Dodgers, losing a heartbreaking four-game NLDS.

All the while, the collection of superstars with nine-figure contracts went through various stages of regression. The club swallowed the final year of Nick Castellanos' $100 million deal after poor performance and insubordination in 2025. Nola was injured and largely ineffective after he was retained on a $172 million deal. Ace Zack Wheeler had surgery to repair thoracic outlet syndrome just six weeks before last year's playoffs.

And beyond superstar sluggers Kyle Schwarber (.864 OPS, nine homers) and Bryce Harper (.845, six), the Phillies' lineup drops off dramatically; they rank 29th in the major leagues with a .656 OPS.

Can Mattingly cure those ailments? If he can channel the 2022 version of Rob Thomson, perhaps.

At the least, the Phillies determined the 2026 version of Thomson was no longer getting through.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Phillies manager Rob Thomson fired: Can team turn around 2026 standings?

Did we want Didier Fuentes back in Atlanta? I wanted him back and taking a rotation spot. Of course, the whole “must stay down after being optioned unless recalled due to injury” rule put a minor spanner in that particular set of works… until the Braves apparently found a way around it through the miracle of life:

This move does create some short-term implications. Lee has started off very well for the Braves, with a 34 ERA-, 39 FIP-, 82 xFIP-, and five shutdowns to two meltdowns, with one of the meltdowns having nothing to do with him (Eli White’s misadventures, 2026 edition). He already has 0.4 fWAR in 13 innings after finishing 2025 with 0.3 fWAR in total. With his temporary absence, the Braves only have Aaron Bummer (much, much worse in the early going than his prior Braves tenure) and Jose Suarez (enigmatic to say the least) from the left side. Martin Perez could theoretically fulfill that role, but unless Fuentes is taking his starting spot tonight, that won’t matter for this series.

Fuentes returns for this third stint in about four weeks of play. He made the Opening Day roster and had a nice four-inning relief appearance against the Royals before going back to Triple-A. He was recalled last week and had a pretty wild start against the Nationals, with a 7/1 K/BB ratio and a homer allowed, but four runs charged to him in three innings of work. Maybe the Braves throw him in there against the Tigers with Perez held back, or maybe it’ll be the reverse — or maybe he’s just added length while Dylan Lee spends some time with his expanding family. Anyway, stay tuned.

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The Athletics have been very kind to Over backers when playing at home, clearing the total all but once while averaging more than 12 combined runs.

My Royals vs. Athletics predictions see another high-scoring game in the cards on Tuesday night.

Let’s take a closer look at my daily MLB picks for April 28.

Who will win Royals vs A's today: Royals moneyline (-120)

The Athletics will skip Jorge Lopez’s spot in the rotation, instead handing the ball to Aaron Civale.

Civale owns a 4.38 SIERA, 4.51 xFIP, and 13.4% soft contact rate, indicating his 3.86 ERA is a little generous for how he has pitched.

The Kansas City Royals rank fifth in walk rate, eighth in hard hit rate, and ninth in batting average against righties this month. They’re well equipped to exploit an underwhelming arm like Civale — especially with star Bobby Witt Jr. now playing up to expectations.

Expect Kansas City’s offense to power them to victory.

COVERS INTEL: Civale has allowed homers on 8.1% of fly balls this year, well below his career average of 12.6%. It's unlikely to hold given his 2026 hard contact rate of 49% is a career-worst.

Royals vs A's Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (-105)

Kansas City’s offense has a favorable matchup and the run environment only adds to it. Sutter Health Park is hitter-friendly and warm weather is expected, with the temperature in the 70s.

While the Athletics are much better against right-handed pitching, Kris Bubic owns a low soft contact rate and gives up a lot of fly balls. That’s a recipe for danger against an Athletics team sitting 11th in SLG.

Even if Bubic holds up early, Kansas City’s bullpen sits 27th in xFIP this month. That gives the Athletics a real path to run generation.

Royals vs A's odds

• Moneyline: Royals -120 | A's +100
• Run line: Royals -1.5 | A's +1.5
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 | Under 9.5

Royals vs A's trend

The Athletics have hit the Over in 10 of their last 11 games at home (+8.85 Units / 72% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Royals vs. A's.

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Seeking a boost for their struggling offense, the Cleveland Guardians are set to promote 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick Travis Bazzana for Tuesday's home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, according to multiple media reports.

Bazzana, a second baseman from Australia, was the top selection after a stellar college career at Oregon State. During his three seasons in the minor leagues, he's posted an elite .391 on-base percentage with 14 home runs and 25 stolen bases in 135 games. That should make him a significant upgrade over incumbent second baseman Juan Brito, who has posted a .176/.250/.255 slash line in 15 games.

The Guardians (15-15) begin play on April 28 just a half game behind the first-place Detroit Tigers in the American League Central Division. However, they're averaging just 4.0 runs per game – which ranks 25th out of the 30 MLB teams.

With an already-loaded rookie class this year, Bazzana might be part of the next wave of prospects getting the call to the majors.

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Tanner Bibee and the Cleveland Guardians look to bounce back from a 3-2 defeat when they host Nick Martinez and the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 2 of their three-game series.

Bibee has been dealing, and my Rays vs. Guardians predictions expect Cleveland to even the series. 

Read on for my MLB picks for Tuesday, April 28. 

Who will win Rays vs Guardians today: Guardians (-130)

Tanner Bibee has allowed just two earned runs over his last 12 innings and is pitching his way back into form. 

The Cleveland Guardians bullpen ranks 16th in baseball with a 3.88 xERA, giving them a more reliable bridge in the back end. 

Tampa Bay Rays starter Nick Martinez is dealing, but he carries a 4.67 xERA with a 10th percentile whiff rate, meaning his strong ERA is living on borrowed time. 

Neither pen is an absolute, but Cleveland's is clearly the lesser evil. Back the Guardians to bounce back at home.

COVERS INTEL:Martinez boasts a 2.10 ERA, but his 4.65 xERA and 4.47 xFIP suggest his stats are a mirage. 

Rays vs Guardians Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (+102)

We should see some offense tonight at Progressive Field.

Bibee has surrendered five home runs in 30 innings this season, and Tampa's contact-heavy lineup strikes out the least of any team in baseball, meaning balls will be in play all night. 

Martinez has a 17.5% whiff rate and a 4.67 xERA, suggesting runs are coming his way, too. 

Tampa's bullpen also cannot be trusted, as it ranks 28th in baseball with a 5.44 xERA.

Rays vs Guardians odds

• Moneyline: Rays +122 | Guardians -127
• Run line: Rays +1.5 (-170) | Guardians -1.5 (+163)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-100) | Under 7.5 (-104)

Rays vs Guardians trend

Cleveland has beaten Tampa Bay in seven of their previous 10 meetings. Find more MLB betting trends for Rays vs. Guardians.

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A Dodgers minor leaguer has won a weekly award in each of the first four weeks of the 2026 season. The latest honoree is Double-A Tulsa pitcher Patrick Copen, who on Monday captured Texas League pitcher of the week honors for the week of April 20-26.

The 6’6 right-hander struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings last Thursday night on the road against the Frisco Rough Riders, allowing only one single and three walks.

It was the third scoreless outing in four starts this season from Copen, who made 17 starts for Tulsa last season before starting this year repeating Double-A. He led all Dodgers minor leaguers in 2025 with 152 strikeouts, and this year he leads as well with 31 strikeouts in the early going.

Copen on the season has a 1.23 ERA in his four starts, with 31 strikeouts and 12 walks in his 22 innings. His strikeout rate is up (35.6 percent, after 23.1 percent for the Drillers in 2025) and his walk rate is down (from 16 percent to 13.8 percent).

This is the second career minor league award for Copen, who was the Midwest League pitcher of the month in May 2025 while with High-A Great Lakes, shortly before his promotion to Tulsa.

Copen is the second straight Tulsa hurler to win Texas League pitcher of the week, after left-hander Luke Fox for the week of April 13-19. Other Dodgers minor leaguers to win weekly awards this season are Triple-A Oklahoma City first baseman/outfielder James Tibbs III for March 30-April 5 and Class-A Ontario pitcher Marlon Nieves for the week of April 6-12.

Morning A’s fans.

Yesterday’s off day allowed the Athletics to travel back home to Sacramento and prepare for their next series, a three-game matchup against the Kansas City Royals. This’ll be the first time these two teams face each other this year. Kansas City is off to a slow start at just 11-17 so far in the early going. That puts them last in the AL Central, even behind the Chicago White Sox. Not a great place to be if you’re KC, though they didn’t exactly enter this season as obvious Wild Card contenders, never mind the division.

While the Royals have announced their starters schedule for the series, the A’s have yet to make any official assignments for their starting pitchers for this series. That said, we can expect to see some combination of Luis Severino, Aaron Civale, and Jacob Lopez in this series. Severino is coming off a quality start last time out when he stiffled the Texas Rangers’ offense for six+ innings of work, allowing just one run his last time out. That’s more of the production that the team was hoping for from their veteran starter. If the team doesn’t alter their rotation order, Sevy would line up to get the ball in the series finale.

We know that Civale won’t be getting bumped from the rotation anytime soon thanks to his quality start to his season, but as for Lopez he might not have quite as long a leash. The left-hander is coming off a solid start where he pitched into the sixth inning in Texas but he’s still got an ERA close to 6. With other options waiting in the wings in Triple-A Lopez needs to string together a few quality starts if he wants to resolidify his place in the rotation. He currently lines up to get the ball this evening to kick off the series, but the fact that the team hasn’t announced its scheduled starters for this series could be a sign that the coaching staff is considering making a change in the backend of the rotation. We’ll see who gets the ball this evening. Whoever gets the call will be going up against KC lefty Kris Bubic.

First pitch is at 6:40 this evening. Have a great Tuesday, guys.

A’s Coverage:

• A’s bullpen shines in series finale against Rangers
• Kurtz ‘starting to get back to himself’ — and that’s a scary prospect
• Denzel Clarke placed on IL with bone bruise in foot; OF Thomas recalled
• Athletics take down Mariners 5-2
• It Might Be Time For Some Crosby Love
• Lawrence Butler’s Rough Start Comes With a Big Asterisk
• Lawrence Butler Says He Wants Mariners Fans to “Go Home Sad”
• A’s roster moves: Basso recalled, Barnett optioned
• Do-Overs For (Almost) Everyone In The AL West
• Today Is A Day Of Special Meaning — For More Than One Reason
• A’s Top Pitching Prospects Are Dominating to Start 2026
• A’s top prospect Leo De Vries pops his first two homers of the season at Double-A
• Armchair 101: The Challenge Of Judging Decisions In Real Time
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Observes The Wild Denzelope In Its Natural Habitat
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Toes The Rubber With Pitching Coach Scott Emerson
• AN Exclusive: Blogfather Catches Up With Starting Pitcher Jacob Lopez

MLB News and Interest:

• With a little drama, Miller’s scoreless streak ends at 34 2/3 innings
• Yankees To Place Giancarlo Stanton On Injured List
• Blue Jays Place Max Scherzer On Injured List
• Guards calling up Aussie Bazzana, No. 1 overall Draft pick from 2024 (source)
• Dodgers call Diaz’s injury ‘best case scenario’
• Rice catches Judge, Judge says ‘Not so fast’ as duo make HR history
• Can Chase Dollander Defeat Coors Field?
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Definitely worth a listen:

Arnold is looking like the real deal:

A couple less-than-stellar health updates on a pair of pitching prospects:

A fun read for your Tuesday morning:

ICYMI:

In June of 1858, Abraham Lincoln warned us that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Fast forward eight score and seven and a half years later, and he might as well have been talking about the 2026 Boston Red Sox. Given the backdrop, it’s all too fitting that the conflict and internal turmoil within the organization came to a head in abrupt and decisive fashion in the middle of a Border State on Saturday night.

Make no mistake, this was a complete and total purge of Alex Cora and his lead henchmen by Craig Breslow and whoever he has in his corner. But perhaps just as importantly, it’s the quickest conclusion possible to a conflict that threatened to corrode and destroy the 2026 Red Sox season from within.

I’m not here to tell you Alex Cora is the reason behind the team’s 9-17 start, just as Craig Breslow alone is not the reason for the team’s 9-17 start. To me, the No. 1 reason the Red Sox started 9-17 is because Alex Cora and Craig Breslow were constantly at odds with each other — Obsessed with their own personal Game of Thrones that was only going to end when one got the other fired.

As long as this relentless bickering over how the organization was run, who had say over what, and who had sway with the players persisted, the results were going to be subpar. Want to get a group of guys to perform as less than the sum of their parts? Have everybody row in different directions and see what happens.

This is why I’m happy Cora is gone. I didn’t necessarily need it to be him, but I needed it to be one of the two because nothing was getting resolved here until the divorce papers were signed.

Want another clue as to how bad the rift was between Cora and Breslow? This purge happened in April! These two were so incapable of coexisting successfully that Breslow literally took the first opportunity he had to deliver a knockout punch to not just Cora, but all the people closest to him. A total power play to seize the crown!

This is also a good time to stop and say that while Chaim Bloom and Craig Breslow may look, sound, and feel the same at first glance, they’ve proven to be very different people when it comes to this aspect of the game. Craig Breslow revealed over the weekend he’s a stone cold killer when you engage him in backroom chicanery. He learned from the role Alex Cora played in running Bloom out of town and made damn sure he wasn’t next in line. (Although I’ve got news for him: He probably is going to be next in line if he doesn’t pull this plane out of its nosedive fast.)

This also makes me wonder: Is this part of the reason nobody wanted Craig Breslow’s current job? Back in the fall of 2023, when the team had to go through nearly a dozen candidates before settling on Breslow, did people walk out because they didn’t want to engage in this type of behavior to survive? Cora made no secret about eventually wanting to work his way into the front office, and I’d have to imagine that seemed like an enormous threat to anybody who got close to that seat. Perhaps they accidentally set up an interview process destined to find the only person willing to go to the same lengths as Cora when it comes to grabbing power within the organization.

I mean, the optics here are wild. You’ve got one guy making Machiavellian moves to protect himself after creating a talented but flawed roster where the pieces don’t fit together, and another guy posting this on Twitter after being shown the door:

And can I just say, this is one of my least favorite things Alex Cora has ever posted. Happy? Sir, YOU LOST! You were in last place, you were part of a crew that ran the ship around, and you got taken out by the guy we all know you eventually wanted to replace. Nobody who is that happy is sending out “Reply All” emails at 4:00am.

Regardless of how it happened, Craig Breslow now sits atop the mountain. It’s his team, his roster, and his philosophy running the show. I don’t know if it’s the right philosophy (and there’s certainly plenty of reasons to believe it’s not), but I do know it had no chance of working when it was part of a list of competing agendas. At least now, his vision will sink or swim on its own.

And for his sake, it better swim, because Breslow’s made a ton of enemies on his trip to the top and they’re just waiting to get their pound of flesh. The only way to keep them quiet and quell the hit pieces and consequences that are guaranteed to surface soon is to stack so many wins on top of this crime scene, it becomes unrecognizable.

Ultimately, the funniest possible outcome for the Red Sox over the next couple of weeks is for the team to rip off something like a 12-2 stretch on the field while the front office and Alex Cora’s people just unload hit pieces against each other in the media. Now that would be quintessential Red Sox baseball!

Diamondbacks News

Unsung hitters share spotlight with Player of the Week honors by Ed Eagle [MLB]

Vargas, 34, made the most of his five games started last week for the D-backs, going 8-for-22 (.364) with a double, a triple, four home runs, 12 RBIs and seven runs scored, tripling his homer output for the season. A 10-year big league vet who has never posted a full-season WAR above 1.5, Vargas currently leads the NL with a .367 batting average, .722 slugging percentage and 1.104 OPS and has hit safely in each of the 20 games he’s played this season.

This was also the first Player of the Week honors for Vargas, and the first for Arizona since Eugenio Suárez won for the fourth time in ’25 on July 21.

Diamondbacks reach month mark of 2026 season: 3 positives, 3 areas that need work by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]

“Sitting where we stood at the very beginning of the season, what the schedule was going to look like, where we were on the injured list, ending up here at 13-10, 23 games in, I’ll take,” general manager Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke last week. “Not excited about some of the parts of what’s going on, but I think these guys have grinded pretty hard and played really well in large pockets.”

“We’re deep, and we got guys coming back,” Soroka said on Thursday. “So it’s an exciting team to be a part of, and it’s easy to rally around guys like Vargas and (Geraldo) Perdomo who keep the life going around here. It’s been a good atmosphere.”

D-backs May Have Avoided Worst-Case Zac Gallen Injury Scenario by Alex D’Agostino [SI]

Because for the first three frames of Saturday’s game, Gallen’s stuff looked sharp, his command was dialed in, and he was generating whiffs on both his knuckle-curve and slider despite the lofty 7,300-plus foot elevation of Mexico City.

If Gallen was beginning to generate some forward momentum, a stint on the IL or a skipped rotation turn might have derailed it. That may still be the case, depending on if his shoulder nags him in the coming days.

But for now, it looks like a somewhat safe bet that Gallen won’t miss much time, if any. That, of course, could still change.

Merrill Kelly Seeks Redemption as Brewers Challenge Looms by Jack Sommers [SI]

Chad Patrick was traded by the D-backs to the Athletics for Jace Peterson at the 2023 trade deadline. Last year he posted a 3.53 ERA in 120 innings for the Brewers, who acquired him in November of 2023. This year he has a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings, lowering his career ERA to 3.34 in 143 innings. 

Twice the Brewers have used Patrick as the bulk pitcher behind an opener, and it’s possible they may do so again for this game. The official starter has not been named as of this writing.

Around the League

Guards calling up Aussie Bazzana, no. 1 overall Draft pick in 2024 (source) by Tim Stebbins [MLB]

Get ready, Cleveland. The Travis Bazzana era is about to get underway.

The Guardians are calling up Bazzana (their No. 1 prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline) from Triple-A Columbus, a club source told MLB.com on Monday night. The 23-year-old second baseman and No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft could make his big league debut as early as Tuesday vs. the Rays at Progressive Field.

This has been a memorable year already for Bazzana, who was a non-roster invitee in big league camp this spring for the first time while also representing his home country of Australia in the World Baseball Classic. Though he was ultimately assigned to Columbus near the end of camp, he made a strong impression with both his performance and work ethic.

Red Sox’s Story: Conversation with Breslow ‘part of process’ [ESPN]

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Monday he’s open to feedback about his communication style, which drew criticism a day earlier after the team’s surprise firing of manager Alex Cora and five members of his coaching staff.

Veteran shortstop Trevor Story called Breslow’s explanation of Cora’s firing when Breslow met with the team Sunday morning not “satisfactory.” Reliever Garrett Whitlock noted that Breslow didn’t give players the chance to ask questions during that meeting.

Can the Struggling Astros Turn Their Season Around? by Dan Szymborski [FanGraphs]

The Houston Astros have a knack for disappointing Aprils. Despite usually being projected as the favorite or second favorite in the AL West every year for the last decade, the last time the Astros didn’t have a losing record at some point in the second half of April was 2019. But year after year, they’ve tended to get a powerful second wind. Excluding 2020, for obvious reasons, they haven’t finished with fewer than 87 wins in a season since 2016; overall, Houston has the second-most wins in baseball since the start of the 2017 season. During those previous mediocre starts, the projections have stood by the Astros. This time… not so much.

To see the last time the Astros started this dreadfully, you don’t have to go back very far. In 2024, they hit their nadir after 26 games, at 7-19. I wrote then, as I do now, about the hole they were digging for themselves. Though it was still an uphill battle to come back in the AL West — they in fact did, handily — the projections never turned sour. ZiPS projected the Astros to win 88 games going into that season, and despite their 7-16 record at the time I wrote that article, the computer still thought they’d continue to win games at the previously predicted rate.

ZiPS does not have the same optimism that it had in 2024.

Can Chase Hollander Defeat Coors Field? by Charlie Wright [MLB Trade Rumors]

Rockies right-hander Chase Dollander fired seven scoreless innings to earn a win against the Mets on Sunday. The outing lowered his April ERA to a pristine 1.29. He’s piled up 34 strikeouts over 28 innings this month. Sunday’s outing was the first traditional start of the season for Dollander. He’d pitched exclusively out of the bullpen to begin the year, typically as a bulk reliever following an opener.

Dollander’s win over the Mets came at Citi Field. It was his fifth appearance on the road this season, compared to just two games at Coors Field. The young righty has been able to tame the hitter-friendly venue so far. Dollander allowed a run over 4 1/3 innings at home against the Phillies in his second outing of the season. He limited the Padres to a run across six innings early last week, piling up nine strikeouts. Colorado scored one run total in Dollander’s two home games, saddling him with the loss both times.

With about a month of the season now elapsed we’ve had a solid chance to get our first looks at prospects throughout the Atlanta Braves system. Many players have stood out so far, especially on the offensive end with the Braves recent focus on hitting talent, and the performances of some players have caught national attentions in recent weeks. MLB Pipeline just released their Prospect Team of the Week for the week of April 21st through 26th, and three Braves feature on the list. 2025 First Round pick Tate Southisene is the biggest name of the bunch, though the performance of Eric Hartman in Greensboro and Rolddy Munoz’s resurgent season in Gwinnett’s bullpen also carry strong storylines.

As the primary leadoff man and second baseman for the Augusta GreenJackets, Tate Southisene has been every bit as good as his draft status would make Braves fans hope. Southisene had a bit of a shaky first week where he struggled with his timing a bit, but over the past two and a half series has had as many walks as strikeouts to go along with an impressive .314 isolated power. Last week in Columbia was the peak of the powers so far. Southisene hit safely in all six games to extend his hitting streak to eight, and was bringing the thump as well with two home runs and two doubles. His eye at the plate continued to be a major asset as he also drew eight walks while striking out only six times, and in total Southisene had a 1.267 OPS. Much was made of the complexity of Southisene’s load up and swing prior to the draft, but the Braves have put in immediate work to quiet his motion down. He is still going through an adjustment period but is taking to these big changes remarkably, and the arrow is up for him so far this year.

While Southisene has been the name to watch in the system, it’s been Eric Hartman who has provided the largest impact so far. He started out the week with a three home run game in the opener in Greensboro, and he didn’t slow down at all throughout the series. He finished with five total home runs to bring his season total to a South Atlantic League-leading eight, and he is also leading the lead in isolated power while being top five in hits, OPS, and wRC+. If there has been any knock on Hartman so far it has been his swing and miss numbers and approach at the plate, but he had a good week at the plate in that regard as well. His absurd 1.702 OPS last week led the system, and his strength at the plate has already been enough to bump his projection up a bit.

The final prospect of the week nod went to Rolddy Munoz, who has yet to allow a run this season for the Stripers. He had two dominant relief appearances last week, retiring all six of the batters he faced with four strikeouts. Munoz has not made a significant change to arsenal this season, but he is throwing first pitch strikes a bit more often and it has allowed him to work more effectively with his slider. He has a cut a chunk out of his walk rate (though his low in-zone rate hints as some regression there) and is utilizing his slider more often than he did last season.