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

Last week, Andrew put out a post on our feed asking for your hot takes, and you all delivered. With the Yankees rolling and on their way to another competitive season, there’s plenty of things to get ambitious about, so let’s see what’s got you all fired up after a month or so of play.

We’re starting off bold here, Hector.

A 105-win season would easily top the output of any recent Yankees team, with only the 2019 team’s 103-win total coming close. There’s also been a dearth of 100+ win teams overall recently, with no one reaching the mark in the last two years. This year’s team is off to a solid start, tied for the second-most amount of wins in the league and clicking without two of their top pitchers as you noted, but maintaining that pace is a taller task than meeting it for a moment. This is a solid hot take.

Now we’re getting into it. Aaron Judge has just turned 34, to be fair — an age that most would agree is where an athlete exits or starts to exit their prime — but he’s coming off of two consecutive MVP campaigns and not shown any signs of slowing down thus far this season. Yes, the batting average isn’t where it was last season when Judge was spraying hard-hit balls and finding the outfield grass with regularity while winning his first batting crown, but he’s getting his walks and driving the ball at the same elite level that he’s been playing at since 2022.

Realistically, the at-least-soft decline it has to come at some point, and the Yankees have more than recouped enough value already out of the contract they inked Judge to in 2023 to justify whatever depreciation in his game comes in those later years. But will it start now, in 2026? I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s certainly a hot take to claim that we are.

Ben Rice is putting himself in the national spotlight, isn’t he? The first baseman has been the Robin to Judge’s Batman in the lineup, crushing his 10th home run on Monday to move himself into a tie with James Wood for the third-most homers in the league. Only Munetaka Murakami (who’s been a hell of a steal for the White Sox thus far), Yordan Alvarez, and Judge have slugged more out of the park, and only Alvarez has a higher OPS than Rice with a narrow lead (1.220 for Alvarez vs. 1.191 for Rice). Offense on a level like that has been the best way to get into MVP discussions of late, and Rice has become a much-more competent fielder than he was last year so he’s no slouch on that end either — he just likely won’t get much credit for it unless he starts siphoning some games behind the plate as well. Regardless, he’s in good standing to make this a reality.

This is a two-parter though, so let’s talk about Cam Schlittler a little bit shall we? Entering play on Tuesday Schlittler currently leads MLB with 1.7 fWAR, putting him marginally ahead of his own teammate in Max Fried (1.5) and the likes of reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal and burgeoning Angels ace José Soriano (1.4 each). Soriano has pitched to an absurd 0.24 ERA in six starts, and if he pitches even close to that mark the rest of the way he’d surely draw the eyes of most voters, but Schlittler has actually has a case for surpassing him in the long run: he’s walking just 1.01 batters per nine innings to Soriano’s 3.11, his FIP is a magnificent 1.53 while Soriano runs a (still elite but not as good) 2.23 FIP, and Soriano’s stranding an entirely-unsustainable 100 percent of his baserunners. There’s still plenty of other candidates that’ll be in the field, but Schlittler stands a very good chance of establishing himself as one of the best pitchers in the game and perhaps winning the hardware in the end.

So, we’ve got two takes that on their own sound pretty believable, with the Rice one seeming more likely thanks to the parameters having him finish in the top three as opposed to outright winning. Combined, however? It’s certainly bold to claim that both of the Yankees’ emerging stars will become supernovas in the same season. I don’t think anyone around here would mind if it turned out to be the case.

Now we’re getting crazy; this is what we’re here for. Ryan McMahon has gotten out of his own way on the field, separating his struggles at the plate from his ability to be a Gold Glove caliber defender and providing what the Yankees needed at the hot corner. In the process, finding himself out there might have cleared his head enough to start seeing the ball better at the plate as well, as he’s posted a respectable .757 OPS over his last 15 games.

Is that going to spiral all the way into him heating up enough to make the All-Star Game, let alone start it? Highly unlikely, but in the event that it does happen I’ll be going to you for some lotto numbers.

From your lips to God’s ears my friend. It’s been a rough couple of years trying to enjoy baseball in the Bronx during the summer, with June and July being a near-guaranteed cliff for the team to jump off of only to pick themselves back up during the dog days and avoid an actual collapse. Surprisingly, the 2022 Yankees managed to avoid a June-specific falloff, which is kind of funny because they’re the team that I associate with the trend becoming established: they actually had their best month of the year with a 22-6 record then! (The Cristian Javier-led combined Astros no-hitter notwithstanding.)

Of course, that 2022 squad did do its best to fall out of the division lead later on, and the months of July and August were indeed awful for the Bombers. But it’s funny to look back on the rest of Aaron Boone’s tenure and how the team has performed in the middle of the season with him heading the ship.

They started out pretty well all things considered, with Boone’s inaugural season in 2018 being fairly consistent the entire way through and the 2019 team also thriving in that time span. The 2021 team had the first true June swoon, and the last three rosters have all endured it as well, with the 2023 team maintaining the excuse of not having Judge around to buoy the lineup after that fateful encounter with the Dodger Stadium wall. Four out of five seasons suffering from this symptom, with the lone outlier experiencing it just a little later, is a tough track record to beat, but it sure is a hot take to claim they’ll manage just that. Hopefully this is no joke.

Considering only seven out of the 19 members of our own staff here made this pick, I’ll go out on a limb and say this is a scorcher of a take! The 17-year title drought has plenty of people pessimistic about the team’s chances to go all the way, but in all seriousness the team is built to compete and has the pieces for a deep run, should they survive the marathon that is an MLB season in good standing. The pitching staff is deeper than they’ve ever had in this era, and perhaps one of the deepest in franchise history, but the bullpen is an obvious flaw that could be their Achilles heel.

Luckily, that’s the easiest part of a roster to retool within a season, and they have internal candidates down in the minors should they want to go that route too. There’s only going to be so many more shots the Yankees can take at winning a title with Judge and Gerrit Cole fronting the championship push before they have to pay the real price of those lofty contracts, but if they can go all the way this year it’ll all be worth it.

For a third series in a row, the Orioles come up against a team that is currently in last place in its division. This is a surprising statement to make for this next opponent, the Astros, who have consistently been pretty good over the last decade. It is early to give up on them and say the season is a failure, same as it’s early to say the same about the O’s. I’m sure that the Astros would rather be a lot better than 11-17 so far this season.

The problem for Houston so far is its pitching. They are 30th of 30 teams in ERA, bringing a 5.97 team ERA to this series. Yikes. They are 29th in rotation ERA and 30th in bullpen ERA. Two of their active starting pitchers and three of their active relievers have ERAs over 6. Two of their starters, including offseason addition Tatsuya Imai, are on the injured list right now. Neither aspect is working out so far. The Orioles, if you’re wondering, are 18th, with a 4.36 ERA, and the bullpen in particular looks a lot better once you exclude some one-or-two-game-disasters from the mix.

Things are going better for the Astros offense, at least so far. Yordan Alvarez has been going bonkers up to this point in the season, with 11 homers and a 1.220 OPS in 29 games. Former Oriole Christian Walker is having a resurgence after struggling in his first year in Houston; he brings a .946 OPS with seven homers into this series. Imagine having a first baseman with seven homers already this season! Longtime Astros Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are not at their career peaks, but still doing well.

As we know from the series the Orioles just finished, playing a last place team doesn’t mean anything. The Orioles have their own share of problems to overcome and when they do not do that, they lose a game or a series. It would be nice to see them put it together here because tougher times are coming after this. Following their games against the Astros, 12 of their next 16 games will have them facing current division leaders. That could get ugly!

Game 1: Tuesday, 6:35

• HOU starter: Kai-Wei Teng – 2.16 ERA, 0.900 WHIP, 4.63 FIP in 16.2 innings
• BAL starter: Shane Baz – 5.08 ERA, 1.553 WHIP, 3.69 FIP in 28.1 innings

Teng has yet to start a game this season and his high pitch count is 39. It does not look like an opener gambit, but rather one of desperation for lack of other options available. If Teng can give them 60 pitches, they’ll probably be happy with that. He’s not left-handed, nor are any of the Astros starters who are pitching in this series. The 27-year-old from Taiwan was traded from San Francisco over to Houston this offseason. The results have been there out of the bullpen so far. I’m curious to see how that translates multiple times through the order.

Baz needs to have a great start as an Oriole. His best so far is one run allowed over 5.2 innings, a game which the Orioles still managed to use. The other four have not been good. This is more for the sake of the 2026 Orioles season than it is about winning the trade/extension, although obviously it would be nice for the O’s if those things happen as well. We have just not yet seen things out of him to validate Mike Elias’s belief in Baz. The O’s could probably help Baz by putting a better defensive alignment behind him – that .360 BABIP luck is just crazy bad.

Game 2: Wednesday, 6:35

• HOU starter: Peter Lambert – 3.27 ERA, 1.273 WHIP, 1.85 FIP in 11 innings
• BAL starter: Chris Bassitt – 6.75 ERA, 2.063 WHIP, 6.27 FIP in 21.1 innings

Lambert, 29, is a player I have never thought about in my life before sitting down to write this series preview. He was drafted by the Rockies and pitched part of four seasons with them through 2024. He spent last year in Japan and returned to the US this year. Astros injuries have pressed him into service – he’s started two games and they’ve gone well for him so far. If you are wired like me, your first reaction to finding out the Orioles are going to face a relatively anonymous starting pitcher is to think it will go badly for them. Take heart: It doesn’t always go as bad as you remember. Or take despair: Sometimes it does go badly.

You might also despair because Bassitt is on the mound. He also needs to have a great start as an Oriole! His bad starts have been worse than Baz’s bad starts, by far; Bassitt only compares favorably if you’re comparing him against Charlie Morton last year. It is the case that Bassitt is like four runs better in ERA than Morton was before he got bounced from the rotation. Still, Bassitt is not pitching well enough to help the Orioles have a good chance to win games he starts. The only Bassitt win this year saw him allow five runs in 5.1 innings and he was lucky to be bailed out by the offense.

Back in spring training, we were getting stories about how Bassitt was motivated since he came so close to winning the World Series last year. The extra motivation isn’t solving whatever else is going on here. Maybe some day the Orioles will get a veteran clubhouse presence who is both a good teammate and a good player.

Game 3: Thursday, 12:05

• HOU starter: Lance McCullers Jr. – 6.75 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 5.06 FIP in 25.1 innings
• BAL starter: Brandon Young – 2.53 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 3.88 FIP in 10.2 innings

We are far removed from McCullers having been a good MLB pitcher. He last started more than 20 games in 2021, missed 2023 and 2024 entirely due to injury issues, and was terrible in 16 games last year. Unfortunately for Houston, he’s picking up where he left off from last year, with all kinds of problems plaguing his game. As you and I both know, this is no guarantee that Orioles hitters will capitalize on this struggling pitcher. It would sure be nice to see them hit several home runs against a guy who’s already been homer-prone this year.

Young made two starts against the Astros during his rookie season a year ago, experiencing the highest of highs and some pretty low lows as well. The first game, he took a perfect through to two outs in the eighth inning, ultimately pitching eight shutout innings on the road in Houston. Six days later, back home in Baltimore, the Astros blasted him for seven runs in a 5.1 inning outing.

I had no interest in seeing Young start MLB games this season; he’s surprised me so far. It’s unlikely he will continue in the mid-2s for ERA but even if he floats up with an ERA closer to that 3.88 FIP, that is potential “save the season” stuff. You know, if enough else goes right with the Orioles for the performance of their #5 starter to make much of a difference.

**

Returning to the thought from before the matchups, a lot of Yankees games are looming after this series. It’s probably going to be tough for fans to believe that the Orioles can play well against the Yankees if they struggle against another last-place team. Houston is scraping the bottom of the barrel for a patchwork pitching staff. The Orioles offense needs to make something happen here, especially since they aren’t facing any lefty starters.

How do you think this series is going to go? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Making declarations about a baseball team before the calendar turns to May is a fool’s errand, but here we are. The Mets have been so bad to begin the 2026 season that it really does feel like their season has gone down the tubes. On top of the fact that they’re 9-19 and tied with the Phillies for the worst record in baseball, they’re playing without Francisco Lindor—their most versatile and arguably best overall player—for the foreseeable future.

Even if Lindor hadn’t suffered a calf injury last week, there would be major concerns about this version of the Mets mimicking their 2024 counterparts in turning things around after a very ugly start to the season. At the time that the team fell to 24-35 in early June, there were at least some signs of life sprinkled throughout the lineup. Six players were hitting above league average by wRC+ up to that point: Mark Vientos (174 wRC+), J.D. Martinez (132 wRC+), Pete Alonso (119 wRC+), Brandon Nimmo (111 wRC+), DJ Stewart (108 wRC+), and Starling Marte (104 wRC+).

As for Lindor, he had experienced a typical slow start at the plate, but his 95 wRC+ combined with his defense at shortstop and his baserunning had him worth 1.4 fWAR on the morning of June 3, 2024. That led the team at the time.

Beginning with their win on June 3, the Mets turned into one of the best teams in baseball, and Lindor was the best player on the team by a wide margin. Over the course of 426 plate appearances, he hit an incredible .303/.376/.566 with 24 home runs and stole 21 bases, giving him 33 home runs and 29 stolen bases in total at the end of the regular season. He earned 6.2 fWAR over that stretch, too, which accounted for the vast majority if his season total of 7.7. And the last of his regular season home runs was the most important, as it gave the Mets the win they needed to clinch a playoff spot on the final day of the season.

Lindor didn’t complete the Mets’ magical comeback alone, of course. As had been the case even during their miserable skid early in that season, he was joined by plenty of above-league-average hitters for those final few months of the season: Jose Iglesias (137 wRC+), Mark Vientos (126 wRC+), Pete Alonso (123 wRC+), Jeff McNeil (113 wRC+), Tyrone Taylor (113 wRC+), Brandon Nimmo (107 wRC+), Francisco Alvarez (104 wRC+), and Starling Marte (103 wRC+). Even Luisangel Acuña, who made just 40 plate appearances, put up a 166 wRC+ as he joined the team in September, while Ben Gamel had a 108 wRC+ in 30 plate appearances.

And the lesser hitters on the team during the comeback stretch weren’t terrible, as J.D. Martinez (98 wRC+), Jesse Winker (97 wRC+), and Luis Torrens (90 wRC+) weren’t that far below league average. Harrison Bader (78 wRC+) and DJ Stewart (51 wRC+) were the only hitters who got significant playing time while really struggling at the plate.

That brings us back to this 2026 team. It would be tough to see this lineup, which has been the worst in baseball so far this year, turning things around even if Lindor were fully healthy and playing to his career norms. Juan Soto has unsurprisingly been the Mets’ best hitter this year with his .304/.418/.413 line and 141 wRC+, but the only other hitter who’s made at least 40 plate appearances and been better than league average is Francisco Alvarez (117 wRC+). Lindor, somewhat fittingly for this piece, had a 94 wRC+ when he hit the injured list, and he had really started to heat up at the plate in the games leading up to the calf injury.

To salvage this season, the Mets would need Soto to have an otherworldly stretch from now through the end of September. He’s sitting on 0.3 fWAR at the moment and probably needs to play at an 8.3 fWAR pace like he did in 2024 with the Yankees—at least while Lindor is sidelined—to get this Mets team back into a spot where playoff contention feels like a real possibility.

And even if Soto does that and Lindor’s return to major league action comes sooner than expected, the two of them simply can’t do it alone. They’d need other players on base to drive in or to get hits behind them to drive them in. It’s certainly possible—maybe even quite likely—that most of those players will improve the rest of the way. It would be hard not to. Luis Robert Jr. (94 wRC+) has cooled off after a hot start at the plate, and the rest of the Mets’ hitters have only been worse. Mark Vientos (80 wRC+), Tyrone Taylor (69 wRC+), Marcus Semien (65 wRC+), Bo Bichette (62 wRC+), Brett Baty (60 wRC+), the injured Jorge Polanco (53 wRC+), and Carson Benge (52 wRC+) are going to have to figure it out. And it’s very hard to buy that MJ Melendez (145 wRC+) is for real in his first 24 plate appearances as a Met when he has a .500 BABIP and a 45.8 percent strikeout rate.

Again, this mess looks insurmountable even in a scenario where the Mets’ entire roster is healthy. But without Francisco Lindor? It’s just so much worse.

Happy Tuesday! A rough outing from starter Luis Castillo led to seven earned runs and an eventual 4-11 loss to the Minnesota Twins yesterday. Cal Raleigh’s seventh home run and RHP Alex Hoppe’s MLB debut were the lone bright spots in the otherwise difficult game. Logan Gilbert takes the mound tomorrow against Twins ace Joe Ryan at 4:40 PM.

In Mariners news…

• Cole Young joined MLB Network yesterday to discuss his performance this season, the Mariners’ pitching staff, and more.
• The Mariners are seeing an early payoff from the Jose A. Ferrer trade after a set of impressive outings.
• Join the Lookout Landing meetup at the Tacoma Rainiers’ game on Sunday, May 17th! Thank you to commenter Sweet Lou and those who have been organizing logistics.

Around the league…

• Toronto Blue Jays RHP Max Scherzer has been placed on the 15-day IL with right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation.
• The Cleveland Guardians are calling up former No. 1 draft pick Travis Bazzana to boost their infield.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers will be faced with a difficult decision regarding their starting rotation as LHP Blake Snell is nearing a return after injury.
• Houston Astros general manager Dana Brown is not planning to fire manager Joe Espada despite a slow start to their season .
• 53-year-old knuckleballer Vincent Towns has broken Roger Clemens’ Atlantic League record for oldest player to appear in a game.
• The New York Yankees have placed veteran designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day IL with a low-grade right calf strain.
• Making a change behind the plate could significantly improve the Miami Marlins’ path to contention this year.
• Brown University pitcher Olivia Pichardo has become the first woman to pitch in Division I baseball!

Through the first few weeks of the professional baseball season in 2026, a headline for the Nationals has been the talent in the farm system blossoming, as many of their top prospects, and a few surprise names, have been raking to begin the year. Chief among that group is shortstop Ronny Cruz, who made the jump to High A Wilmington last week and has continued to go scorched earth, with a 185 wRC+ and 6 home runs in 92 plate appearances between Low A and High A.

It hasn’t just been a couple of names in the Nationals’ farm system making noise; there has been a jump in performance from more bats than ever. Entering today, 22 Nats minor league hitters have a wRC+ of 100 or higher, meaning they are hitting league average or better for their level of the minor leagues. That number is third in all of baseball currently, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers with 24 and the San Francisco Giants with 28.

To put into context just how impressive a stat this is, let’s take a look at this statistic throughout the years for the Nats. In 2025, the Nats had 11 minor league hitters with a wRC+ of 100 or higher, and only 4 were above 120, a far cry from the 16 Nats with a 120+ wRC+ in 2026.

In 2024, only 9 Nats had a wRC+ over 100, and again, only 4 of them were above 120. 2023 was the same story as well, with 12 Nats above 100 and 4 above 120. Before analytics truly took over the game of baseball, the Nats would have 20+ hitters with league-average or higher wRC+ in the minor leagues, and it appears that under Paul Toboni and his staff, they have finally gotten back to that level.

The uptick in offensive performance for Nats minor league hitters has been in all aspects, as not only are walks up across the board thanks to improved approaches being instilled in hitters, but power numbers have shot up as well. Just take a look at the drastic change from years past to now in the Nats system in the chart below.

Nationals Minor League Hitters With A BB/K Ratio Over 0.50 And ISO Over .150

2026: 13

2025: 2 (0 above Complex League)

2024: 2 (0 above Dominican Summer League)

2023: 1 (Daylen Lile)

So to summarize, after back-to-back seasons with 0 players meeting the 0.50 BB/K ratio and .150 ISO benchmark, the Nats currently have a whopping 13 minor league hitters who are surpassing that number in 2026, and some quite easily, such as Seaver King, who has a 0.80 BB/K ratio and .264 ISO. I expected the new coaching staff to help make improvements to hitters’ approaches at the minor league levels, but it was a process that I expected to make multiple seasons, not one that we would see the fruits of the labor so quickly.

The one Nats minor league affiliate still struggling with their approach is the Rochester Red Wings, as the Nats Triple-A ballclub currently has 7 hitters with BB/K ratios under 0.50, and none who meet the BB/K ratio and ISO criteria listed above. Part of the reason for this is that Triple A has pitchers with both better stuff and command than the lower levels, but I also believe the hitters being older and more set in their ways than the new youngsters on the Nats farm plays a role as well.

It is easier to shape and mold the plate approach of a fresh-faced 19-year-old hitter than a 25-year-old hitter who worked his way through the minors with a different approach. With enough time and reps, hopefully the Nationals coaching staff can break through and help some players at the Triple-A level find increased success.

This Week in the Minors is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less-heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: “Who had a good week?”

Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (12-14, 5.5 games back)

It was a rough week for the Storm Chasers; they lost 5 of their 6 games against the Toledo Mud Hens. After winning the first game of the series, 10-5, they lost the next five contests.

Kameron Misner had another powerful week, going 3-for-19 at the plate, with two more homers. John Rave also blasted two more homers. Drew Waters had the best week at the plate, going 7-for-22 with a homer and a pair of doubles.

On the hill, Bailey Falter threw 4.1 innings, giving up 3 hits, 1 run, while striking out 6 batters. Stephen Kolek made another rehab start, he went 3.2 innings, allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, walking 2 and striking out 4. Eric Cerantola threw another scoreless inning and a third, while Steven Cruz also threw 2 scoreless innings.

Omaha returns home for a series against the Louisville Bats, the series runs from Tuesday to Sunday.

Northwest Arkansas Naturals (10-11, 4 games back)

The Naturals split a six game series against the Wichita Wind Surge. Every game was tightly contested, including a Sunday doubleheader to wrap up the series.

Jorge Alfaro was 4-for-11 at the plate, with a homer and a double. Carson Roccaforte was 5-for-22 with a double and a homer. Brett Squires was for-8-24 with 5 doubles, a homer and 7 runs batted in. The Naturals hit a pair of walk offs as well; Daniel Vazquez hit a walk-off two run single in the 10th inning to win a game 13-12. Rudy Martin Jr. hit a walk off homer in game one of the Sunday doubleheader.

On the hill, Henry Williams made two starts, totaling in 10 innings pitched, 4 hits, 1 run allowed, walking 5 and striking out 8. Drew Beam had his best AA start of his career, going 4.1 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, walking 1 and striking out 6. Frank Mozzicato struggled badly in his one start, going just 1.2 innings, giving up 6 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. Dennis Colleran, who had some Spring Training hype surrounding him and his high velocity continued his season long struggle, giving up 5 runs in a third of an inning over two appearances.

The Naturals remain at home for a series against the Springfield Cardinals, the series runs from Tuesday to Sunday.

Quad Cities River Bandits (10-8 2.5 games back)

The Quad Cities River Bandits took four of six in their series against the Lansing Lugnuts. At the plate, Blake Mitchell was 2-12 at the plate with a homer. Ramon Ramirez was 5-24 with a homer, two doubles and seven runs batted in. Austin Charles was 9-for-25 with three doubles, and five runs batted in. Derlin Figueroa was 4-for-18 with a double.

On the hill, David Shields went 5 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, walking 3 and striking out 6 in his one start of the week. Hunter Alberini threw 2.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits, striking out three. Emmanuel Reyes threw 4 innings of one hit ball in his start, he did walk four but also struck out three. Reyes is a 21-year-old out of the Dominican Republic.

The River Bandits are on the road to take on the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers this week; the series runs Tuesday through Sunday. The River Bandits lost of four of six to the Timber Rattlers when they played earlier this season.

Columbia Fireflies (11-10, 4 games back)

The Fireflies split their six-game series against the Augusta GreenJackets. Jordan Woods, who’s been really good so far on the bump, threw 5 innings of 4 hit ball, allowing 2 runs (1 earned), striking out 4. Woods season ERA now sits at 0.69. Blake Wolters threw 5 innings of 2 run ball, striking out 5 in his start. Wolters season ERA now sits at 1.59. Kendry Chourio didn’t make an appearance this week.

At the plate, Hyungchan Um, a catcher, was 2-for-14 at the plate, with a homer. Um is trying to become the first Royals player from South Korea, and the first Korean born catcher in MLB history. Um just turned 22 last week. Josh Hammond went 6-for-18 with a double, homer and three runs batted in. Sean Gamble on the other hand continues to struggle, he went just 3-for-20.

The Fireflies travel to Myrtle Beach, to take on the Pelicans. The series runs Tuesday through Sunday. The Fireflies took four of six from the Pelicans earlier this season.

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

We’ve got a full slate across the big leagues today with some primo matchups. 

My MLB player props analysis will include Tyler Mahle, Willson Contreras, and Andy Pages. 

Read more in my MLB picks for Tuesday, April 28.

Best MLB player props today

Player	Pick	Odds
Tyler Mahle	Over 4.5 Ks	-120
Willson Contreras	Over 0.5 runs	-110
Andy Pages	Over 0.5 runs	+110

Tyler Mahle Over 4.5 strikeouts (-120)

Tyler Mahle isn’t known as a huge strikeout pitcher, but he’s missing some bats lately.

The right-hander has cashed the Over in Ks three straight starts, and in four of his five outings this season. Last time out, he threw a gem, tossing seven scoreless against the Dodgers while striking out five. 

Mahle has 26 Ks in 25 2/3 innings of work in 2026, and he’ll face the struggling Philadelphia Phillies tonight. Across 68 at-bats against them, Mahle has 20 Ks, and they’re hitting just .235.

The Phils also just struck out 12 times in their finale against the Braves on Sunday. 

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NBCSBA, NBCSP

Willson Contreras Over 0.5 runs (-110)

Willson Contreras has been key in the Red Sox winning three games in a row since the firing of Alex Cora. He’s recorded at least one run in three straight contests, coming across the plate five times during that span. 

Contreras was 1-for-4 with a pair of runs in a victory over the Blue Jays on Monday. What’s important is that his teammates are producing below him in the lineup, and Contreras is consistently getting on base right now. 

• Time: 7:07 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: NESN, SN1

Andy Pages Over 0.5 runs (+110)

Andy Pages has been a breakout star so far for the Dodgers. He’s batting .327 with five home runs, 25 RBI, and 16 runs.

Pages has come across the plate in three consecutive games, and he has three hits during that span. The Dodgers are hitting .277 with RISP, and Pages also has a .374 OBP.

The Cuban has 13 of his runs against right-hander pitchers, and Janson Junk takes the hill this evening for the Marlins. He’s also allowed seven earned across his last three starts. 

• Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Marlins.TV, SNLA

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

Happy Tuesday, Red Sox Nation! Last night, Chad Tracy sent Ranger Suarez back to the mound for the eighth inning after throwing 90 pitches through seven innings. The Alex Cora-led Red Sox likely go to the bullpen with a five-run lead in that spot. Did you like the move to send Suarez back out? On one hand, he was dealing, and he didn’t let a relief arm force Garrett Whitlock or Aroldis Chapman into the game. On the other, he’s never thrown over 160 innings in a season before, and the pitching injuries are already piling up.

Tracy has never managed in the big leagues before. He’s used to taking care of arms and dealing with throwing programs to protect his players. He also hasn’t had to endure the grind of a major league season, where your decisions today can impact tomorrow. Managing in Worcester isn’t about the wins and losses as much as it is about developing players and getting them ready for the next step. Personally, I probably would have gone to the bullpen after seven, but I can see it either way. I like talking baseball strategy more than I do talking about contracts and trades and whatnot, so let me know what you think.

Talk about whatever you want and be good to one another. Go Sox.

It’s time for a power rankings update. The Pittsburgh Pirates are sitting at 16-13. They’ve been a couple games over .500 for a while now, but haven’t been able to quite push it further. In addition, the hot start at the plate has cooled some, with the Bucs OPS falling significantly over the past week. But the rotation has them good enough to be essentially treading water, but they’re still in the top 10 in power rankings in most places.

MLB.com has them in seventh, which is down from five last week, saying:

Paul Skenes took a perfect game into the seventh inning on Friday, and it speaks to how incredible he has been to start his career that it’s a little surprising he doesn’t have a no-hitter yet. Actually, neither he nor Tarik Skubal, the clear best two pitchers in baseball, have a no-hitter yet … but that they both flirted with one within the past week is a good sign one is definitely pending.

CBS has them in seventh.

USA Today also has them seventh.

Yahoo has them in eighth.

While Fox Sports also puts them at seventh.

It seems there’s mostly a consensus for where the Bucs are right now, and that’s right around seventh or eighth-best in the Major Leagues.

The pitching staff is cruising, as the Bucs are fourth in team ERA, fifth in WHIP and third in strikeouts. The hitting, while much improved, is still not where it needs to be. The Bucs are 13th in team batting average and in OBP, but they are 26th in slugging percentage, 22nd in OPS, and 18th in home runs. So while things have definitely improved there from last season, they’re going to need to get to above average as a team in most of those categories to have the hitting where it needs to be to truly compete.

But for as low as things have been around here for a while, I’ll take just about any level of improvement, and there’s no doubting that the Bucs have that so far this season.

By any account, the Yankees’ superlative play as of late has made them the favorites in an AL East division that looked hyper-competitive coming into the year. The Rays are close in New York’s rearview mirror, but the heavy hitters that everyone expected to compete with the Yankees in the division this year, the Orioles, Blue Jays, and Red Sox, have all gotten off to starts that range from “sluggish” to “borderline apocalyptic”. To wit, FanGraphs’ projections put the Yankees’ median win forecast for the season a full ten wins higher than that of any of their division rivals.

But we’ve seen this movie before. The Yankees have gotten out to pretty great starts in most of their recent seasons, but they haven’t always been able to seal the deal in the division. So, even with the Yankees looking strong, which of their division rivals do you think has the best chance to re-emerge in the coming weeks?

Tampa Bay has pole position, or at least, they do among the chase pack in the division. The Rays are just two games back, staying close to the Yankees even as New York went on their eight-game win streak. I wouldn’t say the Rays have the strongest roster in this division, not by a longshot, but they’ve won games thus far and perennially find ways to wring the most out of their 26 players.

And then, there are the Sox, Jays, and O’s, all of whom have starrier rosters than Tampa but haven’t been able to get out of their own way in 2026. Per FanGraphs’ rest-of-season forecasts, the Blue Jays project to have the best roster among this group, thanks in no small part to the fact that even though they’re limping now, Toronto will at some point get some of their injured players back. Will it be too late to turn things for the defending AL champs?

The Red Sox also have a roster that looks better than their record, but they’ve plunged themselves into chaos, upending their organizational chart a month into the season. The Orioles are the most boring of these underachieving teams, not snake bitten thus far like Toronto, nor stepping on rakes like Boston. Baltimore is just a team that looked like it should be pretty decent in 2026, and so far has been a little less than decent. Perhaps that puts them in the best position to move up, as there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping them from playing better other than just, well, playing better.

What do you think? Who will prove to be the toughest rival the rest of the way out?

It’ll be a loaded day on the site today, starting off with Michael’s review of last week on the farm for the Yankees, Kevin’s recap of Monday night’s American League action, and Sam’s celebration of Tom Sturdivant as part of our Yankees Birthday series. Later, Peter’s At-bat of the Week highlights José Caballero, Andrés praises Caballero’s work filling in for Anthony Volpe, and Josh discusses who on the Yankees should have the green light to challenge balls and strikes.

Today’s Matchup

New York Yankees at Texas Rangers

Time: 8:05 p.m. EST

Video: Amazon Prime Video, Rangers Sports Network

Venue: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX

MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: The Giancarlo Stanton Calf Saga is essentially at the conclusion that always seemed most likely. The Yankees had the roster flexibility to wait and see how Stanton’s tight calf responded to a couple days of rest after he was pulled from their game on Friday in Houston, but they did have him undergo an MRI. They got the results last night, and he will now hit the IL with a “low grade” strain — not dire, but enough that they knew they couldn’t keep burning a roster spot.

Following Luis Gil’s Sunday night demotion, Jasson Domínguez had just been promoted yesterday to get some reps against the Rangers with Stanton unavailable. Now, they’ll be able to call up a pitcher to take an extra bullpen spot, as they won’t need a fifth starter until May 5th. Triple-A relievers Yerry De los Santos and Kervin Castro are the most likely possible options for the ’pen since they hold 40-man roster spots, though Yovanny Cruz is also a possibility.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón have begun their rehab assignments, with the potential top two in the rotation due to return to the big-league roster soon enough. However, preventative care with both pitchers will be needed, and Cam Schlittler is also still in his first full MLB season. There’s therefore been some talk about how the club will manage all those concurrent needs, though it seems unlikely that a six-man rotation will be entertained. Matt Blake himself quashed speculation yesterday by pointing out that an extra man in the rotation leaves the bullpen a man short, and that seems outside the bounds of the Yankees’ risk profile.

NJ.com | Randy Miller: Once again, the Yankees boast a top-five offense in the game, and once again nobody walks more than the Bronx Strollers. A league-high 12.6 percent BB rate means there’s often a great deal of traffic for Yankee hitters, and that approach has been a hallmark of Aaron Boone’s time as manager. There have been instances this season where I feel the Yankees have been a little too passive however, and while a .197 ISO also paces the league, it’s a couple of ticks lower than last year’s mark, and might indicate that the club is leaving runs on the table by just walking.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: After a brutal start to the season, Jazz Chisholm Jr. seems to finally be returning to his baseline. The Yankee second baseman has had back-to-back strong series against the Red Sox and Astros — ABS challenges aside but more on that later today — after getting an extra day off against the Royals two weeks ago. Jazz used that time to reset some mechanical issues and move slightly back in the box, two tweaks that he’s credited with helping him get off better swings.

New York Post | Brooke Steinberg: One of the downsides of being arguably the most famous sports team in the world is apparently that a whole lot of people express their fandom through their passwords. A recent study shows literally millions of Yankee-related passwords have been leaked online, reminding even baseball fans to come up with stronger, more creative roadblocks for their personal data.

It was almost shocking to see. The most dominant closer in the MLB allowed a run. In fact, he allowed two runs. San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller worked 34 2/3 innings without allowing a runner to cross the plate. That streak came to an end in the top of the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs, but the Padres still walked off the field with a 9-7 series-opening win at Petco Park on Monday night.

Miller came into the game in a non-save situation after Gavin Sheets crushed a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to give San Diego a 9-5 lead over Chicago heading into the ninth inning. Miller started warming when the Padres had an 8-5 lead and Sheets found himself in an 0-2 hole with two outs before he hit a 422-foot blast into the right field seats.

Miller no longer had an opportunity to earn his 11th save of the season, but San Diego manager Craig Stammen brought him in to get the final three outs of the game, which he eventually did, but not before he got into the first trouble, he has faced all season. Miller allowed a single to Matt Shaw on a ball down the third base line that was not hit hard enough to reach third base. Ty France, who was at third for Manny Machado after he left the game with a left leg injury, allowed the ball to roll into what appeared to be foul territory, but the home plate umpire called it fair.

Shaw was on first when Miller faced Dansby Swanson who also reached on a single to put runners at first and second with no outs. Pete Crow-Armstrong had the third consecutive single, which loaded the bases against Miller and all but assured his scoreless innings streak would come to an end. Nico Hoerner did the damage with a ground ball to second base that resulted in a forceout before Shaw scored to break the streak and make the score 9-6.

Miller still needed two outs to secure the win for the Padres, but he gifted the Cubs a second run against him with a wild pitch that allowed Swanson to score to cut the lead to two runs at 9-7. With a runner on and one out, Miller found his groove and got Michael Busch to groundout and Alex Bregman to strikeout to secure the win for San Diego.

The Padres found themselves in a fight early in the game. After scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning off Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd, they watched Chicago score five unanswered runs and jump on top 5-3. San Diego scored a run in the bottom of the third inning to cut the lead to, 5-4 to set the stage for Nick Castellanos to come through in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Manny Machado hit a double to start the bottom of the fifth inning, which was one of three hits in the game for the Padres’ captain. He was followed by Xander Bogaerts who grounded out and Miguel Andujar who popped out for the second out of the inning. After a passed ball and a Ty France walk. runners were at the corners and France stole second base. Castellanos, who had not been hitting well or playing at all, lined a ball through the middle of the infield which allowed both runners to give the Padres a 7-6 lead that put the home team up for good.

San Diego will try to continue its winning ways and Miller will look to start a new streak in the second game of the series against Chicago at Petco Park at 6:40 p.m.

After a three-hour rain delay, the White Sox and Angels decided to start playing tonight’s game … at 9:40 p.m. CT. Or for this writer and editor, 10:40 p.m. The game ended 35 minutes into Tuesday in Chicago, but the Good Guys somehow pulled off a massive comeback, winning 8-7. Oh, and Mune leads the league in home runs. No big deal!

The first inning brought the pain quickly for the White Sox, as Mike Trout doubled and scored on a sac fly, putting the Angels up, 1-0. The Sox tried to answer with two singles of their own and failed. This would matter even more in the second, after starter Anthony Kay continued to struggle. With one out, Kay plunked Nolan Schanuel, gave up a single to Travis d’Arnaud, an RBI double to Bryce Teodosio and an RBI single to Zach Neto. Teodosio was caught stealing home, but Kay walked Trout to put two on with two outs. The frame ended with a force out to second, but not before Kay hit 45 pitches and the Halos tacked on two runs, making it 3-0. Brendan Hunt of Ted Lasso fame joined Connor McKnight to plug The Movement You Need and call all three pitiful outs as the Sox were retired in order to end the second.

Kay hit another batter, this time with two outs in the top of the third, but escaped further damage with a much-needed strikeout. Once more, no response from the Sox. The bases were loaded in the top of the fourth after a walk and two singles with just one out. Vaughn Grissom sent a ball to the wall, scoring a run, but Tristan Peters was able to make a leaping catch for the second out.

Osvaldo Bido, who was claimed off waivers on April 18, came in to rescue Kay in the fifth, inheriting a 4-0 ballgame, and for the first time in the entire game, there were no runs scored or hit batsmen by a Sox pitcher. Thanks to heads-up base running and a few singles, a run was scored in the bottom of the fifth, as Andrew Benintendi sent Peters home to trim the Angels lead to 4-1. Overall, Bido did a great job as a long reliever, despite giving up a solo home run to Jorge Soler in the top of the seventh.

Sam Antonacci and Chase Meidroth both made their way on base for Peters to bring in a run in the bottom of the seventh. Edgar Quero took a hit to load the bases with no outs, and Benintendi ripped one to right field for a two-run double, fully taking advantage of a dreadful Angels bullpen. Nick Sandlin, who entered halfway through the frame to replace Jack Kochanowicz, was pulled ahead of Munetaka Murakami’s at-bat.

Southpaw Drew Pomeranz stepped in to sap the slugger’s strength, but instead gave up a beautiful home run to give the Good Guys the lead. Murakami officially took over the MLB lead in home runs with 12:

Miguel Vargas kept the rally going with a solo home run right after. Now with seven runs in the seventh inning, the Sox were up, 8-5.

Per Sarah Langs, Munetaka Murakami’s first 12 MLB extra-base hits have been home runs. That extends the longest such streak to start a player’s MLB career since at least 1900 (Murakami had broken a tie with Seattle’s Dae-ho Lee with his homer run on April 22 vs. Arizona). He also tied Will Smith of the Dodgers for third-most home runs hit in a player’s first 29 career games.

The Angels still had some life left, rallying off of reliever Grant Taylor in the ninth. The righty gave up a pair of hits in the ninth, allowing a run to score and cutting the lead to 8-6. The Sox were a strike away from ending the game, but Nolan Schanuel blooped an RBI double between Vargas and Antonacci to make it 8-7, with the lead run at second base. But Bryan Hudson came to the rescue, coaxing a weak ground out from Adam Frazier for the final out, giving the Sox a huge comeback win.

Monday was shaping up to be a forgettable night at Dodger Stadium.

Then, the Dodgers delivered an unforgettable ending in the bottom of the ninth.

Trailing by two runs to the Miami Marlins, the team mounted a three-run rally on the back of quality at-bats, a big swing from Shohei Ohtani and a walk-off hit from Kyle Tucker, who lined a two-run, two-out single to center to lift the Dodgers to a 5-4 win.

“We just know as an offense we’re never out of it,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “We can always look over a baseball, work walks, work at-bats, and it worked tonight.”

That Tucker was the one who produced the game-winning swing made it all the more memorable.

Entering Monday, Tucker was batting just .238. He was less than a week removed from being dropped from second to fourth in the team’s star-studded lineup. And he had been 0-for-4 previously on the night.

“He needed a win,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s been grinding and trying to find some success and some good fortune.”

But by the time he came up, the Dodgers provided the opportunity, having a built a rally against Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks.

It started with leadoff walks from Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing. It was further ignited by a run-scoring ground-rule double from Ohtani, who one-hopped a line drive over the short wall in the right-field corner. After that, Freeman received an intentional free pass while Fairbanks left the game with an injury. Thus, it all came down to Tucker, who with two outs represented the Dodgers’ last chance.

“Guys had phenomenal at-bats right there at the end,” Tucker said. “Just having the opportunity is huge.”

Two pitches later, he made sure to take advantage, connecting on a game-winning hit that prompted his teammates to mob him around first base.

“I do think that a moment like this, even for a player that’s been around a long time, can kind of inspire more confidence in him, which is good thing,” Roberts said. “I think this is the floor of what he’s going to be doing this year, and I think it’s the needle is pointing up.”

Entering the ninth, any comeback bid had felt unlikely.

The Dodgers (20-9) hadn’t scored since Teoscar Hernández’s two-run single in the first. They had squandered that lead on Liam Hicks’ three-run homer against Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the fifth. They had left the bases loaded in the seventh. They had gone 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, slipping back into the sluggish form that dogged them for most of last week.

Alas, they quickly rallied, capping one of thier most signature wins early on this season with a first signature moment from their superstar signing.

“Kyle having this huge moment for him and us,” Freeman said with a smile. “Hopefully he can set free and be King Tuck.”

What it means

That, once again, the Dodgers are never out of a game.

Between the second and sixth innings, the team had mustered just one hit. In that time, Yamamoto stumbled in a five-inning, four-run (three-earned) outing while lacking his typical stuff or command. 

However, their superstar lineup means that, as long as they’re within striking distance, they’re always capable of mounting a comeback.

That’s what happened in the ninth, with key walks and big swings giving the team its second walk-off win of the year.

Who’s hot

Hernández is not known for drawing walks. But improved plate discipline has helped him not only earn a string of free bases lately, but also snap out of what had been a couple-week-long slump.

Hernández started his night Monday with a key hit, driving in the game’s first two runs with his opposite-field single in the first inning. After that, he walked twice, marking only the second time this season he has done so.

Following a 14-game stretch from April 7-24 in which he batted .154, Hernández is now 3-for-8 the last three days with four walks and four RBIs, raising his season average to .245.

Who’s not

At the very least, Smith was back in the lineup Monday after missing a couple games with back tightness.

However, he continued a recent slump by not only going hitless in five at-bats, but twice leaving the bases loaded in the seventh (when he broke his bat on an inning-ending grounder) and the ninth (when he struck in the at-bat before Tucker’s walk-off).

That left Smith in a 1-for-18 rut in his last five games, with a three-run homer last Friday representing his only reprieve. His batting average is down to .250 and his OPS is down to .688. Among the club’s regulars, only Tucker has a lower mark in that latter category.

Up next

Ohtani (2-0, 0.38 ERA) will take the mound Tuesday opposite Marlins right-hander Janson Junk (1-2, 3.67 ERA). However, Roberts said Ohtani would only pitch in the game, and not also serve as designated hitter. That is partially because Ohtani is pitching on just five days’ rest for the first time this year, and partially because Wednesday’s series finale the following day is an afternoon start. It marks the second time in his last three pitching starts he will not hit, as well.