Sean Burke will make his fourth appearance this season, hoping to bounce back from last week’s outing against the Rays. | (Getty Images)
The White Sox snapped their series drought over the weekend, taking two of three from the Athletics for their first series win since early April against the Blue Jays. They now head out to the desert to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game set. In some good news, the South Siders are shockingly not in last place in the AL Central, and officially do NOT have the worst run differential in the MLB — thank you, Kansas City, for both.
On top of that, two of their prospects were named players of the week in their respective leagues (Colby Shelton and Braden Montgomery), and left-handed pitching prospect Noah Schultz bounced back in his second start with five solid innings on Sunday, so not all is bad.
Righthander Sean Burke is making his third start (fourth appearance) of the season, and despite a rocky outing last week against the Rays, he’s been fairly solid overall this month, with a 3.86 ERA in three games (16 1/3 innings). Though he’s sitting at a cumulative 4.43 ERA on the year, his 3.77 FIP highlights that the defense could be impacting his expected performance, which wouldn’t be all that surprising considering the Sox rank 26th in fielding run value this season, according to Statcast. Burke also doesn’t walk an absurd amount of batters, ranking in the 73rd percentile for walk rate (6.9%), so if the team were more solid behind him, he might have better numbers.
Burke will face some tough D-backs hitters with Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll, and Geraldo Perdomo already packing a punch of power at the top of the order. Though he is batting eighth, Ildemaro Vargas has had a hot start to the season, slashing .368/.390/.596 with a .986 OPS with five doubles so far.
For Arizona, righthander Merrill Kelly will take the mound, making his second start of the season after beginning the year on the IL. Kelly gave up two runs on five hits, including a homer, across 5 1/3 innings in his first outing, though shaky command led to four walks against three strikeouts. In 32 starts last season, he posted a 3.52 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP, and he tends to lean towards his cutter and changeup to shut down an at-bat.
For whatever reason, Andrew Benintendi is leading it off for the White Sox. However, the following three are the hot core in the lineup that are hopefully going to remain more consistent to help turn things around: Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas, and Colson Montgomery. And honestly, don’t leave out Everson Pereira batting fifth because after a few horrific at-bats to start the season, he has really turned it around and has been leading the Chicago offense alongside Murakami.
In the last week, Mune ranks sixth in MLB in OPS (1.311) and slugging percentage (.833), and has mashed three homers, driven in seven runs, and walked five times. Montgomery and Vargas have also mashed two bombs apiece in that same time frame, and Montgomery’s 1.117 OPS in his last five games certainly looks a lot better than a couple of weeks ago.
The first pitch on the West Coast is later, at 8:40 p.m. CT. You can tune in at the usual locations: on TV at CHSN or on the radio at ESPN Chicago AM 1000. Back-to-back series wins, anyone?
Jonah Tong bounced back in a big way on Tuesday night.
After allowing six runs in 4.2 innings in his last start (April 14), Tong dominated for Triple-A Syracuse. Pitching against the Worcester WooSox, Tong set down six of the first seven batters he faced, including striking out five.
The Mets' young right-hander would push his strikeout count to six batters through three no-hit innings -- he did allow two walks. He wouldn't allow his first hit until three batters into the fourth inning when Anthony Seigler hit an opposite-field single to left field.
Tong lost his shutout in the sixth, however. He gave up a leadoff double to Nick Sogard and two batters later, Sogard came around to score on a Mickey Gasper one-out single. Red Sox prospect Kristian Campbell followed with a single, knocking Tong out of the game.
Dan Hammer came on to get the final two outs of the sixth (strikeout, lineout) to close the book on Tong's night.
Tong threw 87 pitches (59 strikes) across 5.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out nine batters. He lowered his ERA from 7.04 to 5.66.
On the offensive side, the Syracuse Mets smashed four home runs through the first six innings, including two from Ronny Mauricio.
Mauricio continues his impressive start to the minor league season, going 2-for-3 with a walk through Tuesday's first six innings. Mauricio now has four home runs in his last four minor league games.
In 14 games with Syracuse, Mauricio is batting .302 with five home runs, two doubles, and 11 RBI.
The other two homers came from Nick Morabito and a grand slam from first base prospect Ryan Clifford. It's the third straight game Clifford has homered.
Apr 14, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets pitcher Nolan McLean (26) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
I thought this meter would be better than the hitting meter because the offense has really been the problem. But honestly? It’s not that much better. There are more positive grades for sure, but there are almost as many pitchers mired in the poop right now as the hitters, which is almost impressive. All of the high leverage relievers that had excellent starts to their seasons have since had at least one blowup each—multiple blowups, in some cases. David Peterson has lost his rotation spot and Kodai Senga is perilously close to doing the same. Though the top three in the Mets’ rotation have been mostly solid, not all is sunshine and rainbows with the pitching staff either. Just about nothing is going right with the Mets, which is, well, how these types of losing streaks happen.
Player
Last week
This week
Huascar Brazobán, RHP
Luis García, RHP
Joey Gerber, RHP
—
Clay Holmes, RHP
Craig Kimbrel, RHP
—
Richard Lovelady, LHP
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
Tobias Myers, RHP
Freddy Peralta, RHP
David Peterson, RHP
Brooks Raley, LHP
Kodai Senga, RHP
Austin Warren, RHP
—
Luke Weaver, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP
Like with the hitters, there has been some roster turnover since our last meter. Richard Lovelady, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings across two appearances on back-to-back days, is now on the Washington Nationals. Luis García, who got lit up in the series finale against the Diamondbacks, was released and picked up by the Twins on a minor league deal. When Lovelady was designated for assignment, the Mets called up Craig Kimbrel, who has been a pleasant surprise and has yet to allow an earned run in his first four Mets appearances, despite taking the loss in Sunday’s walk-off defeat for allowing the ghost runner to score. Briefly on the roster was 28-year-old righty Joey Gerber, who pitched two scoreless innings in his debut in the series opener against the Dodgers in which the Mets were shut out. But unfortunately Gerber is now on the injured list due to a blister and the Mets called up Austin Warren to replace him on the roster. Warren gave up a solo homer on Wednesday in his 2026 debut after things had already gotten out of hand. Given that Christian Scott is set to be called up to start on Thursday and Warren is one of the only optionable arms the Mets have, he may not be long for the roster either.
Things were already out of hand by the time Warren entered the game on Wednesday because Devin Williams gave up a grand slam to Dalton Rushing that put that game out of reach. That outing marked the first runs Williams surrendered as a Met. It wasn’t a good week for Williams, who also blew his first save opportunity as a Met on Sunday by giving up the game-tying run in the ninth. He did strike out three batters in the inning to limit the damage and send the game to extra innings, but a blown save it was nonetheless.
Tobias Myers started Sunday’s game because David Peterson has been jettisoned to the bullpen. They piggybacked Sunday’s game and both pitched well. Myers gave up one hit over two scoreless innings, striking out two and walking one. Peterson followed in bulk relief and pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings. It was a bounce back outing for both of them. Peterson was coming off two poor starts in a row that lost him his rotation spot and would have earned him a poop emoji too if it wasn’t for Sunday’s strong outing. Myers’ run of brilliance to start the season ended when he gave up three runs to the A’s over three innings of long relief, but the Mets were shut out in that game too. Myers also gave up one run over two innings in Wednesday’s 8-2 loss to the Dodgers.
Clay Holmes started Wednesday’s game and took the loss, despite pitching well. He gave up two runs on four hits through five innings of work, striking out four and walking one. Holmes was the starter the day Myers got roughed up by the A’s too and also took the loss in that start despite yielding just one run in 5 1/3 innings of work because the Mets were shut out. Holmes has been one of the few consistent performers on the staff and still earns positive marks, as the two L’s on his ledger are hardly his fault.
Nolan McLean has been the Mets’ best starter though, which is not all that surprising. Both of his most recent starts were games that were blown by the bullpen. On Tuesday, McLean struck out eight over seven fantastic innings, over which he gave up just one run. But of course, the Mets lost 2-1. Against the Diamondbacks, McLean took the loss despite being brilliant through six. In the seventh, he walked the leadoff hitter, retired the next better, and then allowed a single before he was taken out of the game. Both of those runs would come around to score, charged to McLean.
It was Luke Weaver who blew up in that game, allowing both of his inherited runners from McLean to score and then two more of his own for good measure. He followed that up with a nightmarish outing against the A’s last Saturday in which he was lit up for four runs. He only avoid the poop emoji because he bounced back in Chicago with back-to-back scoreless appearances in close games over the weekend. McLean’s other start was blown by Brooks Raley and that outing represented the first blemish on his record all season. He too was scored upon in back-to-back appearances, but not knocked around to the level that Weaver was. Also like Weaver, he bounced back to earn a hold in Sunday’s game.
One of the only relievers who maintained a clean sheet over this terrible stretch is HuascarBrazobán, who is, I believe, the last member of the Opening Day bullpen remaining with a 0.00 ERA. Brazobán did mop-up duty in both of Kodai Senga’s most recent starts, which were both horrific. Senga gets slapped with the poop emoji for that, but still has his rotation spot, albeit tenuously. Brazobán pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Senga against the A’s. He had a rockier outing following Senga against the Cubs, but the Mets’ defense didn’t exactly help his cause. Brazobán issued two walks to load the bases in Sunday’s game with a skinny one-run lead to protect, but escape the jam by striking out Seiya Suzuki.
In the second of Senga’s disastrous starts, Sean Manaea pitched the bulk of long relief and the Cubs piled on against him, tagging him for five runs in four innings of work. His other outing in this twelve-game span was a positive one though; he pitched three hitless innings in a tight game in the series finale against the A’s.
That outing was in relief of Freddy Peralta, who had a very good outing that day, despite the Mets being shut out (I’m sensing a theme here). He delivered a quality start, yielding just one run on four hits through six innings of work, striking out six and walking three. Unfortunately, he took the tough luck loss. He was equally sharp through 5 2/3 in Chicago, but then unfortunately issued back-to-back walks with two outs in the sixth, which both came around to score on a home run surrendered by Brooks Raley. Overall, Peralta has been solid, but gasses quickly in the middle innings.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JULY 12: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Saturday, July 12, 2025 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kavin Mistry/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Shohei Ohtani takes the ball in the middle game of the series between the Dodgers and Giants on Wednesday night at Oracle Park in San Francisco.
Ohtani has pitched exactly six innings in each of his three starts this season, with two total runs allowed, one of them earned. In three career starts against the Giants, Ohtani has allowed two runs, one earned, in 15 innings. He had two six-inning starts with the Angels in 2021 and 2023, and last July 12 in San Francisco struck out four in three scoreless innings, as Ohtani was still in the early stages of building back up in his way back from Tommy John surgery.
The Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way phenom singled into right field off of Colorado Rockies starter José Quintana in the third inning on Monday night at Coors Field to extend his on-base streak to 52 games. Now, Ohtani enters Tuesday's away series opener against the archrival San Francisco Giants with the opportunity to tie Shawn Green — who reached base safely in 53 consecutive games in 2000 — for second place on the Dodgers' all-time on-base streak list (since 1900).
If Ohtani ties Green with a hit, walk, or hit-by-pitch in any of his plate appearances on Tuesday, he'd be five games away from the franchise record, which belongs to Hall of Famer Duke Snider. He got on base in 58 straight games in the 1954 season.
Ohtani's streak began back on Aug. 24, 2025. In that time, he's slashed .280/.402/.590 with 56 hits, 16 home runs, 39 walks and three HBPs. He passed “Wee” Willie Keeler (1900-1901) on Sunday to move into third place in the Dodgers' record book after breaking into the top five by surpassing Ron Cey's mark of 47 consecutive games from 1975-76 earlier in the season. On April 10, Ohtani's streak reached 44 games, moving him past Ichiro Suzuki for the longest on-base streak by a Japanese-born player.
“It's a tremendous streak," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "It's hard to get on base, certainly when everyone's trying to target you. This streak is one of the great ones, and hopefully he can keep it going.”
If Ohtani can pass Snider's benchmark, he'd still be a ways away from Ted Williams' MLB record of 84 straight games reaching base in 1949.
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 18: Freddy Fermin #54 of the San Diego Padres is congratulated in the dugout after scoring a run on a single by Fernando Tatis Jr. #23 in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 18, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images
San Diego Padres (15-7) at Colorado Rockies (9-14), April 21, 2026, 5:40 p.m. PST
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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 09: Jimmy Herget #44 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Petco Park on April 09, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Tonight, the Colorado Rockies (9-14) welcome the San Diego Padres (15-7) to Coors Field for the first of a three-game stand.
As a reminder, the Padres swept the Rockies in four games at Petco Park just over a week ago.
Starting for the Padres is Randy Vásquez. This will be his fourth start in 2025.
The righty has a 2.49 ERA in 21.0 IP. He’s struck out 25, walked eight, and given up one home run. Vásquez has a 1.29 WHIP.
Taking the mound for the Rockies will be RHP Jimmy Herget, who will open the game and turn it over to Chase Dollander. This will be his third stint as an opener in 2026.
Currently, Herget has an ERA of 1.64 in 11.0 IP. He’s struck out eight while giving up two walks and no home runs with a 0.91 WHIP.
As for Dollander, this will be his sixth appearance of 2026. In 19.0 IP, he’s earned an ERA of 3.32, including 23 strikeouts and six walks. In addition, Dollander has allowed three home runs.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 4: Adley Rutschman #35 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on an RBI single by Leody Taveras #30 (not pictured) in the fourth inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on April 4, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Adley Rutschman is back in the Orioles lineup. His stay on the IL was the minimum of 10 days, dating back to April 10, when he began dealing with left ankle inflammation. It sounds like his recovery was quite smooth, and he stayed in shape. So no rehab games were needed, and instead he is right back in the mix.
In order to make room for Rutschman on the big league roster, Sam Huff was designated for assignment. Huff had gone 2-for-9 at the plate, with a double, one RBI, zero walks, and five strikeouts during Rutschman’s absence. One would imagine that the O’s will hope to keep Huff in the organization since they clearly preferred him over Maverick Handley in the first place. We shall see. The Orioles 40-man roster is now at 39. Mike Elias is surely scouring the waiver wire today.
Shane Baz will be on the bump. His last time out was his longest as an Oriole. He lasted six innings and allowed four runs on six hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. To this point, the righty has been…fine. But the Orioles probably expect a bit more from him. Specifically, he needs to get more whiffs. Pair that with what has been a better walk rate for him so far and he will be cooking. This Royals team, which has scored the third-fewest runs in MLB to this point, is a good opportunity to show what he can do.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 04: Kumar Rocker #80 of the Texas Rangers walks to the dugout at the end of the fifth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Globe Life Field on April 04, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Pitching Matchup: Carmen Mlodzinski (1-0, 1.77 ERA) vs. Kumar Rocker (0-1, 4.30 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today in the Lone Star State against the Texas Rangers looking to grab a win.
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - APRIL 10: Kris Bubic #50 of the Kansas City Royals pitches during the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium on April 10, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jay Biggerstaff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Kansas City Royals loss last night to Baltimore Orioles was as insane and heart wrenching as we have witnessed in awhile. I chose to laugh instead of weep when Lane Thomas got thrown out at third base in the top of the tenth inning, and there was still more insanity to go after that. That game felt like it was the 2006 Royals, not the 2026 team that I had such high hopes for.
Still, there is a lot of baseball left this season and I want to believe that the team has another 16-2 run in them like they did last year after starting slowly. Kris Bubic, who takes the mound for the Royals today, did not have his best outing last time against the Detroit Tigers. He looked like an ace the start before against the Chicago White Sox, and hopefully has the ace’s mentality to end the losing streak. Of course, the Royals will need to score some run to end the losing streak as well.
I’m sure all the Royals officials and Missouri politicians who will be attending the stadium announcement tomorrow would really appreciate it if the Boys in Blue could find it within themselves to win the game tonight.
Apr 19, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Atlanta Braves relief pitcher Raisel Iglesias (26) reacts against the Philadelphia Phillies after the ninth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
The Atlanta Braves got what is hopefully good news related to closer Raisel Iglesias as it was conveyed to reporters prior to tonight’s game that an MRI showed only inflammation with no structural damage to his shoulder.
Raisel Iglesias returned to Atlanta for a MRI that showed no structural damage. The Braves are hopeful his stay on the IL will be a short one. They debated about just resting him for 4-5 days, but didn’t want to go short in the bullpen
As MLB.com’s Mark Bowman relayed, the team hopes Iglesias will only stay on the IL for a limited amount of time. He last pitched on April 19 in Philadelphia. For the season, he’s pitched in eight games, tossing 8.2 shut-out innnings while striking out 11 batters and collecting five saves.
Free agent singee Robert Suarez, who led the National League in saves with the San Diego Padres last season, will likely serve as closer while Iglesias is out of action.
Detroit Tigers first base coach Anthony Sanders (77), right, talk to third baseman Kevin McGonigle (7) during the ninth inning against Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park in Detroit on Thursday, April 16, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Detroit Tigers (12-11) vs. Milwaukee Brewers (12-9)
Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park SB Nation Site: Brew Crew Ball Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network Pitching Matchup: RHP Keider Montero (1-1, 3.31 ERA) vs. LHP Kyle Harrison (1-1, 3.07 ERA)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 30: Blake Snell #7 of the Los Angeles Dodgers warms up in the outfield during batting practice before the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 30, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Dodgers starter Blake Snell will see his first game action of 2026 on Wednesday, officially starting a minor league rehab assignment with the Class-A Ontario Tower Buzzers in the second game of their road series against the San Jose Giants.
The Dodgers have mentioned multiple times this season that Snell’s timetable for return is some time in late May, which fits roughly with his opening his rehab assignment on Wednesday.,That leaves time for three or four rehab starts to build back up. If Snell takes the full 30 days on his rehab assignment, he’d still be ready to return by the final week of May.
Manager Dave Roberts told reporters in San Francisco on Tuesday that Snell would make at least three rehab starts, but most likely four.
“I would say the floor is get to five innings for sure. How we get there, we’re going to talk about it — as far as the three, four, or repeat the three [innings], I’m not sure about the progression,” Roberts said, as shown on SportsNet LA. “But the floor is getting to five innings, for sure.”
Ontario’s game in San Jose on Wednesday starts at 6 p.m. PT.
Also of note, reliever Brock Stewart on Tuesday shifted his rehab assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma City after pitching twice last week for Class-A Ontario.
Apr 15, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Dustin May (3) pitches against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Players and coaches are wearing number 42 in recognition of Jackie Robinson Day. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
The St. Louis Cardinals play game 2 of their road series versus the Miami Marlins Tuesday night. Dustin May (2-2 with a 6.98 ERA) will start for the Cardinals while Chris Paddack (0-3 with a 5.59 ERA) will get the ball for the Marlins. First pitch is scheduled for 5:40pm central time.
