Category: Baseball

Series Preview

#19 Nebraska Cornhuskers (26-7, 11-1 B1G) at #21 Oregon Ducks (24-9, 8-4 B1G)

Location: PK Park, Eugene, OR

Dates: April 10-12th

Times (all CDT): Friday @ 5pm **Time Change!**, Saturday @ 4pm, Sunday @ 2pm

Coaches: Will Bolt (7th season, 196-133-1) & Mark Wasikowski (7th season, 317-197)

TV/Stream: All games on B1G+

Radio: All Nebraska games on Huskers Radio Network, Huskers.com, Huskers App

After a tough first 3 weeks of a non-conference schedule, Nebraska has rolled through the easier part of its schedule. Prior to the mid-week game against an impressive Kansas team, only a single game against a hot veteran pitcher stopping them from winning 22 in a row. In baseball, it doesn’t matter what level you are playing, that streak is still impressive (just ask the Back to Back Big Ten Champion teams that struggled in the midweek against South Dakota State and Omaha). Now the team gets to find out if the momentum will carry them against the two best teams remaining on its weekend schedule and secure a top 4 seed AND potentially a home regional.

Oregon rolled through the early part of its schedule, with only a slip up against an average UC Irvine team, and a loss in the baseball version of the Civil War to Oregon State. Since a trip to UC Santa Barbara, the offense which had been mashing the ball (it still leads the Big Ten in home runs and total bases) has stalled a bit. They’ve averaged just 3 runs per game in their last 8 games, which included two mid week losses to Portland sandwiched around the team’s first weekend series loss at Michigan.

It’s hard to imagine a whole team has gone cold for an extended period of time. Then again, Nebraska fans only have to look to last season (sorry for the PTSD) to see how a good offensive team can just go ice cold for a couple stretches. Is the past couple weeks just a blip for the Ducks and they just need some home cooking to regain their power? Or can Nebraska’s strong pitching staff capitalize on their recent woes?

Pitching Preview

Game 1: RHP Ty Horn (1-1, 4.70 ERA) vs. RHP Will Sanford (4-1, 2.54 ERA)

Game 2: RHP Carson Jasa (6-1, 3.64 ERA) vs. RHP Collin Clarke (5-2, 2.72 ERA)

Game 3: RHP Cooper Katskee (5-0, 2.79 ERA) vs. RHP Cal Scolari (4-0, 2.81 ERA)

For the first time really all season, Ty Horn struggled mightily, and to the point he couldn’t get an out in the 4th inning. His pitches, which have lived at the bottom of the strike zone, just didn’t seem to have a lot of downward bite to them against a substandard Penn State offense. 3 doubles and 2 home runs took advantage of the elevated Horn pitches. Horn always seems to dig deep and be at his best against top competition, and bounces back big time the week after a rough start.

The Carson Jasa experience continues for the Huskers. He set a career high with 11 strikeouts against Penn State. Other than the disasterous Auburn start, he’s struck out at least 8 batters in each start. He is up to 66 strikeouts in 42 innings over his 8 starts. Joba Chamberlain and Shane Komine are the only Husker pitchers with more than 65 strikeouts over their first 8 starts in a season.

As is his custom, Cooper Katskee gave up 2 runs early, then cruised through a season best 7 innings. Michael Anderson got 2 home runs off of him, but really nothing else of consequence came from the Nittany Lions offense against the senior. It was a real luxury to have him go so deep to help make up for the short outing by Horn. The staff has a good balance of different types of starting pitchers that can all potentially get deep into games. It’s been a while since a Husker team could say that.

After a freshman season in which he started and you saw glimpses of greatness, Will Sanford has taken the Friday night baton and run with it. He’s pitched almost the exact same innings (39) as last season, and has dropped his walks from 39 to 23 and increased his strikeouts from 42 to 51. Like Ty Horn, he is coming off his worst start of the season, giving up 6 runs in 2.2 innings at Michigan. He hasn’t really struggled like that at all this year. How will he bounce back?

When Saturday starter Collin Clarke is on, he really has a ton of movement on each one of his pitches. Really looks like Koty Frank (shoutout Frank Koty!) when he was stalking the mound for the Huskers. He eats up innings, having gone 6 innings in all but 2 starts so far, and doesn’t waste pitches. He will be in the zone on nearly every throw. He can get in hitters heads to, he is very demonstrative on the mound. If you can watch the video on the tweet below, he has something to say after nearly every strike thrown.

The highest ceiling may be Sunday starter Cal Scolari. As a redshirt freshman at San Diego last season (Man, I hate those guys!) he was the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year. He has 46 strikeouts in just 32 innings. He and Katskee are both undefeated on the year. The series may come down to who gets their first blemish on the year.

Scouting Report

On offense, the Ducks looked to a pair of All-Conference juniors to help replace all the production lost off of last year’s team that belted a conference leading 115 home runs. The two middle infielders who had big time seasons a year ago, have gone in different directions in 2026.

Second baseman and leadoff man Ryan Clooney is taking his game to another level, he is batting .359 and already has as many extra base hits as he did all of 2025. He has 33 runs scored and has 28 RBIs, which is outstanding for a leadoff batter. Cooney is also he biggest threat the Ducks have on the base paths, stealing 11 out 13 bases on the year. His partner, short stop Maddox Moloney is going through his worst season in Eugene. His batting average is down almost 80 points from a season ago to just .235. After hitting 8 doubles and 15 home runs last year, he is at 6 and 5 respectively this season. As D1Baseball’s Burke Granger shows, he has lost the ability to hit the off-speed pitch, batting .225 lower on sliders than last year and .144 lower on change-ups.

One Duck that has been good his whole career, but really exploded this season is third baseman Drew Smith. He really worked on his swing in the offseason and it seems his batting average speed has really taken off. He is leading the team in batting at .386, home runs, with 10, and RBIs, at 38. His OPS is third in the conference behind Penn State’s Michael Anderson (Sorry for bringing him up again.) and UCLA’s Will Gasparino (Who you will find near the top of nearly every offensive category.). Oh, and by the way he is probably the best defensive third baseman in the Big Ten.

One player who has been slumping recently but is capable of changing the outcome of a series with the power in his bat is Dominic Hellman. Listed at 6’6” and 281 lbs, the senior hit 13 home runs in his first healthy season last year, and despite his recent lack of success still has 7 doubles and 8 home runs on the season, including hitting 4 home runs in an earlier series against Northwestern.

One freshman to keep track of, that may be the next great Oregon player is right fielder Angel Laya. Their top recruit is batting .296, but is second on the team in home runs with 9. He also has 25 runs scored and 28 RBIs.

Oregon has the best bullpen Nebraska has seen in a while. The staff as a whole is 2nd in the nation in WHIP at 1.13. Closer Devin Bell transferred in from D-II Western Oregon. He was the closer there as a freshman and sophomore, before becoming an All-American starter as a junior. He has 7 saves this season, an ERA of 4.26, 11 strikeouts and 5 walks in 12.2 innings.

The guy the Ducks go get to get them out of a jam is sophomore Tanner Bradley. After not seeing the field much as a freshman, with only 4 appearances, he is leading the team with 15 this year. And it’s not hard to see why. In his 25.1 innings, he has struck out 41 batters and walked 8. His 1.42 ERA leads the regular on the team as well.

The other regular out of the pen is former top ranked pitcher out of the state of Nebraska Michael Meckna. The Elkhorn South grad is second on the team with 14 appearances, and has struck out 18 in 17.1 innings.

The Ducks are an elite defensive team, fielding at 98.1% on the season, good enough for 4th in the Big Ten currently, behind Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota.

Series History

This is the first regular season matchup between the Huskers and Ducks. You may remember their only previous meeting, a 7-3 Nebraska win over the top seeded Oregon team in that horrible pool play structure.

On Deck

• This is the Huskers’ first weekend series where both teams are ranked since 2015. When #17 Maryland swept #18 Nebraska in College Park, MD.
• Former Oregon Duck Mac Moyer is leading the Big Ten in both batting average (.406) and hits (52). He is 3rd in on base % (.500) behind Iowa’s Miles Risley, and former Husker and current Purdue Boilermaker Aaron Manias.
• The NU pitching staff is holding opponents to a .215 batting average against, currently besting the previous low this century of .227 in 2005.

New uniforms, new roster moves — but are the Royals finding answers on the field?

In this episode of the Royals Rundown Podcast, hosts Jacob Milham and Jeremy “Hokius” Greco break down the latest developments surrounding the Kansas City Royals, from recent roster transactions to ongoing performance concerns. The discussion covers the return of Eli Morgan, bullpen adjustments, and what recent moves signal about the team’s strategy as the season unfolds.

A key focus is the Royals’ continued struggles with runners in scoring position, diving into whether the issue is mechanical, mental, or simply variance —and what it means for the team’s offensive ceiling moving forward. The duo also evaluates bullpen reliability and identifies potential bright spots emerging from recent performances.

Off the field, the conversation shifts to the highly anticipated Royals City Connect uniforms, with a detailed breakdown of the design, symbolism, and fan reception. Jacob and Jeremy also draft their favorite City Connect uniforms from this year’s release, comparing Kansas City’s look to standout designs from teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves.

To wrap things up, the episode previews the upcoming Royals vs. White Sox series, highlighting key matchups, pitching outlooks, and what Kansas City needs to do to gain momentum. Blending analysis, culture, and fan-focused discussion, this episode keeps Royals fans informed and engaged as the season progresses.

Need your Royals fix? Head to royalsreview.com for news, analysis, and to engage with Royals fans around the world! Follow us online:

BlueSky
– Jeremy Greco: @hokius.fromthehawkseye.com
– Jacob Milham: @jacobmilhkc.bsky.social

Twitter / X
– Podcast: @RoyalRundownPod

A few days ago, I was looking up Jesús Luzardo on Baseball Savant, as one does. Due to a typo, though, I accidentally searched for “Jesús Lizardo”. I expected to be redirected to Luzardo’s page. Instead, though, I was brought to a page on the very real Jesus Lizardo, a catcher who was in the Pirates organization last year. After I got over my crushing disappointment that Lizardo isn’t a version of Luzardo from an alternate universe in which everyone is a reptile (Crocodile Sánchez and Aaron Anole-a round out the Reptillian Phillie rotation), I got to thinking: does every Phillie have a similar-name Doppelgänger out there? And so, I now present to you, the Phillies All-Doppelgänger team. They mostly didn’t play the right positions, and they may not have had star careers (or even major-league careers at all), but they sort of sound like our Phillies.

Pitcher: Jesus Lizardo

Lizardo played with Pittsburgh’s Dominican Summer League squads in 2024 and 2025. Given that he slashed a career .331/.244/.575, it seems unlikely that we will ever see the dream of a Luzardo/Lizardo battery in the bigs. Oh well.

Catcher: JT Riddle

Our BCIB is the only player in major league history with the name Realmuto. The only player to ever reach the bigs with a vaguely similar surname is Richard Realf, a pitcher who played for one season with Cleveland in 1901 (and who went by the name Dick Braggins, which you could do in 1901 without drawing laughs). Instead, we’ll go with Realmuto’s initial-buddy JT Riddle (no periods after the J and T, unlike Realmuto). Riddle played in parts of six seasons with Miami, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and Cincinnati. He didn’t pose much of a riddle for opposing pitchers, posting a career OPS of .616.

First Base: Bryan Harper

In 2011, the Washington Nationals drafted B. Harper, who played at Las Vegas High School, then the College of Southern Nevada. “But wait!”, you’re saying. “Bryce was drafted in 2010!”. Yes, he was. 2008’s B. Harper was Bryan, Bryce’s brother. A southpaw reliever, Bryan played in the Nationals organization from 2011 to 2019. He also has the distinction of being drafted by the same club twice, having been a Washington pick in 2008, too. That being the case, and being the older brother, he came first— Bryce is actually his doppelgänger.

Second Base: Bob Stotts

“Stott the presses,”, the assembled Stotts cried in 2022, “one of our own has made the show!” A number of Stotts had played pro baseball, starting with John Stott in 1892, but none had made it to the bigs until Bryson. The closest name match among them was Bob Stotts, who had a single pro season with the Dodgers organization, playing for the Sooner State League’s Seminole Ironmen, and the Southwest International League’s marvelously named Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings.

Shortstop: Trey Turner

In 2017, the Washington Nationals decided one Trea Turner wasn’t enough. See, they already had Trea Turner at shortstop. But the 10th round of the 2017 draft offered them the opportunity to draft another one. Sure, he wasn’t quite the same— he was a pitcher, for one thing, and for another, he spelled his name with a y. Between the Trea/ys Turner and the Harper brothers, the 2010s Nationals seemed to be going for some sort of strategy involving confusing the other team as to who they were actually facing. Abbott and Costello would’ve been proud.

Third Base: Alec Byrd

Only one Bohm has ever made the bigs. But there have been a quartet of other Alec Bs in pro baseball. The closest name match among them is Alec Byrd, a reliever who came out of Florida State and played three seasons with the Rockies and Reds organizations.

Left Field: Brandon Moss

And, at long last, we actually have a doppelgänger at the right position. And the right team, too! Brandon Moss played over a decade in the bigs, starting with the BoSox, but eventually making his way to the Phillies for the 2011 season (though he appeared in only five games). His best year came in Oakland, where he was named to the 2014 AL All-Star team.

Center Field: Jim Crawford

A lefty pitcher, Jim Crawford played two seasons with Houston and three with Detroit from 1973-1978. He went by the nickname of Catfish. Crawfish seems like it would’ve been the more appropriate ichthyology-based nickname, plus he wouldn’t have had to share it with the more famous Hunter.

Right Field: Adonis García

Only one player in professional baseball history has had the name Adolis, and he’s a Phillie. But Adonis García, who played parts of three seasons with Atlanta from 2015-2017, is just one letter away.

Closer: Jhonny Duran

He was indeed a pitcher, and his name sounds an awful lot like our flamethrowing Durantula. But Jhonny didn’t have quite the same stuff as Jhoan, and made it only as far as the Rangers’ Dominican Summer League team.

For the second game in a row, the Tulsa Drillers got to double digits in runs scored, this time needing every bit of it to take the 12-9 win over the Springfield Cardinals with some late game drama—one of three wins on Thursday from the Dodgers’ top four minor league teams.

Player of the day

As one would imagine with the amount of runs they’ve been scoring as of late, the Tulsa Drillers are getting outstanding production from their best players, and that starts with Kendall George at the top of the batting order. Getting the day off from the field, George was the DH and managed to reach base safely in four out of six plate appearances, responsible for a quarter of the runs that the Drillers scored.

Getting good pitches to hit, considering most pitchers didn’t want to have to deal with Josue De Paula behind him, George went 3 for 5 with a double and also walked once—the highlight of his performance was a go-ahead single in the ninth, then giving the Drillers a 10-9 lead.

A massive threat on the basepaths, George would also steal a base in that 10th inning, his fifth one this season, in which he has yet to be caught.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

River Ryan did his best to keep the Express off the scoreboard in a game in which he clearly didn’t have it, allowing eight hitters to reach safely in 4.1 innings of work with just two earned runs. However, the Comets ultimately fell on the losing end of a tightly contested affair, dropping it 6-5.

Both teams finished the game with the same 13 hits, but while walks weren’t that much of a problem for Ryan, every reliever who came out of the Comets’ bullpen suffered with them—the Comets’ relievers combined to put eight men on, while the opposing team only allowed three free passes.

One of the stars of these first few games of the minor league season, James Tibbs III struggled heavily, going 0 for 4 with a Golden Sombrero—one of the responsible parties for the Comets going 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position and not capitalizing on a four-hit game from leadoff bat Ryan Fitzgerald.

Double-A Tulsa

Ten walks and five stolen bases allowed, it wasn’t a favorable performance for Tulsa pitching, with starter Adam Serwinowski failing to complete two full innings. Still, in the end, their star hitters were too much for the Springfield Cardinals to handle, outhitting the opposition 15 to 7.

Interestingly, the bulk of that damage came on singles, 12 of the Drillers’ 15 hits to be exact—the exceptions being a couple of doubles from George and De Paula, and a two-run bomb from center fielder Harry Newell in the third inning.

One important note about this game is that, evidently, facing the switch-pitching effects of Jurrangelo Cijntje didn’t really affect the Drillers, with 11 men reaching in the three innings of work from the Cardinals’ starting pitcher.

High-A Great Lakes

Southpaw Sterling Patrick was one out short of earning the win, but that shouldn’t minimize a solid performance, allowing all of one hit in 4.2 innings of work against the Whitecaps with seven strikeouts. Unfortunately for Patrick, the walks proved to be a bit of an issue, allowing four of them, thus preventing a longer outing as the Loons won the game 5-2.

The big hit of the game for the Great Lakes came right in the first inning when Logan Wagner hit a two-run bomb. In fact, the Loons really didn’t need much offense after the opening frame, one in which they secured three of their total five hits in the game.

Class-A Ontario

Relentless attack with at least one run scored in each of the first five innings. That’s how the Tower Buzzers secured an 8-3 victory away from home. Luis Carias’ work out of the bullpen was also very important, covering 3.2 innings, as starter Brady Smith once again delivered a short start, a regular occurrence since he joined the Dodger organization last season.

Offensively, designated hitter Jaron Elkins was the standout performer, securing a four-hit game with three runs batted in, including a solo shot, one of three from the Tower Buzzers in the game—joined by Landyn Vidourek and Anson Aroz.

Thursday scores

• Round Rock 6, Oklahoma City 5
• Tulsa 12, Springfield 9
• Ontario 8, Inland Empire 3
• Great Lakes 5, West Michigan 2

Friday schedule

• 3:35 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Logan Tabeling) at West Michigan (Luvas Elissalt)
• 4:35 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Patrick Copen) at Springfield (Braden Davis)
• 5:05 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Christian Romero) vs. Round Rock (Cal Quantrill)
• 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (Cam Leiter) at Inland Empire (Mason Peters)

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The Texas Rangers head to Dodger Stadium to face the Los Angeles Dodgers and strikeout artist Tyler Glasnow on Friday night.

My top Rangers vs. Dodgers predictions and MLB picks are calling for Glasnow to cruise through the Texas lineup in winning fashion in the April 10 nightcap.

Who will win Rangers vs Dodgers today: Dodgers -1.5 (-107)

Los Angeles Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow has been dealing to start the year with a tidy 3.00 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 2.44 xFIP while holding opposing hitters to a miniscule 27.6% hard-hit rate.

The Dodgers are also second in both wOBA and ISO against righties, so I expect them to do damage against Texas Rangers starter Kumar Rocker given his 9.29 ERA, 1.97 WHIP and 5.01 xFIP on the highway since the beginning of 2025.

Opposing hitters have teed off to the tune of a .451 wOBA against Rocker, too.

COVERS INTEL: Glasnow's 30.9 K% since 2024 is the fourth-highest mark among pitchers with at least 200 IP.

Rangers vs Dodgers Over/Under pick: Under 9 (-105)

I fully expect Glasnow to hold the Rangers in check, and while the Dodgers are positioned to put runs on the board, I’m not anticipating them sending this game Over the number on their own.

Texas ranks 22nd in OBP against right-handed pitchers and have only scored 3.7 runs per game. Additionally, the Rangers have hit the Under in five straight.

Finally, these are two solid bullpens, with Texas sporting the second-lowest ERA, and Los Angeles checking in 11th.

Rangers vs Dodgers odds

• Moneyline: Rangers +200 | Dodgers -245
• Run line: Rangers +1.5 (-105) | Dodgers 11.5 (-115)
• Over/Under: Over 9 (-110) | Under 9 (-110)

Rangers vs Dodgers trend

The Dodgers have covered the run line in 29 of their last 50 games (+10.75 Units / 18% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Rangers vs. Dodgers.

How to watch Rangers vs Dodgers and game info

Rangers vs Dodgers latest injuries

Rangers vs Dodgers weather

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Let's kick off the weekend with some winners from our MLB best bets!

Our baseball experts have given their favorite MLB picks for today based on prices from Polymarket, which allows MLB fans across the country to get in on the baseball action.

Our favorite plays for today go back to a profitable Under well, back a roster with a favorable pitching matchup, and start early with a pick for the 2:20 p.m. ET game.

MLB expert picks for today

Pick	Odds
Josh Inglis: CWS/KC u8.5	-122
Jon Metler: BOS ML	-138
Neil Parker: CHC ML	-138

Prices courtesy of Polymarket.

Josh Inglis' expert pick: White Sox/Royals Under 8.5

Price: 55¢ (-122) at Polymarket

Let's keep riding these Kansas City Royals Unders. They've moved to 9-4 to the Under and have scored just three runs over their last three games — all without facing top-end pitching. This sets up similarly to yesterday’s 2-0 game, with another comparable starting pitching matchup on tap against the White Sox. Conditions also lean Under, with temperatures still below 60 degrees and winds now blowing in at 10 mph (after blowing out at 20 mph last night). This number looks a bit inflated, and it should close closer to a flat 8.

Jon Metler's expert pick: Red Sox moneyline

Price: 58¢ (-138) at Polymarket

The Red Sox are trading at 58% on Polymarket, and that’s a price worth attacking — I make them closer to a 66% favorite today against the St. Louis Cardinals. Dustin May relies heavily on his power sinker, but when it doesn’t have its usual bite — especially against left-handed hitters — it tends to run into their barrels. Early in the season, that sinker hasn’t shown much movement, which is reflected in the numbers: lefties are batting .500 with a 1.542 OPS against him... and that’s where this matchup becomes a real concern: The Red Sox lineup is built to exploit it, with left-handed bats like Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, and Wilyer Abreu stacked at the top of the order.

Neil Parker's expert pick: Cubs moneyline

Price: 58¢ (-138) at Polymarket

The Chicago Cubs will receive a boost with Seiya Suzuki making his season debut this afternoon, and the Cubbies have also been on the unlucky side to start the year. They rank second in hard-hit rate and sixth in barrel percentage, so positive regression to a 25th-ranked BABIP is coming — and Pirates righty Carmen Mlodzinski is the perfect get-right candidate, surrendering a 68% hard-hit rate through two starts, with three of his five offerings having negative pitch values.

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.

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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is poised for a breakout tonight with a plus-matchup pitcher in Simeon Woods Richardson on the bump for the Twins.

Find out why my Twins vs. Blue Jays predictions are projecting a big evening from Vladdy, and much more, with my free MLB picks for Friday, April 10.

Twins vs Blue Jays predictions

Twins vs Blue Jays best bet: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases (-105)

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is due for some positive regression after a slow start to the year. 

He’s hitting just .268 with only two XBH. However, under the hood, he’s posting a more impressive .299 xBA with a .500 xSLG this season. 

The Toronto Blue Jays slugger may have started his turnaround in his last outing against the Dodgers, where he went 2-for-3 with a double. 

Additionally, Vladdy matches up well against Simeon Woods Richardson, resulting in him going 3-for-4 against the Minnesota Twins starter. 

Moreover, Woods Richardson has a career ERA of 11.35 against Toronto.

COVERS INTEL: Despite a 2.31 ERA through his first two starts, Wood Richardson's xERA is 3.99, and he ranks in the 37th percentile in xBA.

Twins vs Blue Jays same-game parlay (SGP)

I’ll continue to fade Woods Richardson in this matchup by taking the Over on his earned runs. He’s allowed five runs in each game against the Jays in his career, giving up five homers and a 1.240 OPS in two outings. 

George Springer is starting to turn things around as well with hits and an RBI in back-to-back games. If the Jays pounce on SWR again tonight, he should be in position to drive in another run for a third straight game.

Twins vs Blue Jays SGP

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Over 1.5 total bases
• Simeon Woods Richardson Over 2.5 earned runs
• George Springer 1+ RBI 

Twins vs Blue Jays home run pick: George Springer (+245)

This is a half unit bet. 

Davis Schneider isn’t on the board quite yet, but if he gets a last-minute start tonight, I’d bet on him to take SWR deep. He’s 4-for-5 with three home runs against the Twins starter. 

The other Jays hitter I like to go deep tonight would be Springer, who showed signs of a turnaround the other night.

His ability to hit the fastball, paired with the 50% usage on that pitch for SWR, should give Springer an edge to take it deep over the wall. 

Twins vs Blue Jays odds

• Moneyline: Twins +118 | Blue Jays -138
• Run line: Twins +1.5 | Blue Jays -1.5
• Over/Under: Over 9 | Under 9

Twins vs Blue Jays trend

The Blue Jays have covered the F5 run line in 15 of their last 22 games at home (+7.00 Units / 27% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Twins vs. Blue Jays.

How to watch Twins vs Blue Jays and game info

Twins vs Blue Jays latest injuries

Twins vs Blue Jays weather

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The affiliates left much to be desired on Thursday evening, but the one man who kept his great season rolling was David McCabe. McCabe has homered in half of Columbus’s games so far, and his performance led to the only win in the system. In Augusta Luis Arestigueta made his season debut and looked sharp, striking out six batters over three innings.

(7-5) Gwinnett Stripers 3, (6-5) Nashville Sounds 6

Box Score

Statcast

• Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, .356/.463/.511
• Rowdy Tellez, 1B: 0-3, BB, .167/.279/.389
• Carlos Carrasco, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2.40 ERA
• Hayden Harris, RP: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 6.23 ERA

It was a drag on the offensive end for the Gwinnett Stripers, who struggled to get anything going throughout this game save for a single big swing from Jim Jarvis. While the Sounds were applying steady pressure throughout the game the Stripers had no real signs of life with two outs in the fifth inning, when Sandy Leon poked a bloop hit the other way for just his second hit this season. On the very next pitch Brewer Hicklen hit a sharp liner back up the middle and into center field, and for the first time in the game Gwinnett was threatening a bit with two runners on and the top of the order up to bat. With the game sitting on a one run margin Jarvis had a chance to make a huge impact on this game, and the Sounds were giving him a diet of sliders on the inning half of the plate. When the count ran to 2-2 Jarvis got a slider that stayed in the top of the zone and he turned on it, hooking it fair down the right field line and into the visitor bullpen for a three-run home run. Aaron Shunk got Gwinnett right back rolling with their fourth straight hit, but the fun ended on a Rowdy Tellez strikeout and the Sounds clawed those runs back in the late innings. In the sixth the Stripers had a huge chance to score after a Ben Gamel leadoff walk that was followed by a double from Jose Azocar, but the left fielder cut the ball off before it could reach the wall and held Gamel at third base. The next two Stripers struck out with runners in scoring position, and Leon ended the inning with an infield pop up, spoiling what would be by far the biggest chance for Gwinnett in the later half of the game. Hicklen’s single to lead off the next inning was the final hit they would get in the game, and even he didn’t last on the basepaths when a laser from Schunk went straight at the third baseman with Hicklen running, turning into an inning-ending double play.

While the offense was in the pits Carlos Carrasco kept Gwinnett around in this game with a strong outing that saw him cover five innings of one-run ball. His early inning work was a bit shaky with the first two batters netting singles and former Striper Eddys Leonard tagging him for a second inning home run, but he found a rhythm quickly and begin retiring the order with ease. Carrasco allowed only one hit over the final three innings, and after that swing from Jarvis he was in line for a win. Unfortunately that lead would quickly dwindle and flip, as Anthony Molina had an outing that was marked by a huge defensive mistake. Though Molina was shaky and gave up a lot of contact, in the sixth inning he had the Sounds down to the final out with two runners on and none in, and he forced a soft roller over to the left side. Luke Williams made the pick and tossed to first, but put it in the dirt and the ball got past Tellez allowing two runners to score and tie the game. Molina came in for another inning and once again Eddys Leonard made his presence felt, hitting his second home run of the game to give the Sounds the lead and in the end the game. The only pitcher to slow him down was Hayden Harris, who appeared in the ninth inning just to face Leonard. A caught stealing accounted for the second out while Harris was on the mound, and Harris needed just four fastballs to retire Leonard on swings.

Swing and Misses

Carlos Carrasco – 15

Anthony Molina – 5

(2-4) Columbus Clingstones 2, (3-2) Montgomery Biscuits 3

Box Score

• Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-3, 2 BB, .238/.407/.429
• David McCabe, 3B: 1-3, HR, 2 BB, .353/.542/.882
• Ambioris Tavarez, 2B: 1-3, BB, RBI, .273/.429/.545
• Owen Murphy, SP: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 5.40 ERA
• Jhancarlos Lara, RP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 6.75 ERA

The Clingstones had some issues making contact in this game, recording 13 strikeouts and only six hits, but the Biscuits issued free pass after free pass to the top of the lineup and eventually they would take advantage of the wildness of the Montgomery staff. First, they walked the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning, only for a strikeout and a double play to eliminate a huge threat. Montgomery took the lead in the bottom of the first inning, and after three innings held fast to a 3-0 advantage. The second time through the order David McCabe made an impact with the lumber, crushing a monster home run to center field to put the Clingstones on the board. Jordan Groshans made it back-to-back home runs to pull Columbus within a run, but the fireworks faded and Columbus went back to struggling in key moments with runners on. In the top of the eighth inning they had another good chance with the top of the order up to bat, and once again the Biscuits issued three consecutive walks to load the bases. With the tying run on second base Drew Compton hit a dangerous grounder over to the right side of the infield, but the second baseman bobbled the ball a bit after tagging out Jordan Groshans, and that delay ensured that Compton had plenty of time to get to first and prevent the double play. Adam Zebrowski tied the game up with a base hit, a feat matched by Ambioris Tavarez who landed an inside-out liner just inside the right field line to give Columbus their first lead of the day. A wild pitch scored one more and Ethan Workinger fit a chopper perfectly between second base and short, extending the inning to a five run outburst and giving Columbus a comfortable lead.

Owen Murphy really struggled in this game as he could not find his command at all and Montgomery took advantage quickly. Murphy walked four batters and hit another, and never really seemed to settle in with the command of any of his pitches. In the third inning he allowed that hit batter and three walks in a span of just five batters, and after a base hit forced in the third run allowed Murphy was yanked from the game for Samuel Strickland. This was a highly out of character outing for Murphy, whose last remotely similar game as a professional came on July 20, 2023 when he walked four and struck out four over three innings. It’s just the third time he’s walked more hitters than he has struck out as a professional. After a shaky opener last week Jhancarlos Lara got back in the saddle with a good performance, limiting the action to just one walk and no hits over 1 2/3 innings and earning the win. The same cannot be said of Elison Joseph, who managed to not allow any runs despite walking four of the nine batters he faced. Joseph had a terrific outing last week and gave some hope he may turn things around after a disappointing regression last season, but this is more of the old ways we saw last season where he really seems to have no idea where the ball is going.

Swing and Misses

Jhancarlos Lara – 4

Samuel Strickland – 4

(3-3) Rome Emperors 5, (4-2) Bowling Green Hot Rods 10

Box Score

• Isaiah Drake, DH: 2-5, .259/.333/.481
• Cody Miller, SS: 1-5, 2B, RBI, .208/.269/.292
• Cedric De Grandpre, SP: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 6.35 ERA

It’s been a rough start to the season for Cedric De Grandpre and his command, as both outings have featured him struggling to find the strike zone. His first outing features enough control to work around his bad moments and keep a good final line, but in this one it was all over the place and he ran out of leash quickly. The first inning was solid enough despite a walk, but it all fell apart after a leadoff home run in the second inning. De Grandpre allowed three hits and two walks before being pulled, and if it wasn’t for a failed double steal attempt it could have been an even uglier line. Colin Burgess recording two caught stealing in the inning really kept the game reasonable for the time being, but that didn’t last. Jacob Shafer let up three more runs in the next inning, and just a third of the way through the game was already out of hand. After Shafer gave up two more runs in the fourth inning it was a beat down, and all of Rome’s runs came with the game well in hand.

The Rome lineup had all sorts of trouble with Bowling Green starter Jacob Kisting, who struck out the side in the first inning. It took four innings before a bloop single from Colby Jones had the Emperors in the hit column, but all the while Bowling Green was scoring the Emperors had no real answer. Logan Braunschweig finally got some good lumber on the ball and led off in the fifth inning with a single, and despite no more hits in the inning he was able to advance and score to get Rome off of the goose egg before Kisting left the game. Immediately the Emperors had more success against the mop up guys for Bowling Green, with Eric Hartman drawing a walk and scoring a run on a Mason Guerra double. Still the top of the order didn’t really have much say (especially with Gil and Owen Carey both sitting this one out), but that would change in the seventh inning. Isaiah Drake floated a single into center field to put runners on the corner, bringing up Cody Miller who has really struggled in the few games he’s played this year. He had a great swing in this at bat, though, hitting a deep fly ball to left field that fell for a corner and brought in Miller’s first RBI of the season. Isaiah Drake has struggled a bit with an elevated strikeout rate in the small sample so far this season, and there is a level of expectation that will happen as he tries to tap into his power more often, but it doesn’t seem to be a matter of any swing deficiencies causing it. His timing is fine and he’s making solid contact when he does get to the ball, so with a bigger sample size he should start to see his strikeout rate trickle back down to the impressive numbers we saw last season. He has, at least in this sample, been a lot more patient than he was in his 32 games in High-A last season. He got far too aggressive last season on borderline pitches and his walk rate plummeted after being promoted, but in his leadoff role this season he is showing a good eye and attacking the pitches he wants to hit more often, another good sign for him in the few times we’ve gotten to see him.

Swing and Misses 

Cedric De Grandpre – 7

Jacob Kroeger – 6

Isaac Gallegos – 5

(2-4) Augusta GreenJackets 2, (2-4) Delmarva Shorebirds 7

Box Score

• Tate Southisene, DH: 0-2, 2 BB, .261/.469/.391
• Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4, .321/.387/.393
• Luis Guanipa, CF: 2-5, .348/.400/.435
• Landon Biedelschies, SP: 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 15.00 ERA
• Luis Arestigueta, RP: 3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 2.25 ERA

If you were hoping for a happy ending to a pretty lackluster day on the farm it’s not going to come in Augusta, as the GreenJackets had their worst collective offensive performance of the young season. Five hits to 15 strikeouts is never the ratio you want to see, and even some of the game’s bright spots came with their caveats. Tate Southisene drew two walks, but also struck out in his first two at bats both on pitches out of the strike zone. Southisene has been a bit off at the plate so far this season, with a handful of ugly at bats and a lot of swing-and-miss with an approach that’s bordered on too patient early in counts. Now, it could be the Braves trying to get him to see pitches, a teaching style that has become more common to the Braves in recent years, but it’s the contact that’s been the most unfortunate. So far it’s been mostly soft ground balls from Southisene and it’s clear the approach on what pitches he can drive needs a bit of work. Luis Guanipa had a couple of hits, one a hard hit line drive up the middle, but it’s been more of the same for him early this season. While he has the bat speed and barrel presence to make contact at a high rate he just swings at way too much and his swing mechanics aren’t consistent enough for him to drive the ball. The lack of walks is getting scarier and scarier and his swing decisions need to take a massive leap to get him to a point he can compete at the High-A level and make that jump.

Thursday featured two good Landon Beidelschies innings and one very sad one. Beidelschies was leaning heavily on his slider this outing, and while he mostly kept it in the zone and low in the early innings as he kept pounding them in there they started to get higher and more on his arm side. His release point deteriorated the deeper he went into the game. and the Shorebirds were all over anything he left in the strike zone. They racked up six straight hits in the third inning and scored five runs before Beidelschies was finally able to pick off a runner and get a strikeout to escape the nightmare. The most promising performance for either side of the ball came by Luis Arestigueta, who was terrific in his relief appearance finishing this game. Arestigueta commanded his fastball and slider well, and with the quality of those pitches he can always have some success if he stays around the zone. He slider had a sharp bite off the plate and he showed a more vertical fastball, one he was able to put at the top of the zone and get hitters to swing under. He hit a bit of a wall in the third inning and issued a walk, hit a batter, then walked another, but he settled back down with a strikeout and retired the final three guys in the inning. After a disappointing 2025 season this is a huge start to the year for Arestigueta, who has a great base with his slider and projectability. He didn’t utilize the changeup in this offering and that’s still a distant third pitch for him, but the main goal for him will be to stay in the rotation and get more than 42 innings this season.

Swing and Misses

Luis Arestigueta – 10

Landon Biedelschies – 8

Cristobal Abreu – 3

It was a quiet day around baseball and particularly in the Yankees’ dugout, the Bombers getting one-hit to lose the rubber match against the Athletics, 1-0, with hardly a whimper of protest. There were only five other games around the league on this sleepy Thursday, and only one we’ll cover today for Rivalry Roundup, the Twins completing a four-game sweep of the Tigers to relegate the clawless cats to last place in the AL Central in the very early going.

Minnesota Twins (7-6) 3, Detroit Tigers (4-9) 1

This game featured two of the most profligate starting pitchers through the first two weeks, Twins starter Mick Abel entering the contest with an 11.05 ERA while Tigers starter Jack Flaherty wasn’t much better at a 7.56 ERA. Abel was the headliner in the deal that netted the Phillies closer Jhoan Duran at the last trade deadline while Flaherty declined his offseason opt-out to remain with the Tigers for a $20 million salary in 2026. Both pitchers came into this game having walked as many as they struck out, neither reaching the five inning mark in any of their appearances.

Both rebounded from such disappointing opens to their seasons to make this an actual pitchers’ duel. Flaherty went 5.2 innings, allowing a run on five hits and three walks to go along with six strikeouts. However, it was Abel who came out on top with his six scoreless innings, the Twins righty allowing four hits and walking three while also tallying a half-dozen strikeouts. Abel doubled Flaherty’s whiff total — 14 to seven — his 95 mph four-seamer overpowering the Tigers lineup to achieve a 40-percent whiff rate.

In truth, this was far from an exhibition in timely hitting by either team, the Tigers going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranding eight while the Twins were only slightly better — 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and nine men stranded. Detroit made Abel work early but with nothing to show for it. Colt Keith led off the first with a walk followed by a Gleyber Torres single to put a pair on with no outs. The second followed an identical trajectory, Zach McKinstry drawing a leadoff walk followed by a Javier Báez single. However, Abel struck out a pair both times before getting the inning-ending batted ball out. He also erased one-out doubles by Riley Greene in the third and Báez in the fourth.

Minnesota struck first in the fourth, Josh Bell blasting a booming leadoff home run to continue a hot start to the season for the DH — now with three home runs, ten RBIs, and a 204 wRC+ in his first 13 games.

After that, it was the Twins’ turn to be inefficient with runners on. Bell and Matt Wallner smacked one-out singles in the sixth while they put a further pair on in the seventh on an Austin Martin single and Byron Buxton walk, only to strand all four runners. That gave the Tigers the opportunity to tie the game in the seventh, Jake Rogers reaching on a HBP and advancing to third on a one-out single from Keith before jogging home on a Torres sac fly.

There was a really scary moment in the eighth, Bell hitting a leadoff liner to left-center that resulted in a collision between Greene and Parker Meadows. Meadows remained down on the field for several minutes, and though he was able to stand up with some assistance, the center fielder had to be carted off, the severity of the injury as yet unknown.

As it happens, those events signaled the beginning of the Twins’ game winning rally. The next batter Wallner drew a walk and advanced to second on a Victor Caratini single. Reliever Will Vest struck out Kody Clemens to draw within an out of escaping the jam, but Royce Lewis kept the rally alive with a two-out single to load the bases. With the righty Vest on the mound, Derek Shelton chose to pinch-hit the switch-hitting Brooks Lee for Martin, and boy did it pay off. Lee fought back from 0-2 down to eventually force a full count, and on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, he pulled a center-cut fastball through the right side and under the diving attempt by McKinstry to plate Wallner and Caratini as the winning runs.

After winning their first two games of the season, the Tigers have now lost nine of eleven to fall to last place in the division. Meanwhile, with the win the Twins creep over .500 for the first time since last June and find themselves second behind the Guardians.

After a less-than-encouraging series to start the homestand, the Mets (7-6) will try to conclude on a higher note as they welcome the Oakland Sacramento Athletics (5-7) to Citi Field. The two teams squared off in California last April, with New York besting the A’s in two out of the three games.

The weather was cold, and the Mets’ bats were colder in a series loss to the Diamondbacks in which they won the first game 4-3 in walk-off fashion but fell 7-2 on Wednesday and 7-1 on Thursday. Tuesday’s win saw the Mets jump out 2-0 by the second inning before their bats disappeared until the eighth. Arizona put up a three-spot—aided by an ABS challenge overturn that directly led to the three runs—in the fifth, but the Mets scratched out a run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth to knot up the game. That set the stage for Ronny Mauricio to play hero, as Juan Soto’s roster replacement lined a single in the tenth in his first at-bat of the year to give New York the win.

The good vibes were shortlived, as the team appeared lifeless in their loss on Wednesday afternoon—like on Tuesday, this game was moved up to 4:10pm to deal with cold conditions, in front of a sparse and bundled-up crowd at Citi Field. David Peterson allowed five runs through the first two frames, and New York really could not recover. Sean Manaea was mostly solid in relief, but gave up two runs on a ball that Luis Robert Jr. dropped in the ninth. Nolan McLean took the mound on Thursday and was dominant, allowing just one hit through five and pitching into the seventh. However, with a 1-0 lead and two runners on, he was removed in favor of Luke Weaver, who had his first rough outing as a Met as he blew the lead and allowed four runs—two charged to McLean, and two charged to his ledger. Luis García allowed three in the eighth to put the game well out of New York’s reach.

The returns so far in Soto’s absence has been mixed. After an offensive outburst in the 2 8/9 games he missed in San Francisco, the Mets’ lineup looked listless. Some of it could likely be attributed to cold conditions and a lack of enthusiasm from the crowd, but it’s also hard to deny that the lineup generally looks a lot emptier without Soto’s bat in the lineup. With guys like Francisco Lindor continuing to struggle, and Jorge Polanco missing some time due to his achilles, it’s putting a lot of pressure on newcomers like Robert and Bo Bichette to pick up the slack, and an added burden on youngers like Mark Vientos, Brett Baty, and Francisco Alvarez to become impact bats in the lineup.

The A’s are coming off a series win in the Bronx, as they took two out of three from the Yankees. This follows a series in which they took two of three at home from the Astros. They did so in vastly different ways: They used offense to topple Houston, winning by scores of 11-4 and 12-0 (while losing the middle game 12-0), while their pitching excelled at Yankee Stadium, with 3-2 and 1-0 wins after losing the first game 5-3. The former should be no surprise, given how offense-friendly their temporary home ballpark has proven to be.

Shea Langaliers has gotten off to a torrid start this season for the A’s, slashing .289/.333/.644 with a 182 wRC+ and a 0.6 fWAR in 48 plate appearances. Among qualified American League bats, he’s 11th in wRC+ and tied for 15th in fWAR. Meanwhile, his five home runs are tied for the league lead, while his .978 OPS is 11th in the league, just ahead of teammate Max Muncy. Speaking of Muncy, he has a 161 wRC+ and a 0.4 fWAR in the same number of plate appearances, with two home runs and a team-leading 11 runs scored. Checking in on old friend Jeff McNeil, he has a 92 WRC+ and 0.1 fWAR in 35 plate appearances so far in his new home, and has a .258/.343/.290 slash line so far.

Friday, April 10: Clay Holmes vs. J.T. Ginn, 7:10 PM EDT on WPIX

Holmes (2026): 12.2 IP, 9 K, 5 BB, 1 HR, 1.42 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 39 ERA-

Holmes hurled seven shutout frames in his last outing as he earned his second win in as many starts this season. He was efficient with his pitches, throwing 90 across the seven frames, with 61 of them (68%) going for strikes. He issued two walks and struck our four, and he limited San Francisco to just three hits in the win. Holmes continues to excel as a starter, and he’s once again been one of the anchors to the team’s rotation early on in the season.

Ginn (2026): 7.0 IP, 4 K, 2 BB, 1 HR, 5.14 ERA, 4.76 FIP, 120 ERA-

Ahead of the 2022 MLB season, J.T. Ginn was ranked as the team’s No. 6 prospect on Amazin’ Avenue’s prospect rankings. Then the Mets traded him during that spring training in a package for Chris Bassitt, and Ginn has been in the Athletics’ system ever since, breaking through with the team in 2024. He spent much of the last two seasons oscillating between reliever and starter but he’s made all three of his appearances as a reliever this year before his spot start on Friday. He did make his first start of 2025 against the Mets as well and earned the victory (the second of his career), as he hurled 5 1/3 inning of one-run ball with six strikeouts and two walks.

Saturday, April 11: Kodai Senga vs. Jacob Lopez, 4:10 PM EDT on SNY

Senga (2026): 11.2 IP, 16 K, 5 BB, 0 HR, 3.09 ERA, 1.73 FIP, 85 ERA-

Senga returning to form has been one of the highlights of the early season, and a much welcome sight for a team that was debating trading the right-hander over the offseason. The right-hander threw five shutout innings his last start and was prime to finish up six shutout frames before running out of gas during his last two batters. He finished up with 5 2/3 pitches, allowing two earned runs on five hits, with two walks and seven strikeouts. It’s still early, but signs have been very positive, dating back to spring, that Senga is back to his old self, and if he can stay healthy, he should continue to find success the way he’s been throwing.

Lopez (2026): 8.1 IP, 6 K, 10 BB, 1 HR, 6.48 ERA, 6.90 FIP, 151 ERA-

Lopez is coming off the best year of his young career, finishing with a career-best 1.1 bWAR and finishing 2025 with a 4.08 ERA in 21 games (17 starts). However, he’s gotten off to a rough start this year, and it’s easy to point to the main culprit. Lopez has walked six batters against just six strikeouts in his two outings. In fact, in his first start, he walked five without striking out a batter, and then followed up that up with five more walks. Across the two starts, he’s thrown just 53% of his pitches (97 out of 183) for strikes. He will need to improve his control if he wants to get his season back on track.

Sunday, April 12: Freddy Peralta vs. Aaron Civale, 1:40 PM EDT on SNY

Peralta (2026): 15.0 IP, 19 K, 5 BB, 2 HR, 4.80 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 133 ERA-

Peralta’s final line his last time out wasn’t as bad as it looked (4 2/3, three earned runs, three hits, three walks, five strikeouts) as he pitched four scoreless frames before tiring out in the fifth and failing to record the third and final out of the fifth. His ledger may have remained clean—he exited having allowed no earned runs with two outs in the frame—but a successful ABS challenge overturned an inning-ending strikeout and immediately led to the three runs scoring. Peralta also was less than efficient, needing 101 pitches to get through the outing and struggling with a high pitch count and deep counts from the first inning, which did not help his cause.

Civale (2026): 10.0 IP, 9 K, 5 BB, 2 HR, 2.70 ERA, 5.49 FIP, 63 ERA-

Civale has gone five innings in each of his two outings so far and has had mostly strong results. His first time out, he earned the win against the Braves, allowing two earned runs on four hits, with one walk and three strikeouts. He followed that up by allowing one earned run on two hits in a no decision against the Yankees. However, in that start, he walked four which was less than ideal, though he did also strike out three batters.

It’ll be a black and orange fest at Camden Yards this weekend as the San Francisco Giants roll into town for an interleague matchup. The two similarly colored teams from opposite coasts and opposite leagues are infrequent opponents. The Orioles have faced the Giants just 27 times in their history, going 14-13. This is the Giants’ first visit to Camden Yards since 2024, when the Orioles averted a sweep on Anthony Santander’s walkoff homer in the series finale. The Giants also took two out of three from the O’s in San Francisco last year.

One familiar name in the Giants lineup is Rafael Devers, a longtime division rival of the Orioles during his Boston days. San Francisco took on the disgruntled Devers and his $300+ million salary from the Red Sox in a shocking trade last June, and since then his bat hasn’t resembled his Beantown best. Devers is hitting just .220/.278/.360 with two homers in 13 games this year. The O’s, who also have a high-priced first baseman who is currently hitting well below his career numbers, can commiserate.

Otherwise, though, the Giants’ infield has been carrying the team offensively, with veterans Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and three-time batting title winner Luis Arraez all hitting well so far. The outfield, on the other hand, has been a huge problem. Corner guys Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos each have an OPS+ of 29, which is horrid, but not as horrid as Harrison Bader’s 2. Yes, that’s an OPS+ of two. The veteran center fielder, signed as a free agent, is batting .114/.149/.205 with five hits in 47 PAs.

Overall, the Giants’ team OPS of .618 is tied for the third-worst in the majors. They’ve hit only five homers all season, last in MLB. They didn’t score their first run of the season until their third game, and didn’t score their second until Game 4. This is a struggling lineup that Orioles pitchers really need to exploit.

San Francisco’s pitching staff hasn’t been much better. Their longtime ace and Jesse Plemons lookalike Logan Webb has a 5.00 ERA through three starts, though most of that damage was done on Opening Night when he gave up seven runs to the Yankees. The rest of the rotation has been decidedly mediocre aside from Robbie Ray, who has a 2.08 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP in three starts. The O’s, fortunately, will miss him in this series.

The Giants, like the Orioles, have a rookie manager, but San Francisco’s was a much more unconventional pick. The Giants hired Tony Vitello, previously the head coach at the University of Tennessee, who became the first manager in MLB history hired directly from the college ranks. The early returns on Vitello haven’t been great, and fans are already mad at him for airing the team’s dirty laundry, among other things.

Game 1: Friday, 7:15 PM, Apple TV+

RHP Landen Roupp (1-1, 4.22) vs. RHP Shane Baz (0-0, 4.09)

Roupp (pronounced ROOP, not ROWP) is a third-year righty with excellent taste in birthdays who moved to the Giants’ rotation full time last season. He’s a league average-ish pitcher who gets by on his quality offspeed pitches — a curveball and changeup — rather than his underwhelming fastball. At least there aren’t any Orioles hitters who struggle to hit breaking balls, right? …Right?

The last time Baz walked off the mound on April 4, his ERA was 3.27. Now it’s 80 points higher, thanks to a scoring change from his start in Pittsburgh that changed an error to a hit (and an unearned run to an earned run). Still, his Pirates outing was a nice bounceback from his rough O’s debut a week earlier. This will be Baz’s first career outing against the Giants, one of six MLB teams he’s never faced. But he has faced Devers, and has been dominant against him, holding him hitless in eight at-bats.

There is no local broadcast of this game. It will stream exclusively on Apple TV+.

Game 2: Saturday, 7:15 PM, FOX

RHP Logan Webb (1-1, 5.00) vs. RHP Chris Bassitt (0-2, 14.21)

Woof. On paper, this is the biggest mismatch of the series. As mentioned, Webb got lit up by the Yankees in MLB’s season-opening game, but he’s been one of the most reliable starting pitchers in baseball for the past six years, earning Cy Young votes every season from 2022-25. He’s a true workhorse in a day and age when such things are rare; Webb has thrown at least 204 innings in each of the past three seasons. He’ll generally allow his share of hits but they rarely turn into sustained rallies, because he doesn’t walk many batters (career 2.1 BB/9) and rarely allows home runs (0.6 HR/9). The two Orioles who have faced him the most, Pete Alonso and Tyler O’Neill, are a combined 5-for-30, so this might not be the day for the Polar Bear to break out of his deep freeze.

Meanwhile, Bassitt’s introduction to Baltimore has gone as badly as possible. In two starts, he’s been bombed for 10 runs, 12 hits, and six walks — plus three HBPs — in just 6.1 innings. It’s the full Charlie Morton experience. Unless the 37-year-old Bassitt has just hit the wall, he’s not supposed to be this bad (the Orioles hope). If he aims to bounce back against the Giants, he’ll need to be very careful with Devers, who has owned him with a 10-for-20, three-homer performance in his career. On the other hand, Bassitt has been brilliant against Adames (0-for-11, five strikeouts).

Game 3: Sunday, 1:35 PM, 1:35 PM, MASN

RHP Adrian Houser (0-1, 3.97) vs. LHP Cade Povich (0-0, 3.18)

Show of hands, who picked Game 15 of the season as the first time we’d see a Cade Povich start this season? With all due respect to Cade, I was hoping that number would be in the triple digits. Or not at all. But with Zach Eflin having Tommy John surgery and Dean Kremer still stuck in the minors, the O’s are once again giving a shot to Povich, whose first 36 major league starts resulted in a 5.20 ERA and all too many abbreviated outings. I’m not expecting much from Cade, though he did have a workmanlike performance in long relief against the Pirates last week.

The Giants counter with the journeyman Houser, playing for his fifth team in the last four years. He was drafted by Mike Elias during his Astros days, a second-round pick in 2011, before being traded as a minor leaguer to the Brewers in 2015. After seven years in Milwaukee he bounced around to the Mets, White Sox, and Rays before landing with the Giants this offseason. The 33-year-old has faced the Orioles just twice in his career, including once with the White Sox last season, when he allowed nine baserunners in 6.1 innings but still managed a quality start. If the Orioles’ bats are going to heat up, this is the kind of pitcher to do it against.

How many games do you think the Orioles will win in this series? Let us know in the comments below.

Not much was made of the March 28 trade between the Washington Nationals and the Chicago White Sox, when the Nats sent minor league catcher Boston Smith for first baseman Curtis Mead, who was designated for assignment three days earlier.

A 25-year-old now on his fourth franchise, he had posted just a .231 batting average, .304 on-base percentage, and .632 OPS with 6 home runs and 34 runs batted in across 460 MLB at-bats. He secured a spot on the major league roster after the conclusion of the team’s first series and has absolutely run with every opportunity he’s been given.

The season is still in its earliest stages, but of all the issues plaguing the Nationals in their early 4-8 skid to open the season, Mead has certainly not been one of them. Mead was a former top 50 prospect in the sport, so this is a player with pedigree. He was known as a pure hitter in the minors, but so far that has not translated in big leagues. However, there is a chance, even if it is slim, that he has unlocked something in DC.

He’s seen 17 total plate appearances in 6 games since being activated, and has come out to a flaming hot start. After going hitless in his first 2 games against the Philadelphia Phillies, the first team he saw time in the minor leagues with, he’s recorded a hit in 5 of his last 11 at-bats. Of those hits, 2 have been doubles and 1 was a home run, tacking on 3 RBIs, a stolen base, and 3 walks en route to a .333/.412/667 slash line on the season so far.

Obviously, it’s unreasonable to make any definitive statements on a player just a handful of games under their belt. It’s far from a rare occurrence to see players come out swinging and quickly taper off, but the rise in advanced stats has made it far easier to predict what’s real and what’s a facade.

Baseball Savant is by far the most popular database for under-the-hood metrics, and taking one look at Mead’s full profile shows some extremely favorable signs. Every single one of his listed offensive statistics grades out at an above-average percentile, albeit he hasn’t yet recorded enough batted ball data to qualify for a full breakdown. What is available, however, should spark plenty of hope among the Nats fanbase.

Throwing out a few numbers, he’s posted an expected batting average (xBA) of .321, an average exit velocity of 94.2 MPH, and is squaring up the ball at a borderline elite level, all while rarely whiffing at anything.

For the record, while these numbers can lead to a comfortable regression to the mean, they definitely aren’t an end-all be-all. Even so, it would be unwise to chalk up his electric Nationals introduction to just fluky April baseball. Mead has flat-out been a fantastic baseball player to begin his Washington tenure, and if he can continue to post at the plate, President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni might have his first big analytical win since joining the organization.