Category: MLB

The rain ahead of Saturday’s contest between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies may have forced Brian Snitker’s Braves Hall of Fame induction ceremony indoors but it certainly didn’t dampen the spirits of anybody who was in the house for Snit’s big day.

That included Braves Hall-of-Famers Tim Hudson and Terry Pendleton, who were two of many former stars, legends and luminaries who showed up to be there for Snit’s time in the sun (well, the rain but I think you know what I’m getting at, here).

Both legends took questions in the Braves dugout right as the tarp was being rolled onto the field and both of them made it very clear just how impactful Brian Snitker was on them — not just as ballplayers but as human beings as well.

“When you start thinking about hall of famers and thinking accomplishments: Who’s been in an organization 50 years? Who’s been a manager who’s won a World Championship and continue to help kids and adults get better Also off the field, too,” stated Terry Pendleton when he was asked about how his feelings on Snit getting inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame.

“We’re all looking at baseball on the field — do you know how encouraging it is for a youngster out there trying to accomplish something? Not just baseball but life or work and trying to be the best they can be and grow and do something special. Snit has shown everybody how to do that, how to endure and continue on.”

Pendleton also revealed that the baseball-lifer Snitker was actually a bit nervous and wondered if he belonged in the same category as those who have been inducted before he was. Pendleton let us know that he made it clear that Snit belonged. “I told him down in Florida, he was like ‘I saw these names and I’m not worthy of this’ and I said ‘Hey, if anybody’s worthy of this, you are.”

Pendleton also spoke about how while the two of them didn’t really cross paths that much during Pendleton’s time as a big-leaguer, he took home some valuable lessons and inspiration from the man once Pendleton became a coach, himself.“

“Well, it took a while. It took some years. I didn’t really get to hang around him when I was in the big leagues since he was in the minor leagues down working,” explained Pendleton. “It didn’t really happen until we came together as coaches in the big leagues and I really got to learn who the man was and I love the man. Don’t get me wrong: I love his coaching, I love his managing but I love the man because I know what the man stands for and I know who he is.”

Once Terry Pendleton got done talking about Snitker, it was Tim Hudson’s turn. The Alabama native whose entire time as a starting pitcher for the Braves coincided with Brian Snitker’s tenure as a third base coach also spoke kindly about the time and experience he got to share with Snitker in the clubhouse and on the field. Huddy even talked about a time when h got to experience something that pitcher’s don’t usually get to do (and they certainly don’t get to do in today’s game).

“I remember there was a game in Washington where I was on first base and there was a double hit to the gap,” explained Hudson. “I thought I was kind of an athlete back then so I’m running hard and nine-times-out-of-ten or almost 100 percent f the time, the third base coach is going to stop you right at third base since you don’t want to hurt the pitcher.”

“Well I’m running and all of a sudden, I get close to third base and I see Snit and he’s giving me the [signal to round third and come home], he’s willing me around third base. I say, ‘Oh yeah, I’m scoring’. We never scored from first base, being pitchers and it was a play at the plate. It was like a bang-bang play. I felt like an athlete. I felt like a baseball player.”

Hudson did admit that the decision from Snitker to wave him around third wasn’t exactly smiled upon but Hudson appreciated it. “I’m sure people’s hearts skipped a few beats when that happened but it was just the kind of guy he was. He loves baseball, he loved working with the pitchers that could handle the bat a little bit and could run the bases and I appreciated that as a player.”

I then asked Tim Hudson if there was anything he he could take away from his experience with Brian Snitker and not just as a baseball player but as a human being, oto.“

“Probably after he’s retired and after I retired, I probably have a lot more respect for him now than I did when he was a manager or a coach because we’ve gotten to be a lot closer now as a family since he’s retired and since I’ve retired than we were [in the clubhouse]. Ronnie, his wife and my wife are really good friends. He always supported anything that we’ve had going on with our charity work and he always comes to Auburn and hangs out and does things. He’s a real person and he’s very approachable. If you can take away from this game four-or-five people that you can really call friends, you’re pretty lucky. He’s one of those guys.”

These were just two collections of stories from two of the truly countless amount of players that Brian Snitker got to either play with, coach or manage during his now-50 years with the Braves — remember, he’s still employed as a special consultant. Whether you consider that a ceremonial job or not, he’s still sticking around the organization. Either way, Brian Snitker has truly been an important part of this organization for quite some time and it’s good to see that everybody who he impacted made an effort to give him his flowers on his Braves Hall of Fame induction day.

The San Diego Padres put together another late inning rally to overcome a four-run deficit and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. The Padres had to overcome a rough second inning for starter German Marquez who allowed four runs with two outs in the inning. To his credit, Marquez made an adjustment and was able to complete six innings to avoid overworking the bullpen. San Diego was not able to get much if any offense in the early part of the contest, but after Zac Gallen left the game following being struck by a Freddy Fermin line drive. Brandon Pfaadt came on in the fourth and was affective until the Padres were able to knock him out in the top of the seventh. The Padres added four runs to their 4-1 deficit which put them in the lead for good. Ty France hit two homers in the effort and was the star of the game for San Diego on the offensive side. The Padres will finish their series with the Diamondbacks on Sunday at 3:05 p.m.

Padres News:

• The San Diego farm system continues to function as normal despite all the naysayers. Is it the top system in the game? No, but it does not have to be for the Padres to benefit and for the system to make headlines.

• With the Padres and Diamondbacks kicking off the Mexico City Series 2026, Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball took a trip down memory lane and pointed out some of the highlights of past trips for the Padres in Mexico.

• Utility infielder Sung-Mun Song was called up from Tiple-A El Paso as the extra player for the Mexico City series.

• Mason Miller has been more than what the Friar Faithful could have expected as the closer of the Padres and he now stands alone as the franchise leader with 34.2 innings pitched without allowing a run. San Diego general manager A.J. Preller took some criticism for the trade, but it seems to be paying off for him and the Padres.

Baseball News:

• Alex Cora, as well as a large portion of his coaching staff, are out as the Boston Red Sox manager. The move came after the Red Sox were able to snap a four-game skid with a 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

• The Seattle Mariners hit three home runs and watched the St. Louis Cardinals hit five home runs. The Mariners came out on top of the slugfest, 11-9.

• The Cincinnati Reds placed Eugenio Suarez on the 10-day IL with an oblique strain.

• Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan was scratched from the lineup in their matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays due to neck stiffness.

Rangers 4, A’s 3

• The Rangers beat a lefty starter! Woo hoo!
• MacKenzie Gore had what I’m starting to think of as a rather MacKenzie Gore start. He struck out the side in the first on 14 pitches, making you feel like he was locked in. The broadcast was marveling at how his fastball was playing, how the A’s hitters weren’t catching up to it.
• Then in the second, Tyler Soderstrom had a well struck fly out, Jacob Wilson smoked a double, and Darell Hernaiz had a hard hit single to drive him in for a 1-0 A’s lead. Corey Seager booted a two out grounder, which made things more worrisome, but Gore got Zack Gelof to fly out to end the inning.
• In the third, it looked like Gore was in danger of having a really short outing. A line drive single by She Langeliers, a walk to Nick Kurtz, and a line drive single by Colby Thomas brought a run in. A ground out advanced the runners, Jacob Wilson had a sac fly, and then a seven pitch walk to Max Muncy followed by a six pitch walk to Hernaiz loaded the bases with Gore at 32 pitches in the inning.
• Gore got out of it, though, getting Austin Wynns to fly out. And after that he was fine, allowing a single in the fourth and another in the fifth but not allowing either runner past first.
• Gore’s final line was three runs in five innings, six hits, three walks, seven Ks. He generated 14 whiffs on 106 pitches, 10 of which came on his fastball and another two on his sinker. His offspeed pitches weren’t getting it done.
• The bullpen, on the other hand, did get it done. An inning apiece from Cole Winn, Jalen Beeks, Jakob Junis and Jacob Latz, with just one A’s hitter reaching base over the final four innings.
• As for the offense, they didn’t get on base much, but when they did, they made it count. A pair of two spots, one in the third and one in the sixth.
• In the third they loaded the bases with no one out on a Danny Jansen HBP, an Evan Carter full count walk, and a Sam Haggerty bunt single. Brandon Nimmo brought home one run with a sacrifice fly, and a Corey Seager two out flare single brought home the second.
• Josh Jung was responsible for the second two run inning, as he went the opposite way for a home run after Seager had lead off the inning with a single.
• If you’re keeping track, Jung is now slashing .299/.354/.540 on the season. Not bad.
• Every other inning was a 1-2-3 inning for the Rangers, except for the fourth, when Jansen had a two out single.
• MacKenzie Gore hit 97.6 mph with his fastball, averaging 95.9 mph. Cole Winn touched 96.3 mph with his fastball. Jalen Beeks reached 95.3 mph with his fastball. Jakob Junis’s fastball topped out at 92.9 mph. Jacob Latz hit 97.1 mph with his fastball.
• Brandon Nimmo had a 102.9 mph groundout. Josh Jung’s home run was 100.6 mph. Jake Burger had a 100.4 mph fly out.
• Can the Rangers win the finale on Sunday and take the series? Tune in and find out…

Meet the Mets

Yesterday’s game between the Mets and Rockies at Citi Field was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader today with first pitch of Game 1 scheduled for 1:40pm ET. Nolan McLean will pitch the first game and Kodai Senga, yesterday’s scheduled starter, will pitch Game 2.

Reliever Austin Warren will be serving as the Mets’ 27th man for today’s doubleheader.

Given the Mets’ starting pitching depth, the leash can’t be that long for Kodai Senga, writes Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post.

Around the National League East

The Phillies rallied to beat the Braves 8-5 in ten innings to snap a ten-game losing streak. Zack Wheeler made his return from surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome for Philadelphia and the results were encouraging for the Phillies; he allowed two runs on three hits, striking out six in five innings of work. The Braves took a one-run lead in the sixth, but Philadelphia tied it in the eighth and put up a four-run tenth against the Braves’ bullpen, who wasted a strong effort from Bryce Elder. Bryce Harper’s go-ahead single was the decisive hit for the Phillies.

Former manager Brian Snitker was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame prior to the game against the Phillies at Truist Park. He was surprised by his son—Mets hitting coach Troy Snitker—who was able to catch a flight to Atlanta to make the ceremony after the Mets’ game was postponed.

The Nationals beat the White Sox 6-3 also in extras thanks to a four-run tenth. Two Nationals pitchers also combined for the rare four-strikeout inning.

The Marlins fell to the Giants 6-2, as Eury Pérez took the loss for allowing four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Around Major League Baseball

After a disappointing 10-17 start, the Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and five members of his coaching staff yesterday in a massive, stunning shakeup.

Yesterday marked the 50-year anniversary of the day two protestors attempted to burn an American flag on the field at Dodger Stadium. Rick Monday, then an outfielder for the Cubs, grabbed the flag from them. The flag, which Monday still owns, will be on loan to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown this summer as part of America’s 250th birthday celebration.

Reds DH Eugenio Suárez was placed on the injured list yesterday with an oblique strain.

The Padres beat the Diamondbacks 6-4 to open the Mexico City Series. With a scoreless inning to close things out, Mason Miller set the record for longest scoreless streak in Padres history.

The Dodgers walloped the Cubs 12-4 to snap Chicago’s MLB-best 10-game winning streak.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

On a new episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series, Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane breathe a sigh of relief that the Mets managed to win a couple of games, but remain concerned about the state of the team, especially with the injury to Francisco Lindor.

This Date in Mets History

Two iconic Mets—Keith Hernandez and Mike Piazza—reached career milestones on April 26: 1,000 RBIs for Keith in 1988 and 400 home runs for Piazza.

Saturday saw the Yankees extend their win streak as they picked up another fairly comfortable win over the Astros. Trent Grisham, José Caballero, and Austin Wells all homered as the Yankees picked up the win to take their eighth consecutive game.

The win streak has seen the Yankees vault towards the top of the standings across baseball, but let’s see if they gained any ground with their competition around the AL yesterday.

Boston Red Sox (10-17) 17, Baltimore Orioles (13-14) 1

The biggest news around them came postgame when they fired Alex Cora, but the Red Sox did well on the field on Saturday, obliterating the Orioles.

Even with that final score, the game didn’t actually get too out of hand until late, although Boston was in control for most it. Caleb Durbin opened things up with an RBI double, as the Red Sox scored three runs in the first. They added one in the fourth and three more in the fifth, with Connor Wong hitting a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double.

Meanwhile on the mound, Garrett Crochet was way better than some of his other recent starts. He lowered his ERA to 6.30, having thrown six scoreless innings, giving up just three hits and two walks. Baltimore then did get on the board in the seventh, giving them a brief glimmer of hope, but that door would soon be slammed shut.

In the top of the ninth inning, the Red Sox scored 10 runs on 10 hits, sending 14 batters to the plate over the course of the frame. O’s reliever Keegan Akin was making his 2026 debut, and will leave the game with a 54.00 ERA after allowing six of the 10 runs in the inning.

Despite that dominance, Boston still pulled the trigger on Cora — and several coaches, including franchise legend Jason Varitek (who got away with reassignment) and former Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson — a few hours later. It’s been a less-than-stellar start for them, but that was still an unexpected move.

Toronto Blue Jays (11-15) 5, Cleveland Guardians (15-13) 3

A two-RBI double from Andrés Giménez capped off a three-run sixth inning for the Blue Jays that ended up holding up for a Toronto win.

The Guardians took an initial lead in the third, but the Jays answered on Kazuma Okamoto’s fourth inning homer to tie things up. Two innings later, Toronto broke things open. It was a Daulton Varsho RBI single that gave the Blue Jays the lead, before Giménez plated another two runs.

Cleveland did score two further runs and they did certainly have their chances, putting up nine hits on the day. However, Toronto also scored once more and their bullpen was solid enough to close things down.

Other Games

• Seattle Mariners (13-15) 11, St. Louis Cardinals (14-12) 9: Despite getting only three innings out of Bryan Woo, who left after allowing seven runs, the Mariners used a late surge to overtake the Cardinals. Leo Rivas hit a two-run single in the top of ninth to give Seattle the lead after they trailed 9-7 going into the eighth.

• Tampa Bay Rays (15-11) 6, Minnesota Twins (12-15) 1: Shane McClanahan and the Rays’ bullpen kept the Twins off the board until the game was basically decided as Tampa Bay came away with the win. Jake Fraley and Ben Williamson had two-RBI games each as the Rays mostly cruised.

• Texas Rangers (14-13) 4, Athletics (14-13) 3: Josh Jung’s go-ahead homer gave the Rangers the lead for good as they overcame a 3-0 deficit against the A’s. The artists formerly known as Oakland struck a couple times early, but managed just one hit over the final five innings against Texas’ bullpen, allowing the Rangers to overtake them.

• Cincinnati Reds (18-9) 9, Detroit Tigers (14-14) 2: Despite Kevin McGonigle homering in the game’s very first at-bat, the Reds immediately scored four runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back from there. Sal Stewart had a homer for Cincinnati and drove in five runs on the day.

One thing that is absolutely, undeniably true about sports is that all winning streaks must end, sometime.

Thus we knew that eventually, the Cubs would lose another game after going on their longest winning streak since the World Series year of 2016.

It’s not always pretty when winning streaks end and that was the case Saturday night in Los Angeles, when the Dodgers blew out the Cubs 12-4.

The Cubs actually had a 2-0 lead in this game. Seiya Suzuki was responsible for the first of those runs when he hit his fourth homer of the year in the second inning [VIDEO].

In the third, Miguel Amaya led off and was hit by a pitch. He took off for second on a wild pitch that bounced in front of the plate and was safe on a close play. One out later, Amaya scored on a single by Michael Busch [VIDEO].

The Dodgers tied things up in the bottom of the third on a two-run homer by Max Muncy off Colin Rea. But the Cubs took the lead again in the top of the fourth. Moisés Ballesteros smashed his fourth homer of the year off Roki Sasaki [VIDEO].

Then the wheels fell off. Rea, who had thrown 73 pitches over the first three innings, allowed a one-out single and then a game-tying RBI double to Alex Freeland. Shohei Ohtani walked and then Freddie Freeman singled in Freeland to give the Dodgers the lead. About Rea’s evening, from BCB’s JohnW53:

Colin Rea gave up six hits and walked four. He was the first Cubs starter in eight games to allow double-digit runners and just the fourth this season. Edward Cabrera allowed 11 vs. the Pirates on April 11 and 10 vs. the Mets on April 17. Javier Assad surrendered 13 at Philadelphia on April 13.

Maybe Craig Counsell should have just lifted Rea after three innings and brought in Javier Assad to start a clean inning in the fourth. As it was, Assad walked the first hitter he faced, loading the bases. He got Kyle Tucker to pop up for the second out, but then the Dodgers smacked three straight singles off Assad, scoring four runs in all (two of which were charged to Rea). If you’ve lost count here, that’s a six-run inning and a five-run Dodgers lead.

A home run by Amaya with one out in the fifth made it 8-4 [VIDEO].

The Cubs did have a chance to get back in this game in the sixth. Ian Happ led off with a walk. Then Suzuki singled and Sasaki was lifted for left-hander Jack Dreyer. Counsell left Ballesteros in to face the lefty and Moisés walked, loading the bases with nobody out.

But Dreyer struck out Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong and got Amaya to ground out, so the Cubs turned that opportunity into no runs at all, and then the Dodgers pushed four more runs across the plate. Assad started the sixth and, as was the case for Rea, maybe Counsell should have taken him out and started the inning with Vince Velasquez, who eventually entered after Assad had allowed the first four Dodgers to reach base, followed by two outs, the first of which scored a run. Eventually the Dodgers made it a four-run inning, the last of the runs scoring on a wild pitch by Velasquez.

And that, as they say, was that. The Cubs had just one baserunner after the seventh, Suzuki with a leadoff single in the eighth, but he was erased when Swanson hit into a double play. Props to Suzuki, who had three hits including his home run and is now batting .327/.439/.564 (18-for-55) in 15 games played since his return from the knee injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic.

Oddly enough, this game felt a lot like the loss that preceded the 10-game winning streak, the 13-7 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia. Assad pitched in that one, too. This one appeared to be just one of those nights when neither Rea nor Assad had it, and those kinds of things happen from time to time. Here are some postgame comments from Counsell [VIDEO].

A couple final notes on this one from John:

This is just the third of the Cubs’ 27 games in which they have allowed at least eight runs. The first two were Opening Day, when they lost at home to the Nationals, 10-4, and the 13-7 shellacking on April 13 at Philadelphia. They had given up 100 runs in 26 games before this one — 3.85 per game.

Also, remarkably:

The 12 runs scored by the Dodgers tied for the most they have scored against the Cubs since moving to Los Angeles in 1958. This was the 368th game there between the teams. The Dodgers had scored 12 in four previous games at L.A., beating the Cubs by 12-6 in 1960, 12-5 in 1947, 12-3 in 1991 and 12-4 on April 24, 1998.

They scored more than 12 runs against the Cubs at Brooklyn in 10 games between 1901 and 1953. Their high was in a 16-1 win in 1922.

The Cubs still have a chance for a series win in the finale Sunday afternoon, and hopefully begin another winning streak. Shōta Imanaga will start for the Cubs and Justin Wrobleski will go for the Dodgers, a battle of left-handers. Game time is 3:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network (and MLB Network outside the Cubs and Dodgers market territories).

The team’s Ace returned to the mound last night in Atlanta and had a solid season debut. Wheeler was coming back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery and what to expect of him was something of a mystery. His velocity vacillated between good and concerning during his rehab starts, but on Saturday, he mostly maintained it in the 94-96 area.

Overall, what was the most encouraging thing you saw out of Wheeler? His control wasn’t pinpoint on the evening, but it was good enough. His secondary stuff was mostly good but with a few holes. It was a promising start to his season.

We are now far enough into the college baseball season that we’re not that far away from starting to seriously start thinking about seeds and hosting for the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina is in pretty good position on that front, especially having won a series last weekend over Georgia Tech, with both teams ranked #2 and #3 by several polls. There’s still some season left and baseball can be a fairly random sport, but the Tar Heels look to be in position to be a national championship contender this year.

UNC baseball have yet to actually take home a national title, but they have come agonizingly close. Thinking about the chances of this year’s teams inevitably takes one back to past great Carolina baseball teams. After all, baseball in general is an excuse and an exercise in “remembering some guys.”

With that in mind, for today’s question of the day, I thought I’d simply ask: who is your favorite UNC baseball player of all time?

My personal answer is former Tar Heel pitcher Andrew Miller for a couple of reasons. One is that he was excellent playing at UNC. He was a member of one of those teams that came agonizingly close to a national title, as an important part of the 2006 Tar Heels. They made it all the way to the finals before losing to Oregon State in the championship series. That year, he was also one of the best individual players in the country, winning a host of awards, including Baseball America’s College Player of the Year.

That season and his career in Chapel Hill led to Miller getting drafted sixth overall in the 2006 MLB Draft, and it was his professional career that leads the other reason why I hold him so dear. From 2015-16, Miller played for my favorite MLB team: the New York Yankees. Over those two seasons, he was an absolutely lights out reliever for the team and also always seemed like a good guy in addition to a good pitcher.

As far as recent Tar Heels go, Vance Honeycutt was an electric player to watch when he was at Carolina. As of now, I would find it a little hard to root for him at the MLB level, as he would be a division rival of my Yankees with the Baltimore Orioles. I wish him personal success, just maybe not his team.

That’s my answer, but what about you? Who is your favorite ever UNC baseball player?

Like the rest of the NL Central, the St. Louis Cardinals have been at or above .500 for the majority of the season, but despite outperforming expectations, they find themselves in the middle of the way-too-early division race. Thanks to Jordan Walker, rookie JJ Wetherholt, and a new hero each win, the Cardinals have been able to hide the weakness on the field. Through the first 25 games of the year, St. Louis starting pitchers are checking in at 29th in the league by measure of fWAR and the underlying metrics show the alarming truth that they might actually be outperforming expectations so far in 2026.

As we all know, the point of this season was to serve as a fact-finding mission for most every piece on the major league roster. That involved bringing back everyone’s favorite 2025 term “runway” when talking about Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker on the offensive side, as well as including Kyle Leahy and Andre Pallante in the rotation. So far, the Cardinals are batting .333 when looking at the early success of these four players. (I am classifying Leahy as an in-progress plate appearance since he is the one with the least amount of track record heading into the season as a starter). All four of them had the right to the first crack at playing time, especially factoring in that Chaim Bloom did not want to get into any 40-man funny business before the regular season got started.

Unfortunately, we have seen the Andre Pallante we saw for the majority of last season, a pitcher with a below-average fastball and inconsistent breaking stuff, which ends up with starts showing lack of command, lack of efficiency, or some combination of both. Positively, Pallante has already won more games than he won the entire second half last year, but he has yet to pitch more than five innings or allow less than six baserunners in any of his four starts. Leahy, on the other hand, has been more effective than Pallante when it comes to strikeouts and walks, but not by much, which is a bummer for a pitcher who had a mediocre 22% K-rate last year so he did not have much wiggle room for regression there, while also losing close to 2mph on his average fastball. The move to the rotation has also impacted his command, as the former reliever is walking hitters more often and allowing more hits and homers than he did out of the bullpen. In a season of fact-finding, the early returns are not pointing to positive data in the Cardinals rotation, potentially forcing more moves than anticipated for a rotation that seemed to be a point of solid, if unspectacular performances.

The Cardinals should utilize the Memphis Shuttle for more than just relievers

The Opening Day rotation featured Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May, Andre Pallante, and Kyle Leahy, which again simply seemed “fine” for this iteration of Cardinals baseball. However, the early struggles of Pallante and Leahy did not help when surrounded by a couple May blowups (the pitcher not the month), and McGreevy getting hit like the pitch-to-contact hurler he is. Staff number one Matthew Liberatore has also been simply okay thus far, but he is showing concerning command issues and losing his normal strikeout stuff and was hit hard in his start against the Mariners.. For those keeping score at home, that is closer to 0-for-5 than any of us were hoping for, especially with the Cardinals still managing to win ballgames.

The problem with this current rotation alignment is that each of these players should start games as long as they are healthy or unplayable, which is quite the standard to hit in a season where winning is not priority 1, 2, or 3. I truly hope none of the five incumbents get there, but I am also hoping that the need to find answers extends beyond the major league roster and trickles into Memphis for some of the arms that are close to St. Louis. Typically, we see the shuttle bus reserved for struggling or overused relievers, but I would be open to gassing that baby up to transport guys who can pitch more than an inning at a time and still give the team a chance to win. Of course, a difficulty of that is having MLB-ready talent sitting in Triple-A who also match up to schedule and rotation needs, which the Cardinals have not worried about yet thanks to having every Thursday off in April.

One such pitcher who, at times, looked to be the next man up when the rotation was ready was Richard Fitts, who flashed high-90s velocity during Spring and was the face of the revamp we were promised in the minors. However, the minor league injury bug struck yet again in Memphis and Fitts has since undergone season-ending shoulder surgery with the expectation of a full recovery in 2027. Now, Fitts joins a growing list of Cardinals’ prospects who have missed extended time due to injury despite the major league arms seemingly immune to health issues.

Add Packy Naughton and Richard Fitts to the list of minor league injuries. Is anyone worried about this becoming a trend after the #STLCards new shift towards power stuff? https://t.co/a594uvn1rm

— Scott Plaza (@MrPlaztastic17) April 13, 2026

A name left off the list but currently rehabbing is other offseason acquisition in Hunter Dobbins, who the Red Sox gave up in order to gain the services of Willson Contreras. Dobbins came to St. Louis already recovering from ACL surgery, but his inability to yet field his position in games limited his exposure to big league hitters during camp. Now, he is back on the mound on what the Cardinals are calling a rehab assignment, meaning the team will have to make a decision on his roster standing when the allotted rehab time is up. The latest news around the organization is that a six-man rotation could be an option to help the Cardinals work through a long stretch of games, and the expectation is that Dobbins will fill that role. The remaining question, then, is if this is just a short three-game audition, or if he is actually going to be up and competing to stick around at the end of the grueling 17-game run.

The current rotation has an interesting setup, with really only Matthew Liberatore and probably Michael McGreevy having the longest leash for the entire season, as Dustin May is likely to be traded after bouncing back well since a rough start, and Pallante and Leahy have to prove their value to stick. The only change for the latter would likely be a move to the bullpen, if anything, as Leahy is 29 years old with an established ability to fill the middle innings. Pallante would be an interesting discussion if any changes were to happen in his role. He broke in and proved himself as a reliever before saving the rotation after stretching out in 2024, but he has never shown dominance as a starter or out of the bullpen. He has an option remaining and becomes arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason, so if the Cardinals find a couple things he needs to work on, a move to Memphis could help. But, if he is closer to a finished product than a work in progress, keeping him in the bigs might be the only option in hopes he can build his value enough to be shipped at the Trade Deadline with May.

If a demotion, role change, or trade were to happen anywhere in the rotation, someone from Memphis will have to be ready. Assuming Dobbins gets first dibs at any vacancy, it is a wide-open competition for who would be the next man up. Former Pitcher of the Year Quinn Mathews has battled adversity since that 2024 season, regressing from a Top-100 prospect to a solid future as a rotation arm, but has been working through command issues. Those struggles continued in the start of the 2026 season, and even with his strikeout stuff getting back on track, these issues could prevent a promotion, even if an injury strikes.

The 2025 Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the Cardinals, Brycen Mautz, also looked to be a candidate for a big-league spot, but he has simply been just “fine” outside of a 1.2 inning start where he allowed four homers and four walks in that shortened outing. He is on the 40-man roster and does not have the prospect pedigree of Mathews, so that could actually work in his favor if the Cardinals decide to “rush” Mautz to the bigs for a cameo or two.

Interestingly, and unfortunately, Memphis’ best starter so far has been 31-year-old journeyman Bruce Zimmerman who is putting up the best strikeout numbers of his career while with his fourth organization. Unlike the other lefties, he is not on the 40-man roster, so any move up to the St. Louis for Zimmerman would mean someone losing their spot on the 40-man, as well as on the big league roster. Then, if the Cardinals wanted to send Zimmerman back to the Redbirds, he would have to clear waivers due to being out of options.

I would be surprised if Bloom and Co decide to cycle through the roster outside of Dobbins (or whoever they choose) during the six-man rotation stint. I personally think that any roster changes would happen only due to injury or trade, as we all know that winning is not on the top of mind for the executives this season.

Would you like to see any changes in the current setup? Remember, demoting or trading someone means that someone else has to take their spot, so a simple “DFA Svanson” comment that is usually left for Twitter would not make sense here.

Thanks as always!

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The New York Yankees look for a series sweep when they visit Daikin Park and the Houston Astros.

The New York bats are booming, and my Yankees vs. Astros predictions and MLB picks expect the Yankees to pull off a convincing victory. 

Who will win Yankees vs Astros today: Yankees -1.5 (+120)

Luis Gil doesn't need to be lights out today. He just needs to hold off the Houston Astros long enough for his New York Yankees lineup to do what it's been doing all season.

Ben Rice is barreling at 21.6%, and Aaron Judge at 24.6%, the Yankees are second in the sport with 39 home runs, and they've beaten up on the Astros six of the last ten times out. 

Gil has stymied this Astros lineup in the past, and Houston's bullpen ranks dead last with a 5.94 ERA and 1.85 home runs per nine frames. Let the Yankees prevail!

Yankees vs Astros Over/Under pick: Over 9.5 (-110)

Spencer Arrighetti has a high hard-hit rate, with an xERA of 5.04 and a walk rate over 15% through two starts.

Gil isn't far behind, with an xERA of 5.20, suggesting the Astros and their fourth-best 119 wRC+ will likely chase him after plating some runs. 

Both starters are due for regression, and totals set at 9.5 have a way of finding the Over when the bill comes due. 

The Over is 7-2-1 across the past 10 H2H meetings, and yesterday's 8-3 final shows this matchup still has teeth. Trust the trend.

Yankees vs Astros odds

• Moneyline: Yankees -127 | Astros +122
• Run line: Yankees -1.5 (+102) | Astros +1.5 (-156)
• Over/Under: Over 9.5 (-108) | Under 9.5 (-104)

Yankees vs Astros trend

The Yankees have covered the run line in 23 of their last 35 away games for +14.05 units and a 37% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for Yankees vs. Astros.

How to watch Yankees vs Astros and game info

Yankees vs Astros latest injuries

Yankees vs Astros weather

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.

Who is he and where did he come from?

He’s Chad Samuel Tracy and he comes from the land of baseball lifers. While he is decidedly not the Chad Tracy who spent the bulk of a mid-sized career with the Diamondbacks in the early part of this century, this Chad Tracy has spent his entire life around the game. Chad’s father Jim played professional baseball for eight years, breaking through to the Majors with the Cubs for 87 games while otherwise bouncing around between places like Pompono Beach, Florida and Yokohama, Japan.

Chad never knew his father as a ballplayer, as he was born one season after his old man finally put his glove away for good. But he always knew his father as a coach. Jim Tracy got his first minor league managerial gig with the Peoria Chiefs when Chad was just two years old and then spent the next 20 years coaching in some capacity, culminating in his 11-year stretch as a big league manager with the Dodgers, Pirates, and Rockies.

Naturally, Chad himself was a ballplayer. He starred as a catcher at Pepperdine University, winning the West Coast Conference Player of the year award in 2005 before being drafted by the Texas Rangers in the third round. Tracy spent the next eight years in the minors, slowly climbing the ladder and eventually playing 390 games at the AAA level but never cracking the majors for so much as a cup of coffee.

After spending two years in the independent Atlantic League, the then-28-year-old Tracy finally gave up the dream and followed his father’s footsteps into the manager’s office, making his debut with the single-A Burlington Bees in the Angels organization the very next year. He would go on to spend seven years with the Angels, the last four as their Minor League Coordinator before being hired to lead the WooSox by Chaim Bloom in 2022.

Is he any good?

I will happily die on the hill known as Mount None of Us Actually Knows Whether a Baseball Manager is Any Good. Baseball is not a sport like basketball or soccer, where coaches develop certain tactical schemes and distinct styles of play. It’s not football, where the head coach is often the final decision-maker on roster moves. Baseball is ultimately a players’ game. Modern managers are tasked with keeping the roster focused and engaged for 162 games while implementing the front office’s player personnel plan.

Having said that, there obviously are managers who are better or worse than others when it comes to creating and maintaining a winning clubhouse culture (Terry Francona on the former hand, Bobby Valentine on the latter). Tracy has a few things going for him to suggest he could be a good fit for this Red Sox team.

First and most importantly, he has a ton of experience coaching a lot of players on this Red Sox roster. Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Connelly Early, Patyon Tolle, Brayan Bello, Connor Wong, and Jarren Duran all spent significant stretches playing under Tracy at Worcester. Notably, all of them arrived at Fenway as developmental successes.

Secondly, he does have a winning track record. Tracy’s WooSox teams went 323-295 during his tenure. Win-loss records in the minor leagues don’t really mean anything, obviously — winning isn’t the point in the minor leagues. But you’d certainly rather have a manager used to winning rather than losing. Tracy won enough and was respected enough that his managerial peers voted him as the International League’s “best managerial prospect” two years in a row in 2023 and 2024.

And finally, it’s often said that great players make poor coaches, the theory being that baseball came so easily to them that they struggle to communicate how to play the game to players of lesser talents. If there’s any truth to that, then perhaps the inverse is also true. Tracy spent eight years grinding in the minors and came tantalizingly close to reaching his dreams, only to, like Moonlight Graham, watch them pass him by like strangers in a crowd. Perhaps his particular background makes him a better baseball communicator than most.

What’s he doing in his picture up there?

He appears to be praying, only with a baseball subbed in for the rosary. And that’s the perfectly romantic image of a minor league lifer, isn’t it?

What’s his role on the 2026 Red Sox?

That’s the big question. Right now he has the interim tag attached to his job title and we haven’t yet heard whether Craig Breslow will attempt to find a full-time manager during the season. Tracy may end up being a mere placeholder.

But Tracy is someone who was almost certainly going to become a big league manager one day. And as he prepares to make his debut this afternoon, he’s well-positioned to succeed, managing a roster he’s familiar with that should be performing a lot better than it has so far. If the Sox are able to get things in gear over the coming weeks and months, then maybe Breslow won’t need to post an opening on the Red Sox LinkedIn page after all.

You win some, you lose some. However, the Atlanta Braves have yet to lose a series this season and are the only MLB team to achieve this feat. Although they can’t repeat getting a sweep against the Philadelphia Phillies, they have an opportunity to bounce back from yesterday’s rainy day loss.

Chris Sale, boasting a 2.79 ERA and 4-1 record this season, has been impressive from the start. The last outing for the slider master was last Saturday (4/18) against the Phillies, in which he went through seven innings, only giving up one run and seven total strikeouts.

There’s no need to hammer down what must be done to return in top shape for today’s matchup to secure the win. Sale is set to hold it down on the defensive end. Will the offense be ready to reflect that and get some runs on the board early?

Though yesterday didn’t turn out in the Braves’ favor, the Phillies could sleep well at night with satisfaction that they had a game to go their way, finally breaking their 10-game losing streak.

Aaron Nola (5.06 ERA) will be facing the Braves for the first time this season, but his opponents won’t be walking into unfamiliar territory, as at least five of the Braves have over a 1.000 OPS batting against him in the past.

Nola, with the second-best ERA on the Philies’ starting pitching staff, takes every experience head-on. He mentioned earlier this year, while paying for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, that it’s fun for him and many other starting pitchers when they can take their experiences and come up with ways to get multiple guys out in different ways over a course of time.

The pitch that the Braves should look out for is not just his leading four-seamer, but the filthy knuckle-curve that he uses just as much in his arsenal.

Aaron Nola, Filthy 79mph Knuckle Curve…and Sword. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/PjRUdHDvS0

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 3, 2025

The task is clear…the skies, not so much. Another rainy day for the ballgame, but the show must go on. Will the Braves continue their series win streak, or will the Phillies find a way to take advantage of yesterday’s win and pick up where they left off?

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Sunday, April 26, 1:35 p.m. ET

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

TV: BravesVision

Streaming: MLBTV

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan

Bringing a team on the verge of 11 consecutive victories to a screeching halt was the seemingly impossible task for a struggling Roki Sasaki on Saturday. On his first ever bobblehead day, Sasaki did what he could to allow the Dodgers to pounce on Chicago Cubs starter Colin Rea, and it resulted in his first win of the season.

Sasaki managed to pitch into the sixth inning of a 12-4 Dodger victory and while he allowed four runs over that span— including three solo home runs— he tallied a season-high five strikeouts with the biggest improvement being only one walk allowed. The biggest difference compared to his first four starts was an increase in both usage and velocity on his splitter, which he threw 48 times while generating a first pitch strike rate of 90 percent.

There is still more to be desired for the still unfinished project, as noted by Sonja Chen of MLB.com, but Sasaki is hoping to not worry about the length of his starts and instead lean more on the efficacy of what he can do on the mound.

“The first couple games, I couldn’t go deeper. It was kind of frustrating,” Sasaki said through interpreter Kensuke Okubo. “But right now, I’m just focused on what I can do, and then at the end of the season, I just want to be who I want to be.”

Links

In our early season predictions post, I mentioned that I planned on attending Saturday’s game against the Cubs, and it’s always nice to see a Dodger win and get a Roki Sasaki bobblehead. But it was the 50-year anniversary and commemoration of Rick Monday’s iconic American flag rescue that stole the show, and it became even more emblematic when during the seventh inning stretch, “God Bless America” was the prelude to the usual ballpark anthem.

While his two former teams competed, Monday later admitted during the game’s broadcast that he had no idea that the Dodgers would be honoring him and felt “very humbled,” per Beth Harris of the Associated Press.

“I had no idea they were going to be here or present me with an honor. Very humbled,” Monday said later on the radio broadcast of the game.

Shohei Ohtani has been on a recent offensive slump since the Dodgers road series in San Francisco, as he is now 2 for 19 over his last five games, striking out eight times and recording zero extra-base hits. While having the everyday leadoff hitter slumping in this manner is worrisome, Dave Roberts has faith that Ohtani will manage to quickly turn a new page at the plate, per Michael Huntley of the Orange County Register.

“He’s a very smart player,” Roberts said. “He certainly deserves more leash and more opportunity than essentially anyone.”

Well, that was annoying. The Phillies were who the Braves thought they were, and they let them off the hook. The Braves took a game to extras and lost, but it required:

• One single evading Mike Yazstremski for a run scoring triple
• Yet another needless pickoff
• One double evading Ronald Acuña for a triple
• One single evading Eli White for a triple to set up a late tying run
• Playing the back half of the game in a rain storm with multiple lighting strikes near the stadium
• Placing Jose Suarez in a high leverage situation

When you step away from it, you are encouraged and appalled. The good news is that this stretch resembles their 26-4 run in mid-2023. They had to really do something dumb on the bases, have brutal BABIP, or make a poor bullpen decision to lose a game. The bad news is the losing-side of the bullpen and the back end of the bench are pretty dreadful. We already knew early that parts of the bullpen weren’t great, but injuries make the bench look very thin right now.

The good side of the bullpen is impressive: Raisel Iglesias (when available), Robert Suarez, Dylan Lee and Tyler Kinley. Somewhere in the middle is Aaron Bummer. Outside of that is Carlos Carrasco, Joel Payamps, swingmen Jose Suarez and Martin Perez (perhaps Reynaldo Lopez as well?), and a host of unattractive options at Gwinnett.

The Braves’ left fielders are a combined .206/.294/.299 with a 70 wRC+. That’s ninth worst in MLB, and Mauricio Dubon’s 11 plate appearances are keeping it from being much lower. The Braves can jettison Eli White for his latest brain fart. But that would leave them with three outfielders (glares at Jurickson Profar) and Dubon, and the best of the Gwinnett lot is probably Ben Gamel with his career 1.9 WAR and no starts in CF since 2021. Once Sean Murphy and Ha-seong Kim return, the bench will start to look better, but right now it’s not great.

Things are great. The offense is crushing it and no game feels out of reach. The starting rotation is way better than it deserves to be coming out of Spring Training. So I’m gonna forget about Saturday for now and going to try to ignore the back third of the roster for now.

Any week that starts with a win against the Los Angeles Dodgers should generally be a pretty good one, and that’s just what the Colorado Rockies had.

The Rockies won three of their six games played against three different teams. They could have even won a fourth, which was in their sights on Thursday against the San Diego Padres before a ninth inning meltdown saddled them with a loss.

Even though that loss was frustrating—and probably gave some readers flashbacks to last year—it is still important to note just how much better the 2026 Colorado Rockies are compared to last season. With a record of 11-16 the Rockies are already over a full month ahead of their beleaguered counterparts from 2025, who didn’t win their tenth game until June 2nd and had already lost 50 games by that point.

The Rockies were also able to rebound quickly with a victory against the New York Mets on Friday to round out the week. Saturday’s game was rained out in Queens, but Sunday will feature a traditional double-header.

The Rockies are still not a great team. The offense has a lot of question marks when it comes to their “swing first and ask questions later” approach to hitting and inconsistent ability to win close games. However, most of the games are still close, the pitching has been shockingly solid—dare I say even good—and they’re keeping fans engaged. Our comments sections are proof positive of that!

With that being said, here’s what our staff here at Purple Row had to say this week:

To Read: Rockpiles

• Monday:A behind-the-scenes look at the Rockies Cultural Education & Development Program | Sam Bradfield
• Tuesday:Some Colorado Rockies notes from Coors Field | Renee Dechert
• Wednesday:An early check-in on TJ Rumfield | Skyler Timmins
• Thursday:The few seeds planted by Bill Schmidt that are now bearing fruit | Cory Cohen
• Friday:So far, Mickey really is fine and Hunter really is good for the Rockies | Joelle Milholm
• Saturday:The Evolution of the Lefty Reliever: Lessons from the 2026 Rockies | James Riggenbach

To Read: News

• Weekly Pebble Report:Brody Brecht is gaining confidence in 2026 | Sam Bradfield, Skyler Timmins, & Evan Lang
• Rockies roster:Rockies claim Blas Castañ0, DFA Luis Peralta | Renee Dechert
• Rockies injuries:Ryan Feltner and Willi Castro leave Rockies-Padres game | Renee Dechert and Sam Bradfield
• Rockies roster:Rockies place RHP Ryan Feltner on IL, recall LHP Sammy Peralta | Evan Lang

To Listen or Watch

Evan Lang had a chance to sit down with Rockies top prospect Cole Carrigg (no. 4 PuRP) to discuss his development, goals, and playing with your hair on fire! Check it out below.

Weekend Discussion Topics

The Rockies may still lose a lot of games, but a pleasant surprise is how many players are standing out with high quality performances so far this season. Antonio Senzatela appears to have revitalized his career, Tomoyuki Sugano has been pitching with consistent quality, and both Mickey Moniak and Hunter Goodman are clobbering the baseball. Who do you think is standing out the most? Who do you think quietly deserves more recognition? Let us know in the comments!

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